MBR: The Art Shelf
Midwest Book Review
Utopia Parkway
Deborah Solomon
Museum of Fine Arts Publications
465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-5523
0878466843 $22.50 www.mfa.org
Deborah Solomon's biography of artist Joseph Cornell in Utopia Parkway:
The Life And Work Of Joseph Cornell, joins other outstanding titles in
the MFA's 'artWorks' series but stands well independently, providing a
reprint of a 1977 original examining the life and influences of an
enigmatic American artist. Analysis blends with personal insight to
probe the influences of man prized for his disquieting shadow boxes and
his influence on Surrealism, Pop and Abstract expressionism alike. Yes,
there have been other coverages - but few offer the depth and authority
of an art critic's research talents.
Chronicle Books
85 Second Street, 6th floor, San Francisco CA 94105
www.chroniclebooks.com
Don't expect the ordinary in Leon Borenzstein's photos One Is Adam One
Is Superman (0811845311, $40.00): the 'outsider artists' portrayed here
with their works are all working at the Creative Growth Art Center in
Oakland, California - and they range from wheelchair-bound to blind and
otherwise severely handicapped. But take a look at their art and you
will find incredible stories and images. Borenzstein provides full-page
photographic portraits of 50 of the center's selected artists, paired
with reproductions of their work and statements by or about themselves.
Also outstanding is Paul Grushkin and Dennis King's Art Of Modern Rock:
The Poster Explosion (081184529X, $60.00). There have been a number of
poster art coverages on the market over the years - and quite often
lavish, fitting the color poster image - but none quite so weighty or
all-embracing as Art Of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion. There are
very nearly 2,000 reproductions of poster creation from around the
world here, not with the usual regional focus seen in competing guides.
Paul Grushkin spent 25 years as head of sales for the largest rock and
roll merchandising companies, while co-author Dennis King's a
recognized authority on contemporary posters. Toger the authors provide
a powerful sequel to their prior industry standard Art Of Rock (which
covered pre-1985 rock poster art, and which remains a classic in its
genre today). A 'must' reference for any serious rock poster collector.
21st Century Ceramics In The United States & Canada
Bill Hunt, editor
The American Ceramic Society
735 Ceramic Place, Westerville OH 43081
1574982230 $49.95 www.ceramics.org
21st Century Ceramics In The United States & Canada is an anthology of
brief essays and full-color photographs revealing the eye-catching
ceramic artworks of a wide variety of modern-day creators. From
functional or svelte vases to paint trays and tool boxes to goblets and
statues, these ceramic creations feature pleasing contours and
textures, as well as sturdiness and immense variety in decoration. A
treasury of ceramic inspiration to be enjoyed by artists, collectors,
and connoisseurs alike.
Ida Kohlmeyer: Systems Of Color
Michael Plante, essayist
Hudson Hills Press
PO Box 205, 74-2 Union Street, Manchester, VT 05254
1555952496 $50.00 hudsonhills.com
Enhanced with an informed and informative essay by Michael Plante
(Jessie J. Poesch Professorship in Art, Newcomb Art Department, Tulane
University, New Orleans, Louisiana) Ida Kohlmeyer: Systems Of Color
showcases the prolific artistry of Ida Kohlmeyer, a lifelong resident
of New Orleans who took up painting at the age of thirty-five and
became an outstanding representative of both modernism and abstract
expressionism in her work. Indeed, Ida Kohlmeyer achieved national
recognition as a teacher, painter, and sculptor. In addition to
presenting more than one hundred large color illustrations documenting
the development of Kohlmeyer's artistic career, the reader is provided
with a full chronology, a bibliography for further study, as well as a
listing of exhibitions, collections, and commissions. Ida Kohlmeyer:
Systems Of Color is a significant contribution to American 20th Century
Art History Studies and should be a part of all academic library
reference collections accordingly.
Heyday Books
PO Box 9145, Berkeley, CA 94709
www.heydaybooks.com
If it's California or Western history and art you seek, look no further
than Drawn West: Selections From The Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection
Of Early Californian And Western Art And Americana (1890771929, $39.95)
by Jack Von Euw & Geona Shepley, an exceptional gathering of selections
from the Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection of Early Californian and
Western Art and Americana from the Bancroft Library. Drawn West is the
first title to plumb the treasures of the Honeyman Collection, and
editors Jack Von Euw, curator of the Pictorial Collection, and
historian Shepley provide over a hundred images - many reprinted here
for the first time - to outline rare paintings by theme and chronology.
Simply Gorgeous. Hisako Hibi's Peaceful Painter: Memoirs Of An Issei
Woman Artist (1890771902, $20.00) presents the work, life and
influences of a first-generation Japanese woman artist whose craft was
perfected during World War II. Hibi returns to her formative years in
Peaceful Painter, examining her dislocation and incarceration during
the war and adding over twenty color painting examples of her work. A
lovely tribute to Hibi and the American Japanese experience.
Ancient Scandinavian Designs
Bev Ulsrud Van Berkom
Stemmer House Publishers, Inc.
4 White Brook Rd., Gilsum, NH 03448
www.stemmer.com
0880450738, $7.95 1-800-345-6665
The Nordic folk of Scandinavia were noted throughout Europe for their
love of embellishment with respect to their boats, door posts, weapons,
jewelry, and other accouterments of the Viking lifestyle and culture.
Fabled animal and bird forms were among the favored types of decorative
motifs, appearing in highly stylized, easily recognized imagery which
was gradually incorporated into Celtic art styles as well. In Ancient
Scandinavian Designs, Bev Ulsrud Van Berkom has gathered together an
arrangements of designs drawn from surviving artifacts of Scandinavian
culture from the 7th to the 12th centuries A.D., making it a unique and
welcome contribution to personal, professional, art school, and
academic library Scandinavian Art & Cultural History collections. Also
very highly recommended art design titles from the Stemmer House
Publishers "International Design Library" collections are: Rebecca
Mckillip's Celtic Designs (0916144755, $6.95); Frances M. Bradbury's
Faience Designs (0880450568, $5.95); and Silvia Crockett's Angels In
Traditional Design (0880-45086X, $5.95).
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