New
Art Books / Videos
ART
TIMES June 2007
YALE
UNIVERSITY PRESS: Ike Taiga and Tokuyama Gyokuran: Japanese Masters of
the Brush by Felice Fischer. 504 pp.; 9 ¾ x 11 ¾;
487 Illus., 461 in Color; Plates; Catalogue of Works; Appendices; Bibliography;
Index. $75.00 Hardcover. Published in association with the Philadelphia
Museum of art and in conjunction with an exhibition at that institution
(thru Jul 22), Japanese Masters of the Brush is the only comprehensive
survey and analysis of this Japanese 18th-Century husband/wife
team available in English. Impressively researched, lavishly illustrated
and handsomely produced, this is sure to be a much sought-after catalogue
by aficionados of Oriental brush painting. Highly recommended. *****
Fantasy and Faith: The Art of Gustave Doré (Ed.) Eric Zafran, et
al. 224 pp.; 10 x 11 ½; 165 Illus., 120 in Color; Notes; Index.
$65.00 Hardcover. Published in association with the Dahesh Museum
of Art, NYC, Fantasy and Faith celebrates the formidable talents
of Gustave Doré, long held to be France’s finest book illustrator in the
19th Century. Contains beautiful reproductions and extensive
research into Doré’s wide range of mediums and subjects; an impressive
study. *****
Paul Mellon’s Legacy: A Passion for British Art by John Baskett, et
al. 348 pp.; 10 x 12 ¼; 370 Color Illus.; Selected Exhibitions;
Selected Literature; Index. $65.00 Hardcover. A host of scholars contribute
their analyses and expertise to make this celebration of collector/patron
Paul Mellon’s “passion” for British art an impressive volume. A Passion
for British Art is published to coincide with a traveling exhibition
(Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT — through Jul 29; The
Royal Academy of Arts, London — Oct 20—Jan, 27, ’08) and includes
reproductions of paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, and books by
major British artists and artisans. Lavishly illustrated and handsomely
produced. *****
Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale
Center for British Art by Matthew Hargraves. 232 pp.; 9 ¾
x 11 ¼; 118 Color Illus.; Notes; Select Bibliography; Index. $45.00
Hardcover. An apt companion catalogue to the previous listed book,
Great British Watercolors includes some eighty-eight works from
the collection of the Yale Center for British Art. Includes work by such
British watercolor masters as Gainsborough, Blake, and Turner and covers
a range of time that encompasses both the 18th and 19th-Centuries.
Beautifully illustrated. *****
The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend by Brooke Kamin Rapaport. 256 pp.; 9 ¾ x 11 ¼; 177 Illus.,
140 in Color; Chronology; Exhibition History; Exhibition Checklist; Selected
Bibliography; Notes; Index. $55.00 Hardcover. Published in conjunction with an exhibition presently
at The Jewish Museum, NYC (thru Sep 16), which will then travel to the
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young (Oct 27—Jan 13, ’08),
Constructing a Legend offers an in-depth look into the life and
work of Louise Nevelson. Includes fellow-artist commentaries and essays
by several scholars. ****
PHAIDON
PRESS INC.: Japonisme: Cultural Crossings between Japan and the West by
Lionel Lambourne. 240 pp.; 11 3/8 x 9 7/8; 250 Illus., 220 in Color; Bibliography;
Index. $39.95 Softcover. Although Japonisme focuses
on France and the United States, this analysis of the cultural and aesthetic
interchange between Japan and the West includes a sweeping overview of
the wide range of influence of Japanese culture throughout the Western
world. Gorgeously and lavishly illustrated, this study will stand as one
of the standard texts on the subject for some time. Comprehensive. *****
PRESTEL:
Germany Now: 38 Photographers and an Unknown Land (Ed.) Wolfgang Behnken.
256 pp.; 11 1 /4 x 11 ¼; B/W & Color Photographs; List of
Photographers. $39.95 Hardcover. Arranged in four categories —
The People; Home; Work; Berlin — Germany Now offers up a
visual chronicle of life in today’s Germany. From north to south, east
to west, these thirty-eight photographers have captured a lasting portrait
of their country’s diversity of culture, society and geography. ****
FORDHAM
UNIVERSITY PRESS: Manhood, Marriage, and Mischief: Rembrandt’s ‘Night
Watch’ and Other Dutch Group Portraits by Harry Berger, Jr. 192
pp.; 8 x 9; 59 Illus., 17 in Color; List of Illustrations; Notes; Index.
$30.00 Softcover. In Manhood, Marriage, and Mischief, author
Harry Berger, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Literature and Art History at
the University of California, offers up a richly interwoven analysis of
Dutch group portraiture that elucidates not only the popular Netherlandish
genre, but also introduces a wealth of interrelated issues that enlarge
our view of the painter’s art. Compelling. *****
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUMS/WOODSTOCKER BOOKS/ANTIQUE COLLECTORS CLUB: The
Last Ruskinians: Charles Eliot Norton, Charles Herbert Moore, and Their
Circle by Theodore E. Stebbins, et al. 96 pp.; 8 ¾ x 10
½; 85 Illus., 49 in Color; Plates; List of Plates; Biographies;
Bibliography. $17.95 Softcover. The accompanying catalogue to an exhibit
of the same name currently at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum (thru Jul 8),
The Last Ruskinians explores a long-neglected thread of John Ruskin’s
influence, specifically that as advocated by Charles Eliot Norton and
emulated by watercolorist Charles Herbert Moore during the late 1800’s.
Although studiously researched and eloquently rendered by a trio of Fogg
Art Museum scholars, the authors claim a dying out of Ruskinian influence
after 1870 but the study unfortunately overlooks the considerable Ruskin
following at the Byrdcliffe Colony in Woodstock, New York (founded, in
fact, by expressly following Ruskin’s advice on where to situate the perfect
colony) during Woodstock’s heyday as one of America’s leading art colonies
from the early 1900’s to the present. Excellent reproductions. ***