30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space [Hardcover]

Editors of Phaidon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 2007

"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.

Editorial Reviews

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.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1072 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press; First edition (October 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714847895
• ISBN-13: 978-0714847894
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing work, November 23, 2007

By 

Beverly M. Carl "Beverly Carl" (Santa Fe,New Mexico,US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space (Hardcover)

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.

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent book, December 3, 2007

By 

Howard Mcpherson (Cleveland, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space (Hardcover)

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

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Look At Art History, December 12, 2007

By 

Mike Ventura - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space (Hardcover)

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.