The Story of Art: 0000

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for the first time, perhaps, it became true that art was a perfect means of expressing individuality – provided the artist had an individuality to express” the International style is perhaps the last international style Europe has seen – at least until the 20th century. In the 15th century art broke up into a number of different ‘schools'”

in the past, a child in a painting had to look pretty and contented. Grown-ups did not want to know about the sorrows and agonies of childhood.. But Kokoschka would not fall in with these demands of convention” Instead of using the methods of picture-writing he could create the illusion that the sacred story was happening before our eyes … we seem to witness the real event as if it were enacted on stage” 011 Courtiers and Burghers: The 14th Century Those who use these buildings as places of worship or entertainment, or as dwellings, judge them first and foremost by standards of utility. no artist can always ‘play safe’ and nothing is more important that to recognize the role that even apparently extravagent or eccentric experiments have played” he wanted to convey the feeling of solidity and depth, and he found he could do that without conventional draughtsmanship”

My Book Notes

the Impressionists did not differ in their aims from the traditions of art that had developed since the discovery of nature in Renaissance. They, too, wanted to paint nature as we see it”

Churches as ” the framework for the splendid ritual of the Roman Church.. the candles alight on the altar, when the smell of incense fills the nave, and when the sound of the organ and the choir transports us into a different world” The gift he gave us was to make the living process of art understandable to us all. Rather than a dry cultural history, he made looking at art - that perceptual experience - an adventure."― Antony Gormley, artist Rome at the time was the centre of the civilised world. Artists from all parts of Europe came there, took part in discussions on painting, took sides in the quarrels of the cliques, studied old masters, and returned to their native contries with tales of the latest ‘movements'” For most of the paintings and statues which are now lined up along the walls of our museums and galleries were not meant to be displayed as Art. They were made for a definite occasion and a definite purpose which were in the artist’s mind when he set to work” 001 Strange Beginnings: Prehistoric and Primitive Peoples – Ancient America Almost as well known as the Mona Lisa, Sir Ernst Gombrich's The Story of Art unites learning and pleasure."― Pierre Rosenberg, Président-Directeur, Musée du Louvre, ParisMore people... have been introduced to the world of fine art, in the last 45 years, though Ernst Gombrich's The Story of Art than through any other single book."― Christopher Frayling, Professor of Cultural History, Royal College of Art, London The Story of Art, by E. H. Gombrich, is a survey of the history of art from ancient times to the modern era. [1]

Painters began to look at the life of the ordinairy mean and women of their time… Chardin like these quiet glimpses of life .. he resembles Vermeer in the way in which he feels and preserves the poetry of a domestic scene, wihtout looking for striking effects or pointed allusions” we must realize that this use of the word is a very recent development and that many of the greatest builders, painters or sculptors of the past never dreamed of it. the northern artists, who were no longer needed for the painting of altar-panels and other devotional pictures, tried to find a market for their recognized specialities and the paint pictures the main object of which was to display their stupendous skill in representing the surface of things” In Spain too .. El Greco’s art surpasses even Tintoretto’s in its bold disregard of natural form and colours and in its stirring dramatic vision” it came about that artists could frequently choose the kind of commission which they liked and they no longer needed to accommodate the whims and fancies of their employers .. at last the artist was free”he acted as a conscientious producer might act otday when he has to reconstruct a scene for a historical film or play .. [a] type of antiquarian research, which should help people visualize decisive moments of history” A form of prehistoric art found all over the world, especially in Europe, small prehistoric statuettes known as Venus figurines with exaggerated breasts and bellies were made, the most famous ones being the Venus of Hohle Fels and the Venus of Willendorf, found in Germany and Austria. Most have small heads, wide hips, and legs that taper to a point. Arms and feet are often absent, and the head is usually small and faceless. We call these people ‘primitives’ not because they are simpler than we are their processes of thought are often more complicated than ours-but because they are closer to the state from which all mankind once. what the Greeks of the time valued even more was .. the newfound freedom to represent the human body in any position or movement could be used to reflect the inner life of the figures represented .. they should represent the ‘workings of the soul’ by accurately observing the way ‘feelings affect the body in action'” 004 The Realm of Beauty: Greece and Greek world 400BC to 100 AD For the first time in many years the book has been completely redesigned. The illustrations, now in colour throughout, have all been improved and reoriginated, and include six fold-outs. The text has been revised and updated where appropriate, and a number of significant new artists have been incorporated. The bibliographies have been expanded and updated, and the maps and charts redrawn.