Art for the Ages

by TOPICS Entertainment

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004GP0H
• Item model number: CS-32
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 17, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,694 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #94 in Software > Education & Reference > Arts & Culture
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Countertop's Art for the Ages takes advantage of the flexibility of the CD-ROM medium to build an art museum inside your computer. By integrating audio clips, interactive links, historical text, time lines, and a zoom function with reproductions of the works themselves, this program emulates the experience of seeing these works in person with a knowledgeable tour guide. It might stand to reason that if the makers of this program bothered to use technology creatively to present a virtual museum, they would then strive to make the content of Art for the Ages innovative as well--but sadly, it's not so.

The objective of this program is clear and admirable: to take works from around the world spanning eight centuries and present them in an interesting, coherent, and educational format. On many fronts, Countertop accomplishes this goal. Art for the Ages is attractively designed and relatively user-friendly. This program, however, is fundamentally flawed, not for what it includes, but for what it omits, namely, women. The only prominent woman in this four CD-ROM set is the Virgin Mary, and even the commentary on her is largely devoted to what she is wearing.

Art for the Ages covers a time span (ending in 1914) that drops off before many renowned female artists escaped the periphery of art history, but that does not excuse the blatant disregard for the importance of women in art as subjects (even objects) or as audience. Even the "in-depth" analysis of male artists' pieces neglects the relationships that artists such as Gauguin, Rodin, and van Gogh had with women, relationships that may have highly influenced their works. The capabilities of the CD-ROM format could have incorporated women and other members of society on the margin into this retelling of art history without usurping the importance of white male artists. What Art for the Ages accomplishes, on the other hand, is that it presents hackneyed perspectives in a post-modern package. --Cintra Pollack

Amazon.com Product Description

Art for the Ages is a truly beautiful CD-ROM collection. It includes two of the most highly acclaimed art software titles ever produced on four complete CD-ROMS: The Encyclopedia of Western Art and Masterpieces of Painting. Take an in-depth look at the artists and learn the various styles while enjoying a soothing, classical music score. Whether you are an art novice or a serious student, the huge volume of works and facts contained in this collection will keep you engaged for hours.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a decent resource that ultimately misses it's mark, June 19, 2001

By 

T. Richardson (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art for the Ages (CD-ROM)

This compilation was the embodiment of just about every single thing that frustrates me with textbooks; it takes such a scholarly approach that it really has no real conceptual grasp of it's subject. Every bio ends up stripping the artist of their personal life and turning them into some sort of icon with boorish and sometimes even irrelivant facts, which in my mind is stifling to the very nature of art. You can't systematically deconstruct a Van Gogh unless you have somewhat of an insight on the artist's life. You can't simply state that Gustav Klimt was a founding member of "the secession" without delving into his motivations, and who is going to know what the "the secession" is without already having a knowledge of Klimt's background? The motivational interpretations are sometimes just as muddled, inaccessible and dare i say even somewhat pretentious (when we learn from sources such as this, it's no wonder why the general public has such a tendency to disregard the fine arts).

I really don't know who the target audience was by these programs because it's most likely to disinterest any novice to the world of art and it lacks the depth to appease anyone that's even remotely educated with art.

"Art for the Ages" is a decent basic resource for your usual uninvolved, highschool/college report but it really has a talent of taking some of history's most fascinating figures and dehumanizing them into boring, vague and detatched descriptions.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money, December 3, 2001

By 

"caraw" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art for the Ages (CD-ROM)

This product never worked. I mean NEVER worked. I have a Pentium 3 450 Dell system, and I follwed all the directions given, but the product was never able to be opened. I tried to contact the manufacturer and not only was no one able to help me, I was not able to return the product because it is software and you could, potentially, copy it once it is opened. Perhaps this product would work on your system, but why chance it? Save your money and buy a product from a more reputable company with good customer service.