The Oxford Companion to Western Art

A partial successor to the 1970 Oxford Companion to Art, this title limits itself to European-language cultures, dropping architecture and non-Western subjects. The 2600 signed entries generally range in length from 100 to 1000-plus words (and are occasionally longer), and they include artist, historian, theorist, and patron biographies as well as entries on institutions, cities and museums, styles, movements, and art historical theory and methodology. Most entries have at least one bibliographical reference and are longer than those in The Oxford Dictionary of Art (LJ 9/15/97), which includes 3000 entries but otherwise appears comparable to this title in scope. Reflecting the methodological growth of art history and changes in topics of study since the first title was published, this book offers more coverage of the Baroque, manuscript illumination, and 19th- and 20th-century art. Established living artists are included. Editor Brigstocke, a Paul Mellon Research Fellow at the British School in Rome, included unchanged some of the technical and aesthetic essays by Harold Osborne, editor of the 1970 title, but this is essentially a new work. Most of the 100 contributors are British, which slightly colors the selections and some of the entries, and the plates are "tasters" not related to specific entries. As with any work of this scope, there are inevitable omissions and occasional errors of fact, but this title essentially accomplishes its goals and is recommended for all collections looking for an in-depth work on Western art. Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Libs.
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