Customer Reviews

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art

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The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside companion to the History of Western Art succeeds on several levels. First of all, it works on a visual level, with graphics that draw you in immediately. But after you are drawn in, one is equally impressed by the text, which is simultaneously informative and humorous. Between the David Letterman-like top 10 lists, the cartoons, and the collages, one is constantly entertained while simultaneously becoming outraged by outdated, demeaning quotes about women from well-known men. At the same time, one learns a lot about some female artists that have been ignored during our art history studies, and one sees a different perspective on some more famous female artists that were mentioned but treated with less admiration than they probably deserved.

All in all, this book succeeds as an extension of the Guerrilla Girls performance art, reaching out to those of us who couldn't go to a New York opening and see it crashed by these women in Gorilla masks. Hopefully soon, partially thanks to books like this, more people will wonder why most of the nudes in museums are women, while so few of the artists represented in these museums are of that same gender.

This book takes you, with biting wit and humor, beyond the works of "accepted" masters (all of whom I deeply admire, by the way), showing you that for every renaissance man, there was an Artemisia Gentileschi. That among the plethora of still lifes from the 17th and 18th centuries, you that you would do well to study those of Rachel Rueysch, who captures every petal and leaf with intoxicating detail and color. They were able, even with my deep-seated resistance to "modern art", to instill in me a deep appreciation for works of impressionists, modernists, post-modernists and abstract artists.

In short, an ideal starting point for those looking to delve into art history, yet still ideal for those academics with short attentions spans. I only wish it were longer!

An absolute fun read for lovers of art history! This book gives a brief history of women in art, challenges they faced (and still face today), and the roles of women from classical times through the present time.
Just who are the Guerrilla Girls'? They are a group of artists and arts professionals, who in the 1980's, decided to fight discrimination in the art world and become the self-proclaimed "conscience of the art world."
"We wore gorilla masks to keep the focus on the issues rather than our personalities."
The Guerrilla Girls' begin with the images of women from the Classical Era, where reliefs of Amazons decorated buildings, but an ancient Greek or Roman "women could not vote or engage in transactions worth more than a grain of barley."
Travel through the Middle Ages where Hildegard von Bingen decorated beautiful texts and Christine de Pizan made her living as a writer (the first woman known to have done so!)
The journey continues through the Renaissance with Lavinia Fontana, Sonfonisba Anguissola, and Artemisia Gentileschi, through the 17th and 18th centuries with Judith Leyster and Angelica Kauffman; all on the way to the 20th century and Frida Kahlo, Lee Krasner, and Eva Hesse.
What makes this book so much more interesting than the other books coming out on women artists, is the humor the Guerrilla Girls' use to get the point across and the graphic nature of the book itself. Each page is filled with examples of artwork and fun graphics.

I saw the Guerilla Girls two years ago at Barnes and Noble in New York's Greenwich Village. They were book signing 'Beside Companinon to the History of Western Art' and I must say I was impressed by their knowledge and intellect. They also made me laugh, which is refreshing, because art history is taking TOO seriously by the academy.

Anyone who loves art but could care less about the history should pick up this book. It does not bore you to tears with academic jargon, it is filled with illustrations and spunky commentary on a very large subject: Western art. The Guerilla Girls are smart enough to stay with certain topics and themes. Western art is too huge to cover it in one sitting, the girls go right to the good stuff. Well done.

The book is informative and enjoyable to read through. Graphics and visuals support the text. Most artists and art educators are (or should be) familiar with the Guerilla Girls and their work and may find this a repeat of what is already known, For those who are unfamiliar with their works or who have had a typical western oriented art history background, this book will be an eye opener.

The book is informative and enjoyable to read through. Graphics and visuals support the text. Most artists and art educators are (or should be) familiar with the Guerilla Girls and their work and may find this a repeat of what is already known, For those who are unfamiliar with their works or who have had a typical western oriented art history background, this book will be an eye opener.

The Guerrilla Girls' present a quick overview of the omitted art history of female artists. The Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art performs as stated - each page is an easily digested tidbit of information about women's roles in art and the lives they lead. Most articles are confined to two pages and include examples of the artwork and pictures of the artists.

In-depth information won't be found in this book, other than the additional resources list provided at the back of the book. However, this book serves as an excellent ancillary to any traditional art history book that vastly under-represents female artists. For anyone wanting an entertaining, yet informative, graphic-intensive overview of the women left out of art history books, this is a great starting point.

I use this as a supplimental text in my high school art history classes, and the students love the format, with its heavy dose of satire, comics and irreverent historical research. It is full of little gems. I especially love the Renaissance chapter and the GG's description of the true Renaissance Man. This book is also historically accurate, short and easy to read. It could even be used as a prime example of feminist scholarship and humor and the fact that the two are not mutually exclusive. Also, even though it was written twenty years ago, it is not at all dated- the students would never think it is aout of date.

The main forewarning I give is this: the Guerilla Girls wrote this book. Yes, that's obvious, but when you read that, you should be thinking of militant feminist artists and art historians. With that in mind, the book is written with a definitely militant voice, but it is definitely well-written, well-researched, and gets their message across. It was a great deal shorter than I was expecting, since I didn't look at the page count, but it was an enlightening (if quick) read, and more of a glimpse and enticement into the world of non-white-male artists.

I was at my university bookstore picking up my two art history courses' textbooks and I saw this book and my heart jumped! A year ago in my first 2-d design course my professor had told us all about the Guerilla Girls and I had just finished taking a sociology course that made me feel more inclined to female equality. Between my Sociology Now! textbook and reading this Guerilla Girls book, I feel more strongly and proud about my gender more than anything else and have analyzed so many situations in correlation to the subject.

This book is a terrific resource for learning more about women's place in art throughout centuries. I was a bit disappointed that it didn't do more about statistics or criticism about how we are still underplayed in society, such as the famous 'MoMA Has 5%...' ad that I've seen just about everywhere. What about how we were perceived a hundred years ago? They speak about women's rights, what they can and could not do, comparatively to men and, though interesting, it's still not what I expected.

Thus, this book is terrific as a reference or introduction to the history of female artists, one that you should have in your collection just because we are often (still) overlooked in the art world.