Author Description

From Renaissance to Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and from the Gothic Revival to Art Nouveau, the rich and varied history of Western Art is here narrated through more than 180 articles on its styles and movements. Covering all forms of the visual arts-architecture and decorative arts as well as painting and sculpture-this book describes the most important features of popular European and American movements, such as Louis XV, Biedermeier, the Hudson River School, and Colonial Revival. It is an essential introducion for anyone with an interest in art. This unprecedented book draws together biographies of artists who worked in one of the most exciting and dramatic political eras in France, when Paris became the artistic capital of Europe. It features in-depth studies of such well-known Neo-classical artists as Jacques-Louis David, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the artist most revered by his fellow countrymen. Also included are artists of the Romantic Movement, like Delacroix and Gericault, as well as the painters of the Barbizon School, whose plein-air landscapes anticipated those of the Impressionists.