No comments about Detour Art: Outsider, Folk Art, and Visionary Environments Coast to Coast - Art and Photographs from the Collection of Kelly Ludwig.

1 comments about Marimekko: Fabrics, Fashion, Architecture (Bard Graduate Centre for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design & Culture).

1. I just saw the last weekend of this show in New York at the Bard Center and it was inspired, to say the least. The book is the next best thing to being there if you are a Marimekko fan. It is a more thorough look at the company than the older title "marimekko phenomenon". The editor of this book, Marianne Aav (also the show's curator) was responsible for the 1998 show/book from the Bard Center on Finnish Modern Design. Marimekko's brave colors, shapes, and graphics are made more powerful, in my mind, by the fact that the final result appears so simple. While I mourn the lack of this in much of today's clothing/textile design, I think that the renewed excitement about Marimekko, and design in general, indicates that this is changing. There is a lot of exciting material coming out of Scandanavia and Finland by young designers right now, but Marimekko's influence on modern design cannot be underestimated. Their vision ranged beyond textiles into architecture as well, which the book illustrates. This exhibit & accompanying book have done a fine job at giving credit where it's due.

4 comments about The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Companion Guide and History.

1. I bought and read this book prior to my visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum so that when I was there I knew a little about the pieces in her collection. The book is a great source of information about the rooms and the art but it also covers the life of Isabella Gardner. I recommend buying the book ahead so that you know which pieces of art you really want to concentrate on.
   
   The book has color photos of up close shots of the art and photos of the various rooms so that you can see the art in its setting.
   
   It is arranged by floor (there are three) and then by room and finally by the individual piece, making it very easy to use and it is a great size for carrying with you through the museum.
   
   The history in the book is excellent and gives a great overview of Isabella's life and pursuit of art.



2. This small museum guide available at ISGM bookshop in great quantity but difficult to find elsewhere (amazon has it)is a delight to read. Differently from other museum guides it dosen't only deal with the works exposed in Isabella Stewart Gardner's home Fenway Court, but it also briefly reviews this brillant and eccentric woman's life and so brings us even closer to her.
   The visit to the ISGM is a great experience because what we see is not a museum but a person's house, a house used for receiving, entertaining, exposing unusual things and precious objects, a house for praying and reading, and meditating, a house full of lifetimes memories and loved masterpieces. Illustrating the intermingling of Mrs. Gardner's life and her masterpiece was not easy. Mr. Goldfarb, director of the Museum is at the height of this task and with a few well done strokes draws Isabella's portrait and at the same time describes in great detail not only the works of art contained in the mansion but also their history, the way they came into the collection and many interesting news on their artists.
   The book is well illustrated with expecial focus on the disposition of the pieces and the complete description of all the rooms of the house.
   A useful tool for ISGM visit but also a book that is enjoyable before, after and also without the visit.



3. Having been to the ISGM (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum) before reading either "Mrs. Jack" or this book, if planning a trip to the museum I highly recommend you read at least one of these books. The museum is truly magnificent, however my only criticism is that the administration of the museum cannot seem to decide if they have a "house museum" (like the Newport mansions) or an art museum. There is precious little information posted within the meusum to tell you what it is you're looking at - the guidebooks available at the museum woefully inadequate. After reading Mrs. Jack I realize that much of this may have been stipulated by Isabella herself - she expected you to know what it was you were seeing without cheats like descriptions. Art for art's sake. It did not matter if Rembrandt painted a canvas - you either like it or you don't - merely wanting to see it because it's a priceless Rembrandt is too bourgeois for Isabella to have considered. In her day, in her level of society, you could still buy a Rembrandt or a Vermeer, 100 years later this is a lot harder to do, making these paintings more rare to us than her. She knew John Singer Sargent personally, so having your portrait painted by him was probably less of a big deal than we see it as today - anyone in her level of society could hire him, so to her - what was the big deal? 100 years more time has made it a big deal to us.



4. More than a few of my well-traveled friends have raved about The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston as their favorite museum in all the world. And why not? Wait until you see it--you'll feel right at home.
   
   Imagine creating for yourself a life that is perfectly delicious. Imagine creating for the world a home museum experience unequaled in all the world. The Hyde Museum in Glens Falls, NY, held that honor for me until I learned the story and saw the pictural views of Fenway Court Isabella Gardner created as her home, which after her death in 1924 was changed to be called The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
   
   Most museum books have wonderful pictures without so rich a story of a strong, courageous woman of impeccable, impassioned taste. No one could have created Fenway Court except Isabella Gardner. Few have created such a wonderful life for themselves and left such an amazing legacy. And, she also managed to maintain her beauty and figure. And what a negotiator she was to gain possession of a piece of art she felt Fenway must own.
   
   I feel empowered to have learned her story.

No comments about Tina Modotti: Between Art and Revolution.

5 comments about Class Act: William Haines Legendary Hollywood Decorator.

1. If somebody wrote the true story of William Haines as fiction it would be universally panned as stereotyping - a gay man comes to Hollywood in the silent era, becomes the heart-throb of millions and a top box office draw, faces being outed and is ordered by his studio (MGM) to either enter into a fake marriage or lose his contract, picks love over career, and then goes on to have a sucessful 40 year career in interior decorating. However, sometimes fact is stranger than fiction and this is one of those times.
   
   This is a beautiful book full of the decorating work of William Haines. I haven't found another book like it anywhere, and I highly recommend it if you've only heard of his reputation and are curious about what the man's design work actually looked like. It's a shame that his movie work isn't as well remembered as his design work. Haines made a successful transition to talkies, and probably would have continued to do well in the movies if L.B. Mayer hadn't forced him to choose between the love of his life - Jimmy Shields - and his MGM contract. Haines chose Shields, and that was the end of his film career. However, he and Shields worked together successfully for the next forty years decorating the homes of Hollywood's elite, with a little help and some recommendations from friends such as Joan Crawford, a lifetime friend of Haines and costar in several of his films. Besides photographs of Haines' work, this book includes quotes by Haines on his design philosophy, quotes by members of his firm's design team, and a pretty good biography of Haines including his Hollywood years.
   
   Haines and Shields stayed together from 1926 until 1973, their relationship severed only by Haines' death. Their joint legacy lives on in their design work of which this book is an excellent record.



2. This is a very visual account of the life of one of the greatest decorators of our time. Billy Haines started out as a silent movie actor and when he refused to keep his sexuality in the closet he was fired, forcing him to change careers - and thank goodness. Schifando & Mathison take us on a journey, via photos, sketches, and other images, through the life of Haines and the evolution of his personal style. His classic interiors, which often included a touch of chinoiserie, a unique custom lamp, low chairs, quilted fabric upholstery, and other unique pieces will never go out of style.



3. Having purchased most of the major design books in the past 4yrs...this one is right up there with the best...5lbs of old hollywood chic mixed with todays blue-blood..must have for any coffee table



4. I am so thrilled to have found this book. I have tried for years to find pictures of William Haines work. This is such a magnificent book. I just wished there were more of what there was. This book is an amazine find and a delightful addition to my collection.



5. Being an admirer of nearly all things vintage Hollywood, I was most eager to read a book on this almost forgotten silent screen legend. I was most impressed by the great detail on the man, his loves and hates and his metamorphosis into a highly successful interior designer in later years. The thoroughly entertaining anecdotes throughout also kept me interested until the very end. It gives the reader an insight into a period in Hollywood that has long since been buried by time and our bizarre fascinations with the likes of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton et all.
   
   A must read for any reader of the good old days of Hollywood.

1 comments about Design Through Discovery: An Introduction.

1. The cover calls this edition the "Brief Edition" I am almost tempted to buy the $50.00 edition

No comments about Smart About Art: Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings That Smile (Smart About Art).

No comments about Art Worlds.

4 comments about Kustom Kulture: Von Dutch, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Robert Williams and Others.

1. Although the greatness of Rob't. Williams has been admitted by a few so-called "legitimate" art critics, it's high time to admit the genius of people like Von Dutch, Ed Roth, Gene Winfield et al. Kustom Kulture is artistic democracy in action, "The People's Art." This is an attractive book, with much information and great art. If you are even the least bit interested in this subject, this book's for you. I give it an A+.



2. I have followed the work of Ed Roth and the late "Von Dutch" since 1953. The word Pioneer doesn't even begin with the work these men have done over the last 45 years. Dutch started the trend of "Free Form" pinstriping, along with painted "figures" and some very unique "Flame Painting" back in the 1950s. Roth started building some very unique vehicles, way ahead of their time. He called himsef a "speed striper" which was a rapid form of pinstriping i,e, "no following around with fine details" yet the work was quite good. This book shows the best examples of both Roth and Dutch, and contains photos that we all thought were lost years ago. "Von Dutch" (a.k.a. Kenneth Howard) was a very underrated man, who was filled with talent and skills that would revel most of today's artists. It was a tragic loss when he died a very lonely man. Roth did a Video of Dutch in the late 1970s, which really showed the "methods to his madness."

   I personally have given a tribute to both these men by building a copy of the sign painters box (made in 1919) given to Dutch by his father. Roth has pinstriped a few of these for his charity auctions. This book is a treasure to the art of pinstriping and the "Kustom Kulture" movement.




3. While being a big fan of "Big Daddy Roth", I still appreciate his hot-rod artwork. Shortly after finishing the book, I gave it to "Big Daddy Dean Paulsen", the man who taught Ed Roth everything he knows. Paulsen was pleased to know his understudy is still alive and well.



4. If you ever wanted to learn about the masters of hot rod art, this is a good place to start. While not the difinitive history of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth,Von Dutch or Robert Williams, this book delves into the rude awakenings of this all American art form. A damn good read.(I just looked at the pictures!!!!)

No comments about Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space.