Esther Pasztory

Every once in a while you're lucky to find a book that teaches you how to look at the world differently. I'm adding Esther Pasztory's Thinking with Things to this very short list.

Pasztory shows you how to shed your internalized assumptions about non-Western art and opens your eyes to issues you wouldn't have come up with on your own, such as the impact of written language on the status of art and the reasons why some groups painted in caves while others made masks or carved monuments. She show more also explains why it took so long to appreciate the artistic achievements of Pre-Columbian Peru as opposed to the works of the Mayans. And you'll learn why realistic representations are not an evolution from abstract representations--and why they're not even more accurate. You'll never see works in a museum the same way again. show less

This is a great quickie introduction to Pre-Columbian art by a respected expert. Lots of color illustrations, too.