5 comments about Art Forms in Nature Mini (Prestel Minis).

1. There are multiple books with reproductions of Haeckel's Art Forms in Nature. Two are published by Prestel: a $25 9x12 monograph with essays about the work, and a $9 3x5 postcard book. The descriptions of the two are mixed up. Both are great for what they are.
   
   Art Forms in Nature: The Prints of Ernst Haeckel (Monographs)



2. decent for the price but it's made for little tiny people with little tiny little hands, cuz it has these little tiny ilustrations with bowed legs.



3. I've wanted to get one of Haeckel's books for a while. His drawings are lovely, truely inspirational....BUT this book was a big disappointment, and one which could have been avoided had I paid closer attention to the product description. It is pocket-sized: 3 inches across!!
   
   It's hard to see the magnificent detail in Haeckel's work on a page so small.
   
   this is one of those things I would NEVER have bought if I picked it up in a book store. It looks like one of those little gift books..
   so, if you buy this, do so with the knowledge that it is tiny, and consider buying the larger edition. it's what I would have done, had I looked at/ considered the dimensions of this book.



4. Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) was a renown biologist and zoologist who was very adept at rendering fantastically detailed color and black and white drawings of a wide variety of life forms from microscopic sea life on up to plants, fish, birds and mammals.
   
   Most of the plates (about 50) in this beautiful HC Prestel Mini-series are done in color and each with the taxonomic order. There is a Foreward by Melanie Klier giving a short over-view of Haeckel's life and his dedication to promoting interest in nature through his artwork. This book is small and compact and will fit in a shirt pocket- sort of a Haeckel-on-the-go, if you will. A larger paperback version Art Forms in Nature is available.



5. There is a large-format edition of Ernest Haeckel's Art Forms In Nature on the market which is more appropriate for library lending. This Prestel edition of Ernest Haeckel's miniature version will appeal to the home user who might find inviting this mini-survey of art forms in nature. Illustrations of mammals, leaves, seashells and more provide both black and white and color embellishment extolling the wonder of art in the natural world. A winning little title, even if it does get lost on the shelf at times, being half the size of a normal paperback, and twice as thin.

1 comments about Giambologna.

1. Having attended the Florida State University Study Program "a Firenze" from June to December 1976 and having returned nearly ten times since, Giambologna became one of my favorite Renaissance-Mannerist-Baroque sculptors. This book very well summarizes his life and works. Please enjoy learning more about Giambologna!

2 comments about Georg Jensen: A Tradition of Splendid Silver.

1. The first edition of Janet Drucker's Georg Jensen: A Tradition of Splendid Silver was published just four years ago, in 1997. Now, just a few breaths later, a revised and expanded second edition with an updated price guide is out. Given the impressive richness of the first edition, one might say,"So soon?" The first edition had gone out of print, but it would have been more usual at this remove to reprint it without revisions. The reasons are not especially apparent at first glance; the jacket design(and the jacket advertising copy) has barely changed, the general organization and graphic design of the first edition have been retained in the second, and the number of pages is about the same. When one sits down with both editions and begins to compare them page by page, the differences quickly become apparent. A very large amount of new material has been added into the new book, including 250 new images and expanded archival information on production and designers. Since the publication of the first edition, so much previously unavailable material came to light that its inclusion seemed paramount.
   No matter how long and fully one has worked on a research project in the arts, as soon as one publishes, more material, often keenly interesting material, appears in response to the publication. A study of the second edition's acknowledgements suggests that the beauty and inclusiveness of the first edition brought the suthor new contacts with other dealers, collectors, museum curators, auctioneers, and other specialists, each of whom had something wonderful to add to the story.
   In the case of the new photographs in the second edition, many previously unlocated Jensen pieces turned up. Some pieces illustrated in the first edition only in rather murky old catalogue or magazine photos became available for new color photography. Additional historical photos surfaced as well. The net gain of images in the new book is(by my count) just over two hundred color and black-and-white images overall. That the new addition is physically about the same size as the old one owes to a meticulous reworking of the layout on perhaps half the pages in the book. There was enough "air" (unused white space) in the basic design of the text pages for the first edition to accommodate many more photos in the second edition without choking the graceful layout of the book.
   One of the most important innovations of the second edition is also easily overlooked in a casual inspection, and it will prove very useful to collectors and dealers in understanding Jensen product. The photo captions now include all Jensen design numbers that were stamped on their items of jewelry and hollowware, along with the trademarks and other marks on the back and bottoms of the pieces(only some of these were available to the author for the first edition) All Jensen jewelry and hollowware items were so marked, except for special-order pieces, and much of the earliest flatware was also marked in this way. As in the first edition, there is a full explanation of the marking system near the end of the book. Other important additions to the book are more readily apparent. These include complete reprints of the Jensen illustrated flatware catalogues for the Cactus(flatware pattern 30) and Acorn (flatware pattern 62) patterns, and for the so-called"Unique Serving Pieces". These include seventy-two ornamental serving utensils in a variety of numbered patterns not matching the full-line flatware patterns. The new edition also includes both chronological and production data for all of the sterling silver designs of Henning Koppel that were produced for the Jensen company. The Value Reference Guide has also been updated. This guide is not based on opinion but consists of actual auction records from sales in the major American and British houses over the past decade.
   Given that the first edition had been sold out before public demand for the book had subsided, a reprinting would have been welcome enough. Both the author and the publisher are to be congratulated for instead producing this most significant and valuable revised and expanded second edition. I am glad to recommend it to owners of the first edition along with the ever-expanding group of collectors of Jensen"estate" silver who were not able to obtain the orginal book.



2. Collectors of jewelry of any type now have another acquisition for which to long. It's a signature piece, finely detailed, a valued addition to any serious collection. It is a jewel indeed, but you may not find it at the jewelers. It's a creation of Janet Drucker and it should stand the test of time, for Drucker has crafted Georg Jensen A Tradition of Splendid Silver into a splendid guidebook.

   Not a dry tome, crackling with boredom, this book offers an at once scholarly treatise on Jensen amd a readable reference as well. Drucker sets up the volume by putting Jensen's ascendency into prospective. She grounds him in his time period and explains the forces which created his work and appeal. Not settling for another long line of picture strewn collection catalogs, she introduces the reader to Jensen's life story in a well written and very readable text. Next the collector's delight: the litany of his accomplishment.

   Chapters are devoted to his jewelry, his holloware and his flatware. Then Drucker offers the benediction with a look at Jensen's worldwide legacy. But don't stop there, because the appendix offers the musuem collections of the master and a listing of the artists whose work built the Jensen line.

   Now, lest you think this book is a must for scholars only, rest assured the exquisite photography and the easy to read captioning will make this gem a perfect adornment for your home library. If you know Jensen or not, Georg Jensen A Tradition of Splendid Silver will be splendid for you.

2 comments about My Chinese Sketchbook (My Sketchbook).

1. For those who love waterCOLOR, I recommend Fu Ji Tsang's "My Chinese Sketchbook". A veritable explosion of vivid oranges, reds, purples, and blues highlighted with virtually every color accent the eye could see--or imagine. Tsang's sense of balance working with grades of light, shade, and space are a testament to his ability to translate what he sees onto the paper.
   
   This work highlights his depictions of the diverse people and places of China, from Fujian to the Tibetan and Muslim regions. Tsang shows himself able to depict a tribesman's face with painstaking detail (p. 124-125), or an ornate garden and dwelling in what appear to have been just a few misty strokes ("The Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou", p.47). It looks to have been an easy feat...but the balance and cohesiveness of each work speak of Tsang's experitise--there is no simplicity in the artist's eye. A real treat!



2. This is a beautiful book and will be greatly enjoyed by my sister who is an artist and recently took a wonderful trip to China

No comments about Anatole Demidoff - Prince of San Donato (1812-70) (Collectors of the Wallace Collection).

No comments about Harvard's Art Museums: 100 Years of Collecting.

1 comments about Robert Rauschenberg: Cardboards and Related Pieces (Menil Collection).

1. These works have a special place in Rauschenberg's oeuvre, taking his marriage of art and life to the extreme. They are profoundly literal, and to my mind, the most audacious things he's ever done. Here it is. If you want art in the modern world, if you want to see beauty in the world around you, take a cardboard box and put it on the wall. That's it. Funny how his imagination then drove him to elaborate on this theme, from simple compositions to complex phrasings in cardboard boxes, to the extremes of trompe l'oeil, flourescent back-lighting, and other technically refined means, all to explore the basic premise: beauty is all around us, even in our cast-offs. And what we think of as disposable says a lot about our priorities. The superb essays in this book do their job of illuminating the art without smothering it in analysis. The works speak for themselves. I wish I could have seen the exhibition at Menil, though I did get to see many of these pieces at Sonnabend Gallery in NYC in the early 90s. This is a great book for the lover of modern art, but also anyone who's ever spent quality time staring in rapt adoration at an oily mud puddle or a pile of raked leaves. Essential!!!

5 comments about Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book.

1. This book is awesome eye candy, with plenty of amazing drawings and fascinating photos (including a few of mine, so I'm biased, but trust me, this is a book like none you've seen before), but the reason you shouldn't deny yourself this particular treat is that it backs it all up with advice on how to be a DIY mogul. Molly's career has been amazing and she reveals every bit of how she's built the Dr. Sketchy's empire. There are tips for anybody with a project or event they want to promote--all charmingly surrounded by brilliant drawings of saucy burlesque performers, daring roller derby gals, and even a some sweet hunky boys! This is a truly unique and beautiful book, and makes a great gift for ooglers, artists AND entrepreneurs.



2. With Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book, Molly Crabapple has shown that her talents do not lie only with a sketchpad, flaming stick, or pair of pasties (though she rocks all of those incredibly). In typically whimsical, entertaining, and saucy fashion, she gives a guide not only to running an anti-art school, but to living out your dreams, however fantastical they may be. This book is a swirling, sexy delight, and I say that as someone who will most likely never draw anything more than a stick figure. I found Molly's history of her art modeling days fascinating yet disturbing, and was thrilled to read about the flourishing Dr. Sketchy's subcultures all around the world. The fact that this is an equal opportunity enterprise, with hot beefcake and half-naked burlesque babes, of all shapes and sizes, is also remarkable. Plus, the book has a word scramble! And cut-out pasties. Seriously, folks, what's not to love? It's a yummy little package of art monkey naughtiness right in your dirty little hands. Color me impressed.



3. Chock full of gorgeous photos, Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book is addictive!! It made me WISH I could draw! Along with the photos, there is lots of witty commentary and description of this event that is only a year old, but is already taking the world by storm. This book makes a great gift for anyone, but any artist or hell, lay person, who is intrigued by an event where artists gather to draw pictures of elegant nekkid ladies in a velvet-y bar whilst drinking cocktails and coffee will keep this book available to look at time and time again.



4. As a womyn, I am offended by all of the chestal regions in this book. Some of them are quite buxom, and covered in sparkles. I think sparkles are what are keeping womyn down. Also if you want to learn to draw, you will only learn to draw chestal regions. Why not learn to draw womyn's BRAINS? Are we nothing but happy jiggle-bags? Womyn of the art world, unite against this book.
   
   Five stars!



5. This is a charming confection of a book, something you'd want to put in a bowl and eat. The writing is funny and cheeky, the illustrations gorgeous, and it's just chock full of delights: coloring book pages, paper dolls, cut-out pasties, burlesque girl photos, puzzles, cartoons... and this in addition to a history of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School and a step-by-step manual on how to start your own. This book is obviously essential for artists who want to start their own fabulous old-style burlesque life drawing events, but it's just as great for non-artists who only want to bask in its charm.

2 comments about Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime (Aesthetics Today).

1. this book really changed the way i think about painting and photography. one of the phrases in the book really stuck with me: "...a surface of poison" (in reference to painting). there are a lot of references to deleuze and bergson and heiddegger but if you don't read much philosophy, like me, and still get through this book, you will think differently about painting, photography, fashion and begin to contemplate concepts (for lack of a better word) like blankness, absence, frivolity, instantaneity, etc.



2. Art critic Gilbert-Rolfe explores beauty's changing role and aesthetics in society in Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime, a survey which blends philosophy and discussions of modern art and perceptions of beauty. An intriguing coverage which enters the debate about the role of beauty in our culture.

No comments about Art and Photography.