The Oxford Dictionary of Art by Ian Chilvers, Harold Osborne
This dictionary is a new single-volume reference work providing a guide to the art of the Western world up to the present day. It draws on the Oxford Companions to Art , Twentieth Century Art and the Decorative Arts and also includes a large number of entries omitted from the above texts. There are critiques of the major and many of the lesser known artists. Movements, groups, styles and ideas ranging from Byzantine to Junk Art are discussed in their historical context. Special terms and processes are explained, for example how frescoes were made and the meaning of salomonica or double dipper. The scope of the dictionary is wide, covering not only drawing, painting and sculpture, but also many of the applied arts such a mosaic, silk-screen printing, tapestry and landscape design. Locations of works of art are given and the principle patrons identified wherever possible. Separate entries are included for many of the well-established collectors and patrons, art historians and art dealers. Reviews Chock-full of useful information, this well-written dictionary is comprehensive, though not encyclopedic, and provides an overview of Western art forms and artists from the fifth century BC to the present.--Boston Sunday GlobeThe best and most inclusive single volume available, immensely useful and very well written.--The Sunday Times (London)Chock-full of useful information, this well-written dictionary is comprehensive, though not encyclopedic, and provides and overview of Western art forms and artists form from the fifth century BC to the present.--The Boston Sunday Globe Gr 9 Up-Chilvers provides more than 3000 concise, lucid entries in this second revision of Harold Osborne's one-volume dictionary, which first appeared in 1988. A preface explains the scope: -Western and Western-inspired painting, sculpture, printmaking, and drawing from ancient times to the present day, with the qualification that no artists born after 1965 have their own headings. An introductory list of entries, organized geographically and chronologically for artists, and then thematically (terms, techniques, academies, etc.) reveals the Anglocentric focus. Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, and Arthur Rackham mingle with Henry Moore and John Constable in the English lineup. Major African-American artists such as Romare Bearden, Augusta Savage, and Jacob Lawrence are absent. Chilvers fails to include the infamous Guerilla Girls, and he misstates the relationship between the National Gallery and the Smithsonian. Nancy Frazier's The Penguin Concise Dictionary of Art History (Penguin, 2001), with its interdisciplinary approach, quotes from each artist, and more inclusive scope, offers an alternative, although with fewer entries. Neither source has any pictures, a situation requiring the additional use of monographs or online resources for most questions.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. Chock-full of useful information, this well-written dictionary is comprehensive, though not encyclopedic, and provides an overview of Western art forms and artists from the fifth century BC to the present.--Boston Sunday Globe The best and most inclusive single volume available, immensely useful and very well written.--The Sunday Times (London) Chock-full of useful information, this well-written dictionary is comprehensive, though not encyclopedic, and provides and overview of Western art forms and artists form from the fifth century BC to the present.--The Boston Sunday Globe
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Binding: Paperback
Published by: Oxford Paperbacks:
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ISBN: 9780192800220 | 0192800221
558 pages.
Book Condition: Good
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