The Story of Painting by DK

The Story of Painting by DK ISBN-13: 9781465481788 Hardback: 360 pages Publisher: DK Publishing Released: Aug. 6, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
A fascinating new history of art, this gloriously illustrated book reveals how materials, techniques, and ideas have evolved over the centuries, inspiring artists and giving them the means to create their most celebrated works.

Covering a comprehensive array of topics, from the first pigments and frescos to linear perspective in Renaissance paintings, the influence of photography, Impressionism, and the birth of modern art, The Story of Painting follows each step in the developments in painting over the last 25,000 years, from the first cave paintings to the abstract works of the last 150 years. Packed with lavish color reproductions of paintings and photographs of artists at work and the materials they used, it also focuses on key paintings from each period to analyze the techniques and secrets of the great masters in detail.


My Review:
The Story of Painting is an art history book that's full of colorful pictures of painting, tools, artists, and such. The book started with cave paintings, Greek pottery, Roman statues, and frescoes and progressed throughout history to the modern day. The book covered information like the development of new technologies and how they impacted art trends, the different styles of art and how they developed, the different types of tools, materials, and pigments used over time, details about important paintings, biographies of significant artists, and information about the different methods of painting (like oil, watercolor, pastels, etc.). I found this book a very informative and enjoyable read. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about art history (though probably not to someone who has already taken an actual art history course).


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.