General books on art?

[BookBeauty]

So, I'm looking for general works on art. Nothing in particular, anything pre 20th century is of some interest. Books that have images of various paintings, sculptures, great buildings and such.. Maybe with a little info about the maker.. Just general works.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

[Janine]

BookBeauty, I like your avatar; it is very artistic. Welcome to this forum. I am artist and have collected quite a number of art books in my lifetime. I will try to come up with some titles for you of ones I think are good.

stlukesguild is also an artist who teaches. I am sure he could probably steer you towards books, which include a little of everything, if that is what you are looking for. I normally go out to Barnes and Noble to browse their bargain books on art. It seems that is where I get the best deals. Ones I particularly like have been of individuals artwork, such as Dali (Catelogue of the show in Philadephia, bought online later), Van Gogh, Mucha (bought those two not long ago at B&N in the reduced books section), Andrew Wyeth, M.C.Echer, Maxfield Parrish, The Pre-Raphelites, Michelangelo, Degas's Ballerinas, and a number of other books I highly cherish.

You might also try a bookshop at an art museum, if you happen to have one available and near to your home. I have found some great buys at museums or shows. I have also found great used and discontinued books at my library for mere pennies or free; I have found others at yardsales and thriftstores.

[stlukesguild]

Well... if you are willing to expand your explorations into the twentieth century, I would highly recommend Robert Hughes' The Shock of the New. Hughes is very readable, knows his stuff, is quite opinionated... and I tend to agree with most of his opinions. You might also check out Robert Hughes' American Visions in which the critic offers up a loving exploration of the art of his adopted country. To get some notion of Hughes passion for art you might check into the recent documentary, The Mona Lisa Curse, in which the critic explores the negative impact of money upon the art of today. The film is 12 parts on YouTube but is quite eye-opening and powerful. For anyone who thinks that the world of contemporary literature is f....ed up... you ain't seen nothing 'til you see what is happening in the visual arts.:(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbQ0GqX0Its&feature=PlayList&p=C19B4F073379EBA1&index=0&playnext=1

Most of the books on art in general that come with reproductions (in color) tend to lean toward the large text-book variety: Gardner, Janson, and Arnason have long been the standard books on introductory Art History... with Marilyn Stokstad and even Matthew Collings among the more interesting contemporary additions. It probably is somewhat essential to get a grasp on the history of art in a larger sense before getting into a lot of the best critical writing... which assumes the reader has a grasp up to a certain point.

From the introductory level I would then advice anyone interested to look into branching out with monograms upon specific artists, styles, or periods. Konemann press has especially marvelous books filled with magnificent reproductions that focus on a given culture or period: Rome, Venice, Florence, the Gothic, the Romanesque, the Renaissance, Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, etc... These can often be found remaindered or at used book stores for a mere fraction of the price. Indeed, used book stores are a great route to begin building a collection of any art books.

Among the finest writing upon art I would recommend the following: John Ruskin's Stones of Venice, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, and Modern Painters; Sir Kenneth Clark's The Nude, Civilization, and What is a Masterpiece?; Andre Malraux's The Voices of Silence; David Sylvester's About Modern Art; E.H. Gombrich's The Story of Art, Art and Illusion, and The Uses of Images. A good number of writers are quite strong on art including Charles Baudelaire, John Ashberry, Guillaume Apollinaire, etc...

[mal4mac]

E.H. Gombrich's The Story of Art

This is a fantastic book! Gombrich was a follower of Sir Karl Popper and when Popper was asked why he had written little about the philosophy of art, he said that Gombrich had done that for him. Don't worry about this particular book being full of difficult philosophy, though, it's simply a great introduction to the history of art, with a coherent philosophy behind it, lightly held. It's full of great pictures in full colour, albeit a little small in size. It's been reprinted for half a century and I noticed the other day that my local library has just acquired a new printing, so you should have no difficulty finding it.

[wessexgirl]

This is a fantastic book! Gombrich was a follower of Sir Karl Popper and when Popper was asked why he had written little about the philosophy of art, he said that Gombrich had done that for him. Don't worry about this particular book being full of difficult philosophy, though, it's simply a great introduction to the history of art, with a coherent philosophy behind it, lightly held. It's full of great pictures in full colour, albeit a little small in size. It's been reprinted for half a century and I noticed the other day that my local library has just acquired a new printing, so you should have no difficulty finding it.

:thumbs_up Seconded. I have loads of art books, but many of them are monographs. One I can think of off the top of my head though which is good, is The Power of Art by Simon Schama, which complements the tv series he did.

http://www.rbooks.co.uk/product.aspx?id=1847921183

[meh!]

all of Simon Schama's the power of art is available on youtube, and I would second 'Gombriche's the story of art. Is what got me into to art in the first place.

[BookBeauty]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll look into them right away.

And just to clarify, what I meant in my first post is that I'm interested in art that was created before the 20th century, and not the books that contain them. I don't really care when the books were published. ;)

For some reason, modern and contemporary art or anything else post-20th just doesn't peak my interest as much as say the ancient, classic, medieval, renaissance, neoclassicism periods etc. So I'm looking for general introductory works on the various eras, before delving deeper into specific artists etc..

[Pecksie]

A history book I loved, with a special emphasis on art, is Johan Huizinga's 'The Autumn of the Middle Ages'. His pages on Van Eyck are just beautiful.

[stlukesguild]

Yes, Huizinga was a good writer... especially on the Northern Renaissance. I repeatedly came across him in studying Bosch and Breughel.

[mal4mac]

Everyone likes Gombrich. No arguments for once :-) Is there a literary critic who has been seriously influenced by Popper? A literary Gombrich?

[wessexgirl]

Everyone likes Gombrich. No arguments for once :-) Is there a literary critic who has been seriously influenced by Popper? A literary Gombrich?

He's pretty much the recommended authority on UK art courses, or he was when I was studying.

To the OP, I think we had to buy the Pelican History of Painting and Sculpture too, I can't remember without going to check my shelves. I believe Berenson is one of the authorities on Renaissance Art, which I have on my shelves somewhere, and I have a lovely huge book on Art: A World History, from Dorling Kindersley, one of those huge overview books. I have lots on Modern Art and Modernism, but don't be put off when you see Modern Art in the title, as you will get the biggies of the mid to late 19th century, (I know you wanted pre-20th century). I think we had to get Modern European Art by Bowness. There's loads out there, enjoy.