The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists

by Ian Chilvers (Editor)

Based on the highly praised Oxford Dictionary of Art which the London Sunday Times called "the best and most inclusive single volume available," The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists is an authoritative and up-to-date guide to Western art from Ancient Greece to the present day.
It offers over two thousand entries on painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts, covering not only artists and their work, but also patrons and dealers, collectors and writers, materials and techniques, and museums and galleries.
Written in clear, lively prose, this invaluable reference maintains a careful balance between fact and appraisal. In its pages, we encounter artists ranging from Polyclitus of Argos to Leonardo da Vinci, from Grandma Moses to Mary Cassatt, and from Max Beckmann to Andy Warhol; periods and
movements including the Classical period, the Renaissance, the Ancients, Impressionism, the Ash-can School, and Cubism; and techniques and styles such as encaustic painting, encarnado, lithography, cabinet painting, and blot drawing.
For this abridgement, Ian Chilvers has retained all of the essential features of the original while adding new entries and eliminating the more peripheral articles. By presenting the information in a pithier format, he is able to focus more sharply on Western and Western-inspired art. The
dictionary also provides a very helpful cross-referencing system for names, art media, styles, and terms. Art enthusiasts of every kind will find this entirely reliable and highly readable volume indispensable.

Genres: Art, Reference, Dictionaries, Art History

526 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for any art student, writer or speaker. This easy to read book is more than just a dictionary. The content is very comprehensive indeed, with many extra pages of information on different aspect around art including lists of - artists' by country, dealers, museums, art galleries, materials tools and techniques, to name a few.

[Takipsilim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still my solid reference to the world of Art.

[Shriya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists definitely is a beginners paradise!
I have been searching up words that I keep on hearing and I am learning about artists whose works I have seen at museums. This is more than a dictionary for me!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for a quick reference

[Andrew S Hatton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent little book. The sort of thing one purchases as interest in a subject expands and is not satisfied by a more general encyclopaedia.

Provides brief pen portraits of the worlds most significant artists, and art movements and art processes but has no illustrations.

Nowadays I suspect few buy books like this as the information is more readily available via the internet.

I am fortunate in that my local public Library, Essex County Council in England allows free on-line access from anywhere, to a whole host of Oxford University reference publications and much more.

However, I grew up with books and am just as happy checking information from a paper edition - even though it might be hard to find if it was not returned to its shelf last time!