30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space by Editors of Phaidon Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space
Book Review: I loved it
Summary: 5 Stars
Each artwork has a whole page for itself. A large coloured photo and some information on it. This book lets you sample artwork throughout the years from all over the world. I say "sample" because it doesn't go too deep into the history or meaning of each piece. Doing so would probably turn it into a mess.
If you want a narrow, in depth analysis of one culture or style, this book would not be what you're looking for. If you want to know what artwork has been made for 30,000 years or you just like beautiful things to look at, then you might like this book.
Plus, its pretty cheap for it's size.
Book Review: Living with great art
Summary: 4 Stars
My wife and I are both enjoying this book daily. We've decided to open the book to a new pair of pages each day. Yes, it's a huge book - but it takes many pages to cover 30,000 years! Presently the book resides, open, on the end of our partners desk. But to read the entries requires bending; so I'm underway in the building of a lectern so we can read it while standing erect. As we both went to art school, we have some of our own work on the walls; but having masterworks in the home to speak to us daily is truly inspiring.
I refute the observation that the binding is less than adequate. (I've published two books myself.) This binding is sturdy, being sewn into signatures and properly glued, including headbands. Crackling sounds are characteristic of any large new book.
Book Review: Magnificent book
Summary: 5 Stars
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. MAGNIFICENTBook Review: Massive and wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
This amazing piece of work is sure to stand the test of time. A wonderful book it is a testament to the creative genious of humanity. This artwork in itself excells at presenting the history of art all over the world. While this may annoy some who want to see more European art, it will enlighten many. Every page has art from places one has never thought of, from far away Papau New Guinea to the ancient Americas. From sculpture to painting, to the most wonderful Japanese drawings, it includes everything and it a true history of the world of art in all its diversity and vastness.
Page by page offers the viewer a chronology of art beggining 30,000 years ago and ending up in the present. It is important to note just how much wonderful art is included in here that most people have never been exposed to.
But there are several slight problems. First of all the book includes far too much art from the United States in the last fifty years, missing out on interesting art being produced elsewhere, for instance in the Soviet Union. It is odd that the book strives so hard to include the most obscure places and then drops the ball at the end. The book also has the habit of lebelling art based on the modern country. Thus art from 500 A.D is said to come from Turkey, even though it is Byzantine. A piece of art from Hawaii is said to come from the U.S although it was produced in the mid 19th century. But most irking is the fact that a piece of art from Israel is said to have come from 'Palestine' thus seemingly changing the editors rule for this one country. Perhaps inadvertent, the labels are misleading.
Seth J. Frantzman
Book Review: Museum in a Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
My son picked up "30,000 years of art" at our library because of his fascination with "big books." This 12" x 12" book with over 1000 pages certainly fits that description. Simply lifting this book counts as exercise. While that may be what attracted his seven year old self, I was excited about the topic. As an art lover, I was interested in this book's unique take on the subject. It presents art works from all over the world in chronological order, one per page. It allows one to easily compare what was going on in the development of art the world over at any given time. The major art works that one would expect are all included, but there are also interesting surprises. Relatively few people would be familiar with all the art works in this book. The descriptions of the art works are intelligent and informative. This book would be a wonderful foundation for a class, but it is just as easily suited to casual browsing curled up in a comfy chair. It is truly a museum in a book with stunning illustrations and quality content.