Product Description

A market leading text for the art appreciation course, UNDERSTANDING ART combines its strong coverage of art history, with comprehensive coverage and presentation of the visual elements, principles of design, and media to provide a well-balanced discussion of the relevance and beauty of art and the media and methods used to produce art.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21350 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

From the Publisher
Comprehensive and balanced, this widely-adopted introduction to art appreciation communicates the excitement, relevance, and beauty of art by combining stimulating discussions of the language and elements of art with extensive treatment of the history of art. It is especially designed to give non-art majors insights and access to art so that it may enrich them for a lifetime.

From the Back Cover
Key Benefit: This widely-adopted introductory appreciation book communicates the excitement, mystery, relevance, and beauty of art by teaching readers to understand and analyze art. This is all done through stimulating discussions on the elements, media, methods, content, composition, and style of art. Key Topics: Along with discussions on the purpose of art (Ch. 1-9), a separate Chapter (18) takes a look at art beyond Europe and the U.S. and examines art from all around the world. The history of art is contained chronologically in the second part of the book, (Ch. 10-17). Market: For anyone interested in Art Appreciation.

About the Author
Lois Fichner-Rathus received her M.A. from the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art and her Ph.D. in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Art from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her areas of specialization include the theory of art, feminist art history, and criticism, ancient and classical art, and modern art and architecture. She is currently Art Department Chair and a professor of art history and interdisciplinary studies at the College of New Jersey.

Customer Reviews

A great start for beginner art enthusiasts
I went to a multimedia school where I took a class on the fundamentals of art & design. Understanding Art was the required text book. Little would I know that I would still be talking about Understanding Art and recommending it for years after that class! (Just don't let my teacher know that!)

The book takes you throughout the history of art, starting from the earliest forms, throughout the middle ages, native traditional art, to the renaissance, to post modernism, to surrealism, to art deco, bauhaus, dada, and everything else. There isn't a form of art that isn't covered and illustrated, which is extremely beneficial, as you truly do learn how art forms evolved throughout the years. Another benefit to this book is that it covers the different medias in art - sculpture, paintings, print, masks, archetecture, and more.

The photographs of the artwork are present throughout the book, and the text gives you insight and background knowledge of each art era that you wouldn't otherwise see. One might usually associate art history text as boring and monotonous, but this is not the case. The text is informative and exciting to read all at the same time.

It's a great book for someone who's starting out in art history, but even long-time art fans will enjoy it too.

A Great Place to Start Understanding Art
As a college Art History instructor and an avid reader, I can honestly say Lois Fichner-Rathus has produced one of the finest Art Appreciation texts on the market. The sixth edition of Understanding Art is both visually and intellectually exciting. With expanded coverage of the "Language of Art" (the visual elements and principles of design) and computer generated imagery, and a great companion Web site, this version is truly an advance over previous editions. Addional illustrations (many in color) add to the enjoyment of spending time with this updated classic.

Though I've referred to this as an Art Appreciation "text," it is by no means dry.The author's viewpoint and writing style are never boring and she continually exhibits great perceptiveness, and wit, in her commentary. The progression of the book's sections from a well-done "Introduction" to the "Language of Art," a look at the varying media of art, and finally a series of chapters on historical style, is well done and logical. Accolades to Fichner-Rathus!

Help PLease
AHH I need help! I have been trying to get the student access key for this book it's required for my art history summer class and I seem to be having a huge problem with! I have tried evreything and everyone from amazon straight to the publisher! If anyone has one or has any ideas please let me know or email me at courtney.naumann@maine.edu