TEHRAN -- “The Cambridge Introduction to the History of Art” narrates the Western European version of art history and not even the Western one, translator Mehdi Sahabi commented on the book during a review session.

The Persian translation by Hassan Afshar of the 8-volume collection “The Cambridge Introduction to the History of Art,” was discussed during the session at the main branch of Book City in Tehran on Tuesday.
“After World War II and the Vietnam War, the Europeans should have learned that the history of art is not limited to the history of art in Western Europe. It includes other parts of the world,” he lamented.
“The collection misleads the reader into thinking that the history of art belongs exclusively to Western Europe and ignores eastern art and history, in particular it totally ignores Egypt,” translator Sahabi commented.
He indicated that he appreciates the juxtaposition of European Western history of art, artistic criticism and informal art instruction presented in this collection.
Iranian scholars Ali Ramin and Hassan Afshar also attended the seminar.
The author of the first volume, Susan Woodford, dedicated most of the book to Greek art and a small portion to Roman art, Afshar said.
Ann Shaver-Crandell spotlights the Middle Ages in the second volume of the collection. Incorrectly referred to as the Dark Ages, art from the Middle Ages was influenced by Christianity and its artwork can commonly be found in churches, Afshar stated.
The third volume is about Renaissance period. Written by Rosa Maria Letts, the book focuses on the notion of humanism. Although the art is religious, the human being was the main concern of art during this 150-year period, he explained.
Volume 4, 5, 6 and 7 elaborates on modern art in 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The last volume, “Looking at Pictures” by Susan Woodford, is about the art of viewing a painting and the estimation of the value of a painting, he added.
In the collection, the history of art is apportioned according to artistic production in a particular era. For example, one volume is dedicated to the Renaissance period and another to the 20th century, which was more fruitful than other eras, art critic Ali Ramin mentioned during the event.
He commented on the brevity of the explanations in the book on the 20th century schools of art that include conceptual art, postmodern art and poststructuralist art.
The Markaz publishing company has printed the Persian version.