Art History for Dummies Paperback – January 1, 2007

Fantastic work that hits all of the high--and low--points of the history of world art. Done with humor as well as great savvy, Wilder's book is a great tool for dummies and even non-dummies to learn about every aspect of art history and art appreciation. Well-organized with an excellent introduction to the elements of art design and what to look for in art, including a section on the viewer's perspective. One caveat: This book focuses on Western Art.

This is as good, or better, than the outrageoulsy priced textbooks. Tells you, concisely, everything you need to know about the different art periods. Now I can converse with my artist friends who received degrees ..... I didn't. If you're into art at all, it's fun to know this stuff.

Lets face it. Art history books in most cases are ancient dusty tombs that are heavy and tough enough to survive a atomic blast. This book on the other hand is a quick read and wonderful reference to any artist, armature or aspiring, to understand the basic idea of the many worlds of art that came before them. I'm very happy with my book and look forward to using it in my art history class.

This book will definitely not take the place of attending lecture. May or may not be able to replace the textbook. In my case, it did. It doesn't have many of the works of art we covered, but it gives a great summary of each period's art in only 3 pages max. It's witty, it's easy to understand and, unlike Gardner's, fun to read. I feel like with this and my lecture notes, I was set.

I saw this book started off with ancient art, which I really have no interest in, but was willing to force my way through it anyway. I was pleasantly surprised when the author almost ordered me to not read parts I wasn't interested in, and that most parts of the book were self contained. I think it really lives up to that.I read the Kindle edition of this book, and I knew it'd be difficult to read the text and look at the artwork at the same time. I was very pleased to find I really didn't need to. The author did a great job of describing the important parts of the works and what was unique about them, so much so that most of the time I didn't bother actually looking at the photos unless they were incorporated into the text. And I think as long as the reader knows and expects the book to be about the history of art, and not just a collection of pretty pictures, they will be very pleased with this book.

It covers all major art periods but I wish there were more illustrations. It would be worth it to pay more and be able to see more.

Helped me narrow down the most important artists. I teach Art so I love them all - well, ALMOST all - LOL :-) This helped me narrow down the most important ones my students should know about to be a well round person.

This helped me study for my MTELs, I’d never tried one of these before but they are organized in a very practical way that’s easy to understand. Enjoyable to read, and helped me pass my exam with flying colors :)