Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; PART 1: THE FOUNDATIONS: GREECE AND ROME C.600 BC-AD 410; Introduction; Greek Sculpture; Greek Pictorial Arts; Greek Art Beyond Greece; Roman Sculpture; Roman Painting and Mosaics; Theory and Criticism; Ancient Paradigms from Augustus to Mussolini; PART 2: CHURCH AND STATE: THE ESTABLISHING OF EUROPEAN VISUAL CULTURE 410-1527; Introduction; Early Christian Art; Illuminated Manuscripts; Ars Sacra to c.1200; Monumental Sculpture to c.1300; Stained Glass; Painting in the Middle Ages; The Altarpiece; Ars Sacra c.1200-1527; Monumental Sculpture c.1300-1527; The New Painting: Italy & the North; Domestic Arts; The Print; PART 3: THE ART OF NATIONS: EUROPEAN VISUAL REGIMES 1527-1770; Introduction; The International Style; Forms in Space 1527-c.1600; Forms in Space c.1600-c.1700; Free-standing Sculpture c.1600-c.1700; The Picture: Italy & France; The Picture: Spain; The Picture: Dutch & Flemish; The Picture: England; The Print; The Interior; Forms in Space c.1700-1770; Academies, Theories, & Critics; The International Diaspora; PART 4: THE ERA OF REVOLUTIONS 1770-1914; Introduction; Pictures and Publics; Sculptures and Publics; The Print; Photography; Design & Industry; The Rise of Art History; Art Criticism & Aesthetic Ideals; Art Museums & Galleries; PART 5: MODERNISM AND AFTER 1914-2000; Introduction; The International Style; Alternative Media; Photography; Alternative Centres: The Soviet Union; Alternative Centres: Latin America; Alternative Centres: India; Alternative Centres: Africa/Afro-Caribbean; Alternative Centres: Canada & Australia; Postmodernism; Art History; Critics & Criticism; Art Museums and Galleries; Epilogue; Chronology; Glossary; Further Reading; Picture credits; Index

About the Author

Martin Kemp, British Academy Wolfson Professor (1993-8) and Professor of the History of Art, University of Oxford, is one of the UK's most distinguished art historians. His many publications include Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor; The Science of Art; and Behind the Picture: Art and Evidence in the Italian Renaissance. He lives in the U.K.

Reviews

The dogmatic overviews of art that are the traditional texts for students in college-level survey classes and the occasional museum-goer are overthrown by this refreshing and accessible survey. Instead of foregone conclusions, renowned art historian Kemp and his 50 contributors (representing a diversity of backgrounds and specialties) offer an elasticized look at art and an understanding that poses as many questions as it answers. Instead of taking a purely visual approach (i.e., organized by style and medium along a linear chronology), Kemp focuses on social, religious and political history, occasionally showing art in situ and juxtaposing photos by subject matter, but without ignoring standard art historical pedagogy. The first section, for example, focuses on the classical art of ancient Greece and Rome, but includes a subsection on "Ancient Paradigms from Augustus to Mussolini." The final section, "Modernism and After," extends the book's western reach to include the art of the Soviet Union, Latin America and India, and discusses the roles of art museums and galleries and the evolving discipline of art history. "Ultimately, there is no reason to look at art," Kemp writes in the epilogue, "but many of us cannot stop doing it, and it clearly meets fundamental human needs visually, intellectually, and psychologically. This book is designed to assist in meeting those needs." And so it does. (Oct. 31) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Kemp (art history, Oxford) and his team of 50 mostly British/Commonwealth/North American authors have restructured the narrative art history text (e.g., Gardner, Janson) into five themesDclassical antiquity, 600 B.C.E.-400 C.E.; European visual culture, 400-1527; European visual culture, 1527-1770; the age of revolutions, 1770-1914; and Modernism, 1914 on. About 50 essays with perhaps 150 extended-caption subject groupings (e.g., Roman sculpture, the interior, pictures and publics, design and industry, etc., which repeat as appropriate within the larger divisions), make up the body of the text. Threads running throughout include the roles of religion and the state in the creation and meaning of art and, later, the self-consciousness of art in a world conscious of art history. Kemp has done a good job of keeping an overall vision on the page and placing objects in meaningful contexts. A number of the illustrations and comparisons are unusual and thoughtful. All in all, a refreshing reformulation of the subject that is recommended for general collections and also of interest to specialists.DJack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Libs. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.