Six Art History Books Offer Divergent Perspectives

A review of six recent art history publications reveals contrasting approaches to the discipline. Christopher S. Wood's 'A History of Art History' (Princeton University Press, 2019) fills a gap by providing the first comprehensive English-language survey, covering from the 9th century to the 1950s-60s, with a taxonomy of annalistic, typological, and fabulous models. Valter Curzi's 'Storie dell'arte per quasi principianti' (Skira, 2019) targets beginners with a pluralistic, narrative approach, analyzing contexts and case studies from Botticelli to contemporary artists like Bill Viola and David LaChapelle. Marc Fumaroli's 'Lire les arts dans l’Europe d’Ancien Régime' (Gallimard, 2019) collects his iconological essays on Baroque and Rococo art, including the Carracci, Rubens, and Velázquez. Renato Barilli's 'Una mappa delle arti nell’epoca digitale' (Marietti, 2020) updates Lessing's Laocoon for the digital age, covering avant-gardes to present in 100 pages. Sergio Cortesini's 'One day we must meet' (Johan & Levi, 2019) examines Italian fascist art diplomacy between 1933 and 1941, including Roosevelt's 1937 remark to Vittorio Mussolini. Lucilla Meloni's 'Le ragioni del gruppo' (Postmedia Books, 2020) surveys Italian artistic collectives from 1945 to 2000, from kinetic art to the Osservatorio Nomade.