Dictionary of Art and ARtists, The Penguin

by Peter Murray, Linda Murray

Middlesex. 1959. Penguin Books. 18x11. 355p.

Genres: Art, Reference, Nonfiction, Art History, History

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Librarian's Note: This is Peter^^Murray, with each ^ symbol signifying a space.

Born Peter John Murray in London in 1920, he died in 1992 in Farnborough (near Banbury), Warwickshire, United Kingdom.

Peter Murray was Professor of History of Art at Birkbeck, University of London, from 1967 to 1980, and one of the principal founder members of the Association of Art Historians.

He was responsible for establishing history of art as an undergraduate discipline in the College, following Sir Nikolaus Pevsner's teaching of the subject outside a departmental structure.

When he died in 1992, his widow Linda Murray (a distinguished art historian in her own right) established a Bequest to provide funds for student support, research travel and other activities in the then Department of History of Art.

One of these activities has been the biennial Murray Memorial Lecture, which has been delivered by such notable figures as Jonathan Miller, Simon Schama, Neil Macgregor and Christopher Fraying.

The Murray Bequest also supports the Murray Research Studentship.

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are different kinds of 'dictionaries' that you can use. They can go greatly into detail about each artist, like the Oxford Dictionary of Art volumes or even encyclopedias on art. This one is for the really basic information; you'll see that Mondrian worked in the early 20th century and was a member of the De Stijl movement so you can take that information and go do more research elsewhere. It's good for very basic referencing and understanding. I prefer Thames and Hudson's Dictionary of Art and Artists, it's very similar to the Penguin dictionary but has a little bit more substance to each entry which I prefer.

[Liz ardeez · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved flipping through this girl. makes me feel sad that i dont have apah anymore but it will live on forever in my heart. i can feel the knowledge slipping awayyyy

cezanne <3

[T Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly fine reference book that Wikipedia made largely obsolete ten years ago, unless you're trying to memorize a lot of basic facts about artists in a hurry. Also, it's twenty years old, so don't look for anything about the current art scene.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book you read until you die. You're always coming back to it.

[Melanie Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good little reference book. I used it for art history papers in school. The entries are short but concise. It is an older book so it doesn't have anything past pop art.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only my copy is the 5th edition. A-Z of artists. Explanation of terms and movements over prev 700 years.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reference work - so "read" is not accurate