A richly illustrated journey through the strange, sacred, surreal, and surprisingly romantic history of eye art.

Eyes go back to the earliest examples of human art, and they're symbolically linked to the creation of good, evil, and nothing less than the whole universe. They're strange. They're mystical. They're omniscient. But they're also light-hearted, witty, and delightfully romantic.

Beginning with some of the earliest examples of eyes in human art, this book traces a dazzling visual lineage through Egyptian wedjet eyes, evil eyes, third eyes, ex votos, all-seeing eyes, lover's eye miniatures, curiosity cabinet eye models, optometrist folk signs, post-war surrealism, pop surrealism, Schiaparelli, Gucci, Fornasetti, John Derian, Astier de Villatte, Jonathan Adler, and many of your favorite contemporary artists.

What makes eye art so fascinating is that it never belongs entirely to one world. It can be devotional or mischievous, romantic or uncanny, ancient or startlingly modern. Since all eye art has elements of the strange, the sacred, and the surreal, the oldest works have a contemporary edge to them, and the newest works have an ancient resonance.

For collectors, artists, romantics, aesthetes, and anyone drawn to images with symbolic depth, this book offers a beautiful and expansive exploration of why eyes have captivated human beings for millennia, and why they continue to feel so powerful, intimate, and alive today.