Art Unpacked: 50 Works of Art: Uncovered, Explored, Explained

A down-to-earth, visual guidebook that shows how to ´read´, understand and get the most out of art. For beginners, art history might seem a daunting subject with complex rules and impenetrable technical language. Even for more seasoned art lovers the question of how to think about art is a perennial riddle. Art Unpacked is the perfect resource for both audiences: an engaging, visual primer for the general reader, as well as educators. Designed like an instruction manual, fifty key artworks from around the world are deconstructed with pithy explanations, diagrams and close-ups, in order to reveal the elements that make up a masterpiece. Dating from the earliest times to the present, the artworks under analysis are drawn from many cultures, and cover all forms of visual media including: drawing, illustration, photography, prints and sculpture. Matthew Wilson´s simplicity of approach, using established art historical methods, enables the reader to discover the fundamentals of art history, from considerations of function, historical context, iconography and artists´ experience, to broader issues of identity including feminism, gender and postcolonialism. Whether it´s the mask of Tutankhamun or Dorothea Lange´s photograph of Migrant Mother, Hokusai´s Great Wave or Kara Walker´s Gone, each image is dissected on the page in a no-nonsense style, with explanatory notes detailing artists´ sources of inspiration, associated styles and movements, plus any relevant quotes, related visuals and other contextual and issue-led information with keywords for handy cross-referencing. The resulting book is a dynamic, visual resource that will inspire and spark enjoyment of art in all its forms.