From School Library Journal
YA?An exploration of some of the world's great paintings, ranging from the works of 14th-century Giotto through the Renaissance and Baroque periods to Neo-Classicists and Romantics, on to the Impressionists and Cubists up to Picasso. Cumming describes and decodes each of 45 paintings by graphic commentary using six guidelines: the subject, the technique, the symbolism, space and light, historical style, and personal interpretation. Detailed sections of each painting are analyzed to point out symbols or obscure subjects, to locate unusual signings by the artist, and to describe materials used.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Cumming, chair of Christie's Education, London, takes readers on a guided tour of 45 of the Western world's great works of art. In typical Dorling Kindersley style?reflecting the influence of CD-ROMs, perhaps?each work is illustrated in full and surrounded by numerous excerpted details, sidebars, and annotations. Cumming succinctly discusses the subject, technique, symbolism, space and light elements, and historical style of each and adds his personal interpretation. For Hans Holbein's "The Ambassadors," for example, Cumming gives a short biography of the artist, explains the crises in Europe alluded to in the painting, and points out the odd form in the foreground. The latter, he explains, is a distorted death's-head that is meaningless if viewed from the front but from a certain angle takes the shape of a skull. While not as ambitious as Sister Wendy Beckett's The Story of Painting (LJ 11/15/94), this is an exciting introduction to painting for general collections at an attractive price.?Daniel J. Lombardo, Jones Lib., Amherst, Mass.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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