Art Theory: An Historical Introduction

by Robert Williams

Art An Historical Introduction is a unique survey of Western thought about art from ancient times to the present.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History

328 pages, Paperback

First published December 19, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Nellie Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an entire text book! Also, I had to find lots of additional sources in order to get a handle on some of the difficult stuff. Robert Williams has an incredible ability to synthesize multiple sources using highly technical language. This is a very difficult book to read and follow but it was also impressive and actually makes me want to write about and study art history even further. #nerdalert I am a graduate art student in a class of undergrads and I know this book was really hard for some of them to digest. I'm not saying I understand every sentence, but I can appreciate the way that Williams weaves together the various threads of theory. I'm currently exploring some of his suggested readings and if that guy read all of those texts in order to write this book, I'm really impressed!!

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

as seen on @aliciaisreading on instagram: picked up this book to learn more about surrealism and cubism, but was surprised to find some really interesting and helpful analysis of postmodernism/contemporary art, specifically the relationship between art and capitalism, which is the focus on my thesis… while i found this book a little simplistic at times it does elucidate important and competing theories, and the ample bibliography is super helpful to kickstart further reading!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dense, but an excellent non-dumbed down overview of all art movements, major critics, and various theories behind art making

[William Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Art History students this book has been with me in all my art study. If you are an art history geek its a must,