In 1991 the publisher Phaidon Press asked Amanda Renshaw and colleagues to design an art museum. They were given unlimited space, access to the world's finest collections (public and private), and a blank cheque. There was only condition: that the collection had to tell a history of world art from cave painting to today.

After spending 10 years sifting through literally hundreds of thousands of works of art, 'The Art Museum' was launched this summer. Open 365 days a year, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day, it houses nearly 3000 exhibitions, made up from over 650 collections from over 60 countries, and is 992 pages long…