30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space
by Editors of Phaidon
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Book Summary Information
Author: Editors of PhaidonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-22
ISBN: 0714847895
Number of pages: 1072
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Book Reviews of 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space
Book Review: Stunning and a reminder that nothing is really new
Summary: 5 Stars
It is always stunning to see a photograph of the approximately 28,000 year old cave paintngs. In the eeriness of a flame-lit cave, a human being probably not much different than you and me depicted the world around him or her. All we know for sure is that someone had a need to express themselves. And so humans have done so for the past 30,000 years, with a sampling of 1,000 artworks between the covers of this magnificient book.
One of the most amazing features of this book is the price. Incredibly low for such a large book with so many finely reproduced photographs of artworks. Truly a bargain - and one that belongs in every home.
Why should a book on art be in every home? Because this is a book of history. Not the history of art, per se, but the history of humankind.
In many cases, the art is actually artifact - remnants of a culture, of a civilization. (It can be argued that much 20th Century Western art is actually evidence of the devolution of civilization, but that belongs in another venue.) Virtually every culture is representedd from across the globe. The collection is relatively eclectic, especially for what we consider "primitive" cultures where what we see as "art" was for that culture merely a everyday tool.
We see from the art that much of the time, it was the province of the powerful or the rich. We can see the preoccupation of certain cultures with religion, which is actually the theme of most of the works here. That may be a result of such works often being large and more survivable. One can only imagine how much of what we would consider art today has been destroyed or plundered. Think of all the gold objects carried off by invaders or the indigenous work destroyed, such as the Mayan manuscipts burned by the Spanish or the recurrent repressions of the Jews and their religions. Of course, much art was simply destroyed because it had outlived it usefulness: many Greek and Roman bronzes were melted down over time.
We should be thankful that we have what we have and that thanks to miracles of modern technology, we can enjoy and appreciate it in the comfort of our own homes. Truly amazing.
The commentaries for each of the artworks shown are mercifully plain-spoken. The pretensiousness of academics is happily absent.
Overall, this book is an admirable overview of the history of art and really should be in every home. It is a great value.
Jerry
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Summary of 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space
"30,000 Years of Art" presents 1000 great works of art from all periods and regions in the world, arranged in chronological order for a general readership. Breaking through the usual geographical and cultural boundaries of art history, it celebrates the vast range of human artistry across time and space. Each work is accompanied by key caption information (date, title, place of origin, style or culture, medium, dimensions etc.), and a short text providing more information and explaining the art historical context. The book presents art in a way different from other art history compendia, revealing the huge diversity, or in many cases similarity, of man's artistic achievements through time and around the globe. Ordered chronologically, the resulting timeline of works leads to compelling browsing: surprising juxtapositions offer intellectual pleasure and a sense of wonder and discovery. The selection of works from across the world, arranged in the sequence in which they were made, take the reader on a global and historical journey, as a Chinese Shang urn stands next to a Mycenaean vase, and Michelangelo's Slave is followed by a contemporaneous male sculpture from Nigeria. The chronological arrangement responds to such questions as where does the earliest art appear? What were artists creating in China or Africa while Rembrandt was painting self-portraits in Leyden? How were similar subjects - equestrian themes, landscapes, religious scenes - manipulated by artists in Aztec Mexico and Medieval Europe? Although the sequence of works in the book is strictly chronological, the selection of entries for an individual culture comprises an abbreviated history of the art of that people. Thus, while artworks from ancient Greece or the European Renaissance or pre-Columbian Americas are interspersed with contemporaneous works created in Africa, India or Japan, an extraction of the Greek or Renaissance or American works could stand alone as an essential abridgement of the finest art of that period or culture.Schools, Periods & Styles Books
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