The Art of China Spirit And Society Author:Werner Speiser 60 hand-tipped plates in full color, other illustrations. — Dr. Werner Speiser, Director of the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne and Professor of East Asian Art at the University of Cologne, has spent a lifetime in the study of Chinese art. His book is a tremendous undertaking, for China is an old culture and an artistic one. She has, as Dr. S... more »peiser says in his introduction, given the world much; "porcelain and silk, lacquer, paper, tea, wisdom, poetry, and philosophy." In order to depict effectively the three thousand years of Chinese civilization and its art in one volume, Dr. Speiser has divided his text into ten chapters, each of which discusses an epoch. He writes of the very beginnings, of feudal times, under the empire, in the time of the city states and so on, right up to modern times. In writing of Chinese painting, sculpture, silk scrolls, jewelry and ceramics, he relates each art form to the thought of its time.
A chronological table, showing the artists in relation to historical events and a splendid bibliography add to the value of the book.« less