Book Description

From tormented self-images to brutal portrayals of friends and fellow artists, the portraits of Francis Bacon account for one of the most remarkable aspects of the work of this great British painter. His stylistic distortions of classicism and his famous deformations have changed the traditional genre of portraiture more drastically than the work of any other artist of the twentieth century. Originally published on the occasion of a major retrospective at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Bacon: Portraits and Self-Portraits is the first book dedicated to this aspect of his work. Milan Kundera, the famed Czech novelist, provides a perceptive introduction explaining his personal response to Bacon's work, exploring the paradox that lies in the faithfulness of the distorted images, and likening Bacon's genius to that of Samuel Beckett, both working at the outer limits of their art. An important essay by art historian France Borel sets Bacon's works in the context of his life and influences and explains his approach to portraiture. With superb reproductions of more than 130 studies and portraits, including those of Lucian Freud, George Dyer, Mick Jagger, and Isabel Rawsthorne, Bacon: Portraits and Self-Portraits offers new insight into these radical and disturbing images. Many details are included, revealing for the first time the varied textures of Bacon's paint surface. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Face Off
Francis Bacon jolted the art world in a way that is only now, some nine years after his death, being fully appreciated. During the final years of his bizarre life he achieved fame and museum acceptance and the accompanying high figure prices for his canvases. And of course soon after his death there was the usual debate about whether he was a painter or a one note song. This beautifully presented volume seems to dispell the latter, as here is documentation of all the head-only portraits Bacon painted of his friends and of himself. His usual "brutal vision" seems less forced when the paintings are accompanied by photogrphs of the models: some of Bacon's friends were fairly distorted before his brush hit the canvas! This book allows the reader to examine a narrow part of Bacon's output and in doing so focuses keenly on his view of the world, his pallete and his technique. Very fine essays by Milan Kundera and France Borel enhance this sensitive tribute to one of the more important 20th Century figurative painters.

Art Meets Occultism, and not for the first time...
For those of you who have spent considerable time reading about the Templars, Illuminatus, Masons, et. al. then this book would be of no shock to you. Francis Bacon in the disquise of an artist, in the disquise of the painted. The art itself lends itself to the greater mystery, and as such is a must have for any enthusiast. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

It is so fabulous, I CANNOT BELIEVE IT'S OUT OF PRINT!
As Chicago states in this book, rare are those books in print which honor the creativity and birthing of women. The one book we had, is now out of print! How could this possibly have happened?! We need this book to be back in print; it makes a vital feminist statement in the most exquisite honoring of women and their art. Simply profound and beautiful. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Joseph Cornell/Marcel Duchamp... In Resonance is a beautiful catalog of works by both of the artists, accompanied by eight essays that explore their work and their relationship. These essays include marvelous anecdotes and information about both the personal and artistic lives of the artists and how deeply they influenced one another. Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) was a somewhat reclusive American artist from Queens, New York, who was known for his small theatrical box constructions. Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) was born in France and was an integral part of the avant-garde art world--he is often called the father of contemporary art. The focus of the book revolves around the "Duchamp Dossier," a varied collection of objects from Duchamp that Cornell collected. "There's no way of knowing whether the dossier was made in collaboration with Duchamp or whether Duchamp knew of it at all, although it seems likely that he may have suspected it existed. It contained various things that Duchamp had clearly given to Cornell." The complete contents of the dossier are reproduced in this volume at 60 percent of their actual size.

What is so fascinating about the dossier is that it is something of a physical map of the interactions between Cornell and Duchamp. Along with the photo reproductions there is a complete and extremely detailed inventory of the dossier, including such information as the text of letters and type of postage. Also in the book is a comprehensive chronology of the lives of both artists. The book, a hefty 344 pages, includes 126 color plates and 320 halftone images. --Jennifer Cohen ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Enthralling.
Duchamp is undeniably intriguing. His art has covered numerous styles, forms, concepts, etc.. His hermetic, curious existence is fascinating as well, and thanks to some of the essays in this wonderful book, new perspective is shown. Joseph Cornell's art never made the same impact as Duchamp, but it really can't be argued that he is extremely talented. It's hard to give a decent review of this. I've found it to be one of the most fascinating books about art ever, which is an incredibly hard task.

Cornell/Duchamp "Collaboration"
This book is the catalogue for an exhibition on the intersection of the works of Duchamp and Cornell, specifically the "Duchamp Dossier," a peculiar collection of art and trash that Cornell kept on a shelf in his house. Since it was not discovered until after his death, one can only guess whether he considered it an art piece, though he was known for compiling such "explorations," as he called them, throughout his life. The book contains a large number of beautiful color plates of both artists' work, though many of Duchamp's major pieces are not reproduced (the Cornell plates are more comprehensive). The accompanying texts are not dense critiques but, for the most part, anecdotal narratives with the occasional interpretive aside. For such a large book, it was a fast read and very entertaining. The two artists in question are visual poets rather than painters per se, and there are many creative similarities between them despite their wholly different lifestyles and personalities. Worth buying if you are a Duchamp fanatic like myself, especially for the images.

Best Compilation Yet
I haven't actually bought this book yet, in hopes of receiving it for Christmas, but I spent an indordinant amount of time looking at it in a bookstore - and even went back to admire it again. I love Joseph Cornell's work, and have perused all available volumes with pictures of his artwork, and this is the most complete and beautiful. His shadow boxes are displayed one per page - page after page, which is such a treat! I'm also a Marcel DuChamp fan and think it's genius to combine their work in one book. The likenesses and juxtapositions are facinating, and make this compilation a must have. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

OUTFITTED PLAYERS
Pzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...slang for "hey girl, how can I get wit chu? "
(Out fitted players on the cover)
Basquiat's pallette is overwelming. This book has many previously unpubllished works by the late artist. Most of the drawings are exceptional...The paintings on the other hand are mostly unresolved. It would have been nice if the images were in FOCUS! But the over all production is good. Leaves me wondering when the rest of his unpublished drawings will see light of day.

Some poor reproductions.
Some of the drawings are disappointingly un-sharp reproductions and/or are too small. Basquiat's drawings are extremely delicate and detailed and more beautiful than his paintings. They must be reproduced with high quality sharpness and at a proper size to be fully enjoyed and appreciated.

Royalty, Heroism, and the Streets
This book (the one with "PZ" on the cover, since Amazon has decided to not seperate certain reviews to certain books...) is another great treat for any basquiat fan. It has some very intelligent writings by Keith Haring, Francesco Clemente and others. Also, it contains some informative interviews with the late artist that contain some of his famous quotes. One thing that is most exciting about this book is that it shows almost all of the Basquiat/Warhol and Basquiat/Warhol/Clemente collaborations! Also, the photographs and art reproductions are amazingly done. If you love Basquiat, or even mildly admire him (or Haring, Clemente, or Warhol for that matter) you NEED this book. Matt

If there are any other Basquiat fans out there looking for someone to talk to about art like I am, then please e-mail me.

Awesome...an absolutely awesome book!
What an incredible artist! Jean Michel Basquiat's talent, his use of tone, colour and composition were unparalleled in the modern art world. He was a true prodigy; a prophet of creativity; a tragic poet. This book is a must for anybody interested in neo-abstract expressionism. ... Read more

Book Description

In his magisterial Fine Bird Books, Sir Sacheverall Sitwell says of Audubon: 'There is nothing in the world of fine books quite like the discovery of Audubon.The giant energy of the man, his power of achievement and accomplishment, give him something of the epical force of a Walt Whitman or a Herman Melville...Audubon is the greatest of bird Painters; he belongs to American history.'
John James Audubon's Birds of America, from which this selection has been taken, is the finest pictorial ornithological book ever produced.Unlike the drawings and paintings of his contemporaries, which were produced from prepared skins and zoo specimens, Audubon's paintings are taken directly from his observations in the wild, and the richness and directness come straight from the real world.No wonder that Audubon became known in his lifetime as 'The American Woodsman'.
Audubon was unable to raise sufficient financial backing in the United States and he sailed for England in 1826.In its original form, Birds of America contained 435 hand-colored, aquatinted plates which were completed between 1827 and 1838.It was printed in London and bound into four double elephant folio volumes (measuring approximately 30 X 27 inches (76 X 69 cm)) so that all the birds could be illustrated life-size.Between 175 and 200 sets were produced, and the last complete set to come to auction fetched nearly $3,000,000. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

.....not just for the birds..
"Audubon: American Birds" is a not only a wonderful introduction to Audubon's works but a portrait of the birds as seen through the eyes of a great American naturalist. The volume also serves as a good reference source though tempered with an romantic view giving the astute reader an additional insight into the times in which Audubon worked. I would definately recomment this book to both the birder and art lover. ... Read more

Book Description

edited by Marie-Laure Bernadac and Hans-Ulrich Obrist


"Everyday you have to abandon your past or accept it and then if you cannot accept it, you become a sculptor."

Since the age of twelve, the internationally renowned sculptor Louise Bourgeois has been writing and drawing--first a diary precisely recounting the everyday events of her family life, then notes and reflections. Destruction of the Father--the title comes from the name of a sculpture she did following the death of her husband in 1973--contains both formal texts and what the artist calls "pen-thoughts": drawing-texts often connected to her drawings and sculptures, with stories or poems inscribed alongside the images.

Writing is a means of expression that has gained increasing importance for Bourgeois, particularly during periods of insomnia. The writing is compulsive, but it can also be perfectly controlled, informed by her intellectual background, knowledge of art history, and sense of literary form (she has frequently published articles on artists, exhibitions, and art events). Bourgeois, a private woman "without secrets," has given numerous interviews to journalists, artists, and writers, expressing her views on her oeuvre, revealing its hidden meanings, and relating the connection of certain works to the traumas of her childhood. This book collects both her writings and her spoken remarks on art, confirming the deep links between her work and her biography and offering new insights into her creative process. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very deceiving!
Technically, Ansel Adams is well known for his "zone system" and his large format cameras, that helped him to get breath-taking pictures, in the artistic sense and also in the technical sense. The large format allowed him to get in his film the tiniest detail and the "zone system", to get the cleanest whites, the deepest blacks and the widest range of gray tones, all in the same picture. Well, in this book you would find the WORST copies of Ansel's plates... I don't know if he used 8x10 plates, but most pictures are smaller than that and they are all printed at 150 dpi!!!!! (I actually measured that, my... printer does 10 times better!!!!). Even worse, the pictures are completely gray!! I was not able to find a single spot of pure white or deep black, just a few gray tones in there! This book is really a bad joke... I also have the 2001 Ansel Adams calendar, that one is well printed, so nobody can lie to me concerning Ansel's printing technique, he is a genius! (Go for the calendar, it's good!) I found in the book (I quote): "This book is independent of, and not authorized by Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust." Of course it is NOT!!! Ansel must be rolling over in his grave! Well, it's true that the book isn't expensive, but what's the point of a bad printed photo book? I still have to read the text, I hope it is worth... Save your bucks... or even better... spend in a well printed Ansel's book! ... Read more

Book Description

        

In 1942, a dashing young man who liked nothing so much as a heated game of poker, a good bottle of scotch, and the company of a pretty girl hopped a merchant ship to England. He was Robert Capa, the brilliant and daring photojournalist, and Collier's magazine had put him on assignment to photograph the war raging in Europe. In these pages, Capa recounts his terrifying journey through the darkest battles of World War II and shares his memories of the men and women of the Allied forces who befriended, amused, and captivated him along the way. His photographs are masterpieces--John G. Morris, Magnum Photos' first executive editor, called Capa "the century's greatest battlefield photographer"--and his writing is by turns riotously funny and deeply moving.
        From Sicily to London, Normandy to Algiers, Capa experienced some of the most trying conditions imaginable, yet his compassion and wit shine on every page of this book. Charming and profound, Slightly Out of Focus is a marvelous memoir told in words and pictures by an extraordinary man.

Robert Capa was born in Budapest in 1913. At twenty-two he traveled to Spain to photograph the Spanish CivilWar and soon established a reputation as one of the greatest war photojournalists in history. On May 25, 1954, in French Indochina, Capa was the first American photographer to die in what would become the Vietnam War.

... Read more

Reviews (9)

The Incorrigible Capa
Slightly Out of Focus, the autobiography by legendary photographer Robert Capa, chronicles his experiences as a photographer for Collier's and Life magazines during World War II. Capa's adventure takes him from his comfortable bed in New York, across the Atlantic, into the African desert, to the beaches of Normandy and the liberation of Paris, through Germany, and finally to a posh London apartment where his journey ends. The book is a delightful read. Over 100 of Capa's breathtaking and thought provoking photographs are scattered throughout its pages. Slightly Out of Focus is ridiculously easy to read. Capa's conversational style and witty banter result in a story that feels more like your favorite novel, than the biography of a war correspondent. The memoirs span only 232 pages, but fully encompass the blood, sweat, and tears shed during the most gruesome war in American history.

Capa throws no punches when he puts his thoughts and experiences into words. He is gut wrenchingly open, honest, and human about himself and the war that he photographs. He accurately shows the not so glamorous, unromantic side of front-line journalism in stories about being too broke to pay his bills, sleeping in bed-bug infested houses, driving for hours over empty deserts, contracting malaria, bureaucratic red tape, and eventually giving up the woman of his dreams to continue photographing the war. Capa is honest enough to admit to all of this and wrote, "I began to dislike this war. The life of a war correspondent wasn't so romantic."

Capa put his life in danger countless times in the book, each time in the quest for the perfect photo that said everything and each time narrowly escaping death. While in Africa, he accidentally wandered into a mine field and had to wait for hours to be rescued. Later, the division that Capa was traveling with was bombed during the night. Capa described it as, "Next morning, when I woke up, there wasn't any tent over me. The camp had been bombed during the night. The blasts had blown away all the tents, although no one was hurt. I was the object of envy and admiration for having slept through it all without stirring." During his time in Europe, Capa joined in the Normandy invasion and parachuted out of planes. Soon after he began, Capa gave up trying to be an impartial observer and assisted in rescuing and transporting wounded soldiers during some of the fiercest fighting. He slept in fox holes, ate C-rations, and helped bury fallen soldiers.

In Slightly Out of Focus, we learn as much about Capa as we do about the war. He unashamedly allows us a constant view into his psyche. It offers a refreshing and helpful glimpse into the struggles of an embedded journalist. He admits when he is frightened, tired, apathetic, angry, or even happy. He talks often in the book of becoming tired of the sickeningly violent monotony that is war. "They were simple pictures and showed how dreary and unspectacular life fighting actually is. The correspondent's war neurosis was setting in...my pictures were sad and empty as the war, and I didn't feel like sending them to the magazine."

In spite of the inherent death and depression of war, Capa finds the everyday humor in extraordinary experiences. Just when the book seems too intense, he makes a witty remark or points out the weakness in human folly and makes you chuckle. He allows you to take the pill of war down without having to dissipate the cold, hard facts, by giving the reader a spoon full of sugar at the same time.

The love story of Capa and "Pinky" (a.k.a. Elaine Justin) also provides a breakup between intense battles. Capa maintains a lighthearted feel in the book by alternating chapters of fighting and death with chapters of his humorous roller-coaster romance. In the end "Pinky" gives up on Capa because, by covering the war instead of being with her, he finally chose between his two great loves. Capa begins and ends the book with the same line, "There is absolutely no reason to get up in the mornings anymore." The reader understands finally, on the 232nd page, that Capa lives to cover wars. In his mind, being a war correspondent isn't a job, it is a destiny. When he isn't covering a war, he is lost, restless, and aimless.

Slightly Out of Focus is jewel deserving five stars. Capa has effectively created a book that captures the feeling of World War II while making it palatable to the average reader. He educates and entertains. The work is believable and down to earth, revealing a transparency uncommon to most authors, but welcomed by readers. In this work, Capa proves himself to be far more than a great photographer. In the words of Capa's good friend, Pulitzer Prize winner John Hersey, "He has humor. He has a clear idea of what makes a great picture: 'it is a cut of the whole event,' he says, 'which will show more of the real truth of the affair to someone who was not there than the whole scene.' Above all-and this is what shows in his pictures-Capa, who has spent so much energy on inventions for his own person, has deep human sympathy for men and women trapped in reality."

War stories by the famous Bob Capa.
This is Capa's story of his World War II. Capa was a famous photographer from the Spanish Civil War, who applied his skills in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France. For a photographer, his stories are very good and enjoyable. Like one of the previous reviewer, I have to agree that Capa does not reveal much of himself. If you take his stories, he appears to be an alcoholic and irresponsible. His photos though are world famous.
These stories are great to read and the book is not long. This is good Sunday reading.

Amazing
When I think of the founders of Magnum I see larger than life heros that are always in the right place at the right time for the perfect picture. Not only does this book show that Capa is not larger than life, but a very real man, but he also worked very hard to be at the right place at the right time...not to mention he spent much of his life at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Best birthday gift apart from the camera itself
Not overridden with anecdotes of war zones and the battlefield, Capa comes across as incredibly human from the observer's perspective during the years of conflict. Sensitive, witty, charming, and driven, he is truly fantastic and remarkable a storyteller with words as he is with a camera.

War Stories With No Insights
The preface to the book points out that Capa originally wrote it with the intent of it being turned into a movie. The result is an engagingly good collection of war stories.

If, however, you're interested in finding out more about Capa, why, for example, he continually went back into harms way or why he let his relationship with Pinky languish so he could take more war pictures, or what he was trying to capture with his photographs, anything personal at all, you won't find it here.

Instead you'll find some well told war stories (although at times he tries too hard). You'll also be treated to a collection of his photographs. You just won't find the man here. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Eye of the Independent
She called herself one of the Independents. The world remembers her as the Impressionist who painted "The Boating Party," the choice for a first-class U.S. postage stamp and one of the most widely reproduced paintings. She was behind America's first purchase of Impressionist art: a Degas painting. In fact, friend and mentor Edgar Degas advised her on the farther window light and floor for "Little Girl in an Armchair" and praised "Girl Arranging her Hair," the Japanese woodblock print inspired "Bath," and "Mother and Boy."

The book's first plate, "The Bacchante," lets viewers know what MARY CASSATT: PAINTINGS AND PRINTS were all about: women communicating with others and hinting at states of mind behind beautifully lighted and shaded fabrics, such as "Woman with a Red Zinnia"; flesh, such as the swiftly scribbled modeling to "Mother, Young Daughter and Son"; and furnishings, such as the Opera House banquette and chandelier ovals taking up the ovals from the figure and reflected figure of her sister "Lydia Leaning on her Arms, Seated in a Loge." Art critic and historian Frank Getlein backs his well-written text with 72 well-chosen plates. His book and Griselda Pollock's MARY CASSATT: PAINTER OF MODERN WOMEN give the perfect examples for Michel Melot's THE IMPRESSIONIST PRINT, Paul Smith's IMPRESSIONISM, Gary Tinterow's ORIGINS OF IMPRESSIONISM, and Helene Barbara Weinberg et al's AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISM AND REALISM. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Robert Capa, whose images of the Spanish Civil War brought home the hideous suffering of that conflict and brought Capa international fame, is the 20th century's most accomplished photographer of warfare. This collection of Capa's work demonstrates that he was more than a war photographer: he was a master of depicting ordinary life in extraordinary circumstances. The volume includes an essay by Cornell Capa, the photographer's brother and the founder of the International Center forPhotography, as well as a foreword by Henri Cartier-Bresson. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Pure empathy
Ordinary people caught under extraordinary circumstances are what give these images the power that they have and elicit pure empathy from the viewer. Robert Capa earned his place in photographic history and left behind a body of work for us to consider...

Amazing photographs
This book has some really amazing photography, they have a really powerful message. I like photos that make me feel something and Robert Capa's photos difinatly do that. Robert Capa was in the right place and the right time with alot of his photos. The only thing the book lacked i feel is more background on the photos. ... Read more

Book Description

Francis Bacon (1909-1992) is widely acknowledged as one of thegreatest British artists of this century. For over fifty years the intenseemotions conveyed in his works have shocked and enthralled an ever-growingaudience. David Sylvester, a leading Bacon scholar, brings together many of theartist's best paintings involving the human figure, the central subject of hiswork. Bacon's diverse body imagery can be seen in his self-portraits; nudestudies; portraits of friends such as Henrietta Moraes, George Dyer, and LucianFreud; and his series of Popes. Many of Bacon's prototypes were "found" images:reproductions of Michelangelo, Velsquez, Degas, Muybridge's photographs of thehuman figure in motion, film stills from Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin,magazine photos of politicians and boxers. Bacon disliked working directly from a model and therefore often commissionedphotographs, especially from John Deakin. A prolific creator of self-portraits,Bacon painted dozens, mostly small canvases of his head. Usually three are puttogether to form a triptych; sometimes one appears as a solo canvas or as a unitin a triptych along with other people's heads. One of the most powerful is afull-length portrait, the Sleeping Figure of 1974, painted from a photograph ofhim stretched out on a hospital bed. Other paintings portray bodies wracked byviolencea wailing mouth, a cry of despair. Sylvester's observations show howcertain images were linked to incidents in Bacon's life, such as childhood fearof his father and his lifelong devotion to his nanny. The catalog includespaintings that date from 1945 to the mid-1980s, including single canvases andtriptychs from collections around the world. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A marriage of words and paintings
David Sylvester is one of the finest biographers of contemporary painters on the shelves today. His insights into such obtuse minds as Giocomettti and de Kooning and Francis Bacon have brought us, the viewer and thinker, closer to the real synapses at work. In this lavishly illustrated catalogue the emphasis is on the whole human body - alone, in confined spaces, distorted and reassembled in triptychs. Sylvester opens this format with terse discussions about particular paintings, using only black and white details of the works he is discussing. Then, once we have the groundwork established, the last half of the book is simply the paintings, printed on the finest peper, with foldouts that do justice to the triptychs and color separations that are as near to the originals as is possible. A feast for the eyes and mind....and imagination. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

*whew*
This book has everything, and then some. It will take you from not knowing anything to being a quasi-expert in a fairly short amount of time.

That said, it is pretty dry. Very textbookish in form, the book is difficult to read straight through. This is made more palatable by the extreme depth that the book goes into for each topic that it discusses.

Starting with the differences in photo gear, the author leads the reader through selecting a first camera to selecting a lens to selecting a film and finally the development of the negative and print. The book is exhausting in its depth and breadth.

Much time was spent on Adams' Zone system and its usefulness in taking beautiful photographs. This focus throughout the book really drove home the importance of exposure.

The pictures used in the book are fantastic and the personal accounts of some photos by Adams himself are very interesting.

The only thing that I felt was skimped on was the process of selecting a shot. Adams was a large-format photographer so he wasn't able to make the hundreds of shots of a scene that a 35mm photographer could make, so it was important for him to select his shots carefully. More text space devoted to Adams' method or instinct for finding shots would have been the final piece of information that would have made this a complete guide to photography.

It wasn't easy reading, but I learned a lot and was able to immediately use the information in the book to improve my own photography.

Good book - too text bookish!
This is indeed a great book. It talks a lot about the basic photographic techniques and is a good read for a beginner. However, most of the book is limited to black and white photography. The book is also a bit out dated.

Overall a good book for a serious beginner. It will help a person get accostomed to both the scientific and the creative aspects of photography.

Practical Introduction to Black and White Photography
The majority of the text concentrates it's efforts in educating the reader in the art of B&W photography. Color photography is briefly touched on at the book's end. The first half of the book deals with various camera systems, accessories, film choices, photograph visualization and film exposure. All of these topics are covered exceptionally well. The second half deals with the developing and printing process. If the prospective reader will not be involved in the developing and printing process then the Ansel Adams Book 1, "The Camera", and Book 2, "The Negative", may be better choices. However to receive the maximum benefit from the art of B&W photography one must eventually delve into the darkroom. The book details those processes equally well.

Great book ON Adams, not BY Adams.
Although I loved this book, and knew what I was buying, Amazon's attribution of this book to Ansel Adams is misleading. This is a book about Ansel Adams' technique, and his zone system in particular. It's not a book by Adams. If you want Adams' own take on the basic techniques of photography, check out his three books: The Camera, The Negative, The Print, as well as his book of case studies, The Making of 40 Photographs. It takes a lot of nerve to write a book like this when Adams has already done a bang up job of it himself. Surprisingly, Schaefer's effort doesn't pale in comparison to the master's own. Plus you have the advantage of a single book rather than Adams' three. Schaefer provides an excellent guide to Ansel Adams' zone technique, with great illustrations. And despite a bit more attention paid to color photography than in Adams' own books, it still seems like an afterthought.

Beautifully written treatise for fine photography buffs
A superbly written book. Could be used as an example of great technical writing. Reads almost like a novel - I couldn't put it down until I finished. I am now digging my darkroom equipment out of the garage with a new sense of excitement. I rushed off and bought Book 2, which I am eagerly awaiting. No, I'm not associated with the author, but I am in awe of his talents! :^) ... Read more

Book Description

With a text by the artist's grandnephew, Bonnard brings a special intimacy to the exuberant, beautiful domestic interiors, pastoral landscapes, still lifes, and portraits of the French artist Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), whose vibrant, colorful palette drew streams of art lovers to a recent retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

173 illustrations, 112 in full color ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Tapestry For The Eyes!
This was a great book with absolutly gorgeous pictures. I love Victorian paintings and the symbolism that they put in the paintings during that time period.I now collect anything I can find about that painting period. I definatly would reccommend this to anyone who loves this time period in art. ... Read more

Book Description

A landmark volume collects the writings and drawings of America's greatest artist-naturalist

The breathtaking art of John James Audubon's Birds of America has been celebrated throughout the world since it first appeared over 150 years ago. Less well known is Audubon's literary legacy -- the magnificent volumes of natural history he published during his lifetime, as well as the remarkable journals, memoirs, and letters left behind at his death. Now, with The Library of America's unprecedented John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings, Audubon the great nature writer takes his rightful place alongside Audubon the artist.

Here is the most comprehensive selection of Audubon's writings ever published, along with a spectacular portfolio of his drawings. The "Mississippi River Journal," the foremost record of an American artist's progress, details Audubon's first wilderness bird hunts. Selections from his "1826 Journal" follow him to Europe, where his abilities were finally recognized. Audubon's masterwork, the five-volume Ornithological Biography, is here generously represented by 45 entries. Charming, haunting, and violent by turns, these vivid intimate portraits of the habits and habitats of America's birds, from the curious mating rituals of the Wild Turkey to the sublime spectacle of the migration of the now vanished Passenger Pigeon, changed American nature writing forever. The "Missouri River Journals" evoke the vanishing American Indian and the hardships of frontier life. An extensive selection of letters charting almost 20 years of Audubon's artistic development, along with two essays on artistic technique and a brief memoir, round out the volume. For the first time, all texts have been painstakingly prepared from original sources. General and ornithological indices will aid the reader in the field as well as in the study. Sixty-four full-color plates, and fascinating manuscript sketches, some never before published, offer a unique perspective on Audubon's art. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Masterpiece of Nature Writing
Anyone looking for a chronicle of the American wilderness in its infancy would do well to start here. There is great charm in the journals of 1820, where the spellings are still Audubon's own, and the flavor of the times -- especially regarding life on the frontier, and concerning everyday life in old New Orleans -- is everywhere. With his "Bird Biographies" of everyday varieties, as well as descriptions of now-extinct species, such as the Carolina Parakeet, and Ivory Billed Woodpeckers, this book is a treasure not just for nature lovers and bird aficianados, but for lovers of history as well. ... Read more

Book Description

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912), was one of the finest and most distinctive of the Victorian painters. Dutch-born, he moved to London in 1870 and became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea and sky. In this original study, Rosemary Barrow presents an absorbing and often amusing portrait of an exuberant personality who carved out a brilliant career for himself at the heart of London's artistic and cultural elite. But above all she subjects the paintings to a fresh scrutiny, and reveals that Alma-Tadema, a knowledgeable student of antiquity, repeatedly used literary and archaeological allusions in his paintings to play a game of interpretation with his viewers. Time and again the seeming innocence of the scenes he depicts is subverted by a mischievously placed inscription or statue, suggesting to the initiated a darker and usually risque meaning. Neglected after his death, Alma-Tadema's paintings are once again admired for their beauty and their remarkable mastery of light, colour and texture. With its intriguing insights into his personality and intentions, this book should provide a challenging reassessment of a major artist. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

At last I found a great book about Alma Tadema
Perhaps this book is the only one about Alma tadema-the greatest master of Victorian age- which deals with his life and works the way it should be. It contains a great collection of his works as high quality pictures as well as a great biography. Just buy it and see what you have missed all this time.

Perfect!
This is an excellent book - well-printed, with beautiful reproductions of Alma-Tadema's work, and well-written. Too often, art books lump Alma-Tadema generically with the pre-Raphaelites or shun him entirely (because his paintings catered to Victorian tastes). This book is almost, but not quite, too much of a good thing, with an in-depth view of Alma-Tadema's career, especially the mentors and travel experiences that shaped his style. Very early paintings and watercolor studies which I had never before seen are included, and I paticularly like the side-by-side presentation of watercolor studies with finished oils of the same scene. Alma-Tadema was a skilled artist whose lush, decorative style and atmospheric historical scenes prefigured the art of Maxfield Parrish. It's about time that a collection of this quality has become available.

Buy it before it's late
This is the best book I've ever seen about alma-tadema. Includes high quality pictures of his masterpieces. If you love Almatadema's works you should have this special book. ... Read more