Art Today

Edward Lucie-Smith provides an authoritative world survey of the visual arts from the 1960s to the present, a period of extraordinary richness, and also of controversy and confusion. 536 color illustrations.

Library Journal

This massive survey attempts to essay the scope and aims of the art of the world over the past 30 years. Noted critic Lucie-Smith (American Realism, LJ 12/94) has done an admirable job in making sense of the welter of "isms" that exist in contemporary art. He has also brought the coverage right up to the present, with many of the movements illustrated dating from 1995. As well as such well-trod ground as Pop Art, Lucie-Smith covers Conceptual Art, Installation Art, and Neo-Expressionism. He also covers a broad geographic range, including artists and works from the former Soviet Union, Africa, the Far East, and Latin America. Chapters are also included on "Racial Minorities" and "Feminist and Gay" art. Clearly written and with copious illustrations, the book offers brief biographies of all artists mentioned, a chronology, and bibliography. This essential guide to contemporary art is highly recommended for subject collections.-Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC