1 First traces
2 The story unfolds
3 Welcome to Life
4 Mimics
5 Journey to the Afterlife
6 Art Embraces Religion
7 Dark clouds gather
8 Propaganda Art
9 Stonemasons, Moai, and Materials
10 The Renaissance Begins
11 Light of Northern Europe
12 Problems of Perspective
13 East and West Meet
14 Return to Rome
15 Fire and Brimstone
16 The emergence of the barbarians
17 Spanish rule
18 Theater of Life
19 Seeing in a New Way
20 Land of Lies
21 Still Life and Still Life
22 Rococo Escapism and London Life
23 Royal Academy: Home and Abroad
24 Liberty, peace, fraternity?
25 From Romanticism to Orientalism
26 Painful Reality
27 Impressionist painters
28 Artists Take to Court
29 Post-Impressionist Painters
30 Standing on the shoulders of giants
31 Breaking the mold and crossing boundaries
32 Art with a political message
33 Land of the Free?
34 The Aftermath of War
35 The Growth of American Art
36 pieces break the mold
37 We don't need another hero
38 Postmodern World
39 All or nothing
40 Art as Resistance

Translator's Note
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Another way to broadly understand the world: the history of art.
What story does the artist want to tell us?

Art energizes our lives, helps us understand the world, and stimulates our emotions, creativity, and cognitive abilities.
However, the masterpieces or images of artists that we were eager to become familiar with during our school days were often confined within their own frames, leading to similar impressions.
The fascinating and enjoyable exploration of the circumstances under which a work was created, what it is trying to tell us, where it is placed in the context, who the artists were or were influenced by, and what works and techniques are worth comparing has been neglected.

No matter how diverse they may appear on the surface, art ultimately shares something in common.
Throughout history, including prehistoric times, artists have always sought the best means to express their thoughts.
That is the inherent 'magic' of art, the element that connects us and moves us emotionally, even if sometimes we cannot explain why.
Art can help us see the world differently or understand our place in it more clearly.
It is a powerful force.

This book explores how art and artists have shaped and influenced the world, from the oldest places in art to the present day.
Unlike before, there is no single clear path to follow.
Just as we travel through time, we see how the various paths connect to each other.
We meet anonymous artists whose names are unknown today, like the two men who carved a buffalo thousands of years ago, and artists who were acclaimed in their lifetime but later forgotten.
You'll meet artists who are still achieving great fame, as well as talented but lesser-known artists.
Traveling the world, we shed new light on forgotten artists and expand traditional perspectives on art history.

When we look at the lion plates from the Chauvet Cave today, the first thought that comes to mind is that the lions will come to life and eat us.
I don't feel the same excitement as I did when I saw it under the torchlight 33,000 years ago.
For this reason, the book begins its 40 chapters by going back in time to vividly imagine what it was like back then and gauge its influence.

From the origins of cave art to modern art as a powerful force for change, this book explores artists and their work, from those we know well to indigenous communities in non-Western regions. It hears the voices of diverse artists and examines the meaning of art in each society.
Another important aspect of this book is how the role and value of art have changed over time.

Art has been a means of expressing the sorrows and joys of life, an assertion of self-belief, a way to communicate with nature, and a means of personal expression.
Some artists tricked the eye into seeing windows in flat walls, while others explored mystical inner worlds and abstract realms.
Contemporary artists use the streets as public exhibition spaces, and biennales, which have become established international events, bring together art from around the world.
Art is now a powerful force in all fields.
They are campaigning for social change, speaking out politically, and being more proactive than ever on global issues like climate change.

So where will art lead us? American performance artist Siester Gates, who presents new ways to think about and create art, defines art as "the ultimate act of the viewer, bringing people together and talking."
The role of art has now expanded beyond its limitations and into all directions, and its meaning and value can never be simply measured.
The stories of artists and their works told in this book will also not deviate from this grand flow.

The patronage of prestigious families and the Pope, and the influence of the Academies and Salons
Breaking free from authority and moving toward new frontiers of possibility

The Renaissance, which took place in Europe, centered around Italy, was an indispensable innovative movement in the history of art and lasted for over 200 years.
At that time, a special environment was created in Europe due to the growing interest in humanism, increasing wealth, and fierce competition.
Cities, churches, and patrons competed with each other to hire the best artists and commission the most impressive works of art.
Artists focused on the natural world and expressed an interest in everything classical, from Greek mythology to increasingly lifelike sculptures of the human body.
This soon became the driving force of the Renaissance and brought about unprecedented prosperity in art.
The enduring legacy of the Renaissance influenced Western art education and practice for the next 400 years.

At the time, artists produced works directly upon request, and there was fierce competition among the Medici family of Florence, royal families, wealthy guilds and merchants, and the Pope.
Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope to create a monumental tomb for himself, three stories high and covered with over 40 statues, while Raphael painted frescoes in the Pope's private apartments.
Additionally, the royal court of Philip II of Spain invited the best foreign artists, including Titian and Anguissola.
Without this patronage, there might not have been a golden age for art.

From then on, Europe was dominated by academic art that adhered to classical traditions and teaching methods.
In particular, these academies had strict rules and hierarchies, and women were excluded.
The Royal Academy in London and the Salon in Paris, which boasted the highest authority at the time, became the goals that all artists aspired to.
However, a new change began to take place in England with the emergence of those (Pre-Raphaelites) who felt that the Royal Academy exhibitions were filled with arrogant works blindly following a style of painting that had fallen into infatuation, and with the success of the Salon des Refuses in France.
With the invention of photography, it was the Impressionist painters who broke away from Renaissance perspective and classical imitation.
We had now entered the modern era, an era in which the public could judge art for themselves.

And there were painters who lived tragically under the pressures of modern life.
Van Gogh and Munch struggled with mental health issues and depression throughout their lives, but their work is now recognized worldwide as one of the most highly valued, not only because it resonates deeply with people by directly connecting with our own emotions and anxieties.
Their art went beyond Impressionism as they reconnected with hidden emotions and inner realities.

Women couldn't even put a price on their own work!
'Do women have to be naked to enter the Metropolitan Museum of Art?'

In the European art world, dominated by the academy, it was difficult for women to become artists.
Women were strictly prohibited from participating in the actual sketching sessions and were not allowed to set up studios.
Of course, there were exceptions, such as those with artist parents.
There were female artists who painted kings and queens, like Horenbout and Anguissola, or ran successful convent art schools, like Plautilla Nelli.
Gentileschi was the first woman to be admitted to the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts, and her work, which portrays women as active and engaged protagonists of history, stands in sharp contrast to the male artists of her time.
Gentileschi and Fontana took on traditionally male subjects, such as biblical scenes and female nudity, and showed them from a different perspective.
They empower the women they portray by making them look strong and confident.

This book also sheds light on the diverse activities of female artists.
In particular, as we enter the modern and contemporary era, we introduce female artists and their works who explore identity, gender fluidity, and photographic performance, while also confronting social prejudice and racism and actively participating in the feminist movement.
It was not until the 1970s that women artists began to actively engage with feminism, forming collaborative groups, publishing magazines, and running educational programs.
They used a wide range of media in their work, turning to new art forms such as video and performance art.
This is because, unlike painting or sculpture, these media do not have a long history of male domination.

Meanwhile, in 1985, a group of female artists called the Guerrilla Girls used the sides of buses and billboards to expose the sexism and racism that still existed in the art world.
The Guerrilla Girls were all individually successful artists.
They attended events wearing gorilla masks, maintaining their collective anonymity and presenting themselves as the "conscience of the art world."
One of their most famous poster campaigns asked, "Do women have to be naked to enter the Metropolitan Museum of Art?"
Yet even today, only 10 percent of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York is by female artists.

In addition, the stories of Shadi Ghadirian, who recreated the studio portraits of 19th-century Iranian photographers with painted backgrounds, vintage costumes, and props in his 1998 series "Qajar," Neshat, who photographed women wearing hijabs and holding guns, including herself, in his "Women of Allah" series produced until 1997, Martha Rosler, who parodied American cooking shows from the 1970s, and performance artist Yoko Ono, who showed a performance that led people to cut up their clothes, all deliver radical and important messages that cannot be overlooked.