Artists Who Changed History

by D.K. Publishing

A stunning visual celebration of the world’s most celebrated artists, from Giotto to Frida Kahlo, that tells the fascinating life stories behind their masterpieces.

Lavishly illustrated with portraits of each painter or sculptor, as well as paintings and photographs of them at work in their studios, Artists Who Changed History explores the vision and approach of each artist, and the story of their creative development, and their friendships, loves, and rivalries.

Timelines provide an accessible overview of the life of each artist, while the biographies place them in their historical context, revealing the key social and artistic factors that shaped them, and their contribution to the development of art—the legacy of their work and its influence on the artists that followed them. Feature boxes break down signature techniques in detail, while full-page reproductions showcase the visual splendor of landmark works. Directories at the end of each chapter contain brief biographies of other key artists from the period, providing the reader with an overview of art history in the process.

Combining gripping and informative narrative text with awe-inspiring images, Artists Who Changed History is a beautifully presented insight into the life and work of some of the world’s most extraordinary creative minds.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Reference, Art History

368 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2024

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Heather Logsdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a tenured, Full Professor of Art & Design, and a former K-12 Art Teacher, I have taught art history at the elementary, middle, high school, undergraduate and graduate level, as well as being an award winning 2D artist. I teach art history from prehistoric through contemporary art history. I love this book, “Artists Who Changed History”, because it is concise and informative as well as engaging. I would put the reading at an AP high school level art history or introductory level undergraduate for freshman level. I particularly love the layout of the masterworks and the KEY MOMENTS for quick reference on the artist. This book covers almost every artist I would cover in a General Education aesthetics requirement of an Art Survey or Art Appreciation course. The quotes are well placed and this is visually stunning! Chapter 1 begins with pre-1500’s covering the ones that impacted the art movement like Giotto, who introduces atmospheric and beginning perspective to the world - in fresco, no less! It is a read that is in a chronically timeline from 16th century through 1945-to present day (contemporary). All the art movements I teach are identified and the most well-known artists are covered to give a broad view of art history. Excellent read! I think the most spectacular part is that it comes with TWO indexes: Index of Artworks and General Index - which makes it very easy to find and access information easily. I would consider adopting this for my general education art survey history course or even for a beginner painting course at a college level! It covers all the visual arts from the architectural structures to a variety of mediums to the stylistic developments. All the masters are present and their masterpieces stunningly displayed in a well organized book. It exceeds my expectations as an art history professor! I love it!

[TheDiversePhDReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 - 4.5 🌟

[Kacey Blackner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually enjoyed reminiscing on some of my fav artists and their masterpieces over the course of the past few hundred years