Masters of Painting and their Concepts of Art: From XVIIITH to XXTH Century (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780692946848)

Art cannot be created or viewed in a void. To truly appreciate the works of master painters, you need to place them in their proper contexts in history and in relation to other art movements.

In Masters of Painting and Their Concepts of Art, Amir Reza traces the history of modern art beginning with artists' reactions to the stifling control of the Royal Academy of Beaux-Arts and its principles of classical style.

Focusing on art that defies previous conventions, Reza explores the social and aesthetic backgrounds of realism, impressionism, surrealism, abstract painting, and cubism. His discussion moves chronologically forward to the diversity of the twentieth century and the supplanting of France as the center of art by the United States.

Reza keeps history in mind throughout his examination of the masters of painting. He explores how the rise of anarchistic Dadaism was tied to the horrors of World War I and how Freud's writings forever changed how we think of ourselves and the art we create.

A bold, sweeping discussion of art's place in life, Masters of Painting and Their Concepts of Art provides the background against which the great art movements grew, thrived, and evolved.