MBR: The Artbook Shelf
MWBOOKREVW
Cézanne: The Self-Portraits
Steven Platzman
University of California Press
2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720
0520232917 $50.00 www.amazon.com
Especially acclaimed for his memorable images, still lifes, and landscapes,
Paul Cezanne was one of the most influential of the European artists in the
early modernism movement. In Cezanne: The Self-Portraits, independent art
historian Steven Platzman carefully and meticulously analyzes the stylistic
development of Cezanne's self-portraits as a means of understanding how the
artist saw himself, how he perceived others, and how he positions himself both
in art communities and avant-garde society of mid-nineteenth century France.
Platzman provides a new and compelling explanation for Cezanne's experiments
with impressionism and the creation of his own far more personal and
idiosyncratic style. With Platzman's informative, challenging, accessible text
superbly being superbly presented and enhanced with 111 black-and-white, and 82
full color illustrations, Cezanne: The Self-Portraits is a welcome and
invaluable contribution to personal, professional, and academic Art History
collections in general, and Cezanne enthusiasts in particular.
Stencil Graffiti
Tristan Manco
Thames & Hudson
500 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10110
0500283427 $19.95 www.amazon.com
Presented by graphic artist and director of Tijuana Design Tristan Manco
(Bristol, United Kingdom), Stencil Graffiti is a vibrant artbook showcasing
unique, original, sometimes provocative, always eye-catching expressions of
spray-paint and stencil graffiti. Some introductory essays help familiarize the
non-specialist general reader with various settings and graffiti artists, but
the majority of this superbly presented book is given over to extensive
photographs of the artwork itself. A few mature themes present themselves in
this book filled cover to cover with unforgettable imagery. Stencil Graffiti is
an enthusiastically recommended addition to art school and community library
contemporary art history collections.
The Holy Cow And Other Animals
Pratapaditya Pal & Betty Seid
The Art Institute Of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60603
0865591962 $19.95 1-312-443-3533
The Holy Cow And Other Animals: Selection Of Indian Paintings From The Art
Institute Of Chicago showcases forty-eight beautiful, impressive, full color
illustrations in a unique celebration of animal imagery drawn from illuminated
manuscript, royal albums, and pilgrimage souvenirs originating on the Indian
subcontinent between 1400 and 1900. The images selected enhance an informed and
informative essay by Pratapaditya Pal, a renowned scholar and visiting curator
of Indian Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art at the Art Institute of Chicago,
with additional contributions by Betty Seid, Exhibition Coordinator and
Researcher in the Department of Asian Art at the Chicago based institute. The
Holy Cow And Other Animals is highly recommended for students of Indian art
history and a valued addition to academic reference collections.
Earth Transformed
Wu Tung
MFA Publications
465 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115
0-87846-477-8 $40.00 1-800-338-2665
Almost eighty objects covering 5,000 years of art history are featured in this
roundup of Chinese ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Not only are
the objects discussed in depth and presented in full color, but a timeline,
sidebars of facts, kiln maps and other detailed information makes for a
treasure-trove of insight and knowledge.
GaiaStar Mandalas
Bonnie Bell & David Todd
Pomegranate Communications
Box 6099, Rohnert Park, CA 94927
0764917390 $24.95 www.amazon.com
GaiaStar Mandalas: Ecstatic Visions Of The Living Earth by print artists Bonnie
Bell and David Todd is a simply beautiful, full-color artbook showcasing
gorgeous natural Mandalas celebrating the beauty and harmony of our mother
planet. Although there is a brief text introduction, the majority of GaiaStar
Mandalas is given over entirely to breathtaking color photographs of superbly
presented art. The rich, vibrant color and texture patterns inspired by a
multitude of cultural traditions are most impressive in this wondrous and
unique gallery.
Rudy Autio
Louana M. Lackey
The American Ceramic Society
Box 6136, Westerville, OH 43086-6136
1574981447 $65.00 www.ceramics.org
Rudy Autio by ceramics historian Louana M. Lackey (Research Scholar in
Ceramics, Maryland Institute College of Art) is an impressive showcasing of
accomplished postmodern artist Rudy Autio and his work. Half of the book is
devoted to an informative biography of Rudy Autio and a discussion of his work
as an important and influential ceramic artist. The second half is a remarkable
selection of full color plates featuring Autio's stoneware, most of which
feature abstract human forms with alternating vivid and dark color highlights,
juxtaposed in unique positions. A superb case study of three-dimensional works
of modern art and the man who created them, Rudy Autio is a welcome and
recommended addition to professional and academic art history collections in
general, and ceramic art references in particular.
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