5 comments about Cézanne's Composition: Analysis of His Form with Diagrams and Photographs of His Motifs.

1. Many of Cézanne's paintings are essentially composed of flat, homogenous planes. He has no interest in textures and takes great freedom in choosing colours and distributing them patchwise. He also disregards proportions and perspective, making receding objects such as roads, mountains and hills stand up straight, so to speak, to the picture plane. Thus each plane in the painting "remains comparatively flat and parallel to the picture plane", but still the painting has a definite feeling of depth because of "the three-dimensional effect that a sequence of the same planes creates through overlapping" (plate XIII). "Cézanne's genius in organizing three-dimensional space is the basic foundation of his composition" and doing so by the plane colour patch approach agrees with the principle that a painting "must remain faithful to its own structure, to its fundamental two dimensions" (section XV). The organisation of space is achieved by the "tension" or "movement" created where planes overlap, and this is Loran's main framework for analysing Cézanne's paintings. With some imagination and many useful geometrical diagrams we can sum up the effects of the overlaps to a general movement; usually some sort of circular movement, always staying within the picture frame. Loran is very faithful to this point of view, even blaming Cézanne when it doesn't apply. In his analysis of a Sainte Victoire painting (plate X) he finds such a circular movement and concludes: "It is this circular movement that gives the painting it ultimate 'closed' effect. Actually, this canvas has many elements of open form ... personally, I find these latter elements insufficiently resolved and somewhat disturbing." Besides this analytic framework, Loran also makes more traditional analyses in terms of balance, dynamics, etc., and he also spends far too much time nagging about two pet topics: Cézanne's famous colour modulations are in fact of incidental importance and Cézanne anticipated Picasso and Braque.



2. When I first read this book, over twenty-five years ago, I thought it was the most remarkable book ever written on how an artist composes and organizes his or her creative process. Over the years, I've returned to it many times. Having recently re-read the book I find I am still thrilled by Loran's ability to illuminate the special qualities within Cézanne's canvases. As an artist and art educator, Loran was in a unique position to comprehend how this artist balanced the formal, intuitive, and experiential aspects of composition. All of this comes through admirably and clearly. Although I imagine some people might find the graphic diagrams cold and remote from the vitality of Cézanne's painting, I think a close reading of the book demonstrates that an illustrative graphic can help us reach a deeper understanding of the artist at work, in this case Cézanne. If you are a fan of Cézanne, definitely read this book! If you are interested in understanding the artistic mind, definitely read this book.



3. Pages 17 to 24 are a so called "Illustrated Glossary" and are worth buying the book for. The classic rules of space and depth and planes are explained in most of their complexity. Then he discusses many many examples of Cezanne's work and how they use the principles of space, planes, and depth. A masterpiece and extensive in its scope. If you really want this type of abstract picture understanding you will not be disappointed. Very highly recommended.



4. The book is trully great.... very well written and thoroughly analized...My only problem with it was the lack of colour plates (understanding that the study of his technique is concentrated on the orchestration of planes and volumes). I believe the study of this master requires colours... in order to fully appreciate his methods but also becuse of the pleasure of merely being a spectator and enjoying his art for what it really is...a ballet of fantasy and life!
   Appart from that I do believe it is a must for any lover of art.



5. This book is a must read not only for students of Cezanne and Cubism, but for anyone who would like to understand how a composition is put together. By comparing photographs of subjects painted by Cezanne, to the paintings created, one can see what interested the master in his own work. Cezanne's classic remark about Monet ("He is only an eye. But what an eye!")is clearly relevant here: Cezanne is not only an eye function, but a meditation on the process of visual construction per se. A stimulating and important book.

5 comments about Beginner's Guide to Community-Based Arts.

1. I love this book.
   (Of course, I read all the Keith Knight cartoons first, then went back and read the book.)
   
   Lots of good information here. It's a wonderful resource in these times of massive budget cuts for the arts.
   The lesson is: DO IT YOURSELF (but get help!)
   
   This book will get you started, and teach you to allocate the few available resources and align with like-minded activist folks to get the job done.
   
   Should be required reading in every high school and college.



2. This book is wonderful; it's accessible, fresh, and inspiring. Its playful tone will appeal to young adult audiences. The illustrations are dynamic, the language is clear, and the structure is elegant.
   
   Having taught reading and literacy for many years, I am suspicious of books that teach "methods." (There is always a new method or 'miracle program' out there being foisted on teachers.) Methods almost always become stale and tired and eventually end up constricting learners and teachers. What I like about the Beginner's Guide is that in lieu of a "method" the authors present a sound philosophy in which they make a connection between art and community. This is presented in a charming and informal manner and without needless complication or fuss. The authors' philosophy seems to be based on common sense, a deep feeling for humanity, and an understanding of art as a vital expression of that humanity.
   
   The authors present their ideas in a clear and simple framework that can be used by artists, art students, and community members in any number of situations and for any number of purposes. It's difficult to imagine such a process becoming 'stale'; what you can do with this book is only limited by the energy and imagination of your community.



3. Great stories that provide models for meanigful arts programs. One reviewer here on amazon referred to the book being political and not arts centered. I found that to be way off base. What I got from the book is how art becomes a reponse to the struggles of different communities, and in turn helps to address those challenges. So, art is both an end in itself as well as a tool for articulating and facing the world. The drawings and the approach itself is grounded in how art is practiced with everybody, how art is powerful for everybody to engage in (not just those who get to call themselves "artists' and lead the "artistic life" of writing grants to arts councils). Keith Knight's comics in particular rock!



4. "Community Based Arts" is new slang. It basically means, how to get someone who is so far outside the political realm of reasonableness to be politically influencial by using art as the method of empowerment. Art? Not important. Political impowerment..according to the general message of this book is important. It really goes into the face of what art is, and has been for a millenia.
   
   Make no mistake about it. Schwarzman is a political activist that does not understand art, nor does he have a background in art.
   
   This book is NOT for artists that want to learn how to write grants, because there is NO practical information about how to do anything except to teach non-artists about using their political beliefs to be artistically inspired.
   
   If you are an artist and you need some REAL advice about how to get work and survive, then I'd go to the local arts council or to the web to other professionally oriented resources.
   
   If you are an artist and you need to seek new sources of inspiration then you should read Robert Henri's book The Art Spirit, published in 1923. It's a beautiful book, and it has inspired artists of many mediums since its publication.



5. This book can be used to formulate a grant, jazz up the funders, get students to learn about community work through comics, to teach college art students how to get out and get to work. I am so excited about this book because of how it outlines and lays out in simple forms the organizing process. They want you to be able to repoduce the processes. It's not high falutin art or theory gobbldigook. It is, on the other hand, a highly engaging funny cool and groundbreaking book about art. Comics of real artists doing real art. Great for artists, teachers, organizers, and people who work for social change.

4 comments about Renaissance Rivals: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian.

1. I had the pleasure of being in Professor Goffen's Italian High Renaissance class in the early 90's. She was a terrific professor, a true life force in the class room, and anyone who was lucky enough to have learned from her will never forget her. Sadly, she has since passed on, but her great intellect and love of her area of expertise live on in her definitive volume on Bellini, and in this book. A tremendous achievement.



2. Goffen has provided a clear, engaging, and refreshing view of Michelangelo and allows for further study and questioning.
   
   I do want to make a remark regaring the review called "Qualified Praise." Goffen does not state that Michelangelo died in 1566. She adheres to the February 17, 1564 date:
   
   "Instead, Vasari paraphrased an anecdote reported by an unknown correspondent, writing within a month of Michelangelo's death on 17 February 1564." (p. 117).



3. Goffen's book is a powerful and thrilling volume of scholarship. Having passed away of breast cancer, the author rests knowing that her words and scholarship will continue to delight and inform many people desiring a new take on the overly discussed pieces of Michelangelo and his "antagonists."
   
   This books is both complex and lucid. Goffen has taken great care to use her language tactfully, but not sparingly. She presents many solid arguments with charged notation. The author leaves her reader swimming and fascinated at the same time. Goffen discusses the works of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and Titian with solid grounding in the social context and network previously left behind by many scholars. Goffen is in fact so well grounded in the social context of her subject's time--and her own time--that "Renaissance Rivals" can certainly be seen as a modern day "Lives of the Artists". However, this text has not been embellished, nor fabricated by anyone desiring to create a legacy. Rather, Goffen's careful text offers argument and explanation for why Michelangelo and his rivals were indeed such great artists.
   
   This masterful work is a pleasure to read and will certainly stand in the pantheon of scholars as an accessible text written by a brilliant author.



4. A sumptiously illustrated book, written in a chatty, somewhat prolix style. Worthy of five stars, but for two significant problems, warranting the subtraction of two stars:
   
   1) Some annoying factual errors, the most significant of which is the author's repeatedly giving Michelangelo's date of death as 1566, rather than 1564.
   
   2) The binding is simply not up to the task of keeping the heavy pages of the book together. My copy has already split in a couple of places, even though it has been handled gently.

5 comments about Michelangelo Life Drawings (Dover Art Library).

1. The images are not the highest quality, but if your goal is to get a taste, maybe to have something to copy to learn the style, this book will do fine, and it is not terribly expensive.



2. What is the point of buying having the book when you can't even see it. The print quality of this book is so poor. The images are either too dark or just can't see at all.



3. A good buy for any student of art or anatomy.



4. In this thin but great book, you'll find 46 works of the great master - Michelangelo. Concentrating in Life drawings you'll see studies of the great marble - "David", for "The Battle of cascina",for various figures of the Sistine Chaplle Ceiling,and many more astonishing studies, all vivid in his great manner. Black & white. A real "Must Buy", especially in this price. Michelangelo. The Master.



5. this is a collection of 46 figure drawings michelangelo did. michelangelo was a master painter and sculptor, he rendered figures more beautifully than any other artist ever has. most of the drawings in this book are studies he did for his paintings and sculptures. and he was a master draftsman. the book is in a workbook style binding so it takes up little space, but it is a hardy book. it is well worth the...price.

1 comments about Rapunzel's Supermarket: All about Young Children and Their Art.

1. This book is an excellent book but when it was published it wasn't put together very well because the pages are coming out/the cover came unglued from the pages. I would definitely recommend this book for teachers of kids!

1 comments about Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy.

1. The topic of this book is extremely entertaining. As any reader can
   imagine from the title, it's about landscapes as byproduct of branding.
   Well known recent projects in the US (few Europe) by star architects are
   analyzed in the context of city branding, museum branding, and corporate
   branding.
   
   Branding has been out there for long time, but what's particularly
   interesting in recent phenomena (gist of this book) is that the
   architecture (or formation of its process) is used as a vehicle to
   branding. Klingmann was able to pull together diverse discipline groups
   and abundant resources to make that claim.
   
   Another major voice in the book is about "Experience Economy." Basically,
   how product developers and brand strategists have evolved their nature of
   products and point of advertisement into consumer based satisfaction.
   That in mind, Klingmann pulls together solid evidence of the
   architectural role.
   
   Good books tend to be either extremely informative or imaginative.
   Reading the book, I had pleasure of doing the latter. Branding, in my
   mind, at the basic level comes down to "art of seduction" or "art of
   persuasion", dealing the issues of contemporaneity. There are probably
   gazillion different veils to seduce, Klingmann's book does not focus on
   one particular way of seducing. The real strength of the book, hence is,
   its open-endedness to imagination.

1 comments about The Object of Labor: Art, Cloth, and Cultural Production.

1. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but I'm in love with this book. The design is gorgeous and the essays couldn't be more relevant. A little heavy on the artspeak, might be a bit daunting for those not familiar with this arcane language. But overall an excellent survey of current concerns in textile art.

5 comments about The Complete Color Harmony: Expert Color Information for Professional Color Results (Color Harmony).

1. If you are not a designer, and have little background in color theory then I would highly recommend this book.
   
   I needed to design a book cover and was getting my CMYK's confused with my Pantone's and RGB's.
   
   It is an easy read with many full color examples, plus the CMYK values.
   
   You can use the color patterns as a template for your own projects (work smarter not harder).
   
   A worthwhile addition to my marketing collection.
   
   Cheers!



2. I am designing a website and wanted a solid grounding in color theory, having found that books in the computer genre do not cover this topic well.
   
   This book hit the mark, it provided me with 1) a basic grounding in color theory and the color wheel, 2) a no-nonsense, practical and thorough overview on the psychology of color, 3) a large range of categorized sample color combinations.
   
   This book only provides the CMYK formula for its color swatches, and not the RGB formula. The book's theoretical sections also do not go into sufficient detail to explain the differences between the two formulations. This is not too-big-a problem as there are color formula conversion sites available on the web. This is the only reason why I have deducted one star. Perhaps a little unfair as computer nerds are not the book's target audience. I would give 4.5 stars in an ideal world.
   
   I highly recommend this book if you are after a solid, practical and not too academic approach to color theory



3. Great book! Lot's of beautiful colors with CMYK values so that you can replicate them yourself.



4. I have enjoyed the book. Although I thought it would be more useful in terms of designing graphics arts, not my house. This book provides insight to color theory based on emotions and feelings when walking into a room; therefore, I would suggest this book for those looking to do some interior decorating and designing; not necessarily for graphic arts.



5. I buy this book because the title is "The COMPLETE Color Harmony". There are so many other books about color on the shelf, but the word 'COMPLETE' really hit me. Altough i'm working in the design field but i found myself need more resources to this main subject, color harmony.
   
   This book is great, it gives me new ideas of color harmony. I often use it for my projects. What i liked about this book is that they put 'Moods & Color' section in it. Powerful, rich, romantic, vital, earthy, friendly, soft, welcoming, etc....with other colours combinations too. 'The Psychology of color' also a great one too along with the 'Process color convertions chart'. This book is absolutely complete!

2 comments about Fantasy Art Now: The Very Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art & Illustration.

1. The work in this book of illustrations are absolutely amazing. The imaginations of these artists are beyond all boundaries.



2. I found the art work in this book mind boggling. These pictures stretch the
   imagination to the limit and send the mind off in all sorts of directions
   and suggests many possibilities.

5 comments about Modern Primitives (Re/Search).

1. I am open minded and found some material interesting. For the most part this book focuses on the absolute extreme forms of body art. The material has a tendency to turn toward the dark side with pain as expression and to be honest, some interviews were just disturbing.



2. The book is great. It should be required reading for any anthropology class.



3. A brilliant introduction to the evolution of western piercing and tatoo culture and its inspiration. Very much of it's day: mid 1980s to early 1990s, but a very interesting read never the less.



4. This book is how most people I've run into became aquainted with the modern primitive and body modification culture. Re/Search has done an excellent job of putting this work together and suprisingly enough in the days of the internet providing instant access to most aspects of subculture, it has stood up to the test of time. This isn't a photobook, rather its an illustrated series of interviews and some critical essays regarding the modern primitive movement. If you're expecting hot chicks with pierced nipples, you'll be sorely dissapointed but if you're actually interested in seeing what drove people to engage in these body practices, you'll find it a favorite item in your library.



5. This is the book that really began my journey into an alternative lifestyle and body modification. I have bought many copies over the years to pass on to other people as a reference tool to answer questions about themselves and me.