Galleries Books

One word will suffice - 'excellent'. In scholarship, clarity of writing, illustrations and design, it is excellent. The price is also unbelievably good for a publication of such quality. If I have a quibble, it is that it is too heavy for easy handling. Perhaps two volumes would have been better. But that is nothing compared with what is! Congratulations to the whole team who produced it. Nothing better in the world today.

Introduction by Ellen Sharp. Essays by Victor Carlson, Kathleen Erwin, Ann Sutherland Harris, George Knox, Jean-Patrice Marandel, Graham Smith, and Marilyn F. Symmes.

The third volume in an acclaimed series that will publish all of the master drawings in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. It reproduces and documents--with essays by a team of leading scholars--sheets from Italy, France, England, and Spain ranging from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. It features splendid works by some of the greatest draftsmen of all time, among them Michelangelo, Tintoretto, Guercino, Canaletto, Giovanni Battista and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Jacques Callot, Claude Lorrain, Francois Boucherm Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Thomas Gainsborough, John Hoppner, Peter Lely, and George Romneym as well as others by lesser known and unidentified artists. Each work is exquisitely reproduced in rich duotone and discussed in an individual essay. Contains 262 duotone illustrations. Color plates.

...this text refers to the hardcover edition.

This is the Art Institute of Chicago edition, distributed by Hudson Hills Press. Large format trade paperback on glossy paper: 93 illustrations of Albright's work; about 50 other illustrations: Albright, his family, biographical background, zeitgeist, Electric Light and Power covers, a few works in progress, work by other artists to provide context. Foreword, 2 essays totally over 80 pp, Chronology, Exhibition History, The Ivan Albright Archive, 3 p Bibliography, Notes.

More than just a summary presentation of the Getty's extensive holdings, "Handbook of the Photographs Collection" provides an excellent history of the art and science of photography. That the material at the Getty alone would provide for such a discourse speaks volumes of the depth and breadth of their collection. This one stays on my coffee table.

I consider this book to be the bible of the work of Jacob Lawrenece. As a collector of Lawrence's work, I must say this book was the first step. I truly believe that this is the one book that captures Jacob Lawrence.

Until there's at last a major retrospective with a proper catalogue, this book represents our only opportunity to see much of Cumming's work in one place, and a very precious opportunity it is too. This man could paint in such a way that you understood that he could see astonishingly well and differently too. An eye-opening book.

This is one of the best books on Whistler. It contains a large number of high quality color and B&W photos of his oils, watercolors and drawings. The works depicted and discussed are all from the Freer Gallery, but related works in other collections are sometimes shown in small B&W images. The text is informed and comprehensive. One note, the color image on page 127 of "Nocturne: Silver and Opal-Chelsea" is upside down! Otherwise, the book is accurate and carefully produced. Highly recomended for Whistler fans.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT MY ART BOOK REVIEWS: It might seem as though I rate most art books very favorably. The reason for this is that I usually visit my local library before buying a book. I'll look at all (in print and out of print) of the Rembrandt (for example) books and choose my favorite one to purchase. In the case of an artist's monograph, I try to choose one or two comprehensive books for each artist. These are generally large, well illustrated hardcovers with above average reproduction quality and informative text, often by one of the leading scholars on the artist. Thus, by the time I purchase a book, I have already found it to be among the best available on the subject.

This painter was an amazing combination of excellent artist, sarcastic and humorous person, and historian -- he painted what he saw - and each tells a story. This book helps guide you through it and points out things in his paintings that I would have missed.

Though this is a compact collection of Heian art, the editors of the book pack a powerful punch in the examples they chose to include. The pictures are big and well-printed, allowing for examination of detail. The descriptions offer more insight into the background of the pieces than I've gotten from larger catalogues. Really a must have for people interested in this.

Al White has captured the faces and the lives of 120 of the greatest American classic jazz musicians that have shaped the music landscape for the last 30 years.

Mr. White is one of the finest jazz historians in the country. His personal collection of over 100,000 photographic negatives and 10,000 autographed photographs allowed him to draw the material for this book from the best of his work. The book highlights three photographs of each of the musicians and it gives a brief vignette that brings these players back to life.

If you are a jazz fan or have a family member that is a jazz fan...this beautiful coffee table book is a must have!