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book reviews. Our association with
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Color and Culture Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction
This volume of astounding scholarship is fascinating reading. It is unique
in its attempt to put color into an historical and cultural perspective.
The numerous reproductions, many of which in color, provide relief from the
demanding text. Rewards await the patient reader in what should certainly
be THE reference book on color in western art. Of particular value to
painters is the discussion of the history of the palette.
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Corot in Italy
An excellent presentation of the open air painting tradition in Italy in
its heyday. While Corot is the artist of focus, the book contains a
multitude of works by international artists active in Italy from the 18th
through the mid 19th centuries. The reproductions present the best
examples of what the process of "painting directly from nature" was
intended to be. The book is extremely well written and is very accessible
to the general reader.
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Landscape and Western Art
This is the perfect companion to Kenneth Clark's Landscape into Art.
Andrews has a more contemporary interpretation of the development of
landscape painting, and, it is therefore easier to have sympathy for his arguments. His discussion of 20th century art, in particular his
inclusion of land and earth art, complete the evolutionary process of
nature into art and back again (at least for the moment!). This is a very
provocative work about nature, and man's relationship to nature as
expressed in art. Anyone with serious claims to landscape painting (as
dated as the term can be viewed to be) should be familiar with this book.
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Landscape into Art,
Kenneth Clark's 1949 volume came to be viewed as the bible of the history
of landscape painting in western art. It was one of the first and most
successful attempts to put some chronology on the evolution of the genre.
It is still unsurpassed for its discussion of landscape through the late
19th century and therefore deserves a place in the library of anyone
interested in this subject. Clark's disparaging attitude to modern art
leaves his discussion of the 20th century weak and incomplete however. The
other problem is that there are no color reproductions in the volume. This
is only somewhat remedied by Clark's poetic descriptions of paintings.
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What
is Painting? Representation and Modern Art.
The evolution of painting through the 20th century profoundly
challenged the premises of picture making, particularly representational
image making.
The art establishment has progressively favored other, more
non-traditional forms of visual art in its determination of
“What is Art?” today.
Frequently, the representational painter finds him or herself pressed
to justify painting as an activity. Bell’s book, which traces the
development of painting since antiquity and focuses on the peculiar position
of painting today, should be required reading for anyone with a serious
commitment to this art.
He presents the issues clearly and succinctly.
While he retains an objective detachment in articulating the
theoretical quagmire that presently describes painting, it is always very
evident that this man loves painting.
And why not? He is a practicing painter. And who could be more
qualified to write about painting?????
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The
Roots of Romanticism. Though not an art book this volume explains
the origins and ideas that effected many artists, including those first
out-of-doors painters working in Italy during the late 18th and early 19th
centuries. This book also has the advantage of being a transcription from a
series of lectures which gives the text a liveliness, spontaneity, and at
times passion of a spoken address from someone in complete command and love
of the material.
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Studies
on Claude and Poussin. Michael Kitson's exacting, fastidious
text is a joy to read for it's lucid style and rich content. This is a
series of essays and criticisms which covers recent issues in attribution,
identification, style, iconography, working methods and symbolism of Claude,
Poussin and Dughet. It is also a fascinating view of the work and mind of Michael
Kitson as well as the demands on an art historian as he reviews peer
works, recent discoveries and discusses the merits or defects of
paintings that are surely some of the most important works of art history
and certainly in the landscape genre. He does this while exposing his own
deep affection and appreciation for the works as art.
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