Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture [Hardcover]

Frederick Hartt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1989

With authority and insight, gained from over 50 years as a teacher and scholar, Professor Hartt traces the course of western art from the Old Stone Age to the present. Coverage of the 20th century has been extensively updated. 1,412 illustrations, 360 in full color.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-- This update adds chapters on India, China, and Japan, as well as plates and text on contemporary art up to 1988. Also, 151 illustrations which were formerly in black and white now appear in color. A book that will be useful in all libraries as an overview of art history up to the present day.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is the revised edition of a one-volume textbook that does it all, in a structured race from Altamira to Post-Modernism. The competitors are H.W. Janson's History of Art (Abrams, 1986. 3d ed.) and Gardner's Art Through the Ages (HBJ, 1986 . 8th ed.), edited by Horst de la Croix and Richard Tansey. All three are textbooks with a general library utility; despite overlaps, all three are excellent tools for reference or quick summary. The chief changes in Hartt are the inclusion of a 50-page survey of Far Eastern art, the "attempt . . . to give women something approaching their just treatment," and the doubling of the number of color plates to 360. The bibliography has been updated only by the inclusion of a very brief list of Far Eastern materials. Maps and time lines are good, but illustrations frequently fall into the gutter. The publisher has gone to a slightly lighter-weight, glossier paper, which gives an irritating amount of show through, but the binding appears reasonably sturdy. Hartt writes with feeling and clarity and a point of view, something unusual in a text. Although changes are minimal in most areas, this edition will receive heavy use. All three surveys must be supplemented in their treatment of more recent work.
- Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1087 pages
• Publisher: Harry N Abrams; 3 edition (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810918846
• ISBN-13: 978-0810918849
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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