The History of World Sculpture

The task of producing a single book to contain the history of world sculpture is indeed a formidable one.

But to illustrate over 1,000 works of sculpture in colour, tracing the art as practiced from before the emergence of civilised man through ages of change and development until 1968, seems impossible. It was – until this volume took shape under the guiding genius of Germain Bazin, whose vast knowledge of art in history has guided the project to completion. Illustrating his selection of world sculpture in colour has added a new dimension to art book publication. It makes the simple act of looking an endless pleasure. Stone, bronze and wood, turned by the carver’s tools, take on an unending variety of colour before one’s eye.

The subtleties of form intended by the sculptor are visually heightened. Even the silent passage of the centuries over their surface can be observed with more certainty. Bazin’s introductory text reveals the insight and clarity of first rate scholarship. Here is a synthesis of many epochs and national styles into a continuity of narrative. Each work, so carefully selected, is as carefully annotated in the author’s captions.

The History of World Sculpture is a volume of reference which combines the best of authorship with the best of book production to meet the test of many years of use.