I discovered Cycladic art in Athens' small but wonderful Museum of Cycladic Art. The tiny lean statues have a surprisingly modern look (which the 19th century archaeologists and art collectors disdained). Like most Greek statues, the marble figurines were gaudily painted (they might have served as medicinal voodoo dolls), an effect that the ravages of time has "corrected". Thanks to the German Hellenism, the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe holds one of the world's largest collection of Cycladic art (its treasures from the 18th century Ottoman/Turkish wars are well worth a visit too). In the first quarter of 2012, it featured its collection in a big exposition and produced this lavish catalogue.

The catalogue is divided into four essay parts and a generous 93 full color pages of object illustrations and descriptions. The first part ("Lebensräume") offers a geological and geographic introduction to the Cycladic islands. Oddly enough, despite their central position among the Greek islands, currents and winds direct traffic around them. The second part ("Lebenswelten") introduces elements of Cycladic civilization and culture, a world of mariners, traders and artists. The main drawback of this part is that we just don't know much about it. Guesses and maybes abound. A wealth of objects is met with a silence about their use and owners. The third part ("Geisteswelten") provides a survey where the figurines were found, a classification of their types and, my favorite, an experiment of reconstituting their painting patterns. The fourth part "Nachleben") both celebrates the 19th century archaeologists and laments their superficial early collection of Cycladic art (which makes many of these dislocated objects problematic for research purposes). The part concludes with an interesting assessment of Cycladic on modern art.

Overall, a wonderful book that covers all the known bases of a lost civilization. Highly recommended. ( )