In this magnificent collection of images Günther Komnick takes the reader on adventure through virtually all the arts, from dancing to music, to visual arts, to ceramic arts and others as we page through in wonderment it how people across the world find self-expression.
     Sculpture plays a major part in this exploration, to art that it is a poetic abstraction, to art, as in the case of the mohai on Easter Island in the Pacific, where the gigantic sculptures grip the imagination as to what their significance might be. In the case of the Ancient Egyptian artworks, the function is clearly religious, if not political as well. Komnick’s collection presented here is eclectic, but all the images reflect an artistic engagement, whether it be in the refined eastern porcelain or the elegant and practical azulejos – the blue and white tiles which festoon Lisbon. Not all azulejos are blue and white, the name having been adopted for all artistic tilework. We see intricate patterns and life likenesses from the ancient world, presumably in Turkey, lacquered vases from China, and musicians plucking away at equally delicate musical instruments. We see monumental works in the form of Abraham Lincoln’s sedate pose, classic and avantgarde examples, all united by an urge to give aesthetic expression as a response to the world we live in. Japanese, Byzantine and even Baltic amber amulets and necklaces all gather in these pages to delight the eye, if not the soul.