Customer Reviews

Art in Theory 1900 - 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Had I read the reviews about this book, I wouldn't have bought it.
I had to though, for my "Art: Language and Theory" class, in my second year of Graphic Design major. I was shocked with it at first, it's almost 1300 pages, with not a single image in it! It looked extremely dull. But the thing is, I found it extremely useful, and enjoyable to read at times too. It covers art theories in the 20th century, and has texts written by artists, philosophers, polticians and much more.
I now refer to it with every paper I write, every presentation I make and so on. There are also letters and notes in the book by artists such as Cezanne and Matisse, which are delightful to read. I use a dictionary sometimes, but not always, though I agree, the language is hard to comprehend at first glance.
I don't think any art student or teacher could do without this book, I used it as a beginners guide while studying art, and I won't stop using it. Don't be put off when you first get this book, you'll learn to value and appreciate it with little time.

I used this book for a graduate theory class and ended up reading pretty much all of it. The book provides an excellent overview of the major movements during the past 100 years but also misses out on a lot of the most current trends. I believe there were less than 3 articles dated after 1999. The writings seem to be obscure at times, with the editors trying to draw distant similarites between varying fields. Most of the passages used overly pretentious language, so keep a dictionary nearby. This book is not a beginner guide and it helps to have some knowledge of art history as well as a little world history. A better or easier read would have to be "Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art"...

The subtitle to this book is "An Anthology of Changing Ideas", which is remarkably accurate. The excerpts in this book run the ideological spectrum from Winston Churchill to Adolf Hitler, and everyone in-between. The assembly of so many artists, politicians, philosophers, and theorists in one place has had a profound impact on my understanding of particular artworks, and my relationship to art in general. It's an intimidating book, but somehow this diverse group of thinkers is organized in a way that could be read straight through. Personally, I find it to be an invaluable tool for research and artistic growth.

This book is expensive but ends up repaying you back tremendously in the long run. Excellent paper material quality and typesetting very attractive. This is one book to carry on a deserted island. This is an anthology to treasure because it puts together extremely rare essays on art nowhere else in the current lexicon. Where else will you find essays by Trotsky on art criticism in politics? What about Max Weber's analysis of art? These by well known and not so well known authors makes for long reading sessions.

The essays are grouped by thematic content and given well rounded introductions by the editors of the volume. A word of warning to the readers: do not take what is put in the volume at face value...which is a big temptation. The only way to really learn from this book is to challenge the authors and decide for yourself the merits of the analysis. Art theory is intellectually dense but extremely dangerous to accept without serious study. This book is a reference on art theory like no other in the world. So please do yourselves a favor and get this book before it's taken out of print. And when this book goes out of print thanks to the ipad and ebook craze putting book publishers out of business...you'll be very sorry you didn't get it when you could.

This book is a collection of articles, which are very well known in the field of Art Theory.
You don't need to look up the historical books to find them....
They are already in this collection.
Excellent for reference particularly if you need to write your term paper.
This volume is even more useful than the one before 1900.
You cannot live without one if you are studying in Fine Arts or Aesthetics (Philosophy).

Spectacular book albeit a little intimidating. I was not expecting something so hefty when I originally ordered this book but was pleasantly surprised when it showed up in all its textbook-like glory. I would definitely recommend to other artists, art scholars, or art students a like.

Ok price, great condition, fast delivery. I was even surprised to see it on amazon...

the price was less then expected and the shipping was faster. all in all good job amazon!

This book is pretty heavy and went mostly over my head. I would say that I am pretty average intellectually. Unless you are very interested on the writings of artists from days gone by, it is pretty hard to follow. It was purchased as a required text for an undergraduate art history course and most students in the class felt the same way I do. I would say it is definitely on the PhD level.

my college library had the "feminist art theory" volume from this same series, and i LOVED that book to death.
since i liked that book so much, i thought it would be a good investment to cash in a recent gift certificate on this hefty volume.
i wish that i had gone for the feminist art volume-- it's much more relevant for anyone who is interested in art as political expression... that topic is really not addressed in this anthology.
it's probably still good as a reference if you're going to be writing a lot of papers for standard survey courses covering this time period, though.