The video of this post includes samples pages from both books.

• Innovators in Sculpture: 6×9 inches, 162 pp. including 385 color illustrations. Available from Amazon; other stores via Ingram (9781088090497 print, 9781088114858 ebook)
• Innovators in Painting: 6 x 9”, 140 pp. including 199 color illustrations. Available from Amazon, and in other stores via Ingram (9781088114681 print, 9781088114773 ebook)

A quick word for those who know my work

I’ve made two very original contributions to art history. My technique for looking at art closely is described in detail, with examples, in Getting More Enjoyment from Sculpture You Love and How to Analyze and Appreciate Paintings. The other contribution is using innovations as a framework for an overview of the history of Western art. That’s set out in Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting, which have been in the works for 20 years or so. If you’ve enjoyed my work, then yes, you should certainly read these!

These are stand-alone books, but they complement each other. I’d suggest reading Innovators in Sculpture first. It includes several discussions that aren’t repeated in Innovators in Painting, for example on recognizing innovators, on transmitting innovations, and your emotional reaction to a particular innovative work.

I highly recommend print format for these two books: it’s easier to keep relevant images in front of you. Also, due to Amazon’s restrictions, the images in the Kindle version cannot be high-resolution. However, since I read almost everything on Kindle these days, I am offering a Kindle version.  I do buy print versions of books I expect to refer to again and again … and I hope you’ll find these books of that sort.

What’s in these books

How did artists progress from Egyptian sculptures to a work such as Frishmuth’s The Vine, or from cave paintings to LeRolle’s The Organ Rehearsal? To find out, we focus on innovations that gave the artist who created them – and all those who followed – greater power to make viewers stop, look, and think about their works.

These two jargon-free books are a great introduction or refresher for anyone interested in art or art history. The broadest goal is to help you find more subjects, styles, and periods that intrigue you and appeal to you – that present the world the way you think it can and ought to be. Because what’s the point of looking at art, if not for moments like that? The time you spend reading Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting is a small investment for a possibly huge return: more art to love, more art that reflects your values and sense of life.

The ideal readers for Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting are intellectually curious and love to integrate knowledge. They admire individuals who use their minds to the utmost, in whatever field of endeavor. More specific audiences include:

• Museum visitors who want a framework for the art they’re seeing.
• Teachers and students who want an overview before diving into details of specific periods or artists.
• Sculptors, painters, and graphic artists who want a big-picture view of the development of the expressive means available to them.
• Friends of art enthusiasts who want to share the excitement but need a foothold to get started.

Why these books are unique

This is the introduction to art that you’ve been waiting for it you’re curious about its history but are daunted by thousand-page art-history tomes and two-semester courses that cover the art of every major civilization worldwide. Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting are unique because they’re short enough to digest easily and because they provide a framework not only for looking at all periods of Western sculpture and painting, but for reading detailed works on whatever period or style catches your fancy. There are no other works like this for sculpture and painting, although I’ve seen them for disciplines such as geology and computer development.

My main concerns in writing these books were brevity and clarity. For example:

• For the sake of a manageable length, the scope is limited to representational art in Western Europe and the United States. (I’d love to see this sort of study for the art of other cultures, but I’m not qualified to write it.)
• The focus is on major innovations, rather than every development or style.  In sculpture, there are only eleven such innovations. In painting, there are 29, which I’ve divided into 5 categories.
• A summary of innovations appears in the middle of the book (after the Greeks and Romans) and at the end.
• Terms such as “contrapposto” and “foreshortening” are clearly defined.
• A timeline lists innovations in sculpture and painting alongside major events in politics, science, literature, and philosophy.
• Suggestions are given in the appendixes for further reading and for visiting museums, so you can easily explore more of the art that interests you.

Testimonials

An earlier version of Innovators in Sculpture was published on Medium.com in 2015. Here’s what an engineer, a musician, a philosopher, and a sculptor said about the series:

Your sculpture essays have expanded my range of enjoyment and helped me think more carefully about my reactions.

I like the format: you ask the reader questions. I read it and I’m like, “Hey wait a minute, somebody’s talking to me!” You totally nailed being “down to earth” and yet extremely perceptive.

That was a great analysis of this innovation in sculpture – thank you!  The way you compared and contrasted the detailed features was concise, clear, and illuminating.

This series offers a clear and straightforward approach to understanding art. Love the theme of innovation in art! Exemplar images help make key concepts meaningful, and the leading questions are clear and compelling.

Reviewers of the Kindle version of Innovators in Sculpture called it “concise, clear, and illuminating,” “friendly and accessible,” and “an excellent introduction to the great sculptures of Western civilization.” Read more on Amazon.

A note on Ayn Rand’s esthetics

This book isn’t written primarily for Objectivists, but if you’re familiar with Ayn Rand’s works, you’ll recognize the discussion of what art is as a paraphrase of Ayn Rand’s definition: “Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value-judgments.” The sections on how an artist works and on the purpose of art are also based on my understanding of Rand’s work. The main writings on esthetics by Objectivists are listed in Appendix 3 (Further Reading) in both Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting.

My writing on art & art history

I’m a passionate amateur, not an academic. I write on art because I love looking at art and thinking about art, and helping other people do the same.  Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting are based on forty-odd years of looking at art, and reading about art and art history. (For more on the evolution of the Innovators books, see Appendix 1 in each.) As a result of my fascination with art, I’ve also written books such as Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide; Getting More Enjoyment from Sculpture You Love; and Seismic Shifts in Subject and Style: Nineteenth-Century French Painting and Philosophy. These and my other writings on sculpture and painting are listed in Appendix 3 (Further Reading) of the Innovators books.

More

• Joseph Kellard reviewed both Innovators books in The Objective Standard, Fall 2021.
• In Getting More Enjoyment from Sculpture You Love, I demonstrate a method for looking at sculptures in detail, in depth, and on your own. Learn to enjoy your favorite sculptures more, and find new favorites. Available on Amazon in print and Kindle formats.
• Want wonderful art delivered weekly to your inbox? Check out my free Sunday Recommendations list and rewards for recurring support: details here.