A Concise History of Modern Painting
by Herbert Read
On This Page
Description
"Here is modern painting from its roots in the work of Cezanne, through Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism and Dada in the early decades of the twentieth century and on to Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s. The works of Frank Stella, Richard Hamilton, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, amongst many others, are discussed and analysed by Caroline Tisdall and William Feaver in a lively final chapter that brings us up to the present times and points to exciting new developments. An indispensible show more reference work that bears witness to the genius of Herbert Read - artist, poet and art historian." - back cover. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Read's eye for art is almost identical to my own, so this book is a total joy to skim through. Not to mention a total validation of the quality of so-called "modern art" against critics who would call it amateurish. Read has a knack for choosing the most vibrant and striking works by each painter. I can't emphasize enough how much better this book is than the standard rote art history book. The real jaw-dropper is the closing section, "Pictorial Survey Of Modern Painting" (pg. 292-341). Though this section is all in black & white and the 332 reproductions are tiny, the paintings are so amazing and avant-garde that you'll be scrambling to go online and look up large color images of them. I've posted many paintings from this section on my show more Tumblr site, in fact.
The only drawback of the book is that it ends at 1967. (And you might dispute Read's definition of "modern," since it begins in 1892.) show less
The only drawback of the book is that it ends at 1967. (And you might dispute Read's definition of "modern," since it begins in 1892.) show less
Wonderful introduction to modern painting with a clear and lucid writing style that will draw the uninitiated into the world of visual art. A perfect overview.
A core essay investigating semantic shifts and stylistic turns of modern painters.
History of Modern Art before 1960
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
World of Art (Thames and Hudson) (Modern Painting: Concise History)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Concise History of Modern Painting
- Original publication date
- 1959
- People/Characters
- Pablo Picasso; Wassily Kandinsky; Paul Klee; Paul Cézanne
- First words
- To the historian accustomed to studying the growth of scientific or philosophical knowledge, the history of art presents a painful and disquieting spectacle, for it seems normally to proceed not forwards but backwards
- Quotations
- He [Kandinsky] realised that a work of art must always be expressive - expressive, that is, of some profound emotion or spiritual experience.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)To present a clear and distinct visual image of sensuous experience - that has always been the undeviating aim of these artists, and the rich treasury of icons they have created is the basis upon which any possible civilisation of the future will be built.
- Canonical LCC
- LC 59-8136
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 744
- Popularity
- 37,949
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (4.02)
- Languages
- 6 — Dutch, English, French, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 20
- ASINs
- 30
