Customer Reviews

A Short Guide to Writing about Art (7th Edition)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My Art History department adopted this book as its official style-manual a few years ago, and we assign it as a textbook for our writing and methodology class. To my great dismay, however, our bookstore has had some trouble ordering it this year, and so I have encouraged my students to "cut the Gordion knot" by ordering it from Amazon. The chapters on choosing a topic and organizing an argument are, I think, useful and well-written, but the greatest value of this book is Chapters 9 and 10, which provide clear instructions for writing footnotes and bibliography. This may be a mechanical task, but it is a frustrating one for many students, because there are so many possible formats to use (MLA, Turabian, etc.) Barnet's system has the virtue of being designed specifically for research papers about art and art history, and the format he recommends is clear and logical. The book also reprints the instructions for contributors from the Art Bulletin, the most prestigious art-historical journal in this country, and so will be of value for graduate students and recent PhD's preparing their first works for publication.

I was quite surprised, but I really like this book. I was having a lot of trouble writing an art history paper and this book really helped clarify my thoughts. The book asks pointed questions that helps you focus your thoughts. I would strongly recommend this book to someone writing an art history paper.

I recently read the 6th edition of this book in hopes that it would help me to improve my ability to understand and write about art. I found that the book is a direct, well-written primer for someone finishing high school or beginning their undergraduate degree, but for someone with a bit more experience, it turns out to be a mixed bag.

I know next to nothing about visual art. I'm the quintessential "knows what I likes, and likes what I knows" type of guy. On the other hand, I'm a graduate student in English, so I'm well-practiced in writing essays and in applying various theoretical and critical methods. I read this book in the hopes that it would help me to better understand art. That is, I wanted to learn, as Sylvia Barnet puts it, "How does art mean?" The beginning of the text does introduce some basic questions and ways to think about different kinds of art, ranging from painting, to sculpture, to architecture, to photography, to video art, etc. However, this is not meant to be an instructional book to teach someone about art. It is more like an assistant text for a freshman-level art history course. A great deal of the book is spent discussing how to organize essays, sentence structure, revising, formatting, and some instruction on critical methods. But, again, this book is not a book on writing. It's not about art, it's not about writing, so what is it? Well, like it says, it's about writing about art. A good deal of this book was useless to me, but some of it was enlightening. If you've already got some experience studying the visual arts, or some experience writing, or you just want a really indepth study on either, pick out something else. If, however, you just want an easily understood, basic primer on writing and art, this isn't a bad choice at all.

I purchased this book at the beginning of the semester and have found it an invaluable resource. This is my first term as a graduate student, and I don't think I could have survived had it not been for this book. It gives useful commentary, helpful hints and a terrific reference section for footnotes and bibliographies. It addresses real problems that often occur in writing an art history paper and provides insightful solutions that encourage independent thinking. It also includes a section on essay exams which gets a quick read through when I take a test.
I had several "a ha!" moments when reading it for the first time, and now I keep it within arms reach whenever I write.
The price was a little steep, so I hesitated in buying, but when I finally made the purchase I was glad that I had.

This is a great book to refer to when writing an art history paper. I was an art history major in college, and this was the book that was recommended by the majority of my professors. I definitely recommend buying yourself a copy, because the copies at my art library were always checked out!

As a student who studies art history, this book helped me (and still helps me from time to time) a lot. Great when you need a guiding light when writing. I really thank the author.

This book is about writing on art.It has sections to equip you with what to keep in mind while writing an essay, research paper or review of an exhibit.

The book has sample examples for comparitive essays and reviews with a good analysis on the organization of the material, its purpose and aptness for the reader.

The checklist on writing on art can be extended to writing on books too. The many references to artists of all times with your interest will give you a walk through the whole of history of art.

The sections on what is art, interpretation, the importance of seeing for creating art and quotes by many writers and artists are interesting to read.

Barnet's _Short Guide_ is an essential tool for pedagogy, useful to any high school teacher or professor teaching an introductory Art History course to students with little or no experience writing about art. As a teacher, it's been so long since I began writing about art that I don't remember the things that I struggled with, and what exactly put me on course to proper art historical writing. So, I purchased the latest edition of Barnet's guide, which I remembered was particularly helpful to me in high school (AP Art History), and rereading it has been like reaquainting myself with a long lost friend who I didn't realize was so brilliant and articulate!

If you are in doubt, simply read the 'Sample Critical Essay' and its analysis on pgs. 14-21. The sample essay is written around high school or junior college level, and provides numerous opportunities to point out successes in the argumentation and revisions that may be made. The explications of what an evaluation, analysis, and thesis statement are, which follow, are clear and concise - full of quotable phrases explaining the sometimes-difficult concepts to students in an approachable manner. At the end of the section to which I refer, there is 'a note on outlining', giving students guidance on how to lay out an outline before writing, and failing that, how to outline their essays after they have written them. The guidance given will facilitate students composition of strong topic sentences and rearrangement of paragraphs as necessary to construct a sound argument.

I haven't had a chance to reread any of the other sections in the text, but the book has already merited its price. It's a soft-back of high-common printing quality (slightly glossy pages) that should prove durable enough (if the teacher doesn't opt instead to remove the binding in order to facilitate photocopying passages as I have done with Stokstad's text, another superior work surveying the history of art).

Sylvan Barnet's _Short Guide_ is an essential reference, and can prove a worthwhile supplementary book to require high school students to purchase, despite the over-pricing. For college students, possessing the manual is a must, and it will prove useful for the professor to require readings from sections of the text to be discussed in class.

I'll be working with my students on writing with Barnet's aid next week, and you'd highly benefit from securing this book as well!

I originally purchased this book as a guide to writing for my critical essays in art history classes. I have found it to be so helpful. It includes the kind of information that you don't even think about until you actually need to utilize them..so grateful it was available to me. The explanations and provided examples are very clear. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve in their writing style.

This is a must have for any art major that is currently or will be going into any college Art Program -- especially the analysis of Art via Art History classes. The directives are clear and easy to follow. Barnet breaks down all facets of writing -- from Reviews of exhibits to critical analysis of art work. This book can also be helpful in other classes as it guides the reader into writing more concisely and in a more direct manner. This is an excellent addition to any College Student and/or Faculty library.