Amazon.com

Sexy, modern, and unabashedly consumer-oriented, Art Deco was a new kind of style, flourishing at a time of rapid technological change and social upheaval. Lacking the philosophical basis of other European design movements, Deco borrowed motifs from numerous sources--Japan, Africa, ancient Egyptian and Mayan cultures, avant-garde European art--simply to create novel visual effects. Art Deco 1910-1939 surveys the sources and development of the popular style with more than 400 color illustrations and 40 chapters by numerous design specialists. The authors track Deco around the globe, from Paris to the United States—-where it got its biggest boost from mass production—-to Northern and Central Europe, Latin America, Japan, India, and New Zealand. The book's broad focus encompasses industrial artifacts (the Hindenburg blimp, the Burlington Zephyr locomotive), as well as architecture, furniture, accessories, fashion, jewelry, typography and poster design. Despite the existence of other prominent artistic movements during the 1920s and '30s, the authors tend to hang the Deco label on virtually any object that portrays the effects of technology or employs color, luxury materials or artificial light in striking ways. It does seem a stretch to include Man Ray's photographs, Sonia Delaunay's textiles and the movie King Kong in the Deco pantheon. But the great strength of Art Deco 1910-1939 is that it reveals the social context of Deco, not just its pretty face. The book accompanies an exhibition (organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London) at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto through January 4, 2004; subsequent venues are San Francisco and Boston. —Cathy Curtis ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The greatest book on Art Deco!
This book is an absolute triumph. First, it is positively gorgeous - the images just leap off the pages. Second, the essays are more in-depth, engaging, and informative than any other book I've found on the subject. This book discusses every facet of Art Deco as well: it explores the origins at the Paris Exhibition in 1925, goes through the influence in East Asia, Latin America, and South Africa, not to mention Europe. A great chapter on Deco in Hollywood; also explores all of the sources, iconography - and all of this on top of covering every aspect of the movement - ceramics, jewelry, fashion, architecture, glass, photography, graphic design, bookbindings, travel and transport, and so so much more - with stunning visuals. A fantastic read, a great resource, a beautiful work, and an absolute MUST for anyone interested in the subject! Well worth the money, and a fantastic addition to any library. Highly recommended!

The first and last word on Deco.
A sumptuous coffee-table book of this exuberant art style and I think it could well become the standard book on the subject. The forty essays are divided into four sections, Sources and Iconography, 1925 Paris Exhibition, Spread of Deco and finally Deco World, and I liked the way, especially in Sources and Iconography, that the authors explain how various art styles were moulded into deco art which culminated in the very influential 1925 Paris show.

I thought the last two sections were a fascinating coverage of how Art Deco spread around the world, mainly as architecture and fashion, though in Europe also as a fine art style. In North America, it influenced a huge range of commercial products. Perhaps this was the only art form that was truly democratic in that it was available (as streamlining) to be seen or bought on any Main Street across the Nation.

The design and printing are excellent. Many of the photos, especially color, are presented whole page, the rest are all well sized, and they all have captions. The back of the book has a very comprehensive bibliography, fortunately listed as relating to each chapter rather than just an alphabetical list, the index is divided into two, Names and Subject. I was very impressed with this attention to detail and with the excellent text, images and production surely 'Art Deco 1910-1939' will be read for many years to come. ... Read more

Book Description

This magnificent book accompanies a spectacular exhibition devoted to the artistic and cultural riches of the Turkic-speaking peoples. Essays by leading scholars trace Turkic history and cultural development, while works of art ranging from painting and sculpture to textiles, metalwork, and ceramics reflect the artistic influences that the Turks assimilated, from their early nomadic wanderings to the glories produced during the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent. The book takes the reader on a breathtaking journey from the eastern border of modern China to the Balkans in the west.

Illustrated with more than 500 works, Turks is a landmark publication. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in the turbulent but vivid history of the Turkic-speaking peoples. AUTHOR BIO: Filiz Çagman is director of the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul. Nazan Ölçer is director of the Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul. David Roxburgh is a professor of Islamic art at Harvard University. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Best Egyptian-artifact photo book I've seen. Don't miss it.
I don't know about you, but when I get a big photo book, I thumb through the photos first, then go back and look at them individually, and read the text last, if at all -- skim it, usually. So -- the photos here are magnificent! Color printing has gotten pretty close to photographic quality in the last few years, and you won't find better-quality color than in "Egyptian Treasures." Book design (by PB Lovisetti & C. Zanotti) is clean and attractive. Bravo!

The artifacts, all from Cairo's Egyptian Museum, span some 4,000 years -- and for 3,000 years, from the First Dynasty to the Roman conquest, their artistic conventions stayed pretty much the same -- enough so that almost any artwork from this period is, even at a casual glance, obviously 'Egyptian.'

Anyway, if you're over 12, and have been to any fair-size art or archaeological museum, you've seen some mummies, coffins and statues, probably some jewelry and woodwork too -- not to mention pictures of the Pyramids and King Tut's gold. But, unless you've been to dozens of Egyptian collections, you've never seen the range of first-rate art displayed here -- unless, of course, you've already been to Cairo. Makes me want to go out & buy a ticket to Egypt. Some of this stuff is just astonishing. The jewelry is (often) 'Art-Deco', not by coincidence, since much of this material was unearthed in the early 20th century. And if you've only seen the knock-offs, wait til you see the originals! There are wall-paintings that, if they didn't have papyrus plants, you'd think were Chinese. And the little painted wood-carvings, with marvelous scenes from everyday life -- and with colors so bright, they could have been your grandmother's, instead of being 4,000 years old. There's a lot to be said for using the desert for cemeteries....

The text is by 16 (or so) specialists, and ranges from pretty good to instant eye-glaze. You don't buy this kind of book for the text. Fortunately, the photo captions are uniformly good. Complaints: no map, and no index! C'mon, folks -- we don't all know where Tanis is, or Zagazig. And we might want to find out, later, who Muhammad Ali (1769-1849) *really*was....

10 stars is the correct rating !
This book presents the collection of Egyptian antiquities located in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo; each featured object is accompanied by a short description and a photograph. The photographs, never before published, were expressly made for the book by internationally acclaimed photographer Araldo De Luca. The numerous essays were written by international contributors, among which are Francesco Tiradritti, Christiane Ziegler, Zahi Hawass, Jean Yoyotte and Anna Maria Donadoni Roveri; they cover topics such as Egyptian art, history, the Valley of the Kings and Tutankhamun. Art lovers will thoroughly enjoy this beautiful and informative guide, now available in many languages.

One of Egypt's greatest collection without a doubt.
The artifacts are arranged from earliest to latest, which creates a greater understanding of the arts and their progression. The arts themselves are mostly jewelry, coffins, statues, and painted carvings. There are many other objects like beds, chairs, etc. A discription of the objects is listed with it's use, material properties, aerchaeological founder, and a story behind each item.

Amazing Book
This is definitely a cheaper way of seeing the museum in Cairo! When I went to Egypt last fall, we spent an afternoon in the museum. People could spend days in there and see new things. It is so packed full of artifacts that we could only stand to be in there for a few hours. Our brains could only absorb so much! This book is a good way to go back and learn about all of the things that we saw.
The pictures are large and unbelievably clear. I would recommend this book to everyone! Of course, I would also recommend a trip to Cairo...

EGYPTIAN TREASURES FROM THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN CAIRO
IF YOU WANT TO VISIT THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN CAIRO BUT FIND IT INCONVENIENT TO GET THERE THIS IS THE SECOND BEST WAY TO VIEW THE OBJECTS. THE COLOR PRINTS ARE AS GOOD AS CAN BE PRINTED AND THE DETAIL IN DESCRIPTION IS VERY HELPFUL. I HAVE A LIBRARY AND THIS IS THE BEST AND MOST DETAILED BOOK I HAVE SEEN IN YEARS WRITTEN ON ARTIFACTS FOUND IN EGYPT. 5 STARS !!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

This lavish but manageable book is the catalog for one of the most successful van Gogh exhibitions ever (at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., through January 3, 1999, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from January 17, 1999, to April 4, 1999). Judging from the haunting, beautifully reproduced paintings and drawings in the book--which range from the iconic to the rarely seen--it is easy to see why hordes of people keep pressing through overcrowded galleries to get a glimpse of the originals. The ones here are all from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, where most of Vincent's work resides.

Author Richard Kendall does a heroic job of writing van Gogh's tortured story one more time. Few artists have analyzed their own work with the clarity and insight Vincent brought to his. And Kendall relies heavily on Vincent's letters to his brother Theo, giving the reader broad access to the ultimate expert, the painter himself. The wealth of color plates is intoxicating--70 paintings, including The Potato Eaters and other early, gloomy works, a dozen self-portraits, Almond Blossom, Wheatfield with Crows, Butterflies and Poppies, The Bedroom, The Zouave, and The Courtesan (van Gogh's take on a Japanese geisha in full regalia).

It seems trivial to further praise the book's designers for holding it to only 150 pages, but the length makes an important difference. This is a volume that fits comfortably on the lap, to be perused and enjoyed at close range, for hours if you want, and not just displayed in unwieldy glory on a coffee table. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Reviews (6)

the most original artist of his time
Vincent van Gogh is the artist who I feel I relate to most on a personal level. His demons are my demons. His yearning to some day find "the right girl" is my yearning. His spiritual faith in God is my spiritual faith. His weaknesses are my weaknesses. His strengths are my strengths. I'm very fond of van Gogh. He made many mistakes, including getting involved in a doomed love affair with a prostitute, or how he cut off his earlobe in a fit of anguish. Well, okay, I identify with him but that's something I've never been tempted to do haha. Vincent was a troubled and tormented and deeply under-appreciated artist in his day, only managing to sell one or two paintings in his life. Now he is among the very most popular. His works sell for many millions, even minor works.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

A GREAT JOURNEY WITH VAN GOGH
One of the best pieces that I ever read explaining paintings along the different periods which were passed by Van Gogh. Also, it gives a complete ride through his life and personality.

A Quality Work!!
I have this book and I am so glad ,I discovered it. I am, a painter,and have always been influenced by Van Goghs work. However most of the books I own do not have very good quality , printing .This book however is excellent! It is very close to , standing in front of the original painting. I would recomend this book to anyone that loves Van Gogh. I am so proud to make this book a part of my art library. Get it while you can!!

Didn't see the exhibit? Read the book!
The next best thing if you weren't able to make it to this record-breaking exhibition in Washington and Los Angeles. This book, an overview of the exhibition, is an extremely thorough and interesting overview of the 70 works on display. But it's more than that. I was very impressed with Richard Kendall's commentary in the book. Not only is this a comprehensive and thoughtful look at the "Van Gogh's Van Goghs" exhibition, it's also an excellent look at Van Gogh's life and career--period. I might have expected this--this major exhibition was superb and this catalogue is a worthy companion. Exhibition or not, this book is first-rate.

brillant
Interest in Van Gogh heightened with Hollywood movie with Kirk Douglas an Hollywood actor. My mother has a wood painting of sunflowers (l6) and she asked that we research this for her, it has numerous local newspaper clippings taped to the back, which raises even more questions. It is signed Vincent? I saw a one man narrative of Van Gogh's life depicted by his brother Theo, Actor: Jim Jarrett called Vincent. It was much informative of the letters Vincent wrote to Theo. . This enlightened one as to Vincent's odd behavior. Vincent the man. Mr.Kendall, if possible please cooresponde back. My sister is also in contact with you. Thank you for reading this message and any redirect would be appreciated. ... Read more

Book Description

Over six decades, Lucian Freud has built up a reputation as one of the most distinctive contemporary figurative artists. Freud's startling and disconcerting portraits and nudes have a haunting quality that makes them impossible to forget. This stunning book brings together key works from Freud's entire career, including over 140 paintings, drawings, and etchings, some new, and many never before exhibited. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An In-Depth Survey of This Important Painter
LUCIEN FREUD is certainly one of the most talked about contemporary figurative artists around the world. Most people are familiar with his greater than life-sized portraits of corpulent male and female nudes and of his much talked about protraits of friends such as Francis Bacon and David Hockney. But few of us have been exposed to the gamut of this artist's output to the extent that this very fine book by William Feaver investigates the entire career of the grandson of Sigmund Freud.

The book is a catologue for the exhibition currently in Los Angeles, having opened in London and travelled to Barcelona. But to classify the scholarly and intensively detailed tome as an 'exhibition catalogue' simply does not do justice to the scope of this volume. The writing by Feaver is wise, witty, and thoroughly readable - the essay portion that opens the book is more a biography and an analysis of Freud's position in art history than a resume. The color reproductions are superb, spreading as they do across two pages for the very large paintings. As a catalogue the editors can be forgiven for not including sufficient 'detail views' that enhance understanding, but this is a minor point. The supporting data in the back of the book is as fine a catalogue raisonne as has been published to date.

Those of us fortunate enough to live in Los Angeles allowing multiple visits to this impressive exhibition can use Feaver's book as a Master Class on Lucien Freud. But the book stands alone in its mastery of the life and work of this exciting painter. Highly recommended.

At last ...
The definitive book on one of the greatest figurative painters of our time. The format is large enough (double paged, at times), the repros rich enough, and the scope comprehensive enough to properly capture a life/work as important as Lucian's. A must have.

Look into the work of Phil Hale ("Goad" from grantbooks.com), Odd Nerdrum (nerdrum.com) and Jenny Saville (geocities.com/craigsjursen/index.html) if you enjoy this artist. ... Read more

Book Description

The influence of music on the development of abstract and mixed-media visual art forms from the early twentieth century to the present day.

This ground-breaking new book and the exhibition it accompanies trace the history of a revolutionary idea: that fine art should attain the abstract purity of music. Over the past one hundred years some of the most adventurous modern and contemporary artists have explored unorthodox means to invent a kinetic, non-representational art modeled upon pure instrumental music.

Music has inspired some of the most progressive art of our time—from the abstract painting of Wassily Kandinsky and Frantisek Kupka to the mid-century experimental films of Oskar Fischinger and Harry Smith to contemporary installations by Jennifer Steinkamp and Jim Hodges. While early abstract paintings tended to approach music metonymically, the color organs, films, light shows, and installations from the mid-twentieth century to the present day engage a range of perceptual faculties simultaneously to create a plethora of sensations in the viewer.

The most complete examination of this phenomenon to date, Visual Music features ninety major works of art plus related documentation, focusing on abstract and mixed-media art and the connections to musical forms as varied as classical, jazz, and electronic. The book includes three scholarly essays, each discussing a distinct art historical period in depth, and an additional essay by Olivia Mattis that approaches the subject from a musicologist's perspective, as well as a chronology, artist biographies, and a selected bibliography. 250 illustrations, 200 in color.

With contributions by: Kerry Brougher, Hirshhorn; Jeremy Strick, MOCA; Ari Wiseman, MOCA; Judith Zilczer, Hirshhorn. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Comprehensive, Novel Approach to a History of AbstractArt
VISUAL MUSIC is first and foremost a traveling exhibition currently ensconced in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and as an exhibition it is informative, enlightening, well curated, and a unique way to study the history of Abstract Art from 1900 to 2004. One enters the large multi-roomexperience with a stop in a darkened theater where films dating back to the early part of the 20th century explore pulsating, rhythmic, liquid and explosive images, some in black and white, some in color, some 'illustrating' music from Brahms to Dizzy Gillespie and some in complete silence.The works are by such experimental artists as Oscar Fischinger, Len Lye and Harvey Smith and the films have been restored admirably.

The remainder of the walk through this marriage or courtship of visual images and music includes copious works by Kandinsky, Picabia, Klee, Ciurlionis, Kupka and many others, artists who sought to visualize the effect music has on the intellect and visual/aural 'synaesthesia' as the exhibition repeatedly explains.Some rooms are for framed works, other rooms for video forms of digitalized art in motion, some are simply walls of lines and abstractions and others the idiosyncratic color organs - the true synthesis of visual art and musical performance.The works representing today are from Jennifer Steinkamp in an elegant installation, Cindy Bernard, and Jim Hodges.

Though this is not meant to be a survey of an exhibition, knowing the presentation of this VISUAL MUSIC concept heightens the appreciation of the stunning catalogue that accompanies this show.From the sumptuous design elements to the splendid color reproductions to the scholarly essays, this is a book that is not an easy read but an important one.From Jeremy Strick's cogent introduction to the book through essays on the history of abstraction and the concept of what stimulated artists to relate to music and why, to the significant 'in defense of pure music' essay by Olivia Mattis, this is a magnum opus on abstract art that is unique in every phase.Kudos to the curators from the Hirschhorn (Kerry Brougher, Ari Wiseman) and MOCA's own Jeremy Strick.Grady Harp, May 05. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

I love this book!
This book was so fun for me as a first-time mother. The illustrations are gorgeous and classic and the poetry was beautiful - made me cry! My little boy is now 3 and I just realized we still have 2 more years of this book left. I will be sad when it's over. I highly recommend this! I was even going to buy it for my current pregnancy, but thought maybe I should start anew for the new baby (although I can't imagine finding a better baby book).

The best I've found
The Boston MFA Baby Book is a classy one. It is appropriate for children without being mawkish, has a space for each accomplishment I wanted to record, and even considers adopted children. If you are tired of the cartoon-themed books I would purchase this one; exactly what I wanted.

I was charmed by this book!
As I was perusing the bookstore looking for the perfect baby book, I had in mind the type of book my mother had bought for me 33 years ago. As soon as I flipped through this book, I knew it was the one. The pictures, typeset, and nursery rhymes give the book an antique feel but the covered, three-ring binder feature makes it easy to use.

A Baby Book For You
This book is everything a baby book should be: beautifully illustrated, perfect in size and design (the pages are fastened in a multi-ringed binder), and full of wonderful categories. Unlike some books, which focus on the mother's memories and call upon her to speak for the father, this publication permits both parents to share their thoughts with their child. Finally, the cover is simple, and contains no author's name (just like an old-fashioned baby book). After all, aren't the authors who are important for such a book the parents and child? ... Read more

Book Description

Because launching a new museum or expanding an already existing one can be a daunting task, it is imperative that you have sound advice. "Starting Right" provides this guidance in a handbook that was designed to explain the basics of museum planning in an evening's reading. Free of technical jargon, "Starting Right" defines what a museum is, both philosophically and historically, discusses the pros and cons of establishing your museum, outlines where to get help, and proffers advice on all aspects of museums from the choice of a building through collections care, registration, exhibitions, conservation, staffing, financial management and fund raising. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Starting Right, A Basic Guide to Museum Planning
This is an excellent "how to do it" guide if you are considering establishing a museum in your community. It is easy to read, and gives very specific guidlines to determine if your museum plan is feasible from both financial and community support considerations. If so, there are specific steps (from writing a mission statement to establishing a collections policy) to follow for prudent setup and running of a successful museum. Additional resources are listed for each step along the way. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Good book despite inaccuracies and racial bias
The book convers a vast history from the beginning of the Khartoum Mesolithic and Neolithic to the unfolding of the Arab invasion of the Sudan. Through each chapter readers will find out more information about Sudanese history. All the leading experts in the field of historical and archeological reserch from Charles Bonnet to Timothy Kendal.
Not only does this book cover Sudanese history,but also accomplishments of the Nubians. In the past various books have tried to overshawdow Nubia with using the ''Eurocentric'' implications of strictly Egyptian influce. In this book,however,it shows indigenous relgious existed well before the absorption of Egyptian relgious deities like Amun. In fact,there is proper evidence that the deity Amun,itself,might have been based off a Nubian deity called Amani.

Despite the shinning qualities of the book,many bias of long dead scholarship seems to rear it's ugly head. Jean Lecant tries his hardest to argue based off tomb scenes of Huy that the figures depicted are not streotypical ''true negroes'' Lecant fails to observe the diversity of Africans and that phenotypical traits like noses are influced by adaptation of climes not intermixture with caucasoids. Lecant unfortunatley still clings on to old outdated anthropology that clearly demonstrates his ignorance.

A wonderful gift for anyone interested in Sudan or the Nile
This beautiful 'coffeetable' book is something every Sudan scholar should take a look at, perhaps once a month? The book illustrates and catalogs an exhibit at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, and goes from Neolithic gravesites to the Christian era of Meroe. Anyone who doubted the complexity of prehistoric Nubian society will be convinced that here was an extremely interesting and complex society. The artisanship evident in the jewelry, construction of temples, and pottery, is stunningly skilled. If you can't justify buying it for yourself, give it as a gift to a friend. ... Read more

Book Description

This new volume by the authors of the highly acclaimed Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet presents over 200 full-color Tibetan tangka paintings from the collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin.The works span the 12th through the 20th centuries and the full spectrum of Tibetan artistic schools.This important contribution to the understanding of Tibetan art provides analysis of each painting in terms of iconography, religious meaning, style, regional lineage, and sources.An essay by David Jackson discusses the paintings of the Kagyupa school in the Rubin collection. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Comprehensive tour of Tibetan thangka art
This is a big, heavy book, beautifully illustrated and authoritatively written. I am finding it a boon in my research on Tibetan art, for it covers most every subject, style, and region of Tibet. My copy came from the library--wish I could afford to buy it!

Vivid and generous
This book is a companion volume to the same authors' "Wisdom and Compassion", which came out a few years ago. Both are sponsored by the Tibet House in New York and both have the same layout, typography, and approach. As far as I can see there are no duplications between them, though both books are quite large. People who loved that book, as I did, will definitely want this one too, since it is basically more of the wonderful same.

This volume focusses on one vast private collection of Tibetan painting. There are two hundred featured paintings, all shown in full-page reproductions, many with full-page details as well, showing the detail of the tiny figures in the backgrounds which are half of the fun of these pictures. There is some repetition from the first book in the text, but this book goes into more detail about who the figures are and what they are doing.

If there is a prize for quality of reproductions in an art book this book should win it. Every shot is beautiful -- nothing too dark, everything evenly lit. It is impossible, of course, to reproduce the soft powdery glow of the Tibetan pigments on silk, so the pictures look different here than they did in the museum. The printing process necessarily gives them a gloss that the originals don't have. That said, the book is still a beautiful object in its own right. Exactly THAT rosy pink next to exactly THAT acid orange next to exactly THAT slate blue are what make these paintings engrossing from the first minute, even before you get down to work and figure out what's going on in them.

If you want a gift for the budding Buddhist in your family, or if you want to start with only one giant volume on Tibetan art, I would advise you to start with the first book, "Wisdom and Compassion", for the simple reason that it includes sculpture as well as painting, and those little gold demons and tiny brass Buddhas are not to be missed. Real fans, though, and anyone serious about learning all they can about Tibetan art, will want both. Also people like me -- that is: gluttons for color.

The number of pages given above is wrong -- there are 512 pages. And please note that this price is NOT expensive for such a book. (Are all those movie stars who have their picture taken with the Dalai Lama bankrolling this book somehow? If so, we should forgive them all those horrible movies.) It is wise to preserve all the beauty in this book; it is compassionate to sell it so inexpensively. ... Read more

Book Description

J.M.W. Turner, James McNeill Whistler, and Claude Monet created some of the most poetic landscapes of the 19th century. This beautiful book, which accompanies a major traveling exhibition, follows the three artists from the Thames to the Seine to the Venetian lagoon and is the first to explore the relationships among their works.

Friends, collaborators, and rivals, Monet and Whistler adopted and built on themes first developed by Turner, including the creation of a series of views of the same landscape under different lighting and climatic conditions. Their attempts to imitate in oil the effects that Turner had achieved in watercolor and pastel transformed their style and would prove to be highly influential. In addition, they were inspired by Turner to seek beauty in the modern urban environment. In doing so, they created visionary works that contributed to Impressionism and Symbolism, and remain among the most beloved landscapes of the 19th century. ... Read more

Book Description

Featuring the latest work by emerging and established American artists, the 2004 Biennial Exhibition accompanies the Whitney Museum of American Art's signature survey of contemporary American art. This biennial is organized by a team of three Whitney curators: Chrissie Iles, Shamim M. Momin, and Debra Singer.

More than 100 artists and collaborative teams are included in the exhibition, which explores the idea of an intergenerational conversation reflecting a number of overlapping trends: an engagement with the art, popular culture, and politics of the late 1960s and early 1970s; the construction of fantastic worlds, uncanny spaces, and new narrative forms; and paintings, drawings, and handmade films that show an obsessive working of line, surface, and image. The Biennial is consistently one of the most exciting exhibitions of contemporary art in the United States; as always, it will garner attention around the world. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Walking backwards into the future...
This large catalogue is a beautifully produced publication -- bound with a fuzzy gray cover and silver lettering -- accompanied by a boxed set of contributions (bumper stickers, large postcards, celluloid strips, artist's books, single- and double-folded posters, etc.) designed by each of the artist-participants. No doubt a published work destined to become an item of "reflective nostalgia" for the discerning bibliophile in the not too distant future. I'd suggest you order a copy while you can...

Whitney Catalogue
The 2004 Whitney Biennial Exhibition continues through May 30 in New York at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Ave., and includes film and video screenings, performances staged in the museum and off-site, as well as outdoor projects displayed in Central Park. A catalogue, which comes with a box of limited-edition works by every artist in the exhibition. ... Read more

Book Description

Published to accompany a major international touring exhibition, this stunning, lavishly illustrated book is the first global examination of the Arts and Crafts Movement, one of the most far-reaching and influential design movements of modern times. Emerging in Britain in the late 19th century and quickly adapted in America and Europe, the movement has given us some of the most recognizable and popular architecture, art, and decorative arts ever created, including work by Gustav Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Crane, C.F.A Voysey, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Josef Hoffmann, and Georg Jensen. Today, Arts and Crafts furniture, textiles, glassware, metalwork, and other objects remain widely admired and avidly collected.

With beautiful photographs and authoritative texts written by a team of experts, this is the first major study to cover such a wide geographical range and to present the Japanese Mingei (folkcraft) movement within the international context of Arts and Crafts. Additional chapters on photography, architecture, and gardens contribute to a wider understanding of this much-loved style. AUTHOR BIO: Karen Livingstone is a research fellow at the V&A. She contributed to Design and the Decorative Arts: Britain 1500-1900. Linda Parry is an expert on William Morris. She curated the highly successful V&A exhibition on William Morris in 1995 and edited the accompanying Abrams book, William Morris. Parry is deputy keeper of the Furniture, Textiles and Fashion Department at the V&A. ... Read more

Book Description

Museum Strategy and Marketing is the most comprehensive and level-headed presentation of its subject I have come across. The authors are sophisticated marketeers who really understand the differences between market-driven businesses and mission-driven museums. The book is not about selling widgets; it's about building museum audiences and strengthening institutions.
- Robert P. Bergman, director, The Cleveland Museum of Art
In a long-awaited answer of one of museum's most pressing challenges, Neil Kotler and Philip Kotler draw on unmatched expertise and experience to reveal how museums can build revenue, audiences, and resources while maintaining and advancing mission. In this first and only guide to planning strategy and marketing for museums, they offer an in-depth, hands-on guide to developing successful museums. The authors explain the strategic relationship between missions, audience and funding--and how managing this relationship is vital for a successful museum--and reveal how marketing tools can be used to grow healthy, vibrant museums.
The book's encyclopedic approach covers everything museum managers need to know--from strategic planning and budgeting to advertising, media relations, and fundraising--providing them with the tools to create and nurture a thriving museum. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Modern Museum Marketing
An up-to-date compendium of marketing analysis and techniques for all flavors of museum. This book includes detailed marketing strategies to find the visitor, determine their wants and meet those desires. All aspects of museum work is presented: fund raising, exhibit development, collection policy, staff development, etc. We have used the guidance of this book to frame future expansion of the Minnesota Transportation Museum in St. Paul, MN.

Includes detailed charts to develop mission statements, arketing plans, interview visitors, develop advertising, perform continuing assessment of the museum. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The beautiful catalog Gerhard Richter: Forty Years of Painting accompanies the Museum of Modern Art's retrospective of this prolific and important German artist. Richter's many artistic achievements vacillate between pure abstraction and a kind of realism. His realistic paintings, based primarily on personal photographs and images from newspapers, range in subject matter from the banal, like rolls of toilet paper, to the extremely potent, such as famous Nazi "doctor" Werner Hyde. The paintings have in common an emotional remove; the re-creating of photographic images points us toward our own possible emotional detachment to the influx of images in the world. A blurred chair, Jackie Kennedy, burning candles, family portraits--Richter lays them all out before us as if to say, Here, they are all the same. The insightful text by MoMA curator Robert Storr provides an in-depth look at Richter's life in postwar Germany, tracing the influences and environment that made his work possible. The book includes a revealing interview with the artist and a detailed chronology of his life and work, plus 138 color illustrations and 165 duotones. --J.P. Cohen ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A great artist thumbs his nose at high art
A lot of words been written lately about the 'unexpected revival of painting' fueled by the current Gerhardt Richter painting retrospective captured in this book. It seems, according to some influential art scribes writing in the trail of this traveling exhibition, that the much heralded demise of painting, much like Mark Twain's death, has been greatly exaggerated. Showcasing about 120 works over a 40-year period, this book is one of the most comprehensive retrospectives ever mounted about a contemporary painter in recent memory, and that by itself is a strong enough reason to buy it. However, it is what has been proven by Richter's career and accomplishments, and unexpected stature in the art world (Sotheby's recently dubbed him the 'most influential living artist in the world') and now driven home here, that makes this a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn some lessons about the contemporary art world. You see, Richter doesn't fit the formula for success that many art curators and influential critics and other art powers-that-be have carefully crafted in the rarified atmospheres of the upper crusts of the art world. In fact, Richter breaks every 'rule' that often starts being pressed upon 18-year old art students and then is hammered home in reviews and lectures by many contemporary art critics and curators. Rules like 'you better have your own recognizable style!' or 'only new is good' and the oddest rule of all: 'painting is dead!' But Richter is not only a painter in an era forced to focus on video artists, performance stars and PhotoShop wonders, but also Richter wanders from style to style with an ease and speed that makes this book a lesson on half a dozen art movements of the last century beautifully continued onto the current one. Thumb through the pages here and you'll soon discover that Richter is as much as ease with photorealism ' some ultra sharp and some foggy in detail -- as he is with pure abstraction and with romantic paintings of pretty clouds and scenic waterfalls. This is an artist who is not just happy with thumbing his nose at the well-enforced rule that a good artist has to have a clearly identifiable style and do something 'new', but who also seems intent on destroying the other forced formulas of the modern art world: he copies other artists' works, works directly from photographs, blah, blah, blah ' all sins that would make all my art professors and most art critics sigh in disgust. But above all, Richter paints, and he paints in a time when painting has been dismissed as 'ailing' and 'ancient.' New is good, technology is good' painting is dead.' Why does Richter paint? Doesn't he get it? NOPE!! It's because it is all about painting! And managing to make fools of critics who forget that their job is to follow the artist ' not to lead the arts. What those who consider painting an 'ailing' form will never understand (mostly because they are not painters), is that Richter can't and won't stop painting, because through his veins runs the same intoxicating venom that fueled their ancestral kin in the caves of Altamira and which will continue to drive painters long after today's critics and curators are forgotten dust. This book shouts: Art does not have to be 'new' to be good, and technology is not the only venue to deliver great new contemporary art - it also continues to prove that painting will never die.

Fine Art, Well Published
Gerhard Richter is one of the finest Pop artists of the 20th century. ("Pop" because he is highly non-ideological, even depicting ideological subjects in a completely neutral fashion. His works are plain-old nice to look at.) This book is a beautiful representation of his work, chock-full of his painting, from his earliest works to his most recent, printed nicely in full color. It is specifically the catalog for the exhibit of his works at MOMA in early 2002 (which this reviewer attended, with great delight), but the exhibition was so broad, with a wide range of paintings across Richter's full career, the number of paintings in this book is satisfyingly broad.

Richter has dabbled in many styles, and continues to produce works to this day, but most often works with abstraction or semi-abstraction. His sense of color is wonderful, and his sense of vision is superb, by which I mean his paintings force you to stop and stare for long periods of time. Many of his paintings are like photographs taken just slightly out of focus. (He uses a projector, but modifies the image just enough to make you know a human did the work.) Their beauty truly makes you look long at them, and their skill makes you wonder how a person can achieve such subtle effects of lighting in painted oil on canvas.

This book also contains good explanations of Richter's work, but these can become tiresome at times. The worst is that the reviews and the plates are not indexed very well, so it is frustratingly difficult to find a given work, either in the list of plates, or in the various texts. This is a major disappointment, but never mind. The reason to purchase this book is the art. The text is explanatory enough to teach the reader about Richter's career and work, and serves its purpose well enough.

It is not clear whether the reader unfamiliar with Richter's work, or who has not seen it in person, can enjoy this book on its own merit, but for the reader even slightly aware or curious of Richter's career, this is a welcome volume for the library.

beautiful pictures, questionable text
This was a gorgeous show, but kind of conservative -- made Richter into the new "master" of painting, sidelines all his weirder and more "conceptual" work. And why does Robert Storr have to try so hard to put himself at the center of everything?? I saw the Richter show in SF around 1990, so no, this is NOT "the frist American retrospective." And Storr's dismissive (and often really uninformed) treatment of other critics (especially German critic Benjamin Buchloh, who's written on Richter for like, decades) shows what a limited writer and scholar Storr really is. But for better or worse, the pictures are great, and a lot of the other material is really good.

Amazing Retrospective
Richter has garnered a lot of attention this past season in New York with a retrospective, and judging from this book, quite deservedly so. There is a wealth of examples from Richter's work from the past forty years, and the quality of the prints are uniformly excellent. Storr's critical stance and biographical introduction run about 70+ pages, and they are very helpful for a person who is just learning about Richter's work, and still remain informative for his old fans. The interview included is enlightening, too. This is one of the better artist retrospectives to have come out in the past few years. Highly recommended.

the unblinking blur
Behold, German painting! In a country whose artists tend to lay the paint on blut and thick, Richter is a notable contrast. He represents, along with Sigmar Polke, the best of a school of European painters who assimilated the American Pop Art scene. Don't expect the blazing cartoon colors of Lichtenstein though, Richter is a painter's painter, who has more depth and soul than Warhol ever could (surely by his own admission). But Richter's subject matter also comes from the mundane: a faded family snapshot, a clipping from a newspaper. Bits of emphemera blown up a hundred times and immortalized in oil paint. Clement Greenberg might abhore Richter's work more than the American Pop Artists: here is grand kitcsh by the hand of a master painter.
*note that I speak mostly of Richter's representative work, of which the book mostly focuses on. Also, the large Richter retrospective, having left N.Y., is still touring America for those interested ... Read more

Book Description

Pearl tells the story of the arrival of the pearl in the West, its enchanting mythology, man's fascination with its origins, and the role it has played in jewelry and art throughout the ages.It also explores the significance and impact the pearl has had on different cultures: how it was believed to possess Medicinal and talismanic powers, and mystical symbolism.With georgeous color illustrations of brooches, pendants, and hundreds of other collectibles gathered from cathedrals, museums and private collections, this new book takes the reader on a visual tour of lavish design through the ages. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Fine Art
This book is absolutely beautiful. If pearls have a place in your heart, look no further. The book, especially for its price, is absolutely sumptious, from cover to cover.
The design: classic.
The art: thought-provoking, varied, and delicious.
The text: interesting, relevant.
And last but not least...
THE PEARLS: perfect.

Pearls deserve the royal treatment, and this book delivers unlike any other.

Beautiful illustrations with historical context
A gorgeous volume with neat historial and social notes. While some selections were a little on the bizarre side, this book gives a good foundation for the role this gem played for so many centuries. It is clearly a coffee table book, but delightfully delves into more substance than other books on the subject. At worst, it is a little thin on giving a full spectrum of cultures. At best, it is eye candy for many years to come. ... Read more

Book Description

The big, bold, seductive, and surprising color photographs of German photographer Andreas Gursky (b. 1955) set forth a stunning image of our contemporary world of high-tech industry, international markets, big-time sports, fast-paced tourism, and slick commerce. This large-format volume—published in conjunction with a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York—presents the first in-depth study in English of Gursky’s art.

The most adventurous of the celebrated students of influential German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gursky has earned acclaim at the leading edge of contemporary art with a polished signature style that draws upon a great diversity of ideas, precedents, and techniques. Created in collaboration with the artist, this oversize book surveys the fullness of his work to date with gorgeous colorplates, generous two-page details, and a wealth of supporting illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Utterly jaw-dropping
The Andreas Gursky exhibition at MoMA (and beyond) and its attendant book will be remembered as one of the biggest splashes that a photographer has made in the art world in nearly a decade.
His mentors Bernd and Hilla Becher devoted decades to the formulaic documentation of industrial archetypes. Gursky takes a similarly cool precisionist vision and blows it up to satelite simulcast proportions: everything is saturated color, super-scaled and hyper-detailed in this collection of hyper-mega-super-synthetic 'modern world as lurid theme-park' landscapes. His depiction of discount stores, sports arenas, hotel lobbies and stock markets are so crisply rendered that every dollar sign and pock-marked cheek are clearly seen. Images haven't had this kind of imformation density since Jackson Pollock was at his height. Then he follows it with images of such minimalist austerity as to turn a Prada boutique into an object of Zen contemplation. As his work has evolved, Gursky has made increasing use of digital manpulation to clean-up and enhance his environments. But it hardly serves qualify the veracity of these artificial spaces. This is our age with the volume turned to high shriek.

At Last: -a book that does justice to Gursky's work
Again and again, devotees of Gursky's work find themselves struggling to describe the sheer physical impressiveness of his prints. Pristine, perfect and awe-inspiring as they are; they ... in the viewer, challenging one to see more, to make sense of this information overload.

Previous coffee-table monographs on Gursky failed pitifully to convey the experience of viewing his finest work: such as the retrospectives at the Tate Liverpool (UK) or this latest show at MOMA NY -from which this book arises.

This MOMA book succeeds where others have failed: thanks to its designer's skill in taking portions -sometimes very small portions- of Gursky's images and placing them in the book as visual puzzles. They challenge the reader to recognise what they are, from which images -and where they belong. They also serve as an implicit yard-stick. "my God" the reader realises, "if this double page spread is only that tiny part of the whole image, I can imagine just how big and detailed the whole picture must be".

So, if you've not seen Gursky's actual prints yet, then please do: there is no substitute. But -having seen them - this is the only book that will come anywhere near to reminding you of that delightful experience.

Bill Hirst

***Andreas Gursky; Modern Master of Photography***
First you must understand why this book was put together. Peter Galassi, the Museum of Modern Art in New York's Chief Curator in the Department of Photography made this book as a sort of large catalog to accompany the Gursky retrospective which was in May 2001. The Gursky's photos are huge, the exhibition at MOMA was huge and the book is - well, big, but other's will more than likely agree, it could be bigger especially in context to Gursky's work. (12" x 13.5")

Inside you'll find two things Gursky's photos and Peter Galassi's essay. More than likely you'll thumb through the book ogling the photos first, only to find the treasure of Peter's research about Gursky much later. Galassi's writes with authority and intellect as he discusses the "artistic contexts and origins of the work" in detail. In the preface Galassi admits that the introduction is lengthy but is only meant to encourage further study. Indeed, you are curious, you are pulled in. Here is a sample "Andreas Gursky's best pictures of the past decade knock your socks off, and they're meant to. They're big, bold, full of color, and full of surprise. As each delivers its punch, the viewer is already wondering where it came from - and will continue to enjoy the seduction of surprise long after scrutinizing the picture in detail." Galassi continues with bringing non-photo experts up to speed on the environment of the European aesthetic over the past 150 years, with much of the focus being on the 1950'6 - 60's. Fortunately attention has been paid also the Becher's, one of Andreas Gursky's mentors from the Kunstakademie (art academy), as well as the changes that had occurred in the practice of what was being taught there. Influential artists are named and noted and neatly woven into the grand picture. There is more, but for my purposes here, the result is a writing that so thoroughly saturates the history of the artist and his medium, that it is indispensable to the book as a whole. If it were only a book of slick, meticulously composed scenes on a gargantuan scale, it would be just another coffee table book; left to collect dust in some neatly arranged corner.

The discovery of Gursky's photos is a big one. (Quick note, anyone who has ever been remotely associated with graphic design will appreciate the clean lines and layout of text and photos.) Not only is the book highly readable, it looks modern. Pages 43 -186 are entirely the color plates. They are huge. They are fascinating.

I have read a variety of descriptions of Gursky's works, many of them come from very different starting points and all come to the conclusion that he is a master artist. The photos are everything from "...modestly scaled, infallibly exposed, sharply focused images..." and "focus on the recent phase of capitalism, reified leisure, consumerist fantasies and global transformation of production." His works are "complex and labor intensive process", "Olympian" in their "detached observation of setting and stilled activity," and " overwhelmingly dense image(s) rendered with astonishing visual clarity." My point being, that you cannot escape something mesmerizing, which is the view on the world only Gursky can offer. He shoots everything from alpine landscapes to stock exchange rooms, sunsets and shoe racks, rock concerts to factories, all with the same omniscient eye. The result is astonishing; it is a sucker punch. Urbanscapes, which encompass both, views of the micro and the macro, and often render a feeling of disbelief.

There is something in these photos for EVERYONE. Literally in the sense that Gursky has traveled the world to capture these scenes. Figuratively because there is something here that everyone can relate to. Above and beyond shopping for candy, watching a sunset, standing on the mezzanine of a hotel balcony, this work conjures big questions about: commerce, ultra-consumerism, mass development and cultural homogenization, the feeling of being alone in a crowd, great energy spent on insignificant things and more. The conclusions are here for you to discover.

In summary, the book is wonderful. It is eye candy and it is brain candy. In no way is the book a substitute for seeing the artwork, but if you have to take "the next best thing" surely this book is it. I highly recommend this book for students who are actively pursuing a degree or career in photography, for art historians, teachers of art or photography, and anyone interested in social - political - environmental - or spiritual commentary by a modern artist.

Awesome!
The best photo book I've seen in a long time. I only wish the book were bigger.

A Revelation
Every photograph in Andreas Gurskey's book is a revelation. It's not a page turner-you'll linger at length over each photograph's wealth of detail, painterly composition, and absurd landscape. The images in this book have an amazing ability to startle and provoke. They are at once humorous and full of despair, alienating and invigorating. Traveling all over the globe to capture these moments, Gurskey has created a discourse about utopiansism, mass culture, work, consumerism, nature, and modern design. While the reduced size of the photographs (in contrast to the MOMA exhibit) means they lose some of their power, the book is ordered in a way that puts the images in dialogue with each other. And it reads better than any novel I have read in recent memory. ... Read more