Rizzoli

Another in the series of Penguin books on various genres of art. It follows the same formula as the others: A section on Architecture then sculpture followed by a section on Painting and then Applied Arts. Actually, in what is a really tiny volume ..small size and only 64 pages, the authors have managed to pack quite a lot in. The other issue of course is that they are really trying to cover a period from the early bronze age ..1700BC to the present...or to the 20th Century. So impossible to do justice to the scope. They pick out a few outstanding examples of Chinese architecture that are still well known today: The great Wall, Forbidden City, Ming tombs..for architecture and some of the massive cliff sculptures of Buddha...and of course the magnificent bronze, prancing horse, balanced on one foot from the Han dynasty. I remember being on a trade Mission to China when the leader of the Mission (and a significant Sydney Stock Broker) bought a Ceramic Han Dynasty Camel at the Markets in Beijing for a considerable sum. Then came the period of consternation....had he bought a dud? Anyway, after a visit to a valuer in Hong Kong he came away wreathed in smiles, his buying acumen undamaged. The valuer had pronounced it genuine. How? Apparently by the simple expedient of placing some water on the base of the ceramic and then smelling and tasting it. A true Han dynasty ceramic apparently retained the mustiness of the tombs from whence they had been extracted. Must say, that i was not convinced. Especially when I later found out that the Chinese had been producing great "fakes" or "reproductions" of earlier dynasty works some thousands of years ago. The book skates over Chinese ceramics and painting with a few examples. Ok, but really limited in it's coverage. I give the book 3 stars.… (more)