No comments about The Irish: A Treasury of Art and Literature.

1 comments about Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest (Published in Association with The Art Institute of Chicago).

1. I my self love southwest art and the ceramics and in this book I see the most beautiful pieces and colors outstanding.Who ever loves this art this is a book not to pass on

No comments about No. 3 Guthier.

No comments about Bas Jan Ader: In Search of the Miraculous (One Work).

No comments about Josiah Mcelheny.

2 comments about Tammy Garcia, Form without Boundaries.

1. Two weeks ago I knew virtually nothing about Pueblo pottery. After a whirlwind tour of Santa Fe & its museums, notably the Indian Cultural Arts Museum, in which I paid special attention to the exhibits on ceramics: (1) Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo, who revived the art of Pueblo pottery in the early 20th century virtually single-handedly; (2) styles of the different Pueblos, including San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Acoma, Laguna, Hopi, etc.--I kept coming back to the Santa Clara section, and was especially attracted to one particular piece to the extent that I had to take out my note pad and make a note of that artist's name, Tammy Garcia; I was going to remember her and look for more works by her for sure (silly me, to think I had "discovered" her); (3) Casas Grandes, an ancient culture that was "new" to me and my husband centered south of the Mexico-New Mexico border--actually would have been contemporary with the "ancestral Pueblo" (or "Anasazi") culture of the New Mexico/Colorado area.
   
   We were to learn that there was currently a sculpture exhibit in the garden area outside the museum featuring Tammy Garcia's recent large-scale works in bronze, which are amazing, and I also found this book in the museum gift shop and decided to purchase it later on-line (so I wouldn't have to carry it home).
   
   Meanwhile, the next day in the Wheelwright museum, some people were purchasing Santa Clara pottery in the gift shop, and I learned more there, including which gallery featured Tammy Garcia's work in Santa Fe (Blue Rain) and how famous she is, and how nice a person and how sweet her two little daughters are as well. I did get to go to the gallery, and enjoyed every piece of Tammy Garcia's art I had the joy to see in person, though I cannot afford to purchase any of it myself. Not sure why, but the lady in the gallery gave me a copy of this book, either because I so obviously really, really, truly loved Tammy's work, as opposed to being just interested in whether I thought it would appreciate in value or impress my friends, or whether she didn't believe I really didn't have the money and thought I was going to return to buy a lot of art or was representing somebody; I prefer to think the former, but would be amused to think the latter.
   
   In any case, I am thrilled to have the book, because it is what I can afford to have of Tammy Garcia's work, and her pottery is beautiful; if you get a chance to see it in person, please do; it's wonderful. Most of the book is pottery, which is how she started out, and the photographs are gorgeous; in recent years, she is "experimenting" with other media, such as glass and bronze, partly by collaborating with other artists, which you will also learn about in the last part of the book. Not that I am an expert or anything, but I would say she is beyond experimenting; her glass sculptures are very nice, and the bronzes are spectacular; I would be very proud to have any of her works in my home, although it would outclass everything else I own, pretty much. I am glad I also got to pick up the gallery's exhibition catalog which has more of Tammy Garcia's bronzes in it; and when I was in Taos, I also visited the Blue Rain Gallery there and saw a few more of her works just to be really complete.
   
   All the Pueblos have their own individual styles, and Santa Clara and San Ildefonso's are particularly lovely, with their red-on-red and black-on-black highly polished pots--reading the description of how this is accomplished in another museum exhibit on Maria Martinez, it's a very labor intensive process, that is actually apparently done by hand polishing for many, many hours, as opposed to applying some kind of glaze to make the pots shiny. San Ildefonso's pottery is characterized more by stylized, etched surface designs, largely contributed by Maria's husband Julian, such as feathers (as seen in the Mimbres culture, to the south of the Puebloans) and water serpents.
   
   Santa Clara pottery is additionally unique because of its carved, relief designs, giving the surface a 3-D aspect. Tammy Garcia's carvings are particularly bold, deep, and sharply defined, as if she is not at all afraid of cutting right through the soft clay; it is amazing to think of her handling the unbaked pots while stacking them for the firing process--how thin and fragile the carved-out areas must be, how easy to tear, and how hard to make perfectly sharp edges on the soft clay. Well, that is why her piece stood out in the first exhibit I saw and why she commands top prices and is sold in an exclusive gallery, because of her genius.
   
   There is a quote from her in the book saying she is criticized as being "non-traditional," whatever that means. I am still not an expert, so you may take whatever I say with as many grains of salt as you wish, but the Santa Clara Pueblo still claims her (though she was born in Los Angeles), and her pottery appears to be in the Santa Clara style, and the museum displays one of her pieces in the Santa Clara section. Her pottery technique and colors and style are of Santa Clara type, though I don't know enough about the particular designs to know if they are traditional. Obviously, when she began to experiment with other media such as glass and bronze, that is non-traditional, and nobody, least of all herself claims it to be traditional, although she uses Indian designs and motifs in her artwork--but it's clearly a modern art form.
   
   I did get to the Santa Clara Pueblo, unfortunately apparently during siesta time, but found one shop open on the highway, and bought a small pot there (not of course one of Tammy's), but it's very lovely. I hope to return to New Mexico and the Pueblos and to see more of the pottery soon. In the meantime, I can enjoy my memories, my Santa Clara pot, and this book.



2. If you are an artist or appreciate art, you need this book in your home. The biographical information is intriguing, and in-depthly honest. The pottery itself is breathtaking. It's hard to describe the shapes, the stories, the colors....you just need to read it to believe it!

1 comments about Hagen-Renaker through the Years.

1. This book, Hagen-Renaker Through the Years, continues where the first book left off, with over 450 completly different photos. This book has a great section on how to identify Hagen-Renakers, how to date them, and how to recognize imitations. In addition, there are wonderful photos of one-of-a-kind and test pieces that have never been seen in public before. Also, several large color photos describing the variation in the colors of their popular horses. Not a revision of the first HR book, but a most-welcome sequel.

No comments about Existence in Translation: Cang Xin.

No comments about Parkett: 20 Years Of Artists' Collaborations.

1 comments about Glass & Ceramic Baskets Identification and Value Guide: Identification and Value Guide.

1. Lots of individual color pictures , but no illustration for marks, no history of manufacturer, no index, poor organization.