Overview
If you've always wanted to find out more about art but felt intimidated by the overeducated art world, then you've found the answer. Art For Dummies is the book that will have you and everyone you know clamoring outside the doors of your local museum. Thomas Hoving, former director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, is credited with revolutionizing the Met, doubling its size during his tenure, and bringing art to the masses. Let him bring art to you as well.
In Art For Dummies, Thomas Hoving provides a how-to guide to the art world. First, he guides you through an introduction to art appreciation, pointing out the details that you've always noticed but have never been able to explain. Next, Hoving takes you on a ride through art history. (Have you ever regretted not taking those art history classes in school With Art For Dummies, you'll feel all caught up and ready to spar with the local intellectuals.) Hoving even includes a guide to the world's top art cities and centers, a listing that can help you prepare for your next artistic voyage. With this guide, you can discover where to go in order to see the greatest works of art, and you can also find out about hidden treasures in nearby art museums.
You also get a great start for seeking out art with Hoving's lists of the greatest works of Western civilization, the most interesting artists, and the contemporary artists to watch. Don't wait another day to introduce yourself to the art world!
Synopsis
If you've always wanted to find out more about art but felt intimidated by the overeducated art world, then you've found the answer. Art For Dummies is the book that will have you and everyone you know clamoring outside the doors of your local museum. Thomas Hoving, former director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, is credited with revolutionizing the Met, doubling its size during his tenure, and bringing art to the masses. Let him bring art to you as well.
In Art For Dummies, Thomas Hoving provides a how-to guide to the art world. First, he guides you through an introduction to art appreciation, pointing out the details that you've always noticed but have never been able to explain. Next, Hoving takes you on a ride through art history. (Have you ever regretted not taking those art history classes in school With Art For Dummies, you'll feel all caught up and ready to spar with the local intellectuals.) Hoving even includes a guide to the world?s top art cities and centers, a listing that can help you prepare for your next artistic voyage. With this guide, you can discover where to go in order to see the greatest works of art, and you can also find out about hidden treasures in nearby art museums.
You also get a great start for seeking out art with Hoving's lists of the greatest works of Western civilization, the most interesting artists, and the contemporary artists to watch. Don't wait another day to introduce yourself to the art world!
Library Journal
In this delightful book, Hoving, the witty former director of the Metropolitan Museum, leads readers gently through thousands of years of art history. He spends most of the book historicizing Western art, but he also touches on how to start an art collection, how to evaluate artistically precocious children, how to visit museums (stop first, he says, at the postcard stand in the bookstore), and where to go to see art. His breathless enthusiasm is avuncular, scholarly, and quite infectious--an attitude that happily precludes condescension. He urges readers not to worry about contemporary "isms" and instead to pay attention to art that "makes the blood rush faster." He also provides juicy biographical information about major artists: Rembrandt was a "thoroughly disreputable" character, D rer "arrogant," Hogarth a "full-time curmudgeon." He even suggests CDs to listen to while watching the light show at Giza. The sole drawbacks are the insulting series title (for dummies this isn't) and the collection of pithy, puerile cartoons that epigrammatically open each chapter. A terrific book for students, travelers, tyros, and old hands alike, this is highly recommended for all libraries.--Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.