1 comments about Stepping Out: Three Centuries of Shoes (Ashgate Popular and Folk Music).

1. This is a slim but beautiful catalog of part of the collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Australia. The shoes themselves are all in color and clearly photographed, the pictures ranging from a couple of inches to an entire page. A few of the smaller ones were a trifle hard to see and would have benefited from being enlarged.
   
   There are also a number of historic photographs, mostly black and white, as well as color reproductions of paintings and advertisements to add historical context.
   
   The introductory matter explains the history of the collection and gives an explanation of shoe-making. The shoes are mainly arranged chronologically with a few introductory paragraphs relative to the period. All the shoes are labelled, but details are give in a Shoe-List section in the back. Of particular interest is the section on Australian shoes which is a valuable supplement to more general histories of shoes. There is also a list of further reading.

2 comments about Cy Twombly: Fifty Years Of Works On Paper..

1. Purchased as a gift for my son who is a graphic arts designer. He was very pleased with it. An easy transaction.



2. I was pleased with the quality of the reproductions. The introduction and details of Cy Twombly's life and work was informative and gave a clear picture of the man and his art. I would reccommend this book to anyone interested in the free thinking and essence of comtempory art.

No comments about Domus Aurea.

No comments about Living Spirits With Fixed Abodes: The Masterpieces Exhibition of the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery.

4 comments about The Other Side of Color: African American Art in the Collection of Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr..

1. "David C. Driskell is considered one of the world's leading authorities on the subject of African American art. He has taught at Talladega College, Howard and Fisk Universities, and is a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, Queens College, and Obadefemi Awolowo University (the former University of Ife) in Nigeria. He retired as Distinguished University Professor of Art Emeritus from the University of Maryland. In the United States, Driskell has appeared on The Today Show, In the News, and PBS; he has also appeared on television in ten foreign countries. In addition, he is a renowned curator, lecturer, and author. More by David Driskell: Narratives of African American Art and Identity
   
   "240 pages with approximately 100 full-color artworks by 47 African American artists. Casebound, with dust jacket. Size: 10 x 13". Introductions by Camille and Bill Cosby. ISBN: 0-7649-455-3."--© Pomegranate



2. Great book. Very useful for new collectors.



3. I enjoyed the book; it was entertaining, insightful, scholarly, and included a few insightful surprises! However, I was most disappointed to note the biographical omission of Mr. Simmie Knox; he is too talented and humble a person to be overlooked in such a fashion. So, for the sake of posterity, the book should be recalled and corrected as soon as possible. Surely, we wouldn't want it said this is the way we regard an African American Presidential Artist! Correction please.



4. What a beautiful explanation of art that has been ignored for so many years. Not only is the book well illustrated, it is informative. Not having much understanding of art at all, I have now begun to understand the artist, the art and the expression of information that is creative and informative of people and events. This is a book not only for the scholar and informed art collector but for those of us who enjoy beauty. We can now understand creativity in a new way.

1 comments about Dosso Dossi Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara.

1. This is exactly how you want a book on a painter to be. The book features beautiful and large reproductions of the work of Dosso Dossi and of Dosso's brother, Battista, as well as works of painters, such as Giorgione and Rafael, that influenced Dosso. The paintings and illustrations are conveniently numbered and referred to by number in the many essays that fill the book. The essays themselves are wonderful. The subjects range from speculation about Dosso's influences, to the influence Dosso himself had on painting in his part of Italy, to a discussion of his techniques, which are the most intersting part of the book. Dosso changed his works directly on the canvas, rather than planning them out first. New x-ray technology has revealed the underlying layers of paint, and many of the original versions Dosso painted are shown here, along with much speculation on why he made the changes he did. Even if you are not a Dosso Dossi fan, the book is a valuable study into the mind and techniques of an artist, and to the state of painting in central and northern Italy during the Renaissance.

No comments about Mirage.

No comments about Nicholas Lancret 1690-1743.

No comments about Bill Traylor, William Edmondson and the Modernist Impulse.

No comments about Wolfgang Tillmans: If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters.