Knowledge that you must learn at least once in your life.
A special world of Western art history for intellectual adults
You are invited!

A glance at 500 years of Western art!
Enjoy the easy and excellent explanations of Korea's leading docent, Chan-Yong Kim.
17 trends, 50 representative masterpieces, and the moments of inspiration contained within them.

From Renaissance painter Botticelli's [Birth of Venus] and Leonardo da Vinci's [Mona Lisa] to Cubist painter Picasso's [Les Demoiselles d'Avignon], the history of Western art is familiar with its names but its content is ambiguous.
For those of you who had difficulty understanding why this painting was a masterpiece and what meaning it had in its time based only on the vague knowledge you had in school, the book "Once in a While, a History of Western Art" has been published.
This book organically connects the flow of 500 years of Western art with representative works, making it easy and interesting to read.

Kim Chan-yong, Korea's leading docent who has led the public into the world of art appreciation at numerous art exhibitions both domestically and internationally, provides easy-to-understand and excellent commentary, helping readers deeply appreciate and understand each of the 50 masterpieces included in this book.


Through this book, you can discover the in-depth story of why famous paintings representing each era, from the Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, and Rococo to Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, and Cubism, are still loved today.

While existing Western art history books start with ancient cave paintings and bore readers with a long list of art history terms, "Once in a While, a History of Western Art" begins with the Renaissance, the period readers truly desire to know about, and leads them straight into the beautiful world of art.
Rather than attempting to cover a vast body of knowledge of art history, it focuses on notable works and artists from each period, as well as interesting aspects of their lives, sufficient to satisfy the intellectual curiosity of readers.

By the time you finish reading this book, you'll have a complete understanding of the overall context of the countless masterpieces you've encountered: the background, the way they were depicted, and how they've changed over time.

Why is this work, so difficult to appreciate in detail in a comfortable setting, so lauded as a masterpiece and so deeply moved by so many? The most important reason is that, unlike the Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel Ceiling possesses an overwhelming sense of scale.
Since it took Michelangelo over four years to paint the ceiling, it is expected that he would have placed a pedestal as close to the wall as possible and painted while lying down.
However, it is said that in reality, he worked while standing upright and tilting his head back, looking at the ceiling.
---「1.
From "Renaissance"

There are two main theories about why Botticelli created this work of historical symbolism.
One theory is that it was commissioned to decorate the Medici family's villa, and another theory is that it was painted in tribute to Simonetta Vespucci, known as the most beautiful woman in Florence during the Renaissance.
In fact, since Botticelli left behind many works using Vespucci as a model, the most likely theory is that the Venus in [The Birth of Venus] is also a painting of her.
---「1.
From "Renaissance"

Unlike Van Gogh, who is a Dutch painter and is loved and sympathized with due to the numerous records available, Vermeer is loved because there is so little information left about him that he feels mysterious.
Vermeer's most iconic masterpiece is [Girl with a Pearl Earring].
---「3.
From "Baroque"

At the time when Boucher painted this work, Madame de Pompadour also held great power in the royal court.
Therefore, her work is filled with images that symbolize her influence on the world of culture and arts and her outstanding eye for trends.… In addition, the book she holds in her hand symbolizes her intellect, as she is known to have had a personal library and devoured thousands of books.
The quill pen in the table drawer on the right symbolizes her patronage of many philosophers and men of letters, while the scroll drawing on the lower left of the screen signifies her interest in and patronage of the development of architectural styles.
---「4.
From "Rococo"

Although he was not actually present, Napoleon wanted to maintain his dignity and emphasize the family unity and honor by having his mother look on proudly, so he instructed David that his mother must be present.
Therefore, this work is not a depiction of the actual coronation scene by David, but rather a depiction of the coronation scene that Napoleon desired.
An interesting fact is that among the people standing on the podium behind Napoleon's mother, a man can be seen observing the scene in the left corner holding a piece of paper and a pen. This man is none other than David himself, who painted the painting.
---「5.
From "Neoclassicism"

Friedrich sought to embody the sublime, the core of Romantic landscapes, in his works an ideal and transcendent beauty that transcends reality.
To achieve this, he climbed several mountain peaks in Germany and the Czech Republic, sketched the magnificent landscapes himself, and reconstructed them into the image of his ideal world, which is known to be the landscape in [Wanderer Above the Sea of ​​Fog].
Through this work, he showed how small humans are in front of the vast nature and how great and beautiful that nature is.
---「6.
From “Romantic Landscape”

What drew the ire of the salon judges was the presence of a nude woman depicted on the left front.
Here, the question may arise, 'Cabanel's [The Birth of Venus], which was exhibited at the same Salon and received rave reviews, is also a female nude painting, so why was he particularly uncomfortable with the woman in Manet's work?'
From our current perspective, the portrayal of women in the two works may not seem to differ much, but this was not the case from the perspective of the time.
First of all, there is a difference in that [The Birth of Venus] depicts a goddess, while [Luncheon on the Grass] depicts an ordinary woman.
---「11.
From "Impressionism"

Redon, who had been focusing on black-and-white work mainly using charcoal and lithography for about 20 years, gradually began to use pastel and oil-based colors from the 1890s.
As if searching for light in the darkness of the abyss, the bizarre darkness in his work has reached the 'age of color' filled with mysterious and fantastical colors.
Around this time, Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy and Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis had a great influence on the world of culture and art, and Redon's work also began to receive attention from critics. [Cyclops] is a late work that represents Redon's artistic world that was slowly and deeply built up.
---「14.
From “Expressionism & Symbolism”

Many of Picasso's works that we encounter are often difficult to understand and complex rather than simply being well-drawn.
You may have had the experience of being overwhelmed by his fame and vaguely thinking, 'He must be great,' but having a hard time actually empathizing with him.
But Picasso didn't start painting like this.

---「17.
From "Cubism"