Rosalind OrmistonRezensionen

A lovely book. A bit repetitious at times but beautifully written.

As with all art books, I was frustrated at points while reading this book from all the flipping back and forth between sections to be able to look at the illustrations that matched the text, but I will forgive this volume since its pages collect an absolutely stunning array of Mucha's work. Unlike some Mucha books that I've read, the colour representation was absolutely spot on, and the size of the images adequately represented Mucha's artwork (with specially blown up sections to zoom in on some of the more intricate pices). I could have maybe used less written material during the second section (it seemed to duplicate some of the information that was covered in the first section) for a focus specifically on thematics, but for the most part the text was minimal and simple enough that it acted more as a white space counterpoint to the saturation of the artwork.

Hem Rönesans'ı daha iyi anlayabilmek hem de Da Vinci ile başlayarak sanat alanındaki cahilliğimi azaltmak için bu kitabı okudum.

Kitapta Da Vinci'nin hem hayatından ayrıntılı olarak bahsedilmiş hem de Da Vinci'nin eserlerinden en ufak detaylarına kadar bahsedilmiş. Ayrıca çağdaşı olan sanatçıların ürettiği eserlerden de hem bahsedildiği hem de bu eserlerin fotoğrafları konulduğu için Da Vinci'nin çağdaşlarına göre olan konumu çok iyi anlatılmış.

Kitapta Da Vinci'nin sadece resimlerinden bahsedilmemiş ayrıca çizdiği ve hayata geçmeyen savaş aletleri ve diğer mühendislik alanlarına dair tasarımlarına da bolca yer verilmiş. Bunların dışında insan ve hayvan anatomilerine dair çizimleriyle birlikte matematik ve geometri takıntısı nedeniyle yaptığı çizimlerine dair bolca fotoğraf ve açıklama da yer alıyordu.

Kitap içerik yönünden beni tatmin etti, sanat tarihçisi olmadığım için fazla yorum yapamam ama benim seviyemdeki birisi için çok doyurucu bir kitaptı. Ayrıca kitabın hem çevirisi hem de baskısı mükemmeldi. Kitapta Da Vinci'nin Michelangelo ile olan rekabetine bolca vurgu yapıldığı için Michelangelo'yu da çok merak ettim, onu da bu seriden okumayı planlıyorum.

This is a lovely book in many ways. There is an absolute wealth of Mucha's graphic works ..including a lot of his commercial work for biscuit manufactures and chocolate manufacturers. And, because it is a large book, one has the opportunity to really examine the detail. In some cases enlargements are given which is quite fascinating to see. It is accompanied by a nice, if slightly stilted, biographical section and a second section which focuses on his work at the height of the period 1893-1905. However, it is greatly weakened by the fact that there appears to have been no coordination between the writers of the prose and the placement of the pictures. I found I had to frequently turn back 100 pages to view the particular work the was being described in detail. And one can look in vain for any connection between the script and the illustrations on or nearby that page.
It is also frustrating to find (as on p132 that the book describes "two lithographs that are noteworthy, for they show the wide illustrative range that Muncha possessed. The first is the image of Salome ,1897 (see page 134)". Ok so far so good. ....."The second is Salammbo, 1897......." But I looked in vain for a picture of Salammbo. Now this is just plain annoying. To be invited to compare but not being given anything to compare apart from words.
In fact the word descriptions are quite detailed ..and this is a bit of a give-away when "The Moon" is described as ..."dressed in a beautiful blue gown"...when the actual print is a murky brown. In fact, clearly the blues have dropped out of the printing process or the originals from which the plates were printed have lost their blue tones. There are a number of prints described as blue or turquoise ...which are just brown. And when I googled some of these images...sure enough they appear in blue and turquoise.
There is very little here .....if anything of his work outside the period 1893-1905. I don't recall anything from his period in America or for his work on the Slavic Epic or for his early work...pre-Paris. So, in a lot of ways, this book is a disappointment. The complete disjunction between the graphic work and the text is seriously problematic. Even for the relatively few graphics that are referred to in the text, one has to be continually turning backwards and forwards to see them. It seems to me that the graphics have been laid out first and the text has simply been inserted in the spaces left behind with no thought given to integrating the two. A pity, this book could have been much better.

It's really interesting to be able to see all of Michelangelo's works (or many of them) displayed next to each other with notes and follow the progress and arc of his creativity (and genius)!

A truly beautiful book. However, it would have been nice to see a display of his Slav Epic series, which he considered his best work. It is described, but there are only a couple of pictures, not the whole set. In a book of this size, it would have been easy to include the entire composition.½

A truly stunning collection of artworks from one of the biggest geniuses to ever pick up a paintbrush / pen / pencil. I had thought of art nouveau as a hoity-toity and lame subgenre before having my mind blown by the imagination of Mucha (pronounced MOOK-uh, by the way).½

Flame Tree Publishing does great work with their ‘Masterpieces’ series. My average review score has more to do with Hopper’s work being hit and miss with me, than the format, which is great. Ormiston’s introduction provides a lot of information about Hopper’s life, influences, and approach, with references to the works which follow, but she does it in a way that’s not overwhelming. A couple of things stuck out for me. The first was just how hard it is to be an artist! Hopper wasn’t an extreme case as he received parental support, but as he didn’t sell his first painting until he was 29, and then not another one for 10 more years, one can imagine the perseverance and courage it took. He finally established himself at age 41 with ‘The Mansard Roof’ in 1923. The other thing was ‘House by the Railroad’, 1925, having inspired the Bates’s house in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic movie, ‘Psycho’; I had never heard that before.

Hopper’s works are stark and unemotional, consistent with him saying that “the aim of painting is to create the most exact transcription of the most intimate impression of nature.” The subjects he chose, in landscapes, cityscapes, and interiors, feel lonely and isolated, with a quietness about them. Certainly worth having a look.

Favorites:
Night on the El Train, 1918
Night in the Park, 1921
The Mansard Roof, 1923
New York Pavements, 1924
Self-Portrait, 1925-30
Automat, 1927 (probably my favorite of all)
Night Windows, 1928
Chop Suey, 1929
Compartment C, Car 293, 1938
Cape Cod Evening, 1939
New York Movie, 1939
Nighthawks, 1942
Monterrey Cathedral, Mexico, 1943
Summer Evening, 1947

Missing in this collection:
Lighthouse Hill, 1927 (I find superior to The Lighthouse at Two Lights, 1929, which is included)
Office at Night, 1940½

A concise biography of J.M.W. Turner and selection of 86 of his works, shown full-page in all their glory. Turner was such a transitional artist, painting (and elevating) classical landscapes but then along the way fusing color and light in ways that were well ahead of their time, predating the Impressionists and more abstract artists who would follow several decades later.

The top 10 for me, in chronological order, are as follows. It’s interesting, in looking some of these up online, in images from Wikipedia, Tate, et al the colors are sometimes less vibrant. Turner apparently used pigments that he knew were not durable, with the result being many of his colors fading. The book appears to have attempted to restore some of this.

Anywho, some faves:

Weymouth – 1811
Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps – 1812
Norham Castle, on the River Tweed – 1822-23
Staffa, Finagal’s Cave - 1832

Disaster at Sea – 1835(?)
The Fighting Temeraine – 1839
The Slave Ship: Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying – Typhoon Coming On – 1840
Venice: Looking Across The Lagoon at Sunset - 1840

Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth – 1842
Rain, Steam, and Speed (The Great Western Railway) – 1844
The Angel Standing in the Sun – 1846

Whoopsie, that’s 11. Ah, well.½

Not a bad selection of posters, but almost all come from British Commonwealth nations or the United States of America. Nothing from Italy, Russia and especially Germany.½

See my review dated 18 Nov 2013 published on the Amazon website.

If you are looking for a book to read when you are stressed and simply want to contemplatively bask in the beauty of the stunningly creative, exquisitely detailed prints contained therein, then take time to drink a glass of wine, or cup of coffee or tea, go to a quiet space and be prepared to unwind.

William Morris was well acquainted with members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. One of his best friends and mentors Dante Gabriel Rossetti introduced him to Jane Morris, who would become his wife and, in a sad triangle, using Jane as a muse and model, frustratingly tragic to Morris, Rossetti and Jane developed a life-long relationship.

William and Jane entertained members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in their intricately designed Red House. Their residence became an inspirational meeting place for poets, writers and artists.

Later, moving to Kelmscott Manor, Morris honed his artistry when decorating with wallpapers and tapestries.

http://www.kelmscottmanor.org.uk/home

In mid life, Morris became increasingly dissatisfied with the industrialization of Victorian society. Becoming a socialist, his public lectures were forceful, animated and he adamantly railed against a society wherein machines manufactured goods at the expense of man-made artistic endeavors.

Becoming angry at a process that manipulated the poor masses while breeding what he called a tacky middle class, he believed that a society was crazy if in its out-of control progress it failed to improve the lives of the people who lived in that society.

Paradoxically, while Morris threw stones at those who were rapidly accumulating wealth at the expense of the downtrodden, Morris' status in life and wealth was inherited from his father who owned copper mines.

Later in life, he became very disillusioned with socialism stating that it failed to deliver a long-term solution to the betterment of society.

His legacy continues today. He was a genius of the arts and crafts movement, and his legacy of fine furnishings continues to inspire.

Highly recommended!