Artists Who Changed History (DK History Changers)

Wonderful book! Large pictures and a perfect balance between information and image. Would recommend for a coffee table book or light learning.

This book was given as a Christmas gift. The person who received it was very excited. She loves art herself and was very familiar with artists in the book. Maybe she can help change the world a little bit! If you have someone interested in art, I recommend this book.

I got this for my 17 year old daughter who loves art for Christmas . She loved it ! Has wonderful pictures as well as info on artist

This is a great concise work with a misleading title (more on this below). As I always expect from DK publishing, this is a superb production. The hard cover book is beautifully illustrated and organized. High quality paper and incredibly clear photos and illustrations. The book covers "Western" art movement, from the 1400 until our present time. Each chapter is dedicated to one century period, with a selected western artists coverage. On average, there are about 4 pages dedicated to each artist. The text covers personal background on the artist, as well as a quick overview and highlights of the artist's work. There are some exceptions, for example for Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo more space is dedicated (6-8 pages). There are also exceptions on the other side of the spectrum, i.e., some artists like Artemisia Gentileschi is allocated only two pages, with an entire page used for her self-portrait painting. The book has a nice index, which is something that is not always included in such art books. Again, this is a great production and a book that I consider to be a very good addition to any artist or art lover's library. Quite enough solid information on western art, starting with the Renaissance era. Of course, it would be fair to conclude, with thousands of well-accomplished western painters and masters through history, the selection process for which artists to be covered in the book is quite subjective. I assume this is based on the publisher and composers of the book and on what would sell based on artists' popularity in popular culture. Fair enough. So don't be surprised if you don't see some of your favorite artists covered in this book, after all, the book is 368 pages. Now, some of the issues I have with this book and thus not going to give it a full mark of 5 stars: If I'm not mistaken, DK originally published this book with the title "Artists: Their Lives and Works", which in my opinion is more accurate than the current title. First of all, this book focuses on Western artists. By not qualifying which artists the book is focused on, it is misleading and ignores that there are well-established artists around the world, in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Middle East, etc. Also, the book doesn't explain how those artists changed history? To me, it is just a marketing idea to encourage book sales. Don't get me wrong, I'm an artists and that's what I do, love, and dedicate time for. Many of the artists covered in the book are some of my all time "Western" artists! However, the book doesn't tell me how Albrecht Durer or Rembrandt, or Bellini changed history? I have four books in my library just on Durer, non of them claim that he changed history. Does this take away any of his artistic genius and work? Does it make him less of an artist? Of course not! As an artists, I really wanted to know. However, during my research I discovered that DK is publishing a series of books under the title "X who changed history". Now, replace X with Composers, Philosophers, etc. I haven't read a single book of those, but that explains to me the incorrect name (in my opinion) and DK changing the original name of this book. Again, this is a wonderful book. It is of high quality all around. It has a nice place in my large Art library books and I enjoy browsing and reading it often. My critique is just about a misleading title that needs to be further qualified (such as adding "Western", otherwise that makes the book idea biased IMO because it assumes that art masters are those only related to a specific era or regions). This is a great gift idea too.

Was given as a Christmas gift. Person loved it.

first off. I'm blind and couldn't see the pictures in this book. Thing is, it is good enough, I didn't have to despite it being an art book. Second, most of these artists did not "change History" and it is more of a review of primary artists from the high middle ages to the present. The artists in this book are covered in precise detail and even as a blind man I was able to appreciate a lot of what the artists did by literary descriptions made in the sections on the artists. To make the book even better, it was much more inclusive than many other art books I've read. You have more than white Europeans, and you get talnted artists from China, Japan, and also several renowned artists of color from America and women who tend to get the shaft in art discussions even in the modern era. Most of these artists only changed art history, but knowing that I'd still get this one. You even get people who are legends of art described who are alive and well and producing even today. This is one of the best art books I've read in a very long time.

This book is lovely.

Great book. Fantastic pictures. A pleasure to read and own.

excellent

It's good coffee table book. you can open it up and read from anywhere. The quality is very good and amazon actually sell it with best price. I found it in a shop but they were selling it way more expensive than amazon.