Wow! eBook
Totem: The Untold Story of Sculpture
Author(s): Jo Baring (Author)
- Publisher: Ecco
- Publication Date: November 3, 2026
- Language: English
- Print length: 352 pages
- ISBN-10: 0063571099
- ISBN-13: 9780063571099
Book Description
A New York Times Most Anticipated Nonfiction Book of 2026
A story-driven meditation on one of the oldest art forms and what it reveals about memory, creativity, and being human
Why have we always made sculpture? What draws us to carve, cast, and mold forms from the materials around us? What do these objects say about the artists who create them and the societies they belong to?
In Totem, art historian and curator Jo Baring uncovers the untold story of sculpture, not through a traditional survey but by tracing how it has shaped and been shaped by human experience across cultures and millennia. From prehistoric artifacts like the Lion-man figure found in a German cave to to an ancient Mayan pyramid that conjures a serpent made of shadows, to the icons of the Italian Renaissance and the radical innovations of the twentieth century, Baring reveals how sculpture expresses power, loss, identity, and the need to make meaning through form. Along the way, she introduces us to the artists who have expanded sculpture’s possibilities—including Barbara Hepworth, Constantin Brâncuși, Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama, and Antony Gormley—and revisits familiar works with fresh eyes.
Featuring original illustrations by Julia Ashe—line drawings that work in concert with Baring’s lithe, intimate storytelling to bring us closer to this thoughtfully curated selection of sculptures—Totem is a powerful reflection on our need to make, to remember, and to understand ourselves through the things we shape.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“This art historian’s survey of sculpture is really more of a 40,000-year history of mankind, drawing a through line from prehistoric ivory carvings to contemporary pop art as she explores humans’ inherent drive to create.” – The New York Times
“Illuminating… A spirited response to art.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Groundbreaking.” – Katy Hessel, author of The Story of Art Without Men
“This lively and passionate book celebrates all the ways that sculpture roots us into firsthand physical experience, both of the world and our innermost feelings.” – Sir Antony Gormley, sculptor
“This retelling is a revelation—sculpture takes flight!” – Kate Bryan, author of How to Art
“An eye-opening, soul-stirring wonder of a book. Jo Baring has traveled to some of the most remote places on Earth to tell the story of sculpture through the people and places that made them. She doesn’t seek to pluck out the heart of a sculpture’s mystery, but guides us—gently, wittily, and insightfully—toward finding the power and meaning in them for ourselves. A glorious blend of travel and nature writing, history and biography, this is a book about things made of metal, wood, and stone that gets to the heart of what it is to be human.” – Jessie Childs, author of The Siege of Loyalty House
“Like visiting a gallery with a knowledgeable friend, this personal journey with Jo Baring through her specialist subject is guided not by chronology but by passion and intrigue. Following connections between works as they speak to one another across time and cultures, she skillfully weaves together a compelling case for the power and magic of sculpture. Totem is a captivating inquiry into the curious human impulse to capture the intangible in the most physical of forms.” – Joe Tucker, author of The Secret Painter
About the Author
Jo Baring is an art historian and curator specializing in modern British and contemporary art, and Director ofthe Ingram Collection of Modern British and Contemporary Art. A former director of Christie’s UK, Jo is an author for arts publications and a regular speaker at institutions, art fairs, and galleries. Jo is the cowriter and co-presenter of the podcast Sculpting Lives.
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