Product Description

30,000 YEARS OF ART: THE STORY OF HUMAN CREATIVITY ACROSS TIME AND SPACE is the follow-up to Phaidon's phenomenally successful THE ART BOOK. This is an accessible, fun and informative compendium of world art that offers a fresh perspective on the whole of art history, from 28,000 BC to the present day. It debunks art historical classifications and hierarchies by presenting 1,000 masterworks of art in simple chronological order, demonstrating what was being created all over the globe at the same time. Only here can you find the Venus de Milo next to a mural from the Mayan civilization, or Velazquez' Las Meninas next to a painting from the Chinese Ming Dynasty, an Indian jade wine cup, a ritual Nepalese plaque, a Korean portrait, and Vermeer's Milkmaid. Each work has been chosen for its unique place in the history of art, and as a representative example of the art of its culture. By juxtaposing works of art from different cultures throughout time, this is the first book to offer a balanced appraisal of world art history, revealing the huge diversity of and similarity between man's artistic achievements.

Each entry includes a full-page color image of the work and a concise descriptive text that sets the work in context, explaining its contribution to the development of art and the medium in which it was created. A comprehensive index, illustrated timelines, and a glossary of terms and movements make this book an invaluable reference tool and teaching resource.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9444 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1072 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This enormous, extraordinary collection brings together 1000 high-quality color illustrations, showcasing the evolution of creative arts over diverse cultures from prehistoric to modern times. Arranged chronologically, each piece is given its own page and a condensed summary of its provenance, key features and cultural context. Book-ended by a ritual "lion man" figurine from 28,000 B.C. found in a cave in southern Germany, and an as-yet-unfinished environmental sculpture by American artist James Turrell (materials: "Extinct volcano and light"), it also contains two time-lines, one covering major movements in the 13 cultures represented (Mesopotamia, Iran and the Arabian Peninsula; Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean; Egypt and Africa; Europe; North America; Central America and the Caribbean; South America; Oceania; Japan; Korea; China; Southeast Asia; and Central Asia) and another comprised of a 28 page horizontal index that sets each piece against major world events. A 10-page glossary and comprehensive index completes this invaluable resource. Ably capturing the ancient and insuppressible creative drive of the human spirit and the sweep of history, this is a book art-lovers and cultural anthropologists-scholars and laypeople alike-are guaranteed to cherish.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
''The folks at Phaidon have come up with a subversive approach to art history: Rather than examining a particular country or era, they've decided to explore what was happening around the world at various points in time -- 30,000 years' worth of time, in fact.'' --BookPage

''This enormous, extraordinary collection brings together 1000 high-quality color illustrations, showcasing the evolution of creative arts over diverse cultures from prehistoric to modern times. Arranged chronologically, each piece is given its own page and a condensed summary of its provenance, key features and cultural context. Book-ended by a ritual ''lion man'' figurine from 28,000 B.C. found in a cave in southern Germany, and an as-yet-unfinished environmental sculpture by American artist James Turrell (materials: ''Extinct volcano and light''), it also contains two time-lines, one covering major movements in the 13 cultures represented (Mesopotamia, Iran and the Arabian Peninsula; Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean; Egypt and Africa; Europe; North America; Central America and the Caribbean; South America; Oceania; Japan; Korea; China; Southeast Asia; and Central Asia) and another comprised of a 28 page horizontal index that sets each piece against major world events. A 10-page glossary and comprehensive index completes this invaluable resource. Ably capturing the ancient and insuppressible creative drive of the human spirit and the sweep of history, this is a book art-lovers and cultural anthropologists scholars and laypeople alike are guaranteed to cherish.'' STARRED REVIEW. --Publishers Weekly

''This is the kind of book that can hook a 10-year-old for life or steer adults toward new territory.'' --The New York Times

Customer Reviews

Amazing work
With great cynicism, I bought this book at the Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, NM where I am a docent. By arranging pieces from around the world according to time periods, a whole new perspective evolves. Very exciting to see what's happening in different places at different times around the globe. The images and their placement is first rate. Having recently returned from Papua New Guinea, I was especially interested in those pieces--they are stunning. Thank you Phaidon.

Magnificent book
I thought I was familiar with art history but nearly everything shown in this book was new to me. The book has a fair amount of art from the first 25000 years. The book covers a wide variety of art types and locations. It is not simply a review of European art but includes Asian, and some African, Oceanic, and Pre-Columbian art. The book does not have references so that following up on a piece of art will involve art dictionaries, monographs and the internet. MAGNIFICENT

Fascinating Look At Art History
I was surprised by the fine image quality and the concise, but informative text accompanying the images. I am actually reading this book as I would a novel. What makes it especially interesting is that it is in chronological order, so the reader can compare art from different regions that was made contemporaneously. Please note, I was NOT an art major and am surprised at how interesting I have found this book to be.