2 comments about Bansemer's Book of Florida Lighthouses.

1. This was a "coffee table" book in a beach house we rented. We were really excited about it and ordered one for ourself and one for our daughter's family. We also ordered the SC and GA one for another daughter. The writing style is so homey and comfortable and the pictures are beatiful and relaxing. The stories and the paintings made us want to see all of the lighthouses. Therefore, we are planning a trip this year to see as many of them as we can. We have also found it exciting to know so much more about the 5-6 lighthouses in our area. This book really piqued our interest in lighthouses with its enjoyable writing and lovely art.



2. Bansemer's Book of Florida Lighthouses is the best book on lighthouses that I have ever read. Inside, is beautiful and colorful artwork of every Florida Lighthouse. This book contains very descriptive information and how to get to the lighthouses. I have read every book on Florida Lighthouses and this one is the BEST and will be for a long time!

No comments about With Love: Artists' Letters and Illustrated Notes.

No comments about Gifts to the Tzars 1500-1700: Treasures from the Kremlin.

2 comments about Period Rooms in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series).

1. In my opinion, this book is well worth having and a must for serious students of Interior Design and the Decorative Arts. Written in a scholarly fashion with beautiful photos, it is a marvelous resource affording the reader the opportunity to view period rooms in context. Arrived promptly in good condition, as described.



2. This book is one of the most helpful architecture and furniture books I have found. The met has put together a wide variety of periods and locations to let us look into the rooms of times past. The pictures are stunning and the descriptions are very informative.

No comments about Circa 1958: Breaking Ground in American Art.

2 comments about Marketing And Buying Fine Art Online: A Guide for Artists And Collectors.

1. I purchased this book as one of many art marketing books I have acquired. Many of the other books have limited relevant information, so I expected to be able to pick a few tidbits from this book just like most of the others. But to my surprise, this book was packed with wonderful, relevant and well versed information for todays visual artist to utilize. In fact, this book is like a bible to me....I keep it highlighted and right at my desk to reference. I also purchased one and had it sent to my son, also a painter, so he would be able to have this wealth of information himself. I highly recommend anyone that is wanting to know the in's and out's of marketing your art online, to buy this book!!!



2. Marketing And Buying Fine Art Online walks artists, resellers and gallery owner alike through the process of understanding what's online, how it's promoted, and how to understand and profit from the selling network. From setting up an effective web site to promote sales to locating artists reference resources, art fairs and workshops, and auctions online, it's packed with unique advice specific to the fine art market.

4 comments about New Guinea Art: Masterpieces of the Jolika Collection from Marcia And John Friede.

1. ... is the Jolika Collection of the art of New Guinea in the new De Young Museum, though one could argue in favor of the circus cabaret at Teatro Zinzanni. SF is finally maturing as a museum city, with a world-class collection at the Museum of Modern Art, the most important Asian art collection in the USA in its own museum, a spanky new Jewish Museum, and other unique exhibitions. The Jolika collection was assembled by Marsha and John Friede; you'll find info about them in a previous amazon review.
   
   The art on display includes shields and masks, architectural scultures, decorated weapons, textiles, and bizarre objects of practical use that have more beauty in their making than one can explain by any theory of utility. Most of the materials are wood, shell, and plant fibers, though the display includes a case of pre-historic stone sculptures. Items range circa 1500 to 1920 c.e. The lighting is excellent, the labels are visible and up-to-date, and the whole museum is graceful in its lay-out. I seldom look at more than one gallery in a local museum on any one visit, but if you're coming from afar, you'll also find very focused and well-selected collections of African art and Middle-American art in the DeYoung.
   
   This is a massive tome, this book, or rather two massive tomes in a sturdy box. It's as much as a small person could carry to the corner store. The larger Volume 1 contains full color, full page photographs of every piece in the collection. Volume 2 contains three scholarly essays on the craft, the anthropological significance, and the provenance of the pieces. If you love this art, at $195 used, it's still a worthwhile acquisition.



2. I really dislike cliches, but they are often appropriate. Truly, this is one of the two or three books to buy on the subject of New Guinea art, to grab, if you treasure this topic and need to select a few titles when the proverbial house is burning.
   
   I have know the Friede's since 1971, and I am also a dealer of Oceanic art and I have sold art to them, so I can be accused immediately of writing about a friend's publication and in a field that we both do business in. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to support a work that has been seriously developed over many years and has come to fruition in this publication, along with an extensive exhibition of this art at the new museum building at the De Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The Friede's have never asked me nor suggested that I write a review.
   
   It is important for the readers of this publication to try to see the art physically on display, as photographs are still two dimensional and this art is particularly three dimensional. The box set of this collection is comprehensive and should give the reader a better understanding of what New Guinea art is about and the tremendous range of styles that exist in such close roximity. It is supported by fine photographs of some of the most important New Guinea art ever collected, certainly the most important body of work formed in a private collection at present. The Jolika collection does emphasize the Friede's own personal taste as well as define what New Guinea art is. It can be said that in most cases they collected what appears to be the most archaic forms of New Guinea art as well as some of the more important iconographic forms. This is a plaudit not a criticism, since we learn more about all Tribal art forms from the earlier pieces that suffered less from contact from the outside world than those pieces that show more recent evidence of acculturation. This is one of the major reasons to buy these books; nowhere are there so many high quality early pieces illustrated on New Guinea art than here.
   
   The Jolika collection publication features fine photography and amazing text to support more precise geographical locations and additional information about the use of the objects and a valuable sampling of carbon analysis which produced a range for dating the time of manufacture for these objects, not previously scientifically proven.
   
   At times, I felt I needed to turn the object a quarter turn here or there to see more or to emphasize something I wanted to view. This is probably more to do with my "tweaking" personality than a fault of the photography and this is why I urge the buyers and readers of this book set to buy a ticket to San Francisco to see the objects first hand on view.
   
   This boxed set of two books are a bargain at current Amazon pricing.



3. Lived up to my expectations. Thoughtfully collated and beautifully presented. Extensive information provided on every item. Free map as well.



4. This is an extraordinary combination of large closeup photos of 598 artifacts and descriptions of their origins (time/place) and significance in the varied cultures of New Guinea island in the South Pacific. The photos are extremely sharp -- you can almost smell the objects, which date from prehistoric to 20th century. I lived in Papua New Guinea for 15 years but thought I didn't have time for all of this information right now. I couldn't put the books down. Generally, the objects are presented from province to province in Papua New Guinea (eastern half of the island) and in West Papua (province of Indonesia). A separate map helps you find the various source places.

No comments about In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet (National Gallery Of Art, Washington).

1 comments about Art from Fort Marion: The Silberman Collection (Te Western Legacies Series).

1. The prisoner-of-war confinement of American plains Indians within a Florida military prison is one of the lesser known incidents of 19th century struggle between Native Americans and the expanded United States. Compiled with commentary by Joyce M. Szabo (Professor of Art History, University of New Mexico), "Art From Fort Marion: The Silberman Collection" offers superbly reproduced full color Native American images depicting traditional life events and prison experiences of Cheyenne and Kiowa prisoners of war confined at Fort Marion, Florida, during the 1870s. The 120 color images are drawn from the Silberman Collection and provides vivid depictions through art and photography of the living conditions and survival strategies the Native Americans (taken from the wide-open southern plains of the American West) to their confinement in the humid environs of Florida. A comprehensive, scholarly, analytical, informed and informed presentation, "Art From Fort Marion" showcases a singularly unique visual art form of Native American expression and is very strongly recommended for personal, academic, and community library Native American History and Native American Art reference collections and reading lists.

3 comments about Broken Spears: A Maasai Journey.

1. Most photographers either see the members of the noble Maasai tribe hastily when they are tourists or as photojournalists with limited time. Their images don't get far below the surface. On the other hand, photographer Elizabeth Gilbert worked many years, carefully and slowly to gain the Maasai's trust and understand who they are. The result of her efforts is abundantly clear in this moving book that documents their world in a great detail. We don't see flashy events performed for visitors but intimate milestones in their life like the passage to manhood and the rite of marriage. The book leaves us with a clear sense of who these people are and where they came from. In addition, Gilbert has given us a breathtaking view of the country in which they make their home. It is a standout in a field full of Africa books.



2. I read this pictorial record of the Maasai in one sitting from start to finish. Rather than being just another coffee table book with pretty pictures, Liz Gilbert intersperses her photographs with insightful essays documenting Maasai history, rituals, and traditions such as marriage, male and female circumcision, coming of age, and even a lion hunt with spears.

   Gilbert has clearly done her homework regarding the Maasai, spending many years in Kenya to gain the trust of the tribesmen who allowed her to document their most intimate rituals. The black and white photographs she has assembled have a museum quality about them, especially the portraits.

   The author took serious personal risks to achieve these photographs, with the lion hunt at the end representing but one example of her courage. Clearly, the book documents not only the vanishing society of the Maasai, but also a personal journey for the author. This book should be an inspiration for anyone interested in Africa.




3. This is a truly awe-inspiring book. I highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the Maasai or African cultures. In contrast to the recent slew of "white girl in Africa" books which have deluged newstands in recent years, Gilbert's book is a refreshing take on one of Africa's least accessible and mythologized cultures. Individually and collectively the photographs serve to honor a people who are consciously facing the erosion of their societial ways. Broken Spears is a must-have for any serious family book collection