The Picture History of Painting: From Cave Painting to Modern Times

by H.W. Janson, Dora Jane Janson

extremely rare,very good condition

Genres: Art, Art History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Horst Waldemar Janson, who published as H. W. Janson, was a Russian-American scholar of art history best known for his History of Art, which was first published in 1962 and has sold more than two million copies in fifteen languages.

Reviews

[Carlos]

This was a serviceable if uninspiring rundown of the history of European painting. The authors reach all the way back to cave paintings to highlight the common outflow of creativity out of mundane existence. They then follow the increase of technique from the Egyptians to the Greeks, Romans and the pinnacle of realism around the nineteenth century. They then shift to focus on the new “languages” of painting that lay behind all the “isms” of the twentieth century. While the book was more focused on exhibition than explanation it was still a quick way to see the connections hidden between the evolving art movements.

[Carl]

This book was on the top shelf in the family library. I would pull it out only when the house was empty because I found the art therein so "tantalizing." I've never been far from the arts since.

[John Sorensen]

A readable very big overview of art history. Well written. I learned from this that if you want to really want to understand art and art history that you will have to take a class. The author would say things like “This artist has a grand style as compared to other contemporaries.” Reading a book saying that so and so had a “grand style” is fairly ambiguous. Art history will probably be better understood if you can ask someone and discuss the various elements that are in a painting.

[Sayantan Dasgupta]

Wonderful book! Superb explanation! Great illustration! It would give you the start you need to study paintings.