Reviews (1)

An introduction to William Merritt Chase
Author Barbara Gallati has compiled a nice biography of one of America's talented impressionist artists. The story is well written but seeing only 44 color illustrations of the 103 shown is disappointing. Presenting the "Blue Kimono" in color on the cover and in black and white is quite a comparison. I kept looking for information on the number of pieces Chase painted in his career but that was not listed. This 143 page book is a little small for my personal taste.

What is presented however are many portraits of the artist's beautiful family members and well known pictures of Central Park in New York and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. There aren't a lot of books available on William Merrit Chase but this one is good. ... Read more

Book Description

When Image of the People and its companion volume, The Absolute Bourgeois, appeared in 1973, they signaled a new direction for writing about art. "The book's success is crucial," wrote Michael Rosenthal, "because there are few models for this type of study, and it is of necessity pioneering." New Left Review said the book's great merit was that "it elucidates a number of crucial theoretical problems through the concrete analysis of a concrete situation. To the eternal--and false--question: 'What is revolutionary art?'" Clark gives an implicit reply by substituting for it another, more fertile one: "What were the effects of a particular Revolution upon pictorial practice?"

Clark's focus is on Gustave Courbet in the four years following 1848. His book aims to show how Courbet's wholesale recasting of the terms and ambitions of modern art, in paintings like The Stonebreakers and A Burial at Ornans, was bound up with the texture of French history at a fateful moment: the battle of pamphlets and images being waged in the countryside in 1849-50, the search for a means to connect with a "popular" audience, the deepening enigma of peasant politics, and the confusions and dangers of class. ... Read more

Book Description

The last volumes in the series of William Blake's Illuminated Books reveal the writer and artist as a prophet driven by a sense of apocalyptic urgency. Blake conceived and executed The Continental Prophecies and The Urizen Books in the early 1790s, capturing the intellectual and spiritual turmoil of the American and French revolutions. Here, for the first time, the general reader will encounter Blake's most intense vision in reproductions that do justice to the originals, accompanied by texts, comprehensive notes and commentaries, and detailed interpretations of the designs.

The Urizen Books, made up of "Urizen," "The Book of Los," and "Ahania," describes the dissemination of the autocratic mythology of Urizen, Blake's inflexibly rationalist and myopic law-giver. These books stand as the author's sensible and considered response to the events of his time. The illuminated text of "Urizen" and the ten full-page illustrations from copy D in the British Museum, never before reproduced, represent a tour de force in Blake's specialist process of color printing.

These volumes complete the six-part series of William Blake's Illuminated Books, including Jerusalem, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, The Early Illuminated Books, and Milton, A Poem, all published by Princeton University Press. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Beautiful images, great helps for the general reader
These three works in some ways develop the characters Blake used in the three Continental Prophecies. But don't expect any kind of coherent development or to be able to fathom out any kind of understandable timeline. This is Blake after all. Most of this book is helpful introduction, commentary, notes, and supplementary materials.

"The First Book of Urizen" is the longest of the three and the most illustrated. It has images that are absolutely unforgettable. They have a power and emotional impact that holds the viewer. I have met people who find them repulsive. I think they emotional impact makes them uncomfortable so they want to get away from the images and so push them away.

"The Book of Ahania" and "The Book of Los" are much shorter and the illustrations are limited to the title page and the last plate ("The Book of Los" also has an illustration on the opening page of text.). The other pages are done in particularly fine Blake script.

As with the rest of the volumes in this series the quality of reproduction is very high and these images are delightful to study. The scholarship is quite good and the writing is focused on opening these works up to the general reader - at least a general reader who enjoys studying Blake and is willing to put in the time it takes to fathom these rather wonderfully strange works. A treasure for the shelf of any Blake lover.

A must have!
I recommend that any fan of William Blake buy this volume and the other 5 in the series. The books are beautiful, large, and handsomely bound. Each book is reproduced in full color, using a six-color printing process rather than the standard four. The pages are heavy, opaque and have a gorgous lustre indicating very high quality paper. The text of each book accompanies the color reproductions in standard typeface with very competent commentary to boot. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Invaluable Chronicle of a Tortured Artist
"Interviews with Francis Bacon" (1987) captures remarkably on paper the tortured mind of the famous British painter (1909-1992). It belongs on the shelf of every Bacon fan and artist, regardless of medium. Nine interviews range from 1962 to 1986, Bacon's fifties through his seventies, in the form of interactive conversations with art historian David Sylvester (British, 1924-2001), ranging from Bacon's frustrated youth to his unique artistic techniques, the meaning of art to the meaning of life. Sylvester cleverly steers toward topics Bacon finds interesting, allowing him to discuss them at length. (Some of the original audio may be sampled at BBC4's website, though this book's text was heavily edited and re-manipulated from those recordings.)

The final chapter is the most biographical. Bacon, 77, recaps his life and career in detail, including his "coming out," at a time homosexuality was illegal in Britain, the relationship with his intolerant father coming to an end as a result. Overall, the book forms a clear portrait of an intellectually restless artist, demonized by the struggle to express satisfactorily the horrific images which constantly stream into his head. There is no overarching structure to the book, thus many interviews cover the same ground different ways, with illuminating results. Bacon's answers usually reinforce or embellish what was said earlier, but he sometimes answers the same question differently over time, demonstrated for example by his increasing dislike for "drink and drugs."

Some themes persist throughout. Chronically anxious and hypertensive, he can never sit still, never relax. Not religious, Bacon believes "man is an accident, a futile being, he must play out the game without reason," and life has only whatever meaning we give it, yet his haunted soul clearly identifies with the tragedy of the Crucifixion, which he considers the perfect narrative of the mythic "tragic hero," and the ultimate symbol of human devotion despite life's vicissitudes. (One famous Bacon work metaphorically depicts a hypodermic syringe stuck into the subject's arm, representing a nail stuck into the hand). He is similarly affected by the open-mouthed cry of human agony, which he expresses in perhaps his most famous and retold obsession, the many horrifying studies of Velazquez's portrait of Pope Innocent X.

Too human, he is concerned with posterity, and denies himself the comfort of calling himself a "painter." He believes an artist must "solve the problem" of art to be a success, which to him means they must render the known through the unknown, or create the "illustrative" and "narrative" through the use of the "irrational." Discussing Picasso in this light, he says he finds surrealism "more real" than realism, probably meaning he finds surrealism more directly communicates the human condition. He also believes strongly in figuration, slaying abstract art with one devastating word: "Fashion!" He seems burdened by a lack of proper training, having started his career as an interior designer, especially when discussing the trials of his studio work, describing the way he tosses paint at the canvas, the way he tries not to work a canvas too much, potentially ruining it, and the conflicted feelings he holds toward works he has already painted, or those he is still painting.

The book usefully reproduces many works in small black-and-white images at times when the conversation turns to them, both Bacon's works and those of others, like Picasso and Rembrandt. The lack of color is entirely unnoticed, as the book focuses on the artist's psychology and opinion, which these plates illustrate perfectly. (Full-color reproduction would probably also have made the book needlessly expensive). Most remarkably, of all the photographs and self-portraits in the book, Bacon never looks directly at the viewer, illustrating most strikingly his natural over-sensitivity and tortured self-denial.

Bacon has said "art is completely a game by which man distracts himself," and "the artist must really deepen the game in order to be worth anything at all." If anyone feels Bacon "played the game" well, and "distracts" successfully his audience, or that he was "worth anything at all," then this book belongs in that person's library.

Only the Best
The best book by any artist I have read....utterly inspirational for anyone involved in creative endeavors. What's more, you don't have to agree with all of Bacon's forthright opinions. It probably helps to have seen some of his best work in color, as all the reproductions are monochrome. No matter...I have given away more cpoies of this book than I care to remember. Essential.

A fly on the wall
There are some writers who are able to capture the essence of an artist through the interview format (James Lord's sitting for Giocometti is one) and in this book David Sylvester plumbs the depths of Francis Bacon's psyche like no other writer to date. Not only is his short book brilliantly executed in drawing out the artistic temperament and the especial qualities that chewed every aspect of Bacon's rich brain, it also allows us to sit back and hear the very personal aspects of Bacon's life, aspects that are occult in his cryptic paintings. This is reportage at its zenith. The big difference here is that Sylvester writes so well that the atmosphere is palpable - as though we were the fly on the wall. Brilliant, just brilliant.

Absolute MUST for any artist; especially: 'fine artists'
The most fascinating art related book I have yet read. Never had I expected Bacon to be so open and Frank about his own work. I've read and re-read it and will no doubt do so again. There were obviously very few people Bacon would consider worth speaking to in depth about his art and I'm grateful that David Sylvester was of sufficient calibre in Francis' mind otherwise there would be very little written material other than entertaining anecdotes and misinterpretive reviews etc. I'd like to know if the complete interviews have been published yet?

John White ... Read more

Reviews (2)

As an American whose heart belongs "a Firenze e a Roma"...
Charles Avery does an excellent job summarizing Gian Lorenzo Bernini's life and works. This is probably the best introduction to Bernini available as a starting point -- there are many other books that give more exhaustive analysis, text, photographs and diagrams. As a starter, you will have chosen the best with this book.

From June to December 1976 I was a student on the Florida State University study program "a Firenze", which totally changed my life and world view, causing me to return almost ten times since 1976. Bernini is my favorite Baroque sculptor.

A Must For Sculpter Lovers
This is a beautiful book. The works are shown from different angles,instead of just one frontal photo, so the reader gets the details of the work, with a good accompanying text. I accidently discovered this sculptor, and findto my surprise that some of his work is more appealing than some of the more famous artists of this genre. There is a great deal of detail, in fact, a whole chapter devoted to his fountains, particularly,The Fountains of the 4 rivers. I wish I had this book before I went to Rome and saw it in person. Any lover of sculpture will not be dissapointed with this purchase. ... Read more

Book Description

From the foremost collection of the artist's work, a remarkable portrait of Native American life.

In 1832, George Catlin—showman, entrepreneur, and artist—made the first of four trips into Indian country, painting as he went, in a wonderfully spontaneous, if somewhat naive style. His ambition was to paint every tribe. He fell short. But what he did achieve, and the subject of this splendid volume, is a remarkable look into the faces and daily activities of Native Americans before their lands and their numbers were so radically diminished. And while Catlin was clearly influenced by the idea that Indians were Noble Savages (rapidly acquiring the vices of the white man while losing their "savage" virtues), his passion for his work is evidence of a profound respect and affection for his subjects, clearly demonstrated in this magnificent book. 275 illustrations, 150 in color. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Superb collection of Catlin's paintings
This is a wonderful book! It accompanies an exhibit of hundreds of Catlin's paintings held in Washington DC in 2002, and scheduled to travel to several other cities. The reproductions are superb (the best I've ever seen) - the colors are true, and the sizes are often full-page and sometimes double-page. A brief commentary accompanies each painting, and there are also lengthy essays describing Catlin's life, his time in Europe, and his connection with the Smithsonian.
I bought Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, etc at the same time that I bought this book, and I read the two of them together. The paintings are immeasurably enhanced by Catlin's comments and stories (he is a great story-teller). He explains what's happening in the crowd scenes (and it is sometimes hair-raising!), and he gives interesting background on the people shown in the portraits. Looked at in this way, the paintings really come alive. Very highly recommended. ... Read more

Download Description

The gentlewoman, also slightly blushing, said: You know well that I want you to serve me; and reaching me the lily, told me to take it away; and gave me besides twenty golden crowns which she had in her bag, and added: Set me the jewel after the fashion you have sketched, and keep for me the old gold in which it is now set. On this the Roman lady observed: If I were in that young mans body, I should go off without asking leave. Madonna Porzia replied that virtues rarely are at home with vices, and that if I did such a thing, I should strongly belie my good looks of an honest man. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

An entertaining autobiography
Cellini was one of the most famous jewellers in the Rennaisance. He was also a sculptor, connoseur, lover and fighter. Not too blessed with modesty, this book filled with intrigue and mania is fascinating reading. Cellini is hedonistic and yet passionate about his art. We get to see a whole slice of papal, court and artisan society in Italy. Cellini is imprisoned and makes escapes, attempts on his life are regular and yet he continues to make amazing commissioned work.

The reason I didn't give the book more stars is because it is at times difficult to understand and appreciate. Much of the details with respect to the alliances of Cellini's Italy are hard to follow for someone who doesn't know that much about the Renaissance. Also, he does seem to be a little overbearing on occasion. Still, a great read.

My original acquaintance with Cellini was with Alexandre Dumas' "Ascanio" - where he takes the autobiography as a basis to spin his usual tale of high suspence. As a comparison, reading this and then Ascanio is a pleasure.

Shameless, vulgar, and intoxicating
Somewhere in France, Michel Montaigne was working on his immortal "Essays." Gibbon described him as the only man of liberality in the 16th century, aside from Henry IV. His honesty, his good will, and his probing nature have recieved the acclaim of posterity.

Somewhere in Italy, the same time, a more representative portrait was being painted -- the Autobiography of Cellini. While it has the same honesty, it lacks the grace (written in a colloquial style), the liberality, and the meditation of Montaigne. It is probably more represantative of the Renaissance man, and of modern man altogether. Reading Cellini, one comes to understand what Camus meant by the "culture of death" at work in Western history.

Written as a novel (seen, in fact, as a progenitor of the Romantic novel), the Life of Cellini is a remarkable glimpse into the Italy and France in the times of Michelangelo and the Medici. Characters like Francis I of France, Duke Cosimo, Pope Clement VII, and artists like Michelangelo and Titian come to life in brilliant colors. But one shouldn't mistake the intent of Cellini's book as painting a portrait of his times -- no man on earth was ever so in love with himself, and HE is the subject of this book (I had to cringe every time Cellini, about to describe something fantastic, stops and declares "... that is the work of historians. I am only concerned with my affairs..." and leaves off).

I can't say for sure, but the veracity of this book must be almost incontestable, for the most part. Cellini was simply too shameless to be too much of a liar. A few times he tests our credulity: "mistakenly" leaving France with the King's silver, an arbesque "accidentally" firing and killing a man, etc. For the most part, however, we get the whole truth, and in fact more than we wanted to know.

Despite the fame and prestige Cellini comes to, he is little more than a common street rogue and villian. In the course of the book, he murders three people in cold blood, each murder worse than the last (the third time he shoots a man in the throat over a saddle dispute... on Good Friday). He delights in describing his violence ("...I meant to get him the face, but he turned and I stabbed him under the ear."), and he revels in warfare, brawling, and the misfortune of his enemies. Aside from the three murders, there are innumerable foiled and aborted murder attempts. Cellini's sadism reaches new heights when he forces one of his laborers to marry a whore, then pays the woman for sex to humiliate the man. In his descriptions of his crimes, his many run-ins with the law, and his violent disposition, Cellini seems completely unaware of himself and without shame. In fact, the intent of the book is to show him as the virtu -- a hero of divine virtue in a world of lies and deceit.

The portrayal of King Francis alone makes this book worthwhile. He is everything historical events point him out to be. Generous, jovial, and shrewd. The descriptions of the years Cellini spent as Paul III's personal prisoner are another high point, unfortunately capped by the lengthy and horribly tedious poem, "Capitolo," where Cellini clumsily elaborates on his suffering.

As a history and an autobiography, there are few greater works. But aside from its historical and literary value, the Autobiography of Cellini was just fun to read. The audacity and conceit of this horrible man is almost comical, and the loose and efficient prose makes it a smooth read.

Wild times in a wild time
Benvenuto Cellini was a great sculptor of the 16th century. He was not, by trade, a writer, and his rough prose and sprawling narrative testify to that.

But what he lacks in writing skill, he more than makes up for in personality, so much so that his brilliant life and gusto for living bursts through the awkward form.

Cellini, it is clear, loves life -- he leaves nothing out when telling it, and so he represents very well what it must have been like to be one of the great artists of the Italian Renaissance in the patronage of the papacy, the great Medici family, and Francis I (who supported Da Vinci in his last years).

We meet Lorenzo de Medici, Cosimo, Francis I, Cosimo's wife who needs Cellini to help her get a pearl necklace, competitors, thieves, Popes, and beautiful women, whom Cellini kept for modeling and for "company."

And we get to hear Cellini discussing the design and creation of classic works that still exist today, like the salt cellar, the Nymph of Fountainbleau, and his masterpiece, the statue Perseus, which he describes as so astonishing to the people of the day that they composed sonnets about it and posted them up all over Florence.

Cellini recounts his many affairs, duels, scrapes, imprisonments, and commissions, one adventure after another, so that his whole life sweeps by in a grand and vibrant portrait. He always seems to come out on top too, which makes you wonder if he's telling the whole truth, but nonetheless Cellini's autobiography is a thrilling read and filled with life in a time when all the world was stirring with art and passion.

Intimate portrait of the Renaissance
There are few books about the renaissance that are as entertaining and rewarding as this autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, one of the most celebrated glodsmiths and artists of that time. The book is candid and can also serve as a tour guide of Florence for the more adventurous. Certainly I would recommnend reading it if you're thinking of visiting. Cellini describes other artsist of the time, famous spats between artists and between artists and their masters. despite the genius of the man, Cellini's book is more interetsing as a first hand docuemnt of what it was like to live in that time. One gets the imperssion of the sort of education parents siught for their children. Cellini describes this without holding back contempt, we also learn of his musical talents and his childhood. Cellini vividly describes his father beating him on the ears in order to leave the lasting impression of the wonderous sight of a salamander in the fireplace. the heart of the book is set in Rome, where he meets the Pope and is then imprisoned in the Fortress of castel Sant'Angelo - the very same made famous by Puccini's Tosca. Unlike the Puccinian Cavardossi, cellini is bale to escape thanks to the cliché use of bed linens. But remember this is not fiction. I would also suggest to thos interested in this book looking for Anatnio Vasari's "Lives of the Artists", Giovanni della Casa's "Il Galateo" and of course "The Prince" by Macchiavelli. Other renaissance accounts were written by Gucciardini and the Bolognese Paolo Giovio. As a final note I read the original Italian and parts of the English translation featured here. The Tranbslation was very good.

A fantastic life!
Cellini's story reads better than a novel. He is the quintessential Renaissance man. In his service to popes, kings and a slew of dukes he was a goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and he may have had more near death experiences than any other that I have ever read about. Of course, his tale leaves himself always and forever blameless in each conflict, betrayal or other unfortunate episode that he finds himself in, which is tremendously entertaining. At first, the reader is seduced into believing that this man has been wronged countless times by a world full of the most slippery types of people. By the middle of the book, however, it dawns on the reader that Cellini must have played some part in creating the misfortune and danger that he is constantly in. Cellini's writing evokes vivid images of the places and people that he meets. One of the most engrossing stories in the book is Cellini's imprisonment and later escape from the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, where he was confined by order of the Pope (who, according to Cellini, was bent on having him killed in order to prevent his own embarrasement). His escape from the place is a mix of (apparently) classic methods (he climbs down the side of the building using knotted bed sheets!) and terrible misfortune (he breaks his leg, is nearly killed, and is also attacked by mastiffs while crawling away for his life!). Very soon after having escaped the prison, though, he was again imprisoned by the Pope in a wretched and dank little cave in the Pope's own garden (where Cellini claims to have had mystical visions). Cellini has many other adventures in Italy and France (and on his journeys back and forth). Each tale is centered on how he creates his artworks in the service of some nobleman, how the nobleman is always astonished at the work, how Cellini is then betrayed by someone he was kind to (which, through no fault of his own, often puts him in the bad books of the patron). Cellini frequently ends up in a fight where he either wounds or kills the person, and then goes on his happy way. There is a great deal that one could say about this book and its author. It will suffice to state here that the book is a wonderful read, it offers excellent insights into life in the 16th century, and (as is true on my part) it makes the reader crave just half the adventure that this fellow has had.


... Read more

Book Description

Though fame came late to Emily Carr, today she is hailed as a major and influential figure in the history of Canadian art and as a writer of unique and extraordinary talent. In this book, Courtney Milne has taken the best of Carr’s writing about the land she loved and has matched it to a stunning selection of his own photographs of the West Coast.

In a vigorous and colourful post-impressionist style, Emily Carr painted the vanishing native villages and totem poles of her beloved coastal British Columbia, and later in her career produced beautifully lyrical paintings expressive of the spirit and rhythms of Western forests, beaches, and skies. She also poured her talent into books about her life and art, her love of animals and nature, her frustrations and disappointments, her many sources of joy.

An annual visitor to the West Coast, Courtney Milne has been making photographs with the words of Emily Carr in mind for close to 20 years. To put this book together he has collected his favourite quotes from Carr and combed through many thousands of his photographs to find the perfect image to match a chosen piece of prose. The result is a spellbinding duet of text and pictures from two gifted and sympathetic artists. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Broken Art
FRANCIS BACON puts elements from the art of earlier centuries and the subconscious of Sigmund Freud into the bluntly powerful style of news photography. That style works for his themes of isolation, Peeping Toms, predatory people's inhumanity to others, and treachery, all of which can be found in his crucifixion scenes. I find his art cleverly disturbing, particularly in the way that he reworks Old and New Masters: Day- and Twilight-type figures from Michelangelo's de Medici tomb statues in "Triptych - studies of the human body"; Matthias Grunewald's "The mocking of Christ" in the bandaged eyes of the lone female witness to "Three studies for figures at the base of a crucifixion"; Titian's "Portrait of Cardinal Filippo Archinto" and Jackson Pollock-type drip in the curtain veiling and bloodspattered robe of "Study after Velazquez's portrait of Pope Innocent X"; Rubens' "Descent from the cross" and Georges Seurat's "La chahut" in the figure leaning over the T-shaped cross and the flapping arms showing successive motion in "Fragment of a crucifixion"; Diego Velazquez's "Las meninas" in the right panel-reflected artist of "Studies from the human body"; Rembrandt-type meat side in the European formal portrait-styled "Painting 1946"; Edgar Degas' tub-bathing women in "Portrait of George Dyer crouching"; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec-type backstage observers in "Study of nude with figure in a mirror"; Marcel Duchamp's "The bride stripped bare by her bachelors, even (the large glass)" in the frustrated, mechanical love of "Three studies of figures on beds"; and Henri Michaux in "Statues and figures in a street" full of tiny dark figures. So Hugh Davies and Sally Yard's helpful text and well-chosen illustrations help reader understanding of what modern art is about and how one painter fits with other times. The authors help me go beyond theme, into art technique: their book applies Max Doerner's THE MATERIALS OF THE ARTIST AND THEIR USE IN PAINTING, Hazel Harrison's MASTER STROKES, and Waldemar Januszczak's TECHNIQUES OF THE WORLD'S GREAT PAINTERS. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Caravaggio's Secrets begins with the painter's supposedly homoerotic work and moves from there into a discussion his art in a psychoanalytic context. One of the coauthors is a professor of French, the other, a teacher of film, and they join many other non-art historians who have offered critical commentary on Caravaggio's work. "Castration/decapitation has left David in a state of between-ness," they write of David with the Head of Goliath (1609-10), "not only between gendered identities but also between existential violence and what Caravaggio appears to conceive of as the aesthetic consequence of that violence.... In Goliath's head, David-Caravaggio has painted his own castration."

This book is probably not for general readers, but those whose interest in Caravaggio is not fully sated by some of the other, more general books on the market will likely find their fill here. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Critics are the Custodians of Culture
Well, at least this book, which really has fallen out of circulation and is not often-read even among students of seventeenth-century Italian painting, is still being discussed in this forum. I add my voice to the list of the unenthused. The book insists on psychoanalytic readings and imports a decidely dated 1990's post-modern vocabularly that lowers a seductive, gauzy veil around Caravaggio's paintings, but absolutely does not serve to illuminate them in any way. The last reviewer, a painter, expresses a muted disregard for the work of critics; I would remind this reviewer that writers and critics are the custodians of culture, and that the job of the writer on art is to illuminate, perhaps through description, which is a form of interpretation, how a work of art lives in the world; and the job of the critic is to make distinctions. (All art is not popular culture, subject to equalizing democratic standards.) For this clear, crafted prose -- prose that is accessible both to the scholar and an intelligent audience interested in art -- is always best. Perhaps one of the reasons this book is laregly overlooked is that written for neither of the above it has failed to find an audience.

Creative meditation on sociality
It is sad to see how this book has been misunderstood. This book is not about "art history" or even "criticism." But it is a creative attempt to affirm one's experience through Caravaggio's paintings as inventing different "forms" to relate to others (both human and non-human).

Bersani and Dutoit, in such a poetic way, challenge how we look at art in general--. We interpret it instead of experiencing it. As a practioner of painting, I feel that they wrote this book NOT from the position of a critic, who often tries to be a custodian of culture.

It's moment has already passed
I looked forward to this book with much anticipation, and readit carefully twice and I am not convinced by their argument, but feelthat in its trendiness it will not be a long-lasting addition to Caravaggio scholarship. In many ways, after only a few years on the market, it remains fairly unnoticed by the academy, and remains relatively untaught in graduate seminars. I can't image it is a book that will interest the general reader with its physcoanalytic interpretations and academic lingo. I feel compelled to give it one star in order to balance out the scales and alert prospective readers that there are those of us who did not find it worthwhile.END

Absolutely worth reading.
I disagree with the other reviewer -- this *is* art history.Yes, art history relies on documents, history, even x-radiography, but it is equally reliant on models of analysis and new ways of looking.Caravaggio's workhas begged a critical approach like this one, and while I may not agreewith the authors' conclusions, their discussion is provocative andinspiring.If you want a survey of Caravaggio's career, choose one of themany books out there that satisfy this niche.If you want to deepen yourperspective of Caravaggio, and of art in general, read this book.It willgive you something to think about.

"Have you read the new Leo Bersani??"
Be warned: this is a seductive book. But, alas, it is not a very good one. No doubt many urban men interested in art and gay studies and aspiring to a certain intellectual milieu have already purchased it, and it is best keptin such circles.At most, one can say that it is compelling, provocative,but within the domain of art history, rather silly, and the arguments weak.As readers of this book will see, it has no base in history. If we want toknow how Caravaggio's works were received by the culture of his time wemust look elsewhere. If we want to know what was going on in his mind as heworked his canvases, we must look to diaries, documents, etc., and thereare few. I would say Bersani and Dutoit's book is imaginative, creative,often-times shocking in its daring, but it is not art history.They dolook closely. The strongest element of their argument is their descriptionof the interplay of gazes, between the painted boys and the viewer, andbetween the figures in the pictorial realm. Their reading of the David andGoliath, and their theory of "between-ness," is interesting, butit is hard to believe that Caravaggio would have ascribed to such a way ofthinking in his own time. For academic purposes, this book is bestconsulted for its sources cited, standards like Friedlander and Askew, andfor its justifiably harsh criticism and commentary on Donald Posner'ssubversively homophobic article on "Caravaggio's Early Homoeroticworks." But, in general, this book and its ideas are best kept on thecoffee tables and peppered in the conversations of the work-a-days who meetfor drinks at twilight: "Have you read the new Leo Bersani??" ... Read more

Amazon.com

Joseph Beuys (1921-1986), who reached cult status in his native Germany, was perhaps the most important artist to emerge in Europe after WW II; he was certainly the most influential thinker and teacher among artists of the postwar generation. His doctrine was that "every man is an artist," and his more radical aims included a restructuring of the economy and free access to all educational institutions. Beuys considered art a medium for social and political change, and the prosaic materials he employed--felt, animal fat, and wax were among his favorites--had a spiritual dimension and could be invested by the artist with healing power. His iconic "felt suit," for instance, expresses the idea of physical warmth. Arranged chronologically and spanning four decades, this is the only book that provides a definitive survey of this innovative artist's work in every medium--from drawings, sculptures, and printed works to objects, environments, and actions. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Confessio
I like Beuys. There I said it so sue me

Essentialy Essential Beuys
This book is a great introduction and overview of Beuys difficult and varied work. It contains many photos, which are enormously important to gain understanding of an artist whose work is frequently ephemeral and time based. There are also essays which touch on the myths surrounding Beuys, both of his own making and subsequent to his death. The relationship between this creating of a personal mythology and the materials he uses becomes evident. ... Read more

Book Description

This handsome book focuses on Georges Braque`s mature works, created between the end of World War II and the artist`s death in 1963. A major figure in twentieth-century French art, Braque remained truthful to the principles of his early cubist paintings yet demonstrated an increased freedom and poetic quality in several major series during his later years-the Interiors, Billiard Tables, Studios, and Bird paintings. ... Read more

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Conservation scientist Joyce H. Townsend is the Tate Museum's answer to coroner Gus Grissom on TV's CSI. Only instead of solving murders, she sleuths out the violence done to great art. In this book, she and her colleagues explain the horrors time, faded pigments, and dumb owners have visited on Blake's paintings, use a slew of high-tech techniques to deduce his methods and open our eyes to his original intentions. If you haven't read this book, you probably don't know what Blake's work looks like. Skillfully employing gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, lasers, Fourier transform infra-red spectrometry, and good old-fashioned saliva on a cotton swab, they scrub away dirt, yellowed varnish, and moronic overpaintings, and reveal how Blake wanted you to see. A tiny edge of blue indicates the firmament that Satan originally strode through in the now-yellowed Satan in His Original Glory. The chemical "Maillard reaction" has horribly browned The Ghost of a Flea; a small detail illustration reveals the original brilliant, star-studded blue Blake intended. The detective work is fascinating, and the profuse illustrations both technically and esthetically illuminating. Blake would have sung hosannas over this book: it cleanses the doors of perception. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

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Francesco Clemente, who enlivened the New York art scene in the 1980s along with a handful of other image-conscious Italians, including Sandra Chia, is said to be a reclusive artist who guards his privacy, but this richly informative book makes that assertion difficult to believe. Clemente himself has always offered a good deal of autobiography to his viewers, with works that have explored his own visage (and other parts) with relentless interest and introspection. And now comes Francesco Clemente, filled with intimate pictures shot by his friend Luca Babini in Clemente studios from New York to New Mexico to Naples. Packed to bursting, the photographs show Clemente working away, with wife, kids, and dogs in tow. With its pictorial richness--paint-spattered floors, trampled rags, stacked canvases, raw-edged, unstretched paintings stapled to huge walls, encrusted studio shoes, and scores of photographs of works in progress--this book will be devoured by other artists, who will turn the pages in a lather of envy, not necessarily for Clemente's fame and success, but for the huge windows and high ceilings of his various work spaces.

Clemente is a fecund artist, and there are many wonderful shots of his art--whole walls and tables full of it--that make a succinct statement correlating productivity and achievement. Clemente has contributed a kind of prose poem for the first part of the book, in which he discusses being a painter, and there is also a rambling essay by art writer Rene Ricard on artists' studios from ancient Egypt to the Renaissance. But the pictures are the point of this book, and they handsomely reward the reader's attention. They constitute an invitation to spend time--years, in fact--with a painter whose inventiveness, ambition, and style have made him one of the most successful of his time. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Actually Superior to a Retrospective
For those intrigued by Clemente, this may be the best book. The huge retrospective volume published from the Guggenheim exhibit does not necessarily contain as many of his better works as it should and can really leave you frustrated. There are paintings in here that are quite beautiful and they are often enhanced by the photographs that show them in the studio context. The photography is excellent and the book well done. Highly recommended and a good deal to boot.

fransesco clemente: painter of life.
he's an amazing artist, one of the best ever. period. i could sit here and describe for you, in excrutiating detail, the appeal of his use of color/contrast, the manner in which his forms are represented, and other such compliments. however, i will cut myself short, and simply say that his work propogates emotion like no other, and i hope everyone gets a chance to look at his creative vision at least once before they die. this book is a good way to make that happen.

A rare, informative glimpse at a talented, reclusive artist.
Lucia Babini's photos accompany Ricard's essay on the life of Francesco Clemente, published simultaneously with a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. Splendid full-page color photos of his works provides in-depth access to the Italian painter, creating a catalog which stands alone and provides a rare glimpse of the reclusive artist.

great insight on a life of a contemporary artist
stunning pictures offering an intimate view on clemente. A truly beautiful book.

Francesco Clemente teaches us to "think" art.
This book listed as, "Francesco Clemete" by Francesco Clemente isactually titled, "India" by Francesco Clemente. It explores the philosophy and thought of being alive in a concious world, by coupling art work by Clemente with poetry and spiritual sayings from people from Allen Ginsberg toAntonin Artaud. Clemente himself chose the writers who accompany his artwork, giving the book a nice personal insight into Clemente's own inspiration. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

GREAT CHOOSE
Schaefer has taken on a major task in reworking the material to reflect changes in equipment and materials while maintaining the thoroughness, attention to detail, and spirit of the Adams' series. I feel that he has succeeded nicely.

While a lot has been borrowed directly from the previous work there is also much new material and the format itself has been changed substantially. The book now opens with a thoroughly enjoyable, albeit brief, history of photography before getting down to business...Although targeted at a bit different readership than its predecessor, An Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography, Book I is a good read and destined to become as much a classic as the original. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent, uncompromised beauty
Really great photos of mounatin scapes in and about Yosimite. Waterfalls, forests, mountains and sky. Typical Ansel, most flawless. ... Read more

Book Description

Benvenuto Cellini is an incomparable source on the nature of artmaking in sixteenth century Italy. A practicing artist who worked in gold, bronze, marble, as well as on paper, he was also the author of treatises, discourses, poems and letters about his own work and the works of contemporaries. By examining how Cellini and those around him viewed the act of sculpture in the late Renaissance, Michael Cole demonstrates his continuing relevance to the broader study of artistic theory and practice in his time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

BOOM!! An Excellente' Intro. to a "Misunderstood Genius"
Great writing, Pocket Size edition, but very informative. Breaks Jean Michele down and makes him real. Does more than "gawk at and patronize" the so-called "negro savant" of the early 80's art world.

As a fan of "the artist" and the prolific amount of "work" he was able to create in his brief time on Planet Earth, this was a much needed testament to his legacy.

Unlike "Basquait"(IMO) the all-too self-serving Schnabel film,
Jean Michelle is not "presented as the drug-riddled token-ghetto golden child." His complex relationship with his family, ethnicity, and the 80's art world who both exploited and extolled him are examined.

Jean Michele artistic influences are detailed, his original perspective and cleverness is allowed to shine, and the author has obviously spent time and research and it is much appreciated.

Originally, I was under the impression that Basquait was somewhat of a fraud (many years ago) and it's only been in the last 5-7 years that I am beginning to truly appreciate his legacy and genius.

Emmerling plants Basquait firmly in the tradition of African, Latino, and American artists, where he firmly belongs.

"Liberals" beware, This is not the book to purchase, if you're looking for the "overly hyped" sordid details of his life. He may not have been a Saint, but who is???? Time will tell if he's deserving of the "Black Picasso" moniker. ... Read more