Galleries Books

beautifully and richly presented pictures of marbles ,ceramics,bronzes,mosaics and frescoes looted by the british colonial administration of Cyprus.This important work showcases the overwhelming significance of this little mediterranean island to the heritage of the world through the millenia from neolithic times,early greek and byzantine times and the post byzantine period of foreign domination for most of this millenium.Worth purchasing just for the pictures ...the commentary is mediocre at best.

This is an extraordinary scholarly document of the Egyptian collections at Yale and is an essential addition to the library of anyone with a serious interest in Egyptian Art History. Well organized with thoughtful text, this catalogue is lavishly illustrated and contains ample literature and provenance support material for every entry. Dr. Gerry Dee Scott, III is one of America's preeminent Egyptologist. Curator of Ancient Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art, Dr. Scott has overseen the creation of the San Antonio Museum of Art's legendary Ewing Halsell Wing for Ancient Art. These exquisitely curated galleries house encyclopedic collections of Roman and Greek marble sculpture, Greek vase ware, ancient glass and jewelry as well as the most formidable selection of Egyptian antiquities in the region. Dr. Scott is a renowned expert in Egyptian sculpture, in particular seated scribe figures, and is currently Director of the American Research Center in Egypt. Other works by Dr. Scott include:

Greek Vases in the San Antonio Museum of Art
Edited by H. Alan Shapiro, Carlos A. Picón, and Gerry D. Scott III With the assistance of Debra D. Schafter Foreword by Douglas K. S. Hyland

Temple, Tomb, and Dwelling: Egyptian Antiquities from the Harer Family Trust Collection by Gerry D. Scott, Nancy Thomas

American Discovery of Ancient Egypt
Author: Thomas, Nancy; Author: Scott III, Gerry D.; Author: Trigger, Bruce G.

A National Image: The American Painting And Sculpture Collection In The San Antonio Museum Of Art
By Lisa Reitzes, Stephanie Street, and Gerry D. Scott, III, with the assistance of Shelby Wells

This is the first book that captures the unique culture of Thrace through extensive photographs of ancient treasures from museums throughout Bulgaria. I am happy to see that all photographs are accompanied with captions providing a wealth of information about the objects as well as info in which museums they can be seen. The preface details the history, culture, and religion of Thrace, and it's filled with fascinating facts. It gives you deeper understanding of the political and cultural complexity of the ancient world and the relationships among Thracians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, etc. There is a timetable at the end that conviniently displays the various periods in the development of Thrace parallel to famous world events.

Needless to say, the book is a must for everybody interested in ancient history. It also makes a great coffee table book, unique and fascinating like Thrace itself.

You can get a excellent sense of Warhol's progress from this book. 1962 seems to have been a decisive years. Before 1962, one can see Warhol's transition from commercial artist and early experimentalism. Beginning sometime in 1962, one sees the emergence of the well-chosen, well-executed images that Warhol is known for.

It seems helpful in understanding his growth to see some of Warhol's less appealing works. Nonetheless, with a total of about 320 pages of images, there are still plenty of Warhol's bettter works to see here.

Four high-quality, significant essays about Warhol open this book. The closing includes a chronology, a "collective portrait" consisting of short contributions from many who knew Warhol well, and "Warhol in his own words", selections that reveal how insightful yet straight-forward Warhol could be.

This seems to be the single best bible of Warhol's paintings. There is a comprehensive collection of Warhol's prints available in "Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonne: 1962-1987" which seems prettier but may suffer from excessive prettiness. Warhol's trashier aspects are not apparent, nor is his experimental reach, in the prints. Both books have their appeal, but as a one source collection of Warhol's painting and critical assessments of it this Retrospective seems unparalleled.

For a good exposure to Warhol in all his diversity, "Andy Warhol: 365 Takes" by the staff of the Andy Warhol Museum is also valuable, but to focus on the paintings, this retrospective seems ideal.

This is a high-quality catalogue on a small Warhol exhibition held in a commercial gallery that focused on one of the artist's Death and Disaster series, depicting a car accident scene. The illustrations accurately show Warhol's mastery of color and the mechanization, dehumanizing effect the repetition of the same scene (albeit a horrific one)in an endless variety of colors and formats can have on the viewer.

An interesting conversation between artist Jeff Koons and Warhol's long-time friend Gerard Malanga helps the reader understand the artist's goal, ideas and creative process.

The Gallery Girls collections from SQP are some of my most favorite collections of fantasy art since they present such an eclectic variety of talents. Previous Gallery Girls collections have put the spotlight on Vampires (Crimson Embrace series), Witches (Coven series), Pirates (Treasured Chests) and Jungle Women (Jungle Tails) to name just a few. Angel Lust is a new Gallery Girls collection and as the title suggests, it features illustrations of seductive, erotic angels by some of the finest talents in fantasy art. Like the other books in the Gallery Girls series, this is a soft cover, magazine-sized book with black & white, primarily pencil illustrations. The roll call for Angel Lust includes: Mitch Byrd, Diego Greco, Pedro Cuevas, Danilo Guida, Brian Le Blanc, German Ponce, and several more.

The different take each artist has on the subject matter is what makes the Gallery Girls books so interesting. Some present Angels as playful and shy, others as great warriors, battling hordes of evil. Still others take a more ominous approach depicting their angels as tragic victims, falling to dark powers akin to many old Renaissance-era paintings. There is no end to the diversity. Danilo Guida presents one of the aforementioned darker pieces showing an angel being accosted by a legion of demons, as her clothes are torn to shreds. Brian LeBlanc illustrates a rather humorous piece of a beautiful warrior angel directing two male Cherubic angels into battle.

A Titanic, God-like angel is the center of attention in a piece by German Ponce as an angel that dwarfs the Earth, stands holding handfuls of agonized men in her hands, perhaps on the way to their final, eternal damnation. Diego Greco provides a much lighter illustration showing a pair of "storm angels", lying on a cloud, one holding a watering can and the other a handful of lighting bolts, preparing to send a potent storm down upon the planet. The angel is a Diego Candia drawing finds herself captured by Satan himself. In yet another fantastic piece, Danilo Guida depicts a Templar, or some other Holy Knight bowing before a celestial, warrior angel, not unlike a Valkyrie from Norse mythology. My favorite illustration in the book is one by Luis Buci that shows a horrified blonde, nude angel being restrained by dozens of demonic tentacles, laden with spikes and tiny mouths with razor-sharp fangs.

The book also sports a painted cover by Paleaz. A great new Gallery Girls Collection from SQP!


Reviewed by Tim Janson

This is a strong collection of photographs by a talented early career photographer. There's a great use of color in the prints, and she has a nice sense of staged pedestrian events that take on an eerie frozen in time feel.

Angus McBean Portraits should be on the top of everyone's wish list. It's a gorgeous looking book illustrated with full-page reproductions. Terence Pepper, the Curator of Photography at the National Portrait Gallery and author of several other books about innovative photographers (Horst, Cecil Beaton, Clarence Sinclair Bull etc.) has managed to find some rare stills for this book. Also, his fascinating text about Angus McBean is insightful. He has even included intriguing extracts from the iconoclastic British photographer's unpublished autobiography which makes for riveting reading. The portrait photograhy is sublime: seeing unique portraits of legendary actors in unusual and surreal settings is historical and interesting. 'Perhaps if I ever go down in photographic history, it will be as the man who took the picture of Audrey Hepburn in the sand .....' is one of the photographer's famous quotes in the book. Angus McBean, who was born in 1904, photographed the Beatles for their first EP and several of their album covers. Terence Pepper even interviews Sir Paul McCartney who reminisces about working with the iconoclastic photographer in the Sixties. From the early 1930s to the late 1980s Angus McBean inspired cultural and artistic figures, proving he was one of the most extraordinary British photographers of the twentieth century.

I love having this book on my shelf - whenever I see an animal (again and again) this is the resource I trust to tell me what the messag from nature is for me. Very insightful, clear and "modern" language, and absolutely honest and heartfelt interpretations by Scott A King.

This is a wonderful, albeit brief, exhibition catalog. The writing is one page of Acknowledgements, a four-page Introduction, a three-page Biographical Sketch, a two-page Exhibition list, a two-page Bibliography, and a seven-page Catalogue listing of the sculptures and drawings in the exhibition. There are also two nice b/w photographs of the artist, one portrait and one picture of her standing with one of her sculptures. The remainder of the book is comprised of photographs of the drawings and sculptures in the exhibition. The cover has a nice reproduction of one of her drawings as well. The photos are both color and b/w.

Anne Truitt was one of the great inventors of the Minimalist aesthetic and is said to be in league with the likes of Donald Judd. You can see her influence on other artists by viewing the art represented in this handy book. I would also recommend her books of personal writing: Daybook, Turn, and Prospect. But this book is a great way to get a glimpse of what her work looks like. This book is a must for the serious Modern Art historian.