despite Gombrich’s intentions of producing a pleasure read for teenagers. Artist and art history professor H. W. Janson, reviewing the book for College Art Journal, remarked it was “undoubtedly destined for a most successful career in the classroom.” He praised the book for its accessible language and selections free from Gombrich's own preferences, measuring the book against scholarly standards. In his discussion of the book in The Burlington Magazine, artist and writer Wilfrid Blunt noted that The Story of Art reads like a lecture. Though he believed the lecture-like tone would lead masters to prefer the book rather than students, he declared that The Story of Art “fully deserve[s] a place in any educational library." Criticism has also emerged since the book’s release. One stream of criticism addresses Gombrich’s treatment of contemporary art. In a 1989 review for Art Journal of the book’s 14th edition, art history professor Bradford R. Collins criticized the work for its lack of depth in its discussion of contemporary art. Collins indicated that Gombrich’s commentary on 20th century art was brief and often dismissive. Elly Miller, daughter of Béla Horovitz, revealed in an interview that Gombrich had not originally intended to include an additional chapter on contemporary art and that “he really didn’t come to terms with what he called modern art.” Art curator Karen Wilkin made similar comments for The Hudson Review, remarking about The Story of Art that “[Gombrich] was never really at ease with anything but illusionistic painting and sculpture." Gombrich’s omission of international and female artists has also raised criticism, with none having been included in the first The Story of Art and just one included in the 16th edition. With the intention of offsetting the emphasis on white, male, and Western works in the globally influential book, curator and art historian Katy Hessel responded to the lack of diverse representation by creating a book of works by a range of international female artists titled The Story of Art Without Men, to be published in 2023. References External links The Story of Art on Internet Archive Gombrich's interview on The Story of Art 1950 non-fiction books Art history books Aesthetics books Art criticism Contemporary philosophical literature