Artist Biographies

I have always loved the Impressionists and own more than one book about Claude Monet. Inspired by the way Monet painted the same scene in different seasons or at different times of the day, I have asked the grade school students to draw or paint the same scene in all four seasons. This led me to wonder how and why other artists painted the way they did.
On a recent "artist date" with myself, I visited bookstores looking for artist biographies. I was surprised that the books that came home with me were about more abstract or expressionist artists than I expected.I learned that Kirchner chose his colors more for how they made him feel than what he saw. DeKooning also painted with emotion, full of energy as he painted outside the lines over and over to express his feelings. But I also bought a book of pastels by Wolf Kahn. At a time when most schools were encouraging abstract art, Kahn chose to concentrate on representational landscapes and emphasized color. His later works are full of brilliant, high-key color combinations.
So...I have learned, yet again, to follow my heart when I paint.