MBR: The Art Shelf
Midwest Book Review
Peter Blundell Jones
Phaidon Press
180 Varick St., 14th Flr, New York NY 10014
0714839760 $75.00 www.phaidon.com
College-level art library holdings will find much to recommend with
GUNNAR ASPLUND, the only detailed monograph in print on the Swedish
architect. Given that Asplund is hardly an unknown name in the world of
architecture, it's amazing to note that this is the only such reference
in print, providing a scholarly survey of all of his works both popular
and lesser-known, and packing in new color photos along with sketches
and drawings. Perhaps it's because Asplund's buildings don't neatly fit
into architectural categories, and thus have missed extensive survey in
genre-specific considerations - but they certainly deserve the depth
GUNNAR ASPLUND provides, here.
>From the South Seas
Christraud Geary, Editor
MFA Publications
465 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115-5597
0878466975 $50.00 www.mfa-publications.org
Christraud Geary is curator of African and Oceanian art at the Museum
of Fine Arts in Boston: FROM THE SOUTH SEAS: OCEANIC ART IN THE TEEL
COLLECTION provides a fine sampling of some 80 works and adds the
technical references and analysis needed to understand their
importance. Full-page color photos of relics and works of art are
accompanied by the cultural and artistic notes needed for all to enjoy
their relevance and meaning, making for an outstanding, discriminating
survey.
Luminist Horizons
Katherine E. Manthorne & Mark D. Mitchell
George Braziller Publishers
171 Madison Ave., New York NY 10016
1887149163 $29.95 www.georgebraziller.com
LUMINIST HORIZONS: THE ART AND COLLECTION OF JAMES A. SUYDAM offers a
catalog and history of the works of an American landscapist known for
his luminist paintings. Even though his name has been long linked with
the movement, his works have, surprisingly, not received extensive
scholarly attention until now: LUMINIST HORIZONS not only packs in 200
reproductions, but contrasts his works with contemporaries and surveys
American landscape painting of the times. A top pick.
Guatemala's Masks & Drama
Jim Pieper
Pieper & Association
19823 Hamilton Ave., Torrance, CA 90502
0826341438 $45.00 www.pieper.com
Any interested in primitive masks in general and Guatemala's arts in
particular must have Guatemala's Masks & Drama: gorgeous full-page full
color displays of masks both on wall and in use accompany a detailed
discussion of the development of masking, dance and drama in Guatemala.
>From unique mask and costume rental organizations to folk deities,
ritual masks, figures, and celebrations, Guatemala's Masks & Drama
brings the reader right into the culture and traditions of the country.
Superb!
Re-Creating the Word
Barbara L. Moulard & Bill Schenck
Schenck Southwest Publishing
268 Los Pinos Rd., Santa Fe, NM 87507
0971915008 $65.00 www.schencksouthwest.com
Prehistoric ceramic art created by anonymous artists of the Southwest
rarely receives its own focus and usually receives passing mention in
larger studies of Southwest archaeology or art, so it's satisfying to
see a study devoted entirely to the topic in RE-CREATING THE WORD:
PAINTED CERAMICS OF THE PREHISTORIC SOUTHWEST. Full-page color photo
displays of surviving ceramics accompany commentary by the author, a
freelance exhibit curator and adjunct faculty associate of the Art
Department at Arizona State University. Specialty college-level art
holdings will find it indispensable.
Ironwork Today Inside & Out
Dona Z. Meilach
Schiffer Books
4880 Lower Valley Rd., Atglen, PA 19310
0764323903 $49.95 www.schifferbooks.com
The artist-blacksmith's world comes to life in a survey of those who
shape iron into lovely works of art as well as useful objects. No
longer is the blacksmith regulated to horseshoes and repairs: today
they produce architectural embellishments and public art and here over
four hundred color photos illustrate such objects, which appear both in
public and in the home. A lovely set of inspirational ironwork pieces
makes for a winning survey.
American Artists, Jewish Images
Matthew Baigell
Syracuse University Press
1600 Jamesville Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210
0815630670 $45.00 www.SyracuseUnviersityPress.syr.edu
Fifteen major American artists are detailed in a survey of the
contribution of Jewish artists to modern American art in American
Artists, Jewish Images. All were born over a fifty-year period, so they
represent different generations: Baigell makes important points linking
their Jewish heritage to their creations, injecting a cultural,
religious and social note to his artistic criticisms. His survey of
their shared roots issues as reflected in their arts makes for
involving reading.
Creating Sketchbooks For Embroiderers and Textile Artists
Kay Greenlees
Batsford/Sterling, dist.
387 Park Avenue South, New York NY 10016-8810
071348957X $24.95 www.chrysalisbooks.co.uk www.sterling.com
Sketchbooks are typically mentioned as part of a painter or sketcher's
art, but they're also an invaluable tool for modern textile and
embroidery artists - and finally here's a book for this audience.
Leading textile artists contribute their works and techniques to a
unique coverage which follows first sketches to finished works, showing
textile artists how to develop ideas, record observations, use
sketchbooks for rough drafts and technique experiments, and more.
Creating Sketchbooks
For Embroiderers and Textile Artists is a 'must' for any serious about
their craft.
North Light Books
4700 E. Galbraith, Cincinnati, OH 45236
www.artistsnetwork.com
Traci Bautista's COLLAGE UNLEASHED (1581808453, $22.99) is for
newcomers who haven't done collage since childhood: it covers a range
of new opportunities in the medium which move beyond paper into
transparencies, stitches and embroidery, and using new materials.
Step-by-step photos accompany instruction on how to put together
memorable wall art, journals and more. Nita Leland's THE NEW CREATIVE
ARTIST (1581807562, $29.99) encourages creativity through playfulness
and flexibility, providing an updated, expanded version of the prior
best-seller THE CREATIVE ARTIST and packing in over a hundred
creativity-stimulating exercises. Learn how to identify and transform
'dull' subjects, how to consider new media methods, and how to handle
offbeat abstraction through a stimulating, lively book packed with
color examples and encouragement. Lee Hammond's ACRYLIC PAINTING WITH
LEE HAMMOND (1581807090, $19.99) begins with the basics of choosing
brushes and paints but quickly moves to easy methods for working on
different surfaces for different effects. His visual explorations of
color and texture blend step-by-step painting demonstrations with clear
comments any beginner will relish. Marsha A. Polk's CROCHET SQUARED: 30
EASY CROCHET PROJECTS MADE FROM SIMPLE SQUARES (158180833X, $19.99) may
bring to mind the color 'granny squares' of the past - but the
designs here are anything but old. Both beginners and experienced
crocheters will delight in over thirty unique crochet projects, along
with tips and resources ranging from methods to web site resources.
Inspirational photos of completed projects abound. All are exceptional
picks.
Cherish: Scrapbook Layouts Made Beautifully Simple
Jeanette R. Lynton
Gibbs Smith
Box 667, Layton, UT 74041
1423601548 $29.95 www.gibbs-smith.com
Plenty of books have been written on how to produce a fine scrapbook,
but CHERISH is perfect for the newcomer, pairing fifty sample two-page
layouts with step-by-step basics, photo suggestions, cutting guides,
and journaling techniques. If you've ever seen a gorgeous
professional-looking scrapbook but found most guides on the topic too
confusing, CHERISH is the perfect introduction for you.
Fire
Dale Chihuly
Portland Press
PO Box 70856, Seattle, WA 98127
1576841596 $40.00 www.portlandpress.net
A strongly recommended acquisition for academic and community library
Art History reference collections, "Fire" is a compendium of superbly
presented full-color photographs showcasing a pictorial chronology of
the art and artistry of Dale Chihuly and his imaginative and hand-blown
glass sculptures. Enhanced for art students and connoisseurs with an
informative essay by Margery Aronson (who follows Chihuly's career in
narrative format), "Fire" is an impressive sampling survey of the work
of an artist who has been displayed in more than 200 museums around the
world. Also very highly recommended from Portland Press is the "Chihuly
Art Kit" (157684157X, $28.00), which includes an activity book and
story, three squirt bottles of non-toxic and washable paint, a
watercolor set, three paintbrushes, seven colored pencils, colored
paper and stickers, all contained within a handy carrying case. The
"Chihuly Art Kit" will help children ages 4 and older to explore color,
texture, artistic creativity, all through ten fun-filled activities and
project ideas.
Viktor Schreckengost: American Da Vinci
Henry Adams, author & Sunny Morton, editor
Tide-mark Press Ltd.
PO Box 20, Windsor, CT 06095-0020
1594902208 $34.95 1-800-338-2508 www.tidemarkpress.com
Fine artist, sculptor, and ceramicist Viktor Schreckengost has had an
enormous impact of popular culture through his Limoges dinnerware
designs, his work as a graphic artist, theater and costume designer, as
well as his industrial designs which ranged from Murray bicycles, pedal
cars, planes and boats, to Steelcraft toy buses and trucks, commercial
printing presses, the first riding lawn mower, General Electric
lighting fixtures and appliances, the Sear's Beverly Hills lawn chair,
and that classic icon of American childhood -- the little red wagon.
Profusely illustrated in full color and enhanced with the addition of
an Index and Image Catalogue, and with expert commentary by former
museum curator Henry Adams, "Viktor Schreckengost: American Da Vinci"
is a superbly presented and informative introduction to the life, work,
and artistry of a remarkably talent who dedicated himself to the
esthetic improvement of American popular culture. Highly recommended
for personal, professional, and academic library American Art History
reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
Imagined Interiors
Jeremy Aynsley & Charlotte Grant
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
1851774920 $85.00 www.abramsbooks.com 1-800-759-0190
Co-edited by Jeremy Aynsley (Head of the School of Humanities at the
Royal College of Art) and Charlotte Grant (Senior Research Fellow at
the AHRC Centre for the Study of Domestic Interior, Royal College of
Art), Imagined Interiors: Representing The Domestic Interior Since The
Renaissance provides art students and enthusiasts with an informed and
informative historical survey of how the home has been depicted in
western art over the last 500 years. Featuring home interiors that
range from the grandly aristocratic to the simple ordinary, "Imagined
Interiors" draws from a range of artists that includes Vermeer and
Hogarth to Alfrided Hitchcock and Bill Brandt. Profusely illustrated
with 260 full-color illustrations, this 304-page specialized art
history is enthusiastically recommended for personal, academic, and
community library Art History reference collections and supplemental
reading lists. Indeed, "Imagined Interiors" would be an appropriate and
popular Memorial Fund acquisition selection choice for any public
library.
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