Reviews (2)

The most beautiful way to see the impossible becoming real¿
I really have no words to describe the feelings that the work of Escher awakes in me. It's like watching your dreams printed in a paper. This is what this book is about. 76 dreams put into paper. I can really spend hours watching every detail in the drawings. Then you can let some time pass and watch it again and find something different. It's great also to know Escher's thoughts on his work. You can then understand more that little reptile crawling out of the paper. I recommend this book if you want to know what is Escher's work about and also have the chance to admire his work in full page.

Great book, really worth the money.

Amazing!!!!!
This book was amazing- I was just dying to know more about this wondersul artist. The book illustrates the workings of a genius's mind. ... Read more

Book Description

Caroline Blackwood was born into the Guinness family in 1931, the daughter of the Fourth Marquess and Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava.Brought up on the ancestral estate in Northern Ireland, Blackwood moved easily among the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, the Soho bohemians of postwar England, and the liberal intelligentsia of 1960s New York.She was on intimate terms with some of the most celebrated artists and writers of her time.An unpredictable beauty known for her wit and her courage, she has been called a muse to genius.But her marriages to three brilliant men: the painter Lucian Freud, the composer Israel Citkowitz,
and the poet Robert Lowell were as troubled as they were inspiring.

During her marriage to Lucian Freud, Caroline became part of an artistic and literary group that included Francis Bacon and Cyril Connolly who was infatuated with her but eventually Freud's gambling caused irrevocable problems between them. Caroline was also in the grips of her own unfolding tragedy: a fatal attraction to alcohol that would plague the rest of her life.

Upon the breakup of her first marriage, she moved to America , where she met her second and third husbands.Once regarded as the obvious successor to Aaron Copland, Israel Citkowitz had stopped composing long before he met Caroline.While he and Caroline had three children together, it was her subsequent seven year marriage to Robert Lowell that she considered her "main marriage."Her life with Lowell was probably the most difficult time of her life as she dealt with his increasingly frequent and worsening attacks of mania.And to Lowell she was not only an inspiration but_as he described in his Pulitzer-prize- winning book of verse The Dolphin, she was also "a mermaid who dines upon the bones of her winded lovers." In 1977, Robert Lowell fled London to return to his former wife Elizabeth Hardwick. He died from a heart attack in the backseat of a taxi, clutching Girl in Bed, Lucian Freud's haunting portrait of Caroline.

Blackwood was an artist in her own right.Her literary talents were dark and satiric; her ten books of fiction and nonfiction betrayed an extraordinary eye for human physiognomy, attire, and behavior.Arguably her best book, Great Granny Webster described the comic terrors of her upbringing in Northern Ireland, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She herself died of cancer on Valentine's Day 1996, at the age of sixty-four.

Dangerous Muse is the first biography of Lady Caroline Blackwood.Drawing upon numerous interviews and unpublished letters from Blackwood's mother, Maureen Dufferin, and friends and family, including Andrew Harvey, Jonathan Raban, John Richardson, and Caroline's sister Perdita Blackwood, Nancy Schoenberger eloquently captures one of the most original and provocative figures in contemporary letters of the twentieth century.

... Read more

Reviews (9)

Disappointment!
I was quite disappointed in this book. The writing is good, but seems mostly about people other than Caroline. There is little depth or insight to Schoenberger's portrait of her. We don't know much about who Caroline is, what she thinks, and the deeper motives behind her behaviour. About a fourth of the way through the book, I found myself paging ahead in the hope of discovering her.

Great, except for one area
I have to admit that when I first began reading this biography of Lady Caroline, it did not immediately enthrall me the way I thought it might, after having read the book's description. The first chapter or so deals almost exclusively with her family's history, and I found the endless names and descriptions of the different people boring. *However* as I began to read forward, I found myself fascinated with the sort of wit and charm Caroline Blackwood posessed (as is evident with her writings) The little excerpts from her fiction and non-fiction works scattered throughout the length of the biography were very important, as I think they fit perfectly with what Miss Schoenberger had been describing within Caroline's life. They provided a lot of insight into what was happening in her life, in an almost poetical manner. There is no doubt that the author has a strong talent for writing, but I think the fact that different members of Caroline Blackwood's family refused to contribute hurt Nancy Schoenberger's effort for a deeper story. All in all, by the end of the book, I definitely wanted more to read. The author's fluid style of writing fit the subject matter well and it wasn't repetitive or dull by any means. I was however, disappointed with one aspect of the novel, and that is why wasn't more written about the development as Lady Caroline as a writer? I've read a few of her books, and she is obviously extremely talented in the area of psychological prose...there was more emphasis put on Caroline Blackwood's relationships than what was really the most fascinating thing about her, and that was her ability to so vividly and acutely write a novel of the psychological aspect...that was her true genius, not the fact that she was beautiful and had famous husbands. Too bad that wasn't put across, and that that's what Caroline will be remembered for, instead of what she *should*. Nevertheless a great biography by Nancy Schoenberger, given what she had to work with.

Another Legendary Beauty/Muse Story
This is a very romanticized viewpoint of Lady Caroline's troubled life but it was so well written and readable that it was impossible to put down. Like most of these type of lengends, Lillie Langtry comes to mind, she was famous mostly for who she bedded and who she knew. BUT, there is MORE. Like Langtry, Lady Blackwood inspired whomever she came in contact with. Some woman just have that persona and I don't feel it is fair to overlook that part of their history. Once again, we put all the blame on the woman and forget that the MEN also had a say in their attachments to her lure. Her beauty was more an entire package rather than the classic sense of beauty, per se. I highly recommend this book to all Langtry fans and the woman who are interested in these types of tastemakers.

Reads like a gothic fairy tale
I agree with many of the criticisms of this book, and I thought it was a scream that Caroline was continually described as one of the great beauties of her day. If she was, the photos in the book do not do that statement any justice. (...) The description of her as a great beauty appears to be more fiction/legend than fact. (...)I was disappointed that the parallels between Caroline's alcohol/drug abuse and the tragedies and traumas in her life were never made.

Although the book was written from an extremely biased, romanticized point of view, I thought it was extremely well written and enjoyed reading it very much. For me, it had incredible entertainment value and had a similar appeal that a gothic Anne Rice story or a trashy Hollywood Jackie Collins novel might have. The book had incredible appeal as a sociopolitical commentary. (...) So for that expose alone and for writing in such a way that kept me engrossed in Caroline's story, I tip my hat off to Shoenberger and give this book a four star rating.

A paradoxical and beguiling figure,
Lady Caroline is extremely charming and repugnant at once, to this reader. Like another reviewer, I found the book to be impossible to put down, and I read almost straight through, until I was done. Beautiful, high-born, and slovenly, a constant smoker of cigarettes and a night-and-day-long consumer of vodka, Lady Caroline Blackwood nonetheless marries both a well known painter and America's leading poet of her time. She never stops attracting famous, wealthy men. Nancy Schoenberger peels off layer after layer to reveal both Lady Caroline and her aristocratic and wealthy set of friends and relations. I thought hard about those jet set and well born, many of them famous, friends of hers, as I read, and it occurred to me to think that they were blessed with money and talent and free time and fame, while the rest of us are even more blessed in that we have been given the work ethic, common sense, and bills to pay. The book inspires such thoughts and comparisons, whether or not they are on the money. I enjoyed it hugely. ... Read more

Book Description

This Goofy Life of Constant Mourning is the sincere title of a long visual poem by artist Jim Dine. The result of years of photographing poems after he has written them on walls and objects, it presents a symbiotic marriage of three very personal elements: his photographs, his handwriting, and his words. While unique in and of itself, this particular body of work is in keeping with Dine's greater oeuvre, a multi-disciplinary enterprise in which the artist seeks to access his unconscious. Regardless of which media Dine is working in, he maintains a familiar but ever-expanding repertory of images: tools, hearts and a torso of Venus, plus the more recent iconography of crows, skulls, a Pinocchio doll, and an odd-couple ape and cat. As with his paintings, sculptures and graphic work, for which he is better known, Dine seeks to record his physical and emotional presence concretely, not gesturally. The camera is but one of the many tools he has at his disposal for making such pictures. Though he has been making art for over four decades, producing paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, as well as performance works, stage and book designs, poetry and even music, Dine has only been working with photography since 1996.

Clothbound, 8.5 x 9.75 in./296 pgs / 181 color. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Comical, obsessive, paranoid, ironic, and brilliant.
In the first section, this book is the best set of personal memoirs I have ever read, surpassing even Robert Graves' "Goodbye to All That". De Chirico could have been a great novelist, had he chosen that path. His descriptions of a childhood in Greece are unforgettable.

But his novel "Hebdomeros" was also a beautiful piece of writing. It's interesting that three major painters associated with surrealism, De Chirico, Dali and Magritte, were also great writers. (De Chirico would hate to be associated with surrealism, but like it or not - he's their Daddy.)

I'm disappointed in part II of the memoirs. I'm also disappointed in what de Chirico does not tell us in part I. He barely touches on his relationship with Apollinaire, wherein the poet would give titles to some of de Chirico's paintings. He doesn't mention his thoughts on learning of Apollinaire's death. He doesn't tell us which paintings he titled, and which were given names by Apollinaire.

On one page, Paul Eluard had good enough taste to purchase his paintings, and thus was not beyond redemption. Yet on the very next page, Eluard was an onanist and a mystical cretin. What happened in a few paragraphs to change his opinion of the man? De Chirico doesn't tell us, except to blame the corruption of Eluard on Andre Breton.

Many details important to students of the era were not even mentioned. Isabella Far is written about at length. Yet de Chirico does not even mention his wedding to her. They are companions for decades and suddenly, he refers to her as his wife. Duh? When did you get married? Where were you? What was the wedding like? Somebody correct me if I overlooked something.

He outlived almost all of his enemies, (and according to de Chirico, his enemies were more numerous than the stars in the sky). He outlived almost all of the surrealists. What did he think when learning of the deaths of Eluard or Breton? What was his opinion of Magritte, to whom he had once written a friendly thank you note? What was it Magritte had written to him?

Unfortunately, details like this are not to be found. Instead, we get an enemies list of Italian critics and modernist painters, whose names most readers in the English-speaking world will not recognize.

Even so, the character revealed in these memoirs is unique. He's obsessive, paranoid, romantic, imperious to the modern world, and at times comical. But he is always guided by a stubborn integrity and a search for what he called "mystery and poetry".

Yet, he is involved in such comical episodes. He's been accused of forging his early paintings and selling them. He's accused of denouncing some of his genuine early paintings as forgeries because he was jealous of the high prices they were drawing. His later work could not command such high prices. Even stranger and more ironic, he's accused of forging his own paintings and then denouncing his forgeries as forgeries!

Despite these absurd adventures, no painter ever left a body of work that was more replete with mystery. No painter was ever more poetic. Rene Magritte credits de Chirico with teaching him that the supreme art was poetry, and that a painter at his best, could be a poet with his brush and canvas.

More than any 20th Century painter, de Chirico's greatest paintings were like that. They were poems, songs of love. And they will haunt generations to come, long after Picasso, Matisse, and Monet have been forgotten. At their best, these memoirs are a haunting, unforgettable poem.

Autobiography of genius (in both senses)
De Chirico, historically the first (small s) surrealist (even the Surrealists admit this) was exalted as a visionary for his earliest paintings, then conveniently vilified by his followers (led by the despicable Andre Breton) when he radically changed his style. The bitterness and frustration of this situation (and it was a long frustration -- De Chirco lived well into his nineties) is very much to the fore in this remarkable book. The mysterious qualities of his painting, too, are much in evidence, and great care is lavished on seemingly trivial incidents whose significance is left very much to the reader's own cogitations. Unforgettable are such passages as his defense of "maisons closes" (whorehouses) as decent workplaces, his memories of the Dalcroze-inspired Braun sisters, and the strange juxtaposition of his being required as a boy to kiss a priest's hand with the frustration of having always to refuse his barbers' offers of a rubdown. Not a book for everyone, surely, but for those seeking to unravel one of the great enigmas of 20th century art, essential. Footnote: De Chirico's status as a painter is currently going through a fascinating process of re-evaluation, and the "new" case for De Chirico is perhaps most eloquently put forth in a beautifully produced catalogue from Hunter College and the Fondazione Giorgio e Isa DeChirico in Rome, titled "Giorgio De Chirico and America," filled with superb reproductions, documentary photographs and stimulating essays. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In 1926 Walker Evans dropped out of Williams College and arrived in Paris to launch his career as a writer. Though his life there revolved around the renowned Shakespeare and Company bookstore, a mixture of introversion and disdain for American culture kept him at a remove from the now famous expatriate circle of the era, the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, the Murphys, and Joyce among them. He spent most of his time abroad alone and picked up his camera from time to time to document his immediate world, making images of his boarding room and his own shadow against a wall. When he returned to the States, Evans began to dedicate more time to his hobby, and by the end of his long career had established himself as one of the most important modernist photographers. Walker Evans, the catalog to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's retrospective of Evans's work (exhibiting February to May 2000, then moving on to other venues), is proof that his choice to abandon writing for photography left the cultural world richer. It is also arguably the best book available on the photographer and his images.

The Metropolitan possesses the bulk of Evans's archive of prints, negatives, diaries, working notes, letters, and other writings. In the process of planning the show, its curators discovered hundreds of previously unknown negatives stored at the Library of Congress. From this vast source, they constructed the show and its companion book. The catalog's introductory essays by such writers as Maria Morris Hambourg, head of photography for the Met, sketch the biographical details of Evans's life and explore works like his New York subway portraits in depth. But the real treat is to browse the nearly 200 plates, each reproduced from vintage prints in the museum's archive and private collections. Evans's early work focused on New York City--the proverbial bright lights of Broadway, the carnival atmosphere of Coney Island, the clutter of workers and shoppers and cars and advertisements in its streets. Soon he fanned out, photographing main drags and battered buildings in upstate New York and Pennsylvania. He also explored the people of Havana, Cuba, and the rural American South in some of his best-known work. By the mid-1970s, Evans was working in color, but his imagery remained consistent: signs, architecture, and seemingly inconsequential details like a Peg-Board full of kitchen utensils dominate. Arriving at the close of this book, readers can only thank the fates that Evans gave up his ambitions as a writer to devote himself wholly to his "left-handed hobby" of photography. --Jordana Moskowitz ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A delightful book.
This first full-length study of Walker Evans offers insights into his artistry and a fresh look at every state of his career.

A beautiful book
Walker Evans' photography rates amongst the best. His ability to capture a scene of everyday life and extract from it the beauty often overlooked by others is remarkable. The skill displayed in taking these photographs demonstrates why he has earned an enduring reputation as a master photographer. An inspirational must have for amateurs and professionals alike. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

An essential classic in Durer studies
While Panofsky may seem indigestible to some - this is not a book for the "general reader" - this book remains essential material for anyone researching any aspect of Durer's career. It is written in more accessible prose than some of Panofsky's other works, since he concentrates more on straight monographic information than on deep interpretation.

The book takes us through Durer's career in chronological order. It is easy to look up specific works and their contexts (there are handy indices as well). It's comprehensiveness makes it a really useful book to have on hand. All Durer studies after this one necessarily make reference to what Panofsky said.

As a monograph this is, hence, extremely succesful. It is also a product of its time and of Panofsky's method. Newer studies, such as Joseph Koerner's "The Moment of self-portraiture in german renaissance art", probe deeper into some of the themes about which the reader may be left wondering upon reading Panofsky.

Durer is arguably THE most important artist of the German Renaissance; Panosfky the most important art historian of our time. Read the book!

Unen-Durer-able
Erwin Panofsky was one of the founders of modern art criticism and a very learned man who wrote many books on such abtruse subjects as the difference between iconography and iconology with all the seriousness of a central European academic.

This lavishly illustrated work on the great German Renaissance painter and print-maker, Albrecht Durer (1471 - 1528), starts with a reasonably good introduction, mentioning the differing historical views on Durer, such as the belief common among 19th-century German Romanticists that he was a meek and pious soul wholly devoted to the interpretation of Christian subjects and contented with a quiet and dependent life.

This picture of a pedantic, conservative craftsman is countered by a suggestion that there might have been a Faustian element in Durer's nature, typified by a restless craving for a perfection never to be attained and an acute awareness of irresolvable artistic problems.

Unfortunately, this lively opening is not lived up to. Panofsky's treatment of the biographical details of Durer's life - including the revelationn that he was unhappily married - leads to a long, shapeless, rambling account, governed more by the intricate chronology of Durer's artistic production than any profound sense of the man himself.

There is no denying Panofsky's erudition. He definitely has all the colors on his mental palette. But like a bad painter he mixes all the hues together in a messy attempt to show off how vast and detailed his knowledge is. An intrinsically fascinating subject is thus rendered increasingly murky and morass-like by Panofsky's inability to make clear points or structure the rich detail of his knowledge. This work is the classic example of a book written by an academic with his nose too deeply buried in his subject. A strong editor would have been a godsend.

Definitive
This is surely the definitive book on German renaissance artist Albrecht Durer (still justly famous in this century for his engravings "Knight, Death and the Devil," which a baby-boomer friend had as a poster on his wall, and "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"). The collection of reproductions of Durer's work, and that of contemporaries that influenced him, is extraordinary, taking up much of the volume's rather sizable girth. My only significant complaint is that I wish there had been at least a few color reproductions. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

short...very short review
said to be a good book by one critic ... Read more

Amazon.com

Readers who've already encountered Christopher Benfey's mesmerizing reverie about race, class, and the Degas family in Civil War-era New Orleans, Degas in New Orleans: Encounters in the Creole World of Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable, may find some of the written material in this large art book repetitive. But the visual accompaniments to the fascinating story of Edgar Degas's New Orleans connections and the time he spent visiting that unique city in the early 1870s are all here. Readers will find an attic's worth of old mail and family photographs, as well as the sketches, drawings, portraits, and scenes Degas painted both while he was there and after he returned to Paris. The Degas family tale contains all the high drama of squandered fortunes, unpaid debts, wartime disarray, hardening racism, marital abandonment, blindness, death, divorce, and disgrace, now publicly aired in hundreds of letters and some old photographs that unwittingly reveal the sometimes pitiful effects of upper-crust insularity and inbreeding.

A caveat: all this may ultimately prove equally interesting to social historians as to art lovers. This big coffee-table book promises more visual treats than it ultimately delivers. There are some paintings of the New Orleans cotton exchange that are an important part of Degas's oeuvre and many portraits that are also well known, and the author's careful placement of these works into the context of their times and Degas's career is invaluable for art historians. But the family memorabilia that enriched the exhibition this book catalogs doesn't provide the kind of pictorial richness that made another thought-provoking Degas book, Richard Kendall's astonishing Degas and the Little Dancer, so satisfying on every level--ideally melding sumptuous imagery with enlightenment. More art, one murmurs; less life. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Book Description

This volume, one in a series of lavishly illustrated paperback books on major artists and their works, tells the story of Durer. From a look at the artist's life and times, to the historical and social context in which he worked, to an analysis of his masterpieces, this is a vital visual resource with more than 300 superb full-color illustrations. The fact-based text is aimed at the general reader, and makes the series perfect for art-history students and art lovers of all ages. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Book
This Phaidon Durer book is probably, for the price, by far the best comprehensive introduction to the life and works of Durer.It is also one of the best books on Durer in absolute terms.The photographicreproductions vividly bring out the color and sharpness of the dozens ofkey Durer paintings illustrated in the volume.The photographs show thatthere is simply no substitute for an up-to-date book utilizing modernphotographic reproduction/printing techniques to reproduce paintings.Ihave looked at several older books in librarys with color reproductions ofDurer works, and this newer Phaidon book has much better quality colorreproductions.It also has examples of key Durer drawings, such as"Praying Hands," and "Architect," as well asgood-quality reproductions of the three classic Durer engravings("Melancolia I," "Knight, Death and the Devil," and"St. Germone in his Study") and beautiful, crisp and brilliantlycolored reproductions of several key Durer watercolors, including theclassics "Hare" and "Great Turf," as well as keylandscape watercolors.Of particular interest are the reproductions of the3 classic self-portraits, of which the one Durer did at age 28 was sofascinating that it alone made me buy this book and is alone worth theprice of the book.Another fascinating painting is the one that Durer madeof Wolgemut, who was his mentor and who taught him how to paint.It isstartlingly brilliantly colored, and has amazing color depth for aphotographic reproduction of a painting.This book shows how Durer maywell have been the greatest graphical artist of the Western World, and onegets a sense of his amazingly modern personality from the selections inthis book and the quality of their detail.It is hard to believe that aman as modern-thinking and scientific as Durer lived 500 years ago.

You'll Adore Durer!
This book was a very pleasant addition to my art library. I never saw it in a bookstore, so I was hesitant to buy it when I saw how little it cost and how small it was. But, I didn't know anything about Durer and wanted tolearn and I figured I'd take a chance on this book. Good decision! Thisbook is well put together and a tremendous bargain to boot. The book startsoff with about a 25 page, obviously brief, biography by Mr. Bailey ofDurer. Then there are 48 full page color plates with descriptions andexplanations of the paintings on the opposing pages. The reproductions areof good quality and the descriptions are well written and informative. Anyof you out there who own a lot of art books know what 48 color platesusually does to the price of an art book, so "Durer" is really asteal. After you see this book you will realize what a great all-aroundartist Durer was. He wasn't only a painter of religious scenes but anequally talented landscape and portrait painter. (Some of the portraits arejust fantastic!) He also did some beautiful nature studies. Included are 2paintings he did of a hare and of the wings of a bird that will just knockyour socks off (assuming you wear socks!). He worked well in all mediums.The watercolors are as beautiful as the oils. Phaidon has a whole series ofthese books in their "colour library" and this book makes me wantto check out some of the other titles concerning other artists I haven'tlearned about yet. Definitely worth purchasing as an introduction to anextremely gifted artist! ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

The emergence of early Netherlandish painting and its dissemination throughout Europe took place during one of the most intriguing epochs in the history of Western Europe. This age of transition from the late Middle Ages to early modern times was characterized by fundamental changes in economics, politics, religion, society, and—in its broadest sense—culture.

It is no coincidence that the art of Jan van Eyck, the Master of Flémalle, Rogier van der Weyden, Hugo van der Goes, Hans Memling, and Gerard David flowered in the period that saw the formation and expansion of a mighty Burgundian state in the prosperous provinces of the Netherlands and the neighboring regions. The ever-growing political significance of Burgundy was reflected by the success of Burgundian culture abroad. From the outset, members of the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese business communities residing in Flanders, such as the Arnolfini and Portinari, took pride in commissioning works by Netherlandish painters that were eagerly sought after by the princes and urban entrepreneurs of their homelands. The Sforza of Milan sent their court painter to Bugatto to train with Rogier van der Weyden; Alphonso V of Aragon ordered his painter Dalmau to travel to the Netherlands; and Isabella of Castile appointed Juan de Flandes alongside other Northerners as her court painter. The presence of Netherlandish works of art in the South inspired Iberian, French, and Italian artists such as Jean Fouquet, Filippino Lippi, Antonello da Messina, Bartolomé Bermejo, and Nuño Gonçalves.

This book explores the complex artistic, cultural, socioeconomic, and political relationships between Burgundian Netherlands and the Mediterranean. It offers a lavishly illustrated panorama of the work of Jan van Eyck and his followers, and focuses on their share in the development of painting in southern France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, reproducing many of the finest works of European Renaissance painting. 380 illustrations, 220 in color. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Fra Angelico
This is what an art book should be, page after page of splendid reproductions, including several full page details of Fra Angelico's greatest works. I was able to spend one day in San Marco, 2 years ago, I was alone most of the morning, but by noon had to contend with hoards of tourists pushing their way to get their 3 second glimsp of each fresco. Looking at these wonderful reproductions, I am reminded of the originals, I am able to see details I could not see peering through the entrances to the monks' rooms, and to recall many details had just forgotten. The text, devoted to the illuminating the art, included a wonderful explaination of composition and perspective.

incredible book for an incredible work of art !
this book is a piece of art itself. the reproductions and the details close-up photographs gives a new demention of fra angelico's frescos of 'san marco' in florence. it is a unic book. tzvia haitin ... Read more

Book Description

The Anatomical, Physiological and Embryological Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
With more than 1200 reproductions of drawings by the master's own hand, this book is the definitive and most complete collection of Leonardo's anatomical drawings currently in print.Here Leonardo's notebooks have been arranged according to the systems of the body in order to indicate the full extent of his anatomical work.This book will captivate curious laymen, medical professionals, and art and history enthusiasts alike.Also included are:
• Translations of Leonardo's anatomical notes which were written in his cryptic reverse handwriting. These translations provide an unusual glimpse into Leonardo's creativity and genius.
•Extensive commentary from the editors.
•A thorough background of Leonardo's life that reintroduces him to the world not just as a master artist, but as a brilliant scientist. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

True Beauty
I absolutely love these cards because the selected artworks are beautiful. These cards are so wonderful, you'll want to keep them all to yourself! If you love ballet or appreciate great art, I would recommend these to you. ... Read more

Book Description

Edited by Kornelia von Berswordt-Wallrabe. Essays by Kornelia von Bersworldt-Wallrabe, Gerhard Graulich, and Herbert Molderings.

"Marcel Duchamp has influenced the art of the 20th century more than anyone else except Pablo Picasso. One can reasonably claim that without his work, art history would have taken a different course," writes Herbert Molderings in his essay on Marcel Duchamp as sculptor. His readymades significantly expanded the notion of what art could be, an expansion of borders that was to have major consequences for the path of art later in the century. This beautifully designed book, a bibliophile's treasure, focuses on the structural basis of Marcel Duchamp's oeuvre, the intellectual attitude and the methods he developed to interrupt the utilitarian flow of objects. A selection of statements by Duchamp, printed on parchment paper, offers insight into his aesthetic concepts, and not least into the French artist's enigmatic wit and irony. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Duchamp Revelry
I am not a Duchamp scholar, just a big, big fan who has spent years pursuing my admiration of the artist, the prankster and the genius. This book revels in all three aspects of Duchamp's oeuvre not to mention it is a true joy to hold, read, touch. A bibliophile's appreciation combined with a scholarly interest make this book highly enjoyable and frankly, lots of fun. For the German scholar, all articles are printed in both their German as well as English translations. From an art historical perspective, the text is very well integrated with the presentation of artwork, which includes vellum overlays, making the experience interactive and a sensory delight. This is revelry in true Duchamp; his fun, whimsy and always revolving and diverging vision. ... Read more

Book Description

Willem and Elaine de Kooning shared not only a tumultuous, on-again, off-again 'open' marriage, they also navigated a 1950s New York art scene at the center of an artistic revolution. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

who needs enemies?
This book is just chock-full of rumor and gossip, much of which is totally insubstantiated. Some of the 'facts' are just plain wrong. With friends like Lee Hall, who needs enemies? Do yourself a favor and if you do read this, read it with more than a few grains of salt. There are better stories about the New York School - John Myers' memoir comes to mind, for one.

An art-world expos¿
Thank you, Cooper Square, for reissuing Hall's valuable book. Elaine and Bill deserves a wide-based readership. Biography readers interested in Elaine and/or Willem de Kooning in particular, or American artists of this century in general, will learn a great deal. Hall's friendship with Elaine lays the groundwork and is enhanced by her discussions with friends (and wannabee friends) of both painters--although after the fact some refused to acknowledge their participation. The author also brings long-delayed attention to Elaine's neglected painting--art that is very much her own, not the weaker shadow of her husband's work often suggested.

Perhaps this book's principal contribution, however, is its cool and calm exposŽ of the "art world's" best-kept secret: that, at base, it is a fraud that has less to do with expression than financial gain. Readers get a clear, well-written, and easily believable picture of an artist's life during that time of near-mythical when hard drinkin', butch fightin', and tough paintin' were the mainstays of New York's boy-culture art scene of the 50s and into the 60s. The book provides a much-wanted description of why there's so little "there" there in the articles by the likes of Greenberg and Rosenberg. In light of their various affairs--both amorous and financial-one understands how these critics' and their cronies' small-scale star making paved a sort of on-ramp to the market-driven farce the art world is today.

By all means read Elaine and Bill. It is fascinating reading on many levels and, when all is said and done, provides a window--for some too clean and revealing a window--into the machinery driving the manufacture of art today. ... Read more

Book Description

More than fifty years ago, a treasury of studio material-including oil sketches, sculptures, drawings, photographs, and manuscripts-was rescued from the empty house of Thomas Eakins by a devoted student, Charles Bregler. This book is both a catalogue of the Bregler collection and a reassessment of Eakins`s career as read through the newly discovered materials. ... Read more