Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Hogarth's pugnaciously xenophobic `Gates of Calais', Giambattista Tiepolo's grandiose murals at Wurzburg, Goya's satirical engravings, Los Caprichos, and Canova's chastely classical sculptures could hardly be more different but all are aspects of the same period. In an era of unprecedented change - rapid urbanization, economic growth, political revolution - artists were in the business of finding new ways of making art, new ways of selling art, and new ways of talking about art. Matthew Craske creates a totally new and vivid picture of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century art in Europe, taking a critical view of such conventional categorizations as the `Rococo', the `Neo-Classical', and the `Romantic'. He engages with crucial thematic issues such as changes in `taste' and `manners' and the impact of enlightenment notions of progress, and at the same time goes well beyond the usual geographical limits of surveys to take in St Petersburg, Copenhagen, Warsaw, and Madrid. The result is a refreshingly holistic survey which sets the art of the period firmly in its social history.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

One of several new titles inaugurating the "Oxford History of Art" series, Craske's survey is most welcome, as it makes available to a broad audience material that has recently only been reevaluated for the scholar (cf. publications by Barbara Stafford), and it does so by incorporating relatively new methodological approaches and previously neglected artists. The survey's intention--to analyze the fundamental historical causes of change that took place from the early 1700s to 1830--is clearly discussed in the introduction, where it is argued that such concerns have been conspicuously absent from previous surveys and specialized studies of artists and art within the now-antiquated context of terms such as "rococo," "neo-classical," and "romantic." Craske then provides a series of four stimulating chapters devoted respectively to the function of the artist, art worlds, the appreciation of the visual arts, and evolving ideas of history and civilization. The text is enhanced by 129 high-quality illustrations, half of which are in color, and is complemented by good notes, a fine bibliography, detailed list of illustrations, a time line and a historical map, and a serviceable index. Highly recommended for all academic levels and for general readers. J. Weidman Oberlin College

Booklist Review

The Oxford University Press has long published works that combine scholarliness with accessibility. The Oxford History of Art series exemplifies their signature style with the added value of gorgeous reproductions. The series promises to be a grand and inclusive series of truly global dimensions. Each of the inaugural five volumes presents sumptuous reproductions and dynamic syntheses of artistic and historical themes. The authors offer fresh and stimulating theories of how art has defined and challenged national and regional identities and mirrored or questioned officially sanctioned gender roles and class divisions. In the three volumes about art in Europe and China, the authors, art historians with impeccable credentials and engaging prose styles, carefully resurrect neglected or forgotten artists; trace important artist-mentor relationships; reveal the nexus between art, religion, and politics; explore the connections between fine and decorative arts; and track the symbiotic evolution of art and technology, a theme found front and center stage in the series' excellent volumes on photography and twentieth-century design. With nearly 50 projected titles, the Oxford History of Art will become a mainstay in art history collections. --Donna Seaman

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Matthew Craske is a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. His book The London Trade In Monumental Sculpture and The Production of Family Imagery 1720-60 is forthcoming from Yale UP in 1997.