Synopsis
This text is an illustrated survey of movements in world art since 1960. The Modern Movement - unchallenged for the previous six decades - has lost its dominance, but has not been replaced by any single new orthodoxy. Artists, critics and the public alike are now confronted by a situation of unprecedented variety and complexity. Lucie-Smith's earlier "Art Today" was a survey of post-war art. This revised edition reflects the changes that have swept across the art world since 1960, challenging all the old assumptions and certainties. As he reviews the new work worldwide, his central argument is that the art world is no longer hierarchical but plural, and that its structures - if they exist at all - are provisional. He charts the progress of contemporary developments and points out their sources and interrelationships. The work of nearly 500 outstanding contemporary artists is analyzed and illustrated in colour.
Reviews
This massive survey attempts to essay the scope and aims of the art of the world over the past 30 years. Noted critic Lucie-Smith (American Realism, LJ 12/94) has done an admirable job in making sense of the welter of "isms" that exist in contemporary art. He has also brought the coverage right up to the present, with many of the movements illustrated dating from 1995. As well as such well-trod ground as Pop Art, Lucie-Smith covers Conceptual Art, Installation Art, and Neo-Expressionism. He also covers a broad geographic range, including artists and works from the former Soviet Union, Africa, the Far East, and Latin America. Chapters are also included on "Racial Minorities" and "Feminist and Gay" art. Clearly written and with copious illustrations, the book offers brief biographies of all artists mentioned, a chronology, and bibliography. This essential guide to contemporary art is highly recommended for subject collections.?Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Lucie-Smith, author most recently of American Realism , is a prolific, insightful, and innovative interpreter of modern art. Here he braves the turbulence of contemporary art, that is, art since the 1960s. This has been an era of unprecedented experimentation and diversity, or, as Lucie-Smith writes, "the richest, most controversial and perhaps most thoroughly confusing epoch in the whole history of the visual arts." This complexity has inspired a daunting number of hyphenated terms, from "neo-dada" to "neo-Expressionism," but Lucie-Smith runs this linguistic obstacle course with a minimum of jargon, much savvy, and genuine enthusiasm. Beginning with pop art and moving through a half-dozen painting styles, performance art, and sculpture, Lucie-Smith profiles key artists from all over the world, bringing many women artists and artists of color in from the sidelines to center stage. He has also selected superb examples of each artist's work, all of which are reproduced in brilliant color. A monumental undertaking executed with consummate skill. Donna Seaman
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