Essential History of Art

by Laura. Payne, Kirsten Bradbury, Antonia Cunningham

Essential History of Art introduces a new, chronological way of examining the major art movements of the Western World over the last two thousand years. It is the only book to examine the roots of art in prehistory and provide important examples of work from 240 leading artists in terms of their school, period, technique, and vision.

Each artist is represented by a major work, which is accompanied by text explaining their impact on the development of Western art, as well as giving a brief history of their life and career.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Reference

256 pages, Hardback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essential History of Art by Lucinda Hawksley (Parragon 2000)(700+/-). This is a really intelligently-designed art history book. It is arranged chronologically by the date that each featured work was produced, and the timeline is further grouped into clusters of similar or related artworks under the umbrella of whatever art movement was most influential at the time. Each piece of art featured herein is accompanied by comments on the artist's place in history or in the specific movement. I like it; it's easy for a dilettante (like me) to grasp the whole ball of yarn when it's arranged in this fashion. My rating: 7/10, finished 8/27/14.

[Pollopicu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was my very first Art book.

[Yong Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good organization of the artists according to the artistic movements or genres they are primarily associated with (e.g. mannerism, baroque, rococo, ..., surrealist, abstract expressionist), or in case of no assignment by convention, according to their times and locations (e.g. Gothic Medieval, High Renaissance, Northern Landscape). These groupings help us quickly get started on learning about these artists and the history of art. Notably, the authors don't skimp on the multitude of frequently confusing contemporary art genres.

While the authors describe each painter and his or her representative work of art clearly and succinctly, there are no general descriptions of each of the artistic movements or genres either at the beginning of the section for the movement, or in the short introduction of the book. Readers would still have to consult other sources such as Wikipedia to get an idea about the main characteristics of, say, Fauvist, as distinct from Cubist.

The book shows one artwork for one artist. But it's not clear how the artist's representative or "important work" is chosen. Most match our expectations, such as "Mona Lisa" for da Vinci, "Sunflowers" for van Gogh. But "Massacre at Chios" instead of "Liberty Leading the People" for Delacroix? Even a Google search for the latter shows about 7 times more hits than the former. There're several other surprises to people moderately familiar with art history.

It's interesting to note that even though one third of the artworks in the book are of contemporary art, the book cover only chooses one in the 11 (?) painting collage. This 1:11 ratio is probably about the same as that of the number of visitors in the contemporary art section of New York Metropolitan Museum of Art to that of visitors in the more traditional art section. I'm personally an amateur artist, but I've never developed a positive taste for any of the contemporary art styles. So this is just a personal comment.

[Mary Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Bonnie Fakhri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of works from ancient to modern times.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introductory book for those wanting to learn about particular pieces of art according to their corresponding artistic movements and genres.

[Katie Tatton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the general overview of art. It was easy to read, the styles of art were grouped together, and the pictures were lovely and large. I would have appreciated a little less information about the artist's other works and influences and a little more about the specific piece of art showcased, but overall I liked the book.

[Tammy Tolar · Rating 5 out of 5]

1881 The Boating Party p 166 Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1841- 1919
1531 Venus with Cupid the Honey Thief Lucas Cranach The Elder 1472-1553
1547 The Last Supper Jacopo Tintoretto 1519-1594
1503 Mona Lisa Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
1455 The agony in the Garden Andrea Mantegna 1431-1506
15,000 Galloping Horse BC Lascaux Cave Paintings
AWESOME!

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of the "Eessential" series published by Dempsey Parr, kept in my library for reference.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome artwork. Just enough text. Great coffee table book.