[.ca] 30,000 Years of Art (ISBN 0714847895)

Plan Your Museum Going for the Next 50 Years: Great Chronological Overview of Global Art from Prehistoric Times to Today:
30,000 Years of Art is a hard-to-beat collection of 1,000 works of art that will bring you in touch with hundreds of works that you've never seen before. It's like taking 50 trips to museums you've never visited before. If you are used to seeing the art canon displayed in a certain way, this book will expand your horizons. I was amazed at how many prehistoric works are just as abstract and "modern" as works I see produced today. The repetition of themes (such as the ubiquitous pregnant female) across cultures was also fascinating. One of the nice surprises was that small objects are illustrated to scale so you approximate the experience of seeing the object in a museum from one angle. I was also pleased by the large page size that allows larger works to be represented in a way that made more detail available to see. The drawback to the book is that there are no foldouts which would have many many of the enormous screens and sculptures easier to see in detail. I found the book to be most rewarding in showing me art from countries that I seldom see works from and for providing lots of prehistoric works. From a religious point of view the book is pretty ecumenical in terms of the major religions (except those that frown on literally representing what's on Earth). Don't think, however, that this book will replace buying other art books. Many obvious world favorites aren't in this book. I don't know if it was for reasons of economy (reproduction rights being costly for important works) or to expand our horizons. I mentally "looked" at those works where they fell in chronological order. The photography and printing are excellent. Bravo! The main drawback is that the book is very heavy. I found that I could most comfortably read it in a recliner with a pillow to help hold up the heavier side. If you decide to give only one art book as a gift this year, this is the book to give!