Dictionary of Art by Grove

Location: Reference N31 .D53 1998

"Along with writing a great poem, producing a great reference work is probably one of humankind's highest intellectual achievements, at least in the opinion of many scholars and all librarians. Such a work is The Dictionary of Art. With 6700 contributors (a list that reads like a who's who of the world's experts), it covers all aspects of the visual arts in all places at all times, with a weather eye to the contemporary and a discerning eye to the non-Western arts. Coverage includes biographical, geographical, philosophical, and theoretical information, as well as forms and themes, social aspects, and cultural influences. It ranges from Julia Margaret Cameron to Shoji Hamada, Korea to Timbuktu, the Enlightenment to Marxism, and Yoruba Masks to Abstract Expressionism, stopping along the way to include contemporary Algerian graphic artists, the Japanese Grass and Earth Society of early 20th-century painters, conservation and forgery, patronage, and feminism. The entries all include useful bibliographies, and the vast array of images?including artworks and objects, architectural designs and archaeological sites, maps and charts?offer a unique visual record. The work reflects the vast changes in accessibility and attitudes that have so marked the past few decades and have changed the face of art history forever. Those remote regions, previously behind curtains of iron, geography, or intellect, unencountered or unconsidered, have all become available to the scholar, and any acceptable reference book must take note of this. That this is done with no disservice to the accumulated wisdom of the past and with a broad vision of the present is a major triumph for what will clearly be the outstanding art reference tool for many generations of scholars. The cross references are not always as complete as one would wish, requiring use of the index more frequently than is highly desirable. And the excessive parenthetical insertions in the articles are disconcerting to the eye. These are small caveats that in no way diminish the usefulness of the work. Unfortunately, biographical coverage of well-documented historical figures is variable, so don't even think of discarding Thieme-Becker or Benezit." - Library Journal