Book Description

The incredible paintings of Frank Frazetta have brought him worldwide fame, legions of loyal fans, and scores of imitators. His darkly dramatic Conan the Barbarian oils and the equally powerful and erotic compositions for the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs have become the ultimate standards of excellence in the fantasy and adventure field. Icon was Franzetta’s first major retrospective in his 55-year career. Lavish full-color reproduction on deluxe art paper showcases over 65 major finished oil paintings, 25 drawings, and other pieces. This new softcover edition contains 32 new pages of additional, never-before-published art and photos. New material includes paintings of Woody Allen and Peter Sellers; concepts of Clint Eastwood for the movie poster to The Gauntlet; original concepts for the Conan book cover paintings; and character drawings for the Broadway production of Li'l Abner. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Simply the Best Frazetta book ever done!
Certainly one of the 20th century's most influential artists, Frank Frazetta has finally been given the showcase his work deserves. Featuring virtually all of the paintings that made him a legend among artists and fans alike (Conan, Tarzan, et al), "Icon" also includes a stack of previously unpublished and uncollected art, photographs, and some fascinating commentary by Fenner and Frazetta himself. From drawing comics for EC to ghosting "Lil Abner" for Al Capp to painting movie posters for Clint Eastwood, Frank Frazetta has proven again and again that he is one of the most exciting creators in the history of fantasy art. Often imitated, never equaled, Frazetta is the best and "Icon" is a *must have* book!

A fabulous collection with never before published work!
Frank Frazetta is by far the greatest fantasy illustrator of the last 50 years. His paintings are fit for the walls of any fine art museum. Icon is a wonderful book containing many of Franks finest and most famous works along with some never before seen art work from the master. This book is a must have for any fan of fantasy art. It contains interviews and information on many of Frazettas paintings with a wonderful insight to Franks life and legendary carear. Well printed and bound Icon will make a great addition to your coffee table. BUY THIS BOOK!

How to improve on the original
My last review was much too long. Here's a new take: how do you improve on something as beautiful as the original Icon? Simple. Add more art, and more pages. Fill the pages from one corner to the next with more art. Put it in a sturdy softcover binding and charge less for more. If you don't know who Frank Frazetta is this is your chance to discover a master artist. Add some dazzling images and powerful designs to your bookshelf by buying this book. His work is provacative, emotional, and has an uncompromising impact on those who view it. From the primal strength of his Conan paintings to the erotic beauty of his defiant women, it's the vitality of his art that makes it distinctive.Discover Frank Frazetta with this new book.Rediscover his incredible range if all you have are his old books from the seventies.

Dinosaurs! Vampires!! Babes!!! Gorillas!!!!
This is a terrific collection of the guy who invented this type of stuff. Flip through these pages and you can't deny that the man draws and paints like no other, no matter how many others draw and paint like him. The glimpses of his early comic work (especially as Al Capp's assistant) are always a treat. The selections from Frazetta's career as a fantasy artist are intelligently chosen and are presented in a meaningful context, and the terrific layout of the book makes it especially pleasant to experience. There are gorillas, dinosaurs, vampires, and female curves aplenty here in Frazetta's matchless palette. Sketches by Frazetta, included throughout, are particularly impressive and add to his already rich credentials as a pure draftsman. The commentary is great. Best of all, this too-brief volume is only one in a very welcome series.

Beautiful Reproductions of Paintings + insightful text!
This is "Icon," which is book one of three, all of which are now available. Even though all three discuss all eras of his life and career, this Icon book is probably the best one to start with, since it shows many of the works that made him famous.

This book has a bunch of the Edgar Rice Burroughs paperback cover paintings, (Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, etc.), and Conan the Barbarian covers, too. The text explains how the Frazetta paintings on the paperback book covers were responsible for outrageously high sales of these paperback books. This is probably what Frazetta is most famous for, these paperback covers that started a trend of sci-fi fantasy paintings that were as brutally dangerous as they are beautifully painted.

This book discusses Frank Frazetta's early childhood art, how he got into illustrating and comic books, comic strip work ghosting Lil' Abner for Al Capp, being wooed by Hollywood stars, doing movie posters during different decades, etc.

All three books discuss the same eras, but with different details and commentary from different friends and associates. There are also plenty of insightful quotes from Frank in all three books, which explain his outlook concerning his artwork and doing business with his artwork over 5 decades.

I remember Frazetta best for his Molly Hatchet album covers, which are both in this "Icon" book, but they are credited to the original paperback covers that they were first commisioned for, so Molly Hatchet is not mentioned.

To me, a kid in the 1970's, Frazetta was recognized as an expert in his own category, but his work was not common to come across. So I am very pleased with all three books in this trilogy, that finally brings most of his career together in three nicely made art books.

All three of these books are very informative and nice additions to any fans personal library. If you like Frazetta at all, then you should be quite pleased with "Icon," "Legacy," and "Testament." ... Read more

Reviews (2)

no one understands dogs like Steven Huneck
This book is amazing. I recently lost my beloved companion of 9 years, and when I saw this book I had to buy it. I am proud to say I'm originally from Vermont and have been a fan of Steven Huneck for years. He has outdone himself with "The Dog Chapel." The illustrations and simple phrases reflect the love between a dog and his person. I miss my friend, but Huneck's book has helped me to grieve and heal.

The Dog Chapel
Mr. Hunek conveys the power of the animal/human bond through beautiful photos of the chapel and whimsical woodcuts that describe the characteristics of our canine companions. The book tells how this unique chapel came to be built following the authors critical illness. As the sign outside the chapel says, "All breeds and all creeds welcome. No dogma allowed". This book would make a cherished gift for all dog lovers regardless of their religious or spiritual beliefs. ... Read more

Book Description

Now updated with new material that brings the killer's picture into clearer focus ... Read more

Reviews (482)

Good content, bad presentation
I was really excited to read this book, but I have to say, I was pretty disappointed by it. I guess if the goal was convince me that Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper, then the goal was accomplished. The problem I had with the book is that the presentation was very hard to follow. The book was constantly jumping back and forth between Walters Sickerts history, the different murders and the present in a way that I found confusing. A timeline of when the murders occured (including the ones she speculates are done by Sickert, but are not thought of as "Jack the Ripper" murders) would have been helpful to try to see patterns. Another missing piece for me is why Jack the Ripper suddenly stopped. Patricia Cornwell speculates that he probably didn't stop committing murders, but why did he stop writing the letters? He obviously loved the attention it brought, so why stop after that had been his modus operandi for so long? The last criticism I had of the book is the ending. The book ended abruptly with the death of his 2nd (of 3) wife. Why end there? I couldn't believe when I turned the page and that was the end! There was no wrap up or conclusions of any kind.

For anyone who has always wondered who Jack the Ripper was, you must read this book. It's extremely detailed and as I said, convincing. Her insights into the psychopathic mind are fascinating. She also makes a strong case that Walter Sickert was a violent psychopath. However, you may find as I did that the book could have been much better had the presentation been clearer.

More bodies on the pyre
If anything, this book is perhaps proof that the Jack the Ripper obsession will never die, if only because it's unlikely it will ever be solved, at least 'conclusively'.

The book is arrogantly sub-titled 'Case Closed', and of course, it's anything but a closed case that Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper, or that James Maybrick was the Ripper, or Lewis Carroll was the Ripper, or the royals were involved, etc.

I'm not sure what to make of the whole business anymore. There are now close to 20 suspects in the Ripper case, and indeed in the 1990s alone quite a few new suspects appeared on the scene thanks to research and fanaticism on the part of various writers. Now Cornwall has thrown herself into it, and it's somewhat troubling.

Of course, at the end of the day, there's no smoking gun. There hasn't been a smoking gun, and given that the murders took place in 1888, and evidence and various records are long gone, it's highly unlikely there will be a smoking gun. The whole business already inspired someone to forge a 'Ripper' diary and try to pass it off. This has since been debunked numerous times, with the author himself swearing that it's a forgery, yet people still believe it. Every year someone discovers someone who was in London in 1888, hated women, etc, etc.

Folks who are interested in the Ripper may peruse this book, but it's clear from the 'evidence' and the layout that this is anything but 'Case Closed', if anything, it says something about Cornwall, who writes about her own doubt to this theory. And admittedly, while there are some nice coincidences, and Sickert indeed may have been a bit off his rocker, and indeed may have penned Ripper letters (of which there were many fakes), it's no more convincing than several other theories of the past ten years.

Notice the '71% off' price tag of this book, which shows you something in comparison to other books on the subject. There are much better books about the whole case, and you'll likely learn more from those if you care. It would be nice to put the whole Ripper case to rest, finally. The energy and resources some folks have put into 'solving' this business is becoming more alarming. Recommended if you must, but it's hardly a 'final chapter'.

Absolute tosh: says more about Cornwell than Sickert
I can't think of another character assassination that is as unfounded as this, based as it is on pure conjecture and highly selective and inconclusive 'evidence'.

And just think of the irony of a writer who has based her entire written output on lingering over the sordid details of murder and mutilation claiming that Sickert was a violent psychopath because of the subject-matter of his paintings. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

This book reveals more about the neuroses and obsessions of Cornwell's own sick mind than it does about Sickert. Rather than 'case closed' on Sickert, it is 'case closed' on Cornwell.

Cornwell's reputation as a writer of FICTION remains intact.

Rambling and Premature, and That's Being Generous
I am a fan of Cornwell. I find her to be an intelligent woman, an interesting interview, and a talented author...and she's a fellow Davidson alumnus, a definite plus for this fellow Wildcat. I purchased the unabridged audio of this book eager to listen to what surely must be a well-reasoned, well-grounded theory backed up by at least some evidence. I was horribly disappointed.

Even if Cornwell is correct, this is the farthest thing from a closed case I have ever encountered. Some of the logical leaps and contortions in this book are downright laughable and should justifiably draw outrage from Sickert's admirers or surviving relatives. As other reviewers have noted, it is POSSIBLE (as far as anyone knows) that Sickert might have been a creep, that he might have written a ripper letter, even that he may have been the famous killer, but anyone wanting to bring a case against Sickert would find almost nothing useful in this tome.

The conviction with which Cornwell delivers many of her conclusions (the narrator is suitably melodramatic and judgmental in tone), no matter how tortuous, absurd, strained, or self-serving they may be, makes this book one whopper of a bitter horse pill to swallow for any reader/listener who has somehow managed not to either: a) toss the book into the wall in frustration, or b) fall asleep while attempting to follow the last convoluted line of argument to it's "inescapable" conclusion.

I WANTED Cornwell to come up with an exciting new theory I could buy in to, but at best this book is premature in it's title and conclusion (unless evidence is no longer a prerequisite for closing a case), and at worst this book may be both intellectually dishonest and shockingly irresponsible.
Sadly, this is a must-miss that will leave the reader with more lingering doubts about Cornwell than Sickert.

Case closed? Not quite but....
She's presented us with a very strong theory of who Jack the Ripper was.
The only things she has conclusively proved are: 1: that Walter Richard Sickert wrote some of the Ripper letters (including one that came with a kidney). 2: That more of the ripper letters were written by the same person than previously thought (the use of paint rather than ink, watermarks and language point to one writer). 3: That Walter Richard Sickert was not a very nice guy and had a facination with the violent deaths of women. 4: That Walter Richard Sickert prefered the kind of women in the original five Ripper murders.

I doubt the evidence that Ms. Cornwell provides would pass the reasonable doubt requirement with a jury. Then again, I doubt that enough evidence even still exists to convict anyone of these crimes.

Sickert is definately someone ripperologists should give a closer look.

Her evidence (or lack of) aside, Portrait of a Killer offers a rare view into the underbelly of Victorian England and a fairly entertaining read. ... Read more

Book Description

Originally trained as a sculptor, Thomas Demand approaches photography as a means of preserving ephemeral paper constructions but inevitably the camera becomes central to his creative process. At first glance, Demand's works seem to present fragments of a hyperreal and familiar place but, before long, they reveal their true identity: a wholly artificial world reduced to generic forms. Large immaculate photographs of interiors and architectural exteriors—a world peopled with inanimate objects and bathed in uniform lighting—are mounted on Plexiglas, which underscores the materiality of the photographic object. For each of his reproductions, Demand constructs life-size models using paper and cardboard, and these forms always allow signs of their true nature to show through. 50 color illustrations. ... Read more

Book Description

This book has over 250 of the highest quality color reproductions as well as essays by art historians, contemporaries and friends such as Fab Five Freddie, Richard Marshal and Glen O'Brien. The Limited edition is of 1000 copies signed and numbered by Tony Shafrazi. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

a must have for any basquiat fan!
this is the fifth book i have on basquiat and i am very happy to say that most of the works reproduced in this gorgeous book do not appear in any of the other books i have on him. the quality of the work is splendid and the reproductions are gorgeous! and the book is thick and a treat to look at! i would recommend it to anyone who loves basquiat's brillant works. the guy was a genius and he shines in this book!

This book is wonderful but......
I still dind't get this book..but I think it is very nice.My major is visual communication art,so I'm always read books about art.I know many American artist,especially I'm mad about him.If you look his works,you can feel "nature".Maybe It will be a good guide to beginners.

A Crown for Tony Shafrazi?
I thought the excesses of the 1980's had long since passed but then comes along this massive (and expensive) volume on Jean-Michel Basquiat, one of the Kings of the 80's art scene two decades ago. Sadly, like much art from that period, Basquiat's faux-primitve paintings come across more like deliberate attempts at critical and commercial success than intuitive genius from a true visionary painter. The art world and its consumers were desperate and happy in the 80's to champion "street art" and graffiti with the growing popularity of folk art in the 1970's. The professional art world latched on to it's own, professional artists working in a vernacular style (Haring, Scharf, Basquiat) in order to appear open to less progromatic art. With folk art, critics and museums of modern art were caught looking backward and left behind. Urban street art, positioned as being more sophisticated and hip, was marketed to an eager consumer market. Is this truly great art? Is Basquiat worthy of a ...book signed by a gallery owner (seller)? Is this the best modern art has to offer? Looking at page after page in this retrospective book becomes a tedious task. The words don't add up to the great poetry of Dickens or Whitman. The artwork can be found in its purer form on the streets of any urban city. Try taking a walk through New York city and leave this book behind. ... ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

A worthwhile surrealist object
It figures that a couple months after I hunt up a copy, this becomes readily available.

It's a fascinating book. The collages are made of illustrations from lurid French novels popular at the time. The edges of the different cut and pasted pictures look seamless, and Ernst has a great design sensibility. The introduction is useful, if short.

The surrealist aesthetic toward women--that is, surrealist art (including that by women) constantly shows female figures, generally nudes, as victims or in suffering--is particularly visible here, probably helped by the source matter. It's significant that the major female artists involved in the movement, such as Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, and Dorthea Tanning, tended not to produce much until they had been seperated from the heart of the movement for years. It's the major flaw in the movement's thinking, but that doesn't stop this from being an intriguing book for occasional contemplation.

The original title pages are reproduced in facsimile and translated.

Une Semaine De BontE : A Surrealistic Novel in Collage
One of the best books I own. Inspirational, in a way -- like mind taffy. Something about the pictures and the little bit of text makes you want to make connections. Like life itself. Forster said: "Only connect." Absolutely fantastic.

Provocative, evocative, brilliant.
I found a copy of this in a museum in Berlin last year and not a day has gone by that I haven't opened it up to stare at the images and the mad, deliciously nightmarish stories they tell.

A wild one, Kids!
If you're looking for inspiration, you can jar something loose in your head with this beautiful, inexpensive book. This legendary collage masterpiece remains so obscure that most poets & artists aren't even aware of its existance. What does it all mean? I sure don't know but it makes me feel strange in the pit of my stomach. A wild one, kids!

Bob Rixon, WFMU-FM ... Read more

Book Description

Reproducing Tim Biskup's "100 Paintings" series in a compact, hardcover book, is this 5" x 5" volume of one hundred crisp, colorful paintings. The hardcover volume presents Biskup's work in its actual size, with an introduction by critically acclaimed illustrator and Emmy winner, Gary Baseman. Inspired by his Italian sketchbook, Biskup tied his illustrations together with numbers and set a goal of completing one hundred detailed paintings. The ensuing book, "100 Paintings," was immediately popular among fans appreciating its compact size. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An absolute steal at this price!
You've got to be kidding that this book sells for as little as it does. No doubt the diminutive size of each reproduction figures into the low price, but the quality is first rate throughout. Tim's imaginative renderings (at actual size in the reproduction) are bright and crisp and colorful and energetic and...and..and.... If your house, like mine, is filled with coffee table art books, this bite size morsel is just perfect to fill in the little crack left in a wall of books. Not only do you get spectacular images, Tim has included information in the back about when and where each picture was shown. Each image is placed on a black matte background which launches the image toward you. The binding in the book is first rate and will last well into the future when it becomes that hard to find collectors' item in 3004. And if you're reading this review you know you don't even have to get up and go out the door to get it, so get it! ... Read more

Book Description

Howard Terpning, often referred to as the "Storyteller of the Native American People," has concentrated his award-filled career on painting the major Great Plains tribes: Blackfeet, Sioux, Cheyenne, Crow, Commanche, and Apache. Terpning's images are powerful and sweeping, yet profoundlyintimate in the way they include the viewer in the emotion of each scene, like the sweetness in a young girl's passage into womanhood or the youthful pride of a new warrior. His paintings chronicle the Plains Indians' "glory days" in the early nineteenth century until their displacement as a result of the westward expansion of the white man.

Western historian Don Hedgpeth interweaves a stirring narrative about the tribes' final, desperate years and the spiritual basis to all aspects of their lives. ... Read more

Book Description

Renowned for her candid portrayal of family life (Immediate Family), her revealing study of girlhood (At Twelve), and landscapes from the American South (Mother Land and Deep South), internationally acclaimed photographer Sally Mann has produced a powerful new body of work on the one subject that affects us all. In WHAT REMAINS, a five-part meditation on mortality, Mann focuses her lens on the ineffable divide between body and soul, the means by which life takes leave of this earth, and the manner in which it rejoins it. Mann's new photographs are by turns shocking and sublime. An armed fugitive is hunted down by police. She photographs the scars left on her property after the incident. A series of brooding, otherworldly landscapes made at the Civil War battlefield of Antietam is followed by a group of close-up portraits of Mann's own children, floating in the inky black atmosphere of the nineteenth-century ambrotype; another series taken at a forensics study site offers an unflinching look at the process of decomposition, as do images of a beloved pet greyhound--long since departed. Made with the collodion process, using glass plates, the resulting images are at once painterly, sculptural, and photographic. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

it was the kids
i always wondered if mann was a truly gifted artist or if her subjects and locations were just so compelling that anyone could have captured incredible images if they happened to be present.

this book confirms the latter.

these photographs are flat, uninteresting, not compelling for me in any way.

Maybe she needs to find some new prepubescent girls and go back to the child-erotica.

The controversial nature of her images were what vaulted her to fame.

it surely was not talent.

Disappointing ...
I was very disappointed in this book. If I want to see death photos, I can find them almost anywhere these days. I miss Sally's earlier work, which was focused more on people and children. Her landscapes and these death photos are made to look as if they were photographed 100 years ago and I find this too "gimmicky" for my taste. I think that her new subject matter, death, is on the level on the current supermarket tabloid mentality. A very disappointing book that I was looking forward to ... really wish she would return to her earlier topics, and printing techniques.

Thank you to Sally Mann.........
Thank you to Sally Mann for her frank discussion & photographs on death. I have long felt that American's are spending millions of dollars in the vain, dillusional and fear-driven attempt to ELIMINATE aging and death. It is frustrating & depressing to see so much money wasted this way. It also seems to have created an obsession with safety at any cost. I appreciate Sally Mann's beautifully done work on this "taboo" subject.

Shocking
The first time I viewed this book, standing over it for nearly an hour, I was left socked, so shaken that I had to go to my room and turn off all the lights, and just lie in my bed and rest myself.

What Mann has created is not definable, and doubtless each viewing experience will be different for each individual. She does not seem to be creating an agenda book as much as an human experience. As I moved through I kept on thinking about, or rather questioning myself. What is it to look at a dead body? Is it a sign of disrespect for the dead? Or is it a sign of reverence? After all, it is the easy thing to turn away from the rotting flesh of our family, but that does not mean that it is the respectful thing, right?

One would think that Mann, already an artist at the top of her profession, might be tempted to rest on her laurels. However, this new work proves that she has no intention of doing so. She bravely continues to take risks, as well as dive further into her subject matter, and what remains is one of the world's greatest artists functioning at the peak of her creative powers.

Outstanding!
Death has long been a subject for artists. Mann's depth and vision elevate even the photos of decomposing bodies several levels above the merely grotesque. Yes, the photos are "difficult". The techniques employed produce dark or washed out and unevenly exposed images. But this adds to the overall mood of the book. And the subject matter is not "pretty". The final section of tightly cropped family photographs sums up "what remains". This is an outstanding project from one of the finest practitioners today of the photographer's art. ... Read more

Book Description

An in-depth look at the fascinating sculptural works of one of the twentieth century’s most innovative artists

Joseph Beuys (1921–1986)—a German sculptorand performance artist—became one of the most influential figures in modern and contemporary art. His charismatic presence, extraordinary life, and unconventional artistic style (incorporating ritualized movement and sound, and materials such as fat, felt, earth, honey, blood, and even dead animals) gained him international notoriety during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Beuys’s innovative influence is particularly felt in the field of sculpture, whose definition he expanded to encompass performance art, vitrine cases, and site-specific environments.

This beautifully illustrated book investigates Beuys’s sculpture, arguably the most fundamental portion of his artistic work, as well as his extraordinary influence. Featured objects include a stunning selection of Beuys’s remarkable vitrines—sly cousins of standard museum presentations, featuring both hand-made and found objects serving as “exhibitions” on Beuys’s own topics; blackboards on which he recorded his lectures and performances; room-sized environments; and many other sculptural projects that frequently served as physical documentation for Beuys’s performances.

With a comprehensive chronology of Beuys’s activities as an artist and activist, this book is essential for those interested in the life, work, and legacy of one of the art world’s most intriguing figures.

Joseph Beuys: Actions, Vitrines, Environments accompanies a major exhibition on view at The Menil Collection, Houston (October 8, 2004, to January 2, 2005) and the Tate Modern, London (February 2 to May 3, 2005).

Mark Rosenthal is adjunct curator at The Menil Collection; Sean Rainbird is curator at the Tate Modern; and Claudia Schmuckli, formerly assistant curator at the Museum of Modern Art, is an independent critic of contemporary art.




... Read more

Book Description

This book illustrates and discusses 35 of the finest paintings by Dou, one of the most highly regarded Dutch painters of the 17th century.Dou learned glass painting from his father and in 1628 became Rembrandt's first pupil.After some early portraits, he painted chiefly small domestic scenes characterized by minute detail (often painted under a magnifying glass), skillful chiaroscuro, and lifelike effect.Dou's work was very popular and continued to be influential until the mid-19th century when appreciation for precision in painting declined under the influence of impressionism.This will be a beautifully produced catalogue that will introduce the works of Gerrit Dou to a wider audience. ... Read more

Book Description

Amedeo Modigliani (1884--1920) is one of the greatest-and most misunderstood-artists of the twentieth century. His incisive portraits, erotically charged nudes, beautiful drawings, and primitivistic sculpture have been admired for decades. Modigliani's work, however, has typically been examined in the limited context of his so-called "bohemian," anti-intellectual lifestyle. This groundbreaking book revises this approach toward Modigliani's art, presenting a convincing revisionist examination of the unique historical, social, religious, and cultural significance of his oeuvre.Modigliani: Beyond the Myth looks at the artist and his art from a variety of important perspectives: his proud heritage as a Sephardic Jew, whose spirituality embraced non-Western, classical, and Christian iconography while retaining his own ethnic identity; his critical engagement with the dialogues of the most radical of his avant-garde contemporaries (Picasso, Chaim Soutine, Henri Matisse, and Brancusi); the influence of tribal art and Judaism on his portraiture; the representation of the female nude in his works from a feminist cultural perspective; and the remarkable reception of his work in Italy during his lifetime. Lavishly illustrated and including a detailed chronology of his life, this fascinating book situates Modigliani anew in the history of twentieth-century art.BACKCOVER: ... Read more

Book Description

The next volume in Masamune Shirow's best-selling art book series is orbiting cyberspace and preparing to touch down onto bookstore shelves in late Summer. This volume concentrates primarily on Shirow's character, robot and vehicle designs for interactive games.Shirow is world famous for being equally skilled and creative in the realms of computer-generated graphics and traditional drawing and painting. It is logical then that his unique and imaginative studies are among the most interesting being done in the high-tech game field.With commentary in both English and Japanese, this new collection provides a fascinating insight into the creative process of one of Japan's premiere talents. ... Read more

Book Description

Still the best, broadest, and most complete introduction to the colorful, lustrously glazed, exuberantly decorated 19th-century ceramic art called majolica, this classic book, first published in 1989, is now fully updated. A brand-new chapter includes the latest information and 27 added color photographs of recently discovered pieces; 18 fresh color illustrations replace older black and whites; and an updated bibliography and list of museums with majolica collections make this book invaluable for the ever-growing number of majolica enthusiasts. The result, as Cape Cod Antiques & Arts said of the original edition, is "a serious reference for serious connoisseurs . . . It's wonderful." ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great resource for collectors and modern majolica-artists.
First saw this magnificent volume at a collector's home, and had to acquire a copy for my library as inspiration for my own artistic endeavors with majolica.

One of the definitive books on Victorian Majolica
People all over the world treat this as the "Bible" of Victorian Majolica. It is the best. ... Read more

Book Description

Claude Monet is commonly considered to be the most consistent and representative of Impressionist artists.His painting, Impression, Sunrise (1874) inspired the official name of this movement.This book portrays Monet's work and vast influence in its historical perspective as it charts his life and career.Over 300 paintings illustrate his artistic experiments as well as his most successful works. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent presentation of Monet's works through his career
This is an excellent book. Sproccati's comments in the beginning are clear and engaging. The best part of the book is the collection of color plates. This is a large book, allowing for large reproductions of many of his paintings. High quality paper, well-focused colorful plates, almost none of which are split over two pages, and well-organized and thought-out order make this an outstanding value. ... Read more

Book Description

"...to devote my life to the essential thing-- the thing for which I am made and which can bring a little happiness to the great family, the greatest spiritual family."--Matisse to André Rouveyre, September 4, 1942

Of all the artists of this century, Henri Matisse is one of the greatest and most beloved. His influence on modern art, both during his lifetime and today, has never stopped growing; in the eyes of the world, he is the French painter par excellence.

Henri Matisse is all the more cherished because his work celebrates the positive aspects of life, as evidenced by the titles of many of his major paintings: Luxe, Calme et Volupté, La Joie de Vivre, La Danse, Musique, to mention but a few. His explosions and juxtapositions of color and pattern inspire pure delight in the beholder, and his mastery of line, volume, and form are perhaps unequaled in the art of our time. The vitality, energy, and life-enhancing qualities that radiate from his art represent distillation of all that is affirmative in the human condition and are given immortality through that rare and indefinable quality known as genius.

The art of Matisse describes a trajectory leading from realism to abstraction, from darkness to light, from the cold of the north to the heat of the south, a route marked off by such revolutionary innovations as the burst of color found in Fauvism or the invention of his cut-outs. Matisse was still creating at a time in his life when many artists are content to rest on their laurels.

Since its original publication in 1984, this book by Pierre Schneider stands alone as the bible on the art of Matisse. The author spent fourteen years amassing a prodigious amount of information on the artist, and includes his own personal and original views on the work. Including over nine hundred illustrations, this is the most substantial reference of the works of Matisse ever published.

The reader will discover Matisse watercolorist, draftsman, ceramist, and the architect-- and unquestionably one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.
... Read more

Reviews (2)

Nicely written but not exactly what I wanted
This book is a nice overview of the work and life of Matisse. There are many beautiful and brilliantly described colorplates. It is a complete overview of his work. It also makes a beautiful coffee table piece that may inspire conversation.

I reasoned that because the author choose to feature a later piece by Matisse on the cover the book might emphasize his later work. But when I got the book his later work was only briefly talked about and only 2 of the colorplates were after 1940s.

Overall it is a nice book to get a sense of Matisse, his work and his life.

The Bible On Matisse
I noticed that this is coming back into print in November 2002, so I figured I'd write this review. If you are a fan of Matisse, you should snap up this book. It is an awesome achievement by Mr. Schneider. There is a tremendous amount of biographical data here, as well as a wealth of reproductions- both color and black and white. One caveat, though. This is definitely not for the casual reader! There is a lot of detailed analysis of the paintings included- such things as Matisse's theories on the use of color and shape; the tremendous amount of work and thought that went into each work in order to create color harmony and a balance of all the pictorial elements, etc. Mr. Schneider respects the reader, so some of this stuff can be a real challenge! But I found it very worthwhile! Matisse's paintings are deceptive, at least to the layperson. They seem soothing and simple. Well, I can promise you that after reading this wonderful book you may still find the paintings soothing, but when you realize what went into the process of creating them you will never again think of them as being simple! This is one of those rare books that opens your eyes and makes you look at something in a completely new way.Reviewer Note: Please be aware that the book I am reviewing is the over 700 page book written by Pierre Schneider, NOT the much shorter book written by Mr. Jacobus and only translated by Mr. Schneider! ... Read more