SHOCK OF THE NEW - Hardcover

Hughes, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394513789 ISBN 13: 9780394513782

Publisher: Knopf, 1981

Synopsis

In the splendid tradition of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation and Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man, here is a magnificent account -- authoritative, lively, richly and beautifully illustrated -- of the hundred-year history of modern art. Written by one of the most widely read and respected art critics of our time as an outgrowth and expansion of his major eight-part BBC Time-Life television series, it recounts the origins of modern painting, sculpture, and architecture; discusses the careers of the major artists; shows how their work was shaped by the cataclysmic events of the new century; makes plain why modernism has today very nearly run its course and does all this with verve, command of anecdote and scholarship, and a critical poise that is nothing short of dazzling. In eight fascinating chapters Robert Hughes explores the cultural fruit of nineteenth-century industrialism, the legacy of World War I, art in the lyric mode, the glorious failure of modern architecture, the outbreak of irrationality, the art of extreme emotion, art gripped by the media, why the avant-garde is no more, and where, if anywhere, art goes from here ... Deeply informed, dashingly written, wonderfully illustrated (more than 250 pictures, nearly all in full color, constituting in themselves an extraordinary gallery of great works of modern art), The Shock of the New is history and art criticism at their most appealing and accessible, a book to learn from -- and to delight in.

About this title

Review:

`You will refer back to these precious books again and again'

Book Description:

This authoritative, lively book, based on the BBC Time-Life television series, provides a comprehensive survey of the birth and development of modern art and an updated discussion of the European and American art movements in the 70s and 80s including minimalist and public art, 70s American painting, German Neo-Expressionism, art by women, and environmental art. "The Future that Was," the final chapter, is completely rewritten and updated. 75% of the 275 illustrations in the revised edition are in 4-color.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1981
• ISBN 10: 0394513789
• ISBN 13: 9780394513782
• Binding: Hardcover