1 comments about Street Photography: From Atget to Cartier-Bresson.

1. this is extremely thorough if not slightly wordy opus. While reading, it gave the impression of a major paper written for peer review. On the downside I felt that it was not overtly aimed toward the "layperson" photographer. If I were to be in a place to ask, I would also wish for more photographic illustrations. However it is well worth plowing through for its insights into street photog as related to other movements in the arts and letters from the same epoch.

1 comments about The Art of Impressionism: Painting Technique and the Making of Modernity.

1. Anthea Callen trained as a painter. She writes with a painter's insight. She also has a brilliant mind. The book is thoroughly researched. It is written with more emphasis on the materials and physical techniques of the Impressionists than on sociological or philosophical analysis. When she does go into those areas she does so with restraint and great intelligence. I give this book the highest recommendation particularly as a book for painters or for those interested in the intricacies of painting.

3 comments about Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job.

1. This book of Blake's illustrations -- both color and detail black & white -- of his interpretation of the Book of Job is such a beautiful treasure.



2. Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job makes me want to take a Bible study course, just to learn as much as I can about the compelling sketches so beautifully printed on the pages of this eye-catching book. Each lovely oversized page of this book depicts a Scripture episode found the Biblical Book of Job, all of them worth meditating on. I am particularly impressed by the images Blake paints of God, who appears consistently benevolent even in the face of Satan. This book creates fascinating imagery, painted by a man whose life was, apparently, somewhat fixated on this particular subject. Blake painted these images sometime in the early 19th century, but they are still contemporary and memorable. I really love this book for its artistic interest and as a subject for an art history course.



3. I was shown a copy of this book 25 years ago. Blake's art transformed my world. I have been a student of Blake ever since. I still go back to this book often. This book, in a few pages, gave me an entry into Blake's system.

1 comments about Family Houses.

1. I am an interior designer and I bought three of these books. The photography is nice, the interiors are clean line, the furnishings are simple. All three of the books are very similiar, one would have been enough to get the feel.

No comments about Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated).

3 comments about Still Life and Trade in the Dutch Golden Age.

1. A great idea and a wonderful exposition. The pictures are also beautiful. Interesting also for non-art historians



2. As a student of Stuart era British political and social history, I found this work a useful, serious introduction to Dutch economic and art history. Profusely illustrated, and quite readable (despite the intended academic audience), the book uses a detailed study of Dutch economics as a window into the world of Dutch art in the 17th century. A number of sources are translated here for the first time.
   
   Of course, all art history interpretation is necessarily viewed through a personal prism, and Dr. Hochstrasser lets us know she is using a "Marxist" approach (which means that class consciousness is revealed by the art) with her frontispiece quote. For me the narrative made the still lives far more consequential and understandable - I've never been enamored of the pretty fruit type of picture before, but now understand why the subjects were important and why the owners of these works would be proud of their display. I came away with a deeper appreciation for the artwork of the period as well as the economic industry of the Dutch at this time, including the affliction of the slave trade, an odious counterpoint to the "golden age"
   
   This affordable work would be welcomed by anyone with an interest in 17th century Europe, economic history, and Dutch art, of course!



3. One opens a book of art criticism purporting to be a review of Dutch still life in the Golden Age in the hope that such a book might actually contain art criticism. Ms. Berger Hochstratter foregoes such bourgeois expectations and instead offers us her shock and horror that Dutch still lifes in the Seventeenth Century do not confess loudly the sins of the Dutch colonial expansion and the underlying exploitation of native peoples arising from such things as the spice trade. Oh yes, there are some lovely pictures included.
   
   One is well forewarned of the impending screed by the opening epigram from that most eminent of art historians, Karl Marx. One abandons all hope upon reading the first sentence of Ms. Berger Hochstrasser's preface, which reads, "As I first sat down to draft this preface on 8 September 2001, the International Congress Against Racism was meeting in Durban, South Africa." Indeed.
   
   For the next 280 or so pages, we are made to suffer along with Ms. Berger Hochstrasser as she delves ever deeper into her revulsion at the inhumanities the rich inflict on the poor. Oh, by the way, all those moralizing interpretations that many art historians have read into Dutch art of the period--the vanitas--well, it seems that since none of them really explicitly condemned slavery, international trade, racism, sexism, whateverism--all those interpretations are null and void. Interesting.
   
   I think you get the picture. This is an ideologically driven, sophomoric book. One can admire the author's idealism and her sincerity. Did I mention that the pictures are lovely? Skip this book; read Schama instead.

1 comments about Figure Drawing: The Structure, Anatomy and Expressive Design of the Human Form, 6th Edition.

1. There's good and not so good in this book. The good is, it is very comprehensive, well organized, and authoritatively written. The bad news is, many of the concepts are complicated and difficult to follow. The writer assumes you understand many things because he doesn't bother to verbalize them very well. This is typical of an academian in my experience. Academian's like to throw something out there and wait for you to ask them what they mean. Unfortunately, that approach does not work so well in a book. To his credit, if you dwell on the ideas long enough they eventually do sink in and approach brilliance. So understanding this book is like understanding art. It takes a while to digest. That said, I recommend the book and be prepared to have your head expanded. This book turns over every stone in the quest to better understand drawing.
   As an example here is a random passage I picked describing "Location and Proximity". "The relational energies of location and proximity are produced by the association of like or unlike elements according to their position on the picture plane or in a field of depth." You see what I mean? You gotta love it.

1 comments about The Vexations of Art: Velazquez and Others.

1. Doktor Alpers is one of the Super Novas of Art History, and as the Monteverdi song title suggests, she luminates far more than most of her starry peers. Starting with Rembrandt, along with Rubens the core of artistic values and sensibility for this stellar intelligence, we are taken through a carefully grounded argument, arriving finally at Velazquez, and "The Spinners". Alpers never falters as she unveils a plethora of critical perspectives, analyzes each in a dizzingly narrative convergence, and leaves mere mortal readers to return to her pages and consider the embarras de richesses she bestows. Alpers is never easy, but neither is she deliberately obscure; her chapter on Rembrandt's painting of Bathsheba is a model of clarity: a privileged sharing of Alper's lifetime of considered wisdom.
   Alper's books are events in the best sense of the word; each as brilliant as an illuminated book. Her works inevitably follow one all-pervading rule - "Let there be light!" And what better touchstone for an historian of art?

1 comments about The Art Of P. Craig Russell.

1. There's no other rating for this book than 5 stars from me. P. Craig Russell has been a fine artist and innovator in comic art as well illustration for at least 35 years. The first landmark work appeared in a story about Marvel's master of the occult, Dr. Strange. About the same time he was taking up the job of drawing an obscure but incredible comic about a second wave of Martians who attack Earth and conquer it in Marvel's War of the Worlds. These stories, of course are based on the story written by H.G. Wells. Russell, along with writer and cutting edge storyteller of the day, Don McGregor, they carved one of the most compelling and truly strange adventures to ever see print in comics. The main character, Killraven was an escaped ex-gladiatorial champion and his band of escaped gladiators and other escapees actively rebelled against their Martian overlords. From both the written and artistic perspective this book introduced concepts like accepted slavery, that being it was better to be a slave in some people's minds than it was to be perpetually on the run in a losing cause, and even a story about the rebels experiencing life in a virtual world created by a computer. That particular story was drawn in such a surreal but valid way that it looked like a model for PC virtual worlds yet to be designed and this was published in 1975. The look of the series was never more stange, oddly real and yet decidedly distinct than when Russell was providing the art. It was like someone cloned Erte', Mucha and Ruebens and set the creation loose after a steady diet of Stanley Kubrik films.
   Suffice it say Russell was on top of his game, so much so, that he seemed to work in world of his own. He was one of the unsung pioneers of independent comics creating a series of comics based on everything from SF to operas. His stylized but meticulous rendering method flows across the 2 dimensional surface like an exotic wind through a forest of legend. He has no competition for the style he utilizes. When you see a P. Craig Russell effort it stands apart from the rest.
   This book is a gorgeous production keeping the information intact but words are concise saving a lot of room for the art to flow throughout the book. It's a bargain for it's size, heft, variety and stellar production values. This is THE P. Craig Russell experience.
   I hope to see more collections from the publisher, Desperado.

3 comments about Greek Architecture, Fifth Edition (The Yale University Press Pelican History of Art).

1. This is one of the best books to study Greek architecture - not only architecture of temples but also other buildings. Good for archaeologists as well as for architects.



2. for any serious student of classical antiquity, lawrence's treatment of greek architecture is a must-read. it is a elegantly illustrated volume, full of plans, drawings and photographs. the text is well-written and easy to understand, even for a beginner to the field. I whole-heartedly recommend this volume to anyone who wants to have a look at greek architecture, beginner as well as expert. lawrence's book is nothing but brilliant. it is THE entryway into greek architecture.



3. Any archaeologist knows that the Lawrence is one of the best Greek architecture/archaeology reference books to own. Buy it if you have any interest whatsoever in the field.