Gardner's Art Through the Ages

This is a great art history textbook or supplement for a class. I have been using this book for three art history classes and it has been quite useful as a supplement to the course content. The book is well written and organized. Not only does this book cover Western art, but also Asian, African, and Native American art. Each chapter begins with a summary of the cultural history for the period and location as well as a map showing the locations discussed. Sidenotes are included in the chapters to enhance understanding of the content such as a diagram and description of the architecture for a Gothic Cathedral or how barkcloth is produced. At the end of each chapter is a brief conclusion summarizing the chapter and a full page chronological overview. There are lots of images with descriptions of the art. The detailed index allows for many ways to search for a topic. A brief glossary at the back of the book also helps explain some art terms. I have not been disappointed in my purchase of this book. In some ways, it has helped me want to learn more. I also use Janson's History of Art, The Western Tradition, which gives me additional insights on the art presented.I would highly recommend this book to anyone studying art or wanting to learn more about it.

This is a beautiful art history book! I just finished an art history class. We used a different edition (Gardner's "concise history", a smaller paperback edition). That book was a smaller paperback, not as detailed as this edition. I will always look online from now on because I bought this bigger better book to keep on amazon for less than I rented the text from the school bookstore! Gardner's book are interesting and readable! I will happily have this on hand to refer to in the future and browse when I feel like it! A treasure! Gardner's Art through the Ages (with ArtStudy Student CD-ROM and InfoTrac)

The binding is a little slippery, but it's there - high quality for really cheap!

This is the second one I purchased as a used book. We keep one in the living room for easy access and I gave one to a budding performing artist as a gift. It's the best easy to follow art history for non expert. It's organized chronologically, with traditional major emphasis on European art and it covers also modern times, all the way to Luscious Freud or Francis Bacon or modern architecture.

I first got a chance to look at this incredible (and incredibly hefty) book when I took AP Art History in high school. Since then, my passion for art history has only grown. This book has always been inspiring to me, and it's chalk full of information on nearly every subject. I love it, because it isn't just the art, it's also the lifestyle, and that is really helpful in understanding the art.I am proud to have added this book to my collection, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning about art history.

The book came as described by the seller and the CD that comes with the book is has great resources for studying the chapters but I have never waited so long for a book to arrive from amazon, I ordered on the first week of my class and I got it the third week into my class which wasn't very helpful to me

I needed this book for my college art history classes and found that it contained everything I needed, from the large book itself, which has two ribbon bookmarks attached to the spine, to the study cd-rom, which aided my memorization of the material with visual flash cards, matching games, links to sites with study tips, etc. The only thing with it having so much information is that it is a thick book that you can feel its weight in your backpack. Not fun if you have to lug it around all day.

really liked this book for my art history class. learned so much