Art - the Critics Choice: 150 Masterworks of Western Art Selected and Defined by the Experts

Most general surveys of the history of Western art suffer from one main problem: their author invariably encounters some (or usually many) areas of art history of which he knows relatively little. With the exception of particularly groundbreaking studies such as E.H. Gombrich's The Story of Art, this invariably provides a lopsided perspective on the development of artistic creation through the ages. Marina Vaizey's edited collection Art: The Critics' Choice provides a simple but elegant solution to the problem: a sumptuously produced history of art in 10 chapters that draws on experts in the field of every particular historical period under consideration. Stretching from "Graeco-Roman and Early Christian Art" through the Renaissance, the Baroque, and the 19th century to "The Late Twentieth Century," the collection offers "scholarly snapshots of nearly 2,000 years of Western art."

Vaizey's brief to her contributors was clear and concise, asking "experts from many different fields of art history--writers, critics, directors of art galleries, curators and academics--to choose the 15 works from their specialist period that have meant the most to them, for reasons both subjective and objective." Each chapter provides a general overview of the period before offering a close analysis of the chosen works, which are all beautifully reproduced in color. The results are surprisingly rich and varied, although at times controversial. The subjective choices of the experts are often striking in their omissions, so there is no place for the likes of Vermeer or Braque, and many paintings chosen as representative of the Old Masters appear idiosyncratic to say the least. However, the accounts of the paintings are often very persuasive and illuminating, and part of the interest of the 150 chosen works is just why one image or artist has been chosen over another. There remains an embarrassment of riches throughout this collection for even the most grudging of art historians. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk