The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art | 
 enlarge | Author: Guerrilla Girls
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $20.00
Buy New: $10.75
You Save: $9.25 (46%)
New (31) Used (18) from $10.75
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 8128
Media: Paperback
Pages: 96
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7.8 x 0.3
ISBN: 014025997X
Dewey Decimal Number: 704.042
EAN: 9780140259971
ASIN: 014025997X
Publication Date: February 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Book Description
We were Guerillas before we were Gorillas. From the beginning, the press wanted publicity photos. We needed a disguise. No one remembers, for sure, how we got our fur, but one story is that at an early meeting, an original Girl, a bad speller, wrote 'Gorilla' instead of'Guerilla.' It was an enlightening mistake. It gave us our mask-ulinity. Ever wonder about the abundance of naked male statues in the Classical section of your favorite museum? Did you know medieval convents were hotbeds of female artistic expression? And how did those "bad boy" artists of the twentieth century make it even harder for a girl to get a break? Thanks to the Guerrilla Girls, those masked feminists whose mission it is to break the white male stronghold over the art world, art history-as we know it-is history. Taking you back through the ages, the Guerrilla Girls demonstrate how males (particularly white males) have dominated the art scene, and discouraged, belittled, or obscured women's involvement. Their skeptical and hilarious interpretations of "popular" theory are augmented by the newest research and the expertise of prominent feminist art historians. "Believe-it-or-not" quotations from some of the "experts" are sprinkled throughout, as are the Guerrilla Girls' signature masterpieces: reproductions of famous art works, slightly "altered" for historic accuracy and vindication. This colorful reinterpretation of classic and modern art, as outrageous as it is visually arresting, is a much-needed corrective to traditional art history, and an unabashed celebration of female artists.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Such a wonderful resource! August 10, 2008
M. Burnett (Mableton, GA)
I was at my university bookstore picking up my two art history courses' textbooks and I saw this book and my heart jumped! A year ago in my first 2-d design course my professor had told us all about the Guerilla Girls and I had just finished taking a sociology course that made me feel more inclined to female equality. Between my Sociology Now! textbook and reading this Guerilla Girls book, I feel more strongly and proud about my gender more than anything else and have analyzed so many situations in correlation to the subject.
This book is a terrific resource for learning more about women's place in art throughout centuries. I was a bit disappointed that it didn't do more about statistics or criticism about how we are still underplayed in society, such as the famous 'MoMA Has 5%...' ad that I've seen just about everywhere. What about how we were perceived a hundred years ago? They speak about women's rights, what they can and could not do, comparatively to men and, though interesting, it's still not what I expected.
Thus, this book is terrific as a reference or introduction to the history of female artists, one that you should have in your collection just because we are often (still) overlooked in the art world.
Guerilla Girls Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art May 3, 2008
Kathleen Hartley (Orland, ME United States)
I use this as a supplimental text in my high school art history classes, and the students love the format, with its heavy dose of satire, comics and irreverent historical research. It is full of little gems. I especially love the Renaissance chapter and the GG's description of the true Renaissance Man. This book is also historically accurate, short and easy to read. It could even be used as a prime example of feminist scholarship and humor and the fact that the two are not mutually exclusive. Also, even though it was written twenty years ago, it is not at all dated- the students would never think it is aout of date.
 Well-researched and written, but be aware before reading February 8, 2008
Laura (Baltimore, MD)
The main forewarning I give is this: the Guerilla Girls wrote this book. Yes, that's obvious, but when you read that, you should be thinking of militant feminist artists and art historians. With that in mind, the book is written with a definitely militant voice, but it is definitely well-written, well-researched, and gets their message across. It was a great deal shorter than I was expecting, since I didn't look at the page count, but it was an enlightening (if quick) read, and more of a glimpse and enticement into the world of non-white-male artists.
An absolute fun read for lovers of art history! April 27, 2005
J. Crase (Monroe, Wisconsin United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
An absolute fun read for lovers of art history! This book gives a brief history of women in art, challenges they faced (and still face today), and the roles of women from classical times through the present time.
Just who are the Guerrilla Girls'? They are a group of artists and arts professionals, who in the 1980's, decided to fight discrimination in the art world and become the self-proclaimed "conscience of the art world."
"We wore gorilla masks to keep the focus on the issues rather than our personalities."
The Guerrilla Girls' begin with the images of women from the Classical Era, where reliefs of Amazons decorated buildings, but an ancient Greek or Roman "women could not vote or engage in transactions worth more than a grain of barley."
Travel through the Middle Ages where Hildegard von Bingen decorated beautiful texts and Christine de Pizan made her living as a writer (the first woman known to have done so!)
The journey continues through the Renaissance with Lavinia Fontana, Sonfonisba Anguissola, and Artemisia Gentileschi, through the 17th and 18th centuries with Judith Leyster and Angelica Kauffman; all on the way to the 20th century and Frida Kahlo, Lee Krasner, and Eva Hesse.
What makes this book so much more interesting than the other books coming out on women artists, is the humor the Guerrilla Girls' use to get the point across and the graphic nature of the book itself. Each page is filled with examples of artwork and fun graphics.
Far too short!! April 2, 2003
Crystal (Washington, DC)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book takes you, with biting wit and humor, beyond the works of "accepted" masters (all of whom I deeply admire, by the way), showing you that for every renaissance man, there was an Artemisia Gentileschi. That among the plethora of still lifes from the 17th and 18th centuries, you that you would do well to study those of Rachel Rueysch, who captures every petal and leaf with intoxicating detail and color. They were able, even with my deep-seated resistance to "modern art", to instill in me a deep appreciation for works of impressionists, modernists, post-modernists and abstract artists. In short, an ideal starting point for those looking to delve into art history, yet still ideal for those academics with short attentions spans. I only wish it were longer!
|
|
|
