The Bottom Line
It's not a cheap book, but it is a large format one with 356 pages packed with info.
Pros
- Survey of the development of art across the centuries and continents.
- Maps are used to show who made and used what, where and when, plus direction of artistic influences.
- Comes with a searchable CD-ROM of text and maps (for private use only).
Cons
- Not a 101 book. Assumes some knowledge of art terminology, world cultures, history, and geography.
- You'll need to be able to read and interpret maps.
- By covering such a vast subject, large periods are necessarily reduced to two pages.
- Don't expect loads of photos of art, most pages have just one small photo, plus a map.
- Type gets quite small on some maps.
Description
- Large format hardback book (340x250mm). 352 pages. ISBN 9781856695572. First published May 2008.
- Comes with a CD-ROM containing the text and maps of the book as a single .pdf file. It does not includes the images.
- Published in the UK by Laurence King and in the USA by Abbeville Press.
- Contents divided into seven chronological sections (read contents pages).
- Contents: Part 1 Art, Hunting and Gathering 40,000-5000 BC. Part 2 Art, Agriculture and Urbanization 5000-500 BC.
- Contents Part 3 Art, War and Empire 500 BC-AD 600. Part 4. Art, Religion and The Ruler 600-1500.
- Contents Part 5 Art, Exploitation and Display 1500-1800. Part 6 Art, Industry and Science 1800-1900.
- Contents 7 Art, Ideas and Technology 1900-2000. Bibliography and index.
- Edited by John Onians, Director of the World Art Research Programme at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
- Contributions from more than 65 art specialists.
Guide Review - The Art Atlas
The Art Atlas mixes art with anthropology with geography with history with politics with economics to provide pages densely packed with information about the development of art around the world. It's most certainly not an atlas merely showing where great artists lived and worked. It shows where and when major artistic styles developed, and the political, religious, economic, geographical, and cultural contexts.
This is not a book you'll sit and lightly read from cover to cover, but one for concentrated and careful study, whether by era or region. Being an atlas you'll obviously need to be able to read maps to extrapolate the information. If you're a painter interested in learning more about different cultures and artistic styles, and willing to spend time doing so, you'll likely find it rewarding reading. Don't expect lots of photos of art; most pages have a map and one artwork.
The atlas surveys world art from 40,000BC to AD2000, divided into seven periods. Each of these is further divided by continent and then regions, so you can easily find a specific part of the world through the ages. Because of the vast subject, each is dealt with in only two pages, but between the maps and text there's a lot of information to unpack.
The atlas isn't aimed at 101 level, and assumes some knowledge of art theory terms, artistic styles or schools, and world culture. But it is accessibly written, not dominated by jargon. I've already had hours of pleasure studying it, and anticipate many more.
