Mainstreams of Modern Art: David to Picasso

First edition (1959) copy of Mainstreams of Modern Art: David to Picasso by Jogn Canaday.

Many people today are bewildered by modern art. They would like to know more about it, but don't know quite where to begin. There are the paintings themselves, of course, to be seen and appreciated like any others. But some of them are perhaps a little difficult to understand, at first sight, and all of them have been obscured—in the mind's eye— by a haze of theories, doctrines, and dogma as thick and effective as the dark yellow varnish which used to cover Old Masters in the days before scientific cleaning and restoration.

Mainstreams of Modern Art is the layman's guide to the fascinating world of modern art-the art of our time and the art that made possible its development. It is written in clear, simple terms with over 700 illustrations integrated into the text.

In it John Canaday traces the historical development of modern art, going back to its first beginnings in the work of Jacques Louis David (1748-1825), who started the long series of revolutions and counter-revolutions that we call modern art, and forward to the Surrealists, who represent so well the disturbed experiences of our own century.

Here, in Mainstreams of Modern Art, the reader will find not only a study and a biography of each significant painter, but the answers to the great questions of modern art:
What is it all about? Where are its roots? Where is it going? Why is it frequently unlike our everyday visual experience?

Modern art is no longer shocking. But it is very often misunderstood. Mainstreams of Modern Art makes the painting of our time accessible to everyone. If you have ever paused in wonder before a painting of Cézanne or Corot; if you have ever been puzzled (and delighted) by a Picasso or fascinated by a Van Gogh; if you have ever felt that you might be missing something, or wanted to know more about it all, then this is your opportunity to study and contemplate a new world of beauty and culture.

Hardcover with dust jacket

Edition/Year: first edition, 1959, Simon and Schuster

Condition: good vintage condition. 

Dimensions: 10.25" x 8.5"