Principles of Art History: The Problem of the Development of Style in Later Art (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

Heinrich Wolfflin

ISBN 10: 0486202763 / ISBN 13: 9780486202761

Published by Dover Publications Inc., 1986

About this Item

Originally published in Germany during the 1920s, this now-classic study surveys the works of 64 major artists in terms of style, quality, and mode of representation. A brilliant contribution to the methodology or art criticism, it features 120 black-and-white illustrations of works by Botticelli, Durer, Holbein, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Vermeer, and others. Trade edition; no stated publishing history so presumed first edition, first printing thus. This is a used book. Pages are clean and bright with no markings, notes, or highlighting. Covers show only minor shelf wear; front cover shows crease in upper corner. No owner's marks or bookplates, not ex-library. Binding is tight and square, but book is "bent" with significant wave to the text block. Corners not bumped. A good reading copy.

Seller Inventory # M0761

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Principles of Art History: The Problem of the Development of Style in Later Art (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)
• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc.
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486202763
• ISBN 13: 9780486202761
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Originally published in Germany during the 1920s, this now-classic study surveys the works of 64 major artists in terms of style, quality, and mode of representation. A brilliant contribution to the methodology or art criticism, it features 120 black-and-white illustrations of works by Botticelli, Durer, Holbein, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Vermeer, and others.

From the Back Cover

What are the fundamental differences between classic and baroque art? Is there a pattern underlying the seemingly helter-skelter development of art in different cultures and at different times? What causes our entirely different reactions to precisely the same painting or to the same painter?
In this now-classic treatise, published originally in Germany in the early 1920s, Professor Wölfflin provides an objective set of criteria to answer these and related questions. Examining such factors as style, quality, and mode of representation in terms of five opposed dynamisms (the linear vs. painterly, plane vs. recession, closed vs. open form, multiplicity vs. unity, and clearness vs. unclearness), the author analyzes the work of 64 major artists, delving even into sculpture and architecture. 150 illustrations of the work of Botticelli, van Cleve, Durer, Holbein, Brueghel, Bouts, Hals, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Titian, Vermeer, and other major figures accompany Professor Wölfflin's brilliant contributions to the methodology of art criticism.
Whether you teach art, study it, or want to understand it purely for your own enjoyment, this epoch-making study will certainly increase your comprehension of and pleasure in the world's art heritage.