1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
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.

Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

A Book With A Gimmick Format That Is Actually a Smart Survey! September 8, 2007
28 out of 28 found this review helpful

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one painting per page (though the page are not large) with an accompanying commentary on the painting, the artist, the historical content and some astute remarks by a staff of well informed writers.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

5 out of 5 stars

Helpful Catalog for Finding What You Like September 15, 2007
19 out of 19 found this review helpful

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!

5 out of 5 stars

1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die June 27, 2007
12 out of 17 found this review helpful

The descriptions of the paintings, the artists technique and inspiration is excellent. It was very insightful when two paintings by the same artists : Diebenkorn and Rothko were selected.

3 out of 5 stars

Not to die for... July 23, 2007
12 out of 16 found this review helpful

This is a good book but it would be a great book if the paintings were indexed by location. If you are planning a trip to say...Florence you cant get a list of what's in that city.

5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful compilation for all levels of interest December 19, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

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.

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