A history of 20th-century art

Here is a fresh, exhilarating approach to the history of twentieth-century art. Rejecting the year-by-year sequential approach of conventional accounts, author Bernard Blistène tackles the subject thematically, using key works as a springboard to understanding the ideas and techniques of the major artists of the century.

The book encompasses the visual arts in the broadest sense of the term. In addition to painting, sculpture and the new art forms of the postwar era, it covers architecture, photography, industrial design and video. Each chapter treats a different theme - from Fauvism to film, Dada to design - providing :

• a general overview of the movement or period in question
• numerous illustrations of particular works, each accompanied by brief explanatory texts
• chronologies detailing important events within and around the world of art
• bibliographies and suggested museum visits for each movement.

With over 500 illustrations, A History of 20^th-Century Art provides a lucid and compelling introduction to artistic creation in the last century.

Bernard Blistène, formerly Deputy Director of the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris (Centre George Pompidou), is Chief Curator of the Musées de France and has recently been appointed Inspecter General of Fine Arts at the French Ministry of Culture. He has written several books and curated key exhibitions including Rendezvous: Masterpieces from the Centre George Pompidou and the Guggenheim Museums (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1998), and Premises: Invested Spaces in Visual Arts, Architecture, and Design from Frince, 1958-1998 (Guggenheim Museum SoHo, 1998).