1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die [Hardcover]

Stephen Farthing (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2007

From Ancient Egyptian frescoes to the Renaissance masters, from French Impressionists to American Abstract Expressionists, this highly browsable guide embraces all cultures and every style of painting from 4,000 BC to the present. A visually arresting reference for art lovers and students, it provides a truly comprehensive worldwide gazeteer of paintings organized chronologically by date of completion. Each entry includes the history of the painting, information about the artist or artistic movement, the current location of the painting (all are on view to the public), as well as other details. The works are also indexed by artist and by title, making for easy cross-referencing. Included are popular paintings, key works that are the most breathtaking for their extraordinary power and beauty, paintings that were turning points in the history of art, and rediscovered masterpieces, making 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die an art museum in its own right.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For insatiable art lovers, this book brings together longstanding calassics and contemporary masterpieces from some of the world's most famous galleries and museums. From Italian frescoes to the Renaissance masters, and French Impressionists to American Abstract Expressionists, 1001 Paintings in public domain.

Organized chronologically and accompanied by beautiful reproductions, 1001 Paintings traverses centuries and genres- Giotto, Jasper Johns, El Greco, da Vinci and Degas- no master is left behind. The artworks featured in the book are the most compelling controversial, important, widely loved and, sometimes, despised paintings that alter the trajectory of painting's evolution as well as make us reconsider its past. Whether for discovery or rediscovery, 1001 Paintings is an accessible and addictive chronicle of the world's most essential painting. -- SFDC News 2007.02 Summer Fall

Sophisticated art lovers will get a kick out of the critics' choices. Amateurs will get savvy guidance in an easy to understand format." -- 04/24 MIAMI HERALD

"A painting or two per page, plus insightful commentary, 1001 Paintings adds up to a rich browsable read or an ambitious vacation guide." -- Jun HOUSE BEAUTIFUL

"comprehensive, yet compact and concise volume" -- May NEW YORK LIVING

"you actually come away from it with an expanded curiosity for that which you don't know"..."a stunning overview" -- 5/21 BLOG ON BOOKS

1001 series review "to-do, until Death" -- Jul NEW YORK POST

About the Author

Stephen Farthing is a graduate of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at Oxford and a professional fellow at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1998 and executive director of the New York Academy of Art in 2000. He has been teaching fine art since 1977, and he is a painter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 960 pages
• Publisher: Universe (March 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789315246
• ISBN-13: 978-0789315243
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 2.4 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book With A Gimmick Format That Is Actually a Smart Survey!, September 8, 2007

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die (Hardcover)

The very title of this book will probably offend serious art lovers as well as the cover art that strains to imitate Magritte. But don't be fooled by the packaging in this case. This is a fine little volume that covers an enormous variety of paintings through time and is designed in a format that places one painting per page (though the page are not large) with an accompanying commentary on the painting, the artist, the historical content and some astute remarks by a staff of well informed writers.

Ancient paintings as well as contemporary paintings are in this collection of 'must sees' and actually each of the selections could well qualify for the designation of the title. What the book does not do is provide a travelogue to guide the reader to the locations of each of the works, but it does present a survey of great art, succinctly distilled in well chosen word descriptions, that proves t be a valuable introduction to the works considered by many to be the great moments in art history. This would be a fine book for young or new art lovers, a volume that would interest those who fear the magnitude of the realm of art history here made accessible - like cliff notes! A great idea for a gift - for other and for your own library. Grady Harp, September 07

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful Catalog for Finding What You Like, September 15, 2007

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die (Hardcover)

The concept behind this book is an intriguing one: If you had seen most of the best paintings in the world, which 1001 would you recommend that others see if at all possible? My initial reaction was that there probably aren't 1001 paintings that I would recommend to everyone else.

With that perspective in mind, I first read through the book to identify which paintings would be on my list. I came up with 72. Almost all of those were on my mental list when I started reading the book. I was also missing about 100 of my favorites, but few of the artists were omitted. So if I had been new to paintings and became familiar with the 65 artists who did the 72 paintings, I would have eventually uncovered almost all of the other 100. That experience confirmed my impression that this book would be of most value to those who have seen relatively few great paintings and want to get a sense of what they like.

The images were quite well done for such small reproductions. Most paintings are represented on one page (a few are two to a page) with the minimum size being about one inch by two inches. But the printing was done well enough that you get a decent idea of the painting. I have seen more than 600 of these works in person and found that the reproductions often looked better than the originals: So don't be too disappointed when you see the real thing. Naturally, others look at lot better in person: You cannot capture the Sistine Chapel's paintings very well in a small image, for example.

The nice surprise for me was to find that the book contains works from private collections, several of which were new to me. This made me feel like I was visiting a blockbuster traveling show, especially when the works were by some of my favorite artists.

One of the most impressive aspects of the book was its equal emphasis over 1400 to the present with some representation even earlier than that. As a result, you get a good cross-section of different styles among Western artists (other artists are underrepresented, as they are in major Western museums).

Those who want to travel to see these works will be pleased to see that their locations are noted. There is a missed opportunity to index the works by museum to make trip planning easier. But most good museums today have extensive online catalogs of images that you can scan to plan what you want to see in advance. Simply jot down museums you should visit, but haven't been to yet. Then go online to see which art there will appeal to you.

I would love to see someone take this same concept and apply it to each century of paintings, sculptures, and graphic art.

Take a good look!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful compilation for all levels of interest, December 19, 2007

By 

Scott Woods (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die (Hardcover)

An enormous, beautifully compiled collection of artwork whose title I couldn't agree with more. Filled with easily digested insights into some of the greatest artwork in history, this almost 1000-page book is great for people only mildly interested in art or for serious art-core types.
The pictures are lovely and there's just enough text to get you interested in someone new (or old) at every turn.