Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History

This massive volume with beautiful gold ribbon place-holders gives an especially apt account of the cultural and stylistic cross-currents in the history of global art. For example,the text demonstrates how and why the naturalism and illusionism of Hellenic art was alternately incorporated and suppressed in the art of Abrahamic cultures. And the particular emphases placed on architecture and the luxury arts lends a more practical dimension to the study of art history, which might otherwise be lacking. One particularly strong feature is the comprehensive glossary of terms; it hasn't failed me yet. It is difficult to believe that the text represents the work of a single author. I purchased something called a 3" Pocket at an office supply store. The book fits perfectly into this zippered, vinyl container which provides convenient carry-about protection for an expensive book that is worth every penny. Don't settle for the paperback version in two volumes; this case-bound complete thirteenth edition is a joy to own. By the way, a good magnifying glass would be another almost indespensible accessory for this book, with its numerous, sharply detailed (but necessarily small) illustrations.

After 4 years of nursing school and now attending art school I have seen a good amount of books. This book Gardner's Art through the ages is probably the only college text book other than my anatomy book I will keep. The hard cover is manufactured like many older books I have. The pages are heavy stock with beautiful colored images on it. It comes with 2 silk binding bookmarks, which is fantastic for quick reference. I actually leave this book out on my coffee table for guests to look at, its that good. If you need this book for class, you might just want to keep it when you are done with the class. The images are small on some pages. Like I said before the text is more inline with quick reference, like a coffee table book. One of my classes required that I make an outline of a chapter of any of our books. I chose this one and the outline I made, made logical sense. I have spent many hours with this book and while not perfect it is a very well made book. No book today can compete with the internet as a source. Instead they must condense the points the class is trying to achieve; to that end this book does a fine job. Yes the photos could be larger, yes you can find more information about a piece out on the web, that will always be the case as books go away and we go completely electronic. Until that time books are required for school and if you are required to get this text I cannot think of a better book to buy and keep. Thank you for reading my review.

Been using this book for 5 years now with my AP students. It is thorough and easy to read. I can't say that it's always a "fun" journey, but compared to other texts I've read, it packs a ton of useful contextual information in very digestable parts. Several of my students have told me that they've learned more about world history from this book and class than any of their other history classes combined! The images are of exceptional quality with excellent supplemental information in each chapter. The timeline fold out is great, but I've never really checked out the accompanied CD. If I had my drothers, I would drop a few 20th century artists and add a few others, i.e., Pierre Bonnard, Ad Reinhardt, Richard Diebenkorn Richard Estes, Beth Murray and Sean Scully to name a few. Considering that this is not the latest edition, it is a bit pricey new, but good used versions seem to show up on here at pretty affordable rates.

Text book used for CCHS AP Art history class. The book weighs around 16 pounds - so it is a real luxury to have a copy at home and one at school so I don't have to lug it back and forth. This is a fabulous text full of illustrations. Covers architectural styles as well as period art.

Useful. Constantly revised to create an income flow for the author & publisher. Weighs enough to be a deadly weapon if you whack someone up alongside their head. Standard art history text. I think teachers get a cut of the profits for requiring this tome for their classes.

Just like any other textbook, I would recommend buying one of the early editions such as the 9th or 10th (from personal experience).The majority of this edition is unchanged from previous ones; however, if you could get this one for cheap, you won't be disappointed. Also, I have used three different Gardner's for a couple of my classes, and all I can say is how great this book is for art history courses.

Bought this for my art history classes in college. Never thought I'd open it again after those two classes but have used it in teaching art at the high school level. It is a thick book with some heft to it but that because it covers art from the pre-historic time up to modern art. Gotta have a lot of pages to fit all that history in.

Great price, great condition, humongous book. I think this book gave me a hernia, lol, but seriously it is massive. I seriously think it weighed about 8 pounds. So if you have to carry this to class I am sorry. I took it only so I only had to carry it from the kitchen to the living room and that was far enough, let me tell you. Amazing pictures and good info.