By E. H. Gombrich

This comprehensive look at Western art from prehistoric times on up to the present has been completely redesigned and extensively revised and updated. In addition the illustrations have all been enhanced and a total of 443 are now in color. Gombrich is more than an authority hes an advocate and his love and deep respect for art infuse his invigorating text. In his discussion of twentieth-century art for instance Gombrich explains how even the most experimental contemporary art is connected in some way to what has gone before. Gombrich tells the story of art "as the story of a continuous weaving and changing of traditions in which each work refers to the past and points to the future." Gombrichs invaluable history is a veritable celebration of this "living chain."