by Thomas Mathews (1999)
For more than a thousand years, from the time of early Christian Rome until the Renaissance, the Byzantine emperors reigned over a society famed for its high refinement, deep learning, and marvelous variety. Byzantine civilization was both Greek and Oriental, Christian and Roman, European and Asiatic. From the metropolis of Constantinople its art and culture spread outward to Russia, Syria, and Italy. Indeed, Byzantium preserved the artistic heritage of classical antiquity and conveyed it to Europe, transforming it along the way with infusions of Eastern Orthodox religion and Islamic aesthetics. Thomas Mathews surveys Byzantine art within a broad cultural and historical context. Themes emerge: the role of the imperial city within the empire; the place and representation of women; urban and country life; the domestic and secular spheres and the religious and public realms of church, palace, and street. Examining art styles and motifs, Mathews gives fresh readings to icons and iconoclasm, architecture, and the decorative arts.
[by] E. H. Gombrich
The Story of Art, by E. H. Gombrich, is a survey of the history of art from ancient times to the modern era. First published in 1950 by Phaidon, the book is widely regarded both as a seminal work of criticism and as one of the most accessible introductions to the visual arts
Charles Jencks
Dialogues with neo-modernists Peter Eisenman, Philip Johnson, Richard Meier, Fumihiko Maki; pictoral survays of Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, I.M. Pei.
S.A. Mansbach
"In this study, S. A. Mansbach provides us with the first coherent narrative of the modern-art movements of Eastern Europe. Analyzing a vast range of works, many published here for the first time, the author argues that our understanding of modernism is incomplete without consideration of this material. He shows how cubism, expressionism, and constructivism, among other modernist styles, were amalgamated with deeply rooted visual traditions in several vital centers - including Prague, Warsaw, and Budapest - in order to express the most pressing concerns of the day, particularly nationalism. Mansbach also considers the critical response of the eastern European art public to these various avant-garde movements. A revisionist interpretation of modernism, Modern Art in Eastern Europe provides a much-needed reassessment of the art of this century, as well as of its historiography."--BOOK JACKET.
Marcus Whiffen
Pictures, defines, and gives the history of many architectural styles. Buildings are geographically placed and cross-referenced to particular type.