The Social History of Art (Volume 1: Prehistoric Times/Ancient-Oriental/Urban Cultures/Greece&Rome/The Middle Ages)

by Arnold Hauser

Book Overview

First published in 1951 Arnold Hausers commanding work presents an account of the development and meaning of art from its origins in the Stone Age through to the Film Age. Exploring the interaction... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394701143
• Release Date: September 1985
• Publisher: Vintage Books
• Length: 267 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.8" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

A Sweeping Insight into Art

kalinin@terra.com.brWhen I purchased The Social History of Art I had never intended to read it from cover to cover. It is, in fact, a bulky book, which covers the history of art from pre-historic to contemporary times. I thought it would be one of those books you place on your bedside table and from time to time, have a look at it, and read bits and pieces when you are sleepless in the small hours. Surprisingly, I started reading it from the very beginning and couldn't stop till I reached the final sentence. I still cannot make out how a single author managed to cope with such an ambitious project. Unlike other books of art, which stick to the description of each style, and some artists' works as something divorced from other events that took place at the time when they were produced, this book contextualises all the art productions according to the philosophical principles that underlie them, establishing the necessary link with the historical panorama and the social and political backdrop at the time that each artist lived and produced his/her works. Above all, Hauser's The Social History doesn't stick to the analysis of the visual arts as most art books do, but on the contrary, his broad scope extends to literature, drawing, paintings and even films. Never had I dreamed of understanding art as I could understand after reading Hauser's book. Besides, as an amateur admirer of art, I was thrilled to realise that I could read and grasp his meaning with no extra effort; even so, he never patronises the reader. After reading this book, I realised that concepts I had always taken at face value and had never disputed, had gone down the drain. To my surprise, artists such as Shakespeare and Michelangelo are, in his book, not Renaissance artists but Mannerist artists. So, you learn to evaluate the artists and classify them using a different criterion. Well, this book is good value for money!

After Reading This You Do Not Need A Liberal Arts Education

Well, that is almost the case. In this four volume set, Hauser accomplishes a concise but sweeping survey of art and society from the Neolithic Age through mid-twentieth century film and the dadaist movement. The references do require some basic familiarity with the literary, artistic, and musical titans, but not expertise. And a reader armed with such a basic familiarity quickly realizes that Hauser succeeds admirably in untangling the complex relationships between the political, social, and religious elements of a culture and artists of genius. After the initial publication of the series, Thomas Mann commented that Hauser provides deep insight into Shakespeare and Goethe. I would add that the same can be said of Dante, Giotto, Beethoven, and a host of others. These volumes may have fallen out of print or may be hard to find, but they are well worth the search.