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Stephen Farthing

1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Hardcover – March 20, 2007

by Stephen Farthing (Editor)

242 ratings

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1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die: Revised and Updated
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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.

Print length

960 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Universe
Publication date

March 20, 2007
Dimensions

6.65 x 2.4 x 9.3 inches
ISBN-10

9780789315243
ISBN-13

978-0789315243
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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

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0789315246
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Universe; First Edition (March 20, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 960 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780789315243
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0789315243
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.65 x 2.4 x 9.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #458,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,488 in Painting (Books)
- #2,732 in Art History (Books)
- #12,617 in Classic Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
242 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		74%
4 star		14%
3 star		10%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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theenglishmajor

He loved it. We spend time in Europe every year

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2016

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I bought a copy of this at an art museum and then bought a second copy on Amazon for my brother for Christmas. He loved it. We spend time in Europe every year. What a great way to plan museum-going to include all the "must see" art work. This is obviously the author's choice of "must see" and I don't always agree with his choices but the book contains enough of the art that should be on everyone's list that it is a worthy companion. I plan to make a list every time I travel to make sure I don't miss an opportunity to see some of these paintings. It's a great way to see what pieces of art are in which cities and which museums ...not always easy to do.

One person found this helpful

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Jodi-Hummingbird

Pretty good! Many images too small though.

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2007

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I bought this book based on the reviews here, I thought the book was pretty good.

My main problem was with the size of the images. Someone here said most images are one to a page, or two to a page... and that the smallest images are an inch by an inch.

I'd expected all the images to be a lot bigger. Many of the images, maybe even 25% - 50% weren't much bigger than an inch by an inch. This is a real problem if you are looking at the book as an artist and want to see how the brushstrokes were made a little bit etc. at least on some of them. But the images were too small for this, and no detail views were shown (except a very smalll number at the start of each section).

I found it really hard to look at all the small images and take in the painting properly too. Many were just too small for me.

I'd rather have had less white space and 30% bigger images, this could easily have been done without sacrificing much text or design quality. (The cover art was awful too!)

I also bought '1000 Masterpieces of European Painting: From 1300 to 1850' at the same time and this book was so much better at having larger images and showing details than this book (despite the book being far SMALLER and having far less pages than this one too!). It had a nicer feel too, the arrangement of the images and text was far less uniform than in this book and therefore much more interesting. It did have less white space but was actually far more elegant despite this.

The selection of images seemed very good though (despite the bad graphic design of the book) and it was well-made. It weights an absolute TON but then it would!

13 people found this helpful

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Christina Packard

Interesting To See What Is Out There....

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2014

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I have just started to study art and find many of the same paintings in this list of paintings. What is sad is there is no way I will probably even see one tenth of the mentioned paintings during my lifetime. What is nice is to see what has been put together as being important and being able to read some about each painting. It would be nice if the paintings could be larger to study. I am glad I own it and I can use it as a starting point by seeing and reading what is offered and then I can Google or purchase other books to show larger pictures and give more explanations. I was able to purchase this book through an Amazon Used book seller.

One person found this helpful

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Joanne7925

A very worthwhile reference book

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2018

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A beautiful overview what is considered the best/most important Western art (Europe, North America, some South America) in an easy to reference format. The book has a postcard sized color photo of the object on each page with a descriptive and interpretive essay about it. It's too big or me to to read and remember but it's an outstanding reference and pleasant browse on a rainy afternoon. My "used" copy was in excellent condition.

One person found this helpful

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Tina

Quality of reference book

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2019

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Absolutely stunning publication! Images are beautifully displayed with comprehensive information on all of the photographic images.

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Kindle Customer

Lacks Important Masterpieces

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2011

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Important masterpieces are missing. For example, while the Ukiyo-e art of Japan is defined in the glossary, the important Ukiyo-e works by Utagawa Hiroshige are missing. Since Utagawa's works influenced the Impressionists, it is important to include them. Also, the Harlem Renaissance is defined in the glossary, but masterpieces by important artists of that period are missing. It gets worst... the Uli art of Nigeria is neither defined in the glossary, nor are Uli masterpieces by Nigerian artists such as Uche Okeke included. If anyone is like me and has already seen many of the works throughout Europe and America, then you may be interested in seeing important works located on other continents. However, this book offers little to no advice about such works.

Absolutely none of the masterpieces by Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Sam Gilliam, Faith Ringgold, Henry Tanner or Alma Thomas are included.

This book lacks some very essential pieces, and, therefore, deprives travelers and readers of having a comprehensive, international and inclusive guide for reference.

6 people found this helpful

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DJ

Nice

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2019

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She loved it

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2013

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This is a book that I had seen advertised in the National Gallery in London. Fortunately for me, I found this online at Amazon through a Goodwill store out of Florida. I was stunned that I was able to get this fabulous book for such little money. It is a perfect companion for anyone who would like to know the famous works of art and which museums these are housed in. The book gives an interesting insight to each and every piece of art. Very useful for any art lover. Also, the book is very good for anyone taking a college art history course.

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Top reviews from other countries

Vicki Godsafe

Heavy Book, thick and cumbersome with small pictures

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2020

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I would never have purchased this book in a shop. Its heavy, thick and small photographs, small writing and opening it is not user friendly, the pages don't stay open. On top of this I'm mad as anything because of the way it was delivered by Amazon. Poor packaging allowed book to slide up and down inside the box and although the damage is minimal it is nevertheless damaged on the edges. Glad its not for a gift. It was delivered by the driver by throwing it over the top of a 6'6" fence, narrowly missing my seeds that were growing in a pot beneath, landing on concrete slabs. The card the driver posted through my door said it was behind the gate. How it lobbing a box over a fence into my back yard constituting 'behind the gate.' Online the driver has stated that the parcel was 'delivered into the hands of the customer.' Well, I was at the emergency vet's 10miles away at the time. Even aj 'all England cricket fielder couldn't have caught that! Buy your book from someone else, is my advice.

6 people found this helpful

Andrew

Many to be seen: some to be avoided!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 9, 2018

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A tremendous reference book of paintings. The selection by age - a chapter per century - works really well. The descriptions include short biographies of artists as well as a commentary on their paintings. There is a later edition but as far as I can tell there are very few additions. The choice is obviously personal but the selection seems fairly representative of the thousands of paintings from which the choice could have been made. Some of these I would not bother to seek out, particularly many of the modern abstract paintings which are shallow and soul-less, concealing rather than revealing, the artist's acknowledged skill, often seeming to display the artist's desire merely to shock, confuse or bemuse for the sake of novelty or self-expression. Some seem mainly to represent a measure of the artist's own mental confusion. Where Van Gogh's mental state produced work of great beauty, Rothko's work seems to express his depression and transmit it to the observer. The breadth of the book tempts the reader to try identify the common characteristics of 'Great Art'. Though much must lie in the eye of the beholder, I was left with the feeling that the most important characteristic is the ability to produce a sense of awe, both through the subject chosen and the evident skill of the artist. Would I yearn to see this painting, or better still, hang it on my wall? Many of these paintings pass that test with flying colours: some fail miserably. Sadly many wonderful artists are unaccountably missing from this book. On the whole, however, the choice by Stephen Farthing is broad and comprehensive and as a result the the book is a delight to be endlessly enjoyed.

7 people found this helpful

Mr. Robert Marsland

a worthy addition to your art books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2017

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Perhaps the thing that excites most about an art book is the images themselves. The only problem with this is that quite a lot of the reproductions are too small in this book to be enjoyed properly, with text instead taking up the page as a commentary to each work. However when it works it works because the images are just big enough then - what's also good is that although some works are familiar, many are perhaps not and seeing works that are new to me is what an art book is all about. great

5 people found this helpful

munchkinsraves

A lot of art for a little money...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2011

Verified Purchase

I was pleasantly suprised by the quality of the prints selected for this book..The information supplied with each picture is informative without being too academic. I finished my B.A. in Art History, at New York University in 1981; however, my vast collection of Art books is at my father's house 2,000 miles away in Long Island, N.Y- I'm in London. This book encompasses the contents of many of them,for a fraction of the cost. Also the Editor's juxtaposition of Eastern works of art with Western adds another dimention to what this book has to offer.. the most 'important' pictures sit side by side to some less known 'gems'-each given equal space...
I would recommend this to scholars, and to the public at large. Totally [large total, all 1001 of them] brilliant... Even if one has a phobia of anything considered too 'highbrow', this book is for you.

fanliang1121

The quality of this book is nice

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

It is a lot more thick than what I expect before....Nice one...interesting to read...

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