E. H. Gombrich's "The Story of Art": A Comprehensive Overview of Art History

Marvin McConoughey: Too heavy. I ordered the book because I greatly admired his little history of the world. It took real discipline to create a readable, enjoyable, useful history of mankind. The Story of Art is very well written but lost control of its weight and size, even with resort to smaller font size than I can comfortably read. Recommended for those with bright lighting, strong arms, and superb eyesight and who wish to read a masterly summary of world art. I particularly enjoyed the reproductions of art.

United States on Oct 06, 2023

Dengmengfei Xiao: The quality is very nice, colorful and carefulness

Germany on Sep 19, 2023

Lava1964: I bought this book as a gift for my sister, a retired high school art teacher. She enjoyed it.

Canada on Sep 07, 2023

Babbage: Essential reading for serious art observers, alongside Hughes's The Shock of the New, but make sure you also get The Story of Art without Men by Katy Hessel to redress the shameful omission (by today's standards) of great female artists.

United Kingdom on Aug 05, 2023

Alessandro LeonardiAlessandro Leonardi: Astonishing printing quality, richness of content and super useful apendixes(tables).

Italy on Feb 25, 2023

Cliente de Amazon: A must in anyone’s library whether moderately or passionately interested in art history.

United States on Dec 31, 2022

Daryl: This is a monumental work. After touring the Louvre, the Orsay, the Met and others I realized that I was just an art tourist. I'd wander around and enjoy what I was looking at but lacking any understanding of it. So, I bought this book to learn the basic history of art. Now, I need to return to the museums to give a new look at what I've seen before using my new knowledge. One thing I loved about it was discovering so many artists that I either didn't know about or didn't really appreciate before. I like the way he presents each period and school as building on what came before. But if Renaissance was the epitome of perspective and natural anatomy, it doesn't mean that we can't appreciate what came before it.

The book is 600 pages with lots of pictures so he is covering about 5,000 years in about 90,000 words which means he understandably breezes through parts, leaving important artists and pieces unmentioned and not giving a very deep understanding of the social and political environment which spawned them. What I did was to read in front of my computer so that as he mentioned things, I could consult wikipedia or other sources for further information. I often wandered off...

United States on May 02, 2016

M: This is the most accessible and methodical book on art I've ever read. It's a comprehensive introduction to art in general - from very early times with cave paintings and Greek sculpture right up until the early 20th Century. It's tremendously easy reading, and the tone is very accessible without being simplistic. You'll get a solid overview of art and artistic movements right up until modern times, and understand far, far more about art than you did when you started reading it. Whilst it won't necessary change your tastes, you'll certainly understand where the artistic movements such as impressionism and expressionism came from and what they try to convey.

The book is arranged into logical chapters, which can't have been that easy a task; things don't always fall into discrete categories. There are plenty of pictures and illustrations, and it's rare to find a work of art mentioned in the text and not illustrated on a page close by, which really helps you to picture and understand things. Whilst Gombrich doesn't go in-depth on many paintings, you have enough to give you a grounding and stir your enthusiasm to read more on the topics.

The end of the book is slightly...

United Kingdom on Jul 16, 2009

Oivind: About a year ago, I suddenly decided that it was about time I learned something about art history. After reading all the reviews about this book, I decided that this was the book for me. And so it was. I would never have imagined that it could be so entertaining to read about art history. A previous reviewer called this a simplified historical description of art from the perspective of an authoritarian male, white, european. Maybe it is simplified. So what! That's excactly what I needed at the time I bought this book. It has always been quite clear to me that this book was only an introduction to art. Since it was so entertaining I was able to finish it, and I have finally learnt to appreciate art. Because of this my second visit to Louvre in Paris was a lot more fun than my first visit there.
I guess it's true that the author was a white, european male. What does this have to do with anything? The book is mainly about western art, so I don't see why it matters that he's european. And in the history of western art, how many non-white or female artists are there? I guess there are some from the previous century, but that is quite a small part of the book. So the author was a...

United States on Jun 08, 2004

Bel: In my opinion, "The Story of Art" is the best gift for yourself and others. Why?. Because it is one of those few books that allows you to achieve several objectives at the same time... It can introduce the reader to art, or allow him to continue with his studies. It gives him the opportunity of learning, but also entertains and captivates him.
Yes, of course that it is long, and because of that somehow scary the first time you see it. But if you manage to start it, you will find that you will finish it in no time at all. The reason for that is the author, E.H. Gombrich. His prose is fluent, and easy to understand, but what is more important, he doesn't merely enumerate facts: he tries to explain them, setting them in a historical background. And by doing that, compels and engages the reader, making him think about art and its "evolution", and about why the story of art is "A story without end".
The book brings a lot of illustrations regarding the artworks discussed by the author, including several fold-outs that I appreciated enormously. The reproductions allow the reader to "see" what the author tries to explain, and make the book even more dynamic.
Now in its 16th...

United States on Feb 05, 2004