Brush up on it...

Cynthia Freeland's 'very short introduction' to art theory covers it all. Concise and clear in her thought process, as in her writing, Freeland does not cut corners in leading the reader through the themes, conditions, milestones, theories and controversies that have shaped art through the years. She also examines the critics themselves, and what perspectives they have brought to the table in our efforts to understand the art world and our relationship to it.