Fülszöveg
This deliberately concise history is
something of a tour-de-force, intended to
stimulate the expert as well as to guide
the layman. Throughout, it is powered
by the author's belief in art as a vital
activity and therefore as something that
—in words which open and close the
book—'has not ceased to be produced'.
It concentrates on individual works of
art, whether an ancient Egyptian un-
guent jar, a Gothic reliquary or a Raphael
portrait. What is told is, in effect, the
story of Western man's creative energy,
constantly finding new ways to fill the
world with non-natural objects. The
author imposes no arbitrary pattern or
simple explanation, but emphasizes that
novel surprise element in every work of
art which has often disconcerted people
at first sight—long before nineteenth-
and twentieth-century controversies
about 'modern' art. The result is a book
which does justice to major styles and
many artists over the whole course of
Western art, but which—above...
Tovább
Fülszöveg
This deliberately concise history is
something of a tour-de-force, intended to
stimulate the expert as well as to guide
the layman. Throughout, it is powered
by the author's belief in art as a vital
activity and therefore as something that
—in words which open and close the
book—'has not ceased to be produced'.
It concentrates on individual works of
art, whether an ancient Egyptian un-
guent jar, a Gothic reliquary or a Raphael
portrait. What is told is, in effect, the
story of Western man's creative energy,
constantly finding new ways to fill the
world with non-natural objects. The
author imposes no arbitrary pattern or
simple explanation, but emphasizes that
novel surprise element in every work of
art which has often disconcerted people
at first sight—long before nineteenth-
and twentieth-century controversies
about 'modern' art. The result is a book
which does justice to major styles and
many artists over the whole course of
Western art, but which—above all—
communicates a sense of the author's
own enjoyment in looking at works of
art of every kind.
c . . . a masterly survey'. The Connoisseur
'This is a book to read for the first time
for sheer enjoyment, and re-read for its
subtle and penetrating analyses'. Arts
Review
Vissza 
