Title: Art history as seen by one man
Review: Paul Johnson has written a very personal view of the history of art. He makes some very interesting observations. Some of these are thought provoking and others are just plain silly. His ideas are worth considering for ancient art but they become so personal and opinionated for modern art, they can only be termed laughable. Another problem for me was that as an Englishman, the author seems to believe that the English have been a much greater influence in the development of art than they have, in fact been. Because there is no bibliography or footnotes, it is very difficult to tell when the author is providing his own opinions or citing accepted scholarship. If you hate most of the art of the last 150 years, you may find this book one that will bolster your ideas. The illustrations are all in color and are quite good. Many are works that do not appear in other books on art history.
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