Media Center

Knowledge Transfer Project work is not simply limited to the translation of the most influential and valuable books into Arabic, but also aims at giving an incentive to the Arab reader to delve into undiscovered world of creative writing masters. Indeed, Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities’ Transfer of Knowledge project has just launched another publication titled “The Story of Art” by Ernest Gombrich, one of the most famous and popular books on art ever written, who has been a world bestseller for over four decades. Attracted by the simplicity and clarity of his writing, readers of all ages and backgrounds have found in Professor Gombrich a true master, and one who combines knowledge and wisdom with a unique gift for communicating his deep love of the subject.

Gombrich's The Story of Art is the most popular art book of all time, having sold more than 7 million copies since it was first published in 1950. Reading it today, its success is not hard to fathom. The book's clarity and purpose stem in part from an artful exclusion: Gombrich confines his discussion to a relatively small number of great works, all reproduced in the plate section, and avoids mentioning any others. This means that much is left out ("I have found no room for Hindu or Etruscan art") but it gives his narrative an appealing unity. For example, he suggests that the problems Cézanne attempted to solve in the late 19th century weren't so very different from those that Raphael and his contemporaries grappled with in the early 16th; in any case, both sets of difficulties went back to the ancient Egyptians. Art history, in Gombrich's hands, is thus ingeniously telescoped, although he does seem less sure-footed when it comes to the more outré experiments of the 20th century.

In the Introduction “On Art and Artists”, Gombrich says” "... some people are fond of paintings or sculptures which leave them something to guess and ponder about." [p. 24] ,"... newcomers ... want to admire the artist's skill in representing the things they see. What they like best are paintings which 'look real'. ... this is an important consideration." [p. 24]. "There are two things, therefore, which we should always ask ourselves if we find fault with the accuracy of a picture. One is whether the artist may not have had his reasons for changing the appearance of what he saw. ... The other is that we should never condemn a work for being incorrectly drawn unless we have made quite sure that we are right and the painter is wrong." [p. 27].

In Chap. 1 Strange Beginnings: Prehistoric and primitive peoples; Ancient America, the writer thinks "Those who use buildings ... judge them first and foremost by standards of utility." [p. 39], "Similarly, we are not likely to understand the art of the past if we are quite ignorant of the aims it had to serve." [p. 39]. In Chap. 2 Art for Eternity: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Crete, he develops the view that Our traditions of art are derived from the Greeks, who learned much from the Egyptians. Egyptian art was created for the purpose of ensuring that the dead would continue to live in the afterlife. It was not intended to be seen by the living. Egyptian art was highly stylized and created according to a set of very strict rules. Their portrayal of birds and animals was very accurate. Mesopotamian art was intended to document the battles of the victors. Art in Crete showed the most originality and artistic form.

In Chap. 3 The Great Awakening: Greece, seventh to fifth century BC. Gombrich argues that about 1000 BC Greece was invaded from the north resulting in a new group of settlers. Because of the geography, a collection of city-states formed. Of these, Athens became "the most famous and important in the history of art." [p. 77]. This was where artists (both sculptors and painters) began to experiment with the formal rules of the Egyptians. In Chap. 4 The Realm of Beauty: Greece and the Greek World, 4th century BC to first century AD, from about 400 BC onwards, Greeks began to become interested in art for its own sake, rather than just for its religious or political significance. In architecture (generally considered to be 'art') the Doric style of column [a wide column with a square 'cap' at the top] began to coexist with the Ionian style [ narrower column, with a scroll at the top]. In Chap. 5 World Conquerors: Romans, Buddhists, Jews and Christians, 1st to 4th century AD where "... art remained more or less unchanged while the Romans conquered the world and founded their own empire on the ruins of the Hellenistic kingdoms. Most artists who worked in Rome were Greeks." [p. 117].

In Chap. 6 A Parting of Ways: Rome and Byzantium, 5th to 13th century: In 311 AD the Emperor Constantine established the Christian Church as a power in the State. ... But once the Church had become the greatest power in the realm, its whole relationship to art had to be reconsidered. ... had to find room for the whole congregation that assembled for service ... used the model of a large assembly hall called a basilica, which meant 'royal hall'. There was considerable controversy about how to decorate churches while not permitting idolitry. Paintings were accepted in the west, but in the east there was still debate between two factions, one of which banned all art and the other which adopted the position that religious art was sacred and should conform to established standards. The latter then became the famous Byzantium religious art that is still seen today, particularly in Russia. Chap. 7 Looking Eastward: India, China, 2nd to 13th century and how In the case of Islam, images were forbidden. As a result, they developed a very rich tapestry of patterns. Later sects did allow the painting of images as long as they had no connection to religion. In China, the images were intended to facilitate meditation. The calm and serene images of mountains in mist or fish in a pool are classic examples. This did not change until the 18th century when Eastern cultures were once again exposed to Western art.

Chap. 8 Western Art in the Melting Pot: Europe, 6th to 11th century; Medieval artists were only concerned with portraying the sacred story. There was no effort to create realistic likenesses of what was seen. There were a few non-religious pictures (e.g. the Bayeaux Tapestry), but most work was for churches.in Chap. 9 The Church Militant: 12th century; The Normans (from Normandy!) conquered England in 1066 and initiated the building of massive stone churches. The church was often the only stone building anywhere in the neighborhood. Much of the painting was fairly close to that of the Eastern Byzantine culture. Chap. 10 The Church Triumphant: 13th century. Indeed, Western architects continued to experiment and there quickly developed a new style, called Gothic. The idea was that heavy walls were no longer needed, only columns spaced apart which allowed for the inclusion of large glass windows and a much brighter IN Chap. 12 The Conquest of Reality: the early 15th century; Gombrich argues that a Florentine architect, Flippo Brunelleschi, set new standards for architecture that lasted for almost 500 years. He designed the dome for the cathedral of Florence (1420-36). "Brunelleschi has combined columns, pilasters and arches in his own way to achieve an effect of lightness and grace which is different from anything which has gone before." [p. 226]. In Chap. 13 Tradition and Innovation: in 15th century in Italy in which he says that toward the end of the 15 century cities began to form their own identities and vied with one another for both commercial and artistic importance. With the formation of guilds, each city developed its own tradition and various 'schools' of art became identifiable.

In Chap. 15 Harmony Retained: Tuscany and Rome, early 16th century, This is the most famous period of Italian art: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Titian and Durer. It is also known as the High Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper in 1495-98. Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa in 1502. Leonardo invented the blurred outline and mellowed colours which made images so lifelike, Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1508-12, Raphael is well known for his many Madonna paintings, Raphael painted The nymph Galatia in 1512-14.

In chap 25 Permanent Revolution: 19th C, Gombrich argues that the Industrial Revolution began to replace craftsmanship with machine production; Paris became the artistic capital of the world, Leading conservative painter was Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, First wave of the new revolution: Eugene Delacroix emphasized color and imagination rather than strict realism, Jean_Francoise Miller (The gleaners) painted peasant life in a realistic manner, Second wave of the new revolution: Gustave Courbert began the Realistic movement which emphasized painting scenes as one saw them.Third wave of the new revolution: Edouard Manet, who emphasized what we see. Claude Monet (Belgium), together with Manet, became known as the Impressionists and James Abbott McNeil Whistler (American) also painted with an emphasis on what he saw.

Chap. 26 In Search of New Standards: late 19th C when Paul Cezanne, an Impressionist, emphasized form and composition in his landscapes, which led to Cubism, Georges Seurat tried a pointillist style, Vincent van Gogh, (Dutch) initiated a new style, called Expressionism, Paul Gauguin (French) also painted very expressive, primitive paintings and Toulouse-Lautrec developed a poster style, much like Japanese woodblock prints. In Chap. 27 Experimental Art: first half of 20th C when Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect became famous and Wassily Kadinsky (Russian) first to paint without a recognizable object (abstract art), Henri Matisse emphasized color, Pablo Picasso (Spain) emphasized shape and created Cubism, Lyonel Feininger (American) used overlapping triangles to convey sailboats. Henry Moore (English sculptor) emphasized shape, Grant Wood (American) focused on simple use of color to convey scenes and Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali began the surrealist movement.

Worth to mention that “The End of the World as We Know it” is the 8th publication presented by Knowledge Transfer Project, directed by Dr. Tahar Labib and aims to translate 50 major and prominent publications from all over the world into Arabic. The first book was “ Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy by Simon Blackburn”, “Did Greeks Believe in their Myths?” by the French intellectual Paul Veyne, and Maurice Olender, The Languages of Paradise: Race, Religion, and Philology in the Nineteenth Century”, and “ Psychoanalysis as a Science, Therapy and Cause” by the Egyptian psychoanalyst living in France, Mustapha Safwan. and “Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity” by Marc Augé and Three ABCs by Clarisse Herrenschmidt, and “The End of the World as We Know it” by the American Sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein published first in 1999 by the University of Minnesota, USA.