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Rating:  -
It may not be as complex as some readers are looking for, but it is an excellent place to start when contemplating "Why is THAT art?" You won't get bogged down trying to decipher lots of theory, but you will get some of the art history and the theory that is necessary to understand where the art world is today and what made it that way. Just the right amount of color plates and black & white illustrations to help those unfamiliar with the works mentioned.
Rating:  -
The author has tacked an immense subject and skims the surface by discussing some of the many different theories of art. Her desire to keep the discussion straightforward and brief results in sometimes heavy-handed simplification (to the point of dumbing down) the ideas she discusses, but the book is still a useful introduction to thinking about art.
I found myself disappointed with the book in a number of ways, and I'll discuss a couple of them here. First, the author has discussed theory by means of examples, and her choices of artists like Goya and Bacon work well, but some of her other choices (Damien Hirst and Bill Viola, for example) give the book a somewhat dated feel. A second, more significant disappointment, is the author's discussion of museums. A number of her comments seem uninformed and (in one case regarding the Getty) even snarky. The tone of her writing undermined her discussion of important questions such as how museums should balance the goal of showing worthwhile works with the goal of showing works by a representative group of artists. There is a lot of real-world compromise required to get lenders and donors on board so that exhibitions happen, and lenders, donors and exhibition organizers are, in fact, wrestling with these issues daily.
Overall, the book was a good introduction to a number of theories about art, and perhaps it would work as one of the texts to be used in a high school or college survey class. However, anyone with a serious interest in art will be left wanting something more satisfying on a number of levels.
Rating:  -
On the subject of art (or should it be Art?): Freeland's book is a good and relevant treatment of the issue, low of jargon and high on no nonsense sociology. I was surprised, however, to see no treatment of the historical rise of "nobrow" artistic culture and no philosophical and socio-aesthetic analysis of the phenomenon. In general there was almost no analysis of literature/literary fiction. C'mon, art is not equivalent to the visual culture. Let me just say that this astonishing gap is filled by a magnificent book by Peter Swirski 'From lowbrow to nobrow' which I heartily recommend to those who finished 'But is is art' feeling only partly sated.
Rating: -
The book was delivered in a timely manner. I needed it for a class-it was concise though a little boring unless it's your field.
Rating: -
I had to buy this book for class. It's actually a good book. I'm glad I bought it.
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