The Illustrated History of Art: From the Renaissance to the Present Day

Had it been titled *The Brief Illustrated History of Art,* it would have been more accurate. This survey of art history starts at the Renaissance--with a quick backward glance now and then at the Middle Ages--and then proceeds forward in a fairly brisk fashion, for the most part treating only the major figures of the major art movements. Clark does a good job providing you with the essentials but this isn't the place to look for a great deal of depth. You're gazing out the airplane window here, just surveying the general topography. If you want to land and see the sites up close, you'll need a different guide. Exclusions are inevitable in general histories, especially so in one as short--210 pages--as this. What's here, though, is generously illustrated with full color plates of the paintings discussed and maybe the best feature of all is an occasional boxed page where Clark shows--step-by-step--the techniques a particular artist, Blake or Mondrian, for example, used to paint one of their masterpieces. As is often the case with books of this type, the type is excruciatingly small. I guess they sacrifice the text to maximize the space for the reproductions; and I suppose that most people don't buy these books for the text anyway, but just to browse through. Still, if you're planning to actually read the book, be forewarned and four-eyed with a strong pair of glasses...and a bottle of Tylenol for the almost inevitable eye-fatigue. Bottom line: an enjoyable and informative, if brief and superficial, summary of art history that will not greatly enlighten you except about periods and artists about which you remain in the dark...or if you're prone to confusing your Manet and Monet, your Gaugin and Cezanne.

I've been looking for a long time for a book for my kids with large, colorful pictures of the most important and famous art pieces. These type of books are usually expensive. I was hestitant to buy this online because I couldn't see inside it, but then I found it at Walmart and I was very pleased. There is enough text to be informative, but the main focus of the book is the art. Almost every page has a large colorful picture on it. Most have more than one. A lot of these books I've been looking at have small pictures, or partial pictures, or focus on diagrams and black and white examples. This is much better. I've actually purchased two other books, an art textbook and a small bargain art book, but this one will be my favorite. The only way this book could be better would be if it covered pre-Renaissance art as well.