1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die - Art Lovers Book Review

I really enjoy going to art museums and looking at all the magnificent paintings. Walking from piece to piece, and room to room, it is interesting to see how distinct each painting is, and how it fits into the collection or theme of the room. There are so many different styles, and each painting has so many details and nuances. Because I am not that familiar with art, I especially like it when there is a tag that tells me something about the painting.

The book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die is a reference to 1000 paintings that have been chosen by an international team of artists, curators, art critics and art collectors. There is a photograph of each painting, and an explanation that illuminates both the paintings and the artists.

The book shows paintings throughout the world and through all different time periods. It is arranged in chronological order, starting with the pre1400s. The first section covers the Ancient Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Hindu and Buddhist, Byzantine Christian, Orthodox Russian, Medieval and Gothic, and International Gothic artists. Each painting gets its own page.

The fifteenth century (1400s) has paintings by Early Netherlandish, Early Italian Renaissance, Catalan Gothic, French Renaissance, Japanese Zen, Venetian Renaissance, Jain Western Indian, High Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance artists.

The sixteenth century (1500s) features paintings by High Italian Renaissance, Late German Renaissance, Late Netherlandish, mannerist, Chinese, Spanish, English Miniaturist, Bolognese School, and Mughal Indian artists.

The seventeenth century (1600s) features paintings by Italian Baroque, European Landscape, Japanese, French and Spanish baroque, Classical, Mughal Indian, Persian miniaturist, Chinese, and Netherlandish Golden Age painters.

The eighteenth century (1700s) includes Rococo, Grand tour, Neoclassical, Academic, American, Japanese and Chinese, Romantic, Rajput Indian, and Scottish and English paintings.

The nineteenth century (1800s) features paintings by Romantic, French Academic, Orientalist, Pre-Raphaelite, Aesthetic, Impressionistic, Post-Impressionistic, Symbolist, and Art Nouveau artists.

The twentieth century (1900s) section includes Realist and Ecole de Paris, Expressionist, Cubist, Futurist, Surrealist, Abstract Expressionist, Conceptual, Hyperrealist, Digital and Urban paintings. Many of the paintings in this large section are placed two on a page.

The twenty-first century (2000s) section has Street, Neo-Surrealist, Neo-Figurative, Superflat, Stuckist, Avant-Pop, Feminist, Lowbrow and Minimalist paintings.

It is hard to judge art, and even a book that has 1,001 paintings in it does not have all the ones that I particularly enjoyed seeing. And there are paintings in the book that I don't particularly care for. These paintings were not chosen for their aesthetic appeal. Each of the paintings was chosen because it was either important or interesting, because of its subject matter, or the way it was painted, or its relationship with other paintings. It is about the relationship between how something is made and what it is trying to say.

The book provides a small, clear view of the painting, and gives you a great idea of what it looks like. Even though the book does tell you the dimensions of the paintings, it is hard for me to envision the size and impact until I see it in person. And a larger painting will make it easier to see all the details and shadings that a photograph simply cannot show. Until I do get to see the painting, this book serves as a great reference to decide which paintings should be seen.

1,001 Paintings also shows paintings that I would not have sought out myself, or been able to see because they are from diverse areas all around the globe. I was happy to see the frescos we had seen in Pompeii, Italy being represented in the book.

The paintings in the photo section were chosen at random to show you a representative sample of the paintings in the book.

The pages are small, about 6" x 8", but there are many of them - 960 to be exact. Bigger pages would probably have made the book too heavy, even though they would have given more space for a larger visual of the painting. There is a title index, which is by the name of the painting. There is a glossary and an artist's index in the back of the book, as well as a list of contributors. There isn't an index by museum, but the museum names are listed under each photograph.

The revised and updated edition of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die was published in 2011. Either edition provides a great representative sample of the great artists throughout history, all the way from ancient times to modern times.