No comments about Medici: Story of a European Dynasty.

4 comments about China Chic.

1. I just decorated my entire apartment in a fusion-asian style and this book was the last item I bought - to sit on my coffee table and accentuate the living room. I look at it all the time!!

   Beautiful pictures throughout. What a wonderful book!!




2. If you are interested in Chinese art, culture, clothing, and history, then this is your Bible. Chalked full of photos that pop off the page. This witty and interesting book takes you from Ming to present day China. Vivienne Tam reflects on her life, born in mainland China, raised in Hong Kong, then moving to New York. She tells charming stories about what has influenced and inspired her and her collections. Great interviews with members of China's creative community, and who can forget Mao? The book is designed like a large coffee table version of Mao's little red book! This is simply stunning.



3. Big book with stunning and bright photo illustrations that "bleed" off the page.

   Ms. Tam understands the style of Hong Kong and China (especially Shanghai) like few others; the best of that style is all here. She writes with enthusiasm and love for many essential aspects of the appeal of a culture known for its centuries-old aesthetic and for its mass-production and other mass sensibilities.

   Tam's education at the Hong Kong Polytechnic gives her a unique vantage point for isolating Chinese chic. She can view Cultural Revolution paraphrenalia with the eye of a designer, collector, and artist, rather than with painful memories. In a show of global sophistication, she understands East-meets-West sensibility (her chapter on Chinglish is told with an appealing tenderness). The text comes off without a shimmer of self-consciousness or compulsion to 'be Chinese.' There is camp, sex, zen, pizzazz and beauty, exploding off of every page and augmented by Tam's tales of exploration and appreciation.

   Bonus interviews with composer Tan Dun and choreographer/visionary Danny Yung are painfully short, but the reader still gets a healthy dose of young Chinese intelligensia. The text is endearingly personal, Vivienne Tam sharing with the reader what her senses take in. It's quite delightful.

   Great keepsake for people who have visited Hong Kong or Shanghai!




4. Unbelievable new book--from the red plastic cover (meant to mirror, and mock, the Little Red Book of Mao Tse-tung) to the great historic photos to the informative text and interviews, this is a unique creation. It's part autobiography (Tam was born in China, moved to Hong Kong at age 3, and grew up there), part fashion history, part contemporary culture, and all fun. Special chapter called "Mao Crazy," on the cult of Mao is worth the cost of the book alone.`

4 comments about Keith Haring.

1. I know a bargain when I see one. Sussman's book juxtaposes Keith's drawings and paintings alongside interviews with Keith's contemporaries (they even bring in Junior Vasquez), without any attempt at being complete. The price is lowered because of a black Sharpie line on the top of the pages. That's it! If you have any interest in Keith Haring or even art in general, this is a great way to look at a great artist.



2. a collection of keiths works, from the beginning to the very end. installations, sculptures, as well as his paintings on buildings and objects grace the pages of this large format book. a definite for every fan of this kutztown boy. describes keiths life through letters and stories from friends, photos, and many beautiful full color works by the artist. bright and bold, just like his life.



3. This is a book I picked up at the Whitney exhibit in 1997 - it's a great variety of all Keith's work. His style has varied over the years and this book does a great job showing his evolution. My favorite part is the fact that many of his pieces from his youngest years are included. It's always interesting to see where your favorite artist started.



4. A VERY COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT WORKS FROM THE WHOLE OF KEITH HARING'S RELATIVELY SHORT CAREER, YOU GET A DEFINITE FEELING OF HIS WORK CHANGING BEFORE YOUR EYES. THE TEXT, OF WHICH THERE IS AROUND 20 PAGES, MORE THAN ADEQUATELY SUMS UP THE THEMES AND AIMS OF THE ARTIST . THERE IS ALL YOU COULD WANT REALLY:

   · ART HISTORICAL CRITICISM( WITH FREQUENT REFERENCE TO THE ONSUING PLATES) · INTERVIEWS WITH KEITH HARING HIMSELF · A FULL LIST OF ALL THE EXHIBITIONS AND STREET ART HE DID · SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY · 182 PLATES

   YOU GET A REAL FEEL FOR WHAT THE ARTIST WAS ABOUT, SO WOULD BE AN IDEAL FIRST BOOK ON KEITH HARING, AND A GOOD REFERENCE BOOK FOR THE ART HISTORY STUDENT!

1 comments about Edge of the Sublime: Enamels by Jamie Bennett.

1. American enamelist Jamie Bennett established an international reputation in 1986 when he produced a line of jewelry using electroformed shapes and rich colors and blended in cultural influences from Morocco, Turkey and more. This catalog represents a retrospective exhibition sponsored by Fuller Craft Museum of Brockton, Massachusetts and pairs three introductory essays with a discussion of the artist's work and life. An exhibition history and bibliography round out the presentation of color photo displays, making for a top pick art libraries in general and those interested in jewelry will find engrossing.

3 comments about The Book of Urizen: A Facsimile in Full Color.

1. Anyone else notice the parallels between Blake's illuminated text and the universal origins described in the recently uncovered scrolls contained in the Nag Hammadi Library, the ones that are the oldest origional records of the words of Jesus Christ in the Secret Book of James? From the ignorant splitting from the undescribable origional of the lesser and jealous "God" (arguably the Old Testament's Jehova) to the metaphor of the chain, it seems as if they could be mirror images. The interesting part is that the Nag Hammadi library was discovered in 1947- the same year the Dead Sea Scrolls were found-- and has been dated back to approximately 50 AD. Almost all other Gnostic writings had long been destroyed by the early Church. Read into this what you may, but Blake most probably never read this particular text. Personally, I take this as proof of at least authenticity, and moreover that Blake was in greater alignment, more like Christ, if you will, than most humans so far. I bet he could make a killer salad.



2. Blake's "The [First] Book of Urizen" is an incredible poetical and visual depiction of the rise of the flesh and the implications of being bound to our bodies. Particulalry interesting because the book manages to depict an occurance that, according to Blake himself, is impossible to describe. The use of the metaphorical tool of a mythology by the book comes as close as one could expect from a peice of writing to achieving this depiction (the rest, appropriately enough, is up to our imagination). It is this undertaking of what seems to be an impossible task (that of attempting to represent the metaphysical through the physical) that shows this poem's bravery.



3. A small book but of good value. Very useful to see the full color plates that Blake had designed along with the text. The combination of the two increased my enjoyment of the work. The poetry is a bit obtuse and requires multiple readings to really extract what Blake was saying.

3 comments about The Finest Houses Of Paris.

1. Lovely pictures of Paris interiors -nothing really fancy or grand, but still very luxurious homes.



2. Don't let a fondness for Proustian luxe sucker you into purchasing this book containing mediocre photography and a text of perfumed flatulence. The ostensible purpose of the book is to reveal French urban, aristocratic taste as of the late twentieth century, or more accurately the taste of their designers (the usual cast of Henri, Renzo, etc.)and other arbiters of taste (Hubert, Alexis, Carlos, etc.). Certainly, there are more than enough interiors of the mummefied magnificence that comes from cocooning staggering numbers of objects in layer after layer of fabric (WARNING: Do not try at home. If you do not possess first-rate things and have access to the production from the best mills in Italy and France, you will achieve only The Old Junkshop look), but the pictures are uniformly fuzzy, muddy and printed on poor quality paper. Most maddening of all, the photography neglects genuine masterpieces (you cannot catch more than a glimpse, for example, of the incomparable Ingres portrait of Betty Rothschild) while devoting page after page to boring tabletop vignettes usually consisting of a few knicknacks and photographs of long-dead nobodies as children. In fact, the real purpose of the book is apparently to provide the author with a vehicle to boast about her ancestors (many of those same long-dead nobodies) and the elegant life they led. There is also a stench of moral decay most evident in the fawning description of Lady Mosley with an outrageous defense of British fascism before World War II. Mostly, however, the premise of the book seems to be that you are what you own, or more accurately what you inherit -- a concept so inherently ridiculous that even the owners of the homes depicted in the book had the good sense for the most part to insist on anonymity. If you truly want to revel in the atmosphere of things past, make yourself a cup of tea, find a hard biscuit and settle back in your recliner with the first volume of you know what.



3. Though the title under which this book was released in France "Visite Prive" is perhaps more telling and appropiate for this volume, the homes included are no doubt among the finest to be found in that wonderful city. Most notably, the Rothschild's Hotel Lambert, is probably one of the finest homes to be found anywhere in the world. Truly a house fit for royalty for these kings of banking and bankers of kings. The home of couturier Hubert de Givenchy is another which exemplifies "French taste" and elegance even if we visit it in a more simplified state of grandeur then it was to be found some years ago before Mr. de Givenchy sold off a good part of his exceptional collection of antiques. Mme. de Nicolai-Mazery really brings these houses to life as she pays friendly visits to their inhabitants and informs as much about these notables of French society as she does about the houses they inhabit, many of which are truly family houses and have been handed down trough generations. All in all the book is a must for any lover of Paris and France as it illustrates French social life and culture in this cultural capital of the world. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Tom of Finland: The Comic Collection (Boxed Set).

1. I ordered the product which was precisely described. The payment was easy and it was shipped inmediatly. Suddenly I received the product much faster than expected. It was a nice surprise. Even though the product is used, it was in neat condition, very well pakedk, no damage at all even thought it had to go all the way from the south of usa to the north here in canada. They where great.



2. The format isn't exactly great, but the fact that all the comics are together makes this collection worth while. It would have been nice to have everything in the original size, but I'm not so sure there's an audience for this any more.



3. There are works here of Tom's that I have not seen before, vwry will done.



4. Just happened to see this item on Amazon. Had never heard about Tom or his work. Took a chance and ordered the book.Just one word should describe it - MINDBLOWING !
   
   Although the art and line drawings are repetitive, the way the whole story is conceptualised and brought to life in the drawings is indeed amazing.
   
   Am a fan now and forever, have also ordered a couple of his other books.
   
   The only reason I give a four star rating is that the Book could have been published in one volume and the size and layout could also have been slightly larger, which would have enhanced the visual appeal.
   
   All in all a book worth keeping and prying into as and when the need "ARISES"!



5. I can't agree with most of the niggling in other reviews about this set. The images are beautifully reproduced in crystalline detail, many of them in rich duo-tones, and the binding is a beautiful black leatherette with rich-looking gold-foil lettering and line images. The small size is no drawback, either-it gives a jewel-like aura to the whole set, and while some previous collections (such as one I first purchased in the 1980s) used an 8-1/2 by 11 format, they also reproduced four panels to a page, so that the actual pictures were no larger (and considerably less well reproduced).
   
   HOWEVER, in comparing this set with previous ones, I noticed that where the original drawings had no distinct boundaries, the pages here are circumscribed by a hairline box, which results in the images being "cropped"-that is, a small amount of the drawing on each side is cut off. In most cases the overall effect is not too damaging, but there are images of group scenes in which what had been full figures are reduced to merely a hand or a nose. Considering that this is presumably meant to be a "definitive" publication of all of Tom's cartoons, I'm amazed that the Tom of Finland Foundation would permit this sort of trimming.
   
   That being said, I must add that overall I think they did a beautiful job, and the price is very modest for a collection of this quality.

No comments about The Artwork Caught by the Tail: Francis Picabia and Dada in Paris (October Books).

2 comments about Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition, Vol. 3 (Marvel Essentials).

1. nice basic encyclopedia for ppl who wanna review some chracters or learn some unknowm material to them, but it is alil out of date so some recent info are missing



2. Note: The description for this volume provided by Marvel (on Amazon and the sites of other online book-sellers) is really a description of Vol. 2, not this, the 3rd volume. Also, this series origionally came out nearly 20 years ago, so it is quite dated, but still provides more info. than any other book of its sort, and based on the recent Marvel Encyclopedias (which I loved but were NOTHING next to the level of info. put into the Hand Book series), nothing like them will ever be seen again.
   
   Never before nor hence has there ever been such an indepth, painfully detailed source book of information for Marvel Comics (or any other company for thart matter). The majority of this, the Third and final volume in the initial Delux edition of the Marvel Handbook, tome collects the "books of the dead" in the series, meaning the info here relates mostly to those Marvel characters who were considered dead and buried for good at the time they were written. However many of them have, as Marvel is prone to do, come back to life by one means or another, since the Hand Book was written. Also included is the Appendix of Alien Races, a fair handling of the alien races in the Marvel Universe seperate from the major three (Kree, Skrull and Shiar). Around 100 alien races are discussed.
   
   The high-lights of the books of the dead are mostly of the Marvel Sci-Fi realm, such as Capt. Marvel (Mar-Vel), Thanos and Adam Warlock and crew. Other fun entries include losts of the old western characters, the Rawhide Kid included, who has recently been "outed"; mini-profiles of the surprisingly high number of Savag Land-unique races; and an extensive entry covering the Vampires as they are/were in the Marvel Universe.
   
   Also, it is here that the X-Men and X-Factor etc... are covered in the few ramaining pages of the last issue (non-books of the dead that is) before going into the extensive Alien Races Appendix.
   
   This volume, and the previous two (meaning those of the DELUX editions), are simply a must-have for any fans of Marvel in general, but this volume is a necessity for specifically those following the sci-fi and X-Men families. Also, if you read and loved the Earth X series, you simply can not pass this up.
   
   I only have two small criticism:
   1. This volume is much shorter than the previous two but still costs the same.
   2. Through out the whole run of the series the appendix is referenced, but nowhere in this or the previous two volumes does the appendix ever manage to reach the point of covering the teams and characters demoted to it, instead the whole of it heavily focused on "alternate realities", and lots of space was used for the rambling of the creative teams behind this stellar gem of nerdom.
   
   Yet neither of these petty complaints take away from the volume or series as a whole.
   
   Enjoy!

No comments about Thiebaud 2009 Wall Calendar.