What do you think?
Rate this book
Sculpture: From Antiquity to the Present Day
Figures of inspiration. A history of an art form in all its possible manifestations
Ranging from ancient to contemporary sculpture, this book is the first study of the history of sculpture to present such an original and comprehensive approach. Taking the sculptures out of the museum context (and thus off of their proverbial pedestals), this volume presents a completely new view which affords enlightening comparisons between eras and genres. This remarkable work is indispensable for art lovers of all tastes and disciplines.
Ranging from ancient to contemporary sculpture, this book is the first study of the history of sculpture to present such an original and comprehensive approach. Taking the sculptures out of the museum context (and thus off of their proverbial pedestals), this volume presents a completely new view which affords enlightening comparisons between eras and genres. This remarkable work is indispensable for art lovers of all tastes and disciplines.
1148 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
12 people are currently reading
312 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 4, 2011
If you wanna be in for a shock, go to Amazon and search the word ’sculpture’ under books. You will no doubt be surprised at the rather paltry selection of titles covering an art form that goes all the way back to primitive times. We were, which increased our appreciation of the newly reissued two-volume, 25th Anniversary edition boxed set from Taschen, “Sculpture: From the Renaissance to the Present Day.”
Lead editors Georges Duby and Jean-Luc Daval, have assembled perhaps the most complete compendium of the entire history of the art, from antiquity to the radical outdoor structures of the modern art era and every significant movement in between.
Volume One presents the history of sculpture, primarily from the major movements of the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Roman world. An exceedingly thorough discussion covers hundreds of examples from each period encompassing small figures, large statues, architectural sculpture and both indoor and outdoor reliefs. The superb collections of museums from Italy to the acropolis are covered in fine detail as are the origins of movements that changed the history of the art in significantly definable ways.
Volume Two is the chronologically based book featuring the well defined eras of the Renaissance to Baroque to the Rococo period. The eras are filled with robust depictions and descriptions of figures ranging from the mythological (Lombardo) to the religious (Della Robbia, Bernini, etc.) to subsets like political figures (Napoleon to Kaiser Wilhelm) the allegories of water (Paris’ famous Fountain de Trevi), busts, architectural facades and more. There is even coverage of more modern, post-war abstractions, assemblages and constructions – ranging from the cubism of Picasso to the mobiles of Alexander Calder; the outsized work of Claes Oldenberg to the rigid boxes of Donald Judd; the expansiveness of Christo to the high concept insanity of Jeff Koons.
In all, these two volumes represent the most expansive and detailed presentation of sculpture in modern book form. For the student, the casual or even the more serious observer, there is much to ponder for everyone.
Lead editors Georges Duby and Jean-Luc Daval, have assembled perhaps the most complete compendium of the entire history of the art, from antiquity to the radical outdoor structures of the modern art era and every significant movement in between.
Volume One presents the history of sculpture, primarily from the major movements of the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Roman world. An exceedingly thorough discussion covers hundreds of examples from each period encompassing small figures, large statues, architectural sculpture and both indoor and outdoor reliefs. The superb collections of museums from Italy to the acropolis are covered in fine detail as are the origins of movements that changed the history of the art in significantly definable ways.
Volume Two is the chronologically based book featuring the well defined eras of the Renaissance to Baroque to the Rococo period. The eras are filled with robust depictions and descriptions of figures ranging from the mythological (Lombardo) to the religious (Della Robbia, Bernini, etc.) to subsets like political figures (Napoleon to Kaiser Wilhelm) the allegories of water (Paris’ famous Fountain de Trevi), busts, architectural facades and more. There is even coverage of more modern, post-war abstractions, assemblages and constructions – ranging from the cubism of Picasso to the mobiles of Alexander Calder; the outsized work of Claes Oldenberg to the rigid boxes of Donald Judd; the expansiveness of Christo to the high concept insanity of Jeff Koons.
In all, these two volumes represent the most expansive and detailed presentation of sculpture in modern book form. For the student, the casual or even the more serious observer, there is much to ponder for everyone.
June 9, 2023
I love finding sculpture at museums that I visit (here in the USA). I saw some pictures some friends of mine were posting from a trip to Italy and the art/sculpture works are almost overwhelming. This huge (8" x 11" x 1148 pgs) truly does encompass Antiquity to Present. There is well researched text that is rather impossible to allow full reading per its encyclopedic detail. I sampled reading as I skimmed through the pages.
Lucian, writing in the second century AD, sets out the negative aspects of certain manual activities: "If you become a sculptor, you will be no more than a workman, tiring yourself physically, (...) receiving only a meagre wage, (...) a common laborurer, a man lost in the crowd, bowing and scraping to the rich, humble servant of the eloquent, living like a hare and destined to become the prey of the strong."
Dang! "Laborurer?" I guess 'back-then' treated these artist differently. How can you chip marble with such precision?!?!
My only negative points in the book would be:
- Lack of an index in the back
- Very western world focus
- Maybe bit off TOO much by trying to go Antiquity to Present
Part 1: 8th Century BC to 5th Century AD - favorite for me
- Greek, Etruscan, Roman
Part 2: Middle Ages 5th to 15th Centuries AD
- Romanesque, Gothic, Court
Part 3: 15th to 18th Centuries AD
- Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rocco
Part 4: 19th and 20th Centuries AD
- Neoclassicism, 2nd Empire, Permanence and Avant-Garde, realism and Surrealism
- Starts off OK, as I like Rodin, but the entanglements of modern sculpture I know I simply walk past/ignore (mostly) in museums.
I love "Count Ugolino and his Sons", 1867 by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. But the picture of it on pg 912 in the "Commercial Circuit" section of this book does not do justice to this work at all.
This is an easy 5* book, but it only whetted my interest, now that I realize that I must focus on specific eras and world-regions if I really want better detail.
Lucian, writing in the second century AD, sets out the negative aspects of certain manual activities: "If you become a sculptor, you will be no more than a workman, tiring yourself physically, (...) receiving only a meagre wage, (...) a common laborurer, a man lost in the crowd, bowing and scraping to the rich, humble servant of the eloquent, living like a hare and destined to become the prey of the strong."
Dang! "Laborurer?" I guess 'back-then' treated these artist differently. How can you chip marble with such precision?!?!
My only negative points in the book would be:
- Lack of an index in the back
- Very western world focus
- Maybe bit off TOO much by trying to go Antiquity to Present
Part 1: 8th Century BC to 5th Century AD - favorite for me
- Greek, Etruscan, Roman
Part 2: Middle Ages 5th to 15th Centuries AD
- Romanesque, Gothic, Court
Part 3: 15th to 18th Centuries AD
- Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rocco
Part 4: 19th and 20th Centuries AD
- Neoclassicism, 2nd Empire, Permanence and Avant-Garde, realism and Surrealism
- Starts off OK, as I like Rodin, but the entanglements of modern sculpture I know I simply walk past/ignore (mostly) in museums.
I love "Count Ugolino and his Sons", 1867 by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. But the picture of it on pg 912 in the "Commercial Circuit" section of this book does not do justice to this work at all.
This is an easy 5* book, but it only whetted my interest, now that I realize that I must focus on specific eras and world-regions if I really want better detail.
Read
May 22, 2015730 S4373 2013
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews