Reviews for Introducing Art

The average rating for Introducing Art based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-24 00:00:00 Kevin Walter A textbook... My edition from the transfer station is from 1989 and is only 480 pages. The cover is a Monet haystack. Mary Cassatt on the cover? Really? Might be interesting so I'll browse it. I already leafed through it looking at the pictures. Do people really to be educated on HOW to look at a painting? My view is that you either can or can't. That could be narrow-minded. Started reading today over lunch. Not especially interesting at the intro/outset but maybe it'll get better. The pictures are the best part of course. Here's something: on page 14 he describes a hypothetical scene in a museum. A guide encourages a visitor to try the handle/drawer on a 15th century jewelry chest and then demonstrates himself how to open it. EXCUSE ME! Not in any art museum I've ever been to... PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE ARTWORK! Stupid example. Do they understand such things at Texas Tech? Now moving on into art history starting with cave paintings. So now it might be more interesting. The early section about how to evaluate art is of debatable value. The section about Greek culture is good though necessarily abbreviated. There's a lot of ground to cover. They were indeed amazing artists(and architects/builders)... Now moving into the Roman Empire, perfectors of the arch in construction(see aquaducts and viaducts) and the civilization that really brought concrete to the fore in building. Copiers of the Greek aesthetic in art/sculpture. I'm glad this edition isn't the 600+ page one. "Only" 480 something... Still reading about the Romans... The Pantheon is spectacular and in good shape still because Christians took it over as a church and maintained it. Over the years the streets outside have built up around it so in effect it "sank" so that the stairs leading up to it are now basicically gone. Some majesty's been lost there from the outside at least. Done with Rome and now on to the Byzantine/Early Christian era. Have to say it's been pretty interesting so far. Moving through the Romanesque and Gothic periods. I have been in Notre Dame(Paris - lousy with tourists) and Chartres(more awe-inspiring and peaceful). There was an old(duh) Romanesque church in Chartres gone to ruin just around the corner from the cathedral. The first painter to be a focus in the book is Giotto. More painters coming up in the Renaissance chapter. Still plugging away through the Renaissance in Italy(mostly) and more and more painting is coming to the fore though architecture is still very important. The author describes Leonardo as a student of Botony??? I think he means Botany. Weird to see a boo-boo in a textbook. Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo... BIG boys in Art History though not my favorites. Still a bit style and culture bound. The sculptors were more modern and realistic as they copied the Greek and Roman ways... A quick visit to Northern Europe finds the talents of Holbein, Durer, van der Weyden, van Eyck then back south for Titian, Giorgione, El Greco and north again for Bruegel and Bosch and Holbein's amazingly photographic portrait of George Gisze. Whew... Things continue to get more interesting as we move into the 17th century and more realism and even a bit of abstraction: Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, Velasquez, Murillo, de Ribera, Caravaggio. Giants... Rubens is not a particular favorite of mine though some of his sketchier is almost abstract. The mighty 19th century is upon "us" now. Turner, Constable, Courbet, Corot(not mentioned), Millet(not mentioned), Daubigny(not mentioned) and the Impressionists. So far the drastic movement towards modernism is woefully underdescribed. Also, some of the author's choices are curious. No mention of either Whistler or Sargent but space is given to Ryder and Tanner???? Now in the middle of the long chapter on modernism. Long because the ways of painting are becoming many and there's a bit about architecture coming up as well. Picasso... Matisse... Kandinsky... all a very mixed bag as far as I'm concerned. Almost done as the author is finishing with a quick look at non-western art... Cina, Japan, Africa and pre-Columbian America. The part about modern American art is mystifying(to me) for it's exclusion of Mark Rothko. And through to the end with no mention of Warhol either. So... I guess this is OK as a high school level intro to Art History and Appreciation. There was no such course at my prep school in the 60's but we did have a senior year humanities course which touched on some of that stuff. 3 stars...

Review # 2 was written on 2009-11-25 00:00:00 Kerry Jeinz Okay, Art in Focus, I have a confession to make. Although the cover pictured here is different from the edition I have (Mine has an awesome lighthouse) I STOLE THIS BOOK FROM MY HIGH SCHOOL ART TEACHER. I took so many images out of this book for show fliers when I was a teenager it's unbelievable.