Stories of Art, chapter 1 (original) (raw)

"Stories of Art" is an answer to E.H. Gombrich's "Story of Art." "Stories of Art" is a look at ways people have told the history of art outside the West, and outside the bounds of Gombrich's narrative of naturalism. The book is meant as a gadfly, an accompaniment to Gombrich's ubiquitous volume. Chapter 1, "Intuitive Stories," is about an exercise I have found very useful in seeing how people visualize the history of art. The exercise is to draw the history of art as a landscape or some other kind of picture, and label the parts of the landscape with the periods, artists, and styles that you feel most comfortable with. I have tried this with students at all levels, and with faculty; I've tried it throughout the U.S., and in Europe and China. The results are always fascinating. It is the opening chapter of the book because it's intended to help readers find their own sense of the shape of art history before they explore other people's ideas. Originally published as Stories of Art (New York: Routledge, 2002).