Art History, Volume II [with CD-ROM]

by Marilyn Stokstad

Offers a global overview of art from prehistoric times to the present while explaining the historical, social, and political context of each artistic period

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction, History, Textbooks, Reference, College

1152 pages, Paperback

Published July 6, 2005

Reviews

[Anna Tatelman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I fail to understand why so little attention is given to non-European cultures in what is SUPPOSED to be a global-encompassing text.

[ayanami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically what you'd expect when you hear the words "art history textbook": dry, boring, too many names and dates and not nearly enough political/social/historical context to explain why the particular works are significant. This really only covers Western art history and skims over the rest of the world with multiple cultures crammed in only a few chapters while the sections on Western movements (comprising 95% of the book) include a lot of unnecessary details (eg. gossip-y minutia about the artists' lives).

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited when I found this book, while thrifting, but ultimately found myself a bit disappointed.

The works of art were small illustrations, making it difficult to see details. More importantly, it was supposed to be a global view but almost all of the art displayed was European. There were very few pages devoted to African Art, etc.

I am glad I picked it up for $1, but would not recommend paying full price.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh gods. I think I'm an art history nerd now.

[Belle Meade School]

709

[nicole]

trying out art history as potential job ooooo

[Nageen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am gonna re-visit this review after I am thoroughly done with this book. For now, It is not a complete disaster but to the argus-eyed reader, it is majorly incomplete.

More than half the book discusses Renaissance. Okay, we get it that the art was great. I personally love any Western art including Renaissance and the art that followed, until post modern absolutely-nonsense-unaesthetic-art took over the world. What I fail to comprehend is how could the author give such little breadth to Africa, Asia and almost all other continents except Europe. If she can write in detail about how the Renaissance influenced in France, well any country, why is the influence of lets say Buddhist art missing which can be found in Tibet, Gandahara, India and other countries? Where is Pakistani art? Just a paragraph on Buddhist art, a couple of pages on Africa, India and Pacific (really small chapters) does not make this a comprehensive art history textbook. Either you market is as a European Art book with complementary chapters on other countries or you simply exclude those chapters at all.

I bought this for a low price, the only way I am not regretting buying it and not choosing any other art history book is by thinking that hey, this gives some great info on Western Art (only) so lets use it that way!

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my textbook for my Art History: Renaissance to Contemporary class. I love this book! The layout and the photography is wonderful, and I discovered many new artists to enjoy. I've also found a deeper appreciation for artists I already loved and a respect for artists I knew about but didn't really like or maybe understand their work. I know understand more about the different art periods, and the class had a nice symmetry with my Music History class that covered the same periods. Many pieces of artwork showed up in my music class lectures, which really helped cement the periods and link the music of the day to the artwork I was seeing. My art history teacher supplemented the book with a lot of videos and articles about other artists from other countries, feminist viewpoints, and additional viewpoints on featured art. One of my favorite sources she provided is the SmartHistory videos on Youtube, especially the discussions between Dr Beth Harris and Dr Steven Zucker.

I rented this book through Amazon to read via Kindle, but I like it so much I'm going to pay another $20 to buy it.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

As Stokstad is considered among the standard choices for art history surveys, I had to look at this text when the prospect of teaching such a course arose. I was dismayed. This book is a laundry list of what makes art history such a misunderstood and poorly respected discipline in the arts & sciences: lite on fact, heavy on subjective interpretations, superficial job of integrating the art she examines into its broader intellectual, political and spiritual contexts, and with a nice dollop of political correctness thrown in for spice. How did she manage to say so little with so many words? Fortunately, there are better options.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a college instructor of art history, I have used this text repeatedly for classes. It is definitely a well-written, scholarly, yet accessible textbook. In fact, it is one of the better texts that I have used. The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the REVEL glitches. I love the idea of REVEL, with its online access, reading quizzes and essays, etc., but its performance is so inconsistent. Although there have been updates, and some features are much better, it still falls short of reliable access. My favorite feature of REVEL, though, is the audio reading of the text. I love having the text read to me as I review for upcoming lectures and discussions.

[Juju · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly well written and interesting, for a textbook. This a la Carte edition comes with tons of study resources and online chapter audio which helped immensely when I was tired of reading. The content was a good mix of historical context, formal analysis and artist bio with enough dashes of gossip to keep things interesting. My only real complaint is that the non-European/ American art chapters are embarrassingly thin, although this seems more symptomatic of art history scholarship in general.

[Mr. Chris Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did manage to get an (A+). The next revision might want to mention that the " Gilded Age" was built on the dawn of the "African Slave trade". I also believe Cryptocurrency and the Tulip Mania: The 17th Century Dutch Tulip & Bulb Market Bubblehttps://www.focus-economics.com › blog › tulip-mania... have a lot in common.

[Artlab]

We have several editions/volumes of this book.

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another canonical art history survey.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish this had come out early enough for me to use it as a textbook in my Art History course. Easily readable, includes quite a few women artists.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay for a first intro , lacking in technical details a lot of the time I guess. Should re-read the 2nd last chapter in the near future.

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

4th edition.

[Tammi Owens]

TRUE

[Rayanne Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not impressed. I like Stokstad's earlier editions. The images are fabulous.