Artists Books

Very nice selection of her artwork - 4 stars for being thinner than expected. That said, the colors were bright, the lines were clean, and the overall printing quality was very nice. It included a nice selection of her work and two short tutorials. The tutorials are useful in seeing how to work dark to light (which I understand to be the opposite of many artists).

I am a HUGE fan of Jasmine's and own several of her original paintings, including one I recently commission her to do - a portrait of me and my cats. Her talent is unsurpassed and makes me envious of both her artistic abilities AND imagination. Her use of color and imagery is amazing. I frequently look at this book just before going to bed because I find it so peaceful and cozy. Her art draws me into a different world, one FAR more magical than the real one we live in. Each piece is a momentary escape from boring realities of life. I hear she may have plans in the future to come out with a more comprehensive hard-cover collection of much more of her work, and she IS prolific in her creations - she completed my commission in three days alone!!!!! I cannot wait to see her next book - I STRONGLY recommend both old and new fans of her work to buy this book!!!! In addition, she is amazingly gracious and humble, and truly gets great pleasure from sharing her art with others (I know this from several direct contacts with her). Support of her art in the form of buying this book would be money well spent!! [...]

About 65 pages of beautiful prints. It seems kind of pricey at around $32 but almost all pages are packed with wonderful color prints. A good introduction to the artists work.

Jasmine Becket-Griffith is a talented young artist who paints some of the most vivid, exquisitely colored paintings I've ever seen. Specializing in fairies with occasional excursions into various spiritual/mythological traditions (I've seen paintings based on Polynesian, Mayan, Hindu and Greek themes so far) as well as some of the darker aspects of childhood bedtime tales. All her work is subtly connected by an overlaying gothic feel that adds depth and additional dimension to all she does drawing her audience irresistibly into her magical realm. Jasmine has definitely sparked the imagination of many and has attracted a varied and ever growing audience to her artwork.

In her recently published paperback book `Fairy: The Art of Jasmine Becket-Griffith' both fan and newcomer are given the unique opportunity to familiarize themselves with the artist and her multi-layered fantasies. The wide-eyes magical beings with huge eyes and childlike faces (all fashioned after her own image) are her trademark. Take one look into those hypnotic gazes and you'll become a fan too!

Note: I offended an immature person by giving negative reviews to books attempting to "prove the Book of Mormon." Rather than answer my criticisms, that person gives my reviews negative votes. Oh, well.

Your "helpful" votes are appreciated, and please remember that a short review (recommendation in this case) is good if it leads you to a great book.

I own this edition, and I would highly recommend it. I agree with the other reviewers. This is a must-have book for anyone with an interest in art.

My copy is from 1997. That edition (p. 112) contains the most wonderful scene of two children and a dog running up a hill with a beautiful valley in the background. It's from the cover of the "Saturday Evening Post" of May, 1960. Done in light greens and yellows, this painting is very evocative of an innocent youthful world.

I wish that painting had been larger. If someone knows where I could obtain a copy, please leave a message here.

"Famous American Illustrators" is full of large-format pictures that give the reader an appreciation for the talent and imagination that has gone into these paintings. What a wonderful world these artists created.

Thanks, and you will enjoy this book. Highly recommended.

The Walt Reed book referred to by the other reviewers contains many more artists, but it has far smaller reproductions because there is so much packed in. By contrast the present book has some magnificent large and colourful illustrations that allow the reader to gain a better appreciation of each of the artists. The colour balance is wonderful (unlike some art books) and the selection of illustrators is great.

Books on illustrators, from the golden age to the present, with their vast sample illustrations are in constant demand these days due to titles going throught out-of-print listings. One excellent reference source-The Illustrator in America:1880- 1980 by Walt Reed contains hundreds of works by illustrators from the late 19th century to the 1980's. The book unfortunately, is now out-of-print. Now, a new recent addition has been published-Famous American Illustrators. The various listings and samples of illustrators from the book are all elected members of the American Society of Illustrators. The book is an excellent supplement for Walt Reed's title where the readers can view more samples of each of the illustrators' unique styles.

The book is an excellent supplement to one of the title by WaltReed-The Illustrators in America: 1880 to 1980. The book containnumerous sample illustrations by elected members of the American Society of Illustrators.

A friend showed me the book and I bought it as a resource for my art students. Wonderful use of colors and imagination!

I have collected a variety of Laurel Burch products, this book, Fantastic Felines, I must say, is one of my favorites. It not only displays a variety of products Laurel Burch has designed, but also goes into her private life, for us to get an idea of what inspires her as an artist. Throughout her book, the poems and the beauty in her artwork, are heartfelt. Everytime I pick up the book I see something new. I recommend this book highly as an intergral part of any Laurel Burch collection or for any cat lover. Great as a gift, too, for that's how I received my copy, and I'll cherish it always. Thanks, Laurel. Fantastic Job!

WOW, WOW, WOW!!! This book is just knockout! Full-color dynamite with the exciting art of Laurel Burch. I love the simple lines and fabulous color combinations that set your imagination free with wonderful fantasy. the pictures are so gorgeous that it takes looking at them over and over again to catch all the fine details before you realize that what looks so simple is indeed complex and well-thought out art design. Very intriguing! A must have for cat lovers.

If you love Laurel Burch then you will love this book. It's gorgeous, sumptious, lavish -- all the words that people use to describe Burch's artwork. I thought the most interesting parts were 1) the biography; 2) the pictures detailing how various objects are planned, sketched, painted and then produced; and 3) actress Tippi Hendren's work in rescuing big cats (lions, tigers, etc). It would have been a better book, however, had there been more text regarding production as well as Burch's background and approach to her work. The last couple of chapters contain information about the various product lines (cups, plates, scarves, umbrellas, etc) plus four pages showing all of her cat jewelery -- but no information on how to obtain them or when and if her jewelery will be available again. Many of the pictures of Burch's artwork are suitable for framing, btw, so you may want to order two copies. Nb: with a couple of exceptions, all of the photographs are of Burch's cat pieces (hence the title of the book, "Fantastic Felines"). Don't buy this expecting an overview of all her work. But if you like the cats, then this book is definitely for you.

Quinn, who grew up in one of the small suburban towns that dot the meadowlands, really captures the essense of this wilderness in the middle of the megalopolis. I never knew about how many people used (and still use) the meadowlands for hunting, trapping, fishing, etc.

While other authors deal with the cultural significance of something like the meadowlands, Quinn takes the position of a passionate naturalist and friend of the meadowlands, describing in detail wildlife, regional ecology and geology, history of the area and the many pressures the meadows face today.

A must if you're a fan of urban ecology, New Jersey, or just well-written nonfiction.

To all caring and compassionate environmentalists out there, Fields of Sun and Grass, the latest offering by gifted naturalist, writer, and artist John R. Quinn, is a glorious cry of victory via a remarkable portrayal of some of the most durable and stubbornly determined survivors in the faunal and floral kindgdom.

The setting is the New Jersey Meadowlands, a wild and reedy tract located a mere six miles west of New York's Times Square. It is considered by many as nothing more than a "toxic wasteland," but is in fact home to a dazzling array of often overlooked plants and animals. While there is little doubt that many of the life forms that once thrived here are long gone, many others remain, and these are the primary focus of this book. Many, many species are discussed; far too many to list here. Suffice it to say Quinn leaves no stones unturned.

The book has three central parts, respectively called "Yesterday," "Today," and "Tomorrow." Each covers a different time period in the ecological life of the Meadowlands. There also is an "Introduction," a "Starting Point," an "Epilogue," a bibliography, an index, and an interesting sort of "hands-on" chapter called "Exploring the Meadowlands." This will be of particular interest to anyone who lives within traveling distance of the region. It gives helpful and experienced advice on enjoyed the Meadowlands firsthand through boating, fishing, hiking, and the visiting of local parks.

Quinn's text is thorough, complete, and offered in a beautifully poetic yet pragmatic prose, making the read that much more pleasant and inviting. A memorable example can be found right at the beginning of the introduction-"Six miles-and ten thousand years-to the west of Manhattan's Times Square lies one of the grandest environmental paradoxes on Earth. Here, beneath a sun often obscured by smoky industrial exhalations, a river of many bends makes its way to the sea." It is peppered throughout with the occasional personal anecdote, like the touching retelling of an experience an eight-year-old Quinn had with his beloved grandfather in the summer of 1946 called "Grandpa and the Red Herring" (page 36). The paperback version is 348 pages in length, and much to Quinn's credit, a great deal of it is made up of his thoughtful and well-researched text.

The author's artwork is perhaps the aspect of the book that most effectively haunts you. It is simple black-and-white ink sketches, but there is an emotional complexity to each that is hard to describe, yet easy to appreciate. Quinn's clever focus on the wildlife while making sure to almost always include some image from man's industrial intervention does a marvelous job of hammering the book's point home. A glaring example of this can be found on pages 124 and 125, where we see a lone kestrel perched on the peak of a weed, while in the background looms the vague but unmistakable figure of a pair of tractors and a group of hard-hatted workers. Somehow the lack of colorization adds to the feeling of both positive and negative, of humankind's destructiveness (both intentional and inadvertent), and of the wildlife's determination to go on.

John Quinn is no stranger to the region, having been born and raised in the Village of Ridgefield Park, which rests on the Meadowland's northern edge. According to the author bio, he has published ten other books on nature and science. A potential reader can be comforted and assured by the fact that Quinn's experience and sincerity are deeply invested into every word and every drawing. In this age of the slipshod, assembly-line product, here we find an honest and lovingly crafted work by a man who genuinely cares about what he's doing.

As a proud and concerned naturalist myself, I strongly urge you to pick up a copy of Fields of Sun and Grass.

I have come to treasure Fields of Sun and Grass - it is worthy of a keepsake box like those reserved for special shells and rocks. Mr. Quinn has created a labor of love as well crafted as any story quilt, full of fascinating animal and landscape sketches; historical reenactments on a personal scale; and easily read, well-researched passages on the human and geological history of a forsaken, not forgotten, ecological wonder. One comes away exposed to a deeply stirring portrait of the meadows that dares you not to care about their future.

L. Charkey, Co-Director, Bergen Save the Watershed Action Network (Bergen SWAN); Administrator, Hackensack River Watershed Fund

The first time I met John R. Quinn was a few years ago he was deeply involved in the gathering of stories that make up the Soul of the New Jersey meadows. His journalistic background was in control and he wanted to present as complete a picture as possible regarding the current controversey surrounding the future of the Meadowlands. At the time I was assisting the New Jersey Audubon Society by providing boat rides to conduct a migratory bird habitat inventory of the Meadowlands( published by NJAS and available to the public). We invited John to join us for a day on the River and he honored all of us by chronicling the trip in Fields of Sun and Grass. Now I can relive the personal experiences of that glorius day any time I want thanks to Johns eye for detail and his skill at turning a day of field research into a story about our adventure in the Urban Wilderness. Putting controveresy and advocacy aside I recommend this book to teachers througout the Hackensack River Watershed Everytime I take their students out on the Boat or go in to their classrooms to "talk to the children". As Riverkeeper I am contacted frequently by people who are requesting information about the Meadowlands thanks to John I have a ready reference and I have learned a lot about the estuary of the Hackensack that allows me to be a more effective advocate and a better Riverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan Hackensack Riverkeeper Inc.

My copy of "The Fine Artist's Guide to Marketing and Self-Promotion" by Julius Vitali could not have arrived at a better time. I needed to approach numerous manufacturers to evaluate state-of-the-art video equipment for my own book project. The chapter on corporate support for the arts provided the right combination of factual information and inspiration that let me know I could anticipate a 75% favorable response to a request for product support.

This book prepares beginners for a life of living off one's own wits as an artist.It contains reasonably priced, low and high tech ways to promote your art on your own. It's required reading for anyone seriously planning on making a career in the arts. Art professors would do their students a big favor by making this book a required text.

Julius Vitali encourages artists to think of themselves as small business entrepreneurs, like painters of the Renaissance who ran their studios as businesses. In this revised edition, there are important chapters on running a home business efficiently, using media to get your work into the public eye, Internet marketing and making a career in Europe. Other chapters contain helpful strategies for exhibiting, grant writing, assembling a résumé and portfolio. I've been making a living as an artist for more than 25 years and this book taught me a lot of new strategies and unorthodox methods for marketing and self-promotion. It contains realistic information that could only be acquired from successful daily practice. Why start from scratch when you can get this type of help?

Making a career in the arts takes an aggressive approach to selling. Julius Vitali shows it can be done and how anyone can do it with straightforward, no-nonsense advice.

As I am married to an artist, I can well appreciate the immense difficulties artists face when they are endeavoring to sell their art- work.
It is with this in mind that I decided to read and review Julius Vitali's updated edition of The Fine Artist's Guide To Marketing And Self Promotion.

Vitali's question in his introduction- how do fine artists create a reputation and career that will ultimately allow commercial galleries to sell their work- sets the tone of this extremely informative book.
We often hear the common complaint of artists that they have been rejected so many times that they might as well throw in the towel and forget about selling their work. A simple reply to the artist would be to persist and don't be discouraged. However, unfortunately this is not enough.
They must realize, as Vitali points out, there are other factors contributing to making an artist known, such as knowing about publicity, marketing, a clear and articulated aesthetic vision, networking, timeliness, and yes, a certain amount of luck.

Vitali deals with all of these elements in his eleven chapters that clearly point the artist in the right direction. In addition, the reader is also provided with brief profiles of thirteen successful artists, who have implemented to a lesser or greater degree many of Vitali's guidelines. When I was growing up my parents always told me that you learn from the best not the worst. In other words, find out why certain individuals are successful and learn from them. This is basically Vitali's motive for including these thirteen profiles, wherein the reader may be able to implement some of what worked for these artists.

There is also no shortage of interesting advice scattered throughout the book. As examples, did you know that making personal contact with magazines and newspapers is the most effective way to achieve success with these publications; be careful if you exhibit in the same area and repeatedly send media releases, this may turn off reports and reviewers; that more people listen to radio than ever before and this is an excellent opportunity to be known.

In addition to receiving some excellent tips as to how to market and sell yourself, the author provides timely resources pertaining to grants for individuals and special projects, corporate support for the arts, exhibiting your art professionally in a variety of venues, assembling a résumé, portfolio, and letters of recommendation.
A useful appendix at the back of the book deals with digital resources, Internet security and other related Internet topics, useful software, printers, ink and paper, and publishing.

Julius Vitali is a well- known international artist who has exhibited all over the globe, and his work appears in numerous public and private collections.
Artists who will devote the time to thoroughly read and probably re-read chapters that are most appropriate to their situation have the most to gain from Vitali's advice.

Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures.com

I am a artist and bought this book to get more information on better ways to market and promote my work. This books offers very useful advice that is easy to understand and follow. If you are looking for ways to promote yourself and market your work this is a must read.

The marketing and promotional tips offered in this book are practical and geared toward the profesional artist. Artists who seek a career in the world of fine art and developing a reputation are strongly encouraged to read this book. The advice is both easy to understand and will prepare the artist for the real world, not small-time futility.

Love Chihuly's stuff, but can't get to the places his work is at? This book has lots of pictures of his work. (Not as much as the Chihuly project book but not as expensive eather!) Great book for visual people who love glass and color.

Fire * Dale Chihuly, the long-awaited companion book to Chihuly: Form From Fire, showcases the handblown glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly in over one hundred full-color photographs taken across the globe in locations reaching from Jerusalem to Indianapolis; Las Vegas to Chihuly's hometown of Tacoma, Washington. Following his nearly four-decade career, the photographs, selected by Chihuly himself, show the best of each series, offering a comprehensive visual overview of his work.
Fire features Chihuly series such as Fiori, Reeds, and Towers, which did not appear in Chihuly: Form From Fire. Selected quotes from critics, friends, and Chihuly introduce sections dedicated to Ice & Neon, Cylinders, Baskets, Seaforms, Macchia, Persians, Venetians, Ikebana, Niijima Floats, Chandeliers, Reeds, Towers, Jerusalem Cylinders, Fiori, and Installations.
An essay by independent curator Margery Aronson follows Chihuly's career in narrative format and highlights how his efforts have stimulated glassblowing culture around the world and specifically in the Pacific Northwest through programs such as the Pilchuck Glass School, Hilltop Artists-in-Residence, and Seniors Making Art, which have inspired similar programs elsewhere.
A chronology concludes this presentation of the art of Dale Chihuly. Forty-eight additional photographs illustrate Chihuly's life, family, and friends, and the book closes with a complete list of museums where his work can be found.
2006 Hardcover 9 x 12"
176 pages, 101 Color Reproductions

This is a gorgeous coffee table book that allows those of us who cannot afford to by a Chihuly sculpture to own them all. Having seen several Chihuly's in person, this book is the next best thing. Another plus is that it includes a photo of his installation at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (where I happen to reside). This book was a great way for me to share that with family members that don't live here and intice them to come for a visit.

Good for Chihuly lovers and newbies alike!

A strongly recommended acquisition for academic and community library Art History reference collections, "Fire" is a compendium of superbly presented full-color photographs showcasing a pictorial chronology of the art and artistry of Dale Chihuly and his imaginative and hand-blown glass sculptures. Enhanced for art students and connoisseurs with an informative essay by Margery Aronson (who follows Chihuly's career in narrative format), "Fire" is an impressive sampling survey of the work of an artist who has been displayed in more than 200 museums around the world. Also very highly recommended from Portland Press is the "Chihuly Art Kit" (157684157X, $28.00), which includes an activity book and story, three squirt bottles of non-toxic and washable paint, a watercolor set, three paintbrushes, seven colored pencils, colored paper and stickers, all contained within a handy carrying case. The "Chihuly Art Kit" will help children ages 4 and older to explore color, texture, artistic creativity, all through ten fun-filled activities and project ideas.

This book is very good for people who want to know more about cover albuns design. Alex Steinweiss are genious! =)

It was a 23-year-old graphic designer who invented the illustrated album cover for phonograph records in 1939: before that they came in plain wrappers. For The Record documents the life and work of Alex Steinweiss, gathering over a hundred of his original graphics and providing a lavish color display of his works along with a history of his involvements in the music industry.

alex steinweiss is a fantastic human being. generous, funny and full of great stories from his time at columbia records in the early 40's. He is tremendously talented and not just created the concept of album covers, designing more than 800 of them (start looking at your old collection in the attic :-)) but has been for the last 20 years a major accomplished painter. He has gotten awards after awards and stays humble and wise. He lives in Sarasota, Florida.

This book does credit to a great man. Steinweiss was a true artist and a pioneer. The man created the concept of album cover as art. McKnight-Trontz does a masterful job of celebrating the artist through dazzling illustrations and informative, entertaining narrative. The casual reader will enjoy this book, as will the academic: it's all there between the brilliant covers (Steinweiss design - of course); it is the individual reader's choice as to how deep he or she wants to delve into this fascinating subject of a true twentieth-century art form.

This is a calendar I will enjoy everyday, and I knew I would when I ordered it. Fra Angelio is a featured artist of The Met this year, but they were out of the calendars when I ordered, so I was very happy to find that Amazon had it. The pictures selected for this calendar are beautiful, and provide daily inspiration, though painted by this Italian artist about 800 years ago.

This is much more than a coffee table book because of the extensive coverage of the artist: his life, his contemporaties, influences on his style and his influence on the styles of others. The lavish illustrations in glorious color emphasize the other-worldliness of the subject matter.

This beautiful book, published in conjunction with the first major exhibition of Fra Angelico's work since the cinquecentenary exhibition of 1955 in Florence, will feature more than seventy paintings, drawings, and manuscript illuminations covering all periods of the artist's career, from round 1410 to 1455. Also included will be fifty selected works by his assistants and losest followers.

Fra Angelico ("the angelic friar"; ca. 1390/95-1455) was one of Renaissance Florence's leading painters. In addition to his celebrated altarpieces and frescos in Florence, Fiesole, Cortona, Perugia, and Rome, Fra Angelico also completed many masterpieces on a small scale. His predella panels, the small narrative scenes included beneath large altarpieces, are among the most innovative creations in fifteenth century Florence, while his images of the Virgin and Child still retain the inspirational immediacy and presence that first secured the artist's reputation as the premier painter of his age.

Research undertaken in the last fifty years now allows scholars to reconstruct a more historically reliable biography of Fra Angelico that goes beyond the legends and traditions to establish his position not only as one of the greatest masters of the fifteenth century, but also as one of the most intellectually accomplished painters who ever lived.

This book is an up-to-date, and comprehensive, look at the sublime works of one of Renaissance Italy's greatest masters.

FRA ANGELICO may be a museum catalogue for the current exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, but it is also one of the more impressive historical documents on this important painter and his influence on the world of art in the library today. The book is a masterwork of scholarship and visual examples of this 15th Century artist.

Words fail in describing the degree of integrity of scholarship of the contributors. Under the curatorial guidance of Laurence Kanter the museum has gathered seventy-odd paintings, drawings and illuminations from books by Fra Angelico, and then to add to the dimension of the great master's influence, they have added some fifty works by his students and disciples. While Fra Angelico shines in his extraordinary sense of detail and representational art in a period when art was flattened decor and just entering the blossoming of the Renaissance, the works included by his pupils are quite staggeringly beautiful. Some would say comparison to the master is unfair: history offers another vantage, that being the concept that the truly great teachers enlighten their pupils to exceed the teacher's creations!

While the visual components of this fine book are incomparable, the various written sections by not only Laurence Kanter, but also by Pia Palladino, Magnolia Scudieri, Carl Strehlke, Victor M. Schmidt, and Anneke de Vries not only inform - they also read like a novel of the life and times in 15th Century Florence. In every way this is a magnum opus that represents well the Museum's exemplary exhibition of the work of Fra Angelico. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, October 05

When I first saw the FallingWater House, I saw that FLW was really an special person. This book shows us that all his masterpieces were just a clue of what he was able to do, of the buildings he could create. In FLW Drawings, you can see many perspectives representing his newest toughts and ideas, and proving that he really would have changed the world of architecture if God had givven him 30 years more (as he used to say). article: João Paulo Salgueiro

Wright designed over 1000 buildings, of which about 500 were actually built. This book includes 300 drawings of his most important projects. Wright was mainly a residential architect, but many of his most important civic and public buildings are here, too. Wright was a great draughtman as well as a great architect, and there is no better way to appreciate his genius than to study his drawings. And this book contains many of his most important projects.

Even the greatest of architectural monuments still start out with what might seem relatively ordinary floor plan and elevation drawings, but it is the really the first concrete step toward creating the final building, and Wright was a master draughtsman as well, which this book beautifully illustrates. Also, the floorplan is the only way to visualize the entire internal structure of a building at one glance--even after it's built--since you'd have to remove the roof to see it at that point. :-) Very beautiful and detailed miniature models are often created by architects of important projects, but even those are less common now due to the advent of architectural drawing software, but the original drawings are still a critical part of the overall design process.

If you love Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture, this book will give you a bird's eye view of many of his most important works.

I got this book last x mas. I still read and look at it every month. I think it's a great review of a very special person who really knew how to draw !

That Frank Lloyd Wright was an artist is of course no surprise -- however, we often forget that, as an architect, he had to have quite an eye and ability for drawing. To be able to commit an idea down on paper is the first, and sometimes most crucial step, in designing a project, particularly when one has to convince another party to pay for it.

This book by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, who began as an apprentice with Wright at Talesin West, and directs the FLW archives at the FLW Foundation, is a masterpiece of the artistic design of Frank Lloyd Wright. It has more than 300 illustrations, nearly half of those in full-colour plates, in a wide-page format that makes this a great gift book, coffee-table book, and guide for those serious in the arts. An expert with the craft of draftsmanship as well as creative with flair for the artistic/aesthetic side of his buildings and concepts, these images show an astonishing range through the 300 concept pieces, plans, elevations and perspectives contained herein.

Pfeiffer puts these drawings into different categories:
- Residential Designs
- Religious Structures
- High-Rise Buildings
- Civic & Cultural Centers
- Hotels, Inns & Resorts
- Commercial & Educational Buildings
- Architecture & Engineering
- The Imperial Hotel
- Graphic and Decorative Designs

There are fold-out pages, such as the pages that show Wright's concept for the Mile-High Cantilever Sky-City; such designs are unlikely in today's terrorism-conscious culture. Some projects were never completed, such as this, but others, such as Fallingwater and the Imperial Hotel, were completed. Pfeiffer explores the pictures with history, concept, and Wright's own personal ideas included.

A wonderful book!

Hession and Pickrel have written a wonderful story about Frank Lloyd Wright AND New York City's Plaza Hotel and Guggenheim Museum-- well researched and terrific photography. It sits on my coffee table for others to enjoy (full disclosure - Ms. Pickrel is a really good family friend). Check out another great review of their book.

AIArchitect -February 1, 2008

BOOK REVIEW
Frank's Last Stand
Frank Lloyd Wright in New York: The Plaza Years, 1954-1959, by Jane King Hession and Debra Pickrel (Gibbs Smith, 2007)

Reviewed by Garo Gumusyan, AIA

Summary: Frank Lloyd Wright, the suave, romantic playboy, at 85 years old, has one last mission--to seduce that faithless woman of a certain age, New York City. She has been on his list for a long time. This time, though, he will do it his way. Everything is meticulously planned ... down to the Plaza Hotel's Suite # 223, which Wright will completely make over; for Christian Dior's previous "inferior desecration" of the room simply will not do.

The time is the `50s, and New York City, the object of his desires, is getting a major make-over--International Style. And who are the ones busy reshaping the grand corporate headquarters that line Park Avenue? None other than the Mies van der Rohe-clones, for whom Wright has nothing but contempt!

Two avenues west, ensconced in his Plaza suite, Wright, anointed the "greatest architect of all time" by House Beautiful, sits stewing, yearning, waiting, having yet to build a single structure in the burgeoning post-war Capital of the World.

This is the dramatic setting for Jane King Hession and Debra Pickrel's recent survey of Frank Lloyd Wright's time in New York between 1954 and 1959. As their story unfolds, Wright, the aging playboy, has one more trick left up his sleeve, the magnificent Guggenheim Museum, which would indelibly leave his mark on the city he loved to hate.

Hession and Pickrel are terrific storytellers and they know their subject well. Along the way, we discover little gems such as when Marilyn Monroe comes to Suite # 223, without then-husband Arthur Miller, to privately discuss a house they were planning to build together in Connecticut. Wright, sensing his opportunity to be with the starlet alone, asks his secretary to take his own wife out shopping.

Wright wasn't always so smooth for "when he ordered his favorite spirit, Old Bushmills, neat, the waiter usually incorrectly delivered his Irish whiskey in an ice filled glass. Wright would pick up a spoon ... lift the cubes out one by one, and proceed to flip them across the green carpeted floor, to the astonishment and pleasure of the other patrons."

Insightful little stories like these illuminate this late yet significant period in the American master's life. This is a cleverly written book and delicious read. Which raises the question: A half a century has passed since his death, why hasn't there been another Wright? What does this say about the current American Architecture? Makes you reach for that Old Bushmills. Neat.

REVIEW: The Atlantic Monthly, June 2008
Frank Lloyd Wright in New York
by Jane King Hession and Debra Pickrel (Gibbs Smith)

The Frank Lloyd Wright who emerges as the bon vivant starchitect of this Manhattan tale retains the pluck of the upstart Prairie School designer, only with a more obsessive bent. The authors cast the Guggenheim as Wright's foil: the museum-as-ramp that became both the aesthetic driving force of his life and a symbol of his relationship with the city, something welcoming and discomfiting all at once. In near-breathless depictions, Wright's live-in suite at the Plaza Hotel takes form as a veritable Algonquin Round Table in the sky, a whirligig of visiting celebrities, lawyers, scholars, and architects that mirrored the excitement of the museum being erected on the ground below.

The legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright has had many books written about his long life. This book looks at that part of the last years of FLW's long life during which he supervised the construction of the Solomon R.Guggenheim museum in New York City. The Guggenheim project had been in the planning stages since the early 40's with Wright having an extensive correspondence with Solomon Guggenheim and his "non-objective" art advisor, Hilda Rebay. Rebay was the art dealer that first convinced Guggenheim to create as museum as a monument to his memory. "Frank Lloyd Wright: The Guggenheim Correspondence" is an entire book devoted to this correspondence; it also touches upon the period about which this book is written. This book looks at the period 1954 - 1959. Wright died April 9, 1959 in Scottsdale just a few months before the completion of the Guggenheim museum.

The book is a 160 page quarto printed on glossy paper. It is illustrated with many photos I've never seen before of Wright in his Plaza suite, at the Guggenheim construction site, and at various other places in the New York area. The book uses a vert small font (6 or 8 point?) which makes it hard to read in poor light. I had to set the book aside to read it in a brightly lit room, it was too hard to read by a dim nightstand bulb.

FLW spent money freely even when he didn't have it. In order to supervise work on the Guggenheim he chose a corner suite at the luxurious Plaza Hotel at the corner or Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue South, decorating it according his own tastes. He spent less than a week per month in New York during the years of construction but insisted on living in a grand style while there. The site of the museum itself on Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile was similarly chosen to impress; Guggenheim and Wright earlier rejected a site in Fort Tryon Park near the Cloisters as being too far away from the fashionable parts of Manhattan.

There are fascinating sections that detail FLW's television appearances while in New York; he was interviewed by Mike Wallace, appeared on "What's My Line," and several other shows.

Wright sought other design work while in New York. He designed a luxury Park Avenue car dealership interior as well as a home for that dealership's owner. A home in Staten Island (still in existence) built to his "Usonian" standard is the only Wright private residence in New York City. Wright found that his design ideas were at odds with the glass box office buildings of the International Style that were then in favor.

There is a another interesting section that details several meetings with Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller to plan a dream house for some acreage they owned; the house was never built and their marriage was soon in dire straits.

I have read several books about FLW in recent years and was pleased to find that this book contained information and photographs I hadn't seen elsewhere. This makes this book worthwhile and highly recommended despite its relatively narrow focus.

I have read many books and articles about Frank Lloyd Wright and seen much of his work in person. His work no matter how familiar creates an excitement in its modernism and feel for space and is of course iconic. But, this book is more than just a book about Frank Lloyd Wright--it is a luxurious tour of New York in an era of glamour and excitment. It is about Wright in the context of that New York experience. Both New York and Wright compliment and inform the other making the book fascinating reading for both the history of the city as well as the story of the man. For those of us who grew up in New York and remember the days of lunch with gloves, dreams of growing up to go to the 21 Club it evokes memories of a time long gone but not forgotten. Wright become part of the city and even his huge ego and brilliance can't minimize the landscape he finds himself in. I read the book quickly--it was beautiful, engaging and a find. A perfect gift for those that either love architecture and Wright, New York City in its glory---or best case--for those who love both! Dr. Pat Gill Webber, New Hope PA/Tucson AZ