-
A Fast History of Art: From the Cave to the Computer
- Narrated by: Eric Vinc3nt
- Length: 2 hrs and 37 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
![Prime logo](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/Audible/Homestead/Prime_Logo_RGB.png)
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The History of Western Art
- By: Peter Whitfield
- Narrated by: Sebastian Comberti
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is art? Why do we value images of saints, kings, goddesses, battles, landscapes or cities from eras of history utterly remote from ourselves? This history of art shows how painters, sculptors and architects have expressed the belief systems of their age: religious, political and aesthetic. From the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, to the revolutionary years of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the artist has acted as a mirror to the ideals and conflicts of the human mind.
-
-
A whirlwind tour of Western art
- By Adeliese Baumann on 11-18-12
By: Peter Whitfield
-
The Age of Insight
- The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present
- By: Eric R. Kandel
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant book by Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel, The Age of Insight takes us to Vienna 1900, where leaders in science, medicine, and art began a revolution that changed forever how we think about the human mind - our conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions - and how mind and brain relate to art.
-
-
Worth the listen
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-19
By: Eric R. Kandel
-
Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light, 100 Art Writings 1988-2018
- By: Peter Schjeldahl, Jarrett Earnest - introduction
- Narrated by: Peter Schjeldahl
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hot Cold Heavy Light collects 100 writings - some long, some short - that taken together form a group portrait of many of the world’s most significant and interesting artists. From Pablo Picasso to Cindy Sherman, Old Masters to contemporary masters, paintings to comix, and saints to charlatans, Schjeldahl ranges widely through the diverse and confusing art world, an expert guide to a dazzling scene.
-
-
needs pictures
- By Petra Juarez on 02-19-20
By: Peter Schjeldahl, and others
-
Leonardo da Vinci
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leonardo da Vinci created the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and engineering. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry.
-
-
Wish the sample was not from the preface!
- By Chris M. on 11-13-17
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Why We Make Things and Why It Matters
- The Education of a Craftsman
- By: Peter Korn
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this moving account, Peter Korn explores the nature and rewards of creative practice. We follow his search for meaning as an Ivy-educated child of the middle class who finds employment as a novice carpenter on Nantucket, transitions to self-employment as a designer and maker of fine furniture, takes a turn at teaching and administration at Colorado's Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and then founds a school in Maine: the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, an internationally respected nonprofit institution.
-
-
Must Read
- By Ray on 06-19-14
By: Peter Korn
-
The Geography of Genius
- A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley
- By: Eric Weiner
- Narrated by: Eric Weiner
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Geography of Genius, acclaimed travel writer Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. He explores the history of places, like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley, to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity.
-
-
Very, very disappointing
- By Tamara Greer on 06-08-16
By: Eric Weiner
-
The History of Western Art
- By: Peter Whitfield
- Narrated by: Sebastian Comberti
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is art? Why do we value images of saints, kings, goddesses, battles, landscapes or cities from eras of history utterly remote from ourselves? This history of art shows how painters, sculptors and architects have expressed the belief systems of their age: religious, political and aesthetic. From the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, to the revolutionary years of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the artist has acted as a mirror to the ideals and conflicts of the human mind.
-
-
A whirlwind tour of Western art
- By Adeliese Baumann on 11-18-12
By: Peter Whitfield
-
The Age of Insight
- The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present
- By: Eric R. Kandel
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant book by Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel, The Age of Insight takes us to Vienna 1900, where leaders in science, medicine, and art began a revolution that changed forever how we think about the human mind - our conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions - and how mind and brain relate to art.
-
-
Worth the listen
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-19
By: Eric R. Kandel
-
Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light, 100 Art Writings 1988-2018
- By: Peter Schjeldahl, Jarrett Earnest - introduction
- Narrated by: Peter Schjeldahl
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hot Cold Heavy Light collects 100 writings - some long, some short - that taken together form a group portrait of many of the world’s most significant and interesting artists. From Pablo Picasso to Cindy Sherman, Old Masters to contemporary masters, paintings to comix, and saints to charlatans, Schjeldahl ranges widely through the diverse and confusing art world, an expert guide to a dazzling scene.
-
-
needs pictures
- By Petra Juarez on 02-19-20
By: Peter Schjeldahl, and others
-
Leonardo da Vinci
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leonardo da Vinci created the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and engineering. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry.
-
-
Wish the sample was not from the preface!
- By Chris M. on 11-13-17
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Why We Make Things and Why It Matters
- The Education of a Craftsman
- By: Peter Korn
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this moving account, Peter Korn explores the nature and rewards of creative practice. We follow his search for meaning as an Ivy-educated child of the middle class who finds employment as a novice carpenter on Nantucket, transitions to self-employment as a designer and maker of fine furniture, takes a turn at teaching and administration at Colorado's Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and then founds a school in Maine: the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, an internationally respected nonprofit institution.
-
-
Must Read
- By Ray on 06-19-14
By: Peter Korn
-
The Geography of Genius
- A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley
- By: Eric Weiner
- Narrated by: Eric Weiner
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Geography of Genius, acclaimed travel writer Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. He explores the history of places, like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley, to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity.
-
-
Very, very disappointing
- By Tamara Greer on 06-08-16
By: Eric Weiner
-
The Oldest Enigma of Humanity
- By: Bertrand David, Jean-Jacques Lefrere
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirty thousand years ago our prehistoric ancestors painted perfect images of animals on walls of tortuous caves, most often without any light. How was this possible? Scholars and archaeologists have for centuries pored over these works of art, speculating and hoping to come away with the key to the mystery. David and Lefrre give us a new understanding of an art lost in time, revealing what had until recently remained unexplainable - the oldest enigma in humanity has been solved.
-
-
Amazing conclusion that will change your views
- By D on 05-13-15
By: Bertrand David, and others
-
On Photography
- By: Susan Sontag
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1973, this is a study of the force of photographic images, which are continually inserted between experience and reality. When anything can be photographed, and photography has destroyed the boundaries and definitions of art, a viewer can approach a photograph freely, with no expectations of discovering what it means. This collection of six lucid and invigorating essays, with the most famous being "In Plato's Cave", make up a deep exploration of how the image has affected society.
-
-
I'm Glad I Bought, Despite Some Negative Reviews
- By DEF on 10-18-13
By: Susan Sontag
-
Eye of the Beholder
- Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing
- By: Laura Snyder
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"See for yourself!" was the clarion call of the 1600s. Natural philosophers threw off the yoke of ancient authority, peered at nature with microscopes and telescopes, and ignited the scientific revolution. Artists investigated nature with lenses and created paintings filled with realistic effects of light and shadow. The hub of this optical innovation was the small Dutch city of Delft.
-
-
Historical book about the evolution of optics through the eyes of two geniuses
- By Memi on 04-12-17
By: Laura Snyder
-
Born to Be Posthumous
- The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey
- By: Mark Dery
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive biography of Edward Gorey, the eccentric master of macabre nonsense. From The Gashlycrumb Tinies to The Doubtful Guest, Edward Gorey's wickedly funny and deliciously sinister little books have influenced our culture in innumerable ways, from the works of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman to Lemony Snicket. Some even call him the Grandfather of Goth. An eccentric, a gregarious recluse, an enigmatic auteur of whimsically morbid masterpieces, yes - but who was the real Edward Gorey behind the Oscar Wildean pose?
-
-
More a disappointing editorial than a biography
- By Tim Guy on 01-04-19
By: Mark Dery
-
Tom and Jack
- The Intertwined Lives of Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock
- By: Henry Adams
- Narrated by: Wayne Thompson
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The drip paintings of Jackson Pollock, trailblazing Abstract Expressionist, appear to be the polar opposite of Thomas Hart Benton's highly figurative Americana. Yet the two men had a close and highly charged relationship dating from Pollock's days as a student under Benton. Pollock's first and only formal training came from Benton, and the older man soon became a surrogate father to Pollock.
-
-
I suggest you READ, not listen...
- By Grace O'Malley on 07-01-16
By: Henry Adams
-
Picasso and the Painting That Shocked the World
- By: Miles J. Unger
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1900, an 18-year-old Spaniard named Pablo Picasso made his first trip to Paris. It was in this glittering capital of the international art world that, after suffering years of poverty and neglect, he emerged as the leader of a bohemian band of painters, sculptors, and poets. Fueled by opium and alcohol, inspired by raucous late-night conversations at the Lapin Agile cabaret, Picasso and his friends resolved to shake up the world.
-
-
An Excellent Text
- By Josh Lammers on 04-04-19
By: Miles J. Unger
-
Broad Strokes
- 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order)
- By: Bridget Quinn
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Historically, major women artists have been excluded from the mainstream art canon. Aligned with the resurgence of feminism in pop culture, Broad Strokes offers an entertaining corrective to that omission. Art historian Bridget Quinn delves into the lives and careers of 15 brilliant female artists in this smart, feisty, educational, and enjoyable book.
-
-
Unbelievably Trying
- By Lorraine on 09-15-20
By: Bridget Quinn
-
Perfect Wave
- More Essays on Art and Democracy
- By: Dave Hickey
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Dave Hickey was 12, he rode the surfer's dream: the perfect wave. And, like so many things in life we long for, it didn't quite turn out - he shot the pier and dashed himself against the rocks of Sunset Cliffs in Ocean Beach, which just about killed him. Fortunately, for Hickey and for us, he survived, and continues to battle, decades into a career as one of America's foremost critical iconoclasts, a trusted, even cherished no-nonsense voice commenting on the all-too-often nonsensical worlds of art and culture.
-
-
Wish there were more Dave Hickey audiobooks
- By Kathryn Usher on 05-14-23
By: Dave Hickey
-
The Louvre
- The Many Lives of the World's Most Famous Museum
- By: James Gardner
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fascinating and little-known story of the Louvre, from its inception as a humble fortress to its transformation into the palatial residence of the kings of France and then into the world's greatest art museum.
-
-
Enlightening
- By Jean on 10-29-20
By: James Gardner
-
Known and Strange Things
- Essays
- By: Teju Cole
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With this collection of more than 50 pieces on politics, photography, travel, history, and literature, Teju Cole solidifies his place as one of today's most powerful and original voices. Minute after minute, deploying prose dense with beauty and ideas, he finds fresh and potent ways to interpret art, people, and historical moments, taking in subjects from Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, and W. G. Sebald to Instagram, Barack Obama, and Boko Haram.
-
-
A Book that Teaches and Shares
- By Carolyn J. on 10-08-17
By: Teju Cole
-
How to Be an Artist
- By: Jerry Saltz
- Narrated by: Jerry Saltz
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Art has the power to change our lives. For many, becoming an artist is a lifelong dream. But how to make it happen? In How to Be an Artist, Jerry Saltz, one of the art world’s most celebrated and passionate voices, offers an indispensable handbook for creative people of all kinds. From the first sparks of inspiration - and how to pursue them without giving in to self-doubt - Saltz offers invaluable insight into what really matters to emerging artists: originality, persistence, a balance between knowledge and intuition, and that most precious of qualities, self-belief.
-
-
Terrible Book Waste of Money
- By Classic on 04-22-20
By: Jerry Saltz
-
The Vanishing Velázquez
- A 19th Century Bookseller's Obsession with a Lost Masterpiece
- By: Laura Cumming
- Narrated by: Siobhan Redmond
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When John Snare, a 19th-century provincial bookseller, traveled to a liquidation auction, he stumbled on a vivid portrait of King Charles I that defied any explanation. The Charles of the painting was young - too young to be king - and yet also too young to be painted by the Flemish painter to which the work was attributed. Snare had found something incredible - but what? His research brought him to Diego Velázquez, whose long-lost portrait of Prince Charles has eluded art experts for generations.
-
-
A fascinating study of art history
- By Ron on 07-02-16
By: Laura Cumming
Publisher's summary
A freewheeling, wide ranging, irreverent, and subversively brief writing on the subject of art by a critically acclaimed writer-artist. Kirkus Review has said of Eric's writing, "Vinc3nt's solid prose demonstrates a considerable command of geography, history, and international affairs." The Philadelphia Inquirer, America's third oldest daily newspaper, with 20 Pulitzer Prizes to its name, has said, "Vincent speaks not only for himself, but for a whole generation of transmedia storytellers."
Related to this topic
-
What Are You Looking At?
- The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art
- By: Will Gompertz
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art.
-
-
A simply wonderful book with a serious flaw
- By 11104 on 05-02-21
By: Will Gompertz
-
Art Is Life
- Icons and Iconoclasts, Visionaries and Vigilantes, and Flashes of Hope in the Night
- By: Jerry Saltz
- Narrated by: Jerry Saltz, Mark Bramhall
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jerry Saltz is one of our most-watched writers about art and artists and a passionate champion of the importance of art in our shared cultural life. Since the 1990s he has been an indispensable cultural voice: Witty and provocative, he has attracted contemporary listeners to fine art as few critics have.
-
-
WRONG for audio program
- By Karen Lehrer on 11-07-22
By: Jerry Saltz
-
ArtCurious
- Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History
- By: Jennifer Dasal
- Narrated by: Jennifer Dasal
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed - or even murdered.
-
-
Couldn’t take it
- By Amira on 03-05-22
By: Jennifer Dasal
-
From Bauhaus to Our House
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dennis McKee
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tom Wolfe's hands, the strange saga of American architecture in the 20th century makes for both high comedy and intellectual excitement. This is his sequel to The Painted Word, the book that caused such a furor in the art world five years before. Once again Wolfe shows how social and intellectual fashions have determined aesthetic form in our time and how willingly the creators have abandoned personal vision and originality in order to work a la mode.
-
-
So snarky I kept having to back up and repeat
- By Ellen on 04-08-09
By: Tom Wolfe
-
The History of Western Art
- By: Peter Whitfield
- Narrated by: Sebastian Comberti
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is art? Why do we value images of saints, kings, goddesses, battles, landscapes or cities from eras of history utterly remote from ourselves? This history of art shows how painters, sculptors and architects have expressed the belief systems of their age: religious, political and aesthetic. From the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, to the revolutionary years of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the artist has acted as a mirror to the ideals and conflicts of the human mind.
-
-
A whirlwind tour of Western art
- By Adeliese Baumann on 11-18-12
By: Peter Whitfield
-
The Contemporaries
- Travels in the 21st-Century Art World
- By: Roger White
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From young artists trying to elbow their way in to those working hard at dropping out, White's essential audiobook offers a once-in-a-generation glimpse of the inner workings of the American art world at a moment of unparalleled ambition, uncertainty, and creative exuberance.
-
-
Mispronunciations Spoil This Reading!
- By Jenny Jenkins on 06-17-15
By: Roger White
-
What Are You Looking At?
- The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art
- By: Will Gompertz
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art.
-
-
A simply wonderful book with a serious flaw
- By 11104 on 05-02-21
By: Will Gompertz
-
Art Is Life
- Icons and Iconoclasts, Visionaries and Vigilantes, and Flashes of Hope in the Night
- By: Jerry Saltz
- Narrated by: Jerry Saltz, Mark Bramhall
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jerry Saltz is one of our most-watched writers about art and artists and a passionate champion of the importance of art in our shared cultural life. Since the 1990s he has been an indispensable cultural voice: Witty and provocative, he has attracted contemporary listeners to fine art as few critics have.
-
-
WRONG for audio program
- By Karen Lehrer on 11-07-22
By: Jerry Saltz
-
ArtCurious
- Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History
- By: Jennifer Dasal
- Narrated by: Jennifer Dasal
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed - or even murdered.
-
-
Couldn’t take it
- By Amira on 03-05-22
By: Jennifer Dasal
-
From Bauhaus to Our House
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dennis McKee
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Tom Wolfe's hands, the strange saga of American architecture in the 20th century makes for both high comedy and intellectual excitement. This is his sequel to The Painted Word, the book that caused such a furor in the art world five years before. Once again Wolfe shows how social and intellectual fashions have determined aesthetic form in our time and how willingly the creators have abandoned personal vision and originality in order to work a la mode.
-
-
So snarky I kept having to back up and repeat
- By Ellen on 04-08-09
By: Tom Wolfe
-
The History of Western Art
- By: Peter Whitfield
- Narrated by: Sebastian Comberti
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is art? Why do we value images of saints, kings, goddesses, battles, landscapes or cities from eras of history utterly remote from ourselves? This history of art shows how painters, sculptors and architects have expressed the belief systems of their age: religious, political and aesthetic. From the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, to the revolutionary years of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the artist has acted as a mirror to the ideals and conflicts of the human mind.
-
-
A whirlwind tour of Western art
- By Adeliese Baumann on 11-18-12
By: Peter Whitfield
-
The Contemporaries
- Travels in the 21st-Century Art World
- By: Roger White
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From young artists trying to elbow their way in to those working hard at dropping out, White's essential audiobook offers a once-in-a-generation glimpse of the inner workings of the American art world at a moment of unparalleled ambition, uncertainty, and creative exuberance.
-
-
Mispronunciations Spoil This Reading!
- By Jenny Jenkins on 06-17-15
By: Roger White
-
How Do We Look
- The Body, the Divine, and the Question of Civilization
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From prehistoric Mexico to modern Istanbul, Mary Beard looks beyond the familiar canon of Western imagery to explore the history of art, religion, and humanity. Conceived as an accompaniment to How Do We Look and The Eye of Faith, the famed Civilizations shows on PBS, renowned classicist Mary Beard has created this elegant volume on how we have looked at art.
-
-
Really needs a PDF
- By Britt Elin Gihleengen on 12-06-18
By: Mary Beard
-
Twelve Caesars
- Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern (Bollingen Series)
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of politicians we deplore? In this book - against a background of today’s “sculpture wars” - Mary Beard tells the story of how for more than two millennia portraits of the rich, powerful, and famous in the Western world have been shaped by the image of Roman emperors, especially the “Twelve Caesars”, from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian.
-
-
This foray into art history is a disappointment.
- By Stephen J Chiulli on 11-10-21
By: Mary Beard
-
Why Architecture Matters
- By: Paul Goldberger
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The purpose of Why Architecture Matters is to "come to grips with how things feel to us when we stand before them, with how architecture affects us emotionally as well as intellectually" - with its impact on our lives. "Architecture begins to matter," writes Paul Goldberger, "when it brings delight and sadness and perplexity and awe along with a roof over our heads."
-
-
Reading too mechanical
- By Petrie on 09-01-15
By: Paul Goldberger
-
So Much Longing in So Little Space
- The Art of Edvard Munch
- By: Karl Ove Knausgaard
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In So Much Longing in So Little Space, Karl Ove Knausgaard sets out to understand the enduring and awesome power of Edvard Munch's work by training his gaze on the landscapes that inspired Munch and speaking firsthand with other contemporary artists, including Anselm Kiefer, for whom Munch's legacy looms large. Bringing together art history, biography, and memoir, Knausgaard tells a passionate, freewheeling, and pensive story about not just one of history's most significant painters, but the very meaning of choosing the artist's life, as he himself has done.
-
-
not just for Munch fans
- By Alexander on 08-19-24
-
Da Vinci's Ghost
- Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image
- By: Toby Lester
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Toby Lester, author of the award-winning The Fourth Part of the World, masterfully crafts yet another century-spanning saga of people and ideas in this epic story of Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic drawing of a man inscribed in a circle and a square. Over time, the nearly 550-year-old ink-on-paper sketch has transformed into a collective symbol of the nature of genius, the beauty of the human form, and the universality of the human spirit.
-
-
Haunting Expierience
- By Paul on 02-10-12
By: Toby Lester
-
Botticelli's Secret
- The Lost Drawings and the Rediscovery of the Renaissance
- By: Joseph Luzzi
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some 500 years ago, Sandro Botticelli, a painter of humble origin, created work of unearthly beauty. An intimate associate of Florence’s unofficial rulers, the Medici, he was commissioned by a member of their family to execute a near-impossible project: to illustrate all 100 cantos of The Divine Comedy by the city’s greatest poet, Dante Alighieri. A powerful encounter between poet and artist, sacred and secular, earthly and evanescent, these drawings produced a wealth of stunning images but were never finished.
-
-
Great story
- By Chris M on 12-09-22
By: Joseph Luzzi
-
In Montparnasse
- The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dalí
- By: Sue Roe
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Montparnasse begins on the eve of the First World War and ends with the 1936 unveiling of Dalí’s Lobster Telephone. As those extraordinary years unfolded, the Surrealists found ever more innovative ways of exploring the interior life, and asking new questions about how to define art. In Montparnasse recounts how this artistic revolution came to be amidst the salons and cafés of that vibrant neighborhood.
-
-
Great Second of Two Books
- By Robert Keith on 10-26-19
By: Sue Roe
-
The Geography of Genius
- A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley
- By: Eric Weiner
- Narrated by: Eric Weiner
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Geography of Genius, acclaimed travel writer Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. He explores the history of places, like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley, to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity.
-
-
Very, very disappointing
- By Tamara Greer on 06-08-16
By: Eric Weiner
-
Germany: Memories of a Nation
- By: Neil MacGregor
- Narrated by: Neil MacGregor
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past 140 years, Germany has been the central power in continental Europe. Thirty years ago, a new German state came into being. How much do we really understand this new Germany, and how do its people now understand themselves? Neil MacGregor argues that uniquely for any European country, no coherent, over-arching narrative of Germany's history can be constructed, for in Germany, both geography and history have always been unstable.
-
-
Engaging and Informative
- By William on 06-15-24
By: Neil MacGregor
-
Known and Strange Things
- Essays
- By: Teju Cole
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With this collection of more than 50 pieces on politics, photography, travel, history, and literature, Teju Cole solidifies his place as one of today's most powerful and original voices. Minute after minute, deploying prose dense with beauty and ideas, he finds fresh and potent ways to interpret art, people, and historical moments, taking in subjects from Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, and W. G. Sebald to Instagram, Barack Obama, and Boko Haram.
-
-
A Book that Teaches and Shares
- By Carolyn J. on 10-08-17
By: Teju Cole
-
The Oldest Enigma of Humanity
- By: Bertrand David, Jean-Jacques Lefrere
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirty thousand years ago our prehistoric ancestors painted perfect images of animals on walls of tortuous caves, most often without any light. How was this possible? Scholars and archaeologists have for centuries pored over these works of art, speculating and hoping to come away with the key to the mystery. David and Lefrre give us a new understanding of an art lost in time, revealing what had until recently remained unexplainable - the oldest enigma in humanity has been solved.
-
-
Amazing conclusion that will change your views
- By D on 05-13-15
By: Bertrand David, and others
-
Notre-Dame
- A Short History of the Meaning of Cathedrals
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Ken Follett
- Length: 1 hr and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short, spellbinding book, international best-selling author Ken Follett describes the emotions that gripped him when he learned about the fire that threatened to destroy one of the greatest cathedrals in the world - the Notre-Dame de Paris. Follett then tells the story of the cathedral, from its construction to the role it has played across time and history, and he reveals the influence that the Notre-Dame had upon cathedrals around the world and on the writing of one of Follett's most famous and beloved novels, The Pillars of the Earth.
-
-
informative
- By BILL O'NEILL on 05-12-20
By: Ken Follett
What listeners say about A Fast History of Art: From the Cave to the Computer
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 08-27-21
great story. good narration. music is overwhelming
the story telling is good and engaging. the author voice could be a little heavy but he does a good job and very personal. the music is load and nerv racking for ne. i am reading a book not having a dtink at the nigth club. wich i enjoy by itself .
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christopher W. Mazurek
- 07-18-20
Great connections made, emphasis on at collections in Philly
At first I was annoyed by the background music. Eventually I tuned out out and enjoyed the story telling. The author reminds us a few times that this is not a textbook and I enjoyed the nonchalance of his telling. I found some unique and very interesting tales threaded throughout as well as some insightful explanations, perhaps simplifications of textbook kind of info.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Greg Yeutter
- 06-25-19
Excellent audiobook concept
After listening to A Fast History of Art, I'm still by no means an art expert, but I did glean a few valuable insights.
Vincent references many pieces found in Philadelphia, so this would be a great book to read when planning a trip to the museums there. Regardless of the numerous Philadelphia references, the principles are universal, although this book is most certainly not the complete picture. What did you expect from such a short listen?
This audiobook is different from most in that it has a soundtrack. Vincent is an excited but clear narrator, making this a more enjoyable listen than many you'll find on Audible. If you're into electronic music, I think you'll enjoy the combination of narration and score, even if you listen at 1.3x like I do.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mikel Elam
- 05-28-19
A concise and intuitive narrative about Art
I really enjoyed the author and narrator's observations on art throughout time.
The book was perceptive sensitive and at moments quite funny in a dry humor sort of way.
The author takes a look at the art and the viewer. Giving you the intelligent perspective as well as the naive somewhat ignorant points of view coming from the masses going to museums and galleries etc..
The music in the background is exceptional. I understand the author narrator is also an accomplished musician. Kind of a renaissance man.
Well worth it to buy this book. It will be a companion to anyone who loves art or just a curious bystander.
I highly recommend it.
Mikel Elam
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!