2 comments about Monet: Nature into Art.

1. An earlier reviewer made some very nice comments about the text of this book--something I'm unqualified to address because I did not read the words. My focus was on the paintings themselves, which are not well reproduced here. I have seen these same paintings in other books, and the paintings are indeed beautiful. Here, however, the colors are washed-out. If you just need a general representation of Monet's paintings, this book might do. But if you want a much truer view of these great works, look elsewhere.



2. This book is unbelievable in its thoroughness. I read the book over 10 years ago, and I have never read another art book to match it.

   This books shows what happens when an inquisitive mind investigates art. It answers not only any question that you had about Monet's art, but even those that you never thought of asking.

   For example it addresses the signficance of the expansion of the French Railway system, and the growth of the middle class, in defining the market for art.

   It addresses the canvas sizes used by Monet, and his progression from a history painter to a painter of genre paintings ( the one thing that he had in common with Degas ).

   I think that the important thing about this book is that it shows that a thorough intellectual non-purely visual approach can be made to the analysis of art, without the use of artspeak. The result is a book that is both readable and informs. Oh what a novelty!

5 comments about Caravaggio (Icon Editions).

1. This is by far the crappiest books on painting book ever. The pictures are black and white and look like a photocopy of a bad photocopy. Needless to say, I returned it the next day. Buyer Beware.



2. I would agree with the other reviewers that in many respects this is an excellent book. Mr. Hibbard analyzes Caravaggio's works in terms that are comprehensive, and yet not puffed up with academic hot air. He describes the historical context of the paintings, and often compares individual works of Caravaggio with similar paintings of other artists. He even points out artistic errors, such as the lack of perspective in the hands of a man in the painting Supper At Emmaus. Hibbard talks about the striking use of color in Caravaggio's compositions, and it is here that one can be somewhat disappointed with the book for, the wonderful paintings of Caravaggio are, with very few exceptions, reproduced in a dismal black and white. If you are familiar with Caravaggio, and are most interested in the author's commentary, than this deficiency would probably not bother you. I have John Spike's "Caravaggio" that is full of color plates, but it is more expensive. Although I have not seen it, I understand C. Puglisi's book by the same name also has many color plates. For the relative newcomer to this great painter, I would encourage consideration of one of these other two books as a companion volume to this excellent book.



3. In one of my last classes for my degree, this book was the required text. I am awed by Caravaggio's work anyway, but combine that with Howard Hibbert's insightful text and you have an amazing book. I would definitely recommend this text for anyone interested in this fantastic artist.



4. Caravaggio is one of the greatest artists of the 17th century. In a very brief period of time he managed to exert a influence over all of European painting.

   Caravaggio was the original bad boy of the art world. He was willing to use well known prostitutes as models when portraying the Virgin Mary or to show saints with dirty feet. This offended authorities in Baroque Rome and Caravaggio was often a trial to his patrons. During the majority of his active career he was on the lam fleeing from a murder charge. He burst on the Roman art scene during the height of its influence and spent his last days in Malta in the company of the knights.

   Although Caravaggio's influence was immense immediately after his death where his masterful use of light and shadow was immitated by countless lesser artists. For a number of years Caravaggio's reputation declined. Raphael's influence dominated academic art and Caravaggio's relatively harsh realism was in disfavor. It was only in the 1950's when a major evaluation occurred.

   This book by Howard Hibbard is probably the first of these modern reevaluations of Caravaggio and it is still one of the best. Professor Hibbard is one of the country's leading art historians and he brings considerable scholarship to his study of Caravaggio's work. Although there are plenty of other books on Caravaggio, I think that this book is still the best of lot in terms of understanding Caravaggio's art (his life was sufficiently messy and his sexuality ambiguous to spur the mills of contemporary scholarship for many years). Professor Hibbard's writing is sufficiently free from academic claptrap to make it an invaluable guide to both the specialist and the novice.




5. This is a beautiful book. As a divorced hardworking mother of 3, I spend all of my time reading this book to my children, Isaul (age 90) Gabriella (age 16) and Kraquel (age 3) I also read it to my co-workers where I work, a prositute. This is truley a work of art.

1 comments about Letters of Gustave Courbet.

1. This compendium of letters by Courbet, translated from the French, offers a firsthand insight into his personal and professional life from when he was a young man, writing letters to his parents, throughout his long career, when he was corresponding with art dealers, friends, family, and so on. Many of these letters are previously unpublished, so this tome is a very thorough biography as told through letters. A must-have resource for scholars looking for primary source material.

1 comments about Roy Lichtenstein.

1. This book is the catalogue for an exhibition held at the Kunsthaus Bregenz in 2006. It studies Lichtenstein's work chronologically and dividing it by themes (women, interiors, early paintings...). The reproductions are very good and even show the paintings in their current frame (an unusual step which I think gives an extra dimension to the works). A very interesting book, easy to read, on an artist that changed the way we look at art.

No comments about Atmosphere, Mood and Light.

2 comments about Franz Marc.

1. "Marc is one of the most popular German Expressionist painters, and belongs to the precursors of Modernism. In his splendidly colorful animal paintings, he finds a universal visual language. This postcard booklet brings together 30 of his most well-known works. Full-color."--StrandBooks



2. I found in Amazon this great book, of one of the most important painters that headed the modern art in painting in germany. It is very difficult to find books from this artist, part of the Blue Rider Grup (Der Blaue Reiter). So it is great that amazon provided us with such a treasure.

1 comments about Gerhard Richter: Paintings 2003-2005.

1. Richter has sought a long and arduous path as an artist. He has never claimed to be a painter's painter, his creativity continually betrays it, instead he takes a concpept, a single colour sometimes often devoting a year's work to "Grey",but all its manifestations, spatialities, and genres; or a technique is exploited as herein, as "squiggee flat" across a surface and sees where it takes him, light does peek thru, but controlled and inhumanized, it's difficult to discover Richter's signature here, or perhaps you can, who else can render these provocative paintings, you sense the power of mechanical industry of commerce, as you see the paint merely manipulated in one direction,inevitably dehumanized; Deleuze might say Richter should exhibit more what is human, perhaps his voice has been stilled, silenced;"squiggee" has an import, a content of the serial,but only to a degree, it has some controlled civilized element of spontanaeity; for once you have one, all you can do is create another, like Rothko, he can only(only did) change- transform the colour, the dimensions,the volumes; the content hovers simultaneously within the same narrow existential spaces, withdrawn crevices of the mind of experience of isolation.But you know the painting the work is complete, that is what is most powerful in Rothko,as in Richter; it is complete,never overdetermined, you then complete the work yourself, interpreting/participaing in what is there or not there; For Richter technique seems to be a focus,very similar to Jasper Johns,who also tried incredible numbers of technique, lithographs,assemblage,combines,serialization for technique forces you out of yourself, are we to find then a kind of false subjectivity, a denial of it, with repetition, such an ugly word in late capitalism, yet the automata of Richter is compelling, devoted to a cause of aesthetic protubrance, I wonder what he thinks he discovers at the end, he simply moves on, but when moving he sticks, he contemplates, he inhabits moments in his creations, so process again is the important factor; we are past the misplaced liberalism, the shibboleths of "my art doesn't express anything", a child's mind created this thought, one confused with the forever opaque-nesses befalling the state of the globe. I like Richter very much, I have followed his art and he is a richly diverse alter-ego to the Joseph Beuys anarcho-aesthic tyranny. You wonder if you are cashing in on yourself the more you venture to the next aesthetic station. . . .

1 comments about Instruction Paintings.

1. This is one of the most inspiring and special books I have ever owned. Yoko Ono is my absolute idol! This book is like a collection of personal and secret poems... ...to be deciphered under your own terms...

2 comments about The Art of Designing Watercolors.

1. When buying online, its sometimes hard to know what is inside the book that makes it special. I have tried to outline parts of this books to give you a better idea of what it's about and how things are taught.
   
   This book is an excellent tool for learning about planning a painting and factors that influence a strong vs weak design. The books stated goal is to help artists avoid common design errors and "learn the 15 things that comproise the 'how' and 'why' of design. Beginning with a subject and it's sketch, Lovett teaches the steps of designing the painting and "arranging the marks, shapes, colors and tones." The book is filled with vivid illustrations and step-by-step demonstrations.
   
   After a brief chapter on materials, Chapter 2 teaches "the how and why of design--the 15 things you should know, explained and illustrated." Then, the 7 Tools of Design are explained--line, shape, tonal value, size, color, texture, and direction. The "why" encompasses 8 things--unity, contrast, dominance, repetition, alternation, harmony, gradation, balance.
   
   Lovett takes several beautiful and varied paintings and explains the tools of design in each that give it strength, unity, and interest. The tools of design for each painting are explained, and then the "design plan" of each is explained---the marks on the paper, and how those marks will be arranged--example:--unity, contrast, dominance, repetition, alternation, harmony, gradation, balance. Lovett then goes on to explain how contrast can be the layout, but making one tone, value, shape, etc more dominant than the other can create unity.
   
   HE then takes different paintings and explains the "main arrangement" of the design (ex: unity, contrast, etc.) He shows such examples as using a dominantly wet-wet method in a painting, but then saving the center of interest to be painted with sharper, dry, crisp edges to contrast. Also, the harmony of color, gradation of colors from the top to bottom of painting and using contrast of light to make it a well-designed painting
   
   PART 3 of the book is on "Training Yourself to Plan Your Painting". It begins with Chapter 3 on "Seizing the essence of your subject with sketches."---choosing subjects, choosing the best light, choosing to draw, choosing total recall. Next--Painting on Location---the factors the interfere with concentration and the need to "simplify the subject." Lovett states, "You must learn to see the subject as simple masses of tonal value.." Lovett encourages the reader to try to draw small subjects directly in watercolor without any preliminary pencil work as a training tool.
   
   Lovett teaches about what the painter needs to study about the subject he plans to paint---the direction of light, the viewpoint, the lack of detail, the different shapes, the scale, the color and tone. Each of these is explained with a small example painting
   
   Chapter 4 is about Planning the picture--how you want it to look when it is finished--the arrangement of light and tonal values and how to make a tonal value plan, color plan--what will be the dominant color, where to place a small patch of complementary color, what color would harmonize the dominant color, etc.. He explains "a simple way to select a harmonious color scheme". Lovett shows a photo of a scene and then illustrates a tonal drawing of it, then how he uses different color sketches to change the mood.
   
   Next--"Plan your attack"---choosing paper, wet-wet, dry brush, edges, tonal value arrangement, etc., each with examples of his work to make a point.
   
   Next--Lovett demonstrates how he sets the tonal key with the first wash and follows with further steps of making contrast of tone and color
   
   Chapter 5 is "Designing with Perspective" where he explains how to establish the vanishing point, basic principles of perspective. Lovett then shows a series of stepped demonstrations of paintings of buildings in Venice. Lovett explains how he uses perspctive and planning ahead to draw the eye to a certain part of the painting.
   
   Lovett's book explains further on how different elements of a painting contributes to the whole, and demonstrates what happens when design elements are removed from a painting. Next 6 Step-by-Step demonstrations are given, each with a clearly stated objective of the the demonstration, the technique used (ex: wet on dry), the tools and arrangements in action, materials the artist used including pallette, brushes, paper. Each demonstration covers a different strategy (ex: " Placing Color in the Area of Most Interest"...."Designing with Color Temperature and Line"...etc. These beautiful paintings are done of scenes in Italy and Wales.
   
   Chapter 7 is "Designing for Mountains and Rivers", where Lovett again gives Step-by-Step demonstrations with a clearly organized objective, techniques, tools (ex: repetition, shape, color contrast, balance, value) used, and materials used. In the mountain scene of New Zealand, Lovett explains how the repeating triangular shapes of the mountains is what caught his eye, aside from the overall breathtaking scene..
   
   Next, a River painting demonstration.
   Later in the book, Designing Seascapes, harbors, and boats.
   Then, Designing still life and interiors--all with demonstrations and clear objectives, and tools and arrangements used to make it a strong design.
   
   Chapter 10 is about Designing figures and animals, and step-by-step demonstrations are also given.
   
   This is a wonderful book--one of the best I have seen on compostion. The artwork throughout is breathtaking. It is well-organized and easy to follow. It is a book that you will probably want to keep. Outstanding.



2. Robert Lovett's book is different from many watercolor books that simply show a picture and have a brief blurb on the picture.
   Lovett has a very thorough and systematic way of teaching and explains each lesson in great depth. This book tackles the key elements of creating an effective painting and shows probably over 100 of Lovett's paintings. Lovett is a gifted teacher and painter and his book is highly effective. Lovett has a very colorful, yet traditional painting style, so if you are looking for experimental or california school loose, look elsewhere.

No comments about How to Make a Painting/Planning, Procedures, and Techniques in Watercolor.