Name: An Introduction to Art
ISBN: 9780300109153

Charles Harrison

Covering the history of art, from Paleolithic cave painting onwards, this book provides foundational guidance to the basic character and techniques of the different art forms, to the various genres of painting in the western tradition, and to the techniques of sculpture as they have been practised over several millenia and across cultures.

An Introduction to Art

Emmett

A fair and very generous 'introduction to art', indeed, covering everything from the most technical aspects of printmaking of various kinds, to suggestions on how to approach an art work (painting/sculpture), dipping from time to time into the governing consideration: how to value an art work, and how to make an artistic experience meaningful. Harrison does not lean towards a single aesthetic theory, nor prescribe his own leanings. Rather, he is more interested in bringing out the value of a work than a theory. The reader is made to feel him as an amicable and very knowledgeable guide, one who holds the hand of the nervous amateur, leads them through the galleries of the world, pausing occasionally to explain difficult terms in good stead. The sections are divided usefully into painting and sculpture respectively, with sub-sections detailing the unique working process, history, and tips on how to make looking at a certain art work most fulfilling. Page after page flows with erudition and slight humour, and one is humbly taught by his passion and respect for art. Above all, his infectious enthusiasm make this book a non-threatening, friendly guide for the earnest art museum goer who desires something more than the second-long hovering glimpse: to meet art, and come to know art.