The History of Western Art

by Peter Whitfield

What is art? Why do we value images of saints, kings, goddesses, battles, landscapes or cities from eras of history utterly remote from ourselves? This history of art shows how painters, sculptors and architects have expressed the belief-systems of their age; religious, political and aesthetic. From the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, to the revolutionary years of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the artist has acted as a mirror to the ideals and conflicts of the human mind. He has always started with reality, but has selected and re-shaped that reality to create a parallel world, a world of the imagination.

Genres: History, Art, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Art History

Audio CD

First published November 1, 2011

Reviews

[Valentina Vekovishcheva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good though brief outline of the basics in the history of western art. What is valuable for me is the musings of the author at the very end: have we come to the end of art because we have come to the end of belief? I wonder...

[Zachary Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering every artist mentioned could each have an audiobook of double this length, this is a brilliant introduction- but an introduction and no more. There again, it seems self aware of those limitations and does a good job at providing a wide understanding.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I once took a personality test that said my art appreciation score was 0%. Reading this book was an attempt to improve.

This book is a short and concise history of Western Art, starting all the way from cave paintings. Good to get an overview but not if you want to go really in-depth. This fits well for me since short and concise is what I was looking for.

The two salient part of this book for me were:
- A brief explanation of the psychology of art.
- Why modern/abstract art exists.

This book may have given me a better appreciation of art created before the modern period, such as realism and romanticism. However, I still don't like modern/abstract art.

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audio version. Great narration, though a book like this one is probably better in physical format since no amount of flowery description can really tell you what a Titian or Caravaggio looks like. A great overview of Western art, though. Recommended.

[Hermien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Francisco García Pimentel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frankómetro: 86%
Pudo haberse llamado: From cave to canvas. *

Tip: Casi cualquier libro cuyo título sea "La Historia de..." suele resultar interesante. La Historia de la Ópera, la Historia del Arte, la Historia del Basketball, la Historia de la Filosofía, etc. De alguna manera, las clases de historia en la escuela nos enseñaron que la "Historia" es la historia de las guerras. Pero hay mucho, mucho más que eso, y las "historias" de temas más concretos suelen desentrañar conexiones, sorpresas y anécdotas espectaculares.

En esta Historia del Arte Occidental, el autor nos lleva desde las cavernas de Lascaux y sus pinturas murales hasta el arte pop el siglo XX, pasando por el clásico, el medieval, el bizantino, el renacimiento, el barroco, el romántico, el impresionista, el cubista y el futurista; por todos sus recovecos y principales exponentes. Y lo hace de una manera no solo entretenida, sino magistralmente bordada, orgánica y natural.

En su brevedad, es uno de los mejores manuales para aquellos que no saben y quieren empezar a saber, y añade una nueva dimensión al ya de por sí increíble mundo del arte, de las galerías y los museos.

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me ages to get around to listening to this one, because:

(a) Is there anything more hilariously futile than taking in the visual medium of art through LISTENING?

(b) A history of ALL Western art, in like 4 hours? l o l w h a t

Despite the inherant futility and breakneck speed, The History of Western Art is enjoyable. Peter Whitfield writes with a passion that's contagious. Comprehensive it may not be, but it gave me a flavour of the different eras of art history, and piqued my interest enough to go out and find other, more selective books.

For the record, after listening to this, I moved on to the Art History with Travis Lee Clark channel on YouTube, which is similarly "art history for dummies" and similarly engaging.

[Susan Joy Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on audible and really enjoyed every minute of it. From cave paintings to post-modernism; painting, sculpture, and architecture - it's all in here. Whitfield explains what inspired each artist and movement, as well as the predominant characteristics of the work. A terrific introduction to Western art over the centuries, or a refresher for people like me who studied art history more than forty years ago and have forgotten more than they remember.

[Sebastiano Gualtieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intelligent short survey with compelling considerations and not just names and dates.
Its brevity allows to clearly connect fundamental passages, from Greek art and the origin of our concept of beauty (proportions, contrasts, balance…) to the “coincidence of advanced art and advanced science” at the beginning of the 20th century (eg the coincidental similarities between Futurism and the discoveries of Einstein et al.) and beyond.

[Erika Gofton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listened to the whole book waiting to hear about the amazing women who have contributed to the history of Western Art. How many were mentioned? Georgia O'Keefe! And I think Audrey Flack but her name wasn't even mentioned! Totally disgraceful!

[Sher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m sure it would have been a higher rating if I could have seen the paintings along with the lessons. I’m sorry I was in a place while listening that I could not look up the paintings along with it.

[Andrew M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. The best part of the book is the conclusion at the end, where the author states that God is dead in modern art and only by looking back at art through the ages can we see people painting their religious and scientific beliefs

[Danny Brzozowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked it. There were some issues with accuracy in places, so I could only give three stars, but this was an enjoyable summary.

[J Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one - a nice overview of a dense topic. Felt like it got a bit rushed and tried to pack too much in, towards the end, but that's the 20th Century for you!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great overview of Western Art! Only downside of listening in audio version is that I found myself constantly having to google the artworks being referenced.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0

I absolutely enjoyed every second of this book, but it left me wanted more depth in a lot of areas.

[Jadisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georgia O’Keeffe & Mark Rothko

[John Martindale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I've recently studied some art history, otherwise, I wouldn't have had any mental images to go along with this audiobook, nor overall historical framework to make sense of his presentation. But yeah, with this pre-knowledge, I was able to appreciate Whitfield's interpretive sketch of the history of western art. I could be wrong, but I did feel there was an anti-religious bias which resulted in a slanted interpretation of the Italian renaissance in particular. A good deal within this book seemed to be presented as the glorious triumph of the secular over the sacred. But one wonders with the final quote of the book, if the author actually doesn't really like the fact that with the "death of God" also came the twilight of beauty, truth and goodness, leading to a ugly and boring art which reflects the meaningless of an indifferent universe without purpose or hope.

"The traditions of the past, the beliefs and the symbols are all dead, mankind is alone in the universe with his terrible freedom, alone in the environment he has created, he is effectively his own god, there are no others; this is the meaning of modern art, order and disorder, beauty and ugliness are equally valid, put simply we may have come to the end of art because we have come to the end of belief, isn't this why we value the art of the past so much, because it is so unlike what we have become? It takes us back to an interpreted world, in which ideals of beauty, order and truth had a reality capable of being embodied in a picture, a reality that artist throughout the centuries have struggled with, found, lost and found again, we can only hope that they are not no lost forever" Peter Whitfield

Interesting how much the author despised the paintings of J. M. W. Turner, of course, in sharing about those he considered to be far superior, introduced me to Ivan Aivazovsky whose work is astounding.

[Naty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love art! This audiobook helped me to refresh what I had studied in college. I kept my book so while listening I was able to go through the pages and find most of the paintings, and different types of art throughout history.

[Tim Houston · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good primer, but the Renaissance seems to appear out of nowhere without outside influences.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - A sweeping history of western art. Yes, it does only skim the surface, but it's a fairly effective introduction to the subject, in my humble opinion.

[Jeannie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book, I found it easy to follow with just the right level of detail - I will read it again!

[Sharon Sideris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite simple and concise. Not too much judgement or opinion from the author, which I liked.

[Christopher Hellstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audible audio version. An engaging,concise survey.