Why read The Annotated Mona Lisa?

Book cover of The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to the Present

Book description

An illustrated tutorial of prehistoric to contemporary world art, from cave paintings to video art installations to digital and Internet media in an easy-to-understand format.

This heavily illustrated crash course in art history is revised and updated from the second edition published in 2007, including a new chapter about recent…

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History

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Annotated Mona Lisa as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jennifer Dasal

Author

This book is my top recommendation for any art newbie that comes to me asking for book ideas. Where should I start if I want to learn about art history? Start right here! The Annotated Mona Lisa is easy to read, and educational yet entertaining, and it'll help you discover everything from what cave paintings actually mean, to the difference between Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism (hint: it's right there in the name), and even how contemporary artists make work out of miscellaneous objects. Great for preteens on up.

From Jennifer's list on The best books for art newbies.