Online at www.arttimesjournal.com/book/Sept06books.htm |
New
Art Books / Videos ABBEVILLE
PRESS: Landscape Painting: A History by Nils Büttner. 420 pp.; 11
¼ x 13 1/8; 280 Color Illus.; Appendix; Bibliography; Index. $135.00
Hardcover. Assuredly, no one will
ever write the definitive history of landscape that will please everyone,
but Nils Büttner, author of The Invention of the Landscape, comes as close to the ideal of what such a history
of the genre might be in this impressive tome. Lavishly and magnificently
illustrated, Landscape Painting: A History covers a range of time that begins in antiquity and
ends in the present. As with any such compendium, selection must occur
(which is why Büttner calls it “a” history and not “the” history), but
it must at all costs strive to be as inclusive as possible, and this he
has done with considerable thought and care. Whatever your predilections and favorites, this is one book that is
destined to be a favorite for a great many aficionados of the landscape
painting. ***** UNIVERSITY
OF WASHINGTON PRESS: The Oskar Reinhart Collection ‘Am Römerholz’ Winterhur:
Complete Catalogue (Ed.) Mariantonia Reinhard-Felice. 712 pp.; 10 ½
x 11 ½; 488 Illus., 237 in Color; Appendices. $120.00 Hardcover.
Some 207 works — representing such Late Gothic - to 20th-Century
painters from Grünewald to van Gogh — comprise the Reinhart Collection,
here reproduced in grand style in this oversized catalogue recently published
for the Swiss Federal Office for Culture and the Swiss Institute for Art
Research. Includes the story behind the collecting of Oskar Reinhart who
began his purchasing of art at the age of 39 and which he eventually bequeathed
to the Swiss nation. Excellent reproductions. ***** QUANTUCK LANE PRESS/W.W. NORTON: Greece: Images of an Enchanted Land, 1954-1965 by Robert A. McCabe. 204 pp.; 11 x 13; 116 Tritone Illustrations; Appendices; Notes. $85.00 Hardcover. This handsomely produced book features the photography of Robert A. McCabe, author of soon-to-be published Weekend in Havana: An American Photographer in the Forbidden City, and showcases a bygone Greece that is quickly being changed by both time and man. Striking vistas, close-ups of people, and a sensitivity to his subjects characterize these stunning photographs. Sure to please the lover of Greece as well as of the art of photography. ***** PRESTEL:
Absolute Wilson: Life is Work by Katharina Otto-Bernstein. 288 pp.; 11 x 12 ½;
400 Color Illus.; Appendices. $75.00 Hardcover. In Absolute
Wilson, documentary filmmaker Katharina
Otto-Bernstein presents an in-depth overview of the life and work of stage
designer and installation artist Robert Wilson. Includes interviews with
a “who’s who” of such friends and members of Wilson’s family as Susan
Sontag, David Byrne, Paula Cooper, and Susan Wilson. A comprehensive study.
**** PHAIDON
PRESS INC.: Winslow Homer: An American Vision by Randall C. Griffin. 240 pp.; 11 3/8 x 9 7/8;
190 Illus., 142 in Color; Endnotes; Chronology; Selected Bibliography;
List of Illustrations; Index. $69.95 Hardcover. The most comprehensive
critical survey completed in the last ten years, An American Vision
includes not only Winslow Homer’s every major work but
also many of his less reproduced etchings and woodcuts. Author Randall
C. Griffin, one of America’s leading authorities on Homer, offers new
insights into the artist’s life and work; beautifully and lavishly illustrated.
***** YALE
UNIVERSITY PRESS: Bejewelled by Tiffany, 1837-1987 by Clare Phillips, et al. 320 pp.; 9 ¾ x
12; 470 Illus., 300 in Color; Chronology; Selected Bibliography; Index.
$65.00 Hardcover. Published in conjunction with an exhibition
at The Gilbert Collection, London (thru Nov 26), Bejewelled by Tiffany
is a stunning array of Tiffany’s wares from its founding
to the present. Lavishly illustrated and handsomely produced, the book
is enhanced by essays from experts in the field. **** HARRY
N. ABRAMS, INC.: The Rembrandt Book by Gary Schwartz. 384 pp.; 10 x 13; 700 Color Illus.;
References; Indices. $65.00 Hardcover. Bound to be the definitive
and standard reference book the life and work of Rembrandt for some time
to come, Gary Schwartz’s The Rembrandt Book offers up a wealth of information on the work, the craft, and the milieu
of this master artist. Lavishly illustrated and handsomely produced, this
volume is sure to please the scholar as well as the casual artlover. ***** Mona
Lisa: Inside the Painting by Jean-Pierre Mohen, et al. 128 pp.; 11 7/8 x 17
5/8; 330 Illus., 218 in Color; Selected Bibliography. $50.00 Hardcover.
A scholarly and veritable cracking of da Vinci’s “code’, Mona
Lisa: Inside the Painting offers the
most comprehensive analysis of the painting to date. A wealth of detailed
photographs in this oversized book uncovers the making of this masterpiece,
from da Vinci’s preparation of the poplar panel on which it was painting
through the layers of paint that he used to produce his image, and even
includes what the passage of time has done in the interim of its execution
to its present appearance. A masterful study and a beautiful book. *****
UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA PRESS: Picturing the City: Urban Vision and the Ashcan School
by Rebecca Zurier. 418 pp.; 7
½ x 10 ¼; 160 B/W & Color Illus.; Notes; Selected Bibliography;
List of Illustrations; Index. $49.95 Hardcover. Author Rebecca
Zurier re-analyzes the “Ashcan School” and the literature of the day (focusing
on the works of such artists as George Bellows, William Glackens, Robert
Henri, George Luks, Everett Shinn and John Sloan) through the lens of
cultural history — the result is a fascinating overview of New York’s
turn-of-the-century’s burgeoning into a major urban settlement. An important
study. ***** NATIONAL
ACADEMY MUSEUM/GEORGE BRAZILLER: Luminist Horizons: The Art and Collection
of James A. Suydam by Katherine E. Manthorne and Mark D. Mitchell. 192 pp.; 9 ½
x 8 ¼; B/W & Color Illus.; Appendices; Chronology; Selected
Bibliography; Index. $45.00 Hardcover. In Luminist Horizons, a well-illustrated and well-researched book, authors
Manthorne and Mitchell re-analyze and re-assess what some have termed
the ‘luminist school’ of painting. Although it is often a delicate matter
to definitively label a group or a style as being part of a formal “school”
— given that the quality most often descriptive of serious artists
is that of possessing an individual aesthetic vision or view — this
study does go some way toward establishing a sharing of values and ideas
by Suydam’s small group of colleagues. Handsomely produced. **** WOODSTOCK
ARTS: Woodstock History and Hearsay (Second Edition) by
Anita M. Smith. 336 pp.; 8 ½ x 11; 189 Illus., 19 in Color;
Maps; Notes; Bibliography; List of Illustrations; Index. $37.50 Hardcover.
From its earliest times of the Amerindians to its heydays as
one of America’s most famous art colonies following WWII, Woodstock
History and Hearsay offers a fascinating “insiders” look (author Anita M. Smith was a painter
studying under John F. Carlson at the Art Students League of New York
summer school in Woodstock) into the town’s most colorful aspects. Includes
a wealth of photographs and reproductions along with an array of Woodstock’s
“notables.” **** NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC BOOKS: Work: The World in Photographs by
Ferdinand Protzman. 352 pp.; 10 3/8 x 11 ¼; Approx. 190 B/W
& Color Illus. $35.00 Hardcover. Some 80 top photographers
have contributed to this extraordinary compendium of “the world of work”
ranging over Europe, Asia, Africa, The Middle East, the Americas, and
the Islands — all enhanced by the writing of Ferdinand Protzman
who offers his own insights into the intertwining of self-image, work,
and society. For the very modest price of thirty-five dollars it is truly
amazing how much of the world that the National Geographic is able to
bring to the armchair traveler. Striking and beautiful reproductions make
this a wonderful gift for that favorite person — or even for yourself!
***** UNIVERSITY
OF MINNESOTA PRESS: Bauhaus Culture: From Weimar to the Cold War (Ed.)
Kathleen James-Chakraborty. 256 pp.; 7 x 10; B/W Illus.; Notes; Contributors;
Select Bibliography; Index. $25.00 Softcover. This new study
reassesses the Bauhaus experiment through the eyes of 8 scholars who take
a closer look at the myths and realities of what many feel was one of
the most influential movements in modern art. Scholarly and comprehensive.
**** Sterling
Publishing Co., Inc.: Museum of the Missing: A History of
Art Theft by Simon Houpt. 192
pp.; 8 ¼ x 10 ¼; B/W & Color Illus.; Appendix; Index;
Selected Bibliography. $24.95 Hardcover. “If all the paintings
presented here could be gathered in one museum it would be one of the
finest collections in existence” — so claims the advanced publicity
for Museum of the Missing and indeed
some of the world’s most beautiful works are represented in this latest
book on the “history of art theft”. An intriguing tour of the seamier
side of the world of art. **** WATSON-GUPTILL
BOOKS: Water-Based Screenprinting Today: From Hands-On Techniques to Digital
Technology by Roni Henning. 144 pp.; 8 ½ x 10 ½; 160 Illus., 150
in Color; Resources; Index. $24.95 Softcover. Author Roni Henning,
teacher, screenprinter, and director of New York Institute of Technology’s
Screenpoint Workshop, offers up a comprehensive overview of the techniques,
materials, and resources for the craft of screenprinting. Lavishly illustrated
and clearly written for either the tyro or pro. Another bargain from Watson-Guptill’s
long line of “how-to” books. **** Compiled
by Raymond J. Steiner |