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The Fine Arts in America
Joshua C. Taylor
University of Chicago Press, 1979
"Though comparatively short, it is no once-over-lightly chronicle full of insignificant names and dates. It brilliantly achieves its principal aim: to provide readers with a compact but broad and well rounded conception of the progress of the fine arts in America from ca. 1670 to the present day. . . . It is a fascinating book, full of new vistas; it has all the earmarks of an instant classic."—American Artist

"[Taylor] describes changing definitions of art as much as he describes art itself, and he shows how the shifting forms of patronage affected the forms of art. He analyzes artists' associations . . . and he shows how museums and schools have expanded the audience for art. In short, he places artists and their work in cultural context. This treatment of the social history of art is the most original and intriguing aspect of Taylor's sketch."—Journal of American History

"This is a brilliantly subtle book. It builds with one insight after another, and suddenly the reader finds that a whole new way of looking at American art is being proposed. . . . After decades of thinking and looking and teaching, Dr. Taylor has written it all down. This work will become a classic interpretation almost overnight."—Peter Marzio, director, Corcoran Gallery of Art

"Interest in American art is unlikely to abate. . . . Mr. Taylor's short book is an invaluable guide through this activity and to its traditions."—Neil Harris, Wall Street Journal 

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front cover of A Guide to Mexican Art
A Guide to Mexican Art
From Its Beginnings to the Present
Justino Fernández
University of Chicago Press, 1969
A Guide to Mexican Art, a survey of more than twenty centuries of art, has a double purpose. It provides an ample version of one of the great national arts by a leading art historian, and it serves simultaneously as a practical guide to the art's outstanding masterpieces. The Guide will thus be of value to specialists and students of Latin American art and to sightseers as an introduction and guide to the art and architecture of Mexico. To facilitate its use for the latter purpose, Professor Fernández has based his exposition on the sensitive analysis of works to be found almost exclusive in museums and public buildings accessible to the tourist.

The book was originally published in Spanish in 1958 and revised in 1961. This English translation, from the second edition has been brought up to date by the author and translator.
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front cover of Learning to Look
Learning to Look
A Handbook for the Visual Arts
Joshua C. Taylor
University of Chicago Press, 1981
Sometimes seeing is more difficult for the student of art than believing. Taylor, in a book that has sold more than 300,000 copies since its original publication in 1957, has helped two generations of art students "learn to look."

This handy guide to the visual arts is designed to provide a comprehensive view of art, moving from the analytic study of specific works to a consideration of broad principles and technical matters. Forty-four carefully selected illustrations afford an excellent sampling of the wide range of experience awaiting the explorer.

The second edition of Learning to Look includes a new chapter on twentieth-century art. Taylor's thoughtful discussion of pure forms and our responses to them gives the reader a few useful starting points for looking at art that does not reproduce nature and for understanding the distance between contemporary figurative art and reality.
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