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 By Roy V. Harrington

Jesse Wilders "Art History for Dummies", for me, is a revelation. Art history, to my surprise, can be written clearly, concisely, perceptively and with wit. It's a joy to read. It's fun to peruse. It's 434 pages are divided into 29 chapters, an appendix and an index of about 1500 entries make it easy to use as a reference book. It covers art, photography and architecture from the cave drawings to the present.

The informative text is sprinkled with anecdotes, cartoons, asides and tips. The 200 or so (I didn't count them) illustrations of the paintings and photographs of art and architecture (25 are in high quality color) are carefully chosen to illustrate the matter being discussed. The author often picks less well known examples to add interest and diversity to his book. (But the good old Mona Lisa and the Pantheon are there too.)

Art criticism writing is often as pompous and impenetrable as philosophy. But not this book. It was a labor of love, I think. It should be considered as as a high school text and (perhaps with a different cover and title) for colleges. All public libraries can afford to have a copy or two. I recommend it highly.