ISBN9780155050907

Wonderful Art History textbook. Very comprehensive. CD-ROM quite useful. Used this text for Advanced Placement Art History course in high school for 2006-2007 school year. Liked the book so much I purchased one from Amazon in May. The copy I bought is bound upside down (the cover is upside down compared to the text inside).

The main strength of this book are the pictures - most of them in colour and all of superb quality. To each picture corresponds a section in the text which describes the displayed work in a vivid and informative way, cultivating the reader's ability to look at art, understand and appreciate it. Another excellent feature are the "boxes", containing e.g. a description of an artistic technique or an excerpt from an original written source.

However, questions arise when it comes to more general parts of the text, e.g. chapter introductions aimed at conveying a broad picture of art and society of the epoque. Simplifications are expected, but they shouldn't be misleading - here are just some examples of the contrary: it's not correct to include Merovigians among the barbarian tribes (Goths, Franks, ...) that invaded the Roman empire! This is absent in the 11th edition but present in the 12th. Or, one cannot say that the Treaty of Westphalia granted religious freedom in Europe: that freedom mostly applied only to the local sovereigns, while their subjects were forced, sometimes quite brutally, to follow the religion of their boss. The Centre Pompidou in Paris is not quite a place of "popular entertainment", etc.

Conceptually, the book follows a certain point of view, emphasizing e.g. the question of gendre - the reader learns, for instance, that the communities in ancien Grece were dominated by "white males" ... The authors have also decided to include some works which are not generally accepted as art - but is an introductory textbook like this a good place to redefine the notion of art?

In summary, if you want in the first place to enjoy splendid pictures described in revealing yet understandable terms, go for this book. If you are looking for a more solid and reliable information, look somewhere else.

I purchased this book for a class; Ancient Art history. This book really is beautiful. Most of my textbooks I would resale once my class ended, but I definitely plan on keeping this one. The authors did a great job of giving high level overviews and thorough descriptions for each work; both in artistic form and historical context. I would highly recommend this book for both art enthusiasts and students.

I had to buy this book for school and I have to tell you, it isn't easy forking out over $100 bucks for a textbook. I have no regrets now after finishing my course and exploring this amazing Art Histoty book. It is something you will have for a lifetime and be glad that you do!

The book came as described by the seller and the CD that comes with the book is has great resources for studying the chapters but I have never waited so long for a book to arrive from amazon, I ordered on the first week of my class and I got it the third week into my class which wasn't very helpful to me