The story of art
After watching the classical western art to have a general understanding, early painting artists thought the church, rich creation health, painting theme is a little simple, religious stories accounted for the majority of the portraits, there are many. Some parts of modern art in the 20th century are difficult to understand, and the author’s evaluation of this period is vague, perhaps because it is not far enough away to judge.
The author is very good at weaving events into stories. The language used to describe complex historical processes is discreet and appropriate. Choose the picture carefully, before and after the picture often can establish interesting reference relationship. The printing in English version has no chromatic aberration and can show details.
Expanding the so-called concept of art, not only beautiful beauty is art, but also not the most real art. Too true too rigid, only the pursuit of beauty also limits the creation.
The development of art is closely related to contemporary beliefs, politics, class status and so on. And the inheritance and breakthrough of art is inseparable from those always full of enthusiasm and fighting spirit of the artists. It’s been a wonderful and exciting journey.
In the reform and breakthrough, I still admire manet and monet’s impressionistic painting school most. Although brunelleschi’s perspective shocked the whole of Europe, and leonardo Da Vinci’s scientific anatomy restored the more real lines of the human body, I always felt that this was an inevitable degree in the development of painting, and it was a smooth process in the mode of thinking. But the emergence of impressionism completely jumped out of the original frame, no longer painting every detail that the eye saw, but painting a whole picture that the mind felt, such thinking has absolutely great subversive, worship ing.
看完对古典西方艺术有了大概了解，早期的绘画家以为教堂、有钱人创作卫生，绘画题材略显单一，宗教故事占了一大半，人物肖像也有不少。二十世纪现代艺术的部分，有些还挺难以理解的，作者在对这一段时期的评价也挺模糊，可能是正处在这个年代离得不够远不好判断。
拓展了所谓的艺术的概念，不是只有好看的美的才是艺术，同时也不是最真的才是艺术。太真过于死板，只求美也对创作限制。
作者将事件（event）编织成故事（story）的功力非常厉害。论述复杂历史过程的用语谨慎恰当。选图用心，前后文的图片往往能建立有趣的参照关系。英文版的印刷大致没有色差，能显示细节。
艺术的发展，总和同时代的信仰、政治、阶级地位等等有着密不可分的关系。而艺术的传承与突破又离不开那些始终充满热情与斗志的艺术家。看一路演变，奇妙又激动人心。
一次次的变革与突破中，我个人还是最为佩服马内与莫奈的印象画派。虽然布鲁内莱斯基的透视法震惊了全欧洲、达芬奇的科学解剖还原了更真实的人体线条，但总觉得这都是绘画发展中必然会到达的程度，在思维模式上顺利成章。但印象派的出现，完全跳脱出原先的框架，不再是画出眼睛看到的每个细节，而是画出脑中感受到的一整个画面，这样的思维具有绝对伟大的颠覆性，膜拜ing。