’1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die’

Today I was at Border’s (not my usual bookstore — I prefer Barnes & Noble with their reader’s discount!) for a book signing and discovered this book while waiting in line. It covers all the basic masterpieces by chronology, with beautiful reproductions, and has what looks to be really good summaries of each work. I think it’s also written by art historians. But in addition to having all the prerequisite masterpieces, they also had a bunch of paintings that I’d never seen before, but definitely want to read about. So, this book is definitely going on my birthday list, since it rings in at a kind of hefty $34. Click the link to buy it from Amazon.com if you’re as intrigued as I am. If I do get it for my birthday, I’ll be sure to put up a review.