The story of art can be told in flashes of fascinating brilliance - the first self-portrait, the first time someone painted a smile, the first actual place to be depicted, the first feminist artwork, the first anti-war work. This original approach opens fresh perspectives on where art has come from, how it developed, and how it relates to us today. Each ground-breaking piece is fully illustrated, and its significance is shown in images of the artworks it directly inspired.

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