5 comments about The Art of Richard Diebenkorn (Ahmanson-Murphy Fine Arts Book).

1. This book provides an excellent overview of the arc of Diebenkorn's painting style, from abstract to figurative and then to his final amazing abstracts. This is a good starting point for understanding Diebenkorn's art, with large beautiful color prints of his paintings. And, because it's a paperback edition, it's pretty affordable for an oversized, color fine arts book.



2. Great reference on Diebenkorn with lots of color plates and in-depth text on the process of his work. It was recommended by my professor and I keep it by my easel!



3. If you love the Bay Are Figurative movement as much as I do, this book is the definitive volume.



4. This is a great collection of Diebenkorn's work through the years. Though it's a paperback, the book is big, sturdy, and will last a long time. The color plates are very true to his original works.



5. Richard Diebenkorn has finally achieved the status of Modern Master, but his success was only secured later in his life and after his death. Although he was at first an Abstract Expressionist artist who painted as convincingly as Still, Rothko, Kline and Motherwell, he was too much identified with the Bay Area, and therefore he did not have the imprimatur of the New York critics. Then, in the 1950s, he was viewed as having betrayed the New York Abstract Expressionists, when he turned to figurative painting with David Park and Elmer Bischoff. Eventually, until his death, he returned to abstraction with his much-acclaimed "Ocean Park" series. And then the critics finally realized what had eluded them for years: That Diebenkorn painted abstract realism, leaning more to one and then the other, all his life.
   
   Jane Livingston does a fine job of portraying the life of Richard Diebenkorn through his stunning paintings, which exemplify fire beneath the calm. Be sure to read the Norland book as well, since his book is still the seminal book on Diebenkorn.

4 comments about Japanese Art (World of Art).

1. The author Joan Stanley-Baker earned her Ph.D. on Chinese art. Probably being aware of this, I felt that an outsider's view is rather strong in the book, as she discusses Japanese art in terms of the two axes of indigenous and imported traditions, and regards domestication as an important issue throughout. However, I found the introduction very interesting, especially her notes on the coexistence of contradictory aspects in Japanese art, such as complete mirroring of foreign elements and introspective and insular tendency. The following chapters are rather disappointing that her insights are not very well demonstrated in dealing with individual works of art. For comprehensive understanding of Japanese art, Penelope Mason's _History of Japanese Art_ is much better.



2. I found this to be a great book for learning about the different periods and art forms from Japan. The cultural periods from Prehistoric to Modern are covered, with stops in the Asuka, Heian, and very important Edo periods! Over 80 color illustrations from wall paintings to temple architecture to lacquered chests are presented for your viewing pleasure. The author has taken great care in describing whether an art form is native, imported, or has been modified and adopted into the culture (i.e. japanization). You'll find hundreds of illustrations but let me warn you THIS IS NOT A PICTURE BOOK! If you are looking for a book just to flip through to see nice pictures and also take a crash course on 'Japanese Art' then you most likely will have to look elsewhere. By reading this book from cover to cover you will gain a great understanding of Japanese art. Not every picture makes sense unless you read the accompanying paragraphs. If you do take your time you will come to appreciate the art of Japan and will gain a greater understanding of the people as well. My art & humanities teacher, a PhD, describes this book as "excellent and splendid". For her that is like putting Tom Selleck in front of her fireplace with a bottle of champagne. After reading this book I hope you will be equally excited. :)



3. This classic book in its new edition presents a thorough, level-headed introduction to the many varieties and periods of Japanese art. Individual chapters highlight the major works and offer both beginner and armchair expert a background to the development of each genre. Unfortunately, what is lacking -- and this is a critique of the publisher's investment in this fine work rather than of the author's efforts -- is a presentation in size and color that suits the written content. How can the stunning but subtle beauty that is typical of all Japanese art be properly displayed when the accompanying photographs are small sized and printed in black & white? This book is highly recommended as a comprehensive overview of Japanese art, but you will need to look elsewhere to see the art as it ought to be seen.



4. Well, it is one of the best guid-book for the beginners who is interested in reading about Japanese art. My interest is in the Nanga and Ukiyo-e. I got the basic ideas about the two from this book. Then I started to read some other books about the two topics. If you have no previous knowledge about Japanese art, pls start from this book.

5 comments about The Drawings of Heinrich Kley.

1. The fact that Heinrich Kley isn't better known demonstrates the flaw in the idea that "history will sort out the great work." Kley is quite simply one of the best and most imaginative draftsmen in the Western tradition, and he is never mentioned in the standard histories of art. (I discovered him in Harvey Kurtzman's HELP! magazine in the early Sixties.) This constitutes a coup (one of many) for Dover Publications, who specialize in the dissemination of classics (famous and forgotten) in well-made, affordable editions. Anyone who cares at all about drawing should pick up this book.



2. What an eye opener, what a fantastic, comical and totally genuine talent was Kley. Puts our contemporary "mark Maker" graduates of university art programs to shame. This guy did it all out of his head out of connsumate knowledge of anatomy and character. His skill with the plastic form in space is delightful to behold.



3. Heinrich Kley, an expressionist know for his work with pen and ink sketches, mostly of the black and white variety, is someone undeservedly without oceans of renown despite the fact that many of his works appear around us daily. He did have his proverbial "day in the sun," gaining notoriety for his satirical approach to world at large, but that seems to have ebbed off since his death in the 1940s and many have forgotten who this is. Well, this book is a wonderful showpiece of his works, containing two of his sketchbooks that many people have seen plenty of times but might not recognize by name, helping to revitalize the memory. Many of these works still have a lot of social merit today, taking shots at bureaucracy, militarism, and other satirical facets that we still find ourselves plagued with.

   I found myself attracted to this artist because of his strangely dark overtures showpieced in this volume, with snails consuming people and giants stomping villages full of what they deem their inferiors, plus its takes on industrialism and religion. Presented with an introduction that explains the life of the artist, this editions, actually two books brought together for one showing, has a total of 200 illustrations spanning 125 + pages and makes it an excellent deal. Still, if your easily offended perhaps theme presentation will most deservedly offend you and you might want to pass on it. If you like dark humor that has deep seeded, often missed, meanings, however, you'll love Kley.
   Highly Recommended.




4. Kley used his artistic ability to bring to life his unique form of satiric wit and whimsey. Pages magically come alive with his pen and ink social commentaries. The two sketch books published in this volume will bring a smile to your face and an admiration for his work.



5. A pesar de haberme encontrado con el libro hace unos años, aun hoy en dia sigo recordando los trazos con los que me encontre y lo que representaban. Copie algunos de los dibujos alli representados y luego hice algunos mios siguiendo el mismo tipo de trazo o similar y creo que esos dibujos tienen una gran fuerza.Es una manera diferente y atrevida de representar el cuerpo humano vivo y muerto. Son de los pocos dibujos a tinta que me han gustado, y me parecen muy buenos. ENHORABUENA.

2 comments about A Type Primer.

1. I found this book to be an excellent, well organized, and easy to use tool in learning the history, classification, and organization of type. It is a great text for anyone starting out in the design field as well as for the experienced designer. I never knew exactly how much care and detail went into properly setting type until I got into this book. Mr. Kane has included excellent visual examples and some extremely useful exercises to help illustrate each subject covered in the text. The book flows very well and is a pleasurable read, and there is always something new for your eyes to take in on the next page.

   I had the pleasure of taking two classes taught by Mr. Kane, and he definately knows typography backwards and forwards. He, as well as his book, is a wealth of knowledge for the aspiring designer.




2. A great book that introduces to the beginner many of the sensitivities that one ought to have when working with type.

   It gives many great practical examples and exercises that makes one appreciate type on many levels.

   As one who is taking a class in Typography, this is a great book to have by one's side.

No comments about The Archive (Documents of Contemporary Art).

5 comments about The Painted Word.

1. This is an unpersuasive essay about the failure of modern art and about how we are all caught up in the falsity and ugliness of modern art. In my opinion, I think Wolfe is writing without much knowledge of modern art. He sounds like an uneducated critic in this book.



2. Tom Wolfe, that most trenchant of all observers of contemporary American society, turns his gaze to the world of painting and drawing during the first seventy-five years or so of the twentieth century in this book, published in 1975.
   
   Just about anybody with eyes has, I think, wondered by what criterion a good deal of the painting during this period can be considered art. Few of us, however, have Wolfe's command of language to explain the complete vapidity of the work produced during the period that he covers, nor the ability, nearly unique to Wolfe, of allowing artists, critics, and theorists' own words to expose that vapidity.
   
   This is indeed a refreshing work, and written with Wolfe's usual mastery.



3. If your interest is writing or art, you'll enjoy The Painted Word by Tom Wolf. If you like both, then this irreverent, little book will make you laugh, nod in agreement, or cry out in protest. You definitely won't be bored. This is Wolf at the top of his game and you'll find yourself constantly reading passages aloud to anyone within earshot.
   
   First published in 1975, Wolf decomposes modern art movements in a way that is both enlightening and entertaining. His clever style provides the reader with an inside look at the art world and illuminates the follies of our cultural elite. Even if you have only a cursory understanding of modern art, Wolf's insightfulness will prompt numerous "oh yeah, now I get it" moments.
   
   The Painted Word will make your next visit to an art museum more discerning and a heck of a lot more fun.
   The Shut Mouth Society
   The Shopkeeper



4. A Review of Tom Wolfe's "The Painted Word"
   
   Tom Wolfe's rhetoric is at times overpowering but like beautifully complicated music (Bach?) it is a symphony for both the brain and the heart. Wolfe is saying that as art loses its goal to communicate it becomes lousy art, if art at all. He implies that "art for art's sake" is a false concept, and I agree with him. He attacks pretentiousness in both artist and art lover and correctly labels it a game.
   
   Wolfe's title is a word play in two respects. (1) The modernists invent their genres and make them more important that the art itself. (2) Art must have a subject, just as a sentence must have a subject.
   
   The phrase "Art for art's sake" can be used in an adjectival way meaning devotion, obsession, degree of love for the activity of art, and that's fine with me. But there must be more to art than excited devotees. Otherwise, every fanatic, let alone every hard working man who loves his job, would be a creator of art in some form or another. And the crudeness of our world, albeit with beauty scattered about here and there, tells us that is not the case. Of course, beauty and tenderness can exist and not be art. For art does not become art simply because someone says it is.
   
   Much modern art is good and beautiful and meaningful in its dealings with color and form. And a painting might indeed deal solely with color and form, and not with reality. For they are legitimate subjects. On the other hand, an artist's desire to bamboozle is not enough. I love some modern art, and some not, the same as with the other genres. So when is modern art a thing I can accept? When it communicates a subject, even form and color alone; and when it is honest and makes no claims that are not there.
   
   There is a difference between paint-artists and writers in how they perceive their own art juxtaposed others, and how they assign value. Most writers move about, back and forth, and are influenced by all forms, all styles, all of history, and they are capable of learning from the past. They might read Proust one day and Joyce the next, Emily Dickinson and then Virginia Woolf, Goethe and then Vonnegut, Rushdie and then Shakespeare. Take a look at James Joyce's great novel "Ulysses." It depends on the Greek myths, a vastly different kind of writing than his own, but without Homer Joyce's novel would be less than we have now. At the very least, it would be a different novel with a different message.
   
   An exaggeration, even if grotesque, might be characterization, and might be art. James Joyce was aware of that.
   
   On the other hand, more than a few paint artists are bitter in their historical perceptions, hating the art outside their own genre. The Impressionists (whom I especially love) had a vigorous abhorrence for what came before them, and the abstractionists hate everything and everybody but themselves, even denying that their art has to have a subject. "Flatness" is not a subject, it is a technique. A question - why can't I pour paint onto a canvas drip by drip, like Jackson Pollock, and make art out of it? What skill, artistic or otherwise, is involved in that? And what would my spills and splashes communicate?
   
   And then there is the world of hanger-oners and art critics who speak and write in an insane insiders' language, pretentious wanna-be-nabobs living in intellectual temples, wobbly dirty white towers, who feel compelled to tell us what to think, what to love, what to read, what to look at, what to marvel at. And if we disagree they tell us we are bourgeoisie philistines, poor brain and heart limited creatures, incapable.
   
   Tom Wolfe has written a wonderful and humorous look at the sometimes ridiculous world of modern art. Agree with him or not, you will be entertained.
   
   Like Tom Wolfe, I am bemused and irritated by the art reviews in The New York Times. A review of rusted pipes and broken fixtures on display at an art show pushed me over the edge. So I wrote a review of my own and sent it to them. They completely ignored me as I knew they would. My review was of my cat's litter box. Here it is -
   
   **********
   
   A Review of Menace in Simple Things
   
   My love of art and my disdain for the many tortured reviews of art that I stumble across more often than is good for my mental health has led me to write a review of my own. The subject of my analysis is - to say the least - as profound as elephant dung on a Madonna, twisted plumbing, rusting scrap metal, empty white canvasses, or a crucifix inserted into a jar of human urine, objects that are taken quite seriously on the daily art pages of our great American newspapers and in their Sunday supplements. But please, do not take my subject too seriously, for my cat does enough of that for all of us.
   
   A few days ago I happened upon my cat just as he was leaving his litter box after taking a poop. A friend was with me and as he observed my interest in the affair he asked, "You act as though you know what this is all about. I don't get it." Sensing a crisis I suggested that a search through Britannica or The New York Times Arts and Leisure Section might be helpful.
   
   "I can do that." he said, and abruptly left me to my musings. It seemed threatening that I found myself alone with my cat's poop.
   
   The poop seemed to be arranged in a stripped-down manner that made it appear to be on a lighted stage that integrated its various themes into an art form - if you will - that has its roots in Minimalism, and that merged the entire piece into a distinct theatricality. It seemed to have its sources in childhood, a numinous presence having the effect of a domestic twilight zone. Ordinary chunky things were combined in weird ways.
   
   The result was a spooky, dead narrative, perhaps even an autobiographical content. Domesticity - poisoned, entrapped disrupted - was its main theme. And no artist better captured a sense of Foucault's romance with oppression than my cat. At the same time, there was room in the poop for humor, however sardonic, and a strain of poetry that would become more evident with time.
   
   All these morphological riffs loosened up the obtuse, adamant solidity of the poop and suggested a wealth of associations - baptism, slaking thirst, warming, cooling, healing, and of precious things gone down the drain and lost.
   
   It is important to understand the metaphorical dimensions of my cat's poop. But it is not always easy to do that. As time goes on, and the cultural climate that produced this poop moves backward, a new and grand brew of pessimism and nostalgia delivers a shock. But can it be - will it be - a heavy-handed emphasis on a more flexible medium?
   
   Perhaps baby poop next time.
   
   **********
   
   I think I'll go to Macy's and buy me a white suit.
   
   Joseph A. Psarto
   440-835-5179
   jpsarto@juno.com



5. A classmate lent me The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe, published in 1975, and boy, if you ever want some actually intelligent criticism and questioning of the establishment of modern art, this is it!
   
   The beauty of this book is that Wolfe doesn't usually attack the art - though occasionally he does accuse artists of allowing themselves to be too influenced by popular theory - he really attacks the establishment.
   
   And he does so in a hilarious way. For instance, Wolfe starts out explaining the "mating ritual" between the bohemian artists, "boho", and high society that can financially back and establish the artist, the "monde". He talks about how to be successful, an artist must first be an honest boho, live amongst the other bohemians and adopt true anti-bourgeois values. This is called the "boho dance". But once an artist has attracted the monde with his dance, he must "doubletrack", which means learn to gleefully hobnob with the elite and enjoy his success, despite being a hypocrite.
   
   And this mating metaphor is just the beginning. This book oozes sarcasm of the best and most vicious sort. Just check out this passage, about how pop art, according to the theorists, was supposed to be about "flatness", rather than how the subject matter related to real life:
   
   "In short... the culturati were secretly enjoying the realism! -plain old bourgeois mass-culture high-school goober-squeezing whitehead-hunting can-I-pop-it-for-you-Billy realism! They looked at a Roy Lichtenstein blowup of a love-comic panel showing a young blond couple with their lips parted in the moment before a profound, tongue-probing, post-teen, American soul kiss, plus the legend `We rose up slowly...as if we didn't belong to the outside world any longer...like swimmers in a shadowy dream...who didn't need to breath...' and--the hell with the sign systems--they just loved the dopey campy picture of these two vapid blond sex buds having their love-comic romance bigger than life, six feet by eight feet, in fact, up on the walls in an art gallery."
   
   How can you not love writing like that?
   
   This book rocks.

5 comments about Patternmaking for Fashion Design (4th Edition).

1. If you're interested in pattern making this book contains everything you need to know to start to make your own patterns.



2. I admit I've only skimmed through this. It'll be more of a reference guide for me to use as I start to make my own patterns and sew my apparel. However, during my several times of looking through it, I noticed that it's well organized, formatted and illustrated. It's also a good resource because it's got basic patterns to photocopy (to be enlarged) to use, and even got some worksheets and stuff. It also explains the terminology. I'm not a fashion design student or expert. Just a complete beginner (unless you count my high school sewing class as some experience), so it'll take me a bit to learn all the terms and concepts but even so, I'm sure it won't be too hard as it's formatted in a way so that it can be read quite easily, i.e. not too wordy or narrative. Good text material. I was hesitant to buy this at first with so many different reviews about it but I figured most of the ones I read were of the 3rd edition and I bought the 4th one and I figured they'll do some revision. There are still some editing errors but it's minor and won't affect your understanding of the material. The only other thing is that I wish they'll include a section on men's wear patterns. They did for children and juniors but not men's. Based on what I've read so far, this seems pretty satisfactory and definitely worth the purchase, though I do admit it's rather pricey. But I guess if I think about the satisfaction I'll get from making my own clothes, it's well worth it then.



3. I am so grateful to whom wrote the first rewiew of this book! She was so right! This book covers it all! Women, men and children's clothig... but I mean everything! You won't ever need to purchase any more patterns, specially if you don't fall in to the normal sizes like me... when pattern alteration is in reality a complete re-due... This is like a patermaking bible... you won't ever regrete this purchase, although you will find that a lot of your other pattern making books won't serve you any more...



4. Whether you are a beginner, or an experienced seamstress, and you would like to draft your own patterns, buy this book! A very comprehensive publication, with instructions that are also easy to understand and follow. The organisation of this book is excellent. Helen begins with basic patterns for the various foundation garments (ie, shift dress, pencil skirt, etc), giving you easy to follow instructions on how to draft these patterns. Subsequently, she offers a good variety of variations on these basic garments, with comprehsive instructions. From this book alone, you will be able to draft and sew your own fashion range, or just a very good wardrobe for yourself.



5. Patternmaking for Fashion Design and DVD Package (4th Edition)
   
   I'm an intermediate level sewer and haven't had a course in patternmaking. However I have found this book invaluable even though it is written as a textbook. I haven't read it cover to cover because I regard it as a reference book. However, after having reviewed the sections that relate to the sewing I do, I have found it very enlightening. There are certain principles that I didn't understand until I read it, such as dart rotation. This, for instance, will be very helpful to me in altering commercial patterns to make them fit better. I plan to do some pattern drafting, but will probably use it mostly in altering commercial patterns. For instance, I was recently altering a pants pattern and wondered if I was changing the ratio of the width of the front leg to the back. The book answered my question while books on pattern alterations didn't address this issue. The layout of the book has been thoroughly explained in other reviews, so I won't go into describing it. I will say, however, that I highly recommend this book for anyone who sews as a hobby because it answers a lot of questions one would have when it comes to altering commercial patterns or drafting simple patterns. It's expensive, but money well spent. This book should be in the library of any serious sewer.

5 comments about History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Photography (5th Edition).

1. The book seems intimidating due to it's size, but it is interesting and you'll learn alot about the topic.



2. This was excellent. Very comprehensive, to say the least, and very well organized. This is my only book from art class that I actually sustained my interest! Definitely worth it.



3. It's very helpful for the class that I'm taking this semester and it's a good book to have because it's very informative and easy to use.



4. History of Modern Art is a well sructure resource textbook for students who are seeking information about Contemporary and/or Modern Art History. Great grasps of information on every page is a journey through space time and the people who made this possible in the 20th century . You will never find a better textbook on the market.



5. I used this book in college for my two course survey of Modern Art. I absolutely loved the book and when I found out there was a hardback edition I had to have it. Let me tell you, getting it for 66 bucks is a STEAL! I saw this book brand new in a brick and mortar store and it was 110 DOLLARS! If you are at all interested in 20th Century Art I highly recommend this book as a general overview. This was one of the FEW books I read in college and actually enjoyed it.

3 comments about Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion - Tokyo.

1. The main difference between Western fashion movements and Japanese fashion movements, as author Tiffany Godoy tells us, is that whereas the West is caught up in political statements or a quest for identity, Japanese style is simply fashion for fashions sake, playing with materials and colors the way an artists plays with paints and canvas. Individual designers create their scenes, complete with music, magazines, models and hot places to be seen, rather than an organic outgrowth of a social movement.
   
   "Style Deficit Disorder" is a serious history lesson and study of Harajuku fashion, from the Post-war transformation of the district and the influence of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and the major changes in style brought by each successive decade. All of the major players are introduced, such as Okawa Hitomi and her shop Milk and the fashion band The Plastics whose look inspired Madonna's early designs. Magazines, such as Cutie, FRUiTS and TUNE are covered in detail, showing how their fashion editors were able to exert their power and change the decorated face of Japanese fashion.
   
   Of course, as a fashion history "Style Deficit Disorder" is an explosion of colorful images, authentic street photographs and composed professional scenes. There are more than enough visuals here to satisfy anyone's lust for the sometimes-bizarre world of Japanese design, and a designer looking for influence and ideas would find this a valuable tool. But don't be fooled into thinking this is a coffee table flip book. The accompanying text is heavy enough to be used in a college course, and any serious student of fashion should have this book in their library.



2. I live in Tokyo and this is pretty legitimate account of the history of trends in Harajuku. Two thumbs up!



3. Rarely has a book been published with more insight and subject comprehension than "Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion -- Tokyo" by Ms. Godoy. It is clear that Ms. Godoy has done a enormous amount of research and exploration in illuminating the complex and fascinating subject matter of Tokyo street fashion. Anyone who has ever lived in Japan will attest to the relentless and creative fashion changes that the youth culture has embraced and adapted to their own unique expression of individualism. Anyone wishing to understand the fashion phenomenon of Tokyo this book is the one to own- all the other manuscripts fail in comparison to Ms. Godoy's research. Ms. Godoy has written the definitive work on Harajuku Street fashion and culture.

5 comments about Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself.

1. Sabrina Ward Harrison has always been a huge source of inspiration for me, and I turn to her books over and over again for inspiration, beauty, honesty and layers of intriguing details. A wonderful gift of yourself and anyone in your life interested in the art of becoming their most authentic selves.



2. As an Artist and a Graphic designer I found this book abolutely inspiring. It encouraged me to create my own journal which has become a major part of my creative process. This is a great way to put ideas together and from there find answers about my work and myself.



3. best book everywhere..i take it everywhere with me, its a wake up call to life i think/



4. I was given a copy of this book when I was twenty and it honestly changed my life. It made me realize that I wasn't alone in the thoughts, doubts, fears, and "aches of inadequacy" that I was going through. This book is an open heart spilled onto the page/canvas and any young woman going through life with any amount of uncertainty and lonliness will benefit tremendously from just being with this book.



5. Sabrina Ward Harrison writes with intention, inspiring one to think and feel more deeply. Her work is creative, artistic, spiritual and intelligent. She writes-creates with a thoughtful balance. The only challenge is, at times, being able to read what she has written as it is overlaid on photography and collage.