The Oxford Companion to Western Art - Review

Contemporary Review, July, 2001

The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Hugh Brigstocke, editor. Oxford University Press. [pound]40.00. 820 pages. ISBN 0-19-866203-3. This mammoth undertaking is a replacement volume for the 1970 Oxford Companion to Art, prepared by Harold Osborne. This volume differs from Osborne's by concentrating only on painting, sculpture and the graphic arts and leaves architecture and non-western art to other editors.

Much of the earlier volume, especially material on aesthetic and scientific issues, on colour, perspective and proportion, has been retained. The book deals with the products of all cultures 'speaking a European language' and the number of artists included has been increased. The text is aimed primarily at the layman -- 'someone who travels' -- and not the specialist. More attention is paid to illuminated manuscripts and to non-Roman baroque art. Individual entries were prepared by over 100 art historians and specialists and there are over 2600 entries as well as forty-eight colour plates. Each entry also recommends at least one item for further reading. Living artists are included although the editor has concentrated on 'figures whose careers have already taken shape'. The quality of the entries is uniformly high and the writing is clear enough for the layman who, the editor hopes, will consult the volume to use to best advantage. It more than meets the high standard set by the growing number of Oxford Companions.