“Mirror of the World. A New History of Art” is the latest most inspiring art publication. The unconventional release of the Romanian version was supported by a strong player on the financial market, which turned it into a remarkable event. Beyond spontaneous media popularity, this work emerges as one of the most interesting contributions to the genres of art history and art criticism; on the other hand, its graphical layout is exquisite, in so far as it almost reaches the status of a work of art.
ELITE ART recommends “Mirror of the World” both as a must-read for those who aim to be initiated into the meanings of art and as a beautiful gift for the dear ones or a pièce de résistance of any art book collection.
The novelty that Julian Bell creates - himself a professional artist and a nonconformist mind- rests on a presentation of themes embedded in a story by which basic questions are being asked: Where has art begun? Why is it changing? To what end do humans create it? The answers are unexpected, as the author selects works of art that seemingly lack a connection and makes them mirror each other; similarly, art is held to impersonate not the “mirror” of concepts and ideas but that of the world itself and of human condition.
The creativity of the author as an interpreter is doubled by his outstanding gift to narrate, which converts case studies into histories that seduce by their novelty, details and free speech, the latter hiding - but not obstructing - a remarkable perspective.
Besides text, the book contains 372 illustrations, out of which 267 are colour ones, of a faultless print quality, granting it the status of original art textbook. The costs of the Romanian version were generously incurred by UniCredit Tiriac Bank, under the aegis “An Art Lover Wearing the Name of a Bank”.
The launch of the volume at Carturesti Book Shop in Bucharest, noted the originality of this initiative: the book was elaborated and released as a “co-edition”, with the original version and its Romanian translation simultaneously released on the market. The book can also be purchased online, for 167 RON (www.velant.ro), 163, 83 RON (www.librariilehumanitas.ro) or 150 RON (www.librariabucuresti.com).
