Reviews (2)

A Mixed Bag
Judy Chicago has won her art reputation for her innovative installations and artwork that support the feminist movement and has continued beyond her famous 'Dinner Table' installation of ceramic plates of anatomical moments to explore other issues.She is an important artist.

Chicago is also a committed cat lover and this book is clever and fun to read, written as it is for those who understand and appreciate the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of feline behavior patterns.The writing is good and entertaining.The painting reproductions of cats are rather pedestrian for Chicago, but the cats are OK.The problem with this art book is the surprisingly poor renderings of the people - as though Chicago has many perceptual problems in observing and recreating the human form.Not that the human aspects of this book are so important, it is just that the quality of painting is jarringly noticeable.

A fun book if you are just looking for something more about cats, but not if you are looking for revelations about painting!Grady Harp, April 05

A must for any cat lover!!!
Judy Chicago explores feline charm and curiosity in this beautifully illustrated book.Every page takes you further into a day in the life of a cat, and both the words and images are lovely and captivating. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The fact that this 500-page catalogue raisonné was approved by Balthus himself, the most mutable of authorities on his own life and oeuvre, will make it suspect for some historians. And the fact that the texts for the 2,100 black-and-white reproductions are in French (a long, earnest essay by Jean Clair is translated into English) will limit its usefulness for nonacademic readers. But the book is beautiful, and something even better: a cautionary tale about an artist of enormous talent tarnished by unresolved neurosis. As the poet James Fenton wrote of Joseph Cornell, even the most devoted admirer must sometimes turn away, when "the pathology glints from the depths."

Balthus has often lamented that his paintings are mistakenly discussed in terms of their subject matter, but it is the imagery that rudely seizes the viewer's attention away from the paintings' serene, early Renaissance formality and lush 19th-century brushwork, so easy on the eye, and directs it toward the spread legs of all those pubescent girls, to the knife on the floor near the nude on the bed, or to the music teacher's teeth tearing the skirt of her trapped, flailing student.

The hundreds upon hundreds of drawings here, as well as the 80 beautiful color plates of paintings, show the young Balthus as a master of haunting imagery--cats and streets and hills in shadow--that often melds Piero della Francesca's classical forms with an edgy, slightly surreal anxiety. They convey the tender poet of the European countryside, heir to both Caspar David Friedrich and Cézanne. But the nymphet pictures ultimately overshadow Balthus's body of work--not that they are anything but tame in light of today's erotic tastes--but because they come to seem the raison d'être of a second-rate romantic painter, rather than the personal quirks of a great one. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Letters and Notes --- A work of Passion and Dedication
While George Catlin is passionate of his desire to chronicle the North American indians and thier traditions, he falls short in the area of the east coast tribes and nations. The Cherokee, Chippewa, Choctaw, and Six Nations (Iroquois,Mohawk,Algonquin,Oneida,Seneca, and Tuskaroras ) all were an integral part of American history, They are observed on a minimal note. Comparatively, the Mmandans,and Sioux were beautifully chronicled with respect to the traditions and fears of the white man that were held among many Indian nations of the period. The detailed description of the rituals that a boy must endure to become a man, make one realize how trivial our day-to-day challenges really are. You cannot read this book and not gain a renewed respect of the American indian, and all they endured to please the White man,and avoid bloodshed in the name of peace,as they believed the great spirit wanted. ... Read more

Book Description

Famous for his robust scenes of peasant life and his incomparable mountain landscapes, the beloved 16th-century artist Pieter Bruegel is generally considered the greatest Flemish painter of the Renaissance. This book, the most up-to-date monograph on Bruegel, incorporates the latest art-historical research and new information gleaned from recent restoration of his work. The authors, an art historian and a painting conservator, each bring their special expertise to bear on the many outstanding questions about the artist's life, technique, and the often enigmatic meaning of his paintings.

Bruegel's enduring appeal brought huge crowds to a recent show of his drawings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Lavishly illustrated not only with Bruegel's paintings, drawings, and engravings but also with telling details and archival material rarely or never shown elsewhere, this sumptuous book on this enormously popular artist will find a wide audience. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Magnificent Book
Pieter Bruegel Elder is a very well known and hugely influential artist, whose relatively small body of survived through centuries paintings and graphics are incredibly important for the art as whole, and that magnificent book - written with deep respect and admiration to the great flemish master is a definite must have to anyone who is intersted in art history and beyond.What impressed me the most in that excellent reference to the Bruegel's time, art and life is a quality of reproduction of the art work-its really,really great-accurate,vibrant and crisp. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Before Her Time
Imogen Cunningham brings to light an eye for the simplest beauty. The photographs contained within this book are diverse with studies in children, families, the male nude, the female nude, textures in nature and some in more familiar home environs. I am particularly fond of her portraits in the book as well as her fleshier pieces. She has absolutely beautiful composition and creates incredible foils for the human skin to be set off by. I love to use the book's photographs for reference when I am painting. It is an essential in my collection.

Fine Art Photography Finely Presented
The beauty of the works of Imogen Cunningham to this day remain staggering. Knowing that the photographs are early contributions to the genre of nude photography is even more amazing. Yes, compared to some of today's art photographers the poses may appear a bit static and stagey, but the quality of composition, of light and shadow, of clarity of vision is still hard to match. This is an historically important volume and one of great beauty. The accompanying essay is brief but sensitive and informative.

Imogen at her finest
It is astonishing to think that the images Imogen made came from such an early age in photography. Starting in 1906, Imogen made pictures of the human body that stand out as the finest today. These images have been lusciously reproduced in this book that plots the history and progress of Imogen through her career. What a pioneering career it must have been. The subjects of her lens were almost unheard of in those days where the showing of an ankle was scandalous. She makes no technical concessions whatever; each exposure is exactly in needle-sharp focus and rendered in smooth gradual tones of the highest quality process. She must have had strict discipline to technical detail to have consistently produced this quality of images, there is no other way. I would have loved to have known her. The things she could tell a fellow photographer must have been volumes. You cannot be disappointed by this book.

Imogen Cunningham's Pioneering Body Photography
This book deserves more than five stars for the remarkable quality of the images, the virtuousity across styles, and the pioneering inventiveness of its compositions.

On the Body contains much male, female, and child nudity of the sort that would mean that these images would be beyond what a motion picture could portray and still have an R rating. The images are done in a natural style that will remind many of the Jock Sturges work with children and young women.

Imogen Cunningham is quoted in this volume as asserting, "You might say I invented the nude." Before you dismiss this statement, you should realize that while she was an undergraduate at the University of Washington Ms. Cunningham did a self-portrait of herself nude in a meadow. The year was 1906. The composition and quality of the photograph reflect a sophisticated understanding of the body as an abstract shape. Ms. Cunningham is also famous (infamous in her day with some people) for her nudes of her husband, Roi Patridge, outdoors. She also brought a high level of taste to her subject at a time when many men were posing women in the nude more for the prurient interest than for the artistic values. Although modern nude photography has moved beyond her work in its inventiveness, the classical elements she portrays here are the sound foundation on which much of the best modern work is based.

Anyone who is a fan of 20th century photography should own this book. All Imogen Cunningham fans will find this book becoming the core of their collection of her images.

Although I personally prefer Ruth Bernhard's work, the best of Ms. Cunningham's work is just as winning. Ms. Cunningham works on a broader body of subjects, which makes this book far more interesting than most photography books. You will find studio work, nudes in landscapes, bits and pieces of individuals including many wonderful hand images, pregnant women nude, children playing naturally nude, and prominent people expressing their personalities in interesting ways. The book is a fine cross-section of all the styles that Ms. Cunningham used.

The book contained so many images that I liked that it is beyond what you would want to read for me to list them all. Let me mention a few though. A very high percentage of the works involving her husband nude outdoors are remarkably beautiful and inspiring. A series of outdoor nudes of Helene Mayer in Canyon de Chelly during 1939 are as beautiful a set of photographic images as I have seen. The hand photographs are quite remarkable, and will cause you to want to examine peoples' hands for the rest of your life. I especially liked her efforts to create a spiritual or transcendental style in the inventive works involving "Dream Walking" in 1968 and Morris Graves in 1973. These images seemed to foreshadow the type of work in Light Warriors.

To me, the most haunting works were a series of abstract partial nudes of women's torsos (usually more than one in an image) that formed a series of triangles. This perspective was transforming for me. I seldom think of the human body in terms of triangles. The triangles are references to the negative space outlined by the nudes.

After you view this wonderful volume, I suggest that you think about how our concepts of the human body limit photography, and how how concepts of photography limit our ability to appreciate the human body. Why is it that no one does studies of nostrils? Or elbows? Are they less worthy than hands?

Open yourself to the full potential of the physical world around you, and expand your ability to perceive the reality and potential of that world for you to partipate in.

Imogen's first love-Nudes, male and female-all stunning
Five stars is not enough for this genius.Her husband and sons, friends, stide across the page captured with the hand that only Cunningham had.She may be know by "photo-snobs" as a "portrait" photographer but she herself said she alway loved these nudes best.Just as then some are frightened by nakeness - not Imogen.Mostly nudes , herself in a green field, her love on the edge of a glaciar lake, her boys climb rocks. What a gift form above -what a genius unchallanged. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Judy Chicago; Goddess of the Art World!
Judy Chicago is such an intimate person, very emotional in her work, and through this book, you will grow to understand why and how she produced work in her very own style of emotion. She is truely a Goddess of Art, and a very strong women of which I could only strive to be! This book is so empowering, read it if you have any doubts about your place as a women dealing with being an artist. BRAVO!!

Fantastic! Wonderful! Challenges Assumptions
This amazing book by the amazing Judy Chicago is a thrill to read and a thrill to own. Her brilliance is obviously a threat to white males who wish to prevent Women's voices from being heard, and this book will delight those readers who are Women as well as People of Color. If you have a daughter, sister, or mother, get this book!

Just a terrific little book!
What a wonderful book this is; so inspired, so inspiring. Judy Chicago is simply brilliant. She has challenged patriarchal tyranny so courageously and insightfully that you can read this book again and again with acute pleasure.

Wonderful
This is a terrific book that demonstrates that women are able to persevere with their art even though males are trying to stop us. It seems that the white male patriarchal art world will continue to try to silence us, BUT WE WILL BE HEARD! I salute all my sisters in their struggle to produce art that, while disturbing white males, will prove that it is women who are making the most significant art in the world today. Judy Chicago has won again!

WONDERFUL! WONDERFUL! WONDERFUL!
This book was like a loyal companion as I experienced my own struggles as a woman artist. I commend Judy Chicago for sharing her experiences, personal decisions, and insights. Reading this particular book helped me to finish my most recent exhibition of work. Thank you, Judy! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Historian Desmond Seward has written an indispensable book on Caravaggio--equally balanced and historically double-checked. But even with all its references, dates, names, quotes, and careful scholarship, this biography reads like a novel that is impossible to put down. Caravaggio, of course, with his "wild, wild spirit" and "very strange temper," according to contemporary accounts, is a natural subject for a galloping narrative.Caravaggio's religious and social status as a Knight of Malta, his protection by a famous cardinal, his street fighting, his fine silk clothes worn until they rotted away, his prostitute models and lowlife friends, his repeated failure to win a commission for St. Peter's, and his bitterness at the rise of mediocre rivals are just some of the ingredients of this good read.

What Seward does, to riveting perfection, is convey 16th-century life to the reader. He takes Caravaggio's renowned naturalism and shows us where it came from. He transports readers to Rome in the 1590s, where they explore the old stones of the ancient empire, step over the human excrement in the streets, and witness the pageantry of luxurious horse-drawn carriages promenading through the mud. Readers lurk with Seward in the darkness, light lamps and candles, and feel the damp as the Tiber rises, leaving behind more than a thousand corpses when it finally recedes after a terrible flood. They stand in the crowd and watch as the heads and bodies of decapitated criminals are quartered and hoisted on spears and ramparts for display. Gradually readers get the feeling that Caravaggio's predilection for severed heads was less the product of a tormented imagination than it was simply all in a day's observation for an unwavering realist. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Caravaggio is Caravaggio
Any biography of Caravaggio is bound to be immensely interesting because he was far from ordinary, someone who will never fail to shock and amuse modern readers. While several reviews I have read complain about the brevity of the book, I found its length appropriate-it did the artist justice without bogging the reader down with too much analysis and irrelevant details. It assumes some familiarity with Italy and European history, but it has several chapters devoted solely to discussing the time period, while always making a connection to Caravaggio's life. I found it particularly nice that nearly all of Caravaggio's paintings were discussed and analyzed within the biography. The book has several copies of paintings inserted in its middle, but lacks the majority. Therefore, I found it incredibly helpful to have my Caravaggio anthology nearby so that I could follow the author's discussions. Undoubtedly, anyone that is not a Caravaggio fan would find these sections tremendously boring, but I loved the opportunity to pore over his paintings with a new understanding of their significance and context.

you'll love it.
This may be the best of the new Caravaggio books. As a painter and a student of art history, I found this book by Seward to be absolutely absorbing. Seward not only gives insight about Caravaggio's life, but also delves into the events that may have inspired his paintings. Please read this exciting book!

Disappointing biography
I decided to write a review of this book because I was mistakenly encouraged to acquire it from the above positive reviews. I found this volume entirely lacking. In terms of discussions of Caravaggio's paintings, you can find more erudite reading elsewhere, including from the hand of Sister Wendy (I'm not kidding!). Regarding the artist's life, in this account Caravaggio is but a pale specter lost in the obscurity of what little information Desmond Seward could accumulate. Where there was no information, the author was bereft of anything to say. This was also the case in describing the colorful world of the Italian baroque, a larger subject that should have resulted in better evocation.

What was particularly lamentable about this book was that Seward had taken upon himself to prove that Caravaggio was heterosexual. It is a leitmotif that hammers through the entire text with a persistent, numbing thud. Instead of taking on over two decades worth of scholarly debate on the epistemology of the closet and why so many people think Caravaggio was gay, Seward only draws upon Derek Jarman's fantasy movie about Caravaggio. When analyzing the preponderance of anecdotal evidence that Caravaggio was probably gay, or at least bisexual (which is in itself illuminating as there is already so little information about his life), Seward summarily dismisses the stories as mere hearsay. Because he gives so little information on Caravaggio's life, we are left with the paintings, which speak volumes. However, when the author is faced by the image of St. Francis in ecstasy while laying in the lap of a beautiful, male angel, or when examining the multitude of fair boy beauties, Seward declares that these images are a result of Caravaggio's bowing to his patrons' neo-Platonist tastes. Strangely, Seward later discusses Caravaggio's naturalistic realism, which is the complete antithesis of neo-Platonism. Seward tries to have it all ways and ends up looking like a fool. The last straw is when confronted with the handsome male youth holding a bowl of fruit, his shirt saucily pulled down revealing a naked shoulder and sensual neck, Seward says only that the meaning of this image is unknowable. That may very well be so... for a short-sighted, heterosexual male.

Given the remarkably vibrant hero of the story, as well as the fascinating times, this book's greatest crime is it's cold, graceless prose. Seward has said that he was inspired by the Count of Monte Cristo in writing this biography, but Seward's book has none of the sweep, beauty, nor heart-pounding sense of life that you find in Dumas' work. The only redeeming virtue in Caravaggio: A Passionate Life is its brevity. If you want the Cliff Notes version of Caravaggio's life and times, this can be an adequate place to start, as long as you're prepared for the author's shortcomings. For more insightful writing on Caravaggio's life and works, I suggest you search elsewhere.

Interesting Account of Caravaggio and his works
Firstly an admission, I had no prior knowledge of Caravaggio or his paintings. My main area of interest is military history but after seeing the beautiful cover on this book I picked it up and browsed through the wonderful colour plates. I had to have the book to read and after ordering it from Amazon.com and sat and waited. It was worth the wait! I enjoyed the story of this most interesting man, yes its a bit short (200 odd pages) but to a person like me who had no prior knowledge or interest in this subject it filled a gap in my education. This was an interesting book to read and I just loved the colour plates of the artists work (16 colour pictures). The book has sparked an interest to learn more of this man, his times and his art. For that alone the book was worth it and the author has done his job. I would recommend this book for those who want to learn a little bit more about this man and his art.

A shallow look at a complex painter
Desmond Seward's look at the life of Caravaggio, a genius with a problematic personality, is well enough written as a string of facts, if far from passionate in its prose or its insights. But beyond the ABCs of the life, Seward offers virtually nothing. His major motivation seems to be "rescuing" Caravaggio from his reputation as a homosexual, which reputation he attributes ludicrously to Derek Jarman's recent film rather than the stark sexuality of Caravaggio's male nudes. Mr. Seward is of the opinion that the painter could not have been homosexual, because he was devoutly religious, in fact a quotidian exemplar of counter-Reformation Catholicism. Apparently it has not occurred to Mr. Seward that Caravaggio could have been *both* homosexual and devoutly Christian, or that his difficulties as a person--his numerous duels, brawls, conflicts, assaults--may have arisen from the conflict between his sexuality and his faith, or between his sexuality and the dictates of his Inquisition-period church. But other than repeating his assertion endlessly, Seward offers no particular evidence one way or the other as to Caravaggio's sexuality, and no meaningful explanation of his own for the painter's repeated confrontations with his peers. In fact, the author's take on the pictures is as superficial as his understanding of human sexuality. He repeats fairly ludicrous proto-Christian interpretations of the paintings, then dismisses contrary interpretations out of hand. Seward pooh-poohs post-Freudian analysis of the pictures without, apparently, stopping to consider the psychosexuality of the paintings themselves. Of course, Seward is himself a post-Freudian, if not a psychological critic, and he seems himself to be obsessed with the notion that Caravaggio was obsessed with decapitation. (Could Caravaggio possibly have been obsessed with the idea that he himself could be decapitated if his homosexuality were known?) All in all, the book is useful only as a recitation of the facts of the painter's life. It absolutely fails the promise of its subtitle: "A Passionate Life." ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Fantastic Full Page Reproductions!
This book is filled with full page reproductions of Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema's paintings. It also has an interesting bio with pictures of his home, studio, and himself. I've been looking everywhere for a great book on Alma Tadema and I believe this is the one. Besides reading about a painter's life, I think it is very important that we see color reproductions of the painter's work, and this book does it very well. I hate books with 4x4 black and white images of an artist's paintings, its useless. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book for lovers of Victorian art and Alma Tadema. I recently went to the Getty Museum and saw Alma Tadema's "Spring" and it looks exactly how it appears in the book. The full page color plates are exact reproductions of his paintings, unlike the newer book on Alma Tadema published by Phaidon whose reproductions have been altered and all appear saturated with blue hues. Anyways....GET THIS BOOK IF YOU CAN ONLY GET ONE BOOK ON ALMA TADEMA BECAUSE IT IS THE BEST!

Lovely Art - Spendid Work
If you love Victorian painting of scenes of antiquity (Greece/Rome) then check out this beautiful book.

A short bio on the artist is very interesting and the full sized plates are reproduced in excellent detail and glorious color. No "dup-ey" reproductions here!

An added bonus: Each plate comes with a descriptive page which
describes the painting and what it depicts - a major plus.

Heartily recommended to fans of the genre...or anyone else who loves beautiful artwork masterfully portrayed.

Alma-Tadema,an artist
So that you willunderstand my perspective, I am a professor and a painter mostly of large scale, representational figures, so I buy anything to do with artists who specialize in the figure. In Russel Ash's book, the reproductions were large and fairly clearly reproduced. I enjoy the art of the late 19th and early twentieth century and the detailed realism of Tadema's female figures was, though academic in development, fun to see. Of that era I prefer Waterhouse and others, whose sense of color and less passive work is more powerful and deep, but if you like figure paintings especially of "Victorians in toga's" as one critic of his day describes Alma-Tadema's work, then you will love the large format reproductions. The book is lavishly adorned with semi-nude, sleepy-eyed, languid, supple, neo-classical women and a few men, all painted in the always safe, pastellish colors of the time. The women are engaged in mostly pastoral time passing non-events. "The Roses of Heliogabllus", with it's profusion of rose petals was easily the most colorfully of the reproductions, and a large composition of "Joseph Overseer..." as the most powerful of his offerings. The bio of Alma-Tadema was interesting enough to make me want to know more. If you are an art lover, a collector of large format books of painters, even the 19th cnetury academic styles, this is a good one for you

Eye Candy
These are gorgeous reproductions of some of the most technically adept and intellectually hollow art imaginable. You can't help but admire Alma-Tadema's virtuosity, even as you wonder why on earth he went to all the trouble. Maybe, like that other popular artist British knight, Sir Elton John, Sir Lawrence knew what struck the public's fancy, and was content to make a lot of money by devoting his considerable talents and energy to providing it.

A guilty pleasure
Alma Tadema is not nearly as well-regarded as others who painted in the same era, but there is something about his work that is compelling. This book is nicely done and a real value. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Can't find the book
Even though I have rated this book, I have never read it. Why? Well its for the simple fact that I can't find it anywhere. I know that it is out of print but I need it for a class and also for the fact that I want it . Iv heard so many interesting things about The dinner Party. I hope to share this not just with my classmates but with my mom and in the far, far future when I decide to have kids, I would like to share it with my little girl. so hopefuly whom ever reads my review (so to speak) it will be listened to and the people who need the book will have it as well and the people who want it.

A Must-Have for Women and for Men Who Appreciate Them
A triumph! A long-awaited celebration of truth about all womankind! A must-have for all women. and for men who truly appreciate their worth! Every female in the world should read this book cover-to cover and rejoice. A rare and beautiful work of art--second only to The Dinner Party exhibit itself. I am going to give this book to my daughter, friends of varying ethnic backgrounds, and several lesbian friends. How often do you find a book that speaks to the entire human race about the valuable contributions of the so-called "weaker sex"? Now we must all work to get The Dinner Party exhibit traveling, as it was originally intended to do, so that we can all personally stand in awe at this altar to all Eve's daughters!

Wonderful
What could be more thrilling than a genius like Judy Chicago as she challenges assumptions and traditions with her own brilliant and harrowingly moving depiction of Womyn's struggles. Truly enthralling, and, as another reviewer noted, a threat to the white male agendas of patriarchy. Give this book to all your friends!

Powerful and Empowering
"Dinner Party" is one of the all-time great works of feminist art, and although it proved too threatening to males, especially the white males of congress, it is art which MUST be witnessed by all young women. I applaud the other reviewers who have distributed this great book to other women.

A Must Have!
'The Dinner Party' is notable - not only for its beautiful art - but also for its amazing synopsis of women in history. If you are looking for a summary of the multitude of contributions by women, GET THE BOOK. The art is beautiful, stiking, and magical, the text is equally compelling. Especially recommended for art history, women's studies, etc ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Will the Real Ansel Adams Please Stand Up......
Many reviewers make quite clear a fact about Ansel Adams regarding his own colour photography: That he did not want it published, for his own lack of control over the medium was substandard to the exacting methods he employed in his black-and-white prints. Without reservation, agreed.

But what most of Ansel Adams' most fervent admirers won't admit was that this book of colour prints made from transparencies belie the legendary artist's alleged "genius" for composition. Many of the compositions within are colour versions of famous black-and-white prints, the most famous being Half Dome at Yosemite.

I wish that aspiring photographers' introduction to Ansel Adams be similar to that of a Japanese photography assistant I once employed. She had never seen Adams' work (not as popular in the Far East as in the States) prior to this book. Her words regarding this book were "he takes pleasant photographs of pretty subjects in nature." I later introduced her to Adams' black-and-white "greatest hits" that Little, Brown, also published. Her assessment: "His compositions are generally conventional, but not novel. But, with a red filter while shooting and many darkroom methods and formulas, he uses technique to bring drama to his prints."

Ditto. It was refreshing to hear this opinion of Adams, because my friend did not have the yoke of artistic correctness hanging about her neck to remind her to speak of Adams in reverent, hushed, tones as some great "master" as though he were the photographic equal of Rembrandt, Vermeer or Rodin.

What Adams' admirers most fear about this book is that it will lay waste to all the decades of carefully designed PR Adams' publicity machine and his heirs have promulgated in their hagiographic transmogrification of a pretty good artist and a peerless technician into "St. Ansel."

The truth of the matter was that Ansel Adams made pretty pictures of pretty landscapes. And, that's what you'll get in this book. If you want the illusion of great art, turn to any of his volumes in black-and-white.

But, if you want truly great, earth-shattering black and white photography that inspires both intellect and emotion, then turn to the true masters: Walker Evans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Robert Frank and Leni Riefenstahl.

Ansel Adams at his worst
At first, I thought I would buy this book to complete my Ansel Adams collection, despite all the bad reviews. I found this book in a library and changed my mind. This book is not worth its price for 3 reasons.
1. The quality of the color prints is very bad. The colors have faded, probably because the pictures were taken decades ago and the color technology was not good back then. Don't let the cover fools you, it is probably the best one in the whole book.
2. The reproduction is even worse. The pictures are so small you can barely make out the details.
3. Adams took a very different approach for his color photographs. The viewpoint he chose is narrow and lacking in perspective, the two most serious sins in landscape photography.
It makes me think that, instead of trying to make a reader like Adams' color photographs, the publisher of this book is trying very hard to make sure that a reader will hate them - just to prove Adams' own point.
If you still want a book on Ansel Adams' color photograhs, wait until a better book comes along. This book is not even worth considering.

Interesting Perspective on the Limits of Adams' Genius
"I can truthfully say I can remember only two or three color photographs that are worth remembering." -- Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams long felt that color photography was not art and not consistent with his vision of his own photography. What we have in this volume are almost totally unpublished and unexhibited images from his transparencies that he chose not to publish or exhibit. In other words, these are mostly his rejects. So, this is like pawing through his working files of sketches rather than his finished work, in an unauthorized way. How does that make you feel? Hmmm.

For me, the benefit of this volume was to better understand the brilliance of how his processing of black and white images played into the success of his best work. This book contains 50 images that clearly do not have the full Ansel Adams feel and impact.

The strength of this volume is the plenitude of material on what Adams had to say about color photography in general and his own. These points are nicely characterized in the essay by James L. Enyeart. One of the key problems for Adams was that he could "see" the final black and white image he wanted to create in his mind before taking a photograph, but could not "see" the color image in advance. He was not one to take hundreds of exposures hoping to have one or two turn out to be interesting. The art of photography for him was always a deliberate one, not an accidental process. While many color photographers used Polaroid stills as tests in this way, Adams did not want to do so.

Another problem was that early color processing did not allow him the control over the final image that black and white processing did.

Perhaps the ultimate problem was that "the most difficult subject for color photography was landscape." "The image -- to the photographer -- is a very different experience from what the viewer might receive from it." Think of a photograph then, as "a simulation of a perception of the world around us . . . ." A color photograph tended to destroy Adams' preference for understatement, and desire to show subtle connections. In fact, you will often see poor photography literally shouting with color that overwhelms the senses to no purpose.

Harry M. Callahan took on the thankless task of picking out some images to put in the book. He did this solely on aesthetic grounds, reflecting his own taste. While I do not know what he did not select, I was interested to see that a few works seemed to carry off Adams' desire for subtlety in new ways by showing additional detail in the shadows that are missing in his parallel black and white images. These works include:

Yosemite Falls, c. 1953

Green Hills, c. 1945

Mount McKinley, Grass, 1948

Pool, 1947

El Capitan, Texas, 1947

Waimea Canyon, 1948

Clearing Storm, Yosemite, c. 1950

Detail of Mammoth Pool, Yellowstone, 1946

Mono Lake, 1947

Bad Water and Telescope Pool, Death Valley, c. 1947

The Grand Canyon, 1947

If you want to see Ansel Adams' best work, skip this book. If you want to understand why his black and white work is so great, take a look at this book.

Whether you decide to look or not, I have a challenge for you. Do you have anything in your files that is not intended for the public to see? Take a lesson from the experience of this book and destroy that material today.

Edit down to the best!

Not for inspiration
This book uses photographs by one of the century's greatest artists. Not just photographers. But the sad part about it is, and this was made perfectly clear by him - there is no mistake - he DID NOT want it to be published. Why? According to his nurse/assistant/friend/biographer Mary Street Alinder he did not wish them to be published because the color photographs were not good examples of his vision.

Sophistry will never be able to compensate for the point that he didn't want it published. No amount of money made will justify it. Historical value yes. Ansel's vision on a new level? Hardly.

At best it's a curiosity. Like listening to Beehthoven plink on the piano coming up with another passage. A symphony it ain't. And Ansel, of all people, is the lesser for it if it's ever put forward as art, and not simply as history.

Adams was against this.
Late in his life, Adams' staff unearthed color transparencies and color negatives that were stored in his negative vault. With Adams' permission, the staff had a few prints made with the idea of exhibiting or publishing them. After seeing the first prints, Adams told them to kill the project. "I hate this color," he told them. "My reaction is like fingernails on a chalkboard. I can't stand it! Please stop." [Quoted in Mary Alinder's bio of Adams, pp. 382-383.]

I can guess at the motives of the people behind this book (who knew Adams, and had to have known of his opinion regarding this aspect of his own work), and they should be ashamed of themselves. ... Read more

Book Description

Georg Baselitz stands as one of the major figures in the history of German art of the post–war era. Notable for having persistently flown in the face of whatever artistic convention predominated at the time—initially, Social Realism, later Abstraction and Informal Art—Baselitz has been able to claim a place for the last forty years as one of the most markedly original artists on the scene. Erroneously held to be an exponent of neo–Expressionism, Baselitz possesses a highly complex artistic personality, which stems from his willingness to freely experiment with painting, and move beyond the restrictions of formal categories and content-based mores. Vaunting texts written by Baselitz himself, a wealth of detailed information, and an exceptionally rich body of images, this monograph forms an exhaustive documentation of the artist’s oeuvre. The volume is further embellished by a significant essay by Michael Auping, Chief Curator of the Modern Art Museum at Fort Worth (Texas) and author of numerous monographs on the major artists of our times. It has been edited by Detlev Gretenkort, a leading expert on the work of Baselitz ... Read more

Book Description

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525/30–1569) was a remarkable draftsmanand designer of prints as well as a great painter.His independent drawings and designsfor engravings and etchings, which were carried out by the leading printmakers of hisday, have fascinated scholars and the general public alike since they were created. Theyhave recently been the subject of research that has given rise to a reevaluation of theparameters of Bruegel's oeuvre.The new scholarship has been brought to bear on thetexts in the present volume. An international group of experts presents essays on theartist's life, his contributions as a draftsman and as a printmaker, his iconography andsocial and political context, and the posthumous survival of his art. The authors alsoilluminate Bruegel's genius in discussions of individual prints and drawings. Each ofthese works is illustrated and many comparative illustrations are also included. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A WORK TO BE SAVORED AND TREASURED
Arguably the greatest Netherlands painter and draftsman of the 16th century, Pieter Bruegel was a well traveled artist. Documentation shows that between 1515 and 1553 he made an enviable journey through France and then to Italy. While in Rome he worked with a miniaturist, and was inspired by the Alps that he saw during his return to Antwerp.

A quiet man he was, nonetheless, given to pranks of a slightly frightening nature, very often surprising his students. What comes as a surprise to many today is the recent scholarship which sheds light on not only his life but his work as a draftsman and printmaker, extending to the social and political ramifications of his creations.

This magnificent volume is the catalogue for an important exhibit of more than 140 Bruegel prints and drawings. Included are scholarly essays as well as comparative illustrations. It is a valuable contribution to the annals of art history. For laymen it is a work to be savored and treasured.

- Gail Cooke

Proof of art
Proof of art is in strong impact on later generations and timeless appeal: both describe this first major exhibition of PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER: PRINTS AND DRAWINGS. His art had been the source of many copies, of which the most often copied was "Winter landscape with skaters," and late 16th- and early 17th-century imitative works, such as dotted atmosphere and forms around grainy ground and trees by Master of the Mountain Landscapes and Jacob Savery, thick forest wildernesses by Gillis van Coninxloo, and winter skating by Hans Bol. We mainly know him through his art and that of sons Jan and Pieter the Younger: most of his 40+ surviving paintings are from his last seven years, such as "Fall of the rebel angels," "Sermon of St John the Baptist," and "Wedding dance"; and terror against heretics, Protestants, and subversives by the Duke of Alba in Brussels wore away his final two years, finding expression in "Blind leading the blind" and "Magpie on the gallows" bitterness and sorrow and in many, ominous "Summer" knives. We think of him immortalizing peasants with "Kermis at Hoboken" and "Kermis of St George," proverbs with "Big fish eat little fish," and winter scenes with "Ice skating before the gate of St George" and "Winter landscape with bird trap": he has been admired for applying an Apelles-type imagination to Hieronymus Bosch-type allegories, with the reptile lying down in "Luxuria" and upside-down frog in "Superbia," and to Eupompas-type nature. He was one of the first Northerners to take on post-Leonardo da Vinci Italian landscape style, coming up with distinctly Flemish scenes, stocky peasants and wide open naturalism, with Sistine Chapel sacrifice of Noah-type hugely solid countryfolk in "Beekeepers," Federico Barocci-type line-flowing tree trunks and white stippled foliage in "Wooded landscape with a distant view," and Cornelis Massys-type commonplace woodland scene and Titan-type balanced composition, broad-reaching lines and cotton-wool foliage in "Wooded landscape with mills." He kept manuscript illumination and miniature painting traditions going in "Tower of Babel" with Giulio Clovio-type teeming, tiny figures. He touched on religion, but by uncommon subject with the Christ-told "Parable of the good shepherd" and "Parable of the wise and foolish virgins" from the New Testament and with "Suicide of Saul" from the Old Testament; and by unusual presentation with the contemporary, stagelike "Death of the virgin." He dipped into comic genre without ending up second-rate with the carefully cross-hatched and solidly outlined "Ass at school." The lasting, widespread popularity of his art was partly due to his designs for prints, whose final look he controlled with Maarten van Heemskerck-type highly specific detail and with printmaker-friendly shading and textures: "Landscape with bears" was the first of 32 drawings directly modeled for prints; and "Rabbit hunt was the only print that he created, with distinctly outlined, light-filled foliage and imposing mountains broadly hatched and finely speckled and with its dark theme of soldiers distressing peasants the same as his "Massacre of the innocents" painting and "Milites requiescentes" print. So Nadine M Orenstein has edited a clearly organized, compellingly written, and wonderfully illustrated book which pools excellent examples of art, along with PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER books by Walter S Gibson, Rose-Marie Hagen et al, and Wolfgang Stechow and PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER AT THE KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM IN VIENNA by Pieter Bruegel. ... Read more

Book Description

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), the American assemblage artist, was a quirky but passionate collector of bric-a-brac who used trinkets, scraps of paper, paint, and lots of glue to arrange imaginative worlds inside glass-front wooden boxes and frames. While evoking the Victorian era and childhood pastimes, Cornell developed a collage technique that radically transformed the way art could be made--and seen--for generations to come. ... Read more

Book Description

The Rizzoli Quadrifolio art series combines the most popular artists with authoritative text and a fresh, unique format destined to appeal to children and adults alike.Featuring sixteen pages that open up to four times the original size, this series allows the reader to delve into details of individual paintings or see a horizontal development in a fresco.With stunning color reproductions, expert commentary, and a revolutionary format, the Rizzoli Quadrifolios is a pioneering art series.

Following the success of Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel and Vincent Van Gogh are two new books on artists whose work continues to inspire: Klimt and Carvaggio.Gustav Klimt's work remains widely popular today, admired for the sensual portraits of women and the signature use of gold.Gustav Klimt includes thirty-one of the Viennese artist's works, from his famous The Kiss to the vast Beethoven Frieze.Carvaggio has enjoyed renewed popularity, inspired by recent biographies investigating his fascinating life and work.He is "more fashionable today than any time since the early seventeenth-century" (New Republic, January 17, 2000).Carvaggio highlights twenty-eight paintings by the tormented Baroque master, including Judith Beheading Holofernes and the Calling of Saint Matthew. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Amazing Book about a PHENOMENAL artist!!
Anything showing photos of this fellow's incredible oevre would probably deserve the highest praise even without editorial guidance. But just browsing thru this one will stun anyone not familiar with Caravaggio, which is probably 98% of the populace.Ms. Puglisi interweaves the artist's life and times around the glorious color photos. The print may be a tad small,but the fact that there's around two spaces between each line of text makes it, IMHO, even easier to read than otherwise. The raw,harrowing originality of this artist are beyond description, and his life is a near match. He died violently before the age of 40...Especially recommended for those (mainly males) who may think that Art and Art History are less than manly pursuits!! (Yes there are plenty of guys out there who think like this.) Give this book, the author,publisher, and the artist way more than five stars!!

A valuable contribution but print is hard to read.
I have been looking for recent books on Caravaggio for use in an art history class that I will give this Spring. I've done "spot" reading of this text, and found fascinating insights. However, it is hard for me to understand why such difficult to read silvery grey text was used. Perhaps younger eyes than mine would not have problems with this choice. However, my eyes rebelled rapidly, and although fascinated with the message, the medium proved exhausting. The font choice and size are also, in my opinion, poor ones. I suppose the aim was to produce a beauiful book, and it is that, but in my opinion the book's function of transmitting information is undercut by the odd typography design.

no, that's not this book
WARNING! the editorial reviews and reader reviews on this page have nothing to do with this book! puglisi's text is a hefty phaidon paperback; the book you buy here is a slim rizzoli hardback. the quadrifolio is actually a set of folded up posters glued into a hard binding. there is a meager introduction, no critical apparatus, no captioning or text describing the paintings, no page numbering, no table of contents, no index. the reproductions themselves are not optimally color balanced, veering sometimes toward green, sometimes toward red. fine if you want it, but don't expect puglisi's magnificent volume.

Size does matter
If you can't have the real thing, get the Quadrifolio. Who would think that a book this manageable in size would unfold to reveal the huge images that it does? I don't want to go back to my average, oversized art books. This series is great for students, art-lovers, and anyone else who wants to take a closer look at fine paintings.

This is a Review of the HARD COVER BOOK
I picked up this book a while back when it first came out. I couldn't put it down. As a figurative artist, learning about Caravaggio is a most. Ms. Puglisi's language is down to earth. The book is extremely well presented, including the high quality plates. Unfortunately, some people have complained about the small gray print which makes it hard to read. The print is not an obstacle when you immerse yourself in the life, painting technique and history of this most interesting artist. ... Read more

Book Description

During his lifetime, Francis Bacon maintained that he painted directly onto canvas without the benefit of preparatory studies. Since his death in 1992, however, several groups of works on paper have come to light, offering amazing new insights into Bacon's working methods and personal obsessions. "Bacon's Eye" showcases a unique collectiion of works on paper that were bundled up and given by the artist to his friend Barry Joule just prior to his death. This collection includes a remarkable album of 70 oil sketches that relate to his work from the '50s and '60s, as well as over 900 "working documents": images torn from books, magazines and newspapers that have been painted and sketched over, revealing an artist's-eye-view of some of the most important people and events of the 20th century. As of yet, these works have not been officially recognized as being by Bacon. Permission to to show these works alongside finished paintings was denied by the Bacon Estate. The gallery, 21 Publishing, and a host of Bacon experts firmly believe in the authenticity of these works. Thisbook, along with an exhibition at the Barbican Gallery in London, are a means of allowing the public to judge for itself.

Edited by Georgia Mazower. Foreword by John Hoole. Introductionby Mark Sladen. Essay by Mark Sladen.

116 color and 6 b&w.
9.25 x 12 in. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Bacon's Eye-the closest focal point through his instincts
This soft cover book is the best collection to date of Bacon's instinct's on photo's as "a record" for motion and emotion, which led, as far as I am concerned, to his "violent colours and form's" that produce an "incredible, emotional charge which is "an impressive sort of violence".People often speak of Bacon's work's as violent, but Bacon said himself that he never saw any violence(in terms of a negative, painful meaning) in his work's.Bacon did see a violent execution in Picasso's work's through colour and form.
Bacon did state his work's were positively charged with incredible emotion's through his colours and forms which might be veiwed as violent ,but in the positive.I also feel, as Bacon did, that word's diminish an artist's work's, so that is why I am qouting him so often from the book "Francis Bacon In conversation with Michel Archimbaud".Bacon's Eye is full of photo's, some of his early unseen work's, and his use of colour and form after veiwing the photo's in the book.There is also an interview with Barry Joule, a close friend of Bacon, at the end of the book.
Bacon gave Joule a thousand never seen work's on paper before his death.This book has only some of them, and I would love to see the remainder if ever published some day, but you will get a much indepth look at Bacon's work from the one's supplied.This book is not to be passed by if you want something rare and intimate of the artist.If you were to compare this book to the one other book featuring Bacon's drawing's, which name I can not recall right now, Bacon's Eye is ten times better.It also has different textured paper for the plates and the interview section. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Chagall: The Lithographs is a vast collection (1,050 individual pieces) dating from 1922 to 1985. The Russian-born artist lived most of his adulthood in France and is well known for his colorful and exuberant depictions of Jewish life. His work often addresses personal themes and intimate visions, such as his marriage and his deeply held faith. He worked in many media, but, "Lithography soon became his favored printing technique. This is certainly due primarily to the one element he had previously always missed in his graphic art: color. Color is employed in Chagall's work with greatly varying intensity, from watercolor-like washes and fragile crayon lines to opaque layers whose effect closely resembles that of his luminescent gouaches." This beautifully produced catalogue raisonné includes descriptions of Chagall's lithographic process, which utilized stone or zinc plates and acid, and interviews with the printers who worked with Chagall to produce these pieces. This is a lovely, colorful book that reproduces many of the best examples of this important artist's favorite works. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A big disappointment!
I would personally only recommend this book to the completist. It's basically a catologue of all Chagall's lithographs reproduced in miniature with "many of the best examples" (Amazon Review) reproduced in a full page format. Though the full pages are wonderful to look at there are disappointingly few.

For any Chagall fan!
I never thought that I would own that book one day because of its price. But as a HUGE fan of this artist, I have finally decided to buy it... and I don't regret it! I bought many books on Chagall's painting, and this one is undoubtebly a masterpiece. It is beautifully illustrated and excellently documented. The interviews at the beginning of the book (for example, the one with Henri Deschamps) are quite interesting, and the global "presentation" of the book is simple but beautiful. The only thing that disappointed me a little is that I was kind of hoping to see more full-page lithographs. I knew that this was a catalogue raisonné before I bought it, but was hoping just the same to see more one-page illustrations, although the ones that are there (for example, the complete paintings for Daphnis and Chloé) are wonderful. The quality of printing is just superb and this book is definitely a good buy for any Chagall afficionado. In fact, I would say that this book, completed with "Chagall" by Jacob Baal-Teshuva (Taschen)-- if you could find it!-- would be the best two buys you could do. Trust me! :)

almost perfect
I wish this well illustrated catalogue raisonne included the information for all prints in the editions rather than just the ones belonging to Sorlier. Many of Sorlier's prints are "HC" prints or "Epreuve de collaborateur" prints in which case you may have to seak another source to discover the edition numbers for the specific print you're researching. Other than that - nicely illustrated (though the illustrations are small, it is not designed as a book to showcase the prints as reproductions) and chronologically arranged.

GREAT!
I have seen many, many Chagall Litographs and books on them and this one is the BEST! It lists every single Litograph ever made by Chagall, it's worth every penny.

Fantastic!
This was the most wonderful book I have ever seen on Chagall, and believe me, I've seen them all. Where as most books take away from his pictures with a crowded setup, this book gives his paintings all the credit they deserve. When I saw Chagall's paintings they made me all wet and excited, definitely a keeper. ... Read more