Paul Johnson: He has a new big book out--on Art

One of the many interesting components of historian Paul Johnson’s comprehensive history volumes “Modern Times” and “A History of the American People” is that he did not skimp on the impact of art on a people and a culture. Amidst his thick, detailed and often riveting accounts of wars, elections, economic upheavals, and the people in the middle of the constantly moving eye of history’s storms, Johnson included narratives on how music, art, theatre, etc., also shaped their times and subsequent cultures. A rare trait for many chroniclers of history. With “Art: A New History,” Johnson delves deeper into art and its influence on all of history and all of mankind. He reaches back to cave drawings and moves forward to what he calls in the volume’s final chapter “The Dangers and Opportunities of Twenty-first Century Art.” The volume is beautifully illustrated with color plates, and is filled with Johnson’s often colorful insights — he is also a historian unafraid to insert commentary alongside his research. It is a book that can be sampled a bit here and a bit there over time. Though the subtitle reads “A New History,” “Art” was published a few years ago so it may not be an easy volume to find on local bookshelves, but it is an artful volume well worth the hunt.