No comments about Fields of Vision: The Photographs of Russell Lee: The Library of Congress (Fields of Vision).

1 comments about Keeping the Spirit Alive: American Indian Art from the Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. Collection.

1. In Keeping The Spirit Alive, Bonnie Kahn and Mary Schlick effectively collaborate to showcase an impressive array of Native American artistry and craftsmanship using items found in the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Pamlin, Jr. Color photography of clothing, domestic items, personal adornments, and articles used for battle are all augmented by informative captions. More than ninety items are included and document the continuity of Native American artistry over the past two hundred years down to the present day. Keeping The Spirit Alive is a unique and highly recommended addition to any personal or academic Native American studies and art history collections.

No comments about Contemporary Cultures of Display (Art and Its Histories Series).

2 comments about Rome Explorations: The Ancient Rome Walking Tour.

1. This is a fine book that delves into a subject that is usually just a side bar in the more comprehensive travel guides. For the interested traveller, this walking tour is an invigorating and enlightening experience. Recommended.



2. I was planning my first trip to Rome and had a huge interest in Ancient Roman History but all of the travel books that I looked at had sparse information on Ancient Roman society and landmarks. Luckily I came across this book on amazon.com. I spent a full four days following the tour in this book along with traveling to some of the extras that are listed in the back of the book. It was an excellent tour and not only did it give my girlfriend and I a ton of exercise it also allowed us to take in the overall feel of each section of the city that we journeyed through while following the books directions. On top of that it actually created interest in history from my girlfriend which is rare in itself. I strongly suggest this book to anyone who is going to Rome and wishes to take in the grandeur of the Roman Empire. As an added bonus the book lists the author's e-mail address which I used to write him a letter after completing my trip. He is extremely responsive to everything I said about his book and would enjoy talking to anyone with an interest in Rome. A definete 5 star product.

No comments about A Drawing Manual by Thomas Eakins (Primary Sources in American).

3 comments about The Art of Rockefeller Center.

1. Rockefeller Center is one of the great Art Deco set pieces. It was conceived and built at the depths of the Great Depression, at the height of Art Deco and it's importance to the nation at the time is impossible to quantify. The art of the complex is arguably the most important assemblage of Art Deco artwork in the world. This book is a fantastic tribute to Rockefeller Center and all the artists and craftsman that built it. The text is highly informative, without feeling like an academic dissertation and the images are very well presented, though frankly there could have been more. I highly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in Rockefeller Center or Art Deco.



2. The publishers, in a neat marketing move, issued this book in two editions. The 320 page version and a much smaller pocket-sized paperback that was invaluable when I visited the Center in 2006. Without it I don't think it would have been possible to find all the exterior treasures on the twenty-two acre site or read Roussel's text about them.
   
   This Art book is a vastly expanded comprehensive look at all the exterior and interior public art contained in the fourteen buildings and spaces. It originated with Christine Roussel when her company was commissioned by the Rockefeller Center to restore all the artwork and the excellent contemporary color photos (after any restoration) are by Christine or her designer daughter Dianne. What I particularly like about the book are the historic photos of artists creating the works that you can see today. There are so many of these that I assume the Rockefeller's saw the PR potential of Fine Art in progress and arranged for as much of this as possible to be photographed.
   
   There are more than a hundred pieces of art from forty artists presented in color and the very comprehensive text puts their work in context and in case you are wondering there is a full explanation about the destruction of Diego Rivera's fresco: Man at the Crossroads, which was to be in a prominent place on the main lobby wall of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Lee Lawrie contributed most to the Center with fourteen pieces and his Wisdom (Rockefeller Plaza) and Atlas (International Building) are now world famous. There are seven interesting historical photos about the making and positioning of Atlas in the book. Missing, I thought (and maybe as an Appendix) were a few photos showing the various stages of construction of the Center, it take nine years after all and a page or two, with photos, of the various roof gardens.
   
   Rousell's book celebrates the public art of these remarkable New York buildings which are now registered as a National Historic Landmark. The book's production is first class (though unfortunately not sumptuous) with the photos in 175dpi on reasonable art paper. There is a slight editorial annoyance with a back page listing of the artists and technical details of their work, these really should have been presented on the relevant pages so the reader could avoid having to keep flipping back and forth to find out a bit of information.
   
   The perfect complement to this book is Daniel Okrent's Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center telling in great detail how the Rockefeller Center was built.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.



3. Built in the middle of the depression, Rockefeller Center became a part of and a symbol of America. The buildings of Rockefeller Center were not designed as the steel and glass monoliths of today. Art from some of the best artists of the day was incorporated into virtually all aspects of the building. The most famous is the statue of Prometheus delivering fire to the mortals of the earth amidst the waters of the Plaza. But there is much much more. There are the bas-relief stone carvings on the facade, there are murals, statues, even specially designed patterns for the carpets.
   
   This book is the first comprehensive study of the art in the center. It is a large format, beautifully printed edition of the art as it is now, and in many cases historical photographs of the artists as it was being produced in the 1930's.
   
   Ms. Roussel is the Archivist of Rockefeller center. To produce the book she had unprecedented access to the records and files of the center.

No comments about Landscape Wallcoverings (Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution).

No comments about Silks for Thrones and Altars: Chinese Costumes and Textiles.

5 comments about Earth Transformed: Chinese Ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

1. A very nice text for a scholar of Chinese ceramics, and or cultured individual. Covers examples from Neolithic to Qing Dynasty. All of the photos are extremely well rendered, and scaled when appropriate to show close up details of the more important technical aspects of style. Many of the pieces are shown from various angles so as not to obscure hidden structure and detail. Every item represented is provided with dimensions which makes this book a valuable reference source. The author's very disciplined selection of pieces represent as broad a perspective of relevant styles as possible for a book of it's size, and single museum souce. Highly Recommend.



2. A very nice text for a scholar of Chinese ceramics, and or cultured individual. Covers examples from Neolithic to Qing Dynasty. All of the photos are extremely well rendered, and scaled when appropriate to show close up details of the more important technical aspects of style. Many of the pieces are shown from various angles so as not to obscure hidden structure and detail. Every item represented is provided with dimensions which makes this book a valuable reverence source. The author's very disciplined selection of pieces represent as broad a perspective of relevant styles as possible. Highly Recommend.



3. Overall, the book is of high quality. All the pictures were well taken. The pieces included were exceptional good pieces from different Chinese Dynasties. It is a book for those who have profound interest in Chinese works of art.

   Readers should pay special attention to the Ruyao saucer which arouses lots of discussions among professional dealers and serious collectors. It is a very controversial piece which needs to be more thoroughly studied and examined; and compared to the existing samples in different museums and private collections around the world. Without seeing and examining the piece in person, one cannot say for sure if it is a well-sought-after Ru ware or just a later copy.




4. Almost eighty objects covering 5,000 years of art history are featured in this roundup of Chinese ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Not only are the objects discussed in depth and presented in full color, but a timeline, sidebars of facts, kiln maps and other detailed information makes for a treasure-trove of insight and knowledge.



5. Earth Transformed: Chinese Ceramics In The Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston by Wu Tung (Matsutaro Shoriki Curator of Asian Art and Head of the Department of the Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa) is a gorgeous, coffee-table art book filled cover to cover with more than two hundred beautiful color photographs of seventy-nine smooth, elegant, picturesque and varied examples of the art of Chinese Ceramics throughout a 5000 year history. From decorative pottery to Buddhist sculptures, each ceramic is displayed with a detailed aside informing the reader about its origin and contextual meaning. A wondrous and beautiful book of three dimensional works of art, Earth Transformed is an enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library ceramic art and art history reference collections.

2 comments about Art from the Parks.

1. The original focus of this book was said to be art selected from the annual Arts for the Parks contest in Jackson, Wyoming, but that idea got lost somewhere since some paintings are not from national parks and paintings from parks have no notation to tell you which park is depicted. I have been following the Arts for the Parks for a couple of years and I find some of the omissions pretty glaring. Why do we get six paintings by Jim McVicker and not one by Ronnie Barnes? Three David Tutwilers and no Shirley Cleary. Three Dempwolfs and no Lanford Munroe. There are many beautiful paintings in the book and the artists comments are interesting and informative. The picture cropping at times is brutish and the desciption of one painting is obviously of another.A good book in spite of the editing.31/2 stars for the art and 1/2 a star for the publisher.



2. What a beautiful collection of art work form the years of the Art of the Parks contests. No matter what style the paintings are, the compositions are outstanding. Nice picture reproduction with a short relevant text with each entry.