Asian Art

by Michael Kerrigan

Over the centuries the exotic elegance of Asian Art has been a source of fascination and inspiration for artists and art lovers worldwide. This beautifully illustrated book explores the diversity of art and artifacts from around Asia, detailing the subjects depicted, the materials used in their making, and the lives of the artists and artisans who created them.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Reference, History, Japan

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Michael Kerrigan is a seasoned freelance writer and editor with over thirty years of experience across a wide spectrum of publishing work, from advertising and catalogue copy to book blurbs and specialist nonfiction. A prolific author, he has written around sixty full-length books on subjects ranging from ancient warfare and Slavic myth to modern architecture and the science of consciousness, all aimed at a general readership. He contributed a weekly Books in Brief column to The Scotsman for two decades and has reviewed extensively for the Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, and Financial Times.

Reviews

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word: Lovely

Quality of print, color, glossy pages: Lovely

Brief history and time lines.

Divided into four sections: Paintings, Ceramics, Sculpture, Textiles-about 100 pages for each.

Not a large book: about 7 by 7 inches (17 by 17 cm) but packed with information.

Countries covered: Mostly China and Japan, but also Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Tibet, Burma, and Indonesia.

[Zanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this book is a primer - if you know little about any art made in Japan, China, Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, Tibet, Java, Cambodia, Indonesia, Korea or Singapore (South Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia etc are not part of this Asia) ever at any time in history, you can begin to find out a little bit about them here.

My contention is that it is an unmodernised stuff-in-glass-cases museum in book form, grouping works by type (painting, ceramic, statue etc) rather than by culture or theme (most of the figures are Buddhas, and it is very interesting to compare them) with contextualising information and appreciative comment, but few handholds or hooks to link them to other works. This makes it hard to get hold of any meaningful thread. The chronological arrangement within each section helps, but the attempt to represent such a huge range of works results in poor coherence. The interpretation is poor because this book aims for breadth rather than depth. In my opinion though, it doesn't do well at the former either.

The fact that a non-Asian man has selected the works he feels will best represent 'Asian' art to fellow Europeans is not great. OK, there is awareness of 'Orientalism' indicated in the introduction, but it's rather shallow - just lip service I feel. There is no contemporary work in this book and the vast majority is pre-twentieth century, and the author never mentions how 'Asian' artists are drawing on these traditions; though he often explains how Europeans have appropriated or been influenced by some of them.

So on the whole, the dodgy premise of cramming all Asian Art into one book proved pretty dodgy in practice. Obviously there is lots of great art in here, but like amazing artefacts in a bad museum, the presentation makes it just a meaningless procession of exotic eye-candy.

[Sarah Morgan Sandquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introductory book of Asian art, or an attractive portable visual reference for the learned reader. Personally, I learned quite a lot, but felt that certain passages and works of art could be better elucidated with more comments. I have to assume other pieces were similarly missing helpful information that I just simply didn't know. Still, I appreciate it as a jumping off point and it is easy enough to pick up a more detailed book about the country or art form which snags your interest.

[George Ilsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of beautiful pictures with the art arranged in categories. My biggest quibble is that there are no sizes given for the pieces. Is the statue a foot tall or two meters tall? Sometimes you just want to know.

[Ruth Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pesar se su grosor, es in libro breve y fácil de leer. Ideal para conocer un poco del arte y cultura asiática.

[Tabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Carole Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this 2006 edition since 2007. This book is divided into Paintings, Prints, and Screens, Ceramics, Statues and Figures, Objets d'Art, and Textiles and Accessories. Within in each section, the art shown is labelled by country, artist, and description of the object. One of my favorite pages is from Japan which shows "In the Well of the Great Wave of Kanagawa" by Katsushika Hokusai. This picture is probably one of the most famous paintings of Asian Art. You might not know the name of the picture, but you sure have seen it.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is uncomfortable, but the pictures are incredibly beautiful.

[Sereyvong Chhinlim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall of the book is good, yet the choice of artwork and piece selection should have more diversity of sources (countries).

[Marsha Altman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book to have in your bathroom. You'll eventually get through it.