“Art is the Queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world.”
--Leonardo de Vinci

“Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it.”
--Robert Motherwell

“Art is what you can get away with.”
--Andy Warhol

After the mid 1700s, the word “art” came to be associated with aesthetic and conceptual undertakings more than its traditional meanings of “craft” or even “skill”. What actually constitutes art has been an endless debate since that time.

But remember this: art predates history. Our primitive ancestors were moved, during the long dark Palaeolithic night, to scratch out drawings on the walls of their caves. Modern linguistic theory has shown that the creative impulse precedes an ability to articulate it. The children of deaf parents will even babble in sign language. Art is somehow a fundamental human characteristic, not a leisurely pastime.

Although we may argue about it incessantly, art holds a critical place in both the history and future of humanity. Some would even argue that the debate is art itself.Browse our Art Catalogue.

In 1550, Giorgio Vasari published the seminal Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori, known in English as The Lives of the Artists. Vasari was a renowned architect and artist himself. He coined the term “Renaissance” in print. His Lives reflected the spirit of the Renaissance, in which “craftsmen” gave way to “artists”. All contemporary books about art owe some debt to Vasari’s Lives, which is, by turns, biographical, historical, instructional and critical. Early editions of the Lives are, in and of themselves, works of art—beautifully illustrated and bound.

The Art collections at Cornellbooksellers.com will reflect the endless diversity of the artistic experience as represented in books—from volumes about particular artists or art forms or subjects, to illustrated editions, to books that are art objects themselves.

We hope you enjoy browsing the Art catalogue of Cornellbooksellers.com. If you have any questions regarding the collection, or if you are looking for a particular book, please don’t hesitate to contact us.