The Story of Art - 16th Edition / Edition 16

by E.H. Gombrich, E. H. Gombrich

Overview

The Story of Art, one of the most famous and popular books on art ever written, has been a world bestseller for over four decades. Attracted by the simplicity and clarity of his writing, readers of all ages and backgrounds have found in Professor Gombrich a true master, and one who combines knowledge and wisdom with a unique gift for communicating his deep love of the subject.

For the first time in many years the book has been completely redesigned. The illustrations, now in color throughout, have all been improved and reoriginated, and include six fold—outs. The text has been revised and updated where appropriate, and a number of significant new artists have been incorporated. The bibliographies have been expanded and updated, and the maps and charts redrawn.

The Story of Art has always been admired for two key qualities: it is a pleasure to read and a pleasure to handle. In these respects the new edition is true to its much—loved predecessors: the text runs as smoothly as ever and the improved illustrations are always on the page where the reader needs them. In its new edition, this classic work continues its triumphant progress tirelessly for yet another generation, to remain the title of first choice for any newcomer to art or the connoisseur.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780714832470
Publisher:	Phaidon Press
Publication date:	09/28/1995
Edition description:	REVISED
Pages:	688
Sales rank:	17,079
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.75(h) x 1.75(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Ernst Gombrich was one of the greatest and least conventional art historians of his age, achieving fame and distinction in three separate spheres: as a scholar, as a popularizer of art, and as a pioneer of the application of the psychology of perception to the study of art. His best-known book, The Story of Art – first published 50 years ago and now in its sixteenth edition – is one of the most influential books ever written about art. His books further include The Sense of Order (1979) and The Preference for the Primitive (2002), as well as a total of 11 volumes of collected essays and reviews.

Gombrich was born in Vienna in 1909 and died in London in November 2001. He came to London in 1936 to work at the Warburg Institute, where he eventually became Director from 1959 until his retirement in 1976. He won numerous international honors, including a knighthood, the Order of Merit and the Goethe, Hegel and Erasmus prizes.

Gifted with a powerful mind and prodigious memory, he was also an outstanding communicator, with a clear and forceful prose style. His works are models of good art—historical writing, and reflect his humanism and his deep and abiding concern with the standards and values of our cultural heritage.

Table of Contents

	Preface	7
	Introduction: On art and artists	15
1	Strange Beginnings: Prehistoric and primitive peoples; Ancient America	39
2	Art for Eternity: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Crete	55
3	The Great Awakening: Greece, seventh to fifth century BC	75
4	The Realm of Beauty: Greece and the Greek world, fourth century BC to first century AD	99
5	World Conquerors: Romans, Buddhists, Jews and Christians, first to fourth century AD	117
6	A Parting of Ways: Rome and Byzantium, fifth to thirteenth century	133
7	Looking Eastwards: Islam, China, second to thirteenth century	143
8	Western Art in the Melting Pot: Europe, sixth to eleventh century	157
9	The Church Militant: The twelfth century	171
10	The Church Triumphant: The thirteenth century	185
11	Courtiers and Burghers: The fourteenth century	207
12	The Conquest of Reality: The early fifteenth century	223
13	Tradition and Innovation I: The later fifteenth century in Italy	247
14	Tradition and Innovation II: The fifteenth century in the North	269
15	Harmony Attained: Tuscany and Rome, early sixteenth century	287
16	Light and Colour: Venice and northern Italy, early sixteenth century	325
17	The New Learning Spreads: Germany and the Netherland, early sixteenth century	341
18	A Crisis of Art: Europe, later sixteenth century	361
19	Vision and Visions: Catholic Europe, first half of the seventeenth century	387
20	The Mirror of Nature: Holland, seventeenth century	413
21	Power and Glory I: Italy, later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries	435
22	Power and Glory II: France, Germany and Austria, late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries	447
23	The Age of Reason: England and France, eighteenth century	457
24	The Break in Tradition: England, America and France, late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries	475
25	Permanent Revolution: The nineteenth century	499
26	In Search of New Standards: The late nineteenth century	535
27	Experimental Art: The first half of the twentieth century	557
28	A Story Without End
	The triumph of Modernism	599
	Another turning of the tide	618
	The changing past	626
	A note on art books	638
	Chronological charts	655
	Maps	664
	List of illustrations by location	670
	Index and glossary	674
	Acknowledgements	687

Editorial Reviews

"Lucid and endlessly informative." – The Good Book Guide

"For everyone, not just for stuffed shirts." – The Mail on Sunday

"The country’s bestselling book on art, never out of print, still in demand" – The Times

"Gombrich’s voice is lively, opinionated, and almost conversational, yet his erudition shines through to make a book that is both accessible and informative." – Library Journal

"This comprehensive look at Western art from prehistoric times on up to the present has been completely redesigned and extensively revised and updated." – Booklist

"Enjoy the most famous book on art ever published. . . This has been revamped for the first time since 1972, offering larger illustrations, more color, and improved text and coverage. Highly recommended." – Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

Phaidon Press has produced a much-improved edition of Sir Ernst Gombrich's classic narrative study of art history, which was first published in 1950. Among the many competing introductory textsthe central monuments of which are H.W. Janson's History of Art (Prentice, 1986. 4th. ed.) and Helen Gardner's Art Through the Ages (4th ed. o.p.)Gombrich's venerable work has inhabited a unique niche, having been created specifically for newcomers to art. As his title indicates, he presents the whole of art history as a chronological narrative. Gombrich's voice is lively, opinionated, and almost conversational, yet his erudition shines through to make a book that is both accessible and informative. His premise, that the love of art, not the love of history, is the appropriate basis for its study is communicated directly with his irrepressible enthusiasm for certain masters and his passionate exasperation with 20th century nonobjective artists. While much of the text is unchanged, the format has been completely redesigned with vastly expanded illustrations, improved captions, better charts and an excellent index. This book belongs on every art-lover's bedside table, and even those libraries owning an earlier edition would not regret adding this refinement of an already first-rate work. Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., Cal.

Library Journal