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Gardner's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective, Volume I
GARDNER'S ART THROUGH THE AGES: THE WESTERN PERSPECTIVE, Fourteenth Edition, provides you with a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated tour of the world's great artistic traditions, plus many great features that make it easier for you to excel in your art history course! Easy to read and understand, the latest edition of the most widely read art history book in the English language continues to evolve, incorporating new artists and art works and providing a rich cultural backdrop for each of the covered periods and geographical locations. A unique scale feature will help you better visualize the actual size of the artworks shown in the book. Within each chapter, the "Framing the Era" overviews, a new timeline, and the chapter-ending section entitled "The Big Picture" will help you review for exams.
496 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2005
17 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 31, 2015
This review covers only the paperback book; I did not have access to the electronic materials.
Ever since Helen Gardner published her first edition of Art Through the Ages in 1926, the book has been considered a classic text in art history courses. This fourteenth edition continues the basic format, with chronological text and lots of well-captioned illustrations.
Kleiner is a clear and readable author. Having been forced to read all 421 pages I can say his style is far superior to that of most textbooks. The writing is uneven in places: Kleiner is clearly a fan of Roman art but has little to say about the Ottonians. (In fact, the Roman chapter is the longest in the book and is filled with excited, gushing prose.)
The book suffers from the curse of all textbooks on the European middle ages: religious art. With barely any exceptions, all the artworks between pages 233 and 421 are religious, and nearly all of that is architecture. By the time we're passing our fifty-fifth Romanesque church even Kleiner is bored; the text starts reading like an undergraduate essay. I refuse to believe that all the hundreds of millions of people in medieval Europe produced absolutely nothing but Madonnas and children, but that's the impression you get from Art Through the Ages.
Inevitably, the book makes sweeping generalizations and groups artists into categories they might not, personally, agree with. There are some quibbles about the layout: most of the major illustrations are large and high-quality, but the smaller pictures in the margins are much too tiny to see. On the plus side, the callouts for particular artists, politicians and social forces add a nice bit of context. It would be nice to have a single timeline that shows the place and time of every work mentioned in the whole book, but the chapter summaries provide an approximation of that feature.
This is an introductory book. I find much to argue with in its treatment of art history but I have to admit it covers a lot of ground without being completely overwhelming. Five stars for clear, comprehensible writing, minus one for overgeneralization.
Ever since Helen Gardner published her first edition of Art Through the Ages in 1926, the book has been considered a classic text in art history courses. This fourteenth edition continues the basic format, with chronological text and lots of well-captioned illustrations.
Kleiner is a clear and readable author. Having been forced to read all 421 pages I can say his style is far superior to that of most textbooks. The writing is uneven in places: Kleiner is clearly a fan of Roman art but has little to say about the Ottonians. (In fact, the Roman chapter is the longest in the book and is filled with excited, gushing prose.)
The book suffers from the curse of all textbooks on the European middle ages: religious art. With barely any exceptions, all the artworks between pages 233 and 421 are religious, and nearly all of that is architecture. By the time we're passing our fifty-fifth Romanesque church even Kleiner is bored; the text starts reading like an undergraduate essay. I refuse to believe that all the hundreds of millions of people in medieval Europe produced absolutely nothing but Madonnas and children, but that's the impression you get from Art Through the Ages.
Inevitably, the book makes sweeping generalizations and groups artists into categories they might not, personally, agree with. There are some quibbles about the layout: most of the major illustrations are large and high-quality, but the smaller pictures in the margins are much too tiny to see. On the plus side, the callouts for particular artists, politicians and social forces add a nice bit of context. It would be nice to have a single timeline that shows the place and time of every work mentioned in the whole book, but the chapter summaries provide an approximation of that feature.
This is an introductory book. I find much to argue with in its treatment of art history but I have to admit it covers a lot of ground without being completely overwhelming. Five stars for clear, comprehensible writing, minus one for overgeneralization.
February 7, 2021
Respectful treatment of the subject matter, with genuine interest in exploring religious motivations behind early European art. I am not sure why Islamic art is included in the Western Perspective, though. I will write a more detailed review once I complete the second volume.
Of note, it is easy to copy images from the pdf edition if you want to create an anki deck for them to study.
Of note, it is easy to copy images from the pdf edition if you want to create an anki deck for them to study.
July 13, 2020
I had to read this book for my history of art 1 course. I pretty much liked the class. I learn a lot with this book.
December 30, 2024
go caves class!
June 9, 2014
I didn't read this for fun, it was the assigned text for a class. Having said that I really enjoyed reading it. It doesn't get as stale and dull as other AH texts tend to, perhaps there were times when I wanted more information on a piece but that just prompted me to look it up on my own, as opposed to just wishing there was more.
November 29, 2016
My college book for Art History 104 and a greatly done piece of nonfiction, I highly recommend it if you're a connoisseur of art and it's history. Very interesting and the pieces are well chosen for the different movements, especially in the Late Antiquity and Islamic Art sections.
February 12, 2013
Read an older edition picking up from the establishment of Rome and the verging onto of it's earliest 'Republic' times (left off at in the Ancient Art text by Stokstad I'd read afore, since I owned it and needed the refrief)
December 27, 2014
textbook for my art history class. Lots of great photos and interesting tidbits about th featured art works.
Want to read
November 30, 2015i want to read the history of art
September 16, 2016
This was my text book for ART 101: Art appreciation. I gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the deeply rich history of art! Fascinating!
April 25, 2017
Loved this textbook, was not a chore to read and I found myself going back to the information/text multiple times after finishing.
Read
December 11, 2018Gorgeous book.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews