The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern

"Like music, art is a universal language. Although looking at works of art is a pleasurable enough experience, to appreciate them fully requires certain skills and knowledge." —Carol Strickland, Ph.D., from the introduction to The Annotated Mona Lisa

It's a paradox of American culture: throughout the country, in every major city, art museums stand as our proudest, most venerated public institutions—the world's great art, there for all to see and appreciate. Yet instead of acting as the "universal language" that draws humankind together, most people are overwhelmed by art, feeling that their lack of expertise makes art inaccessible. Realizing this, Carol Strickland introduces the second edition of The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $22.95). Completely updated and revised from the original, which was released fifteen years ago and sold more than a quarter million copies, The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern gives basic working knowledge of art from which the reader can form his or her own judgments. Accessible for any audience, it takes readers through 25,000 years of art in a mere 216 pages.

The Annotated Mona Lisa takes art history out of the realm of dreary textbooks to a world of dynamic design, succinct page-length essays, and instructive sidebars. Demystifying art history, Strickland doesn't talk down to the reader and doesn't assume a prior art education, yet she never bores with tedious facts or complicated jargon. Abundant color illustrations incorporated into the text make The Annotated Mona Lisa a browser's delight, and the text makes this an authoritative reference that can be read from cover to cover. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern gives comprehensive information in easy-to-understand language, discussing:

• All mediums of art, including painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography
• Art movements that are already familiar or recognizable to many people, such as Renaissance, Abstract, Baroque, and Impressionism
• New or little-known styles, like Fauvism, Color Field, Hard Edge, and Conceptual Art

Each of the book's five sections offers ideas about the relevance of the works. A timeline at the beginning of each section notes the significant historical events that shaped the art world and the world at large.

Incorporating more than 300 illustrations, many in full-color, The Annotated Mona Lisa draws on the very elements of art—composition, movement, balance, and color design—to achieve a visual and textual approach to the subject that no ordinary textbook could approximate. If you want to make your next (or even your first) museum visit more enjoyable, The Annotated Mona Lisa is the place to start.

About Carol Strickland:

Carol Strickland has a doctorate in American culture from the University of Michigan. She is the Christian Science Monitor's art critic and contributes feature stories on the arts to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Art and Antiques. She is the author of The Annotated Arch: A Crash Course in the History of Architecture, The Illustrated Timeline of Art History, and numerous artists' monographs. Carol lives in New York City and Long Island.

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Contact: Kathy Hilliard, (800) 851-8923, ext. 7497, khilliard@amuniversal.com

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The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern

Author: Carol Strickland, Ph.D.
ISBN: 978-0-7407-6872-9
Format: Paperback with French flaps: 8¼ x 10½, 216 pages
Price: $22.95 ($28.95 Canada)