1 comments about Jasper Johns: The Business of the Eye (Taschen Basic Art Series).

1. Like the other Taschen Basic Art series books I've seen, this provides a good introduction to Johns's work, covering his career through the present day. At only 96 pages, including a large number of color reproductions of his works, it is a quick read, but it also is far from comprehensive, of course.
   
   For the price and quality, it offers a very good value to the layman seeking to learn more about the artist's work.

No comments about Visual Literacy: Writing about Art.

2 comments about How to Draw Lettering (Young Artist).

1. The book is NOT for children. It might appeal to a high school student with previous experience in lettering. The pages are FULL of detail and include MANY ideas for creative lettering. However, you need to be able to take the idea and then create the rest of the alphabet. For example, it shows a "graffiti style", but it only shows a few "letters". I would prefer to see the entire alphabet!
   
   Instead of this book, I would recommend "Letter Art: Based on Alphabet Designs by Becky Higgins (Spiral-bound)". This book is produced by American Girl. This book offers a generous variety of "letter styles" with creative ideas for using the letters, such as greetings cards, gift tags, and scrapbooks. Each "letter style" is then shown in the full alphabet.



2. It would have been superbly useful to be able to look inside this book before I bought it so I could have saved myself the return shipping. I bought this book for my 10-year-old daughter who enjoys drawing and using interesting lettering styles. This book is WAY BUSY. Every page is full, full, full, from top to bottom, left to right--I found it very overwhelming. It does include neat details like drawing a word tower (writing a word vertically in tower form, keeping in mind perspective and vanishing point). However, the book was just so crowded and busy that it was hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Definitely not recommended for someone who simply wants to leaf through it to look for a lettering style they'd like to use on a project--which I think the front cover implies you'd be able to do.
   
   Usborne is a trusted and respected name in children's books, but I was disappointed by this one. Most children would find its format overwhelming, unable as they'd be to EASILY find what they want to draw.

5 comments about This is Modern Art.

1. I found this book to be a challenging, thought-provoking foray into contemporary art. And fun. First off: it is not necessary to agree with the writer to get something out of what they have to say. If you are open minded and a critical thinker and enjoy art, you will like this book. If you only want to read stuff that supports your comfortable notion of what you already know, you will never get through it, and you'll hate it. I enjoyed the discourse and had a sort of running debate with the author as I read, which was like having a stimulating conversation with a fellow art geek. I really liked this book and have recommended it to many of my art buddies. It will be interesting to see what they think...



2. If there ever was an art book that you shouldn't waste your time with, this is the one! Written as an exercise in pure egomania, the only thing Collings manages to communicate is how little he respects his readers' intelligence, taste, or personal integrity. The relentless "I'm oh so smart and sophisticated, while you're not and never will be" screed gets really old after about 3 pages but drones on until the bitter end. No need for Syrup of Ipecac when you have a monograph like this around! About the only thing one can learn from such a sorry excuse for a book is not to waste more money on any other birdcage liner the (putative) author has dumped into the marketplace. I felt bad that the lowest grade I could give it was one star: it actually deserved a minus five.



3. As an antidote to art jargon that passes as "writing" whether in ART FORUM or in catalogues, Mr Collings' book is a refreshing RELIEF. Well illustrated examples which illuminate his arguments, clear division into six sections, and an open-endedness to many issues make this a very enjoyable and informative read for the lay person who loves art. I'm immediately passing it on to one of the people I value most in the world - my 17 year old son. Is there a better recommendation?



4. This is very idiosyncratic look at art today, and in it, Matthew Collings chooses several issues about art to discuss: Shock, beauty, emptiness of meaning, humor, and the present. His writing can be annoying, sounding almost like Warhol in his "Philosophy of Andy Warhol" with short, witty, curious phrases, and a distant, ironic humor that can sound condescending or careless. Still, it turns out to be insightful and entertaining, and even informative. It isn't that you learn something profound about how to see art or understand it. Rather, it's like having a conversation (albeit one way) about art and particular artworks with someone who has a lot of knowledge about art and is often very perceptive. Along the way, you learn about recent artists such as Chris Ofili, Sigmar Polke, and Richard Prince, as well as past artists like Pollock, Picasso, and Goya. The pictures are good too. But it's just a fun look into the issues that modern (or post-modern) art tries to tackle, and some things to think about the next time you visit a modern art museum. Again, it's idiosyncratic and personal, so it's only one person's take on artists and art.



5. 'This is Modern Art' is a book accompanying the ch.4 TV series of the same name, and this fact became all too obvious after I purchased it. The text does not read well: it seems as though the publishers have lifted Matthew Collings' voice-over from the TV programmes and transcribed it directly onto the pages of the book. Sure, there are plenty of nice photorgraphs and the tone is lively and informative, but reading the book - actually reading the text - is a strange experience as the words on the page do not work as words on a page: I kept wanting to read aloud and listen to myself speaking. The book is full of phrases and sentence construction that is made for the ear, not text that has been written to be read.
   The TV series was very good, but sadly this book is too close to a script of that series - and not what it should be: a BOOK about Modern Art.

3 comments about Vladimir Nabokov, Alphabet in Color.

1. Vladimir Nabokov had synesthesia, a "mixing of the senses" that in his case manifested itself as "audition coloree" or the "involuntary attribution of colors to the sound of letters."
   
   In this thin volume, Jean Holabird seeks to interpret Nabokov's "delightful account of his own vivid version of the condition" through visual renderings of portions of the text of Nabokov's autobiography Speak, Memory where he described how he saw every letter of the alphabet in color, e.g. "The long a of the English alphabet has for me the tint of weathered wood" and "Noodle-limp l" (the lowercase l written in script like spaghetti twisted to form a loop).
   
   After "reading" the book, my husband said he would not mind having synesthesia himself - proof positive that Holabird made the condition appear appealing through her interpretation of it where Nabokov was concerned, at least.



2. This commercially produced and priced book has the appearance of a private press book.
   recommended not only for Nabokov admirers



3. Renowned twentieth-century literary author Vladimir Nabokov maintained that he could "hear" color. Enhanced with the memorable and interpretative illustrations of Jean Holabird, Alphabet In Color showcases what Nabokov heard with respect to colors would manifest visually to the rest of us with charming, vibrant, synesthetic colored letters. No student of Nabokov's literary work (which included "Lolita", "The Gift", "Pale Fire", "The Defense", "Invitation to a Beheading", Pnin", "Ada", and so much more) should pass up the opportunity to peruse this unique and original study of Nabokov's appreciation of color and its role in western literature.

2 comments about I Love Led Zeppelin.

1. There are certain expectations that you bring to different authors and artists. When it comes to comix, for example, you go into a reading of R. Crumb knowing that he excels at exploring the inner landscape. If you read Harvey Pekar, you know that he's going to take you to a richer appreciation of the quotidian. Art Spiegelman's work, you know, will hit you in your moral gut.
   
   But if there's one thing that stands out about Ellen Forney's work, it's that it doesn't lend itself to easy expectations. Sometimes she comes across as a hip, cool, punk. At other times, she seems like the girl next door. One minute she's an incredibly sexy, excitingly creative avant gardist. The next she's a chronicler of the mundane. There's very little that's predictable about her work, and that's part of what makes it so intriguing and so illuminating.
   
   In I Love Led Zeppelin, Forney presents her work in 4 different categories: "How to" guides ("How to Be a Fabulous Fag Hag," "How to Tip Your Server," and "How to _____ a Woman with your Hands"); More Short Comics, including the hilarious and poignant "The Light Snow Became a Blizzard," "Walking with Carol," and my favorite, "Wednesday Morning Yoga"; '92-'94, with "My Date with Camille Paglia" leading the pack; and Collaborations, with themes ranging from star-struck fans to sexual coming of age.
   
   Forney's artwork is clean and incredibly expressive given the minimum of pen strokes she uses. She has a good eye, both for drawing and for focusing in on the funny, joyous, alarming, and profound moments hidden away in the stuff of everyday life. Like Harvey Pekar, she sees the deep significance in what's too often dismissed as insignificant. Unlike Pekar, though, she seems to have an uncomplicated love of life, an exuberant appetite for fun and celebration, that makes her work both insightful and fun.
   
   So: how do you be an Ellen Forney fan? Read her stuff without expectations and preconceptions, and enjoy the ride. Oh, and one more thing: loving Led Zeppelin wouldn't hurt.



2. It's funny and informative. I reattached my own severed finger with the help of one particular cartoon.

No comments about William Marrett Chase: Modern American Landscapes, 1886-1890.

4 comments about Painting the Great Masters by Number: Create Your Own Masterpiece with this Easy Paint-by-Number Program.

1. The name is misleading. In order to paint any of these, you need to photocopy and enlarge everything or sketch the outlines in the book onto a canvas. Also, even the outlines are vague. It says these masterpieces are not conducive to a PBN style homage so it's best to really look at a copy of the original while trying to replicate it with the vague number patterns given in this book. It is a good informational book but not a paint-by-numbers.



2. I don't know about others, but the "paint-by-numbers" that I grew up with involves an actual canvas & paint. Neither of those elements are in this book. The book...which is what it is, not a kit of any sort...is simply a book about painting. It includes the diagrams that you can copy onto a canvas, but that's it. It was not what I wanted when I ordered something involving paint-by-numbers & I promply sent it back.



3. It has always been my dream to paint a painting that people could actually look at with pleasure. I found this book, and now my walls are filling up with wonderful paintings I did myself! Not only are the instructions easy to follow, but the techniques can be applied to copy paintings other than the ones in the book. I just finished my own copy of THE STARRY NIGHT using these techniques, and it looks great! I recommend this book to anyone who always wanted to paint but never thought she could.



4. I just got this book and I can't wait to get my brushes dipping into paint. There are 30 masterpiece paintings in this book. From Botticelli to Whistler, with Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Klimt, Modigliani, etc. in between. All with directions, step by step photos, supply and palette lists, glossery and basic information on techniques. It is written for the Acrylic painter with some gouache, watercolor and pastel information for converting. It is not your old fashioned paint-by-number. These paintings have much more blending so that they look like the originals. What a hoot to paint your own version of the masterpieces.

No comments about Art in the World.

2 comments about Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories Of World War II.

1. I agree completely with "John's" assessment of the book. I found the numerous grammatical and spelling errors to be quite distracting. One wonders if the author was this sloppy with the writing, did he also make mistakes with the historical facts?



2. "Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories Of World War II.
   By Kenneth D. Alford. Da Capo Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2001.
   
   Although the title of this book is "Nazi Plunder", most of the book is concerned with the American Army plundering all the Nazi loot that they ran across at the end of the war in Europe. As a conquering army and as an agent of the United States government, the American Army had the right and the duty to capture and hold the masses of gold, silver, jewels, painting and books that were scattered around the Third Reich in April/May 1945. But, as the author, Kenneth D. Alford, points out, there were many American soldiers, (officers and enlisted men) who were willing to pocket as much as they could of the captured Nazi loot. Alford tells engaging stories about golden reliquaries that were in Texas for half a century and later returned to the church in Germany and about Adolf Hitler's library which ended up in the Library of Congress in Washington. With the exception of the Russians and the "Amber Room", it seemed that all the looting had been done by Americans. What did the British, Canadian and French soldiers loot?
   
   I found the book to lack continuity. The author announces a subject change by the simple expedient of placing a blank page in the book and then jumping from German War Art to "Fabulous Horses". Further, the book would benefit from more editing. On the same page, page 7, the author uses two different spellings for the town as (1) Frankfort and (2) Frankfurt. He does not tell you if it is Frankfurt Am Main or Frankfurt on Oder, but the context shows the town to be Am Main. On page 72, he calls Heinrich Himmler's home as "Haus Schmeewinkel". I would expect that the proper spelling is "Haus Schneewinkel". On page 123, he writes the "Unties States" instead of the United States.
   When I was working on my MA thesis (History), my thesis advisor made me use an old-fashioned brown wooden ruler and go through the text line by line. Spell checker does not cut it. On page 187, the picture does not show a "...shape like a bishop's hat", but rather, a ... "shape like a bishop's mitre". In fact, many of the captions for the different photos just repeat the words found in the associated text.
   
   For the great amount of research, four stars. For the lack of continuity of the story, one star. For the need for a more through editing, one star. Average: two stars.