cover image Art and Civilization

Art and Civilization

Edward Lucie-Smith. ABRAMS, $75 (560pp) ISBN 978-0-8109-1924-2

In an ambitious, enormously rewarding survey of the arts in Western civilization, art historian Lucie-Smith traces the connections between architecture, painting, sculpture, literature, philosophy and music in each of a number of epochs discussed. Proceeding from Paleolithic Mother Goddesses to minimalism and multiculturalism, Lucie-Smith is always entertaining and frequently profound, whether he is discussing the ``universal language'' of Neolithic rock art, the Byzantine empire's ``lopsided'' cultural achievements, parallels in the lives of Beethoven and Goya, or Arshile Gorky as ``a forerunner . . . stranded between the European approach to painting and the American view.'' This splendidly illustrated album features hundreds of color and black-and-white plates, plus maps, time charts, literary excerpts from Gilgamesh to Waiting for Godot , and boxed highlights (such as ``The Conquest of Mexico'' and ``African Art and Cubism''). Lucie-Smith's acute insights and his focus on specific creative works keep his highly selective narrative lively and concrete. (Mar.)