Customer Reviews

Academies, Museums and Canons of Art (Art and Its Histories Series)

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Honestly, I picked up this book because of gorgeous reproductions. And because it focuses on English institutions and art--not my strongest suite. But each chapter not only refreshed my basic knowledge of art history but reminded and educated me of the many factors that play into the shaping of the discipline, from royal schools to government decrees. Most interesting was the way the authors researched how museum collections are formed by not only taste and education but also politics and monetary factors. These should be obvious, but sometimes the cleaness of an exhibition wipes away the history of why an artwork was chosen, why it is displayed in a certain manner, and why a museum may, or may not, promote their collections.

The book offers a basic discussion on canons of art. Being a professor of Latin, Greek and of Ancient art it is easy for me to point at some (though very few)oddities, eg the derivation of "allegory" from the Latin "alia oratio" when the term is in fact derived from the Greek "alle + agoreuoo",but this would do no credit to the information provided and the sometimes thought provoking passages. In fact, I already used some ideas that I found in the text, in my own class. Therefore: a good and stimulating introduction. Overall, the book offers what it promises to do.