Experiencing Art Around Us - With CD (2ND 06 Edition)

Investigating the nature of art and the uses of art in society, EXPERIENCING ART AROUND US teaches students how to understand, critically judge, and experience art. This mainstream art appreciation text discusses the visual elements of art, such as line, light, color, and space, and the principles of design that all artists use; examines not only the traditional visual media of painting, sculpture, and architecture, but also more recent areas such as urban design and preservation, photography and film; and probes the cultural institutions that affect contemporary artistic activity. Integrating Western and non-Western art, EXPERIENCING ART AROUND US exposes students to a wide variety of artistic works from around the world, yet emphasizes works in public collections that students can see, featuring a diverse array of female, African American, and Latino artists, as well as up-to-date coverage of the contemporary art scene. Analyzing a single work from four different points of view teaching critical thinking skills, this text offers students a wider variety of study aids than any other text on the market.

With a stated goal of encouraging people to experience art directly, Buser (art history, Allen R. Hite Institute, U. of Louisville) presents five different approaches to the study of art: theoretical, formal, technical, historical, and institutional. These approaches in turn ask what art is; describe visual elements such as line, color, and space; give a description of different art media and techniques such as painting, architecture, film; present a brief history of world art; and address the art market, galleries, museums, collectors, and other elements of the art world today. The book includes maps & timelines, numerous b&w and color reproductions, "at a glance" boxes, a glossary, and a bibliography. A CD-ROM accompanies the text, and additional trademarked resources for both students and instructors are listed as well.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Professor Buser is a specialist in Baroque art. He teaches courses in Italian, Spanish, French, and Dutch art of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He won the Grawemeyer Award for Instructional Development for his Introduction to Art course featuring the resources of the Speed Art Museum and the architecture of the city of Louisville. Dr. Buser's research has focused on the history of religious art from apocalyptic symbolism in catacomb painting to the religious symbolism of Gauguin and Van Gogh. In the Baroque era he has investigated the sources of early Jesuit art in Rome and the effect of the changing concept of the supernatural on Baroque art. He has traced this theological development into the nineteenth century in a book about the reaction against miraculous supernaturalism, 'Religious Art in the Nineteenth Century in Europe and America,' 2 vols. The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, 2002. His research has been published in 'The Art Journal;' 'The Art Bulletin;' 'Gazette des Beaux-arts;' 'Goya: Revista de Arte;' and `Source.'

Preface. Part I: The Nature of Art. 1. What is Art? 2. Subjects and Their Uses in Art. Part II: The Visual Elements. 3. Line, Shape, and Mass. 4. Light and Color. 5. Surface and Space. 6. Principles of Design. Part III: The Visual Arts. 7. Drawing. 8. Printmaking. 9. Painting. 10. Photography. 11. Film. 12. Sculpture. 13. Applications of Design. 14. Architecture. Part IV: History of World Art. 15. The Ancient World. 16. Expanding Horizons of World Art. 17. The Early Modern World: 1860 to 1940. 18. The Modern World: Since 1940. Part V: The Art World. 19. The Art World. Notes. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.