Art History Books

Harold Bloom writes that what makes some authors great to the point where their work approaches the canonical is "strangeness, a mode of originality that either cannot be assimilated, or that so assimilates us that we cease to see it as strange." This meditation on ruins will surely withstand the test of time as well or better than some of the memorials of history that it describes. It has piqued my interest in something that I'd never given much thought to. I have been within walking distance of a couple of places the author writes about, and passed on the opportunity to visit them. Histories comprise more than half of my leisure reading, but somehow I couldn't muster the curiosity to explore a historical ruin in the same way I would with museums & historic landmarks (that are still in one piece). This wonderfully written book has changed that for me. Highly recommended, a book that you will likely want to re-read every few years, and take with you on visits to Rome, Sicily, Wales and more.

To read In Ruins cover to cover is a continuous delight, but you could dip in anywhere and find yourself enthralled in an instant. Michael Woodward has a well-stored memory but wears his erudition lightly. He is now the director of the Holburne Museum of Arts in Bath, but his book surely reflects the five years he worked in Sir Hans Soane's museum in London. That incredible collection, housed in Soane's own home and left, by his direction when he bequeathed it to the nation, exactly as it was at his death, is a wondrous assemblage of antiquities. It appears chaotically haphazard but indeed was not, and the contents of this book have something of the same quality. Vignettes, quotations, anecdotes, reminiscences of journeys among ruins, romantic elegies, musings deeply felt, pour helter-skelter from Woodward's lively mind. The book has its structures; it has its themes. They are not starkly revealed but the underpinnings are there.
Woodward's opening chapter launches us, appropriately, in Rome. The Romans believed their city of 800,000 people was eternal and why not? Rome had walls ten miles long studded with 376 towers, crossed by nineteen aqueducts feeding more than 1,200 drinking fountains and close to a thousand public baths and the whole decorated with 3,785 statues - and all this dwarfed by colossal public buildings. How could such magnificence perish? The extraordinarily elaborate water supply provides the clue. The barbarians broke the aqueducts and soon the population was a poverty-stricken remnant, perhaps 30,000, huddled beside the Tiber. "From the fall of classical Rome until the eighteenth century" Woodward reminds us, "the only houses in the Forum were the cottages of lime-burners and the hovels of beggars and thieves." What were left were magnificent ruins and those ruins have inspired poets, artists, philosophers and theologians down the centuries. They even inspired the Fuhrer who after his first state visit to Rome decreed that all Nazi monuments should be built of marble, brick and stone - no concrete. The ruins of the 1,000-year Reich must be suitably grandiose - that is, like Roman ruins! And how grandiose the Roman ruins were! In the Middle Ages men thought the ruins of the baths of Caracalla were the work of giants. The chapter is chiefly devoted, however, to the Colosseum, and a whole series of characteristic reflections and vignettes, stories and quotations from literary visitors of different centuries. He also laments - not for the last time - the work of those who have destroyed an extraordinarily inspiring ruin in their efforts to preserve a monument. "Poets and painters like ruins, and dictators like monuments." The Colosseum was once a giant's garden haunted by owls and nightingales. Now it is sterile. It is a recurring theme. Ruins are important in their own right, not just because of what they once were, and should not be relentlessly cleaned up and re-pointed to make them permanently monumental. The trees, shrubs, creepers and flowers, are all part of the inspiration of ruins: "bare ruined choirs in which the sweet birds sing."
Through successive chapters we follow Woodward's schoolboy steps to Verulam (Roman St Albans) and share his disappointment that the walls were insignificantly low: Roman ruins but nowhere near so grand as the ruins of Rome. The older Christopher, however, sees them as an exemplar that reminds us of the mortality not just of Man but of his works. Francis Bacon, ennobled by his king, took "Verulam" as his title to remind himself that all pomp and state is but passing vanity. Woodward follows the footsteps of the tormented ploughman poet, John Clare, to a ruined arch and scattered stones, all that survives of a town destroyed in the Wars of the Roses. There he was inspired to write "Elegy on the ruins of Pickworth". Bitter at the inequalities of wealth he saw around him Clare was consoled by the "exemplary frailty" of men's possessions.
At first I marvelled at Woodward's courage in boldly inviting comparison with Rose Macaulay's justly famed The Pleasure of Ruins. He had nothing to fear. It stands the comparison very well. Late in the book he devotes a long admiring passage to Macaulay's extraordinary life. She was, he tells us, an early and potent inspiration and it shows.

Its' difficult to describe this book, or even what its about...but I couldn't put it down for two days (The time it took to read it). I suppose the best way to describe reading it is that is was like sitting down at a nice pub by the fire and listening to a very, very interesting person speak.

Woodward has that all too rare combination of being extraordinarily intelligent, thinking and feeling, and able to express it.

Have you ever looked at a ruin, and found your imagination running away? Have ever wondered why ruins seem to evoke more thought from people -from poets like Shelly (covered in the book) and artists of the Romantic period?

Short of going there and contemplating yourself, this book is the next best thing, in fact, i would recommend if before anyone goest to see

Everything you wanted to know about ruins but hadn't thought to ask. The role ruins play in the imaginative life of European culture: a reflection on mortality and the transience of civilizations, among other interpretations. Modeled after "The Haunts of the Black Masseur" it is often fascinating, consistently well-written but on occasion seemed to go on too long. The last chapter was the most moving as the personal histories seemed the most tragic and affecting. An intriguing cultural history, as told by an obsessed historian as a labor of love.

IN RUINS by Christopher Woodward is one of the most genteel, warmly evocative, yet scholarly extended essays about beauty that has appeared in a while. Only a true artist could 1) come up with the idea of meditating on ruins of past civilizations and 2) recreate historical places not only through his own perceptive eyes but also through the eyes and writings and drawings and paintings of artists for the past two hundred years. Woodward finds beauty in the "neglected" ruins, the old sites where nature has nudged the surfaces with wild flowers, mosses, crawling vines, and ground swells, preferring this respect for times past to the wild flurry of the preservationists who seek to 'restore' these treasures to their 'original glory' but often invite tourism with its adjunctive sales, stands, and souvenirs. He has visited the ruins of Rome, of Sicily, Cuba, England, etc and is distraught when he finds these various havens for poets sequestered with guardrails and other implements of distraction. "..the artist is inevitably at odds with the archeologist. In the latter discipline the scattered fragments of stone are parts of a jigsaw, or clues to a puzzle to which there is only one answer, as in a science laboratory; to the artist, by contrast, any answer which is imaginative is correct." "What [poet] Shelley's experience shows is that the vegetation which grows on ruins appeals to the depths of our consciousness, for it represents the hand of Time, and the contest between the individual and the universe." Of the 'Picturesque Movement' in England, Woodward writes referring to the latter day artist John Piper "I know perfectly well I would rather paint a ruined abbey half-covered with ivy and standing in long grass than I would paint it after if has been taken over by the Office of Works, when they've taken of all the ivy and mown all the grass." Woodward talks about even the transporting of ruins from, say, Libya to England (as per King George IV in 1827 importing the Roman ruins of Leptis Magna to his Gardens at Virginia Water). "A ruin is a dialogue between an incomplete reality and the imagination of the spectator." And finally in his thoughts on war monuments and memorials he writes "Is it ever possible to preserve the 'strange beauty' of war, to capture the moment of 'dust in the air suspended'?"

Each of these eloquently written thoughts and musings is unlike anything else you will find in books on art history, architectural history, or even philosophy. Christopher Woodward has graced our libraries with a little volume that holds dear the intangible, the corporeal transience, the lasting loveliness of man's time on this planet as protected by nature. This is truly a beautiful book that begs for moments of your indulgence, away from the madding crowd.

The updated, expanded edition of The Last Album: Eyes From The Ashes Of Auschwitz- Birkenau is out, and no less hard-hitting than the original. These black and white photos were not supposed to reach the world: the Nazi order to destroy all personal photos brought to each concentration camp was meant to destroy memories as much as evidence. Despite this mandate, author Weiss uncovered an archive of over 2,400 photos brought to Auschwitz by Jewish deportees across Europe - photos hidden and saved, at great risk to their owners. These photos accompany a traveling exhibition which is making its way around the world, presenting over 400 of these photos and how the deportees arrived at Auschwitz - and how Weiss came to discover them and to research their roots. A 'must' for any serious Jewish history collection - and many a general interest holding, as well.

"The last Album" by Ann Weiss is well organized and well written. It contains 400 remarkable
photographs that were brought to Auschwitz-Birkenau by victims in 1943. These photographs were taken
prior to the Holocaust and depict people bursting with life. This is an extremely unique book, and contains material that was lovingly researched for a period of 15 years. The beauty of this book is that the
photographs and the research accomplished brings to life people that were lost during the dreadful time of
the Holocaust. The book like the author is soft, sweet, articulate and brilliant

I read this book by chance, yesterday, Memorial Day 2003.
Been crying.
It's like Schindler's List or Sophie's choice.
How could they do it?
How can we let them continue doing it?
The animals still are around us, although using another names, another symbols, another motivations.
I kept reading, hoping to find some of the people to be safe at the end, but almost everybody was killed.
Binim, Rozak, Mayer, Bronka, so many of you.
I miss you, my friends.

After reading this book, I feel this should be in every house in every country. You hear so much about the people and the numbers killed that sometimes it doesn't seem real but this book makes it very real. The pictures are so powerful and at the same time so ordinary - they could be pictures of anyone's parents or grandparents. The most haunting pictures are those of the children - you have to wonder how many survived. The stories of the survivors bring it all home - "There's the aunt of the little girl I used to babysit", etc. I found it amazing that these pictures did survive 40, 50 years before being discovered again. Anyone who denies the Holocaust happened should read this book and then try to still say it never happened. Thank you Ann Weiss for bringing these pictures and the stores behind them out of the darkness.

This book is an amazing piece of history. The fact that so many photos brought into Auschwitz have survived is phenomenol as all personal effects were automotically burned by the Nazis murderers. When viewing the photos in this book, which were brought in by those of the Sosnowiec-Bendzin transport, it would also be advisable to read Tadeusz Borokowski's book "This way to the gas ladies & gentleman' as this book covers the particular Sosnowiec-Bendzin transport and outlines in gruesome and terrifying detail what became of many of those on this transport. The photographs bring back to life many who are gone and also tells you those who survived, which is a relief to realise that some of those from the Polish ghettos made it. These photos bring back a lost world that will never return and along with Roman Vishniac's collection of photographs are a piece of history that is very much worth investing in.

No LA fan could be without this book. The bio part is excellent and gives another dimensions to the artist we love, the photos are great (Laurie with long hair!) and it has lyrics for hard-to-find songs.
I would have been a little bit more happy (and given 8 stars) if EVERY lyric, poem or shopping list Laurie wrote was here, but, well, I am asking too much.
Spend your money here, you won-t be dissapointed.

If it says Laurie Anderson on it I'll probably buy it. This is just another example of the great work they both work towards and accomplish.. If i may digress, the first time I heard Laurie was at a party before Big Science was released. Rick Wakeman (YES) was the guest DJ at the radio station..Talk about a brick wall ! the party came to a complete standstill during O Superman. I swear nobody said a word except for wow! As far as this book goes..yeah get it before it gets hard to find..United States is hard to find now, and its a great companion to United States Live (the CD)

Blend a social history with a fine survey of complete panoramas and you have an elegant, sophisticated presentation. Roselee Goldberg's Laurie Anderson covers the works of the multi-media performance artist/pop star, moving beyond her rock image to establish her skills in art and performance pieces alike.

Wow. This sumptuously illustrated monograph has redefined the manner in which monographs will probably be executed in the twenty-first century. How fitting that RoseLee Goldberg, who penned and organized the equally breath-taking "Performance: Live Art Since 1960," has joined forces with maverick Laurie Anderson.

Ms. Goldberg not only unravelled the complexity of Laurie Anderson's works, but did so without jargonizing. She, instead, chose wisely to tell Laurie's story through pictures with extended captions. She was spare with her words--something few art historians can claim to do.

On that note, I better stop writing, myself....

I can't say exactly why I like this book. It's difficult for me to determine if my passion for L.A. overides my ability to be objective about it. The info has been mostly done before in other books, but none have been any better laid out nor more complete.

This book's major value to me is the validation of why L.A. -- and especially her live performances -- continues to intrigue and challenge me after all this time. Few artists in any medium have matured so completely yet unpredictably. This book catalogues her sustained growth while never falling into the biography trap of idoltry.

Unfortunately, since L.A. tours so infrequently it's difficult to study her creativity at close range. We're forced to make broad artistic assumptions about L.A. on very limited exposure.

Since what I want is more L.A., this book helps keep the flames buring inside my soul.

the paradigma of a comprete works of any architect, a presentation that has influenced all architects between its publication and S,M,L,XL.

I received the package fairly quickly and the books were in great condition, but the protective sleeve was bandaged and beat up. However I was pretty satisfied with my purchase.

A comprehensive overlook on the work of the most influential architect of the 20th century. The print quality of this edition is not as good as the original but the price is now affordable.

The books are amazing and I was happy to get them for so cheap and in new condition. The shipping was also very fast.

While there have been many monographs of Le Corbusier, this is the definitive edition. It is the set of volumes that inspired everyone from Alvar Aalto to Zaha Hadid, shaping the way we look at Modern Architecture. There is a typo in the number of pages. This set is massive but it doesn't weigh in at 176,000 pages. The 8 volumes, about 200 pages each, were originally released individually from 1929 to 1969 with Boesinger and Stonorov working directly with Le Corbusier. These are the original drawings and photographs, so if you are looking for glossy prints of Corbu's more famous works, I suggest purchasing monographs by Kenneth Frampton or William Curtis, which have contemporary photos of his better known buildings. Also, much of the text is not translated, presented in the original French. You have to have a great appreciation for Corbu's work to consider such a purchase, but given how rare first editions are, not to mention expensive, this is the best price by far for this invaluable collection.

What a Great book,Diane did a wonderful job on this & it's very informative .A no punch's pulled book about [ to me ] the greatest country singer there ever was, what a VOICE .But, regardless of your opinion of his singing, you'll love this book,it's very easy to read & very interesting.

JUST FINISHED READING LIVE FAST, LOVE HARD, THE FARON YOUNG STORY, BY DIANE DIEKMAN. WHAT A THRILL FOR ME TO FIND A BOOK ABOUT ONE OF THE GREATEST SINGERS IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY. DIANE REALLY TOOK THIS TASK TO HEART AND FOUND OUT TRULY HOW COUNTRY MUSIC ARTISTS HAD TO STRUGLE BACK IN THE EARLY DAYS OF COUNTRY MUSIC. I MET FARON SEVERAL TIMES DURING HIS LIFETIME AND TRULY ADMIRED HIM. KEEP UP THE GREAT WRITING DIANE AND I LOOK FORWARD TO READING YOUR NEXT BOOK , THE STORY OF MARTY ROBBINS.

I have to be honest...I didn't know much about Faron Young before I started this book. But now that I have finished reading it, I feel like I know him inside and out. Diane's research is incredible. She paints a vivid picture of a man who found tremendous success while battling the demons of alchoholism and depression. This book should be required reading for fans of classic country music.

I really enjoyed this book! Many hilarious stories about life on the road. Faron Young was a giant in the country music business. I hope this gets made into a movie.

I am so glad the author wrote this book about Faron Young. I thought he'd been forgotten. His music meant so much to me, but I thought I was the only one who cared.

This is a very comprehensive story about Faron's life and his ascent and descent in the world of country music.

Weaved throughout this story is Faron's alcohol addiction. It resonated with me, because my dad was an alcoholic, and some of the tales hit too close to home. Yet, it was consoling, in a way. It brought back memories that I'd buried about my own father, and allowed me to relive some painful times that I thought I'd long forgotten.

Regardless, I was so glad that someone thought enough about Faron and his life and career to put this in book form.

He was a major force in country music for many years, and it's time he got his due.

Thanks again to the author. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and it will be a valuable addition to my collection of country music biographies.

A Living Lens is a wonderful collection of photographs that not only demonstrate everyday life of Jews throughout the United States but it is accompanied by a rich text authored by witnesses to this history. Of all the photography books about the Jews of the 19th and 20th centuries thids one ranks at the top. A must see and read.

This collection and commentary was great....and more than met our expectations. It sits now on our coffee table for all to review and reminisce.

Beautiful book, well written. A book for anyone to share with their children to teach them an important part of our US history.

As the grandchild of Polish / Ukraine immigrants who read the Forvitz, this book lovingly captures the memories of a time long gone.

Earlier this year, I had participated in a tour, including the old Forward Building in Lower Manhattan, with our guide being one of the photographers for this beuatiful book. I was so happy with the book which arrived in exellent condition.

Thank you.

Renate Stone

Want to get your kids or students interested in math? Let them put together a geometric solid covered with interlocking trolls or other tesselated designs, then hang them from the playroom ceiling! Your kids will never get over it!

Beautifully colored, easily put together. and very, very neat...

This is the bet presentation and best manufactured kaleidocycles that I had bought. Sent in a very good and fast way.

"A kaleidocycle is a closed chain of tetrahedra that can cycle endlessly through a center hole. ? Best known for his strangely realistic depictions of things that defy the laws of physics, Maurits Cornelis Escher became interested in problems of repetition and symmetry after traveling to the Alhambra, a 14th century Moorish castle in Granada, Spain. Fascinated by the periodic (i.e. regularly recurrent) designs of the castle's mosaics, he began to pursue the idea that a plane can be divided into uniform, interlocking figures, forming a pattern that repeats itself at set intervals, theoretically to infinity. Instead of simply combining abstract shapes to produce a pattern, however, Escher decided to use more meaningful figures--shells and starfish, angels and devils, for example--images that could be connected not just graphically but also conceptually. Kaleidocycles, created by mathematician Doris Schattschneider and graphic designer Wallace Walker, explores the three-dimensional implications of Escher's two-dimensional periodic designs. With a little glue, you can easily assemble the enclosed models--all printed with repeating patterns derived from the artist's original drawings--into various kaleidocycles and geometric solids. In doing so, you will transform Escher's beautiful designs into true examples of infinite repetition: the interlocking images will wrap endlessly over the surfaces of the three-dimensional objects. ? Kaleidocycles contains a 48-page book with over 80 reproductions and diagrams, assembly instructions, and a fascinating discussion of the geometric principles and artistic challenges underlying Escher's designs and their transformation to three-dimensional models; and seventeen die-cut, scored, three-dimensional models (11 kaleidocycles and 6 geometric solids) Cigar box-style packaging, size: 9-1/2 x 12-1/4 x 1-1/2". [Refers to revised edition:] ISBN: 0-7649-3110-5

KALEIDOCYCLES 3-D MODELS ONLY
"Purchase an extra set of the 17 models for each additional participant. Assembly instructions are not included. ISBN: 0-7649-3207-1."--? Pomegranate

If you are as fascinated with the graphics of Escher as I am; you'll be entertained,amazed and engrossed with this 'kit' which allows you to assemble and hold these wonderful models of intrigueing mathematics , coupled with the graphic art and figures of the master himself; M.C.Escher.
It is one thing to look at Escher's magnificient work in 2-dimension; but it is another experience entirely, to hold these 3-dimensional models and view the figures and patterns as you turn as fold these models on themselves,
One of the other reviewers talked about creating additional models; and that is obviously possible ,because there is all the information needed to do that; right here in the book.
I have had this kit for some time ; but hadn't actually constructed any of the models. I recently was told about a man who constructed ball and stick models. I contacted him,and visited him to see his models. I brought along with me a book ,
"Polyhedron Models" by Magnus Wenninger .This is an outstanding book covering the subject as well as 119 models. The man I was visiting ,had the book and even knew its author. This book deals with models whose surfaces are flat and made of cardboard or if desired ,other materials. To see what these fascinating models look like, look them up on the net under "Magnus Wenninger".
The man I visited constructs similar models;but uses only wooden balls and sticks. Think of those chemistry models of compounds,and you can imagine how beautiful and interesting they can be. All models begin with one of the known uniform polyhedra and from them the stellated models are formed. The variations are in the many millions.
Anyone who has much interest in this sort of stuff will find an excellent chapter ,Polyhedra,in "Mathematical Recreations and Essays" by W.W. Rouse Ball,a real classic in the subject of Mathematical Recreations.
The man I went to visit has been working on these models for many,many years. He has created his own techniques and even an intrigueing appratus to make the holes in the balls. The exactness is so critical,that making them by hand would be terribly difficult. To date he has made about 500 0f these ball and stick models.
So, after my visit,it was a real joy to cit down and construct some models.

My 9-year-old son and I had tremendous fun assembling the models in this kit. Each of the models in the kit contains an adaptation of Escher's periodic design in a way that the geometric solid is continously covered with it. Though a unique personal experience, my son learned what tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, cuboctahedron and kaleidocycle look like. This is the best project we ever worked on.

With an interpretation so rigorous and self-critical that it is almost cruel, Sass teases out the threads of experience joining madness to modernism. Unlike some who do this sort of work, Sass is well-versed not only in psychology and psychiatry but also in contemporary intellectual discourse, and makes sophisticated use of the work of figures such as Foucault and de Man in his reading. He argues provocatively, using literary, artistic, and autobiographical works as well as empirical data, that schizophrenia is not (as many say) a form of Dionysian primitivity but rather a kind of violent entanglement in the paradoxes of hyperconsciousness. This book is absolutely a must read for anyone interested in schizophrenia or in modernism. Luckily, Sass is a fine writer and makes the book quite an enjoyable read as well.

I appreciated the depth Sass's scholarly analysis of both the artistic, and sociopolitical associations with "schizophrenic thought". What I don't understand is how he flatly forgets that Western psychiatry is in itself a culturally-constructed phenomenon. It has only existed for less than two hundred years, which is a very short time in the history of humankind, and the history of artistic production. Psychiatry has its own language, terminology, system of determining "truth"---which is particular to itself, and not shared by all cultures, throughout all time. He embraces its "inherent truth" in all of his chapter titles which refer to psychiatric analyses of behavior, and in his neurobiological discussions as well. His interesting cross- cultural analysis of tribal societies begins to point out some of the gaps: the non-universality of psychiatric world-views...but he misses the chance to further explore it. Thousands of societies have cultural, spiritual and artistic traditions which involve a cyclic and transitory notion of time and spatial parameters. Millions of people within today's "crazy culture" throughout the world, myself included, choose to defend our right to think, communicate, and express our art as a distinct, legitimate culture. We are met, in response, with the language of psychiatry...which advocates that we be forcibly locked up, drugged, electrocuted, ice-picked and restrained, and brainwashed by medical professionals into believing our truths are false. These are tremendous civil-rights issues that stem directly from psychiatric philosophy. In this book, which I was originally excited to read, I find Sass has simply further "mystified" us into an anthropological freak show. He truly had an opportunity to advocate on our behalf, and missed it. For those interested, I highly reccommed the classic works of Dr. Thomas Szaz, and modern crazy culture authors, such as Irit Shimrat, Shiela Gilhooley and Persimmon Blackridge. Psychiatric insiders argue that we are NOT victims, delusional, or ill...and that our art is not "symptomatic" of disease. We are simply a culture....one of many, on a richly diverse planet.

This is one of my favorite books. As a work on psychological styles and the nature of rationality, I rank it right up with The Greeks and the Irrational, by E.R. Dodds. The basic argument is that madness is not irrationality, but extreme and excessive rationality, and that the totalizing reasoning of madness shows parallels to the totalizing reasoning of philosophical, artistic, and literary modernism. This is an intriguing view in its own right, and it is a valuable response to the romanticization of madness by those such as Norman O. Brown, who declared that "schizophrenia is the dissolution of the false boundaries of self."

I do have some reservations about this fascinating argument. First, I don't think Sass ever makes clear the nature of the connection between madness and modernism. Does he see the former as caused by the latter? Are both manifestations of the organization of an industrial society? Second, Sass doesn't seem to recognize that he is actually working within a well-established intellectual tradition. The psychological and aesthetic literature on decadence in the late nineteenth century, as exemplified by Max Nordau's Degeneration, saw both madness and avant-garde artistic expression as products of hypertrophy of the intellect. Third, there may be important differences between the deterministic world of madness and that of modernism. Specifically, the rationality of modernity can be seen as connecting causes and effects on a single surface of reality that neither reflects nor penetrates any other dimension. Madness, on the other hand, seems to work within a rationality of depth, giving thoughts and occurrences a metaphysical resonance.

While growing up I had several friends, and acquaintances, who were diagnosed as having schizoid personalities. I was curious, so I read several books on the subject and this is the only one that actually seemed to line it's theories up with what I knew from personal experience. Namely, that these were people who were hyperconscious. He did well in explaining how this could create distortions in viewpoint rather than enhancements. A few of my friends were even fans of the artists and philosophers referenced in the book as examples. His references to Foucault, his theory of the panopticon, and the empirical and transcendental doublet were also very insightful in explaining his theory.

Dr. Sass's thesis - regarding some aspects of schizophrenia being 'super-normal' as opposed to the conventional view that schizophrenia is a completely degenerative disorder - deserves to be made in a more compelling and direct way than is done in this book. It seems to me this important point is diluted with scattered digressions and marginalia, however interesting. I hope the core ideas in his thesis will be revived and seriously researched at some point, as they certainly deserve to be.

Opening the package as it arrived from Amazon, easing this massive catalogue from its slipcase triggered a memory: walking to the edge of the Grand Canyon. With similar impact: awe. David Anfam brings the reader with him to encounter, view, & experience Rothko's work. His ten-year dedication paid off with the discovery of "lost" titles, setting the chronology of 836 works on canvas, (he couldn't have been afraid to get his hands dirty) & analyzing the slow struggle, sporadic leaps engendered by the painter in the evolution of the oeuvre. As scholar, teacher, critic, curator, & especially writer, Anfam proves the perfect choice to perform the daunting, almost impossible task of bringing Rothko into focus.

The author insightfully tracks the early representational beginnings, (his foray into narrative linked with crossing boundaries is totally appropriate for the artist from Dvinsk, Portland, New York) through the mythological (application of Kermode's distinction between "Chronos" & "Kairos" is utterly intriguing), & makes a case for Rembrandt as the source for Rothko's obsessions with tragedy & darkness, Vermeer his source for color's sensuality. Anfam traces in detail, using numerous examples of the brilliant reproductions, how the multiforms foreshadowed the work of the classic period. The architectural contexts for the Chapel are pure genius: Vincent Scully's, "The Earth, the Temple, & the Gods"; Joseph Rykwert's, "The Dancing Column"; & Leo Bersani's, Ulysse Dutoit's, "Arts of Impoverishment."

Anfam's breadth of vocabulary is English, yet he has benfitted from years in the States with a rapid, laconic language that impels the reader forward, informs succinctly. Purposely parrying time-worn quarrels, he unearths the more "thorny," "shady" aspects of dilemmas presented by such a complex art.

Two things happened as a result of reading MARK ROTHKO / THE WORKS on CANVAS / CATALOGUE RAISONNE. During a recent visit to C&M Gallery in NY for a show of eight Rothko's, alone in the second room, I heard them. A few nights ago I had a dream of a handwritten note on a table in the front room of an auction house that said, "The Last Painting." Rereading Helene Cixous's essay by that name (subtitled, "Or the Portrait of God"), she writes, "I think of the last Rembrandt. A man? Or a painting?" [in Cixous', "Coming to Writing and other Essays."] Anfam has presented us with the triumphant Rothko.

David Anfam has given students of twentieth-century art the much needed and previously missing in-depth study of Mark Rothko, a key figure in understanding the esoteric art of this century. Lesser studies by lesser minds have failed where Anfam has not -- scholarly attention to detail; carefully informed visual analysis of ALL the works on canvas; subtle conclusions; historical context. Anfam's rasionne is a must read!

A work of major importance in the history of modernism, David Anfam's catalogue raisonne is brilliant, lively, entertaining, and handsome. Combining vigorous scholarship with creative imagination, it offers the best ever understanding of Rothko and must be considered a prerequisite to any and all encounters with Rothko. Anfam's eloquent text takes the reader through the paintings in a most delightful way while the paintings themselves are a joy to see thanks to what surely were monumental efforts on the part of all those involved with design and production. This book is the best of its kind in every way and a bargain at the price!

Anfam's study is a great deal more than a much-needed reference book. Anyone interested in the history of modern art would find this study illuminating and exciting. Not only does it provide the first complete catalogue of Rothko's paintings on canvas (almost all in gorgeous color reproduction), it also includes numerous fresh and original insights concerning Rothko's intellectual and artistic sources. A monumental scholarly achievement, this volume will long remain a model for the field.

This is the first publication with his entire collection. Even lost paintings are represented by old black and white photographs. The images are not large, but the quality of this book is wonderful. By far the best buy for any Rothko fan (besides an original...)

Those of us who live today are spoiled in one sense that we don't realize: We can see Matisse's work on display and appreciate its evolution. That wasn't possible until just the last few decades. Until then, many of his most powerful works were locked up in the Soviet system and not on display or were in the hands of reclusive collectors.

That's an important point to remember when you wonder why Picasso has gotten so much more attention than Matisse, you could always see Picasso's work and Picasso courted attention.

Matisse, by comparison, found that it took all of his energies just to create art. There was very little time left over for his family and the rest of the world. He also wasn't inclined to seek out those who could explain and defend his work. As a result, he was widely misunderstood and underappreciated during his lifetime. This book corrects many of those problems.

Of particularly interest is the finding that although Matisse spent his life painting voluptuous nudes, he didn't indulge in having sexual relations with his models. Rather he used the sexual tension the models created in him to help inspire a better work. The models did become, ultimately, the undoing of his marriage . . . but not for the reasons you expect.

As fascinating as he is as an artist, he even more interesting as a creative person and head of a family. Matisse saw his family's role as being there to serve art. Although in a crisis, he would show up to encourage and aid family members and friends . . . usually he was off painting or sculpting by himself in sunnier climes. The rest of the time, they were doing administrative tasks, critiquing the works, staying out of his way and helping him enjoy a tranquil existence.

Anyone who wants a deeper appreciation of Matisse's work will learn from this volume. Although the book would have been better with more color plates, the pages are generously illustrated with black and white reproductions to give you a sense of his focus and development.

For artists, the book's many insights into the pros and cons of relationships with collectors and dealers will make the volume a "must have" item.

I didn't know the background of many of his best works, such as Jazz. It was a pleasure to better understand why he did them.

In particular, you will come away with a new appreciation for Matisse's use of color to capture emotion. Think of The Red Studio and the Conversation.

I seldom savor biographies as much as I did this one. I plan to go back now and read the first volume in the series, The Unknown Matisse.

Ms. Spurling's extensive use of Matisse's letters (and especially reproducing the funny little cartoons he liked to put in them) made the book a special joy.

Nice work, Ms. Spurling!

Superb! Not only one of the best biographies I've read, it get's into the mind of the artist. This is not an easy thing to do. I read it as I would a novel, it was very hard to put down.

Such a wonderful book to read! After seeing his works of art at the museums in New York (MET - MOMA); in Maryland (BMA); and in California (San Francisco), it is a joy to the human spirit to read this biography. This book offers the reader all the underlying events contributing to each of his major works of art. It allows us to better appreciate his extreme and intense efforts to create; it allows us to recognize his unquestionable courage to be himself while many of the art world turned away from him; and one will learn of his life long love of the natural world (birds and plants) and his view of the importance of the spirit of man. Further, this book allows the reader to see his social frustration; one can learn of his powerful drive (so red hot) to create, and one will see in words how he commanded everyone around him to assist him in his zeal to achieve his personal best in art. As the book denotes towards the end even Picasso, the great competitor, stated in a discussion of one of Matisse's later works (the Chapel in Nice): 'Only Matisse could do this!' Read to learn, read to know, and read to be more deeply passionate in love with Matisse as I am!

Those two rival giants of 20th century avant-garde art, Picasso and Matisse - whose work was so publicly antithetical - privately "drew closer than ever before" in the last decade of Matisse's life. "They swapped notes and compared problems," writes Hilary Spurling in her mammoth and compelling, revelatory Matisse the Master.

This is the second and final volume of her biography of this extraordinary French artist, covering the years 1909 to 1954. Half a century after his death, the first biography of Matisse is complete. Matisse will never seem quite the same again.

"Picasso complained," she goes on, "about the effortless, inborn sense of beauty, balance and proportion against which he had fought savagely all his life, Matisse lamented the lack of natural facility that had made his entire career a relentless uphill struggle."

And yet facility, not to mention frivolity, superficiality, decorativeness, childish incompetence, and irrelevance were too often the accusations Matisse suffered from contemporaries, particularly in the 1920s and 30's.

Other writers have certainly recognized his "uphill struggle," the exhaustive complexities that assailed him as he aimed at purity, serenity, and simplicity in his luminous art. But the very scale and detail of this biography really conveys the relentlessness of this struggle. Even in his crowning achievement, the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence in southern France, his habitual practice of abandoning work when it did not measure up and of starting over again until it did, had not left him. The Dominican brother who had first stimulated the project "was astonished, even appalled by the way Matisse worked, especially by how calmly he accepted setbacks." Spurling is clear that it is a simplistic mistake to be fooled by the apparent ease or spontaneity of his paintings, drawings, and paper cut-outs into thinking them facile or shallow.

In fact, her biography repeatedly emphasizes the wide discrepancies between Matisse's reputation and the actuality as revealed in the wealth of letters and documentary evidence available to her through the cooperation of Matisse's heirs. Again and again his new work, when first seen in public, sparked outrage. This, he believed, was the result of being a truly questing artist inventing a "new language," an artist always "fifty years ahead of his time."

The "fauve" phase of his work, and then the great paintings "Dance" and "Music" painted for the remarkable Russian collector Shchukin, shocked and dismayed; yet shock was hardly his prime motivation.

Matisse was never a "half-measure" artist. There was, by his own admission, particularly at the outset of a new work, a kind of violence that called for sublimation. Yet his distress was extreme when work that was for him the height of ecstasy or extravagant joy, work that had liberated brilliant color and expressed light as never before, caused furious and humiliating dismissal.

In another respect, his personal appearance often resembled that of an insurance salesman - bespectacled and sober-suited - and was so different from his art that some unperceptive people (notably in the English "Bloomsbury" literary set) failed to see beyond the mask and thought him bourgeois and pompous. Spurling's testimony frequently shows him to have been neither.

This biography presents much more than a glimpse behind the scenes. It discloses a ruthlessly dedicated career, a massive determination, and, by giving flesh to the hidden shadows of the man, it provokes a stimulatingly fresh look at his art. The vagaries and traumas of his life and times, however idealistic and protective might be the hermetic nature of his working practice, are nevertheless shown to have had a surprisingly direct bearing on its mood and character. Paintings made during World War I in particular can now be seen to have a stringent, grim stature somehow not evident before.

In his lifetime, France was invaded three times by the Germans. War horrified Matisse and he was deeply tortured by his incapacity to fight. Sometimes he managed to pull up his drawbridge and contribute to the war effort by simply continuing to work. Spurling settles not a few myths about him, one of which was that in World War II he indulged himself in the fleshpots of Nice. This absolute myth is not unconnected with another - that he sexually exploited his many models. Spurling presents evidence that suggests that instead he was scrupulous in observing the propriety of the artist-model relationship. His models often expressed appreciation.

This book is not only about Matisse, but also looks penetratingly into the lives of his family, friends, and assistants - notably his wife, his daughter, and his last assistant, Lydia Delectorskaya. These three women, whose lives were overwhelmed in their fierce dedication to the artist, were heroic. After many years, the first two apparently needed to distance themselves from the domination; Matisse was no exception to the tendency of "great" artists to be overweeningly egocentric - making the most impossible demands on others because they also never hesitate to make impossible demands on themselves.

Yet Matisse also had a counterbalancing generosity and sensitivity toward others. Spurling, writing about the exactions he imposed on his assistants as the Vence chapel exhaustingly took shape, observes: "Even those who most bitterly resented his exactions at the time agreed afterwards that Matisse took much but gave more." And the reader never doubts that what he gave to posterity in his art was incalculably rich.

"Artists are like plants whose growth in the thickets of the jungle depends on the air they breathe, and the mud or stones among which they grow by chance and without choice." Matisse's words coupled with his life as proof of what van Gogh said about the love of art making one lose real love make the reader feel the pain, the joy and the rich colours of his life all that much more. He made us understand.

Hilary Spurling's masterpiece (savoured by me for endless months, days and hours) has been an extraordinary experience I never wanted to end - both volumes. And now her biography is all locked in my mind - hopefully, to be recalled again and again in painting after painting and life experience after love experience - thanks to all the years of her hard work and research.

I am now filled with the colours of the Master - just as he'd installed 'The Tree of Life' in "a change of key that brought an extraordinary clarity, serenity and stillness to the music of the chapel." If the student of art, the student of life might only read pp. 455-456, he/she would be amazed at one whose talents were mocked ("any child could paint better than Matisse." ... "...his inventions seemed not simply monstrous but blasphemous as well.") and would ache to have had the chance to be a simple fly on the wall in those last years of his life when the many energies swirled about his taxi beds and many wond'rous studios ever-changing, metamorphosing, revealing and displaying, nurturing, teaching... revolutionary!

Let us not forgot his bedrocks - the women who made all his successes possible are miraculous and astonishing... Lydia, Matisse's remarkable genius manager (we should all be so lucky to know such a dynamo); Amelie, his extraordinary wife and her 'nine lives'; of course, Marguerite, his daughter, whose amazing vitality and strength of character resounds on almost every page of his life story; she was one (by her great courage) who humbled him more than anyone else could; and the countless models and interns...

As a side note... I remember in January 2006 when Hilary Spurling "scooped one of Britain's most prestigious literary awards," Whitbread Book of the Year prize, just as the big scandal exploded about Oprah's book club "author" protégé/scam artist James Frey was exposed. I thought to myself, "There is still a god!" What kind of mindless person would turn to Oprah for advice on what to read in the first place?! What does she know about literature?

I am humbled at Hilary Spurling's great accomplishment and would love to meet her one day so I could sing her the song I wrote about Matisse and the story of his blue butterfly. [...]

"The blue of that butterfly and Cezanne
made you more of a spiritual man."