The Arts of Man

World of Art

by Eric Newton

"The arts of man include not only painting and sculpture but also mosaics, tapestries, stained glass, ceramics, coins, enamels,glass, primitive masks, etchings, book illustrations and illumination. eric Newton, Slade Professor at Fine Art Oxford, has made his choice from all these fields and from all the great periods and cultures. The result is an exciting selection of nearly 200 of the world's greatest masterpieces in all media that is at once personal and far ranging. It includes many works rarely or never previously reproduced as well as familiar ones that one can gaze at again and again. Eric Newton's extremely perceptive text concentrates on the works of art themselves and defines the essence of immortality to be found in the masterpieces illustrated and discussed."

Genres: Art

318 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Persephone Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy watching BBC art programs from time to time, but I thought this book was better than anything I have recently seen on television. Newton's choices are sometimes surprising but then his choices are wonderfully explained. The last two chapters "Art and Magic" (African) and "East of Suez" (Asia) were a little outdated and written from a too ethnocentric (Euro) viewpoint in my mind but then the book was written in 1960 for the European audience, but that said the choices of mid 20th century pieces which were contemporary at that time are put forth as what's "current" with a great deal of class.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Arts of "Western" Man