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Impressionism to the 20th Century cover image

Impressionism to the 20th Century 1996

Highly Recommended

Distributed by Films Media Group, PO Box 2053, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-2053; 800-257-5126
Produced by AVP, Chepstow, Monmouthshire, NP6 5PH, UK
Director n/a
CD-ROM, A Multimedia PC with at least 4Mb RAM (8+ recommended), 2Mb free hard disk space, double speed or higher CD-ROM drive and at least 256 color display. Microsoft Windows 3.x or 95 AVP PictureBase Version 1.08.10



High School - Adult
Art

Date Entered: 11/09/2018

Reviewed by Rue Herbert, Head, Library Media Resources, University of South Florida, Tampa

Impressionism to the 20th Century is a readily accessible and highly useful cd-rom program that provides broad coverage of Impressionist art and related subjects. The program is organized by the following topics

  • What is Post-Impressionism (parts 1 and 2)
  • Impressionism in the 1880s
  • The Later Work of Claude Monet; Seurat and Neo- Impressionism
  • The Art of Vincent Van Gogh
  • The Art of Paul Gauguin
  • The Later Work of Paul Cezanne
  • The Nabis
  • Toulouse Lautrec and His World
  • Into the Twentieth Century
  • British Painting 1880-1912
Each module contains a collection of excellent images with descriptions and, at times, brief historical commentary. Each image (usually half-screen) can be maximized to full-screen size with one click of the mouse. The maximized images have excellent resolution. Each description within the modules can be accessed through on-screen text, and/or via the accompanying audiofile. There are several video clips scattered throughout the program. They feature Kenneth Clarke discussing various concepts and images.

Each module screen offers a "user notepad", in which the user may input personal notes, or cut and paste any text from the descriptions to provide ready reference at a later time. The Browse/Search feature allows quick access to information in any module in the program. The Print feature provides a simple process to print copies of the image, description, and user notepad individually or in any combination.

Because of the sizable image collection, the program takes a while to set up initially. It should be noted that a message appeared stating that "This version of Video for Windows does not run on Windows NT." The program features a "Hints for New Users" feature which is both useful and recommended.

Impressionism to the 20th Century is an excellent study and research tool. Because of its broad coverage and ease of use, it is appropriate for all educational settings focusing on the subject of Impressionist art, although younger or less experienced users may need some guidance on the initial set-up and navigation. The high quality images, variety of discussion within each module, and various features make it a program I would definitely purchase for my academic library collection.