Background Research

Ideal for students, picture researchers, and enthusiasts of all kinds, this third edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Art reaffirms the unrivalled position held by this authoritative one-volume guide to the art of the western world. It provides a careful balance of fact and critical appraisalranging across painting, sculpture, drawing, and the applied arts from classical times to the present. Almost 3,500 entries provide the reader with instant information, written in succinct and readable prose, about styles, techniques, collections, artists, and historians. Includes a practicalreference section with a fully updated and expanded Chronology, and an Index of Galleries and Museums around the world. There is also a Classified Contents, enabling the reader to search for entries within a particular subject area or period.

The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture spans every art form, medium, and civilization the fall of the Roman Empire, The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art & Architecture is a comprehensive reference source on this important field of study. Drawing on the expansive scholarship of The Dictionary of Art (1996, 34 vols) and Grove Art Online, and adding dozens of new entries, the Encyclopedia includes all subject areas in the classical arts, including philosophers, rulers, writers and artists, architecture, ceramics, sculpture, and more. Arranged alphabetically, this two-volume set contains over 800 entries tracing the development of the art forms in classical civilizations such as ancient Greece and Rome. Illustrated with 400 halftones, maps and line drawings, and 32 color plates, the Encyclopedia is a reliable and convenient resource covering this field of everlasting significance in the development of western culture.

The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques deals with all aspects of materials, techniques, conservation, and restoration in both traditional and nontraditional media, including ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, painting, works on paper, textiles, video, digital art, and more. Drawingupon the expansive scholarship in The Dictionary of Art and adding new entries, this work is a comprehensive reference resource for artists, art dealers, collectors, curators, conservators, students, researchers, and scholars.Similar in design to The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts, this one-volume reference work contains articles of various lengths in alphabetical order. The shorter, more factual articles are combined with larger, multi-section articles tracing the development of materials and techniques invarious geographical locations. The Encyclopedia provides unparalleled scope and depth, and it offers fully updated articles and bibliography as well as over 150 illustrations and color plates.The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques offers scholarly information on materials and techniques in art for anyone who studies, creates, collects, or deals in works of art. The entries are written to be accessible to a wide range of readers, and the work is designed as a reliable andconvenient resource covering this essential area in the visual arts.

The Atlas of World Art maps the cumulative traces of humankind's artistic activity and demonstrates the importance of physical and political geography for the history of the world's art. This stunning volume is the first to treat the art of the whole world from prehistory to present day andto show the importance of natural and social factors in shaping artistic activity.The Atlas is divided into seven parts, each devoted to a specific time period: Art of the Hunter Gatherer (50,000-5,000 BCE); Art, Agriculture and Urbanization (5,000-500 BCE); Art, War and Empire (500 BCE-600 CE); Art, Religion and Empire (600-1500); Art, Exploitation and Display (1500-1800); Art,Industry and Science (1800-1900); Art, Competition and Identity (1900-2000). Each section opens with a helpful timeline for that period bringing together important dates from across various cultures. Within each section, the spreads are organized by four broad geographic regions: the Americas,Europe, Africa, and Asia and the Pacific. With dramatic full-color maps, as well as commentaries and illustrations, the Atlas of World Art is an authoritative, comprehensive, and elegant volume.

The Renaissance, French for ''rebirth'', was undoubtedly the most intensely creative period in history. This explosion of activity is reflected perhaps more than elsewhere in the art and architecture of the period. The legacy the artists, sculptors, tradesmen, architects, garden designers,engravers, and printers left behind can still be seen all over Europe today, not only in the things produced at the time but also in modern art, architecture, culture, and ways of thinking.Illustrated throughout, Renaissance Art and Architecture provides the reader with an informative overview of this fascinating period and comprehensive, alphabetically arranged entries on individual artists, architects and theorists, Schools, styles, techniques, and terms. Intruiging captions explainall featured pictures, giving the history and myth behind paintings, buildings, sculptures, and more.With the assurance of sound knowledge (Gordon Campbell is the epitome of the Renaissance man) this book can be used either as a source of reliable information on the art and architecture of the period or as something to browse through at leisure.Spanning the years 1415 to 1618 the A-Z text covers drawing, design, painting, sculpture, garden design, and architecture across the whole of Europe. Containing a major overview of the period as well as A-Z entries Renaissance Art and Architecture will be valuable to a variety of people, from artlovers and all those fascinated with European history and culture to a wide range of students and teachers.

Art History: The Key Concepts is a systematic, reliable and accessible reference guide to the disciplines of art history and visual culture. Containing entries on over 200 terms integral to the historical and theoretical study of art, design and culture in general, it is an indispensable source of knowledge for all students, scholars and teachers. Covering the development, present status and future direction of art history, entries span a wide variety of terms and concepts such as abstract expressionism, epoch, hybridity, semiology and zeitgeist. Key features include: a user-friendly A-Z format fully cross-referenced entries suggestions for further reading. Engaging and insightful, as well as easy to follow and use, Art History: The Key Concepts builds a radical intellectual synthesis for understanding and teaching art, art history and visual culture.

The understanding and enjoyment of a work of art depends as much on the story it depicts as on the artist’s execution of it. But what were once biblical or classical commonplaces are not so readily recognizable today. This book relates in a succinct and readable way the themes, sacred and secular, on which the repertoire of Western art is based. Combined here in a single volume are religious, classical, and historical themes, figures of moral allegory, and characters from romantic poetry that appeared throughout paintings and sculpture in Western art before and after the Renaissance. More than just a dictionary, this text places these subjects in their narrative, historical, or mythological context and uses extensive cross-referencing to enhance and clarify the meanings of these themes for the reader. The definitive work by which others are compared, this volume has become an indispensable handbook for students and general appreciators alike. This wholly redesigned second edition includes a new insert of images chosen by the author, as well as a new preface and index to highlight the ideas, beliefs, and social and religious customs that form the background of much of this subject matter.

Designed as a comprehensive supplement to Janson's History of Art, Sixth Edition, Hartt's Art, Fourth Edition, Gardner's Art Through the Ages, Eleventh Edition, and Stokstad's Art History (Revised) -- but also appropriate as a stand-alone brief reference volume -- this handbook defines the most common terms used in discussing the history of visual arts, relating them to specific works illustrated in these standard volumes. KEY TOPICS: Topics covered include art terms, processes, and principles, gods, heroes, and monsters, Christian subjects, saints and their attributes, Christian signs and symbols, chronology of painters, photographers, sculptors, and architects, as well as maps, and a directory of museum websites. MARKET: For art and art history enthusiasts.

Many of the terms applied by art historians and curators to describe prints, drawings, and watercolors are not readily understood by the majority of exhibition visitors and art enthusiasts. These terms can also be difficult to find in reference books. This publication, which is part of the popular Looking At series of art glossaries, defines and illustrates in one portable volume the most commonly used technical terms related to these three media. This handy reference guide features over one hundred entries--alphabetically arranged from aquatint to wood engraving--that concisely explain the processes and materials utilized in creating prints, drawings, and watercolors. This edition, revised from a book originally published in 1989, has been updated with additional color illustrations and new entries on digital printmaking and copies and fakes. It is richly illustrated with objects from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Museum.

Samella Lewis has brought African American Art and Artists fully up to date in this revised and expanded edition. The book now looks at the works and lives of artists from the eighteenth century to the present, including new work in traditional media as well as in installation art, mixed media, and digital/computer art. Mary Jane Hewitt, an author, curator, and longtime friend of Samella Lewis's, has written an introduction to the new edition. Generously and handsomely illustrated, the book continues to reveal the rich legacy of work by African American artists, whose art is now included in the permanent collections of national and international museums as well as in major private collections.

Painters, photographers, sculptors, and installation artists are among the seventy-five artists represented in this guide to Asian American artists. Within each entry, Kara Hallmark describes the artists' early life, education and training, and impact on the art world both in their country of heritage as well as the U.S. While some artists dismiss any notion of their heritage influencing their work, others describe how assimilation and immigration affected themselves and their families, particularly those affected by World War II and the Japanese internment camps. Interviews with living artists, as well as extensive images, enhance entries that celebrate the contributions of Asian American Artists to American art. Asian artists from China, Cambodia, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, the Phillipines, Taiwan and Thailand are represented in this volume: -Leo Amino -Thai Bui -Keo Bun -Kip Fulbeck -Jin Soo Kim -Maya Lin -Frank Okada -Rirkirt Tiravanija

Five centuries of fascinating female creativity presented in more than 400 compelling artworks and one comprehensive volume The most extensive fully illustrated book of women artists ever published, Great Women Artists reflects an era where art made by women is more prominent than ever. In museums, galleries, and the art market, previously overlooked female artists, past and present, are now gaining recognition and value. Featuring more than 400 artists from more than 50 countries and spanning 500 years of creativity, each artist is represented here by a key artwork and short text. This essential volume reveals a parallel yet equally engaging history of art for an age that champions a greater diversity of voices. "Real changes are upon us, and today one can reel off the names of a number of first-rate women artists. Nevertheless, women are just getting started."--The New Yorker

For a full list of entries, contributors, and more, visit the Encyclopedia of American Folk Art web site. This is the first comprehensive, scholarly study of a most fascinating aspect of American history and culture. Generously illustrated with both black and white and full-color photos, this A-Z encyclopedia covers every aspect of American folk art, encompassing not only painting, but also sculpture, basketry, ceramics, quilts, furniture, toys, beadwork, and more, including both famous and lesser-known genres. Containing more than 600 articles, this unique reference considers individual artists, schools, artistic, ethnic, and religious traditions, and heroes who have inspired folk art. An incomparable resource for general readers, students, and specialists, it will become essential for anyone researching American art, culture, and social history.