2 comments about Aaron Copland's America: A Cultural Perspective.

1. This book reproduces the paintings & fills in the story of Aaron Copland's friendships & interactions with the world of the the arts, from his visits to the Brooklyn Museum, Paris, & adventures in New York. A lively & informative review of the show for which the book is a catalogue & interpretive essay, appeared in the New York Times, written by John Russell: [December 22, 2000, Friday] ART REVIEW; Fanfare for Copland, A Fervent Adventurer By JOHN RUSSELL Source: The New York Times Section: Leisure/Weekend Desk [1007 words] Abstract: John Russell reviews Heckscher Museum exhibit illustrating America of composer Aaron Copland. [photo (M)] -------------------------------------------------------------------Lead Paragraph: To walk through ''Aaron Copland's America'' at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, on Long Island, is a considerable adventure. The exhibition is a biographical study of one of the best-loved American composers of the 20th century. But it is much more: a freewheeling, farsearching trawl through an America that, though vital to Copland, was not his only concern...... Born in 1900, Copland lived until near the end of a tumultuous century. He lived more than one of that century's adventures. As a younger American composer, John Adams, said last year, Copland "reached his maturity at the same point that the country was seriously searching for its own cultural identity." He added: "Copland, like Robert Frost and Edward Hopper, found a way of expressing in the most simple and direct language deeply felt intuitions about the American experience." [full review available from NYTimes archive] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- What I found moving was the way the book shows what kinds of music, art, ideas were exciting people as Copland matured & how he got into the swim, indeed helped to shape it. For me the music becomes more exciting because the book gives it a context & illustrates & evokes the culture in which Copland made his way.



2. Copland is one of the great american composers. This book makes an effort to capture that perspective in the written word but falls somewhat short. Listen to music for music don't read about it. This book is enjoyable to the huge copland fans who crave everything that has his name on it, but in general is not all to interesting otherwise.

No comments about Petite Pattern Book - Flowers & Leaves (Bnn Pattern Book Series).

1 comments about A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections, 2nd Edition.

1. This book was required reading for a Museum Studies class at GW, and everyone who works in a Museum should be familliar with it! It is a great reference guide as well.

5 comments about Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow.

1. My two sons (Zachary and Alexander) have been saving their allowance and doing extra chores to save money for a Nintendo DS (they save half, my wife & I pay half). This has been a huge deal for them because they each really want one.
   
   Yesterday, my wife took the boys to a bookstore, and 7 1/2 year old Zach saw Zak Smith's book based on Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow". He could not, would not put it down; he was mesmerized. He's not one to want, want, want, but this, he had to have. He looked at various and sundry art-related books for at least a half hour, and kept coming back to this book. Which was $40. After much discussion and pondering, Zach was resolute: My wife had a $16 credit at the store which she let him use and he kicked in $20 of his $27 to get the book. The point is, he gave up his Gameboy money for an art book. A big deal. He said "You know how interested I am in art, Mom!"
   
   I've read a bit of Pynchon ("Vineland") but when I've leafed through "Granvity's Rainbow" in the past, I've thought it challenging, circular, dense. Very much like, though not so much as, the uber-interpretive "Finegan's Wake" by James Joyce (referenced, coincidentally, by Zak Smith's book). So at once I was impressed; thumbing through Zach's Zak book, even more so. It IS mesmerizing; page after page of fascinating, provoking, stirring beauty. You can get lost in there.
   
   Not only do I now have a renewed vigor to tackle "Gravity's Rainbow", but am inspired to have (with Zach's permission) Zak Smith's profoundly astonishing book along for the cerebral roller coaster, a benevolent guide to provide dazzling clues as I navigate the former's intellectually demanding jungle.
   
   Whether $26.37 or $39.95, worth every penny...



2. I'm totally blown away by this book, after seeing these drawings at the Walker I had to own it. Check out his website to see all the drawings on line.



3. I just saw the Zak Smith exhibit at the Walker Art Center in Minn. where I had gone to see the "Picasso in America". But this Gravity's Rainbow page-by-page is, by far, the reason to go to the Walker right now. Mindboggling. Buy the book and picture each page lined up like a grid covering an entire wall. The Pynchon book is quite challenging to read so try to imagine Zak Smith capturing the concept of each and every page with a drawing or picture. Number 404 looks like an inch thick melted white plastic mess--does anyone know what happened in the book on this page? I noticed that one of the "tags" for this product is "genius." Believe it.



4. If you live anywhere near Minneapolis get yourself over to the Walker Art Center, where every single one of Zak Smith's drawings/paintings/sculptures (yes, some are three dimensional) for this project are displayed on one wall. (All are in the permanent collection of the Walker.) How do I know it's all 750+ artworks? Because I counted. 45 columns by 17 rows. You could spend hours staring at them and not exhaust this monumental project. I'm not sure how long they'll remain on display so don't put it off.



5. Zak Smith a genious, and this book the best.
   if you like concept ilustration, you'll love it...
   
   and the prize it's great!

No comments about Museum Administration: An Introduction (American Association for State and Local History Book Series).

5 comments about The Art of Faery.

1. This is a collection of various artists who are supposedly the best of the fantasy lot. I found a few artists that were incredible. But most of them were mediocre at best.



2. A good book to compare different Faery artists styles. But not necessarily one that you would refer to over and over, as you may only find a few artworks that you really like.
   
   If you like Faery art, a book featuring an artist whose work you really love would be money better spent. Just to see other artists's work only once you can search the net.



3. This book was what first inspired me to begin a collection of fairy art books and what deepened my connection with the beauty of faery. All the artwork in here is magnificent and some of the pictures are the most strikingly gorgeous and evocative images I've ever seen. It never fails to impress me or move me when I enter its pages. Some of the very best and well-known fairy artists share their work in these pages and the variety is one of the strongest points. However, just because these fairies are beautiful doesn't mean they're nothing more than posing women with wings stuck on. They are fey in every sense of the word and there are plenty of images in this book that capture the fierce, wild nature that fairies have; Jasmine Beckett-Griffith, Maxine Gadd, and Jessica Galbreth all showed fairies that definetly had more than beauty in their gazes and were as far from mundane and super-model as you could get. I actually love the fact that this book presented fairies that were dark without being necessarily evil; I think it wonderfully represents the fact that not all darkness is evil and that such mixed natures are in all of us. The spectrum of fairy nature is a large one and this book happens to focus more on the beautiful side of the fey. If you want a book of fairy nature that's equal parts light and dark (with dark and hideous fairies as well as the lovely sort), try Froud's brilliant "Good Fairies, Bad Fairies". If you want a great variety of beautiful fairy art, this is the book for you; I also highly recommend its brilliant sequel. What this book offers is a journey into a world that is as wild and daring as it is beautiful; you may never want to return.



4. If you like people with wings this book will be perfect for you. If you like faeries in the truest sense, maybe you should reconsider.
   
   Though a book with pleasant visuals, offered in bite-sized showcase of several artists, I wasn't entirely satisfied with how faerys are portrayed, all I recall is the seemingly overuse of portrait poses with wings slapped onto the backs of curvy women. I dunno if that's good, might be attractive to some, but it makes me wonder if that's all to faery art: a pair of wings, a dash of florals and some stars thrown in. I am not a faery artist or too familiar with the genre, but I was expecting to have a sense of luminence and tranquility and probably folk-ness (the coverart is one example) or hauntingly majestic or macabre for evil faeries from the book, unfortunately not all the artists featured carry that standard (a couple of them do seem to be amateur artists from the lack of proportion and painting techniques). Some artists offer an alternative take on faery art with sprites and pixies which are pretty but not too memorable. I give this 2.5 stars.



5. I was so excited when I received The Art Of Faery. I did a little happy dance in my front room. It is funny how faeries bring out the child in you. I have been a believer of the Fae since I was a little girl. I couldn't imagine my life without them.
   
   This is a wonderful book on faery artists and their works. The many wonderful artists include Brian Froud, Amy Brown, David Delamare, Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Maxine Gadd, Myrea Pettit, Linda Ravenscroft, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, and many others. There are a few artists I did not see such as Nene Tina Thomas, Josephine Wall, Selina Fenech, and Mary Baxter St Clair. But perhaps they will come out with a second book. That would be great.
   
   In the back of the book there is a list of the artists and their websites. It even gives you a picture of what the artists look like. So not only can you read the BIOS of your favorite artist but also get to see what they look like.
   
   If you love the Fae and love fantasy, you are sure to love this book. So what are you waiting for? Get it now before it goes out of stock! *wink*

No comments about Tomma Abts.

4 comments about The California Pop-Up Book.

1. Now I know why I love California so much - this pop-up book tells it all! Well worth the money.



2. Even with lack of proper stereoscopic vision, due to serious lazy eye, the figures appear vivid and dimensional. The book includes a set of postcards that may be sent to taunt the less fortunate who haven't witnessed the wonders herein.



3. As a California historian and author of the book: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MISCELLANY, I found this California pop-up to be a charmingly fun novelty book to share when company comes over.



4. The book looks like it might just be a decorative coffee table item, but the content belies that impression. The pop-ups are fun and attractive, but the real story is in the choice of objects and the writing. The selections speak to the myth of California that was consciously created by early explorers, developers, and movie moguls but became its own reality as people migrated to the state ready to play the roles the myth-makers created for them. In exposing the history through objects and some remarkable writing by such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Carolyn See, Graham Nash, Alice Waters, Terry Gilliam, and Richard Rodriguez, the pre-mythic history and the development of a true California culture emerges...one in which the tinsel is a little tarnished around the edges, but glows as brightly as ever with its own special light.

No comments about Arte No es Vida.

2 comments about Arte Povera (Themes and Movements).

1. The most appealing book on the subject I ever read. Very fine reproductions, excellent comments, splendid background information. A must for everyone who's interested in modern art history!



2. In my opinion Arte Povera was the most interesting art movement in the 20th century. This book includes many art movements, explanations, artists involved, plenty of pictures and it is held together in a great quality book. I recomend this book to anyone right or left brained.