The Visual Arts: A History - Hardcover

Honour, Hugh; Fleming, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810939355 ISBN 13: 9780810939356

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 1999

Synopsis

An authoritative, balanced, and enlightened account of the history of art, ranging from the primitive art of hunters 30,000 years ago to examples of the most controversial art forms of today. This book contains over 1400 superb illustrations, including color maps and architectural plans, enabling the reader to gain perspective of the global scope of this subject. Encompassing the arts of Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe, and the Americas, this book covers painting, mosaic, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, architecture, and photography, as well as describing historical trends that influenced all trends in art from around the world. For those needing to gain perspective regarding the history of art in our world, including art gallery owners, art collectors, and those entering the field of graphic design and art production.

About this title

From the Publisher:

The Visual Arts is recognized as the most up-to-date and wide-ranging history of art available in one volume. Now completely revised, it's more comprehensive and compelling than ever. Authors Honour and Fleming take readers from prehistory to Post-Modernism, exploring all the familiar movements and masterworks but also delving into non-Western traditions, architecture, and the decorative arts. The incisive text (incorporating new research and discoveries), more than 1,350 illustrations (nearly 20% new), maps (all redrawn), time charts (all redesigned), and sidebars (including the new "Concepts" and "Urban Development") make this an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to understand art in context. 1,352 illustrations, 585 in full color, 20 color maps, 928 pages, 811/2 x 10" Hugh Honour is one of the leading art historians of the century. He is co-author, with Nikolaus Pevsner and John Fleming, of The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, and, with John Fleming, of The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. John Fleming founded and edited, with Hugh Honour, the Style and Civilization, Architect and Society, and Art in Context series for Penguin Books. He is a winner of the Banister Fletcher Prize and of the Alice Devis Hitchcock Medal.

From the Back Cover:

Generously illustrated with over 1,370 photographs, architectural plans, and color maps, this highly regarded survey encompasses the arts of Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe, and the Americas—covering painting, mosaic, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, architecture and photography, and ranging from a statuette carved in central Europe some 30,000 years ago to video art of the 1990s. It delves into the purpose and meaning of art to show readers how art can deepen our self-knowledge, sharpen our awareness of our own and other religious beliefs, and enlarge our understanding of alternative ways of life. Divides material into five parts (Foundations of Art, Art and the World Religions, Sacred and Secular Art, The Making of the Modern World, and Twentieth-Century Art), with discussions on late Gothic art; 17th century Dutch landscape painting; Native American art; Far Eastern and African art; photography; women in art, and much more. Integrates boxes throughout that reflect on the full spectrum of factors which have conditioned artistic production at different times and in different parts of the world. Contains many new illustrations and photos, including the paintings in the Chauvet Cave in south-west France, and the late second-millennium BC figurative sculptures found at Sanxindui, China. All chapters include a handy timechart for easy reference. For art historians.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0810939355
• ISBN 13: 9780810939356
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 928