Art in World History

by Mary Hollingsworth, Giulio Argan (Introduction)

Abundantly illustrated, these volumes narrate the development of artistic production in all of the regions of the world. The author treats the material regionally and chronologically, relating historic events (such as the rise and fall of empires, changing economic or religious circumstances, and the economic and social role of art itself) to the development of changing artistic production and subjects.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art

488 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Mary Hollingsworth is a scholar of the Italian Renaissance, and author of The Cardinal's Hat, The Borgias: History's Most Notorious Dynasty and Patronage in Renaissance Italy: From 1400 to the Early Sixteenth Century.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

As an art historian, I found this book to be abjectly terrible. It is disorganised and oversimplified, filled with historical inaccuracies and antiquated interpretations. In fact, some of the assertions are absurd. Apparently, Greece is the centre of the universe in antiquity, even though half of the categories of Greek Art are missing. This is merely one instance of the haphazard and biased approach contained in this book. The author harps incessantly on money, wealth, luxury and elitism, at the expense of any proper discourse. If you are interested in Art History, there are many better alternatives to this text.

[Oceana2602 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I had the brilliant idea to study art. My parents in all their subtelty, fully supported this idea. For example by giving my this book about the history of art. And by taking me to museums. And paying for art classes. And by subtly telling me that it might be a better idea to become a lawyer, because all artists starve to death.

I just hope that if I ever have kids they'll be as easy to influence as I was. Or wait, maybe I should hope they AREN'T as easy to influence as I was. I don't know yet.