No comments about Dan McCarthy.

1 comments about The Enigma of Piero: Piero Della Francesca.

1. An immense pleasure! Carlo Ginsburg reminds us more than once that he is not an art historian, but an historian. As such, his approach to paintings such as Piero della Francesca's "Flagellation" which to our eyes are difficult if not unfathomable iconographically, is not bound to the orthodoxies of specialist methodology. If this sounds heady and dense, it is. This is not a book for the casual admirer of Renaissance painting because much of the suspense(and it is suspenseful) is reading the author's discrediting of other interpretations(these are often amusing), suggesting the roadmap he will take to circumvent the errors of the previous historians, then elegantly exhuming the necessary evidence and reasoning to produce-voila- a fresh, impressively founded exegisis before our very eyes. One marvels at the depth and breadth of cultural knowledge that is this historian's primary resource, and facility with archives. But there is another dimension to this book. As one reads, one understands that this is the work of contemporary humanist, and the source of his insights is perhaps this empathy, if not kinship with his subject, whether patron or artist.

No comments about Tschang Yeul Kim.

5 comments about Mark Rothko.

1. I must admit that I have not been the biggest fan of Mark Rothko, but after reading this book and seeing the quality plates, I am very much a fan of Rothko. Now, when I go to museums, I am very interested in seeing his work and studying his color, edges, paint handling and spirit. This book is worth owning.



2. I saw the original show that went with this book. While the book cannot do justice to the works one can still appreciate the greatness of Rothko by reading/viewing it.



3. I recently bought this book, and I want to comment on the discussion regarding the color - the color is NOT great, and it does NOT show Rothko's work in its best light. Anyone who says differently should get their eyes checked. That being said, other than that it seems to be a very nice book, and I'll still be glad to have it in my library. I just need another book for better color reference.



4. This is the catalogue for a beautiful exhibition that was held at the Beyeler Foundation. Many of the works reproduced are hidden in private collections (e.g. a huge 1958 canvas in black, white and red) and it is great to be able to admire them. Nothing replaces the live experience of being engulfed in a Rothko, standing a short distance from the canvas itself, but this book is undoubtedly a valuable addition in any art library.



5. It was nice to see the transition that Rothko made throughout the years from complex modern art (ala Picasso and Dali) to more simplistic yet rich in colors.

No comments about Abstract Painting: Background and American Phase.

2 comments about Stuart Davis: American Painter.

1. I felt that this book is the best overall catalog of the work of Stuart Davis. It includes an enormous amount of color and black and white pictures of his paintings and of himself. It also includes a good synopsis of his life and extrordinary career. If you need a book on Stuart Davis than this is the best.



2. I felt that this book is the best overall catalog of the work of Stuart Davis. It includes an enormous amount of color and black and white pictures of his paintings and of himself. It also includes a good synopsis of his life and extrordinary career. If you need a book on Stuart Davis than this is the best.

3 comments about I'll Be Home for Christmas.

1. I have purchased Thomas Kinkade books numerous times and I am very pleased everytime I do. I usually give the books as gifts and I always receive compliments. Thomas Kinkade is a favorite painter of mine. His paintings and inspirational sayings always help to calm a person when having a stressfull day.



2. The book has beautiful illustrations and very touching and inspirational messages, quotes, etc. on each page. It was given to me as a gift and I love it! It will be something I treasure through my life.



3. Anyone not aware of Thomas Kinkade's artwork hasn't been paying attention in stores for the last five years or so. With his old-fashioned images of a romantic yesteryear that probably never existed, Kinkade has become America's most-published artist. In "I'll Be Home for Christmas," he specializes in snowy landscapes, glowing cottages with smoke coming from rock chimneys and horse-drawn sleighs bringing visitors for Yule festivities. Text for the book comes from seasonal writings by Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Washington Irving, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Kenneth Grahame, Isaac Watts and, of course, the Gospel of Luke. The artwork is the most notable feature: Large scenes are mixed with close-up details that reveal Kinkade's brushstrokes. People familiar with Kinkade's work know that he hides little letter 'N's throughout his paintings (the number that appears under his signature indicates how many are in that particular painting) in honor of his wife, Nanette. The printing in "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is so good that they are visible on almost every page. This isn't a thick book, nor heavy Christmas reading, but it certainly sheds some beautiful light on the spirit of the season.

No comments about Meiji Western Painting (Arts of Japan).

5 comments about Northern Renaissance Art (Trade Version).

1. I think that I am like many people in that my knowledge of the Renaissance Art of Northern Europe comes from a few lectures in a college art history survey course. A few iconic images from the likes of Bosch, Holbein,Durer and Breugel are all that come to mind. I knew the era was important but the details were sketchy.
   
   "Northern Renaissace Art" is everything you could want to deepen your knowledge of this important period of history. The book is 750 pages long and has over 680 illustration of which 250 are in beautifully reproduced color. James Snyder does an excellent job of explaining why those iconic paintings that everyone knows are great and deserve to be remembered 500 years after they were painted. More importantly, Snyder takes those second tier masters out of obscurity and elevates them to their proper place in history. Before reading this book, I had never heard of such masters as Jan Gossaert, Jean Fouquet and Petrus Christus. It was a exciting to get know their work. By no means is "Northern Rensaissace Art" a reasonably priced book. But it is the type of book that will give you great pleasure for many years.



2. Just buy it. You won't be sorry. Great images and lots of informative discussion of imagery.



3. Books on the Renaissance can be quite confusing to non-specialists. For example, Shakespeare classes in English schools discuss him as a Renaissance writer. Yet art teachers describe his near contemporary, Rubens, as the quintessential Baroque artist!
   So exactly what does Northern Renaissance Art cover? Is it an age that can be separated, marked out and surveyed by political or religious activities? And by northern what is meant? Is Switzerland the home of northern art? Can it be made in Italy? And what makes it significant and different from the universally recognized world of Italian Renaissance Art, where the term 'art' is always capitalized?
   Well, the truth lies pretty much with all of the above. As Snyder shows, several distinct cultures fall into this very large historical category. If you're buying this book as a student for a class, I can only hope you have more than one semester to give to the material. Northern Renaissance Art covers an enormous time period and many countries. It approaches in diversity the far better known works and ideas of the Italian Renaissance. No one seriously discusses the Italian Renaissance in a single semester - the material is taught in a series of classes. The same limitations and requirements should apply to teaching the Northern Renaissance. Art history today no longer focuses on aesthetic questions of style; as a result a student faces a lifetime's study of a period's culture and history.
   However, there are some basics. If one word could define what separates the two worlds of the Italian and Northern Renaissance - that word would have to be naturalism. Northern European artists revel in achievements of realism that far surpass the Italians, who, while perfectly capable of such stylistic work, prefer a more intellectually formalized approach. Indeed, Michelangelo dismissed northern artist's attention to nature and care for photographic details as incidental, and excessively ephemeral, when contrasted to his Italian art which used images for projecting deeper spiritual values. The public, however, was delighted with the landscapes, and their non-abstract openness. Many artists from the north specialized in landscape, and it became a manner so associated with them that it was not uncommon for Italian painters to hire Northern artists to fill in the 'less important' landscape backgrounds of their larger canvases.
   The Italian Renaissance differed also in that it was singularly connected to the revival and reappreciation of ancient 'pagan' works of art. These antiquities provided a challenge, as well as a reawakening, for the artists and thinkers of Italy. In the north artists did not have at hand magnificent works of ancient architecture or sculpture: as a result intellectual challenges were quite different; though initially tied to the Italian thinking, the northern artists more and more shifted focus onto their own immediate world. As the fifteenth century closed they became attuned to newer discoveries from the exploration of new (not ancient)worlds by sea, and the individuals emancipation brought about through the beginnings of Protestant thought. For moderns this means that the Northern Renaissance often appears closer to us and our own post photographic record of the world. The artist's sense of intimacy with nature seems little different than what most of us know as landscape art. Their religious works also convey a striking ease with space less contrived than our eyes find the representation of space in most Italian painting of the same era. All made the more attractive for being so accessible. Some of this difference marks profound religious and philosophical differences - northern art has about it some of the fervor of emancipation - there is here a reflection of the Armana naturalism revolting against the old art of a more dogmatic less individualistic Egypt. Eventually Italian artists would adapt to this new naturalism, especially in the north of Italy in Venice, in the works of Bellini, Giorgione, and Titian.
   This book introduces the reader to the early Flemish master painters, such as Van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, the later great German artists, such as Durer and Holbein and Grunewald, and the strange inner universe of Bosch. Topping off the age are the works of one of the grandest of all humanists, Pieter Bruegel the elder. And these are just some of the great painters! There remains a wealth of sculpture and architecture, drawing and craft work. Moreover, the Northern Renaissance is also an artistic universe filled with fresh new theories and a milieu profoundly effected by the great religious upheaval of the Reformation.
   Snyder gives as good an overview of so much material as one could hope for - his work replete with an enormous number of images, many of which have for nearly half a millenium been accepted as iconic. The text treats the material with a practised consideration, born of many years study. However; the impetus of the book is to direct the reader further afield, and this is indisputably the author's greatest achievement and the point of such a survey work. The real jewels for readers will be enlarging these discoveries by travel and on site awareness, these efforts made more satisfying through study of specific texts directed at the new artists whose work transforms your view of what the Renaissance was.



4. I am using this book as a text in school and I am quite impressed. I bought this book (hardcover) for half the price of the paper back version sold at my school. The text in interesting, not dry. The images are good reproductions. The only thing that I don't admire about the book is that some of the images are printed in black and white.



5. I am using this book as a text in school and I am quite impressed. I bought this book (hardcover) for half the price of the paper back version sold at my school. The text in interesting, not dry. The images are good reproductions. The only thing that I don't admire about the book is that some of the images are printed in black and white.

1 comments about Viewfinder: 100 Top Locations For Great Travel Photography.

1. This is a great book for an amateur travel photographer or any traveler looking for vacation ideas. Gorgeous photos, helpful advice about traveling, packing gear, and getting the right shot. This book works well as a guide or as a coffee table book!