If you've always wanted to find out more about art but felt intimidated by the overeducated art world, then you've found the answer. Art For Dummies is the book that will have you and everyone you know clamoring outside the doors of your local museum. Thomas Hoving, former director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, is credited with revolutionizing the Met, doubling its size during his tenure, and bringing art to the masses. Let him bring art to you as well. In Art For Dummies, Thomas Hoving provides a how-to guide to the art world. First, he guides you through an introduction to art appreciation, pointing out the details that you've always noticed but have never been able to explain. Next, Hoving takes you on a ride through art history. (Have you ever regretted not taking those art history classes in school With Art For Dummies, you'll feel all caught up and ready to spar with the local intellectuals.) Hoving even includes a guide to the world's top art cities and centers, a listing that can help you prepare for your next artistic voyage. With this guide, you can discover where to go in order to see the greatest works of art, and you can also find out about hidden treasures in nearby art museums.
You also get a great start for seeking out art with Hoving's lists of the greatest works of Western civilization, the most interesting artists, and the contemporary artists to watch. Don't wait another day to introduce yourself to the art world!
Author(s): Thomas Hoving
Series: For Dummies
Publisher: I D G Books Worldwide
Year: 1999
Language: English
Pages: 382
Title
Contents
Introduction
About This Book
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I : Appreciating Art
Chapter 1: What Is Art?
Toward a Definition of Art
How to Recognize Good Art
Chapter 2: How to Appreciate Art Without an Advanced Degree
The Key to Being a Connoisseur
Chapter 3: How to Visit a Museum the Way the Pros Do
Doing What the Pros Do
Part II : Art through the Ages
Chapter 4: Prehistoric Art
Prehistoric Cave Art
Art Leaves the Caves
Chapter 5: The Ancient World: Still the Most Exciting
The Ancient Near East
Mesopotamia
Anatolia
Persia
Egypt, the True Grandmother of the Fine Arts
The Glory That Was Greece
The Art of Rome
Chapter 6: Medieval Art
Early Christian Art
The “Dark Ages”
The Romanesque
The Gothic
The International Style
Byzantine Art
Chapter 7: The Renaissance and Revivals
Renascences
The Italian Proto-Renaissance
Italian Early Renaissance
Italian High Renaissance
Chapter 8: The Northern European “Renaissance”
The Grandeur of the Northern Renaissance
Northern Sculpture
Chapter 9: Mannerism: Sensuality and the Bizarre
The Real and the Invented Mannerism
French Mannerism
El Greco
Chapter 10: The Baroque: The True Golden Age
The Birth of Baroque
The Caravaggesque Style Elsewhere
The Flourishing of the Baroque
Baroque Tendencies in France
The Best of the 17th Century: Diego Velázquez
Chapter 11: The Sparkling 18th Century
France and the Rococo Style
Germany and the Rococo
The Impact of Italy
English Contributions
The Emergence of America
The End of the Rococo
Chapter 12: Neoclassicism and the Romantic Twinge
Neoclassicism
Romanticism
Chapter 13: Impressionism
The Roots of Impressionism
The Key Role of Édouard Manet
Claude Monet
The Impressionist “Style”
Chapter 14: Post-Impressionism
Painting after the Impressionists
Chapter 15: Modern Art: The Bold, the Beautiful, and the Not-So-Beautiful
Pablo Picasso
ISMs and Other Styles
Is Modern Art Something of a Joke?
Chapter 16: Contemporary Art and Its “ISMs”
The Lowdown on Contemporary Art
Abstract Expressionism
Color Field Painting
Pop Art
Abstract Illusionism
Art Brut
Body Art
Minimalism
Conceptual Art
Earthworks
Hairy Whoism and Chicago Imagism
“True” Art
Neurotic Realism
Transavantgardism
Installation Art
Chapter 17: A Look at Art Beyond the Western World
China
Japan
India and Southeast Asia
Islamic Art — Only God Remains
Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Part III : Beginning Your Own Collection
Chapter 18: Getting Ready to Collect
Getting Set to Collect
The Don’ts of Collecting Art
Chapter 19: How to Play the Buying Game
The Many Faces of Forgeries
Where to Go to Buy
Knowing What to Ask
Understanding Dealer-Speak
Taking Your Chances at an Auction
What to Collect and What to Avoid
What to Look Into or Avoid
Part IV : The Part of Tens
Chapter 20: The Greatest Works of Western Civilization
King Tut’s Golden Mask
The Sculptures of the Parthenon
The Scythian Gold Pectoral
Nicholas of Verdun’s Enameled Altar
Giotto’s Arena Chapel
The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck
Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa”
Michelangelo’s “David”
The Isenheim Altarpiece by Mathias Grünewald
El Greco’s “Burial of Count Orgaz”
Diego Velázquez’s “Las Meninas”
Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son”
Francisco Goya’s “The Third of May, 1808”
Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party”
Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”
Chapter 21: The Ten Most Interesting Artists
Leonardo da Vinci
Albrecht Dürer
Pablo Picasso
Francisco Goya
Diego Velázquez
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Peter Paul Rubens
Rembrandt van Rijn
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Lysippus
Chapter 22: Ten Artists Worth Watching
Mark di Suvero
Gary Simmons
Helen Frankenthaler
Andrew Wyeth
Frank Stella
Anselm Kiefer
Wayne Thiebaud
Robert Rauschenberg
Jenny Saville
Dale Chihuly
Chapter 23: How to Tell if Your Child Has Artistic Genius and Then What to Do
Does My Child Have an Artistic Spark?
Part V : Appendixes
Appendix A: Artspeak Unmasked
Appendix B: The Professional’s Checklist on How to Buy Art
Appendix C: Art Chronology
Part VI : The Essential Guide to the World’s Top Art Cities and Centers
Essential Guide Chapter 1: The Awesome Americas
UNITED STATES
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Texas
Virginia
Wyoming
CANADA
LATIN AMERICA
Brazil
Mexico
Peru
Venezuela
Essential Guide Chapter 2: Europe
Austria
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands, The
Russia
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Essential Guide Chapter 3: Non-Western Destinations
Egypt
Israel
Turkey
: Bibliography
Online Material:
Print Material:
: Color Insert
