Isms: Understanding Art

A very easy to read and navigate book, that gives a basic and introductory overview of significant art movements in art history. The book has a good number of paintings, but typical of a book of this size and theme, it can’t really show too many photos of works. Typically it will show 1 or 2 paintings of each art movement, key artists for that art moments, what other art movements would have inspired this group of artists and a brief sum up of ejat the artists of this movement we’re trying to portray or achieve.The book lays out each art movement in chcronological order.For someone studying art at GCSE, A level or just someone with a keen interest in a broad art history insight I would say this book is a great starting place but certainly not a reliable source for any study that’s requiring more research.Saying that, it is a really useful book to have the art movements right at your finger tips for quick reference without having to flick through a ginormous and heavy art history book!

This book is a lovely little gem. It is basically as illustrated book explaining all the isms of art, such as romanticism, classicism, etc.Quality: The cover is lovely and sturdy, the paper quality is great, the art is gorgeous, in fact the entire book exudes class. You can tell alot of care went into creating the bookContent: The book starts with a useful guide on how to use the book. Each era (renaissance, baroque & rococo, 19th century, modernism, post-modernism) is color coded which makes it easy to navigate the book.For each era and art style, a short description and given with an explanation of what the particular 'ism' means. There is a wealth of beautiful art used to demonstrate the difference between each style and many other suggestions are given for hours of enjoyment.What I love about this book is that although I'm very ignorant when it comes to art, I never found this book hard to follow. And although the information given in the book are simple and easy to digest, I finished it feeling that I have a pretty good grasp on the different styles and trend. In fact, this book is now my favorite companion when I visit art museums.

The structure of this book makes it a perfekt companion if you are learning about the different -ims of art.You get a clear general overview of the relevant -ism, a list of which artists to study and which -isms you S-holdet not relate the -ism to, and much more. I bought it because I was following an Open University course on art history at a Danish university. After each lecture I would read the relevant entries in Stephen Little’s book and it has helped me grasp the points from the university course much better. A perfect handbook.

I needed something easy to read to give me a quick intro to some of the isms I had to learn about for an art module I was doing at uni. It served this purpose perfectly. I still refer to it from time to time.

This book is the perfect beginners guide to understanding art terminology and the links between artistic movements. It works best as a quick reference for particular movements rather a book to be read cover to cover. The book contains useful background information, accompanied by images of the most iconic and definitive pieces for each movement. This is all backed up by little contextual snip-its, lists of influential artists and links to the related art movements. This book is strictly 'art' movements however the contextual background information and lists of related practitioners does give greater insight in history of creative arts.

This book is excellent - I bought 3 copies to have in the art department at school and since then have included it in the requirement for 6th form guide . It is clear , helpful and makes the complicated understanding of the development in art movements clear to see . Time lines and lots of images .If you are a student of art this is a must have . Take it from me 20 years as a head of art, will make your A Level studies so much easier .

As someone who is new to the World of Art, this is an excellent little book which is clear and well organised.Each "Isms" starts with an introduction, followed by a list of key artists of the movement, key descriptive words of the Style, a more detailed definition, key works and less well known works.At the back of this book there is a Glossary of Terms, a Chronology of Isms and a list of which style of art can be seen in popular Art Galleries/Museums.

Great little book, which is easy to understand and has a few images as examples on each ism. I would recommend this to anyone just starting out. l bought it for uni and its not to big and heavy, just the size of a normal novel but with fewer pages.

The book was almost new. I love it !

I like this little book! It's a straightforward and succinct guide to visually identifying the various styles of art as divided by art historians into "-isms" from the Renaissance to Postmodernism. I am a professional artist, who had the average amount of art history aside studio classes in college, but I have felt an urgent need for some time to better understand myself via the concreteness that a good grip of art history provides... with this book, a good amount of relevant information is relayed with just a couple pages of text and relevant visual examples of work. I appreciate the disclaimer in the book's introduction that it is not "intended to test your ability to label or identify art at 40 paces!" That doesn't mean, however, that it isn't useful. As I said, a lot of info is conveyed in a relatively short amount of book, and with a chronological layout, the -isms are grouped into five time sections: Renaissance, Baroque & Rococo, The 19th Century, Modernism, and Postmodernism. Each of the five sections has a color to code and helps visually group the isms as they explained, and each ism includes the relevant group of artists (and when they lived) within the genre, as well as major works within a specific gallery. At the end of each ism, is an eye symbol denoting that listed movements appear similar to the aforementioned ism, as well as a closed eye symbol to denote what that ism does NOT appear similar to. This book is highly portable in that it is 1) physically small, and 2) structurally sound and rugged in the Flexibound format. I like the long flap at the beginning and end that can be used as a bookmark to keep your place as you read through it. Overall, a handy guide to those either unaqauinted with, or wanting to refresh their understanding of, art history in a general sense. In the past, I have found a real struggle with books that are sizably large, hefty hardcovers bearing so many hundreds of pages, because it is physically cumbersome to delve into and feel aquainted with. The typical burden of lengthy textbooks, I suppose. This book is the opposite and it's breezy approach of subject matter fits perfectly within its physically light and compact self.

Perfecto para introducirte en el mundo del arte y tener una buena base. Buena calidad de imágenes y de impresión.

This is a dope ass book. I bought it bc I was flipping through it at someone's house one day as thought it was sweet. Then my dad saw it and was obsessed. I got him one and he showed it to my sister. I went to go visit her and I see she has a copy on her book shelf. Just goes a good job of breaking down art history for the layman in a way thats approachable but enticing

This book gives a brief but informative overview of the major art trends and movements from 1300 to the present, devoting two pages to each with a listing of each trend's principal artists and showing examples (all in color). The artworks in each section are grouped by the museums where they are on display so that visitors to each museum can view the representative paintings shown as well as others mentioned. The book also lists similar trends as well as those that are dissimilar, and gives a graphic timeline at the end of all the "isms" listed. An excellent introduction and a great starting point for further study.