This book sets out to present one work of art from 500 different artist. This sounds good in theory, but since all the artists and their one work of art are listed alphabetically, the end result is eclectic and chaotic. This would have been a much better book, had the same contents been arranged chronologically or at least thematically. As it stands though, the paintings (there are a few sculptures and installations here and there, but I will mostly refer to just paintings) jump all over the place in time and subject. It also seems unfair to have some amazing, iconic painters reduced to just one work of art, which is hardly representative of their overall contribution, whereas others (especially some of the more contemporary artists) could easily have been left out of the book altogether. Reading the book, it's difficult to ignore a theme which comes up repeatedly, so many artists seem to be even more manifesto loving, social driven creatures than some stereotypes suggest. So many times, the artist is described to follow philosophy/school A, then switches to philosophy/school B, or idolizes artist/mentor C, then switches to artist/mentor D, or creates a clique E, then switches to collective F, and so it goes. I don't think you get to see that so much in other art forms (for example, with writers or even musicians), where usually, the serious artists dislike (or at least claim to dislike) the notion of genres, tribes or ideology. Anyway, art is different, it requires technical skill (well, see subsequent paragraphs on that), and comes from a tradition of manual workmanship, perhaps it makes sense that when the apprenticeship system weakened amidst the social changes of the modern age, substitute forms would take its place. This really should have been called The Western Art Book. There is only one Asian artist represented, and Latin America is limited to a few Cubans and Mexicans. Everyone else is completely absent. See more Introduction to Italian Sculpture, Volume III: Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture This is a portrait of Iris Clert if I say so. Robert Rauschenberg. [The telegram sent by the aforementioned artist when requested to paint a portrait, which since then is considered to be the "painting"].

Remember how this book was seen throughout the whole Friends series? First at Central Perk, then at Monica's. Now it's on my shelf, thanks to Patty :)Buren, two levels (I sentence this column to ten years in prison, for contempt of the court of aesthetics and public opinion). Boltanski, reserve of dead Swiss (your reservation has been cancelled. Is that even legal by the way, using photographs of dead people from local newspapers for the unauthorized purpose of an art installation? I'd normally laugh at the artwork's description but considering the topic, the blurb angered me instead "in previous works, Boltanski had used photographs of Jewish children. Here, by using images of the Swiss, a race associated with neutrality rather than a specific and terrible fate, Boltanski lays greater emphasis on the universality of mortality").

A sublime bit of toilet reading for me. At two or three paintings per trip to the washroom, the enjoyment will last for the better part of a year! How nifty is that? The perfect prescription for someone who thinks Kupka might have something to do with the continuing cup-cake craze. I've always wanted to learn more about art and art history, and this was a good sampling. It takes 500 different artists and shows one work from each of them. It was a nice introduction to artists I hadn't heard of before, and it gave a brief synopsis of the work and the artist.Another amusing/sad detail, you can tell from each entry's blurb how good/bad the art is going to be. If the blurb is actually describing the painting or has some psychological/social context, chances are something imaginative or skillful follows and that something is from the nineteenth century or earlier. If the blurb is talking about symbols, concepts, ideas and the philosophy of the artist, chances are something ridiculous follows and that something is from the twentieth century (with exceptions of course, the century has had its share of impressive artists). The selection of artists has a decidedly Western and Christian bias. There are a few Japanese and South-American artists here and there, but the overwhelming majority are from mainland Europe and English speaking countries. Also the depicted scenes (at least until the beginning of the 20th century) are from either Roman or Christian mythology or Western European aristocratic and everyday life. After a while, seeing the same scenes over and over again, even if depicted by different artists, becomes quite monotonous and boring. But ironically, the editors and the artists themselves unashamedly express the same points in a language/philosophy that's more ridiculous than any writer's satire. I copy here some of the earnest fawning quotes/blurbs from the book.

Also a theoretician and teacher, he was adamant that art should be completely separate from life, and life from art, saying "art is art as art and everything else is everything else, art as art is nothing but art".See more The Music of Painting: Music, Modernism and the Visual Arts from the Romantics to John Cage The editors have truly built a City of Ladies in this brilliant and much-needed book." —NY Journal of Books What a delight! A selection of 500 works of art, paintings and sculptures alike, from 500 different artists with no reference to nationality, school of thought, medium, date or topic. The works are presented alphabetically by artist and each work is accompanied by explanatory information on it and its creator. THE ART BOOK is “an unparalleled visual source book and a celebration of our rich and multi-faceted culture.” For those fans particularly taken by any given work of art who might like to find an opportunity to see it in the flesh, each work and, of course, each artist, is cross-referenced with an international directory of galleries and museums to visit. The captions provide adequate details both about the paintings and the artists. You will learn a detail or two about the paintings, the lives of the artists and even a few fun facts every now and then. It is somewhat sad though to read references to all sorts of other paintings done by the same artists. The format of the book dictates that we can only see one painting per artist and to see the rest, we would have to turn to other books or the internet. What makes the book loose seriousness is the tendency of the editors to select laughable modern or conceptual art. I don't blame them, if the art world considers some artists as masters, then who am I to judge. OK, I judge. Especially since the rest of the review is more of a rant, for personal indulgence/reference, including funny/pretentious quotes from the book at the end.