The History of Art: The Essential Guide to Painting Through the Ages

by A.N. Hodge

Great artists change the way we look at the world and this book is a beautifully illustrated summary of painting's greatest works. From the glories of the High Renaissance in Italy to the emotional visions of the Romantics, and from the groundbreaking techniques of the Impressionists to the radical canvases of the Abstract Expressionists, this book provides a fascinating look at the major movements in the history of Western painting. A clear chronological structure allows the reader to see each movement in its historical context, and to appreciate the patterns that emerged. The book includes more than 160 beautiful reproductions in color.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, History

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Azad Azadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I translated this book to Persian.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle is important, here: The book covers painting only. It also only covers the historical period of the Western painting tradition, with only a very few exceptions. So the book should really have been "Western Painting: Giotto to the Present Day." Of course one cannot cover all of visual art from the neolithic to now, globally, in 200p, but it's a bit disengenuous as it stands. In fact even given the restricted range it does tackle, it can still only be relatively superficial if it's going to give over more than half the space to illustration - and what would be the point, if it didn't? So, given all the limitations, it's a pretty good effort and brought to my attention some interesting artists I was previously unfamiliar with. The short essay at the end about the technical side of painting over the same period was also interesting.

[Mahdi Khalil Nejad · Rating 3 out of 5]

بخش میانی کتاب بسیار جذاب تر از بخش ابتدایی و انتهایی است. به نظر به این دلیل که بخش ابتدایی خیلی خیلی مربوط به گذشته است و شاید خیلی نمودی در زندگی امروزه نداشته باشه. و بخش انتهایی به دلیل کم عمقی و گنگی در نفس کارهای هنری. البته که مدرنیست و پست مدرنیست و اینا شاید یک سری حرف برای گفتن داشته باشند ولی از این موارد اینقدر در بخش انتهایی زیاد بود که یه حس پوچی و بی مایگی به آدم دست میداد.

ولی در کل کتاب سیر تاریخی رو بیان میکرد.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nearly four stars, but that's difficult to achieve for a history this concise. I picked this up because my father painted as a hobby after studying art in college. I wanted to refresh my knowledge as I begin selling his paintings.

[Abeer Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Renaissance to Modern art paintings, from Leonardo da Vinci to Van gogh, painting well picked and elaborated.

[Naveen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The interesting part is essentially is "The History or Techniques", pg.202-203 by Libby Anson, London 2007.