Customer Reviews

Musee du quai Branly: The Collection: Art From Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas

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The Musee du Quai Branly is one of the most unique and appealing museums on the planet. My primary focus is on African art, and this collection is a "must see" in Paris,along with a few others pieces that remain at the Louvre. Each piece of art in this book represents the epitome of refinement for it's particular tribe from the Bamana fertility figure on the cover to the Cameroon anthropromorphic mask(Bamileke)and so on. I love this book. It would definitely be on my top 10 list. The text accompanying each photograph is much more than a descriptive analysis. It's beautifully written and tells a story that brings to life the use and context of each piece in its original role within the tribe, and an analysis of the images and motifs, as well as the influence these artistic creations on other cultures as they became exposed in Europe beginning around the 14th to 15th century.

The Good News: This book is a masterpiece in photography of the objects. The written explanations are excellent. The coverage of all tribal segments of the Branly is second to none. It is a bargain at Amazon.com.

The Bad News: This book coverage of all tribal segments of the Branly means individual segments (for me, African) are reduced to roughly a quarter of the book. I would welcome a book of this caliber dealing with each tribal art area at the Branly. Otherwise this would have been a 5-star book, and is highly recommended.