Greek Art

World of Art

by John Boardman

“One of the very best short histories of Greek Art.” ― The Financial Times John Boardman, one of the best known and acknowledged scholars of the classical Greek world, has updated his definitive survey of its arts, the most influential and widely known historic artistic tradition of the Old World. In the twenty years since the last edition was released, valuable evidence has come to light which has dramatically enhanced our understanding of the arts of ancient Greece and their influence. It is now known that Greek artists completed their stone sculptures with realistic color, as well as working with a wealth of other materials. This proves that the romantic notion of an age of classic, pure white marble is a Renaissance construction which has persisted to the present day. The work of individual artists, as well as schools of artists, can be identified, creating a clearer picture than ever before of how art and artistic traditions traveled throughout the Greek world and beyond it. Boardman encourages the reader to consider the masterpieces that have been preserved in their original context. He weaves into his discussion of the arts insights into the society that produced them. Illustrated in full color throughout for the first time, this fifth edition demonstrates yet more vividly the artistic aims and achievements of ancient Greece. 311 color illustrations

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Art History, Greece, Classics, Classical Studies

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Linniegayl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an informative, readable book on Greek art, chock full of pictures of all types of Greek art. In general I enjoyed this, but at times was put off by what seemed to be the author's condescending attitude toward other cultures' art.

[Christine Hartweg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great pictures, as always with the older volumes of the World of Art series. The text contained many convoluted sentences; sometimes it's hard to understand what the author wants to say. I thought that John Boardman's contribution to an earlier volume on Greek art, was better.

[elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boardman is one of my favourite authors on Greek Art purely because he's so simple and clear.

His ideas are set out clearly and in sections making it easy to understand what period you are reading up on, and the area of Greece that it's in. He does focus a little too much on Athens during the Archaic through to Hellenistic periods, however, that is not an uncommon theme.

There are nice, clear pictures throughout the book that help to break up the text.

This book is great regardless of what level you're on. Whether you're curious, an Art Student or studying specifically on Art in the Ancient World.

[John Bruni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly interesting book about the art of ancient Greece. It's a quick read, but the history isn't as exciting as the pictures and captions are. There are some amazing photographs in this book. I didn't care much about the pottery, but the statues and the architecture are amazing. Also, this is the first time I've heard of something called "heroic nudity." It doesn't refer to doing awesome things while naked (which is how I'll be using the phrase), but it's about how male gods and heroes were depicted as perfect physical specimens, and that usually involved them being naked. It's kind of like taking an average athlete and portraying him as Superman (but without the tights).

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read, even if you're not an art history major. Lots of photos, many in color (although, of course, most of the sculpture that still exists is not painted as it was originally).

[Scott Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather dated and rather British survey of ancient Greek art. Most of the pictures in the edition I read were in black and white, which normally would bother me, but since so much of surviving Greek art is without color, that wasn't really a concern here. The text was a little dry, but it's a dry subject so that wasn't too much of a surprise. An OK introduction to a dry subject. It was probably as interesting as it could be.

[Brent Cehan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure who the intended audience is for this.

This isn't a handy beginner's introduction to the period, but instead an opinionated survey which assumes quite a bit of specialized knowledge on the reader's part. I rather feel some online documentaries combined with a few encyclopedia entries would leave the reader with a better sense of the topic.

[Commander Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise run through ancient Greek art. It felt like the text had been cut down from the original for this book. In general terms it was broken down into the ages and for each age the types of art (architecture, poetry, statuary, pottery, painting) was approached.

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another reject I rescued from the library. It has great pictures and is very readable and I found it informative and engaging. Happy to add it to my Classical Studies shelf.

[Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool

[Veikkous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horrid and prententious vocabulary

[Rio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative.
Enjoyable read.

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated, but there are few things better than a 1960s World of Art book.

[Laura Betters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art History was one of my majors in college, along with History. This is one of the textbooks I held on to. I am particularly drawn to ancient art.

Art, as a whole, intrigues me. It seems to me that it's the window into the souls of a civilization. I don't think you can understand any period in history without studying the art that coincides with it. Most importantly, art serves to move us beyond a date or event to the consideration of the human element.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great summary of Greek art from about 1200 BC to the foundation of the Roman empire 27 BC.Many illustrations of architecture, sculpture, pottery and other artifacts. The Greeks did painting as well but none of that survived except on their urns. This art influenced the art of Rome and the Renaissance and even up to modern times.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Looking for a source book for Greek motifs and designs) Wide range of photos to study for Greek designs, but they are rather small making it difficult at times to see the details. But it does follow Greek art through many stages. The short amount of text that I did read was engaging.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good resource book.

[Grace Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's nice to see art from other countries.

[Viktorija]

I've read this in highschool and liked it a lot and now I've returned to this book in my university studies. Love the visual material. Undoubtedly good stuff

[Lisa Arrigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Resource