Art in Theory 1900 - 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas

The subtitle to this book is "An Anthology of Changing Ideas", which is remarkably accurate. The excerpts in this book run the ideological spectrum from Winston Churchill to Adolf Hitler, and everyone in-between. The assembly of so many artists, politicians, philosophers, and theorists in one place has had a profound impact on my understanding of particular artworks, and my relationship to art in general. It's an intimidating book, but somehow this diverse group of thinkers is organized in a way that could be read straight through. Personally, I find it to be an invaluable tool for research and artistic growth.

Had I read the reviews about this book, I wouldn't have bought it. I had to though, for my "Art: Language and Theory" class, in my second year of Graphic Design major. I was shocked with it at first, it's almost 1300 pages, with not a single image in it! It looked extremely dull. But the thing is, I found it extremely useful, and enjoyable to read at times too. It covers art theories in the 20th century, and has texts written by artists, philosophers, polticians and much more. I now refer to it with every paper I write, every presentation I make and so on. There are also letters and notes in the book by artists such as Cezanne and Matisse, which are delightful to read. I use a dictionary sometimes, but not always, though I agree, the language is hard to comprehend at first glance. I don't think any art student or teacher could do without this book, I used it as a beginners guide while studying art, and I won't stop using it. Don't be put off when you first get this book, you'll learn to value and appreciate it with little time.

I used this book for a graduate theory class and ended up reading pretty much all of it. The book provides an excellent overview of the major movements during the past 100 years but also misses out on a lot of the most current trends. I believe there were less than 3 articles dated after 1999. The writings seem to be obscure at times, with the editors trying to draw distant similarites between varying fields. Most of the passages used overly pretentious language, so keep a dictionary nearby. This book is not a beginner guide and it helps to have some knowledge of art history as well as a little world history. A better or easier read would have to be "Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art"...