No comments about Georgia O'Keeffe: A Celebration of Music and Dance.

5 comments about Jubilee City: A Memoir at Full Speed.

1. My son is incarcerated and I sent this book to his cell mate who is an aspiring artist. He loved it. He has talent and someday, maybe, we will all be buying JP Kennedy's!
   Thank for sharing the story-you never know who'll you will be inspiring to stay straight and focused.



2. Joe Andoe must be fifteen years younger than the artists and poets I'm most familiar with who hailed from Tulsa--the WHITE DOVE REVIEW crew of Joe Brainard, Dick Gallup, Ron Padgett. His book JUBILEE CITY rivals the memoirs of Brainard (I REMEMBER) and Padgett (OKLAHOMA TOUGH, MY FATHER KING OF THE TULSA BOOTLEGGERS) as far as getting the lowdown on one of America's most exciting, durable, and dreamlike city-states. When I picked up this book, out of curiosity towards all things Tulsa, I had never heard of the painter Joe Andoe, and now that I've read it I realize he's one of the most famous artists of the world and he's shown all over the known universe. Somehow he flew under my radar but perhaps I have my head in the clouds or buried in the sand like a West Coast ostrich, what do I know? In any case Joe's childhood was like a real-life version of JT Leroy books, except for one stabliizing factor, his father was a real man's man who didn't say very much but Joe always knew that, no matter how many juvenile shenanigans young Joe got his sorry butt into, there was always going to be one man who had his back, his dad.
   
   The saddest part of the book was when Andoe Sr., a relatively young man, had a heart attack and Joe had to bundle him into the car and drive him to the hospital, simultaneously talking him alive, keeping him going. But I think Mr. Andoe didn't want to stay alive not smoking, having to watch his diet, living as "half a man," and so, it wasn't long before they were carrying him back to his Maker.
   
   Joe's interest in art went into high gear when he found out that his chichi society drawing teacher could sell a drawing or a watercolor for 900 dollars--900, as much as the car Joe was driving cost. "He looked like veal to me, all soft and white." And Joe was skeptical of the teacher's talents, thinking to himself, if his s**t flies, then mine will too. At college he learned about men like Robert Smithson, Dennis Oppenheim, other hipsters like himself, but as he says, it wasn't until he saw one of Warhol's pink Marilyns that art got its hook into him once and for all. The teacher told him he should have more humility but Joe just looks at him sideways and says, "I don't know what that word means--is it like humid?"
   
   He had to deal with rapacious and uncaring dealers who tried dicking him every which way from Sunday, and he wound up with a Smith College alumna girlfriend in NYC who, addicted to heroin, had him breaking into his own kids' piggy banks for nickels and dimes. His brushes with the law were frequent and outrageous, and if you read THE BASKETBALL DIARIES or seen the movie with Leo Di Caprio you will agree with me by admitting that Joe Andoe was the baddest boy in many moon,s but he never lost his soul and he never lost heart. His story further proves the continuing vitality of Tulsa and Tulsans, who include also Garth Brooks, Leon Russell, Gene Autry, and David BREAD Gates in music and, in other fields, Jennifer Jones, John Hope Franklin, Sammy Sosa, Larry Clark, Alfre Woodard, S. E. Hinton who wrote THE OUTSIDERS, and Wes Studi. What do these folks all have in common? They're tough and they're cool, ubercool.



3. Reading Joe Andoe's memoir is like walking through a collection of his paintings. Sublime, sensual and haunting. His words reach right into your soul as do his paintings.Unlocking ghosts of distant memories.For anyone who has lived outside the box ,or for that matter looked inside and not quite know how to fit in there is comfort in knowing you are not alone. Loved it.



4. So, world-renowned (and successful--which isn't so easy to pull off) artist Joe Andoe has written his memoir. Why do you care? Because Joe grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma - an unlikely breeding ground for an artist. Because Joe grew up misbehaving in all sorts of ways, had more close calls with the law and death than he can count, until he finally moved to New York City to make his name and to find his fame. Joe's voice, as a writer, is like an undertow -- before you know it, you're miles off shore, completely sucked into his world of all-encompassing love (for his children, his painting) and lust (for women, alcohol), as he paints and parents his way to recovery and redemption. The life presented here is one lived on Joe's terms, with sparkling moments of bigheartedness, crazy humor, and poignant regret. I was entranced by his bad boy youth in Oklahoma, full of muscle cars and dewy teenage girls, the insider details of the world of art galleries and agents, and most of all by how he sorted out all his inner demons and rebuilt connections with his family, friends, children.



5. JUBILEE CITY is one of the most moving and unusual memoirs I've ever read. It's snapshots from an artist's life that are often funny and heartbreaking all at once. They are always moving, and often universal experiences. Andoe has a fresh and unique way of expressing himself. I loved this book and found myself reading stories from it over and over again.

5 comments about Illuminated Manuscripts: Treasures of the Pierpont Morgan Library New York (Tiny Folios Series).

1. I am a great fan of William Voelkle, who is not only the expert on the Morgan's vast holdings, but one of the finest semiologists in the field. His expertise in these fields is evident, as this little book is a lovely peek at the Morgan's greatest illuminations. Much of the best is there, but a lot is not, such as the almost unbelievable series of choirbook fragments by Gherarducci, and the great unfinished Book of Hours, painted by Quarton and Barthelemy d'Eyck. These are personal favorites of many people, including Mr. Voelkle, and I for one lament their non-inclusion. The format of the book is an interesting way to group the pictures, and is a valid way to go, but from an art-history viewpoint, I think the groupings might have been better if chronologically placed. That said, this is the only book with a big chunk of the PML's treasures, all in color, and encompassing much at a really minimal cost... Makes a GREAT gift for people who are into medieval manuscript painting.



2. I was so pleased when this arrived. I had no idea that so much could be packed into so little space. Excellent quality photos, great detail, and the information on the original size of each manuscript is priceless! I'm in a historical recreation society and I can tell you this will go with me to every scribal and illumination event I go to.



3. This is one of my favorite illumination books. Being a practicing illuminator, I need photos much more than I need lengthy discussions, historical analyses, elaborate provenance notes, etc. They have to be color photos and they have to be large enough, and at a high enough resolution, that I can learn something from them--and maybe even copy an initial, a diapering pattern, a bit of the border, or more.

   This book satisfies all these criteria. In fact, the only thing I dislike about this book is the fact that it's so small, it's really hard to keep open while I paint from it. REALLY hard, because if you get large and heavy enough items to hold both sides down, inevitably the items obscure parts of the page you are painting from!

   Its size can be an advantage, though. I purchased this at the National Gallery in Washington, on a midday jaunt during a conference, then went back for the next conference presentation. When the speaker turned out to be droningly boring, I brought out this tiny book and paged through it inconspicuously under the table. Could I have done that with Janet Backhouse's monumental work? I think not...;)

   The selections are wonderful, and they're usefully broken down into sections based on content--excellent when you need to find a quick animal or floral image for a border, a rendering of a king or queen, or a picture of a dragon or other supernatural being. Not so excellent when you need to find an example of, say, a late 1400's eastern French book of hours (there are many, just not in any kind of chronological or geographical order). But then, there are other resources that do that. This book is interesting for its variety, its excellent reproductions, and its well-selected and unusual miniatures.




4. Excellent reproduction of a number of styles, with reasonable commentary. Very valuable for me as a newbie, to provide a sense of medieval style and composition. The size is at once very handy and very frustrating.



5. This book is good, not great. Its to small and many of the illistrations are too small,and hard to see. But for the money its worth it. They have many other books that are a bit better than this one. Here is one that is very good 'Masterpieces of the J.Paul Getty Museum Illuminated Manuscripts'. This book is awesome with easy to read text and wonderful pictures. Happy Reading.

3 comments about Manet: The Still Life Paintings.

1. This book is certainly among the best overviews of Manet's still-life paintings. If you enjoy direct, descriptive paintings with rich color, this book is likely to interest you. I especially liked seeing the "unfinished" basket of pears on page 107 (the kind of work usually left out of such books), which gave me a good idea of how Manet approached his still-lifes of this period. By the way, overall, the reproductions are very good (of course, paintings are never as good in print as in real life).
   
   AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT MY ART BOOK REVIEWS: It might seem as though I rate most art books very favorably. The reason for this is that I usually visit my local library before buying a book. I'll look at all (in print and out of print) of the Rembrandt (for example) books and choose my favorite one to purchase. In the case of an artist's monograph, I try to choose one or two comprehensive books for each artist. These are generally large, well illustrated hardcovers with above average reproduction quality and informative text, often by one of the leading scholars on the artist. Thus, by the time I purchase a book, I have already found it to be among the best available on the subject. This is the best book of Manet's still-lifes that I could find. My copy is a hardcover.



2. I journeyed to the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore to see the exhibition. "MANET - The Still Life Paintings" which is on view until April 22, 2001. The show was previously at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. It is a lovely, intimate show. The majority of these gorgeous still lifes of fruits, vegetables and flowers were painted in the last three years of Manet's life. Unfortunately, the catalogue does not begin to do these beautful oil paintings and watercolors justice. The book's colorplates are of unsatisfactory quality and fail to capture the sumptuousness of these touching works of art. The book measures just shy of 9 inches by 9 inches, too small to get any partial enjoyment after seeing the exhibition. The text does not advance art scholarship. Not worth the price.



3. The beautifully reproduced paintings. with some detail shots, in this potent package remind us that Manet truly is the 'father of modernism.' The still lifes of fruit alone would make this book a must have for any art book lover. His peaches, lemons, strawberries and plums are so full of longing, sadness, bliss and sheer beauty that they stop you in your tracks. I don't know how else to say it: Manet was an artist of cosmic proportions. The transcenant nature of the work juxtaposed against the audacious technique rightfully set Manet at the forefront of the western cannon.

3 comments about Tokihiro Sato: Photo-Respiration.

1. Sato's haunting photographs of lights created by multiple exposures in landscapes, streams, etc., have a haunting quality and a Buddhistic balance between time and place. One is reminded of the tiny paper boats with candles, set adrift as symbolic passages of dead souls.
   Cierlak's auctions have brought me great pleasure more than once [...]



2. If you don't know Tokihiro Sato Work, You can buy this book.
   He is a great artist but this is a very small and thin book.
   If you can find a bigger an rigid one will be better.



3. Last year I saw some of Tokihiro Sato's photography at the Art Institute in Chicago. The technique and content are incredible! Amazing work!

No comments about Modernist Painting in New Mexico, 1913-1935.

1 comments about Constable: The Painter and His Landscape.

1. There are two large categories of art books. The first is primarily about reproducing works of art in book form and the text, even if of high quality, is there more or less to enrich the display of art. The other is primarily a book of words with a specific focus and the reproduced art, even if the reproductions are of high quality, are there to illustrate the points the author is making. This book is of the second sort.
   
   This is a solid work letting us know about the artist and where he worked. This is especially important to understand Constable, because he is a landscape artist and almost exclusively limited himself to the immediate surroundings to where he lived. The author, Michael Rosenthal, also takes us through his works, what we know of his working method, his development as an artist of the very late 18th and early 19th centuries, the literary connections to Constable's art, and how his social status probably influenced the way he composed his paintings.
   
   The last chapter focuses on the masterpieces of the last years and I think the book culminates quite well here. Everything is drawn together to make these masterpieces live more fully in our understanding, removed as we are by nearly two centuries from this artist.
   
   Constable is often compared to Turner, and they are assuredly both great artists and painted scenes in nature. However, they are quite different in how and what they composed. While I do love both painters, it is Turner who holds a higher place in my mind, heart, and imagination. However, several of Constables compositions remain clearly in the first rank, no matter what the fuddy duddy non-representationalist postmodern deconstructionists may say to dismiss him.

1 comments about Mobil Collector's & Price Guide.

1. Thanks to its famous flying red horse trademark, Mobile Oil Corporation, a descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, is the most distinctive gasoline and oil company ever to exist. Not surprisingly, Mobile's artifacts of yesteryear are valuable collector's items, and thousands of petroliana hobbyists are paying premium prices to own them.MOBILE COLLECTOR'S & PRICE GUIDE is your complete reference guide to the countless objects accociated with Mobile and its affiliates. Included here are gas pump globes, signs, oil cans, road maps, toys, trinkets and more from Mobile, Socony-Vacuum, Magnolia, White Eagle, General Petroleum, Lubrite, Wadhams, Gilmore, Metro, Bartles-McGuire, and Independent. Beautifully illustrated with 100 color photographs and 40 black and white pictures, this book contains company history, iten descriptions, dates, rarity ratings, and current market values.

No comments about Joanna Carrington.

No comments about Reconciliation Elegy.