New Format and Redesign of the World's Best Selling Art Book

"Gombrich (1909-2001) had a gift for clear, conversational language, a narrative approach, and an interest in pop culture--he even included mass media and cartoons in The Story of Art. The book, which receives high praise in the CAA report [a recent assessment of art history textbooks by the College Art Association], is today the world's best selling art history textbook, with total sales of 8 million copies." -Art News, February 2006

E.H. Gombrich's warm, lively, opinionated--yet never patronizing--authorial voice brings history to life in a way that attracts both adults and young readers alike. Last year the first English translation of A Little History of the World, originally written in 1935 in German, was a surprise publishing success. Yet, this isn't even Gombrich's most popular work. The Story of Art has sold over 8 million copies, has been translated into more than 30 languages and served as the standard introduction to art history for students around the world for the past century. Now, the book will be available in a new affordable format, in wide release for the general public, just in time for the holidays.

Phaidon Press is pleased to announce the publication of THE STORY OF ART: POCKET EDITION by E.H. Gombrich, a re-designed, re-formatted compact edition of one of the best-known and best-loved books on art ever written. This new edition combines smoothly flowing text with a clear, simple design in a convenient and accessible format. The new edition allows this classic work to continue its triumphant progress for another generation, and to remain the first choice for all newcomers to art.

Phaidon Press commissioned Gombrich during World War II to write a history of art for young people. In 1950, The Story of Art was published and so a classic was born. Gombrich dictated the whole text from memory, using illustrations from books in his library as prompts. The outcome was a seminal work of criticism and one of the most accessible introductions to the visual arts. Starting with the cave paintings at Lascaux and stretching as far as Postmodernism, the whole of art history is presented as a chronological narrative. Using vivid imagery, storytelling and sly humor, Gombrich's voice draws in all--the student, connoisseur, or amateur.

The Story of Art has always been admired for two key qualities: it is a pleasure to read and a pleasure to handle. The pocket edition is no exception. With this new edition this classic work is now as accessible as the story inside. Gombrich's extraordinary knowledge and wisdom will continue to teach and inspire generation after generation....

Described by Kenneth Clark as 'one of the most brilliant books of art criticism that I have ever read', Art and Illusion is a classic study of image-making. It seeks to answer a simple question: why is there such a thing as style? The question may be simple but there is no easy answer, and Professor Gombrich's brilliant and wide-ranging exploration of the history and psychology of pictorial representation leads him into countless crucial areas. Gombrich examines, questions and re-evaluates old and new ideas on such matters as the imitation of nature, the function of tradition, the problem of abstraction, the validity of perspective and the interpretation of expression: all of which reveal that pictorial representation is far from being a straightforward matter. First published more than 40 years ago, Art and Illusion has lost none of its vitality and importance. In applying the findings of experimental science to a nuanced understanding of art and in tackling complex ideas and theoretical issues, Gombrich is rigorous. Yet he always retains a sense of wonder at the inexhaustible capacity of the human brain, and at the subtlety of the relationships involved in seeing the world and in making and seeing art. With profound knowledge and his exceptional gift for clear exposition, he advances each argument as an hypothesis to be tested. The problems of representation are forever fundamental to the history of art: Art and Illusion remains an essential text for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of art. For the sixth edition Professor Gombrich has written an entirely new 12-page preface, in which he makes use of the distinction between an image and a sign, so as to clarify his intentions in writing the book in the first place....