No comments about Frida Kahlo (Portraits of Women Artists).

No comments about Historia Verdadera Del Realismo Magico (Tierra firme).

1 comments about Nutcracker Sticker Paper Doll (Dover Little Activity Books).

1. I debated between 3 and 4 stars, but went with 4 for two reasons. First, it is super cheap, and works great as a filler. Second, because the book uses stickers, there is nothing to cut out and the little ones can use it without adult help. The book is cute, and should be fun for my daughter and her friends. It will likely on last for three or four uses, but for the price that is fine.

1 comments about The Cathedrals of England (World of Art).

1. Alec Clifton-Taylor discusses the history of English cathedrals from Norman times to the present day. Those unfamiliar with architectural terminology are advised to keep the glossary marked, as you'll be turning to it a lot. But Clifton-Taylor is enthusiastic about cathedrals and communicates his enthusiasm, so he is an outstanding tour guide. And the photography is spectacular. Highly recommended.

2 comments about The Traditional Ceramics of Southeast Asia.

1. 'Only by knowing the past can we track a meaningful future.'
   
   Mick knows his material, perhaps better than most Westerners can. Both the photos and the text display compelling evidence of his understanding and compassion for the lives that most of us, even as tourists there, never see. The whole feeling of the book is of love and care for these peoples, their cultures and traditions.
   
   Every photographed object is brilliantly contextualised. The ceramic pieces are not isolated for an arid aesthetic study, but are revealed as part of richly beautiful lives.
   
   The writing style is delightful - easy, picturesque, evocative and quite devoid of dreary academic pretension. As a professional ceramicist himself, Mick describes the technical aspects with absolute authority.
   
   Although the book is about the traditions of ceramics in South East Asia, it is equally a book that questions contemporary values, the impact of global economies and the ongoing destruction of ancient and beautiful cultures. This book cannot be read without some ethical misgivings about the careless path being trampled by Western societies.
   
   Mick has added something truly important to human knowledge.



2. In this handsome, profusely illustrated volume Mick Shippen elevates the seductively simple village pottery of Southeast Asia from an appealing craft into a thoroughly fascinating window on ancient folkways.
   
   Graceful jars, pots and stoves take on a life too seldom found in Asian art books as Shippen introduces us to the aging potters and the strands of tradition and myth that weave their work into a village way of life shaped before roads and money linked the farmers of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam with a larger world.
   
   Here you will meet the old potter who spits over her impromptu kiln of bamboo and straw to keep her wares from breaking when she fires them. You'll see how the clay is dug--and learn how hard it is to convince the modernizing cadres of the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic that a good clay deposit deserves to be protected from 'development'. You will feel the claustrophobia of digging a tunnel kiln four meters below the village fields, and the searing heat that blasts the potter looking down to see if firing is complete. Again and again you will feel you have met these distant villagers, and known the drifting evening scent of woodsmoke and fragrant rice cooking in an earthen pot.
   
   The extensive and richly detailed context Shippen provides does not lead him to underplay the pottery itself. He gives gratifying detail of process and product, and the differences between seemingly similar wares, all engagingly photographed. This superb book is capable of changing your travel plans and making you a collector. It is certain to give you a feeling of intimacy with Southeast Asia that most of the volumes on broader aspects of the region cannot approach.

No comments about Vitebsk: The Life of Art.

No comments about Pre-Raphaelite Paintings and Drawings in the Collections of the Fogg Art Museum: 24 Art Cards (Card Books).

1 comments about Harvey Kurtzman: TCJ Library Vol. 7 (Comics Journal Library).

1. The Comics Journal Library Vol. 7: Harvey Kurtzman (Comics Journal Library) (Purchased on 05/28/2008) by Greg Sadowski.
   
   This book was a shocker! I had never seen it before I ordered it, and it was much more lavish than I expected. A large size with nice paper, high quality printing and reproduction of the art inside.
   The interviews with Kurtzman were awesome, and the design and layout of the book was beautiful. There was lots of art to look at throughout.
   If you are a Kurtzman fan, this book is well worth the money.

3 comments about Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile.

1. A beautiful book, this volume offers an excellent introduction to geisha traditions in Japan and fascination with "geisha girls" abroad.



2. The geisha have long represented Japanese elegance and chic and have been popularized by the recent best-selling book and movie MAKING OF A GEISHA: for further insights on their history choose the lovely visual and historical pairing in GEISHA: BEYOND THE PAINTED SMILE. Over two hundred years of these performance artists is revealed in a survey of geisha training, rehearsing, and entertainment. Chapters hold fine essay contributions by prominent specialists on Japanese culture who each consider a different aspect of the geisha tradition. Add woodblocks and paintings in color from the Peabody Museum's holdings and you have a fine survey indeed.
   
   Diane C. Donovan, Editor
   California Bookwatch



3. This is another coffee-table-crusher book on the subject of geisha; this particular work was put out by the Peabody Essex Museum to accompany an exhibit there. It is composed of a blend of elements, but they flow together fairly seamlessly.
   
   There are a number of contributing authors, including the show's curator Andrew Maske as well as familiar names such as Liza Dably, Arthur Golden and Lesley Downer; they address different aspects of the geisha world, such as why geisha even exist, how western stereotypes and misunderstandings developed, the aspects of geisha exoticism and style and more.
   
   There are numerous photographs (from very early to modern, in black and white, color and tinted sepia). The photos are not only of geisha, then and now, but they also focus on kimono (sometimes accompanied with a picture of the geisha to whom it belonged clad in it), hair ornaments and accessories, even something as small as a netsuke kimono toggle. Like the details of a finely carved netsuke, the details of this book make it clear that someone took great care with the construction and preparation of this piece.
   
   The book also holds the most extensive amassment of woodcut pictures that I've seen in one place on this subject, and the captions are very descriptive and useful (I suppose they correspond with the explanatory cards that one would see beside an art piece on the wall of a museum).
   
   There is also a section featuring photos from Yoko Yamamoto, whose artistic yet modern photographic sensibility lends a unique flavor to the collection. Having spent two decades in Tokyo's Kagurazaka district, she has the privelege of intimacy with her subjects that the average photographer does not; coupled with her artistry, her photographs are very meaningful for this collection.
   
   Even if you go into this book knowing a lot about this subject, the text will still enlighten you. The blend of experiences and viewpoints of the multiple contributors adds depth, and again the research that has gone in for the sake of the exhibit is evident.
   
   I wish I could have seen this exhibit, but lacking that, I can enjoy this beautiful book. If you take an interest in the subject, I believe you will enjoy it as well.

No comments about Public Art: Theory, Practice and Populism.