History of Art for Young People

by Anthony F. Janson

For nearly 25 years, History of Art for Young People has remained unsurpassed as an introduction to the fascinating world of art in the Western world. In this new edition, Anthony F. Janson, chairman and associate professor of art and theatre at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, retains the intelligent freshness of H.W. Janson's classic original work while making it even more accessible and meaningful for today's readers. 623 illustrations, 253 in color. Glossary. Index. Bibliography. 4 maps.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Art History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was very informative, easy to understand, and was full of pictures which for me makes learning fun. It tracked art from cave drawings to modern day. It included architecture and sculpture as well as painting so it provided a wonderful overview. It did exactly what I had hoped it would do. It gave an great introduction to art history and helped me identify artists and time periods in which I am most interested and wish to learn more. I found it an excellent beginning to the study of art.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, I plan on reading the full History of Art by Janson next year!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read! This is a great timeline of Art History-very easy to digest.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve wanted to get a better understanding of timeline of art history. This really helped!

[Anoop Dixith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the perfect book for an introduction to the world of art. And by art, it's not just paintings, the book covers a wide breadth of most art forms including music, motion pictures, sculptures/architecture, and of course painting at the crux of it.

While I was aware of most classic and renaissance time paintings, my knowledge was largely fragmented. I loved Monet's Impression without even understanding its context and where is came from. I was fan of Rembrandt, but didn't really know where he or his works fitted in the bigger picture. So my knowledge needed a big orientation, and this book was the perfect magnetic field that oriented my iron-hard interest in art with right polarization.

The book lives up to its name by promptly diving into art chronologically. By doing so, it gives the amateur reader of the arts a great context about the evolution of different art movements like Renaissance paintings, High Renaissance paintings, Mannerism, the highly ornate Baroque, Realism, Impressionism and Post Impressionism, Expressionism, and finally modern art movements like Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. The book doesn't go into technical details of art and art forms, neither does it delve too deep into lives of artists themselves, giving only essential information thereby keeping it simple and elegant.

If you need an introduction to the artistic world, this book could a very good first read

[Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a history of art for anybody. My Gran made me read this when I was very young (not hard to do) and it opened my eyes. It is still a reference work for me. Which brings up a point. If I offer you a book to read about something we are talking about, read the book! Why reinvent the fucking wheel everytime and rehash shit that someone's written down? Read, come back, and then we'll continue arguing.

[Nena Astral · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bastante sencillo de leer, lo que no quiere decir que no posea información de calidad. Da un repaso de todo el arte desde la prehistoria hasta las vanguardias. Te ofrece una base básica pero muy sólida sobre la historia del arte.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive history of Art from the Lascaux caves to modernism

[Jules Brugel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elementary enough for me.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reference.