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Compiled by RAYMOND J. STEINER
ART TIMES December 2007

PRESTEL: [Non]Conform: Russian and Soviet Artists: The Ludwig Collection, 1958-1995 by Barbara Thiemann. 528 pp.; 9 ½ x 11 ¾; 700 Illus., 350 in Color; Appendices. $99.00 Hardcover. Surely the most comprehensive collection of Russian and Soviet art, the Ludwig Collection housed in Aachen, Germany is here catalogued for the first time under one cover. Impressively inclusive, [Non]Conform presents the work of over 240 artists, all enhanced by scholarly essays that address not only the individual artists included, but also an extensive look into the socio-political context in which they lived. *****
Gustav Klimt: The Ronald S. Lauder and Serge Sabarsky Collections
(Ed.) Renée Price. 504 pp.; 9 ½ x 11 ¾; 380 Illus., 350 in Color; Biography; Chronology; Appendices; Select Bibliography; Index. $65.00 Hardcover.
This sumptuously produced catalogue that accompanies an exhibition presently on view at the Neue Galerie New York (thru Jun, ’08), features not only over 100 color plates but also never-before-published reproductions of Klimt’s 1917 notebook. Excellent reproductions and extensive commentary by a host of scholars, including an interview with Maria Altman, heir to five restored paintings that were stolen by the Nazis.  Impressive. *****

 

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS: Art and Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and His Worlds by Tim Barringer, et al. 612 pp.; 9 x 12 ½; 499 Color Illus.; Appendix; Bibliography; Index. $75.00 Hardcover. More than just another fine art book featuring the artistry of Isaac Mendes Belisario, Art and Emancipation in Jamaica offers up a comprehensive overview of “sugar. slavery, and the topography of Jamaica” from the years 1655 through to the beginning of emancipation in the 1840s. Breathtaking in its scope, this oversize, lavishly illustrated volume belongs in all public and institutional libraries. Scholarly and impressive. *****
Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty: Tapestries at the Tudor Court
by Thomas P. Campbell. 440 pp.; 8 7/8 x 11 ¼; 320 Illus., 206 in Color; List of Abbreviations; Notes; Glossary; Bibliography; Index. $75.00 Hardcover. Gorgeously produced and lavishly illustrated, Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty, published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, is about as complete a study as one might find on the grandeur of the Tudor Court. As much a history as an art book, this magnificent study belongs on the library shelves of both public and educational institutions. Vastly impressive. *****
Inspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past
(Ed.) Ann Dumas. 280 pp.; 11 ¼ x 12 ¼; 229 Illus., 217 in Color; Chronology; Bibliography; Index. $65.00 Hardcover.  Though probably no surprise to most working artists, Inspiring Impressionism reveals how much the “innovative” modernists drew from their earlier sources. Published in conjunction with an exhibition presently at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta (thru Jan 13, ’08), the catalogue includes a host of scholars bringing to light these influences on such artists as Manet. Monet, Degas, Bazille, Cassatt, Cézanne, and others. Lavishly and beautifully illustrated. *****
Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination
by Lynda Roscoe Hartigan. 392 pp.; 9 ¾ x 11 ½; 297 Illus., 183 in Color; Bibliography; Index. $65.00 Hardcover.
Published in conjunction with an exhibition presently at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, (thru Jan 6, ’08), Navigating the Imagination represents the first major overview of the artist and his work in over twenty-five years. Comprehensive. ****
Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art
by Jeffrey Spier. 328 pp.; 9 ½ x 12  3/8; Map; Bibliography; Index. $65.00 Hardcover. Published as the accompanying catalogue to an exhibition presently at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth (thru Mar 30, ’08), Picturing the Bible is a sumptuously illustrated overview of the evolution of Christian art since its inception in the 3rd-century A.D. Includes commentary from a host of scholars that trace the origins and uses of symbols and images. Impressive. ****
Vitebsk: The Life of Art by Aleksandra Shatskikh. 416 pp.; 8 ¾ x 11 ¼; 281 Illus., 20 in Color; Appendix; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index. $55.00 Hardcover. A colorful story of a colorful Russian town, Vitebsk: The Life of Art chronicles the extraordinary history of the avant-garde flowering in a small Belarus village. Availing herself of hitherto unpublished archives, author/art historian Aleksandra Shatskikh, brings to life the cultural phenomena that blossomed with the talents of such artists as Marc Chagall and Ossip Zadkin, conductor Nikolai Mal’ko, among many revolutionary modernists. Lavishly illustrated. ****
Antonio Mancini: Nineteenth-Century Italian Master
by Ulrich W. Hiesinger. 144 pp.; 9 3/8 x 11 ½; 104 Illus., 53 in Color; Bibliography; Index. $50.00 Hardcover. Once called “the greatest living painter” by John Singer Sargent and “nuts, but he is a nice nut” by John J. Jacobson, Antonio Mancini, the subject of this catalogue, was indeed a master painter. Published on the occasion of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s acquisition of 15 major works by Mancini, Antonio Mancini: Nineteenth-Century Italian Master resurrects the artist from an unwarranted limbo in which he and his work have been relegated for far too long. If his life and work habits were indeed erratic — his studio on the Via Margutta, Rome’s long-time “artist quarter”, apparently always in major disorder —  his art was always of the first order — which this book makes abundantly clear. A lovely addition to your art library. *****
Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
by Eric Kjellgren. 368 pp.; 8 x 11; 303 Illus., 232 in Color; Glossary; Bibliography; Index. $45.00 Hardcover. Published in conjunction with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oceania presents the Met’s collection, one of the finest in the world. Excellent reproductions; detailed commentary. ****
Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples
(Eds.) Marsha Hill, Deborah Schorsch. 256 pp.; 8 ½ x 11; 146 Illus., 106 in Color; Bibliography; Index. $40.00 Hardcover. Published to coincide with an exhibition currently at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC (thru Feb 18, ’08), Gifts for the Gods catalogues their collection of Egyptian statuary from a time span of over two millennia. Includes essays on the very latest findings of archaeologists. ***
Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, c.1600-1900
by Mary McWilliams and David J. Roxburgh. 108 pp.; 9 x 12; 61 Color Illus.; Notes; Index. $30.00 Softcover. Published in conjunction with an exhibition presently at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (thru Jan 27,’08), Traces of the Calligrapher offers over ten centuries of the calligrapher’s handicraft, as much artform as it is written language. Includes a wide variety of objects that features calligraphy as decoration. Beautifully illustrated. ***

 

POMEGRANATE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.: Cape Dorset Prints: A Retrospective: Fifty Years of Printmaking at the Kinngait Studios by Leslie Boyd Ryan, et al. 304 pp.; 10 ½ x 10 ½; Over 200 B/W & Color Illus.; List of Plates; About the Authors; Index. $75.00 Hardcover. A host of scholars and artists bring to life the fifty-year history of Cape Dorset’s Kinngait Studios, presenting in essay and reproduction the rich fruits of that institution in this impressive new catalogue. Includes the work of over seventy-five artists. Impressive. *****
Evolution: Five Decades of Printmaking by David C. Driskell
by Adrienne L. Childs, et al. 128 pp.; 8 x 10; B/W & Color Illus.; Author Biographies; Index. $30.00 Hardcover. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of Driskell’s work, Evolution covers the gamut of the artist’s considerable skill at printmaking. Sometimes lyrically light, at others darkly disturbing, the book features some 100 reproductions of the artist’s work. **** Gustave Baumann’s Southwest by Joseph Traugott. 80 pp.; 9 x 8; Color Illus.; Further Reading; Index. $24.95 Hardcover.
Vibrantly colorful, Gustave Baumann’s Southwest offers up some 50 woodblock prints and gouaches of the artist, some from the collection of the artist’s daughter, the rest from The New Mexico Museum of Art. A visual journey that is sure to please. ***

 

THE VENDOME PRESS: In Another Light: Danish Paintings in the Nineteenth Century by Patricia G. Berman. 272 pp.; 10 x 12; 288 Color Illus.; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index. $75.00 Hardcover. The first such catalogue in English on19th-century Danish painting, In Another Light offers up a pot pourri of painters that, to many, will be new-found treasures. Presented in a grand manner, indeed, the excellent reproductions of these Danish masters make this book not only a visual treat, but also a wonderful introduction to a body of work that can rival any 19th-century school on the European continent. Very impressive. *****

 

FIREFLY BOOKS LTD: Canadian Paintings, Prints and Drawings by Anne Newlands. 368 pp.; 9 ½ x 11 ½; Over 165 Color Illus.; Bibliography; Glossary; Index. $69.95 Hardcover. This handsomely produced catalogue with full color reproductions and commentary on each of the artists included (some 164), offers up a roster of Canadian art and artists — Aboriginal, Inuit, and European descendants — that have made their mark on the history of North American art. A visual treat as well as an eye-opener to those unfamiliar with Canada’s rich history of art. *****

 

ABRAMS: Enclosure by Andy Goldsworthy. 191 pp.; 10 ½ x 11 ½; 200 Color Illus. $60.00 Hardcover. With an Introduction by James Putnam, Enclosure offers up an array of Godlsworthy’s most impressive Cumbrian earthworks. Visually exciting. ***
Art: A World History
by Elke Linda Buchholz, et al. 512 pp.; 4 ½ x 6 3/8; 900 Color Illus.; Index. $19.95 Softcover. As advertised, Art: A World History is literally “a history of art in the palm of your hand”. Too chunky — because of its comprehensive coverage from pre-history to the present — to fit into one’s pocket, this new edition published by Abrams is nevertheless a handy compendium that will fit easily into your purse or tote bag. A bargain considering the wealth of information and illustrations it contains. *****

 

HEYDAY BOOKS: Impressions of the East: Treasures from the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, University of California, Berkeley by Deborah Rudolph. 120 pp.; 11 x 11; Color Illus.; Maps; Bibliography. $39.95 Hardcover. As its title clearly declares, Impressions of the East offers up an overview of a collection that showcases the history and evolution of Asian printing. Among the three largest such collections of rare books in the country, this is the first such text to celebrate its riches. Visually stunning. ****

 

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS: Jerry Bywaters: Interpreter of the Southwest (Ed.) Sam DeShong Ratcliffe. 120 pp.; 10 3/8 x 11 ¼; 77 Illus., 42 in Color; Index. $30.00 Hardcover. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at SMU’s Meadows Museum of Art (thru Feb 24, ’08), this handsomely illustrated volume offers an overview of the vision and versatility — he paints in oil, watercolor, tempera and pastel — of the painter Jerry Bywaters. A chronicler of his region, Bywaters presents the reader with his “interpretation” of the richly visual Southwest. ***

 

STERLING PUBLISHING CO., INC.: Understanding Color: Creative Techniques in Watercolor by Marcia Moses. 144 pp.; 8 ½ x 11; Color Illus.; Color Glossary; Indices. $19.95 Hardcover. The Complete Guide to Painting on Porcelain & Ceramic by Priscilla Hauser. 128 pp.; 8 ½ x 11; Color Illus.; Metric Conversion Chart; Index. $24.95 Hardcover. Abstract and Colour Techniques in Painting by Claire Harrigan. 128 pp.; 8 ½ x 11; Color Illus.; Index. $24.95 Hardcover. Complete Anatomy and Figure Drawing by John Raynes. 144 pp.; 8 ½ x 10 7/8; Color Illus.; Index. $24.95 Hardcover. This latest selection of “how-to” books published by Sterling continues in their long practice of offering quality artbooks at modest prices. All are designed for both tyro and pro, all chock-full of the latest advances on materials and techniques, all complete with clear instruction and advice on materials and their application, all ready for instant and ready reference. Books from Sterling are always bargains. *****

 

SKYLIGHT PATHS: The Painting Path: Embodying Spiritual Discovery through Yoga, Brush and Color by Linda Novick. 208 pp.; 7 x 9; B/W & Color Illus.; Resources. $18.99 Softcover. Re-rooting art in its pre-literal origins, The Painting Path offers up a wonderfully potent pot-pourri of technique, direction and spiritual discovery. Novick, a fine painter, now reveals her talent as a writer. ****

Compiled by Raymond J. Steiner