Art for Dummies

This is a wonderful book for people who want to get their feet wet in understanding the great master pieces of the world. Mind you I said get their feet wet, and not a treatise on art history. I think some of the reviewers of this fun filled introduction to the art world, which I'm sorry to say can be, if your not so inclined, be a somewhat overwhelming journey in the beginning, have sadly missed the point here. This book is not for you or your art students, its for people who may have a passing or for that matter any kind of interest in learning something about art. All they want to do is learn in a very casual way without making any kind of serious commitment. I know, that may sound blasphemous to you the true art lover, but there you have it. This book is a way for a person to start off learning about some fairly basic historical concepts on the who, what, when, where, of art history to see if they even like looking the idea of or even looking at great art. Its soul intention is to give art dummies some fairly basic, rudimentary information on where to find great art, what to look at, why and how it came to be. You want to know more, well there are thousands of scholarly works to choose from to explore newly acquired interests in more depth. Where else can you find something as straightforward and well written if your going to go to, say Rome, and want to know where to go and what to look at with regard to the great master pieces there? This beginners guide gives you a good solid overall look at a variety of great works around the world. Its not meant to be an Art history book in the traditional sense, anyone can clearly see that, its for the beginner, its for Dummies, dummy! Hoving does a superb job in this book of giving his beginning art students a good over all history lesson and using what some have called "the world's greatest eye for art" direct them to all the great masterpieces around the world. I don't think there are many that would contest the items he lists as masterpieces around the world, yet many fail to go and seek these things out their cultural seeking ventures. He has the credentials not to mention and a mind filled with an entire encyclopedia of art history, knowledge and information for the newbie to get a good start on their path of understanding the wonderful world of art and its magnificent history! In a world where great art takes the back seat to movies, like Avatar, I welcome a book that genuinely helps readers understand and directs them to seek out the wonder, beauty, culture significance, history, and magnificence of the great masterpieces that are available to those willing to invest the time and energy. An afternoon in the Louvre with the help of this book, is so much more fulfilling than 2 1/2 hours in a dark movie theatre looking at hideous animated blue aliens jumping our of the screen with dark glasses on! Why this book has not been translated into an iPhone application for people t

Did you skip art history 101 in college? Do you enjoy visiting museums but when you are not with your curator pal, you are utterly clueless as to how to optimize your visit? Fortunately, this book can help! Art for Dummies is written in a very easily digestible style by the former director of the Met in New York and former editor of Connoisseur magazine. It essentially lays out the different art periods, highlights those works of art that are considered most famous and of the greatest importance (note: rather subjective as always...) and even goes so far as to display these works in color pictures. If you are a burgeoning art philomath, you may find this book a good tool for moving up the learning curve. There are also good tips on how to get the most out of a museum visit and a helpful bibliography with online material. After reading this book one will easily be able to answer the following queries without a dumbfounded look on one's face: -What are your three favorite works of art and by whom? -What are the 10 best museums in the world? -Where is Rousseau's Sleeping Gypsy housed? -Where was the Venus of Willendorf found? -What work of art did the first woman pharaoh build? A special nonlocal thanks to the friend that purchased this book for me!

Thomas Hoving does a masterful job of introducing the reader into the world of art. Plenty of color representations, especially given the length of th text, an ample rendering of interpretations, and the revelation that art is accessible to anyone willing to take some time to learn give this book an undeniable attraction to the novice. The only drawback (not worthy of a reduction in stars) is that some of the black-and-white representations are of poor quality. Other than that minor flaw, the book really is incredible.

I read a couple of reviews from readers of Art For Dummies complaining that it doesn't have enough illustrations either black or white or in color. I agree. But the Dummies book was never intended to be a "coffee-table" art book. One solution is to get Sister Wendy's 1000 Masterpieces (which illustrates almost every painting Hoving mentions.) This way you get the professional "insider" take from Hoving, the wonderful excited amateur take from Sister Wendy and a whole bunch of illustrations. By the way I peg Hoving's erudite book at 5 out of 5. Mike Fithian