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Art History & Appreciation

There are works of art so inherently beautiful or stunning that anyone looking at them ends up choking back tears, or standing transfixed, or simply unable to breathe for several seconds. What you won't often hear is that those are the exceptions, that most paintings, buildings and sculptures require anterior knowledge to be fully appreciated.

Once you know what to look for, the once-abstruse and confusing world of chiaroscuro, Pre-Raphaelite, and oxidation fire becomes navigable and even a welcome place from the ho-hum mundanities of the everyday world. Though, of course, we'd be the last to encourage art appreciation for mere escapism—if a work can't reveal some element of human nature or help us understand things a little better, it isn't worth much.

This is one reason a lot of modern art can't really be considered art at all. It isn't intended to reveal anything, but simply to be "living commentary," a mere reflection, not of reality, but of the artist's inner conflict or angst. Sometimes it's not even that deep, and simply reflects the belief that there is no meaning in the world, that everything is empty, that nihilism is the only truth.

We reject those claims entirely. Everything is meaningful because Christ has made it so. Taken too far that idea is sometimes used to defend all kinds of non-art and just plain bad art, but all it really means is that everything is either consistent with or in rebellion against God's truth, and that artistic endeavours reveal which side the artist is on.

For Christians, understanding art from this perspective should be the primary motive in studying anything from the Sistine Chapel to Rembrandt's portraits to the illustrations of N.C. Wyeth. Art has the potential to entertain and delight, but it also affects the attitudes and thoughts of those who come in contact with it. Understanding a work's context and significance will immensely help us determine whether it's beneficial or pernicious.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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All About Maps
from Gingko Press
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
An Introduction to Medieval Ivory Carvings
by Paul Williamson
from Her Majesty's Stationery Office
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Andrew Wyeth
by Andrew Wyeth
from New York Graphic Society
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Art and Artists of Russia
by Richard Hare
from Methuen
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Art of Art for Children's Books
by Diana Klemin
1st edition from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Art of the Renaissance
by Peter and Linda Murray
1999 reprint from Thames and Hudson
for 9th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Art Workshops for Children
by Herve Tullet
from Phaidon Press
for Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Art: Over 2,500 Works from Cave to Contemporary
from DK Publishing
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Baby Blessing
by Welleran Poltarnees
from Laughing Elephant
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Berta and Elmer Hader: A Lifetime of Art
by Joy Hoerner Rich, Karen Tolley, John and Judy Waller
from Joyful Productions
for Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Carl Larsson's A Family
by Carl Larsson and Lennart Rudstrom
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Carl Larsson's A Farm
by Carl Larsson (illustrator), with Lennart Rudstrom
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Carl Larsson's A Home
by Carl Larsson and Lennart Rudstrom
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Charlton Heston Presents: The Bible
by Charlton Heston, Tom Robotham
from GT Publishing
for Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Choices, Changes
by Joni Eareckson Tada
from Zondervan
Biography for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Coloring Paris
by Tomislav Tomic, illustrator
from Walter Foster
for 6th-Adult
in Adult Coloring Books (Location: COL-ADULT)
Dancer: Degas, Forain, and Toulouse-Lautrec
by Annette Dixon with Mary Weaver Chapin, Jill Devonyar, Richard Kendall, and Florence Valdes-Forain
from Portland Art Museum
for Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Dore's Illustrations for "Paradise Lost"
by Gustave Dore
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$15.29
Drawn from New England: Tasha Tudor
by Bethany Tudor, with photographs and drawings by Tasha Tudor
from Philomel Books
for 5th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Famous Pictures of Real Animals
by Lorinda Munson Bryant
from John Lane Co.
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Folk Arts and Crafts of New England
by Priscilla Sawyer Lord & Daniel J. Foley
Updated from Chilton Book Company
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Gospel Figures in Art
by Stefano Zuffi, translated by Thomas Michael Hartmann
from Getty Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Great Composers - Great Artists: Portraits
by Stewart Buettner and Reinhard Pauly
from Amadeus Press
for 6th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Howard Pyle
by Henry C. Pitz, with illustrations by Howard Pyle
from Bramhall House
for 7th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Illuminated Page
by Janet Backhouse
from University of Toronto Press
for 7th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Wordsworth's Guide to the Lakes
by William Wordsworth, Edited by Peter Bicknell
from Congdon & Weed Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
In August Company
from Morgan Library
for 9th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
In Search of Norman Rockwell's America
by Photography by Kevin Rivoli, Artwork by Norman Rockwell
from Howard Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Kate Greenaway
by Rodney K. Engen
from Harmony
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Richard McLanathan
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Life of Picasso Volume II
Book 2 of 4
by John Richardson with Marilyn McCully
First Edition 2nd Printing from Random House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lust for Life: A Novel of Vincent Van Gogh
by Irving Stone
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
M.C. Escher Kaleidocycles
Box from Purple Pomegranate Productions
for 6th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Mary Cassatt
by Frank Getlein
from Abbeville Press
for Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Masters of Art: Rembrandt and Seventeenth-Century Holland
Masters of Art
by Claudio Pescio, illustrated by Sergio
1st edition from Peter Bedrick Books
for 5th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Mathew Brady
by James D. Horan
from Bonanza Books
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Monet to Moore
from Yale University Press
for Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Moon and Sixpence
Modern Library
by W. Somerset Maugham
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
N.C. Wyeth
by N. C. Wyeth, introduction by Kate F. Jennings
from Crescent Books
for 4th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Natural Way to Draw
by Kimon Nicolaides
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell's America
by Christopher Finch, Illustrated by Norman Rockwell
from Reader's Digest
for 3rd-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Old Testament Figures in Art
by Chiara de Capoa, edited by Stefano Zuffi, translated by Thomas Michael Hartmann
from Getty Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Painted Ponies
from Zon International
for Adult
in Crafts & Hobbies (Location: SS-CRA)
Passion for the Impossible
by Miriam Huffman Rockness
from Discovery House Publishers
for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Picasso
Artists by Themselves
by Rachel Barnes, editor
from Bracken Books
for Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
by Christopher Tolkien (editor and text), illustrations by J.R.R. Tolkien
2021 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
$35.00
Private World of Tasha Tudor
by Tasha Tudor and Richard Brown
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
R. v. R.: The Life of Rembrandt Van Rijn
by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, art selected by J. B. Neumann
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Randolph Caldecott
by Leonard S. Marcus
from Frances Foster Books
for 7th-Adult
in Oversized Biographies (Location: BIO-OVER)
Raphael: Painter of the Renaissance
Immortals of Art
by Henry S. Gillette
from Franklin Watts
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Rembrandt: Master of the Portrait
by Pascal Bonafoux, translated by Alexandra Campbell
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Robert Bateman: An Artist in Nature
by Robert Bateman, text by Rick Archbold
from Random House
for 9th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Romance of Leonardo da Vinci
by Dmitri Merejcovski
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Self-Portrait: Erik Blegvad
from Harper & Row
for 4th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Self-Portrait: Margot Zemach
by Margot Zemach
from Harper & Row
for 4th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman
from Harper & Row
for 4th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Story of Art
by E. H. Gombrich
from Phaidon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$15.20 (2 in stock)
Story of Art
by E. H. Gombrich
from Phaidon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$15.20 (1 in stock)
Story of Painting
by Sister Wendy Beckett
from DK Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$48.00
Sun the Moon and the Stars
by Richard Whelan, designed by Arnold Skolnik
from First Glance Books
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Van Gogh: Great Art of the Ages
by Meyer Schapiro
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Victorian Cottages
by Andrew Clayton-Payne
from Weidenfeld & Nicolson
for Adult
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Wit and Whimsy of Mary Engelbreit
by Mary Engelbreit
from Andrews McMeel
for 3rd-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
World of Bernini
1973 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Bruegel
Revised, 1975 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Cezanne
Revised, 1974 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Delacroix
by Tom Prideaux
Revised, 1975 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Gainsborough
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Leonardo
by Robert Wallace
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
World of Manet
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Michelangelo
by Robert Coughlan
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
World of Rembrandt
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
World of Rubens
by C. V. Wedgwood
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
World of Titian
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Turner
Time-Life Library of Art
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
World of Van Gogh
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
World of Velazquez
Time-Life Library of Art
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
World of Vermeer
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Watteau
Time-Life Library of Art
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
World of Whistler
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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