Isms: Understanding Art By Stephen Little
146th book of 2020.
Review to come, though not much to say - informative and brief, a walk through art... My review might consist of art that is discussed that I happen to like. 0713670118 We have evolved into a species worshipping ISMS!
As a sign of our continuing abstraction process, we analyse and catalogise our world and label it according to what we perceive as distinctive traits. In political terms, I passionately advocate feminism, humanism, multiculturalism, individualism, multilingualism, environmentalism and so on and I strongly oppose racism, antisemitism, ostracism, conservatism, religious fanaticism and so on. Each ISM is connected in my mind to a set of values, emotions and ideas.
Art - being a visual expression of values, thoughts, emotions and ideas of a specific time - obviously mirrors the different social and political movements and shows them from a creative point of view. Often, art follows broad cultural trends, such as romanticism or classicism, and develops its visual expressions matching the values expressed during the era. Sometimes art creates a movement which is unique for the medium - such as perspectivism or illusionism to suggest space on a two-dimensional canvas or wall. Sometimes artists themselves define their art as a specific ISM - publishing official statements on the birth of a new movement, as in the case of futurism at the beginning of the 20th century.
Quite often, an ISM is retrospectively added to define a movement by comparing it to an earlier or later phase. Post-impressionism or post-modernism are examples of such ISMs.
Unsurprisingly, humankind finds it difficult to navigate the flood of ISMs it has created to catalogue its ideas and expressions. We are a storytelling species, and we tell stories in words, pictures, buildings, statues, music and politics. Our narratives become more and more complex, and confusing, despite - or because of - all the labelling.
Our need for structure has created a massive backlash. That is where this short volume comes in. A guide to the most common ISMs in art, it also gives us definitions, key words, main artists, timelines, glossary, comparisons of artists and movements.
In the Jungle of ISMs, this is a good compass!
I use it for teaching, but any art lover will find some valuable guidelines within it - or something to argue about, as there is hardly anything we feel so strongly about as about our preferred ISMS. 0713670118 A brief introduction of various arts movements since Renaissance. It is concise and straightforward therefore perfect for a beginner like me. 0713670118 It’s quite a shame to see the demise of pure beauty in modern world. The world I hardly understand.
This was a very well-summerised and informative book about all the isms in art from renaissance till post modernism. 0713670118 I preferred Art Spoke as a guide to the general movements of art. I am using this as a guide to make sure that I am exposing my students (grade 5/6) to a wide breadth of art representation. I liked that it was manageable in length and that each page has a snapshot of what made this ism important to artistic development. My school is particularly stringent about what art can be shown... so I had to draw little black dresses... on nearly every page... For use in an art-classroom environment, it may need some editing. But, as an artist it was highly informative and beautifully presented! I really liked it! 0713670118
A guide to a range of art 'isms', it covers the isms of the Renaissance to the isms of now. It gives a practical introduction to the significant isms that have shaped art history. For each ism, it contains a definition, an introduction to the topic, lists of key artists, key words, and key works. Isms: Understanding Art
I used this book too help me fresh up my art history knowledge. I decided to take a entrance exam to enter art college so I needed a good study book. I passed so I can say that this book does the job. It could use a few more pictures of famous artwork in it, but for the rest , a easy book with the right information. 0713670118 A little book with a little informative content and a little in the way of pretty - if a little hackneyed- pictures, written by someone called Little and now given a little review. This booklet does but little to help one understand art. Don’t buy it for that reason. 0713670118 ‘Isms’ is a well-organized summary of the major themes, genres, and artists that defined modern art in Europe and America. A uniform structure and concise chapters (2 pages per artistic movement) make it a handy reference guide.
I do take issue with the last chapter— an absurdly brief statement on ‘internationalism’ in the art world. While it is true that the art world has become increasingly globalized in the last twenty years, limiting non-western artists to the last chapter is reductive and revisionist. Modernism occurred all over the world! Perhaps the title should specify the text’s focus on European and American art movements.
0713670118 This is one of the books that sits on a short square table in my studio. I browse through it again and again when I want to refer to a period, a style, a painter. I have myriad other books on art but this book is small, packed with information and decent color reproductions of key works by key artists from key periods. The chronology of periods and styles and the layout of the book has really helped me to form and keep in my head a solid visual timeline of painters and movements. While this isn't comprehensive like Art: A World History by Bucholz,et al. or 30,000 Years of Art by Phaidon (two tomes I highly recommend) this little book of art Isms: like the other books in the Isms series offers enough information that upon finishing reading one can walk through any major museum and look at the works with a greater sense of understanding their importance and how those artists and works fit into a grander scheme of culture and history. 0713670118 This is a good primer on modern art movements. It's designed as a primer, with a basic description, some background, some examples, and some guidance as to where it fits within the overall art movements. The choice to focus on pieces at a single museum per movement was a little strange, and a more visual representation of how the movements fed off of or bled into each other would have been nice, but this does a very good job of giving the prominent names and time periods for each movement. This would be a very handy book to have while visiting museums, and it's a good jumping off point for other research. 0713670118