Includes index

Getting started with Art History. Art tour through the ages
Why people make art and what it all means
The major artistic movements
From caves to the Colosseum : Ancient art. Magical hunters and psychedelic cave artists
Fickle gods, warrior art, and the birth of writing: Mesopotamian Art
One foot in the tomb: Ancient Egyptian Art
Greek Art, the Olympian ego, and the inventors of the Modern World
Etruscan and Roman Art: It's all Greek to me!
Art after the fall of Rome : a.d. 500-a.d. 1760. The graven image: early Christian, Byzantine, and Islamic art
Mystics, marauders, and manuscripts: Medieval art
Born-again culture: The early and high Renaissance, Late Gothic, and the Renaissance in the North
Art that'll Stretch your neck: Mannerism
When the Renaissance went Baroque
Going loco with Rococo
The Industrial Revolution and artistic devolution : 1760-1900. All roads lead back to Rome and Greece: Neoclassical art
Romanticism: Reaching within and acting out
What you see is what you get: Realism
First impressions: Impressionism
Making their own impression: The Post-Impressionists
Twentieth-century art and beyond. From Fauvism to Expressionism
Cubist puzzles and finding the fast lane with the futurists
Nonobjective Art: Dada, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism
Anything-goes art: Fab fifties and psychedelic sixties
Photography: From a science to an art
The New World: Postmodern art
The part of tens. Ten must see art museums
Ten great books by ten great artists

Fine art might seem intimidating at first. But with the right guide, anyone can learn to appreciate and understand the stimulating and beautiful work of history's greatest painters, sculptors, and architects. In Art History For Dummies, we'll take you on a journey through fine art from all eras, from Cave Art to the Colosseum, and from Michelangelo to Picasso and the modern masters. Along the way, you'll learn about how history has influenced art, and vice versa. This updated edition includes brand new material on a wider array of renowned female artists, explorations of the Harlem Renaissance, American Impressionism, and the Precisionists, discussions of art in the 20th and 21st centuries, including Dadaism, Constructivism, Surrealism, and today's eclectic art scene