How did artists progress from Egyptian sculptures to a work such as Frishmuth's The Vine, or from cave paintings to LeRolle's The Organ Rehearsal? To find out, we focus on innovations that gave the artist who created them - and all those who followed - greater power to make viewers stop, look, and think about their works.

These two jargon-free books are a great introduction or refresher for anyone interested in art or art history. The broadest goal is to help you find more subjects, styles, and periods that intrigue you and appeal to you - that present the world the way you think it can and ought to be. Because what's the point of looking at art, if not for moments like that? The time you spend reading Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting is a small investment for a possibly huge return: more art to love, more art that reflects your values and sense of life.

The ideal readers for Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting are intellectually curious and love to integrate knowledge. They admire individuals who use their minds to the utmost, in whatever field of endeavor. More specific audiences include:

Museum visitors who want a framework for the art they're seeing. Teachers and students who want an overview before diving into details of specific periods or artists. Sculptors, painters, and graphic artists who want a big-picture view of the development of the expressive means available to them. Friends of art enthusiasts who want to share the excitement but need a foothold to get started.

Why these books are uniqueThis is the introduction to art that you've been waiting for it you're curious about its history but are daunted by thousand-page art-history tomes and two-semester courses that cover the art of every major civilization worldwide. Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting are unique because they're short enough to digest easily and because they provide a framework not only for looking at all periods of Western sculpture and painting, but for reading detailed works on whatever period or style catches your fancy. There are no other works like this for sculpture and painting, although I've seen them for disciplines such as geology and computer development.