Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts

By Debra J. Dewitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields

Gateways to Art is beloved for its flexible, modular approach and strong emphasis on visual analysis. The book reflects the perspectives of the author team, a studio artist and two art historians, with an approach that will meet the needs of many types of instructors. Its brief chapters are designed to be easily readable and can be assigned in any order. Highly illustrated throughout, with an exciting mix of works from a wide range of artists and time periods, the Fifth Edition offers balanced coverage of the elements, media, themes, and history of art, with visual cross-references that encourage comparison across time and geography. Pedagogical features throughout the text help students build visual and comparative analysis skills, and courseware elements including the interactive Norton Illumine Ebook and adaptive InQuizitive learning tool provide additional practice and reinforcement of these key course skills.

Highlights of this edition's new content:

The Introduction has been thoroughly revised to emphasize close looking and critical thinking in students' daily lives, showing how studying art is relevant to student success both inside and outside the classroom. The Fifth Edition features more historical women artists, community-based artists, and immersive art experiences, as well as more works of art that address the environment. Five of the images in the popular Gateway to Art feature are new in the Fifth Edition, including Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night and Kerry James Marshall's Untitled (2009). Extensive input from instructors teaching the course guided updates to the Norton Illumine Ebook, reflecting the content in the new edition and promoting student engagement. Chapters were revised to be more easily assignable, with more consistent length throughout, and some chapters have been retitled to reflect current trends in the discipline, such as Chapter 2.7, now titled Design and Digital Media Art. InQuizitive has been thoroughly reviewed and revised to improve the student learning experience, and more images have been added to the Test Bank to help reinforce visual analysis.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1837440212
• ISBN13: 9781837440214
• Release Date: July 2027
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Limited
• Dimensions: 5.0" x 8.0"