The Art Book: New Edition Hardcover – September 10, 2012

I bought this book for my 6 year old budding artist. Personally, I don't know much about art (never was interested), but I am feeling more knowledgeable and interested after browsing this book. My daughter and I are enjoying looking and talking about art in this book. This book is alphabetical, which is great. I like that on one page there is a very modern abstract painting, and on the next a religious painting from the 1500s, and the next an abstract sculpture, and so on. As an art absolute novice, it is interesting to see how these works of art are side by side from different eras, and different countries, and different aesthetics, but sometimes referencing each other and complimenting each other while being so different. Learning a lot, and I never thought is art would be so interesting! My 6 year old is also really inspired by this. Would recommend for children, too.

I have several dozen ART books, many devoted to individual artists, but this is a great book for anyone that wants to get to know the different aspects of art. Not everyone knows every artist so this is a good guide to look up an artist whose name you hear but do not know him/her. It only gives a page to each but it does show a major representative work by the artist. It is not perfect as many artists start out in one genre and migrate to another so you have to settle for a more "famous" work as representative. Still it is an asset for hard copy information. Some might find it arcane in this age of internet accessibility to a bounty of information easily obtainable on any artist but I am an old fart and I like paper books.

"The Art Book" is one of my favorite books of all time. It was the first (that I know of) to use the new format of placing artists' names alphabetically rather than chronologically or in historical periods, or according to "art movements." In the old format, you would see similar works of art all together. In this new format (now being copied in various books), the alphabetical listing of artists' names gives an almost "shocking", or even better, more enlightening effect where you might see a Medieval or Renaissance work on one page, then on the facing page would be a dazzling 1930's German Expressionist work. (I just made up that example, but it's close to the reality of what you will experience.) This is NOT just a "coffee table" book. It is, rather, a book that you will return to over the years and love, and loan to friends. Enjoy!!

I got this both for my own and two teens who are interested, in teenish way, in art. Every bit helps. It is a good large compendium of works of art. The book is organized alphapatically , artists are listed in the manner of a telephone directory and then under each entry, name, there is a picture of the artists most representative or famous work. It is not analysis nor history nor commentary, just a directory of artists and their most, or more famous and known work.

with several hundred artists and their works discussed, this book gives one an excellent overview...in alphabetical order, the book gives you a page per artist with a quick discussion on the piece, the movement it relates to and a brief 2 line discussion about the artist...very much like the 20th century art book but it covers artists over a span of close to 1,000 years...what I've enjoyed is picking out those artist I want to know more about and have done so...great book for the money...

Wow is all I can say. I have sat down almost on a daily basis to read each entry from A to Z. Succinct, gorgeously printed, nice cross-referencing and what seems like a decent representation of the artist's featured work. I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I enjoy art of all kinds and this book is very stimulating, satisfying and educational. A must in any art-lover's collection and well worth the price,

This book was a special gift for a friend that is an artist. I have received earlier editions as a gift myself. This book gives you a taste of an assortment of talented artists.

A collection of seminal art ordered alphabetically by artist, with selections from diverse eras of history and schools of art. Each artist gets one page with a single representative work depicted along with some explanatory text. There are over 500 artists included in this way. There is also a glossary explaining different art movements and schools. Excellent for simply flipping through at random to discover someone new!