The Oxford History Of Western Art

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful images, but a shame about the writing
Review: I have the highest regard for Kemp and a number of the contributors to this volume; this is especially due to the fact that I was once a student of his, and the source of much of my excitement derives itself directly from having listened to his wonderful lectures. This book, however, was a major disappointment in many respects.

Espousing a new approach to art history which is image based, Kemp has provided us with a text that is filled with glorious reproductions. Alongside the old favourites are many new discoveries, and the inclusion of areas of design and the attention to the history of photography is not just welcome but a breath of fresh air. Yet, there is very little text accompanying the imagery, and a complete lack of architecture.

Why? Kemp and his contributors don't offer an explanation. Where complicated art require an explanation for the uninitiated, the reader is left with little to rely on. This may be due to the fact that Oxford is currently publishing an excellent series of detailed texts on specific periods and ideas (though not all are that good... avoid the volume on Modernism at all costs), but I would think that Kemp's book should be self-sufficient. It isn't.

Most of these large volumes are published with introductary art history classes in mind. As a professor, I look to have material which will enhance my teachings. Kemp fails to provide this. I loved looking through the book, but it would be impossible to teach from this, in that little information is provided for an audience who will be mostly ignorant of that which they're looking at.

Truly, its a beautiful book to look at, and I recommend purchasing it on that basis alone, but don't buy it to read anything substantial. Oxford should think about a second edition quickly if they wish to bite into the market that Gardner, Janson, and Stockstad have established on campuses in this country.

Rating:
Summary: Oxford History of Western Art a must have reference book
Review: It is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To an extent that is true but it also has its limitations. The proper appreciation of art is not a matter of taste or impressions but an intellectual understanding of what a particular work is trying to do. That is as true of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel as it is Mark Rothko's Ochre on Red on Red. To understand a piece of art, one must understand the context that created it. That means both the society the artist lived in and the threads that connect art throughout history. A perfect book to explain that is The Oxford History of Western Art, edited by Martin Kemp.

Kemp and the other contributors describe the age artists lived in, the motivations for their creations and the technical details involved in the creation of different kinds of art. There is the perfect combination of art theory and history and Kemp is careful not to impose modern prejudices and understandings (theory, techniques, world view) on the past.

The particular strength of the book is the Renaissance and its weakness may be a longer than necessary examination of the last 200 years (although, unlike earlier ages, there are more areas to cover with the advent of different kinds of art such as photography and splintering of many styles).

The Oxford History of Western Art is must reading for anyone nominally interested in art, but also religion, history and philosophy. We cannot understand art without understanding the context in which it was created. The flip-side, however, is also true. Our understanding of our world is enhanced when we see it through the eyes of our best artists.

Rating:
Summary: A step beyond the usual
Review: Why should any art afficiando purchase yet another "History of Western Art" book? Answer: Because this one is thoughtful and user friendly. Yes, electing to present the entire history of Western Art is daunting and often borders on stuffy: Martin Kemp has wisely recodified the presentation to maintain the flow of chronolgy but to this flow he adds the refreshing idea of grouping paintings into similar examples of each period, the effect of which provides entertaining and eye-opening disclosures that have not been readily available prior to this volume. Example: In a section on the Era of Revolution 1770 - 1914 he groups paintings into categories such as 'Romantic Quandries' showing Goya's "Third of May, 1808" with Turner's "Snow Storm: Hannibal Crossing the Alps" and Gericault's "The Raft of Medusa" - combining a study not only of politial content but also of variations in landscape and figure painting. 'Disquieting Images' pairs Goya's "Fire" with Gericault's "Severed Limbs". At the end of this section of the book Kemp gifts us with photographic visions through the stereoptican and progresses through Julia Margaret Cameron's "Lancelot and Guinevere" to Alfred Stieglitz. He ends this beautifully and generously illustrated volume with a fine Chronology pairing artistic events with concurrent events in that time's contemporary world. The book is thorough enough to accompany any art student's passage through the academy, but more important this History is a quick reference, elegantly detailed, to refresh each of us when we encounter that newly uncovered masterpiece in the museums and magazines. Excellent.

Rating:
Summary: A step beyond the usual
Review: Why should any art afficiando purchase yet another "History of Western Art" book? Answer: Because this one is thoughtful and user friendly. Yes, electing to present the entire history of Western Art is daunting and often borders on stuffy: Martin Kemp has wisely recodified the presentation to maintain the flow of chronolgy but to this flow he adds the refreshing idea of grouping paintings into similar examples of each period, the effect of which provides entertaining and eye-opening disclosures that have not been readily available prior to this volume. Example: In a section on the Era of Revolution 1770 - 1914 he groups paintings into categories such as 'Romantic Quandries' showing Goya's "Third of May, 1808" with Turner's "Snow Storm: Hannibal Crossing the Alps" and Gericault's "The Raft of Medusa" - combining a study not only of politial content but also of variations in landscape and figure painting. 'Disquieting Images' pairs Goya's "Fire" with Gericault's "Severed Limbs". At the end of this section of the book Kemp gifts us with photographic visions through the stereoptican and progresses through Julia Margaret Cameron's "Lancelot and Guinevere" to Alfred Stieglitz. He ends this beautifully and generously illustrated volume with a fine Chronology pairing artistic events with concurrent events in that time's contemporary world. The book is thorough enough to accompany any art student's passage through the academy, but more important this History is a quick reference, elegantly detailed, to refresh each of us when we encounter that newly uncovered masterpiece in the museums and magazines. Excellent.