Discusses the culture of the Cyclades and the work of 16 artists who lived between ca. 3000 and 2200 B.C.

This second volume on Early Cycladic (and Cycladicising) sculptures found in the Aegean, examines finds from mainland Greece, along with the rarer items from the north and east Aegean, with the exception of those discovered in the Cyclades (covered in the preceding volume), and of those found in Crete. The significance of these finds is that these are the principal testimonies of the influence of the Early Bronze Age Cycladic cultures in the wider Aegean. This influence is shown both by the export of sculptures produced in the Cyclades (and made of Cycladic marble), and of their imitations, produced elsewhere in the Aegean, usually of local marble. They hold the key, therefore, to the cultural interactions developing at this time, the so-called ‘international spirit’ manifest particularly during the Aegean Early Bronze II period. This was the time when the foundations of early Aegean civilization were being laid, and the material documented is thus of considerable significance. The volume is divided into sections wherein contributions examine finds and their archaeological, social, and economic contexts from specific regions. It concludes with an overview of the significance and role of these objects in Early Bronze Age societies of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region. This will be the first time that this material has been systematically gathered together. Highly illustrated, it follows and builds on the successful preceding volume, Early Cycladic Sculpture in Context (Oxbow 2016).

Getz-Gentle (an independent scholar) has seen many of the examples that exist in the course of her career studying Cycladic sculpture. She presents in this volume a catalog of Cycladic sculpture which she has organized into stylistic categories based on formal analysis. The methods she used to arrive at her conclusions, as well as her theory of how the sculptures were produced are discussed at length. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

"At the dawn of European history, in the third millennium BC, the small Greek islands in the southern Aegean known as the Cyclades were home to a remarkable and distinctive culture. Among its most characteristic products were vessels and sculpted figures fashioned from the local marble, and today these Cycladic figurines are admired around the world. This concise introduction to Cycladic art puts the figurines and other objects into the context provided by current knowledge of early life in the islands."--Jacket.

Annotation "Personal Styles in Early Cycladic Sculpture represents the culmination of thirty-five years of study. Pat Getz-Gentle offers here much new material and many fresh insights into a tradition, rooted in the Neolithic period, that spanned most of the third millennium B.C. She begins with a review of this tradition, placing particular emphasis on the stages leading to the reclining figure with folded arms that is the unique and quintessential icon of the early Bronze Age culture at the center of the Aegean. She then focuses on the styles of fifteen sculptors, several of whom are identified and discussed for the first time in this volume. By introducing little-known pieces attributable to these sculptors, she illuminates various phases of their artistic development."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

With the exception of early Egypt and Minoan Crete, no early culture had such a vigorous stone vase-making industry as the Cyclades. Figures and vessels of stone, overwhelmingly of marble, are the most distinctive and appealing products of the Early Cycladic culture. The vessels, like the better-known figures, formed a special class of object that conformed to a strict traditional typology. Ranging from charming miniatures to works of impressive size, they often show a striking purity of form, beauty of material, and excellence in their workmanship. Stone Vessels of the Cyclades in the Early Bronze Age is the first comprehensive study of these vessels. For each vessel type, Pat Getz-Gentle considers the material used, the size range, and the formal characteristics and the extent of their variation. She also discusses manufacturing methods, the incidence of repairs occasioned by accidental damage, and the possible function or functions, as well as the development, frequency, dating, and distribution of each vessel type within the Cyclades and beyond. She stresses the human element--how the vessels were used, held, and carried; how much they weigh; and how much they hold. She examines the sculptors who made them--how they might have designed and executed their works, how on occasion they seem to have modified their original plans, and how they stand out as individual artists working within a traditional craft. The 114 plates, with more than 500 separate photographs, illustrate works that show both the homogeneity and the diversity within each type.

First published in 1985, this ground-breaking book surveys the development of Cycladic sculpture produced by unidentified artists who worked in the Aegean islands forty-five hundred years ago. Illustrated with numerous objects from American collections—with particular emphasis on some two dozen pieces in the Getty Museum—this volume surveys the typological development of Early Cycladic sculpture and identifies, where possible, the work of individual sculptors. Newly revised and updated, this book is a concise introduction to the field.

The N.P. Goulandris Collection of Early Cycladic art is the most notable in private hands and is unrivaled by any museum outside Greece. It contains over 200 objects, including many fine Cycladic figurines, as well as marble vessels, pottery and metalwork. The first Cycladic figurines acquired by travelers in Greece in the nineteenth century were described as 'rude','grotesque' and 'barbaric'. Yet now they are admired all over the world. They are the earliest sculptures from Greek Iands, but their simple form and purity of line speak directly to the modern eye. The introductory chapters by Professors, Renfrew and Doumas survey the historical and cultural background to the Collection, and discuss styles, materials and techniques. A short essay by Dr. P. Getz-Preziosi introduces a sculptor who created masterpieces over four thousand years ago. Three of his finest works are in the Collection and he is now known as the Goulandris Master. Christos Doumas is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Athens. He has worked in the Cyclades for many years, and has had a long and close association with the Goulandris Collection, which he was the first to catalogue in 1968.