Art Review: Peru: ‘A Journey in Time’ at British Museum

Enough already with the Morozovs, Gauguin, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Vuitton. “What’s happening in Peru,” you might be thinking. That’s ancient Peru. Sprinting textually from Paris to the British Museum, I can report that I found Peru: A Journey in Time to be an engrossing, sometimes enchanting survey of the art and culture of Peru from about 2500 b.c. to the Spanish conquest 4,000 years later.

Surrounded by mountains and oceans, what we now call Peru evolved over this span with some but not much outside influence — until, that is, the conquistadores arrived. The exhibition and catalogue present not only aesthetically stunning art but the Andean worldview, a pantheon of gods, topography, and history. I knew nothing about Andean art except where Peru is on the map, so the exhibition was a sterling chance for self-improvement.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

Enough already with the Morozovs, Gauguin, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Vuitton. “What’s happening in Peru,” you might be thinking. That’s ancient Peru. Sprinting textually from Paris to the British Museum, I can report that I found Peru: A Journey in Time to be an engrossing, sometimes enchanting survey of the art and culture of Peru from about 2500 b.c. to the Spanish conquest 4,000 years later.

Surrounded by mountains and oceans, what we now call Peru evolved over this span with some but not much outside influence — until, that is, the conquistadores arrived. The exhibition and catalogue present not only aesthetically stunning art but the Andean worldview, a pantheon of gods, topography, and history. I knew nothing about Andean art except where Peru is on the map, so the exhibition was a sterling chance for self-improvement.