Book Description

Interview with the artist by Leigh Bowery.

Essay by Angus Cook. 22 plates ... Read more

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Book Description

This beautiful book reproduces more than 120 paintings, drawings, pastels, sculptures, and prints of horses and scenes at the racecourse-all created by Edgar Degas. Examining for the first time Degas`s lifelong interest in the world of jockeys and horses, the book discusses the artist`s portrayals of people at the racing grounds and the importance of the horse as a source of his inspiration. ... Read more

Book Description

A beautifully illustrated coffee table art book that weaves its way through the art and mythology of The Da Vinci Code, this book is an art guide to unlocking The Da Vinci Code. Beautiful illustrations and insightful narratives guide the reader through the art and mythology and make us feel we are privy to the keys that unlock the secrets of The Da Vinci Code.

If you are like most readers, you mentally visualize the people, scenery, architecture, and objects described in whatever text you are perusing. The idea for this companion book to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code was conceived by readers who, like you, do just that. Although they had created their own imaginary images to supplement their reading of this best selling novel, they wanted to actually see the images described and used to develop the plot. The Art and Mythology of the Da Vinci Code, by David Morris, provides the opportunity to do exactly that.It offers photographs of all the major buildings, landmarks, art and mythology referenced in Dan Brown's best selling novel.The images are presented in the order that the theological references, theories, and clues are provided to solve the mystery.Whether you are reading the novel because it's a great mystery or because you are intrigued by the theological hypotheses, this volume will exponentially enrich the experience.If you have already read the novel, this volume will allow you to revisit the art and mythology and perhaps expand your knowledge of them. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A spectacular augmentation to a masterpiece of fiction
What a tremendous addition to a great work.As a published author and someone with an insatiable appetite for reading, I was, like so many others, mesmerized by The DaVinci Code.What a tremendous bonus to discover 'The Art and Mythology of the DaVinci Code by David Morris.If you attempt to conjure images while reading (don't we all?), this work is nothing short of remarkable.While well read, I am not well traveled, making this work all the more enjoyable.I found myself re-reading DaVinci!!Don't miss this masterpiece.

extremely interesting
I have truly enjoyed every minute of it.The perpetual beauty of the book is remarkable.The perfect view and clearity of the pictures give you a 'being there' feeling; however, the knowledge that pours from the words are eqaully superb. Overall, this is a must have book to complete one's collection. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The lovingly crafted little tome The Art of Arts might become a cult classic if there are enough Jan van Eyck fans out there--or enough readers who can chew their way through 775 footnotes--to make this work of special genius even an underground bestseller. It is filled with delectable details (for example, that an image of a mill in a landscape connotes a wanton woman, complete with a page of explanations why) and myriad perspicacious observations. In discussing such masterworks as van Eyck's Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, author Anita Albus draws the reader into a vanished world of alternative perspectives, painterly depths of color and atmosphere, and the mesmerizing minutiae of late-medieval and Renaissance symbolism. The last chapter of the book, "Of Lost Colors," combines metallurgy, history, meticulous scholarship, and the author's passionate comprehension of colors in a discussion of antique pigments and their physical properties and pictorial uses.

The book's mostly paragraph-long sentences may put off some readers, and the warm, wry, even sly prose--its liveliness, in other words--may raise the hackles of the dowdy art-historical crowd (not the stylish, open-minded one). But this miniaturist's view of the northern Renaissance will copiously reward those who peruse it slowly, especially artists. Although it is possible to become lost in some chapters, as Albus tiptoes unhurriedly toward some arcane, elusive point, in the end it's hard to resist the sort of book that declares of the late 17th century: "Research into arthropods was in the air." This volume is a work of art, complete in itself, meticulously ordered according to the artist's unique vision, and handsomely "framed" by a sensitive designer. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Reviews (3)

a Baroque pearl
Reed: No question, this is an interesting book for us Eyckians and lovers/conservators of old pigments.But for us non-academics/editorialists, it's tough love.It is laborious because of the over-ornamentation with trivia, digressions, and references that physically intrude on, and insinuate the text.It's hard to tell someone far more-educated than I to take a writing course, but there it is. Maybe the exhaustive Teutonic method, exhausting nonetheless.
The real value for me, ever-trying to portray the ethereal in this dysfunctional digital/photographic world, is the nearly-unique collection of clues and views about how and why the [Flemish Primitives] were able to put us in undiminishing communion with their subjects, to help us backtrack and do the same for ours.As the gangrenous/social/spiritual/artistic wounds of the last century slowly heal, works like Albus's can help artists and artlovers mirror, maybe catalyze, another age of deep empathy for others.So buy this book, put on your best red turban, nibble some Flemish chocolate, and start with your self-portrait, taking the Niederlanders' enormous care to appreciate the beauty of the image, and thus the person, in front of us. This time with just the hint of a smile as the warmth of dawn flows into the studio...

Laborious read!
This is a book that is required reading for my Renaissance art history class.As such, I approached the book with enthusiasm after initially thumbing through the pages.Visually, it is beautiful.There are many full page color illustrations and interesting typeface.However, I was soon disappointed by her disjointed writing style and over 700 footnotes.I labored through this one, only to find out in the end that she finds contemporary art soul-less and lacking.Her conclusion is disappointing!

Traditional painters and Van Eyck fans will love this book!
I have recommended this book to several people and now it is available in paperback!It contains many nuggests of information a traditional oil painter will treasure.For example, the lapis lazuli-based pigment used by Van Eyck in his paintings contained tiny flecks of stone which added richness and sparkle to the paint.It was also irregularly ground andrefracts light differently than the modern homogeneoussynthetic "ultramarine blue" pigment available today. It was precious in Van Eyck's time, but today lapis lazuli ultramarine is more costly than gold per ounce.Albus devotes much of the book to historical pigments and shares recipes for making them.
My complaint with the book is that it is a strangely-shaped volume (it is extremely narrow and tall) and is uncomfortable to hold. Still, the early chapters on Van Eyck's paintings and the historical pigments will entice painters interested in effects not possible with modern pigments. ... Read more

Book Description

Life Magazine wrote that one funhouse at the 1939 World's Fair stood out among the others:

"Dalí's Dream of Venus, the creation of famed Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, is the most recent addition to the still-growing list of amusement-area girl shows and easily the most amazing. Weird building contains a dry tank and a wet tank. In the wet tank girls swim under water, milk a bandaged-up cow, tap typewriter keys which float like seaweed. Keyboard of piano is painted on the recumbent female figure made of rubber. In dry tank...a sleeping Venus reclines in 36-foot bed, covered with white and red satin, flowers, and leaves. Scattered about the bed are lobsters frying on beds of hot coals and bottles of champagne....All this is most amusing and interesting."

The building's modern, expressionistic exterior, with an entrance framed by a woman's legs, and shocking interior, including the bare-breasted "living liquid ladies" who occupied the tanks, caused quite a stir. The funhouse was so successful that it reopened for a second season, but once torn down it faded from memory and its outlandishness became the stuff of urban myth. Now, more than 60 years later, a collection of photographs of the Dream of Venus by Eric Schaal has been discovered. In stunning black-and-white and early Kodachrome, they show both the construction and the completion of the funhouse-from Dalí painting a melting clock to showgirls parading for their audience. Salvador Dalí's Dream of Venus reveals not only an eccentric work of architecture, but also a one-of-a-kind creation by one of the most fertile imaginations of the 20th century. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Quite possibly the world's coolest funhouse!
Though Dali would eventually disavow his "Dream of Venus" pavilion from the 1939 World's Fair (over those pulling the pursestrings interfering with his vision), its place in history was forever secured as one of the earliest "art installation exhibits", or alternatively the most amazing carnival funhouse ever devised.

Full of bizarre imagery pulled from Freudian psychology and the depths of Dali's own mind, visitors were treated to topless models cavorting in aquaria and other tableaux of surreal landscapes such as a 36-foot bed topped with lobsters baking on hot coals, a taxicab containing a rainstorm and Christopher Columbus, and an undersea mummified cow. Apparently a psychotic dream-rant by B-movie actress Ruth Ford played on endlessly in the darkness as well.

Schaffner gives a brief textual description of a walk-through of the pavilion, followed by a history of the exhibition's development. Schaal's recently discovered photographs are the primary illustrations; they document both the exhibit space as well as behind-the-scenes shots of the models in costume fittings and the construction of the pavilion.

The book, while fascinating, does leave one wanting more; certainly other photographs and film clips documenting the pavilion exist, possibly also of its rehab in 1940 as "20,000 Legs Under the Sea" (!), which would have been interesting in addition to the Schaal photos. Schaffner also very briefly quotes contemporary descriptions of the pavilion, lengthier passages would have been nice. It seems she is focusing on newly-discovered material, but since so little of the old material is easily available, its inclusion would have been well-justified.

All in all, though, a beautifully produced volume on a rare melding of high art and carnival culture, the likes of which will undoubtedly never be seen again. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

The Russian-born artist Sonia Delaunay, who with her husband, Robert Delaunay, was a leading light of the Cubist splinter group Orphism, branched out after the First World War into a distinctive career of her own. Between 1920 and 1930, a decade full of activity and success, she produced some of the most striking and original fabric designs of modern times. She was the inventor of abstract design for fabrics, and her materials--brightly colored and filled with geometric patterns--were the rage among fashionable circles in the Art Deco era. Delaunay made imaginative waistcoats for Tristan Tzara, Louis Aragon, Ren Crevel, and other Surrealist poets. She dressed Gloria Swanson and various French film stars, the unconventional socialite Nancy Cunard, and the wife of the Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer. She also designed interiors in collaboration with the Paris architect Mallet-Stevens and created costumes for the early films of Marcel L'Herbier. Her fabrics were sold by Liberty's in London and many of the most exclusive department stores in New York. Jean Cocteau and Blaise Cendrars wrote about her fashion designs, and her decorative scarves are known to have had an influence on the work of Paul Klee. Jacques Damase, the French publisher and art historian, is intimately familiar with all of Delaunay's original designs and fabric samples. In many cases both the design and the sample still exist, and this is the first time most of them have been photographed. Damase has written an appreciation of Delaunay, and has also assembled a representative selection of writings by her contemporary admirers and critics. The result is a definitive record of this unusually talented artist's contribution to commercial design. These dazzling, exciting designs are artworks in themselves; the fact that they had a practical purpose makes them even more admirable. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

the painter of girl dancers
Degas was obsessed with painting girls naked from behind. No, he wasn't interested in obscene poses, but in drawing the backs and buttocks of women as they washed themselves or slept in bed. He also loved watching pretty girls dancing on stage. And he loved to paint them just as much, in rehearsal and in concert. Painting in the daytime, landscapes from nature in the great outdoors--none of that was for him. In fact, he found it impossible to paint anywhere except in his dim and dusty studio. He painted similar scenes as those of Toulouse-Lautrec, but in his own style. The older Degas treated Lautrec as a sort of disciple, with patronizing benevolence. But unlike Lautrec, he led a quiet, chase life and lived to a ripe old age.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

Degas
This is a great book for any Degas fan, the color plates are absolutely gorgeous!

great artist, less than great book
I love Degas, so don't get me wrong. For a book as big as it is, it's lacking. Way too much text at the expense of Degas wonderful work. It is a big book, why are there so few big reproductions in it. There could be more color images too. This would have been a great book had they made use of the size and done a better layout between text and image, as all books on artist should be. It also seems like they've left out a lot of good stuff the should have had room for. Overall, it just seems like not much thought went into the actual layout of the book.

I don't recommend it as a keeper book on Degas, however if you find a cheap copy, why not, it is Degas afterall and the reproductions do look decent.

The photoplates alone make this book well worth it!
This book is incredible! I stumbled upon it at a [local] book store and it was marked down to an incredible [price] so you can bet I snatched it right up. This book goes from his drafts up through wonderful color photoplates. It has a total history of Degas, his family etc. Wonderful! Buy this book!

i bet it's great
i have not had a chance to read this book. and i may never.. i don't have the money to buy it. But i love Degas.. i am 15 and am already way inot his art.. i think it is so incredible how captivated he was by balerinas. i wish more young people understood art as i do. becasuse there is so much more to it than just a pretty picture.. its a real feeling.Someday i hope to be as well known as he is. He is my inspiration. ... Read more

Book Description

Still life painter Janet Fish is noted for her dynamic oil paintings and watercolors, through which she "captures the beauty of everyday objects." She has won praise for her exuberant brushstrokes and dazzling composition, but it is the movement of light and color shimmering off bowls, glasses, bottles, cellophane, and other iridescent and reflective surfaces that gives her work its distinctive allure. This lovely volume is the only monograph now available on this renowned artist; a previous book on her paintings, published in the 1980s, is now a collector's item that sells for hundreds of dollars.

In this new, lavishly illustrated work, published with the cooperation of the artist, poet Vincent Katz combines brilliant prose with incisive art criticism to provide a stunning overview of this important artist's work. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

What can be said about Degas
This is one of my favorite Dover art books. It conatins a huge amount of drawings done by Degas. Some of which are hard to find in other books because they were taken from a private collection. If you love Degas, then you must purchase this book. It is excellent. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

His Study of Women vs. Himself
I was enjoying my book of de Kooning's work years ago, when I was painting in that same abstract expressionist style. I especially loved his "portraits" of women done within that style. I was showing them to hubby one night and he said, "The women look just like him. I think he was painting himself." Well, whose the artist in this household, huh? That was my first thought. My second was that, darn it all, hubby was right! As I went back through the paintings, I couldn't believe I'd missed seeing that. Just like writers, artists spend a lot of time doing autobiographical work, sometimes not even knowing they are doing so themselves. de kooning lived to a very old age and his work became simpler yet still in variations of his basic abstractionism. I think he was a marvelous painter and well worth studying but if you hate abstract expressionist art, he is not for you. There are a number of filmed documentaries, which show him painting in his studio, that I saw years ago. They are well worth chasing down as well for artists. He spent as much time looking at his paintings, studying them as they evolved, maybe even more time, which is a very natural thing for an artist to do once in the creative process. If you ever feel guilty for just staring and staring at your work before moving onto its next stage, de kooning can make you feel much better about yourself! ... Read more

Reviews (9)

dali in text and graphic
a beautifully sized book that contained excellent text about the painter's life and superb reproductions of his work in the book

Dali 1 Vol (2 volumes into one hardcover edition)
Being the owner of many books based on the works of Salvador Dali, which includes "Dali The Work, The Man", I admit to being somewhat skeptical about yet another "complete" edition; that it would probably have pretty much the same information and reproductions of his art as my other books. I now admit to being incorrect, because this is a well made edition with a truly fantastic bargain price. I have paid well over a hundred dollars for what I'd hoped was a book containing all of Dali's paintings with detailed biographical information, when I found that this is the book with all of that for around ($).
You will not be disappointed with this book and I think you'll agree that the quality is excellent, with a solid binding and beautiful reproductions of all of his paintings in chronological order. There are also a great deal of photographs (and paintings) that I've never seen before, and I thought I was a huge fan of Salvador Dali.
"Dali, The Work The Man" is also a very well-made book, which may be printed on a slightly heavier grade paper, at the most. However, the Taschen book is far more detailed and also excellent quality. "Dali, The Work The Man" costs ten times as much and only has half the content.
I truly thought there must have been some mistake when I ordered it.I still question the price as being far too low, so I advise you to hurry up and get this before the publisher realizes their huge mistake. Perhaps we are dealing with a publisher who really isn't greedy at all--that's my impression here.
I couldn't be happier with my purchase of this book and highly recommend it.

Comprehensive, but of inferior quality.
When I saw this well-priced Book which was originally published in two volumes, at higher cost with a slip cover, I had to have it. I am a collector of Dali Books and was hoping that this Book would be the Catalogue Raisonne of Dali's paintings I had been looking for for so long. In this respect the Book was no disappointment with a total of 1,648 illustrations, but a closer look at the book revealed some serious faults.

The worst fault by far is that the printing of the paintings is consistently too dark. Three examples: The blue colors of: "Myself at the age of Ten when I was a Grasshopper Child" (p.202) are much too dark. It is even worse with: "Ghost of Vermeer of Delft which can also be used as a Table" (p.222) Here the figure of Vermeer is in points indistinguishable from the backround and the sky is much too orange, instead of yellowish. The worst example is that of "The Last Supper" (p.488) where the apostles on the extreme left and right of the painting can barely be distinguished. There are many other examples of this. I made this comparison using several other books and exhibition catalogues, and have also seen the three paintings I mentioned as examples in person more than once.

A close examination also reveals that both paper and binding are not of high quality. I have a feeling this book will not stand the test of time. One way to tell a good Art Books when the paper is a higher weight. Judging from the paper, I have a feeling it will yellow in a few years. This is, incidentally, true for other Books that I own published by Taschen. Also, a book this heavy should really have a stronger binding.

Annoying also is that there is no alphabetic index of the paintings. Unless you know the year a painting was created, as they are in chronological order, there is no way to find it except by paging around.

Despite these complaints, I still like the Book because it includes paintings I have never seen before. If however, you want to see the paintings of Dali as they really look, get "Dali: The Work, the Man" instead. It suffers from none of the faults I have descibed, but is not as comprehensive. It's worth the extra money. In collecting Art Books I have found that higher quality Books stand the test of time.

Dali is DA MAN
This book is awesome! Dali is no doubt one of the greatest artists of the 20th century! Smoked some bud too no doubt!! hehe

My Dali Introduction
Dali is a great beginner's book to him. I love his art, but am not really a huge or knowledgeable art fan.

Chock full of pictures and a little history it was a great buy. No I know what the names of his art is and can start looking for his prints. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

FASCINATING BLEND OF BIOGRAPHY AND ART HISTORY
"Just as a well-filled day brings blessed sleep, so a well-employed life brings a blessed death." These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci, and according to the author, Serge Bramly, would have made the best epitaph for him. What is staggering about Leonardo is not just the volume of what filled his days, but the amazing range of pursuits that filled them. And this must pose a unique challenge to his biographers - a challenge Bramly rises to beautifully. As the title suggests, the primary focus of the book is on art. Bramly examines Leonardo's paintings from technical and aesthetic standpoints, as well as psychologically analyzing the paintings. He cites others who previously did such analysis, including Freud himself. The passages concerning the paintings are simply some of the most enjoyable art history I've read. What is most remarkable is that gradually an image of Leonardo the man emerges through his art. Leonardo's other pursuits (military engineer, city planner, architect, sculptor, anatomist, inventor, to name but some) are also of great interest of course. In these areas, Bramly devotes much space to examining the famous notebooks of Leonardo, and I can say that I have a much better understanding as to the significance and nature of these notebooks than before. The biographical details of Leonardo's life also prove to be quite entertaining. A virtual Who's Who of Renaissance Italy parades through his life, and Bramly gives us an idea of the sort of relationships Leonardo had with them as well as with his own family. Some of the terrain of Leonardo's life is difficult to traverse, his illegitimacy, his homosexuality, his failure to complete so much of what he started, and these issues are dealt with in a straightforward, honest fashion. Bramly's doesn't follow as strict a timeline as most biographies do; he skips around the years quite a bit. But I think this is necessary given Leonardo's wide range of pursuits. He never worked on just one project at a time, and the fact that Bramly follows these pursuits rather than a strict timeline makes the book more coherent than it would be otherwise. There are dozens of black & white illustrations throughout the book, as well as eight pages of color illustrations of some of his more notable paintings. I think that probably 4 pages should be added to the color illustrations. Among the paintings that should be, but are not, shown in color are the Mona Lisa, St. John the Baptist, and the Turin self-portrait. But that's a minor complaint (and one directed more at the publishers than the author). In short, this biography takes a mythical figure and shows him as a man; it takes the miracle of his paintings and other lifework and makes it comprehensible as being the work of that man. The resulting picture is that of a man whose life was more amazing and inspiring than any myth or miracle.

Good general biography of Da Vinci
Translated from the French (the translation is fairly well done and readable), this is a good general bio of Leonardo's life. A primer rather than an in depth artistic analysis, it's geared towards the general reader and it does a fine job at that.

Da Vinci's life is followed from his small town upbringing by a father who was a notary (in the European sense not the American) and hence held a status higher than the average peasant or townsman.

Serge Bramly attempts some psychoanalysis of Da Vinci and if there is a main weakness to the book in my opinion it is that. His explanation of art workshops in the Renaissance era is interesting and informative. To be commended is his description of Da Vinci's relationships with his workers, friends and family. But best of all is Bramly's explanation of the relationships between the nobility who financed his projects and Da Vinci.

An informative and enjoyable biography; Leonardo: The Artist and the Man is worth a read.

An Enthralling Book on Da Vinci
Normally I am not a fan of non-fiction books. Yet, this book somehow has managed to enthrall me in a way that no other non-fiction book ever has. This alone is the reason that I would recommend it to others. Then, the question of who I would recommend this book to must also be answered. In this case, I would say that I would recommend for a reading level of high school senior and beyond.
Overall, this was a very encapsulating book, covering numerous aspects of da Vinci's life. I throughly enjoyed the book and actually learned interesting information from it. I look forward to a time when I might be able to read it again to get even more information from it.

Only for Renaissance scholars...
I forced myself to finish this book before I reviewed it, and being through with it now, I feel as though I've learned very little. I had so many problems with this book, or rather the way of writing, mostly stemming from the completely pompous arrogance of the author, that this was a difficult read. In his defense, he is, in MOST things, very thorough. My main and overwhelming problem with this book was that the author was arrogant enough to believe that he could relay what Leonardo was (or as he sometimes put it "must have been") thinking or feeling. While I give Mr. Bramly credit as a man very much versed in his subject, in my opinion, that still gives him no right to use what I understood to be a faithful biography as a place to put forward his own views. Since he himself stresses that Leonardo's famous notebooks contain little to no personal thoughts or feelings, he has no basis for those statements and they are only his overconfident postulations. In the instances that there is a controversy over some area of Leonardo's life, the author is very good about stating that there is a dispute regarding the matter, but only puts forward his OWN opinion, and his reasons why he believes what he does, without explaining the opposite side of the matter. In this manner, he forces his thoughts on the reader without leaving them any choice in the matter. Sentences beginning with "I think" or "In my view" are not uncommon. He also makes certain assumptions about the reader, referring often to other artists' works with the assumption that the reader is as knowledgeable as he is about them. Also, he occasionally goes into great detail regarding a painting or drawing of Leonardo's, often drawing attention to coloring or texture, without ever showing it, though the book has many drawings and paintings throughout. The author is an undoubtedly intelligent, well-learned man, very erudite where Leonardo da Vinci is concerned, but entirely overbearing in his writing. Overall, unless you are well versed in the Renaissance artists and don't mind being pulled out of a book by the author's VIEWS, then I would HIGHLY suggest staying away from this one.

Educators - Note the training of a genius
The other reviewers of this work have provided a good idea of what to expect, so I will confine my comments to only one aspect of this biography, the one which I found the most informative and fascinating: The manner in which Leonardo was trained and educated. The greatest service Serge Bramly provides in this work is a full, three dimensional portrait of what "education" was all about in the Renaissance. What comes through quite clearly is that while Leonardo Da Vinci was certainly a possessor of that rare combination of brilliant intellect and tremendous talent, what he became - the person who remains in Western history the epitome of "genius" - was the result of how he was trained. The Northern Italy of Brunaleschi, Verrochio, Da Vinci, Rafael, Botticelli, Michelangelo, and so many others was no historical accident. They were educated and trained in such a comprehensive manner that they realized that all knowledge was not only useful, but that it all related - and was therefore interesting.

Bramly postulates that when the very young Leonardo first came to Verrochio's workshop, the first thing he saw was the master working on a problem that required a knowledge of mathematics, geometry, engineering and physics: The design and construction of an over six foot diameter bronze sphere with cross on top, weighing over a ton, which had to be transported from its place of casting and construction to the principal cathedral of Florence, lifted over 250 feet in the air, attached to the top of "Il Duomo" and secured in such a manner that it would never topple even when buffeted by the strongest storm winds. As Bramly aptly points out, there was no such thing as "art for arts' sake" back then, the concept never even having occurred to these artists because they would have considered it absurd. The same as any scientist or engineer of the day would never have dreamed of a life or world without art. All knowledge and all skills related to one another.

When Leonardo learned to draw and paint, he had to learn how to create pencils and brushes from scratch, to find and understand the properties of the raw materials from which to grind the pigments for his paints, how to work with wood and cloth so as to create a canvass. Those things alone involve the fields of geology, physics, biology (the various types of animal hairs suitable for brushes), carpentry +. The composition of his works required an in depth study of geometry, trigonometry and some degree of calculus; the faithful execution of living subjects a knowledge of anatomy and the physics of light. Each thing lead to another, and Da Vinci followed all of these paths of scientific and artistic discovery - which for him and others of his day were one and the same. This hands-on type of training in all things relevant to his trade - which meant just about all things - is what lead Da Vinci to be interested in so many diverse fields of study. The more dots he connected, the more dots he discovered that needed connecting.

All of this stands in stark contrast to how we educate people today: On career paths to ever more finite fields of specialization, excluding and discarding anything and everything that does not relate to that narrow path. The vast majority of dots are excluded, so it is no wonder why so few people know how to connect them.

So read and imbibe the training of this genius and his contemporaries. Then compare, for example, what Alan Blum said in his provocative and controversial "Closing of the American Mind;" John Ralston Saul's take on our age of the enshrinement of the idiot-savant in "Voltaire's Bastards;" or Robert Hughes' short, enjoyable but nevertheless stinging critique of our times in "Culture of Complaint." Then also consider that in the eighteenth century in the English colonies of North America there existed more or less contemporaneously a Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison and so many others. Like with North Italy during the Renaissance, it was no historical accident. If you sat at the dinner table of any of these men, it would be not just normal but expected for you to converse intelligently on topics as diverse as politics, philosophy, economics, history, agriculture, horticulture, architecture, physics, biology, botany. And to recite a few memorized poems, create puns, match wits, play a musical instrument and perhaps compose a piece or two for entertainment. Their training, likewise, was one which taught that all knowledge was important, interrelated and was interesting.

In sum, in my mind Bramly's greatest achievement in this work was to show that Da Vinci's don't just fall out of the sky. They are taught, and they are taught and trained in a very broad, inclusive manner. Would that we could return to the basics of that type of education instead of the super-specialist who excludes all else. Da Vinci's type brought us the wonders of the Renaissance. Our "modern" methodology has brought us the type of individual whose arrogance is inversely proportional to the narrowness of his knowledge, the kind who create meticulously planned and detailed exercises that inevitably become disasters, like Viet Nam, Serbia's "ethnic cleansing" and today's Iraq. Devote an individual's education to a particular species of tree and he'll want to cut down all the others to get to the one he knows the most about. But teach people about forests, and they'll be interested in all the trees - and see how each is important in its own right as well as its importance to the whole. ... Read more

Book Description

Lee Johnson's catalogue raisonne of Delacroix's paintings, published in three installments of two volumes each from 1981 to 1989, has become the point of reference for all subsequent Delacroix scholarship. The Fourth Supplement takes into account the numerous findings that have emerged since the Third Supplement was published in 1993. ... Read more

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Richard Diebenkorn is an expanded edition of Gerald Nordland's authoritative study of the painter, first published in 1987 and now reissued by Rizzoli, a leading publisher of fine-art books. Diebenkorn, who died in 1993, long ago entered the pantheon of great modernist artists. He was an early abstract expressionist, then went through a less successful stage of figural painting. Abruptly changing direction in the late 1960s, he rediscovered abstraction in an extraordinary series of grandly conceived paintings titled "Ocean Park," produced over a span of nearly 20 years. With strong vertical and diagonal constructions serving as structure for large areas of fresh, lyrical color, the elegant juxtapositions and satisfying geometry of "Ocean Park" make it his masterpiece; almost half this oversize book is devoted to the series. Nordland's descriptions and analyses of the paintings, based on 40 years' study of Diebenkorn's life and work, guide the reader to a deeper understanding of the painter's intentions and achievements. The text is clear, straightforward, and largely convincing, though there is surprisingly little comparative material by other artists. Graceful, understated design that complements the paintings, and extremely sensitive color reproduction, make the book itself aesthetically satisfying and a pleasure to look at. This new edition of Richard Diebenkorn maintains the book's status as the definitive study of one of America's most influential 20th-century artists. --John Stevenson ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A BIOGRAPHY WITH HIGH QUALITY DIEBENKORN COLOR REPRODUCTIONS
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Richard Diebenkorn is quickly gaining stature as one of world's great painters of the 20th century. This excellent book by Gerald Nordland contains an informative, though limited, biography on the life and career of the artist. Included are many exceptional reproductions of his consistently high quality work.

A wonderfullly versatile painter, Diebenkorn was a bit of a maverick in that he refused to allow himself to be limited by the type of work he pursued, being equally at home with figurative, landscape and abstract work. He refused to allow himself to fall into a mold and held to the belief that the work of an artist should be difficult and full of problems needing solution. This he did throughout his long and productive career, concentrating on different goals at various times.

Being somewhat isolated due to his west coast location, he managed to maintain a sense of freshness unique to himself and his lesser regional colleagues. This enabled him to avoid elitist and other constrictive restraints existing for those in the east. For example, Diebenkorn's abstract work - which reached a pinnacle in his Ocean Park Series - can be classified as Abstract Expressionism, but he really never was part of the crowd which included Pollock, Newman, Rothko, Still, De Kooning, Kline, et al. As a matter of fact, there is evidence supporting the claim that Diebenkorn conciously shunned this prospect. Several times in his career he was presented with opportunities to migrate to the east coast, but he always declined.

The greatly-sensitive, emotional and colorist proclivities which his paintings possess speak to his great love and affinity for the works of Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Matisse and other expressionist painters. This is where his study and great love of art drew from. So in some ways, his counterparts in the eastern U.S. and he arrived at similar ends, but by quite different means.

There is another good book out on Richard Diebenkorn entitled THE ART OF RICHARD DIEBENKORN by Jane Livingston which I recommend along with this one. Livingston's book is slightly superior in its narrative content, but this book, Nordland's, is superior by way of quantity and quality of reproductions of the artist's work (just my opinion). Both are 5 star books.

Skim the text, look at the reproductions
There's a lot of unnecessary verbiage in this volume. Much of the text is devoted to paragraphs describing Diebenkorn's paintings, along the lines of "Patches of strong, clear colors are linked in the lower half of the canvas" or "The off-centered vase of poppies leans slightly to the right". All of this is unnecessary-I can see all of this for myself in the reproductions in the book, as can any reader-the author is not calling attention to small but telling details which might be overlooked and making an insightful analysis about them, but is rather stating the obvious. In fact there is almost a complete absence of in-depth analysis or criticism.

Like many artists, Diebenkorn's life was largely uneventful, consisting rather of the steady routine of the daily journey to the studio, the patient (or sometimes impatient) hours of work, the occasional studio visits by fellow artists (in this case fellow Bay Area figurative painters David Park and Elmer Bischoff) and the return home until the pattern is repeated the next day. The most significant episodes in Diebenkorn's biography consisted of geographical relocations-from his native Bay area to New Mexico and Illinois, a brief sojourn in New York, and his return to California. Each environment had a significant impact on Diebenkorn's painting style. There's a lack of in-depth analysis but again, much padding to little effect. While third-party sources are quoted, I was left wanting more information about what those studio conversations entailed. I wanted a more in-depth analysis of the effects of environment on painting style. Discussion of figurative painting in the context of Abstract Expressionism is a missed opportunity. What this monograph requires is fewer generalities, more succinct editing, and more analysis.

So skim the text, and skip the painting descriptions, in order to get an outline of Diebenkorn's life and the general progress of his painting, and then sit back and enjoy the large, well-done reproductions of his work. Diebenkorn's opus can be divided into three periods and all are well documented. The paintings, after all, are what matters.

Impresssive accounting of the artist and his work.
A thorough accounting of the artist and his life. Lovely collection in full color plates of the different phases of his works. Although the represented works are not a complete collection they are well worth the price of the book.

Anyone reading this book will walk away with a good understanding and visual memory of what the artist gave the art world. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Just gives us what we need, and that's good
M.C. Escher is one of those artists that editors and art critics can't help but spew nonsense about. Taschen's collection of Escher's work is remarkably sparse on editorializing and allows the works to do what they have always done best: draw the viewer into the magical and hypnotic realm of M.C. Escher. The prints are extremely crisp and thoughtfully arranged, unlike other collections that throw works together in a hodge-podge fashion.

No other artist of the 20th century has had such wide approval and acclaim as M.C. Escher, and this slim volume perfectly expresses why that is so without resorting to pages upon pages of discussions on deconstruction, reality vs. illusion or image vs. icon, and all the other blah-blah-blah that you'll find in other collections. This collection just allows you to turn the pages and enjoy, which I did and you will too.

Eschers Graphic Work
Just as the title suggests this book contains The Graphic Work of M.C. Escher. In the beginning of the book there are short descriptional insights about each of the pieces. The rest is filled with Eschers work. If you're an artist and need inspiration or like Eschers work this is a great book. Out of about 90 pages, 70 contain full page prints of Eschers work.

Escher Is the World's Greatest
The copies of the prints in this calendar are magnificent. The detail and artistry that escher puts into his works is the most beautiful I have ever seen. Escher is the greatest artist of all time. I recommend this to everyone. ... Read more

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The warm colors and familiar icons in the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico are deceptively soothing. The varying lines of perspective, blurring of indoor and outdoor space, and the coupling of ancient images with turn-of-the-century industry are both vaguely familiar and certainly disconcerting, evocative of being lost in a city or wandering through a stranger's home. Vacant plazas, shadowy arcades, and lonely statues are the eerie edges of dreams that are lost in the morning. Even de Chirico's most standard still lifes are ambient and consuming.

De Chirico's complete early work, that of his "metaphysical period," is gathered in this generously sized volume from Bulfinch Press. The work from museums and private collections from around the world illustrates critical exposition as well as exhaustive documentation (three pages of notes for a 20-page chapter) of de Chirico's training and production. The catalog overflows with color entries and black-and-white supplementary illustrations of family, friends, places, influential works, and drawing studies that contributed to the evolution of the painter and his masterpieces. The book's author, Paolo Baldacci, writes in his introduction that "practically all of the paintings executed from 1908-09 to the summer of 1914 are fundamental for understanding the various phases of de Chirico's aesthetic development. The works of these crucial years, rich in symbolism and dense with thought, cast in pictorial form a vast conception of the world, of life, and of art drawn from de Chirico's intensive reading of Nietzsche, Leopardi, Schopenhauer, and Heraclitus." --Manine Golden ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Brilliant treatment of the the artist
This book is on the highest level of scholarship and aesthetic criticism, bringing together many facets of art, philosophy and literature that gave birth to de Chirico's great works. Paolo Baldacci is a brilliant and erudite writer and an expert on this important, original artist. I am very disappointed that this excellent work is now out of print. The reproductions are of the highest quality as well, and this is a book that should be on the shelf of everyone interested in surrealism.

poorly organized + written
excellent photos.

a fascinating period, the pre-surrealist era. not much has been
published about de chirico's brother, alberto savinio, musician, poet, and painter, who contributed more to de chirico's development than commonly known.

unfortunately this book is marred by poor organization and writing. after developing interesting thoughts, baldacci then admits that there is not evidence to support his suppositions..."probably", "if", "doubtless", "we can even imagine", and so on. i've read better papers by undergraduates. better writers would summarize where baldacci chooses to drag in long, diffuse quotations.

baldacci is fascinated by unknowns about de chirico. much about the past may remain unknown, a fact of life.

The Mindscapes of de Chirico
True surrealism is the most profound form of art because it tackles the absurdities and contradictions of our modern world and helps us to work them out through our Subconsciousness and dreams. The first time I saw an exhibition of de Chirico's works, I had extremely vivid and memorable dreams for a week after and felt "cured."

But like any religion that can deeply touch people, Surrealism, once it became famous also attracted its fair share of quacks and charlatans. This is why de Chirico is so important: In the same way that Patti Smith was 'punk' before Punk Rock was officially invented, de Chirico was a surrealist before the Surrealist Movement took conscious shape with Andre Breton's shrill "Manifesto of Surrealism" in 1924. De Chirico didn't jump on the bandwagon. He was pulling it!

This worthy but pricey (therefore minus a couple of stars) book focuses on this early period when de Chirico was happily pursuing his own path into the twilight, undisturbed by the excessive fuss that the Surrealist movement and its showmen, like Dali, later whipped up.

Paintings like "The Endless Voyage" (1914) show a jarring clutter of objects setting up intangible lines of tension, often with humorous results. In effect, his art works like the human brain, abstracting images and objects from their natural context and relocating them to the landscape of the mind and memory.

Setting the stage with his deserted cityscapes painted with sharp contrasts of light and shadow, distorted perspectives, and a blurring of the border between interior and exterior, de Chirico evokes a haunting, ominous, but strangely relaxing dream world. This deep psychological aspect of his paintings has him constantly reinterpreting themes, leading to recurrent motifs. In these early paintings lavishly reproduced in this massive tome, he constantly uses statues as focal points, later replaced by his trademark faceless mannequins. Other mysterious objects further increase the element of enigma.

De Chirico was a surrealist more by accident than design and his work relied less heavily on overt humor and shock than the more famous surrealists who followed him, like Dali and Magritte. De Chirico's focus was always on beauty and the creation of moods through an appeal to a deeper psychological language. For this reason, while much surrealist work has dated like an old joke, Chirico's art is still as fresh as ever.

A delight for de Chirico enthusiasts.
More than its many full-color and good-sized reproductions of the great artist's best paintings, this book also offers much fascinating text to illuminate the many influences that shaped the life and work of this supreme creator of enigmatic clarities. ... Read more