The Visual Arts: A History - Softcover

Honour, Hugh; Fleming, John F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0205665357 ISBN 13: 9780205665358

Publisher: Pearson, 2009

Synopsis

Hailed as the most up-to-date and comprehensive survey published in a single volume, this new revised edition is an authoritative and enlightened account of the history of art. It presents art history as an essential part of the development of humankind, encompassing the arts of Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe, and the Americas-spanning from the primitive art of hunters 30,000 years ago to the most controversial art forms of today. The text is beautifully and generously illustrated with over 1,400 superb photographs, including architectural plans and color maps

About this title

About the Author:

Hugh Honour is one of the leading art historians of the 20th century. He is co-author with Nikolaus Pevsner and John Fleming of The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture.

John Fleming founded and edited with Hugh Honour the Pelican Style and Civilization series. He died in 2001.

From Booklist:

Originally published in 2009, this most recent edition of Honour and Fleming’s classic art-history text is now being marketed to a general audience at a more affordable price. With a chronology that stretches from prehistory to the present day in nearly 1,000 pages and 1,500 color and black-and-white images images, this book aims to be comprehensive, as befitting its stated goal of being “exploratory rather than critical.” Photography, architecture, and digital and installation art are discussed, along with traditional media, such as painting and sculpture. Unlike many art-history books, the focus here goes beyond Western art, and topics such as colonialism and indigenous art are addressed within the chronological organization rather than in separate sections or volumes. Also notable is the attention devoted to contemporary art. The final chapter, “Into the Third Millennium,” focuses on art from the 1980s to the early 2010s. Contributed by contemporary art historian Michael Archer, the chapter addresses recent developments from a global perspective, including sections on “Postmodern Multiculturalism” and “Globalization, Sensation, and Spectacle.” Each chapter begins with a time line that juxtaposes historical landmarks with events in the visual arts. “In Context,” “Urban Development,” and “Sources and Documents” boxes provide historical, religious, and cultural context and excerpts from relevant primary source documents. The book also includes a glossary, lists of further reading for each chapter, and an index. Classic art-history surveys are regularly updated but often at a significantly higher cost. At just $75, this book represents an affordable and comprehensive addition to academic, school, and public library collections. --Lindsay Harmon

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0205665357
• ISBN 13: 9780205665358
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1004