The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to the Present, 3rd Edition

It's a paradox of American culture. Throughout the country, in every major city, art museums stand as our proudest, most venerated public institutions - the world's great art, there for all to see. Yet for many Americans, the world of "Art" remains inaccessible, lost in a fog of jargon and theories that can make the artwork itself seem hopelessly remote. The Annotated Mona Lisa demystifies art history. It's a brisk, clearly stated survey, from cave painting to conceptual art, that doesn't talk down to its reader and doesn't assume a prior art education. And, most important, it never bores. Dynamic design, with succinct, page-length essays, frequent sidebars, and abundant color illustrations incorporated into the text, make The Annotated Mona Lisa a browser's delight, as well as an authoritative reference that can be read from cover to cover. Sections on ancient and medieval art emphasize context and historical relevance: What kind of people did it take to build the Egyptian pyramids? How has their work influenced the architecture of today? Sections on Renaissance and Baroque art, the nineteenth century, and the modern era touch on all the major figures of the times, while continuing to explain the cultural context out of which the art evolved. A time line at the beginning of each section ties it all together, noting the significant historical events that shaped the art world and the world at large. An illustrated tutorial of prehistoric to contemporary world art, from cave paintings to video art installations to digital and Internet media in an easy-to-understand format. This heavily illustrated crash course in art history is revised and updated from the second edition published in 2007. Featuring succinct page-length essays, instructive sidebars, and more than 300 photographs, The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Present takes art education out of the realm of dreary textbooks, demystifies jargon and theory, and makes the history of art movements accessible to beginning art museum-goers - even at a cursory reading. From Stonehenge to the Guggenheim and from African art to Warhol, more than 25,000 years of art is distilled into five sections (prehistoric and medieval, renaissance and baroque, the nineteenth century, modern art, and contemporary art) covering a little more than 230 pages. The Annotated Mona Lisa takes art history out of the realm of dreary textbooks to a world of dynamic design, succinct page-length essays, and instructive sidebars. These graphic device heighten the reader's ability to retain an impressive amount of information, even through a cursory reading. A brief run-through of the book's captions and sidebars provides a mini crash course in art history. Incorportating more than 300 illustrations drawing on the very elements of art-composition, movment, balance, color, and design-to achieve a visual and textual approach to the subject that no ordinary book could aproximate The Birth of Art: Prehistoric Through Medieval The Rebirth of Art: Renaissance and Baroque The Nineteenth Century: Birth of the "isms" The Twentieth Century: Modern Art The Twentieth Century: Contemporary Art The Twenty-First Century: State of the Art.