Cultural Calendar of the 20th Century

Cultural Calendar of the 20th Century
Author: Edward Lucie-Smith
Publisher:
Total Pages: 192
Release: 1979
Genre: Art
ISBN:

"The extraordinary pace of events in the twentieth century has been contusing as well as exciting. This is particularly so in the arts, where even the accepted definition of a work of art has often broken down completely, while the numerous styles and "isms" in literature, drama, music, the visual arts, cinema and other disciplines have been invented and discarded in quick succession. This book is a chronology of change: it sets the immense variety of twentieth-century cultural activity, year by year, against the background of world events. It does so not only through a succinct and authoritative narrative, but also by taking each year in turn and presenting a list of the major works in each art form created during that year. This is set against a concurrent general events of political, social or cultural significance. Each year is also individually illustrated, the pictures having been carefully selected so that they evoke the styles and contrasts of the time."--book jacket.

Selling Happiness

Selling Happiness
Author: Ellen Johnston Laing
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2004-08-31
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0824843436

From the early twentieth century until the Communist takeover in 1949, Shanghai commercial artists created thousands of colorful posters and black and white advertisements that formed an essential part of modern life in the city. This visually appealing and richly illustrated work describes the origin and evolution of modern commercial art in China, focusing on colorful advertisement calendar posters that featured distinctive feminine images. It makes clear how essential commercial art and its institutional backing were to the development of modern art and even modern society in China over the past century. Selling Happiness discusses not only advertising art but also the production and marketing of the calendar poster. These posters, like other advertisements, were rendered in a Western realistic technique and were wildly and widely popular. Ordinary people throughout China often acquired them to decorate their homes. Laing outlines how the Chinese commercial artist, who rarely attended formal Western art classes, gained skills in Western representational art. In the final chapter of the book, she explains how the styles developed by the commercial poster artists during the 1920s and 1930s became the basis for certain types of propaganda art under the Chinese Communists in the 1950s and 1960s.

A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art

A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art
Author: Ian Chilvers
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 786
Release: 2009
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0199239657

This unique and authoritative reference work contains more than 2,000 clear and concise entries on all aspects of modern and contemporary art. Its impressive range of terms includes movements, styles, techniques, artists, critics, dealers, schools, and galleries. There are biographical entries for artists worldwide from the beginning of the 20th century through to the beginning of the 21st, from the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto to the French sculptor Jacques Zwobada. With international coverage, indications of public collections and publicly sited works, and in-depth entries for key topics (for example, Cubism and abstract art), this dictionary is a fascinating and thorough guide for anyone with an interest in modern and contemporary culture, amateur or professional. Formerly the Dictionary of 20th Century Art, the text has been completely revised and updated for this major new edition. 300 entries have been added and it now contains entries on photography in modern art. With emphasis on recent art and artists, for example Damien Hirst, it has an exceptionally strong coverage of art from the 1960s, which makes it particularly ideal for contemporary art enthusiasts. Further reading is provided at entry level to assist those wishing to know more about a particular subject. In addition, this edition features recommended web links for many entries, which are accessed and kept up to date via the Dictionary of Modern Art companion website. The perfect companion for the desk, bedside table, or gallery visits, A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art is an essential A-Z reference work for art students, artists, and art lovers.

American Design in the Twentieth Century

American Design in the Twentieth Century
Author: Gregory Votolato
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 1998
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780719045318

Author Greg Votolato presents the intricate story of how design evolved as a profession and a leisure activity. Votolato demonstrates that design in affluent American culture is as much about personalization of the material world as it is about the performance and appearance of manufactured goods. 114 illustrations.

20th-Century Theology

20th-Century Theology
Author: Stanley J. Grenz
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2010-01-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830878890

Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson offer a sympathetic guide and a critical assessment of the significant theologies and theologians of the 20th century. They trace the shifts in theol-ogy as it has moved back and forth between God's immanence and God's transcendence.