2 comments about Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of Paintings.

1. Van Dyck is one of my favorite painters and I was looking forward to this updated catalogue raisonne as the previous one published in the mid 80's had a a mere 100 paintings reproduced in color.I was prepared to spend a large sum of money so I could have access to most of his paintings reproduced in color.This book had the potential to be one of tha great art books.It is beautifully laid out into four different periods and the color reproductions are of a high standard and the majority are a good size.The major problem with the book is that a paltry 190 out of 900 paintings are reproduced in color.In this era,a catalogue raisonne should have the majority of works in color(take a look at the Velazquez,Soutine,Rothko,Newman and O'Keeffe),B/W reproductions aren't worth a glance.I'm now having second thoughts about buying this even at Amazon's reduced price($135).A major disappointment.



2. For such a large size book it is very disappointing that there are so few colour images and such as are printed are not on the scale of size that would let the reader revel in the finer detail of Van Dyck's work. It is understandable that the catalogue section of the book was Black & White for reasons of economy, but the preceding pages could have benefited from colour close-ups and full page plates. The book may be useful for a scholar, but it will remain to other books to exemplify the genius of Van Dyck. There is a more affordable and enjoyable option in Christopher Brown's book "Anthony Van Dyck" published by Rizzoli in 1999.

No comments about Lynn Chadwick Sculptor: With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-2005.

No comments about Ultra Baroque: Aspects of Post Latin American Art.

No comments about Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker.

5 comments about Retro Stud: Muscle Movie Posters from Around the World.

1. Retro Stud is a great collection of color poster art from the era of the Italian peplum/sword and sandal movies. It is a book that will please fans of the genre, artists, and bodybuilders. Printed on quality paper in hardbound format, Retro Stud is a great addition to any coffee table.



2. As a collector of every Hercules and Gladiator movie i can find,i was thrilled to find out there were actual posters to go with the movies.This book really delivers the goods with hundreds of posters.this being said the book could have been so much better.there are posters overlapping destroying the total artwork when they didn't have to.ALso on foreign posters he gives the foreign translation in english but not what the movie was know as in America.i'd like to know what movies i am missing.Despite these big flaws it is the best Hercules-gladiator poster book available.



3. Who could ask for more? This book is a stunning achievement and a must for any collector or fan of Gladiator movie posters that were produced during the period of 1959-1965. Chapman had his work cut out for him in gathering this comprehensive collection, and he did a terrific job. These color posters are from around the world and feature complete descriptions and author's commentary about each poster that is quite fascinating. Who can forget "Hercules" Steve Reeves, the first to debut in a gladiator movie, in his skimpy loincloth, his muscles rippling, and the frail beautiful women he had to save from the evil tyrants. People all over the world couldn't wait for the next Gladiator movie to be released to their theaters; they were new, sexy, dramatic, erotic, and filled with many different musclemen who followed in Steve Reeve's shoes. This was an era that was fresh and new to everyone who wanted something different and exciting to watch at the movies. They were our heroes, and our fantasy. Take a look at this collection of posters, and re-live history, and remember when Gladiators ruled the earth! Enjoy this collection, I know I did!

   Joe Hanssen




4. Compiled by David Chapman, Retro Stud: Muscle Movie Posters From Around The World is an impressive full-color showcase of "Gladiator" era movie posters from 1959 to 1965, a cinematic trend that was initiated by the American debut of the 1959 movie "Hercules" starring bodybuilder and physical hunk Steve Reeves. The eroticism, muscular posing, and sexual symbols of these international posters are discussed in thoughtful detail. Retro Stud is a thoroughly enjoyable reference and a highly recommended presentation for all classic movie fans and bodybuilding enthusiasts.



5. I was pleased when I heard this volume was being released... I have loved the old Italian Muscle Movies and the posters were part of the mystique of those films. I was delighted because I did not expect the book to be so beautifully designed. It has a hard cover, slip cover, and thick coated paper, all finished in full colour throughout. An impressive opus on a the lost art of bodybuilding art from the classic gladiator film genre! Not only was I was thrilled at the great quality of the book, but also David Chapman's insightful and thoughtful writing, which is a joy to read. This is clearly one coffee table book that will delight my guests for quite a while.... I enjoy it over and over and see things in it that I did not see on previous viewings... a real treasure!

5 comments about The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy To Steal The World's Greatest Works Of Art.

1. This was a big hit in France when it came out, but as an English-language book it suffers by comparison to Lynn Nicholas's magisterial 'Rape of Europa,' a vastly better book on the same topic--better written and better researched. Feliciano takes what is, in and of itself, a fascinating, profound story and cheapens it with his overheated writing style. Also, he claims to have made a lot of new documentary discoveries--the Schenker papers, documenting the shipment of looted works within France--which aren't so new, as anyone who reads Nicholas's book knows. Those documents have been publicly accessible since the late 1970s. On the whole I would not recommend this book, but would recommend the Rape of Europa instead.



2. The title of this work should have been something like "Knaves of Art: The complicity of the Paris art market in Nazi theft of Jewish art in World War II.". As such it is well enough told in an episodic way, highlighting through description the moral and ethical positions taken by many people who surely knew what was happening. The pictures of the art galleries disposed of and the pieces of art still missing bring forth both sadness and indignation. This book is not anything like a comprehensive study of the overall Nazi plunder of art which needs to be sought elsewhere. With a more honest title this book might have deserved four stars. Fault the publisher more than the writer.



3. This book, published some 9 years ago, has quickly become a classic and an indispensable study of the European (if not French) art market during WWII and of the Nazis' plundering of the artistic riches in the various countries they overran in the course of the war. Murky figures such as the French dealer Fabiani, German "experts" working for Goering, Rosenberg and, of course, Hitler, museum directors, Jewish dealers or collectors and the fate of their galleries and collections (most of them "aryanized"), the role of French government officials, of Swiss auction houses, everything is tackled in an efficient and informative book. Pictures of disappeared works whose locations are still unknown, and a rich checklist of all the sources used by the author make this book a valuable addition to the literature on WWII.



4. Other books may relate how the Nazis plundered art, but this book actually led the world to do something about it. You know how you read in the paper all the time that some heir of a Holocaust victim is in a lawsuit to get back valuable paintings? It's directly a result of The Lost Museum. For fifty years, nothing happened in terms of restitution. Feliciano's groundbreaking investigative research is what led museums to examine the provenance of their artwork, caused governments to change their statutes of limitations, and urged heirs to pursue artworks they assumed had long ago vanished.
   
   
   
   I wish I could give it more than five stars.



5. Those of you who read Lynn Nicholas' astonishing The Rape of Europa will be disappointed by this book, which is in many ways a necessary supplement to Nicholas' spine-tingling work. The record of greed, fear, coercion and barbarism visible behind the glittering surface of the Parisian art world in the 1940's is a truly moving human story. The photographs, all of now-vanished works of modern art, provide a valuable record for the historian, as many of the lost works have never been published. Unfortunately, the book is nearly ruined by a flat and pedestrian writing style. The author may have taken years to write this book, and conducted hundreds of interviews, but one would never know that. Feliciano writes as if he were a USA Today reporter - utterly superficial treatments of serious issues and no sign whatsoever of any personal investment in the story. The art and personalities of the period deserved a better historian than Mr. Feliciano, I am sorry to say. Useful for the documentary information only.

2 comments about The Hermitage: The Biography of a Great Museum.

1. The book is great. Fascinating history!
   Brand new condition. Here in four days. So inexpensive I felt guilty buying it.



2. The only reason the 5th star was not placed is that I do not believe it possible to put even the history of this building that is The Hermitage into a single volume. The centuries it has endured, the wars, the changes in government, its continued presence today, is a remarkable tale prior to a review of the Art it contains.

   The Authoress Geraldine Norman has produced a highly readable book that requires only an interest in the subject to be enjoyed. Art History Majors may glean even more from what she presents, but all others will enjoy it as a wonderful history of a building, the persons who created it, and finally those who have filled it to near bursting.

   Before Catherine The Great could accumulate the work of Masters on an almost unbelievable scale, Peter The Great provided the city and she then began what was the largest museum until the Louvre expanded at the close of the 20th Century. If and when Russia can finance the planned expansion, The Hermitage will once again be the largest museum on Earth.

   The building has housed Art, served as a Hospital during WWI, and housed upwards of 2,000 people in bomb shelters during WWII. Even though Nationalized by The Bolsheviks after they left their mark on the building by destroying whatever struck their fancy, the building and it's collections were to endure even this group of cretins. World War Two would also heavily damage the museum, which would be restored with astonishing skill.

   Whether you love Art, Russian History, or a combination of the two this book is to be enjoyed. While it is the first full History of this great monument I doubt it will be the last. What I also find fascinating are those treasures that are starting to see the light of day, and more that will, as the building now stands once again in Russia.

   Highly Recommended.

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