No comments about The Henry P. McIlhenny Collection: An Illustrated History.

1 comments about Migrations: New Directions in Native American Art.

1. MIGRATIONS: NEW DIRECTIONS IN NATIVE AMERICAN ART provides a selection of pieces by six new emerging Native American artists featured in a 2002 Migrations exhibition, with essays by three scholars exploring the evolution and history of the field as a whole. Many titles focus on prior representations of Native lives: too few on the new Native artists and their explorations, so Migrations is both an essential exhibit and stands well alone as an important survey.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

No comments about Best Dressed: Fashion from the Birth of Couture to Today.

1 comments about Masterpieces of Faberge: Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection.

1. The piece illustrating the cover is the highlight of this incredible collection. It is known as the Lilies of the Valley Basket. The moss is pure spun gold, the basket gold, the flowers are pearls with highlights of diamonds. The entire basket is made up of yellow and green golds, silver, nephrite, pearls, and rose cut diamonds. All the pieces in this collection are gorgeous-- absolutely amazing. This work was a favorite of Czarina Alexandra and was created in 1896.
   
   This 57-piece collection includes three Imperial eggs. The Imperial Caucasus Egg was a gift from Czar Alexander in 1893. The portraits on this egg are covered by magnificant and ornate doors that open up to reveal miniature portraits of the Grand Duke and Abastuman, the Royal Lodge. It was created with yellow and quatre-colored gold, silver, platinum, guilloche enamel, diamonds, pearl, crystal, and ivory. Stunning.
   
   Also included here are the Imperial Danish Palaces Egg which was given to the Czarina by Czar Alexander III. This one is light pink enamel but includes a fold out panel which holds 10 pictures of the royal residences in Denmark and Russia.
   
   The last egg is the Imperial Napoleonic Egg and marked the 100th anniversary of the Russian defeat of Napoleon. Larger than the other eggs, there is a six panel fold out revealing the six regiments and the Dowager Empress as their honorary colonel. The materials used here were gold, enamel, diamonds, platinum, ivory, gouache, velvet, and silk. Exquisite.
   
   There are also several pairs of opera glasses (rose and green gold, tri-color gold, anamel, silver, diamonds), perfume bottles, cigarette cases, trinkets, an inkwell (bowerite, silver, enamel, and glass) and small items of jewelry, such as rings.
   
   The floral works, however, are the most highly admired pieces by historians and there are 18 other floral works in this collection besides the Lilies of the Valley basket. The flowers and leaves are made of carved semi-precious stones and adorned with diamonds and other gems, as well as gold. They are lavish and ornate. The Orange Blossom Spray, for instance, has leaves and petals made of quartzite, olivine, nephrite, rock crystal, with gold stems.
   
   I was fortunate to view this magnificent collection this week and was duly impressed. This 160 page book (catalog, really) is full of beautiful color photos and descriptions of each masterpiece. It also explains the origin of this collection while giving more information about Matilda Geddings Gray.
   
   Matilda Geddings Gray began collecting these works in the 1930s. At different times she was offered an immense amount of money to return these items to Russia. She always declined and the foundation she created has also declined to sell them. They are permanently housed in the New Orleans Museum of Art, but are presently out on loan to a nearby museum.

No comments about Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection.

No comments about Bruegel to Rembrandt: Dutch and Flemish Drawings from the Maida and George Abrams Collection.

No comments about Complete Artintact 1994-99, The: Artist's Interactive CD-ROMagazine on DVD-ROM.

No comments about Artes de Mexico # 74. Gustavo Perez: Ceramica contemporanea / Gustavo Pérez: Contemporary Ceramics (Uso Y Estilo / Usage and Style).

1 comments about Rock Art Of Utah.

1. Polly Schaafsma is the expert on Southwestern Rock art. This book is based on a lifetime devoted to the scientific study of Rock art. It is grounded in science but easily readable.

1 comments about The Silk Road and Beyond: Travel, Trade, and Transformation (Museum Studies).

1. A collaborative project of The Art Institute of Chicago and the Yale University Press, "The Silk Road And Beyond: Travel, Trad, and Transformation" is expertly edited by Karen Manchester and features a two-page colored map illustrating the land and sea routes between Europe and Asia from 200 BCE to 1500 CE. Of special note are the icon symbols identifying the locations of ancient cities and archaeological sites of interest. An informed and informative essay by Milo C. Beach introduces readers to the history of the Silk Road and the way in which is fostered a two-way flow of goods, styles, and ideas between East and West. Also featured in "The Silk Road And Beyond" is a conversation between Chicago Art Institute present and director James Cuno and renowned cellist Yo-Yo Mar as they discuss the Silk Road as a metaphor for the circulation of ideas, motifs, and techniques both visual and musical. An extended and beautifully illustrated catalogue section features fascinating entries on forty objects in the Art Institute's collection ranging from ancient Chinese tomb figures to the works of contemporary artists including Lalla Essaydi. "The Silk Road And Beyond" is a beautifully crafted and presented history that would make a fine addition to personal, academic, and community library Art and History reference collections.