Book Description

First published in 1987, The Confederate Image examines the popular lithographs and engravings cherished by Southerners during and after the Civil War. These images helped sustain and revive Southern identity following the collapse of the Confederacy. (Though, ironically, most were actually crafted by Northern artisans.) The book focuses on prints of the three most prominent Southern figures of the conflict--Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson--but also discusses prints of other important Confederates as well as the contributions of the short-lived Southern Illustrated News. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A highly recommended & unique addition to Civil War studies
Mark Neely, Harold Holzer, and Gabor S. Boritt effectively collaborate to present a pioneering and seminal examination of the popular lithographs and engravings cherished by Southerners during and after the Civil War in The Confederate Image: Prints Of A Lost Cause. These were the images in southern popular culture that helped to sustain and revive a post-confederacy identity following the collapse of the Confederacy at the end of the war. It is one of history's ironies that these images were actually crafted by Northern artisans. The principle focus of The Confederate Image is on the prints of three prominent southern Civil War figures (Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson) as well as offering informative discussions on prints of other significant Confederates as well as the contributions of the short-lived "Southern Illustrated News". The Confederate Image is a highly recommended and unique addition to Civil War studies and of considerable interest to students of American popular culture and art history. ... Read more

Book Description

Suitable for framing, these prints reproduce scenes of the magnificence of the pyramids of the Nile Valley and the stunning monuments of Luxor with an accuracy that today would be called photographic.These high-quality collections of prints celebrate the epic grandeur and fine detail of Roberts' views in a format that complements his extraordinary artistic achievements. 14 x 20, 10 pp. folder, 10 color plates. ... Read more

Book Description

James McNeill Whistler was a leading figure in the revival of lithography in the late 19th century.His lithographs focus upon scenes and themes earlier explored in his paintings, etchings, and pastels. Using transfer paper, he created the effects of drawing, and with a few lines was able to convey a total picture. Working with the London printer Thomas Way and his son T. R. Way, Whistler initially hoped the lithographs would bring him a mass audience and financial security; later he hoped connoisseurs would collect his quiet, understated images as precious objects of enduring value.

Steven Block began assembling his important collection in the late 1970s. It includes early experiments, portraits of friends and family, studio models, shop and street scenes, and sketches of the Thames and its bridges. ... Read more

Book Description

A catalogue raisonné of Edward Ardizzone's work as a printmaker, this is also an explanation of the processes and techniques used by the artist whose reputation as a book-illustrator, official war artist and witty social commentator in pen-and-ink continues to grow in the centenary year of his birth. The book includes typical Ardizzone subjects for printmaking, such as beaches and boats; street scenes and bars; lovers; tarts; young people and children. There are also scenes from the south of France, Oxford colleges, public schools, and World War II. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The printmaking of a wonderful artist
In Dr. Christopher White's Foreword to this terrific book, he writes that his uncle, the beloved late British artist Ardizzone (b.1900) drew constantly as a child, but took a proper job as a shipping clerk after completing his education. Ardizzone soon came into a small inheritance and, "encouraged by his wife but to the horror of his father," devoted the rest of his life to the passionate and dedicated work of painting, drawing, illustration, and, to a lesser but no less successful degree, print-making.

Ardizzone's work was recognized and valued early on. In his Preface Paul Coldwell writes accurately that Ardizzone "displays that rare talent, along with Tenniel and E.H. Shepard, of representing a vision of what it is to be a child that is as intense as the reality experienced." In 1941 Ardizzone was named official War Artist; he sent home incredible drawings from North Africa, Normandy, and Germany. He was the first British soldier to set foot in Denmark. In all, he submitted over 500 drawings, including over 400 watercolors. Some were prints, and are included here. This beautiful 'catalogue raisonne' (salmon pink endpapers, and many color plates) was published in conjunction with a traveling retrospective exhibition (England only) of Ardizzone's prints. The hundred or so etchings and lithographs have as their subjects lovers, dancers, children, boats, life drawing class, street scenes, public schools, the beach, pubs, prostitutes, wartime, Gloucestershire, Suffolk, plus 'various commissioned posters' (all in great color), menus, and more The images reflect his overriding optimism and acceptance of human frailty and foibles. He loved to dance, he got along well with people, he loved the world - and it shows. His images are most often generous and emotionally expressive, often a little humorous or moody, and gentle - without being weak in the least. Ardizzone is a tender and careful tour guide. A "sharp observer of life at all social levels," he "preferred the fat to the thin," (White, in the Foreword), was considerate of his subjects, and never objectified the powerless.

It's a terrific book, with a Foreword, a Preface, and Introduction, and a comprehensive and informative narrative (by cinematographer and art historian Dr Nicholas Ardizzone, the artist's son). There are over a hundred good illustrations, some in color, as well as several photographs of the genial and lovable Ardizzone. In addition, the gritty details of the art and craft of printmaking are included - a nice plus.

Finally, there is a list of autobiographies (diaries, memoirs) written by Edward Ardizzone, and a bibliography that Dr Ardizzone compiled as part of the work of his doctoral thesis. You can take that list and read for months, if you choose to.

This is a beautiful book. It was compiled and assembled by a team of Ardizzone devotees - a labor of love as well as scholarship. Aside from being a guide to Edward Ardizzone's prints, it's a terrific value, because along with the images you get insightful and informative commentary, and a sense of the man - that money really can't buy. ... Read more