Synopses & Reviews
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists, Second Edition is an authoritative and up-to-date guide to Western art from Ancient Greece to the present day. It offers over two thousand entries on painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts, covering not only artists and their work, but also patrons and dealers, collectors and writers, materials and techniques, and museums and galleries. For this new edition much new material has been added on twentieth-century art, including subjects such as Neo-Expressionism and the Turner Prize.
Written in clear, lively prose, this invaluable reference maintains a careful balance between fact and appraisal. In its pages, we encounter artists ranging from Polyclitus of Argos to Leonardo da Vinci, from Grandma Moses to Mary Cassatt, from Max Beckmann to Andy Warhol. Here also are periods and movements, including the Classical period, the Renaissance, the Ancients, Impressionism, the Ash-can School, and Cubism, as well as techniques and styles such as encaustic painting, encarnado, lithography, cabinet painting, and blot drawing.
For this abridgement, Ian Chilvers has retained all of the essential features of the original while adding new entries and eliminating the more peripheral articles. By presenting the information in a pithier format, he is able to focus more sharply on Western and Western-inspired art. The dictionary also provides a very helpful cross-referencing system for names, art media, styles, and terms. Art enthusiasts of every kind will find this entirely reliable and highly readable volume indispensable.
Review
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Praise for The Oxford Dictionary of Art:
"An essential addition to the bookshelves of any art-lover'--Good Book Guide
Synopsis
Based on the acclaimed Oxford Dictionary of Art, this is an authoritative and up-to-date guide to Western art--from ancient Greece to the present day. For this third edition, new entries have been added on younger, contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, and Rachel Whiteread, and the existing entries have been thoroughly revised and updated. With over 2,500 entries, arranged in A-Z order for ease of reference, this is an ideal book for students and for anyone who enjoys visiting art galleries and exhibitions. There are entries on artists, painting, sculpture, the graphic arts, leading collectors, dealers, and patrons, museums and galleries, and materials and techniques, many enlivened by quotations from artists and critics. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists is an engaging and reliable companion for anyone with an interest in the history of art--from Giotto to Gilbert and George.
About the Author
Ian Chilvers is editor of
The Oxford Dictionary of Art and
The Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art, and co-editor of
The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature.
Table of Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ARTandARTISTS: A-Z