This is a collection of essays by the world's most famous art historian E.H. Gombrich. In this wide-ranging volume (the tenth in the series), Professor Gombrich focuses on the role of supply and demand in the creation of images of all kinds. In so doing, he brings together and develops many of the ideas and themes in the social history of art that have preoccupied him through a lifetime of research and reflection.

【review】

From Library Journal

Gombrich, perhaps the most celebrated art historian of our time, presents his tenth collection of essays. Through an examination of frescoes, altar paintings, luxury objects, pictures for the home, outdoor sculpture, pictorial satire, doodles, and pictorial instructions, he encourages us to view "art as task," a notion put forth by historian Jacob Burckhardt. The function assigned by society to an image will affect its shape and appearance. What we see as stylistic change and artistic interpretation is really an artist's adaptation to this assignmentAeach work of art meets a demand of some sort. Gombrich states in his introduction that readers can consider each chapter separately or view the book as a whole, with Burckhardt's notion in mind. More connective material would have been welcome, though, or at least a stronger conclusion. Any work by this master historian helps shed light on the place of art in the human experience, but this volume is only a necessary purchase for art and art history collections.ANadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH

Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.