Art for Dummies

467 Pages·1999·75.697 MB·English

by  Thomas Hoving

®
Art For Dummies

by Thomas Hoving
Foreword by Andrew Wyeth
Art For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the
1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the
Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the
Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax
978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal
Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-
572-3447, fax [phone], or e-mail [email protected]
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A
Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way,
Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may
not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor
mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: While the publisher and author have
used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or
warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book
and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or
written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable
for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither
the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial
damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other
damages.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical
support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974,
outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that
appears in print may not be available in electronic books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Library of Congress Control Number: 99-65838
ISBN: 978-0-7645-5104-8
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7
1O/SY/QS/QY/IN
About the Author
Thomas Hoving (New York, New York) was the director of the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York for ten years (1967-77). During his tenure, he renovated more than 50
galleries and doubled the size of the museum from 7 to 14 acres, constructing five wings
and the facade with its monumental stairs. He acquired for the Metropolitan 25,000 works
of art in all fields. He also brought the so-called “Blockbuster” exhibition to America,
personally designing the Tutankhamun Show, which is still the all-time museum box-
office attraction. These blockbusters made art more accessible to the general public, for
Hoving is most proud of his role as the popularizer of the fine arts.
Hoving has written 12 non-fiction and fiction books since 1979, including two national
best-sellers, The Untold Story, King Tutankhamun, and Making the Mummies Dance, an
unvarnished account of his tenure as director of The Met. He was also the entertainment
editor on ABC’s 2 0/20 from 1980 until 1986 and was editor-in-chief of Connoisseur
magazine from 1981 to 1990. Hoving writes a monthy column, “My Eye,” for the Internet
Art magazine published in the Web site, www.ArtNet.com. His latest book to be released
in the Fall for Abrams Press is on the Native American painter and sculptor Dan
Namingha.
Dedication and Acknowledgments
To all living artists and appreciators of every aspect of fine art who please us, puzzle us,
and sometimes annoy us, but always give balance to our lives and energize us.
Cover art: Blue Water Lilies (1916-1919) by Claude Monet (1840-1926), Musée d’Orsay,
Paris, France
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration
form located at www.dummies.com/register
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Bill Helling
Acquisitions Editor: Tammerly Booth
Copy Editor: Stacey Mickelbart
General Reviewer: Sarah Davis
Editorial Coordinator: Maureen Kelly
Editorial Assistant: Alison Walthall
Acquisitions Coordinator: Karen S. Young
Composition
Project Coordinator: Tom Missler, Cindy L. Phipps
Layout and Graphics: Amy Adrian, Brian Drumm, Kelly Hardesty, Angela F. Hunckler,
Barry Offringa, Jill Piscitelli, Douglas L. Rollison, Brent Savage, Janet Seib, Jacque
Schneider, Kathie Schutte, Michael A. Sullivan, Brian Torwelle, Maggie Ubertini, Mary Jo
Weis
Proofreaders: Chris Collins, Nancy Price, Marianne Santy
Indexer: Tech Indexing
Special Help Diana R. Conover, Corey M. Dalton, Tim Gallan, Donna Love, Heather
Prince, Anita C. Snyder, Linda S. Stark, Nívea C. Strickland, Billie A. Williams
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies
Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel
Brice Gosnell, Associate Publisher, Travel
Suzanne Jannetta, Editorial Director, Travel
Publishing for Technology Dummies
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Foreword
I
first met the author in the early 1970s when, as director of the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, he was curating an exhibition of my works. Right away I figured he must be the
sharpest eye in the art business. He arrived at Chadds Ford to look at hundreds of my
works and immediately honed in on what I myself considered my best works, but hadn’t
told many people. When Tom Hoving started interviewing me for the exhibition
catalogue, he did something that stunned me. He asked questions about materials — pen,
pencil, tempera, watercolor, and drybrush — and their qualities and how they affected
me creatively. It wasn’t what the usual art historian would have gotten into. That showed
me he was sensitive to the act of creativity.
He followed by asking questions about my works of Maine and Brandywine, specifically
the things I’d done at Christina Olson’s and Karl Kuerner’s (neighbors and frequent
models), which were not so much questions than the guidance an excellent teacher
might offer to reveal things about my art to me. He’s always gotten me to see things in my
paintings that I only suspected were there. Once, when I changed my way of depicting
light — and it was a fundamental change — he was the only one to recognize it the
moment it happened.
Over the years, Tom Hoving has interviewed me many times and is, in fact, the only
person I feel comfortable talking to about my art. In our sessions, we always get into the
art of the past, and he continually amazes me by the breadth of his knowledge — which
ranges from the time before Greece and Rome through the medieval period and the
northern Renaissance (we both have the highest regard for Albrecht Dürer, who you can
read more about in this very book), to the latest contemporary trends. He’s the best I’ve
come across when it comes to spotting quality, too. What I admire about his approach to
art is that he’s not hung up on a particular period or style. He doesn’t favor, say, the
abstract over realism. He respects all styles as legitimate artistic expressions. And he
knows something that I believe deeply: The so-called common man instinctively knows
what’s worthy in art and what to like and just needs a little coaxing to express it and be
confident with it.
I know of no art historian other than Tom Hoving who could write about art from the
beginning to today, choose the best museums in the world, select their top pieces, and
give us the inside word on collecting. He’s been everywhere, seen everything, and knows
what quality in art is all about.
— Andrew Wyeth
Contents
Title
Introduction
About This Book
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I : Appreciating Art
Chapter 1: What Is Art?
Toward a Definition of Art
How to Recognize Good Art
Chapter 2: How to Appreciate Art Without an Advanced Degree
The Key to Being a Connoisseur
Chapter 3: How to Visit a Museum the Way the Pros Do
Doing What the Pros Do
Part II: : Art through the Ages
Chapter 4: Prehistoric Art (More Sophisticated Than You Would Believe)
Prehistoric Cave Art
Art Leaves the Caves
Chapter 5: The Ancient World: Still the Most Exciting
The Ancient Near East
Mesopotamia (Iraq)
Anatolia (Turkey)
Persia (Iran)
Egypt, the True Grandmother of the Fine Arts
The Glory That Was Greece