Art of the 20th Century

A work that attempts as much as *Art in the 20th Century* always gives itself up to the criticism of incompletion, that it left this or that important work or artist out, either through partisanship or ignorance. Lets face it--you simply cannot compile a record of an entire century of art--painting, sculpture, photography--especially not of a century of artists as diverse and prolific and as numerous as those of the 20th without omissions, oversights, or differences of opinion as to who deserves mention, and who doesn't. With that caveat in mind, *Art of the 20th Century* makes a credible attempt at an impossible task. What the authors succeed in doing best is provide a coherent narrative of the major movements in 20th century art and--in their view--it's most representative and groundbreaking practitioners. For the most part, the text is clearly written although not without bias and the occasional gratuitously dismissive comment. The subjective nature of art criticism in general is never so apparent as when you see critics investing enormous quantities of their own intellectual energy and enthusiasm to "discover" encyclopedic volumes of encoded significance in a black paint blob of a painter they like and barely glancing seriously at a similar black blob of an artist they don't like. Art is rather like responding to a Rorschach test--one's judgments often say more about the critic than the artist. And cultural tastes, as evidenced by the rise and decline in the valuation of artists over time, are likewise very often the measure of the psychology of an age. Oh well--it's impossible, I suppose, to remain entirely objective in a history of this sort, or to always check your passion when discussing art at any length, in any depth, if you're moved by it at all, but this survey is weakest when the authors' personal opinions get the better of them. The text itself is occasionally awkward and/or convoluted; the paintings weren't always easy to find in the places on the pages indicated, and the typeface is tiny--but the color plates of the art itself are generous and varied. Even a museum has to be selective and ultimately reflects the taste of its curator. And so it is with *Art in the 20th Century.* All in all, my visit through this particular museum of 20th century art from Manet and the birth of Impressionism to the mid 1990s, from early photography and sculpture to the video age was enjoyable and enlightening--and well worth both the time it took to tour and the price of admission. If I give this book four stars instead of five its only because I can imagine a better book might be written on the subject--but I have to admit that at present I don't know of one.

Taschen does it again. This comprehensive guide covers an extrodinary amount of 20th century art beginning with impressionism to the 1990's. Everything from sculpture, painting and photography is gone over here, as well as the movements that changed and influenced them. Full color photos and artist bios included. A little gem of a book. Well fairly large gem, hell, lets call it a 10 pound stone. wonderful good value for the money

This art book is the most complete description, most detailed analysis, most distinguished book of its kind. It has almost every painter of the twentieth century (and some impressionists of the 19th as well) with his/her's most important works and some not so very well known that show the great variety some painters have. This book is full of color photographs of painters (book 1) and of sculptors (book 2). You've never seen Picasso, Pollock, Kline, Lissitsky, Moholy - Nagy, Dali, Vasarely, and hundreds of other so well before ! At the very end of the second book you have a short biography of EACH AND EVERYONE of the painters and sculptors in the book. This is THE MUST BOOK for every art lover in the world.