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.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780714832470
Publisher:	Phaidon Press
Publication date:	09/28/1995
Edition description:	REVISED
Pages:	688
Sales rank:	59,322
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.

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Table of Contents

Introduction: On Art and Artists.
1. Strange Beginnings: Prehistoric and Primitive Peoples; Ancient America.
2. Art for Eternity: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Crete.
3. The Great Awakening: Greece, Seventh to Fifth Century BC.
4. The Realm of Beauty: Greece and the Greek World, Fourth Century BC to First Century AD.
5. World Conquerors: Romans, Buddhists, Jews and Christians, First to Fourth Century AD.
6. A Parting of Ways: Rome and Byzantium, Fifth to Thirteenth Century.
7. Looking Eastwards: Islam, China, Second to Thirteenth Century.
8. Western Art in the Melting Pot: Europe, Sixth to Eleventh Century.
9. The Church Militant: The Twelfth Century.
10. The Church Triumphant: The Thirteenth Century.
11. Courtiers and Burghers: The Fourteenth Century.
12. The Conquest of Reality: The Early Fifteenth Century.
13. Tradition and Innovation I: The Later Fifteenth Century in Italy.
14. Tradition and Innovation II: The Fifteenth Century in the North.
15. Harmony Attained: Tuscany and Rome, Early Sixteenth Century.
16. Light and Colour: Venice and Northern Italy, Early Sixteenth Century.
17. The New Learning Spreads: Germany and the Netherlands, Early Sixteenth Century.
18. A Crisis of Art: Europe, Later Sixteenth Century.
19. Vision andVisions: Catholic Europe, First Half of the Seventeenth Century.
20. The Mirror of Nature: Holland, Seventeenth Century.
21. Power and Glory I: Italy, Later Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
22. Power and Glory II: France, Germany and Austria, Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries.
23. The Age of Reason: England and France, Eighteenth Century.
24. The Break in Tradition: England, America and France, Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries.
25. Permanent Revolution: The Nineteenth Century.
26. In Search of New Standards: The Late Nineteenth Century.
27. Experimental Art: The First Half of the Twentieth Century.
28. A Story without End: The Triumph of Modernism; Another Turning of the Tide; The Changing Past.
A Note on Art Books.
Chronological Charts.
Maps.
List of Illustrations by Location.
Index and Glossary.
Acknowledgments.

Editorial Reviews

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"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

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From the Publisher

The simplicity and clarity of the text (written by a great historian) makes this classic work the ideal introduction for newcomers to art history. With color illustrations throughout, it is a pleasure to read and a pleasure to handle.

bn.com

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

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