Marilyn Stokstad’s brief introduction is based on the belief that art books should nurture and grow the public’s enthusiasm for the arts. Only then will they learn to appreciate art as the most tangible creation of the human imagination. Drawing on 40 years of experience of presenting art to the public, Stokstad has produced a sensitive, engaging, and comprehensive book that looks at art in all of its diversity, from paintings and architecture to tapestries, jewelry and electronic art. The book includes art from all over the world and treats the subject within the essential contexts of history, geography, sociology, politics, religion, and other arts being made at the time.

Table of Contents:
(NOTE: Each chapter contains Looking Forward, Closer Look, Elements of Architecture, Technique Boxes, Map, Timeline, and Looking Back features). 1. Art Before the Written Word. Upper Paleolithic Art Art in the Neolithic Period Early Neolithic Communities Architecture The Meaning(s) of Prehistoric Paintings Megalithic Architecture Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe Early Art Outside Europe 2. The Art of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Mesopotamia Egypt Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom Egypt The Middle Kingdom The New Kingdom The Late Period 3. Early Asian Art Looking Forward. The Indian Subcontinent Gandhara and Mathura Styles Gupta Period Southeast Asia Indonesia China Korea Japan 4. Art of Greece and the Aegean World. The Cycladic Islands Minoan Crete Mycenaean (Late Bronze Age) Civilization The Emergence of Greek Civilization The Geometric Style The Archaic Period The Early Classical Or Transitional Period The "Golden Age" of Art Late Classical Art of The Fourth Century 5. The Spread of Greek Art and Culture. The Hellenistic Greeks The Neo-Babylonians The Persians The Etruscans  6. Roman Art. The Republican Period The Age of Augustus The Roman House and Its Decoration The Empire Imperial Art and Architecture Portraits in Sculpture and Painting The Late Empire 7. Jewish, Early Christian, and Byzantine Art. Jewish Art Early Christianity Early Byzantine Art Icons and Iconoclasm Later Byzantine Art 8. Islamic Art. Art During the Early Caliphates Later Islamic Art The Mughal Empire The Ottoman Empire 9. Later Asian Art. The South Asian Subcontinent Rajput Painting Cambodia China Japan Pictures of the Floating World 10. Early Medieval and Romanesque Art. Early Medieval Art in the British Isles and Scandinavia Carolingian Art The Carolingian Basilica and Timber Architecture The Monastery Painting in Christian Spain The Ottonian Period The Romanesque Period Architecture Architectural Decoration: Sculpture and Painting The Cloister Crafts 11. Gothic Art. Gothic Art in France Secular Art Gothic Art in England Gothic Art in the Germanic Lands Gothic Art in Italy Sculpture Italian Panel and Mural Painting 12. Early Renaissance Art. Northern Renaissance Art Second Generation Painters The Graphic Arts Renaissance Art in Italy Architecture Sculpture Painting 13. Art of the High Renaissance and Reformation. Italian Art Venice and the Veneto Mannerism Italy France Mannerist Architecture German and English Art The Reformation and the Arts Netherlandish and Spanish Art 14. Art for the Counter-Reformation Church: Italy Art in the Habsburg Empire. Spain Flanders Protestant England The Protestant Netherlands Art for the State: France The Rococo Style Art and Science 15. Art of the Americas. Mesoamerica The Olmecs The Maya Teotihuacan The Aztecs Central America South America: The Central Andes The Moche Culture The Inca Empire The Aftermath of the Spanish Conquest North America The Southeast The Southwest The Eastern Woodlands and the Great Plains The Northwest Coast 16. African Art. African Art in the Modern Era: Living Traditions and New Trends Art and the Spirit World Art and Power The Masquerade 17. Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Realism. Neoclassicism and Its Heritage Portrait Painting Moralized Genre Painting Neoclassical Architecture in England and North America Neoclassical Painting in France Romanticism Romantic Landscape Painting Early Photography Naturalism and Realism in Europe Painting in the United States 18. Later Nineteenth-Century Art in Europe and the United States. Architecture Academic Art Reactions Against the Academy Art Nouveau Art in the United States Impressionism Later Impressionism Post-Impressionism Late-Nineteenth-Century French Sculpture 19. Modern Art: Europe and North America in the Early Twentieth Century. Early Modern Art in Europe Expressionist Movements Les Fauves Die Brücke Der Blaue Reiter Cubism Responses To Cubism Orphism Futurism Suprematism Dada Modern Art Comes to the United States Art Between the Wars Europe Constructivism De Stijl Surrealism Sculpture Art in North America The United States The Harlem Renaissance Mexico Canada Architecture Europe The Bauhaus 20. Art Since 1945. The "Mainstream" Crosses the Atlantic Assemblage Pop Art Minimalism/Post-Minimalism and Op Art Conceptual and Performance Art Earthworks and Site-Specific Art Feminist Art Late Modernism/Postmodernism Neo-Expressionism The Persistence of Modernism Later Art with Social Impact Installation and Electronic Art American Craft Art Architecture Public Memory and Art: The Memorial