The Story of Painting: How art was made

by Angela Wilkes (Editor), Andrew Graham-Dixon (Foreword)

Librarian note: An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here.

An original and breathtakingly beautiful perspective on how art developed through the ages, The Story of Painting reveals how materials, techniques, and ideas inspired artists to innovate and create their greatest works.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Art and Photography, Historical

360 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2022

Reviews

[April Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much! It's fascinating to read through, gorgeous to look at, flows nicely, and is well put together. I wouldn't expect anything less from DK, one of the best publishers around. I learned so much from this book, and it's definitely enhanced my appreciation of art. Highly recommended!

#TheStoryOfPainting #NetGalley

[Jason Muckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Story of Painting," by DK is an in-depth book covering painting from caves from the Ice Age, to Da Vinci during the Renaissance to present-day abstract art. It covering everything of the history of painting. Covering every type of medium and paint type to the various theory on perspective and color of paint and where it comes from historically.

All together, this book covers most everything to do with the history of painting and how we got to where we are today. It is a great reference book for artists and art teachers alike interested in theory and the past of painting.

I received this eBook free of charge from DK via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

[Candice Forte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a great look at art history! Great balance of visuals and words. I really enjoyed it a lot. It touched on so many eras and works. It was pretty well constantly engaging. Since it is published by DK I assumed it was more for kids, but I really would recommend it for elementary. There is a painting of a murder (which was part of history) and of course nudes and some notes about sexuality and such. I would say at least a teen and probably high school, honestly. The book is very neat as an art appreciator, and I enjoyed it but I don’t really consider it as being for children.

[Paul Sutter]

This is truly the story of painting in every sense of the word. It details art from its earliest days to more modern times. It does not gloss over the subject at all, with an attention to detail, making you appreciate art all the more.
You don’t have to be a die-hard art to fan enjoy the book. Even those with a casual interest in art will be impressed. The book opens with a discussion of the first recorded attempt at paintings close to 40,000 years ago.
The first cave paintings were found in Spain in the 1860’s. Egyptian tomb paintings also tell quite the story. The dead were said to be honored through artwork. The book goes into detail about the colors used in paintings. Red was the symbol of power, piety, royalty, and revolution.
The book adds how some portraits adorned mummies in Egyptian times. Renaissance times are also noted in detail. This period saw paintings part of church altars, often commissioned for great sums of money.
Another interesting section features linear perspective, how painting took on a three-dimensional image on a two-dimensional canvas. The book also features secular painting, oil painting, distorted facial expressions, aerial perspective, Venetian color, Titian’s color, landscapes, dramatic lighting, and self-portraits.
While more modern styles such as drop painting, surrealism, and abstracts may not have the same impact as original art, they still are part of the subject known as art. It makes THE STORY OF PAINTING important reading. It deserves to be in the library of every art lover regardless of which style you embrace.

[Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley, this is my very first preview book. I'm a hardcore DK fan. The general concept of DK is all about beautiful, big picture books. But DK is way more than that. In my opinion, DK is currently the best publisher on Popular Science Books series. "Prehistoric Life", "The Complete Human Body", "Evolution: The Human Story" are among my favorites. The arts books are also outstanding. The structure of this book is to reframing the entire art history of the world chronologically, yet combining the essential characteristics of art into the journey, such as line, perspective, color, harmony, etc.

I'm a huge painting nerd. But as an amateur I could proudly say I suck. Art History is not only a subject for us to merely know who's who in Surrealism or Mannerism. By understanding how to express an idea visually on a canvas (or paper or whatever it is) historically, we enrich our toolbox inside our brain. As a neuroscientist, one of the most cheesy cliche yet effective motto is:

more tools inside our brains, more creativity.

This is the book for the enhancement.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Story of Painting" is an art history book that's full of colorful pictures of painting, tools, artists, and such. The book started with cave paintings, Greek pottery, Roman statues, and frescoes and progressed throughout history to the modern day. The book covered information like the development of new technologies and how they impacted art trends, the different styles of art and how they developed, the different types of tools, materials, and pigments used over time, details about important paintings, biographies of significant artists, and information about the different methods of painting (like oil, watercolor, pastels, etc.). I found this book a very informative and enjoyable read. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about art history (though probably not to someone who has already taken an actual art history course).

I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[John Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an educational book where the reader can learn about different styles of painting, materials, colours etc. It is a reference work which cannot be read in a sitting. I kept plugging away at it for a month and now it is due back at the library. I raced through the last few chapters. There is too much in this book to take in, for me anyway. There are many rather short chapters with a mix of text and pictures of paintings, artists, and materials. Most of the chapters have a focus on one major work within the chapter theme. These works are analysed in some detail, to the extent of enlarging particular features in separate illustrations.
Anyone who loves art would enjoy this book if they have a yearning to understand it beyond a mere visual appreciation.

[Oznasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me quite a while to get through but I sure got a lot out of it. It has 360 pages but even so it can only cover so much if you want a full history of painting with lots of examples.

Wikipedia contains much more information, way more examples, and the reproduction of paintings is so much better than in a printed book. But where do you start with Wikipedia?

I used this book as a starting point and checked out on Wikipedia every artist, technique or whatever that was mentioned.

If you would like to know more about the history, the techniques, the artists from around the world—I recommend this book AND Wikipedia.

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for a honest review from NetGalley.

I really loved how gorgeous this book is. A big part of a books shelf appeal in the art history section is the pictures and DK has always done a great job with this. This book is absolutely lovely and very comprehensive about the way that painting techniques, materials and content have changed over time. Great introductory book for someone interested in the history of painting.

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful walk through the history of art. very detailed. I find it covers mor topics then painting alone but I love the additional information and picture. If you love art this will be wonderful reference. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book on how painting was started and how it went through the different times including up to more modern times. Lots of great information for those really interested in how paint and colors were make throughout the years.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent! excellent! excellent!

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Painting is a great book on art history. It begins with cave painting and describes the different materials and techniques that were used until the modern-day.

I found this book both educational and inspiring. An art enthusiast could spend hours engrossed in reading.

Filled with beautiful famous paintings, this would make a great coffee table book.
I received this galley from NetGalley.

[Bonnye Reed]

ADOBE DIGITAL Aldiko on phone
Netgalley
pub date Aug 6, 2019
DK Publishing

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't manage to read it all before I had to return it to the library, but what I read was interesting and presented in an attractive and accessible way.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most condensed book about the history of art. This book can be integrated in history of arts courses from high school to college levels. The author selected multiple techniques to illustrate the progression of the arts through the ages: from 1500 BCE to modern era. My favorite features were the analysis of techniques applied on the famous works and the the comparative of colors.

#TheStoryOfPainting #NetGalley #HistoryOfArt

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like art? Do you enjoy reading about what makes art awesome? Like how awesome artists used light/shadow/perspective/etc. to create some of the most gorgeous pictures ever? Then you will want to read this book. I love DK books, I love books that are heavy on both cool information and images. I'm also someone who just likes looking at paintings. So yes, I very much enjoyed this book. If you're even remotely curious about art history, then check this book out. If you just like looking at books with lots of pretty pictures, then, yes, you'll want to check this book out. Because I like looking at pretty things.