Book 10 - Martin Kemp "Art In History"
Feb. 5th, 2021 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzy_daveMartin Kemp "Art In History" (Profile Books)
In the blurb on the inside, it says "Art has always been part of history. But we often think of it as outside history. When we look at a painting by Raphael, Rembrandt, or Rubens it speaks to us directly, but it's also a historical document, part of a living world. Renowned art historian Martin Kemp takes the reader on an extraordinary trip through art, from devotional works to the revolutionary techniques of the Renaissance, from the courtly Masters of the seventeenth century through to the daring avant-garde of the twentieth century and beyond.
Along the way we encounter the great names of art history: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo; Vermeer and Velasquez; Picasso and Pollock. We get under the skin of the many 'isms', schools, styles, and epochs. We see the complex sweep of art history with its innovations, collaborations, rivalries, break-throughs, and masterpieces. Above all, Kemp puts art in context; art isn't about disembodied images, art itself is history."
So in just 233 pages, it covers a wide ground which is partially its strength as an introduction to art history and partly its weakness. Such sweeping overviews tend to miss out some corners of art history and this one resolutely sticks to painting rather than the other arts. However, it was an enjoyable fairly quick read and I would recommend it. Just one caveat, the pictures of selected artworks are all monochrome so to get a full appreciation of them I would certainly go to the various online art museum sites.
In the blurb on the inside, it says "Art has always been part of history. But we often think of it as outside history. When we look at a painting by Raphael, Rembrandt, or Rubens it speaks to us directly, but it's also a historical document, part of a living world. Renowned art historian Martin Kemp takes the reader on an extraordinary trip through art, from devotional works to the revolutionary techniques of the Renaissance, from the courtly Masters of the seventeenth century through to the daring avant-garde of the twentieth century and beyond.
Along the way we encounter the great names of art history: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo; Vermeer and Velasquez; Picasso and Pollock. We get under the skin of the many 'isms', schools, styles, and epochs. We see the complex sweep of art history with its innovations, collaborations, rivalries, break-throughs, and masterpieces. Above all, Kemp puts art in context; art isn't about disembodied images, art itself is history."
So in just 233 pages, it covers a wide ground which is partially its strength as an introduction to art history and partly its weakness. Such sweeping overviews tend to miss out some corners of art history and this one resolutely sticks to painting rather than the other arts. However, it was an enjoyable fairly quick read and I would recommend it. Just one caveat, the pictures of selected artworks are all monochrome so to get a full appreciation of them I would certainly go to the various online art museum sites.
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