Art History Books

[twilight fairy]

Any good recommendations for books which cover a wide area of art movements (preferrably all of them) in a general sense without going into too much detail? I'm an 'art newbie', if you can say that, and am interested in an introductory art book..

Thank you in advance.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

How about A Very Short Introduction to Art History? Or something like this.

I own the latter, my girlfriend owns the former, they're both as good as you would expect from OUP, and provide detailed further reading lists.

 

[BerlinRocks]

for french-readers :
the best is : Histoire de l'art, Flammarion collection. they cover everything from antics to contemporary (in different volumes of course...) it's usefull (i still check in mine after 4yrs of art history studies in university) or you have this book (@ Phaïdon) that covers every period in ONE book.

but the best to do before reading about art is looking at pictures... you must "make" your eyes... look look look every single image and entertain your eyes... check the painter and century... and then you can read...
i think if you're a newbie that's the best.

before choosing a book... you have to check the authors and if it has a bibliography... if the bibliography is just half-page... forget about it!
then if the author is specialized into renaissance (for instance) and is writting about Picasso... forget about it! (i swear i've already seen such cases..) except of course if he's well known Picasso's amateur.
and for a specific area, the history background is important... there's not always a part dedicated to history but if you hesitate btw two books, prefer the book that include a part about context historique... that's really important to understand Art!

 

[masquerade]

hmmm, the text book thats being used in some of my art history classes is Gardener's Art Through the Ages 12th ed. it covers a lot of time without going too in depth into any particular artist. its broken up into two volumes (prehistoric-medival, and then gothic-present) or you can buy it as one

its not great but i think its good for what you are looking for

but its also pretty damn expensive

 

[contiguous]

We use Marilyn Stokstad's Art History, it is a two-book set. It includes lovely sections on non-Western art as well as all the well-known movements. Sometimes I feel as if the descriptions get too fluffy and not analytical, but it's not bad. Like BerlinRocks said, the best way to study or learn art history is to look at images, so having a great book with fantastic text won't help without pictures. In my class, my teacher usually lectures with slides while we take notes and I always do a quick sketch of the artwork on the side for extra visual memorization.

 

[salomelovesjohn]

I recommend going to the bookstore and looking at some specific books on various movements. In my opinion the general books can be boring and focus alot on historical paintings and the like. Also, most people like Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, so you could check those out and then see if you like something quirkier like perhaps Surrealism or Dada - perhaps something more abstract like Color Field or Jackson Pollack's work. Also go to museums and see what you're drawn too and then read about it. I think its best to learn about a movement that you are really drawn to first, instead of trying to self-teach a survey course.

Another thing I like is now there are several interesting books that examine art from a theoretical/gendered perspective, such as Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-de-Siecle Culture. Or Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement by Chadwick.

 

[jabzoog]

I also recommend Gardners.. but the books (vol 1 and 2) are big and expensive. Last year in my AP art history class, the prof had us purchase The Annotated Mona Lisa.
I found this book to be -very- concise and brief.. a page or 2 covering the basics/most important aspects of several time periods in art. Also I find that the book is more accessible than Gardner's.

 

[miu_miu]

The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich is something of a classic. It has it's faults (it's very western-centric for one) but it does give a lot of good examples, beautiful illustrations, so it might be one you want to consider as a starting point

 

[ilaughead]

I've always wanted to know more about art history, but is actually looking through a book very interesting? Are they written for someone casually interested, or more for a student?

 

[miu_miu]

Nothing makes more of a difference than seeing paintings or sculpture in person.
The Story of Art which I recommended is meant for students, and it's written in a way which presents the canonical history of art, ie. it has everything you'd expect, with heavy emphasis on Greece, Rome, Italian Renaissance and then French painting. At the very least, it can spark your interest in different styles and movements..

 

[masquerade]

I've always wanted to know more about art history, but is actually looking through a book very interesting? Are they written for someone casually interested, or more for a student?

i think gardener's is very student oriented. it comes w/an accompanying cd and labels all pictures by figure numbers to make it very easy for teachers to list them on syllubus's etc.

however, it is written in very understandable language. there is a problem w/ art history that some of it is very old and some of it is very very dry, but i haven't found that problem w/Gardeners. im not sure about the other ones.

and of course seeing it in person is ideal, but if only we all had the money and freedom to do it

 

[jabzoog]

i think that The Annotated Mona Lisa makes for an interesting read.. there are silly facts and whatnot and its organized in a way different than textbooks are.

 

[ilaughead]

Thank-you! I'll look into it!

 

[Feline]

The Story of Art is a good starting point as it briefly covers a lot of periods and styles and makes you want to look further into specific artists, periods and styles that interest you.

 

[Jany]

I study arthistory and we have to learn "jenson" ("a history of art" 6th edition)
but I think it is a terrible book (too big!! not something to carry along) with a very american vision
it is not very specific for learning (like what is specific about the baroque style etc) but if you're just interested I think it makes a clear vision
Yhea I think it is a good start though