Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Gardner's Art Through the Ages Details
Amazon.com Review No art history student can get through a semester without the twin doorstops of Art Through the Ages. Chronicling the history of art from the earliest known cave paintings to postmodern architecture, as well as most major artists, works, and styles in between, these books are must-haves for those interested in understanding art in context. Both books are surveys, and experts may notice the omission of more esoteric movements and artists. Regardless, these volumes are invaluable references--especially since each edition of this classic improves noticeably in its coverage of non-Western art. Read more From Library Journal Tansey and Kleiner have collaborated on the most thorough revision since 1970 of one of the central monuments of art-historical study. Extensively reorganized and rewritten, this massive book now contains five more chapters than the 9th edition. Among the beneficiaries are both African and Etruscan art, which each have their own chapter for the first time. Somewhat larger, more colorful illustrations, maps, and chronologies add to the overall improved look of this new version. As before, the prose is dense but readable, focusing primarily on appreciative descriptions of exemplary works and emphasizing the periodicity of artistic style. In a new concluding chapter, the authors acknowledge recent revisionist challenges to this more traditional approach. It's a cursory tip of the hat to postmodernism, followed by unconvincing attempts to legislate categories within the art of the 1980s and 1990s. Far better is the way most of the book deals with earlier eras, so that this remains the benchmark text against which all other general surveys can be measured. An improvement upon an already first-rate work; highly recommended.?Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., Cal.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more
Reviews
I expected a good Art book. What I got was a 10 pound encyclopedia of everything in art from the first handprint. Not only is the breadth of material incredible, but the details are all there as well. Want a quick check on something from the impressionists? It will take you a good while to cover that hundred pages! The entire western renaissance is probably 200 pages deep.Hardily recommend. Hamburger is 5X the price of this masterpiece.