This dictionary provides comprehensive information on the fine arts, with entries on paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, and the artists who have made them, throughout the world. The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists also covers historical styles and movements in the arts and groups of artists; in addition it contains entries on techniques, materials and terms, as well as on the major writers whose ideas have influenced the course of art and the work of artists. The aim is to be precise and specific, but without shirking the responsibility of providing, where necessary, some critical evaluation. On the whole, discursive articles on subjects such as English art, which by their very nature cannot be sufficiently detailed, are not included. One departure from this general principle is the inclusion of more general entries on cultures outside the Western world – in several of which the anonymity of the artist is a common occurrence. There are, however, entries on individual artists as well, where these are known by name and are likely to be encountered.
The majority of entries on movements and artists active before 1945 were originally written for the Encyclopaedia of the Arts, whose consulting editor was Sir Herbert Read, managing editor Geoffrey Hindley and assistant editor Nathaniel Harris, and was published by Thames & Hudson in 1966. Many of these entries, however, have been substantially revised and updated, and about 40 per cent more have been added. The result is that this dictionary comes right up to date. By providing extensive information on contemporary art and artists not accessible elsewhere, together with full examination of the arts of the past, on a universal scale, it is an unrivalled reference work.
This revised, updated and expanded edition of the dictionary now includes more than 2500 entries. Over 200 new entries have been added to those in the previous edition, not only to bring the dictionary up to date, but also to correct injustices in previous editions. It should perhaps be noted that the relative length of artists’ entries does not necessarily imply the degree of their importance.
Extensive cross-references provide the reader with the full context in which an artist has worked.
Nikos Stangos