MBR: The Art Shelf
Midwest Book Review
The Sporting Art Of Franklin B. Voss
Peter Winants
Eclipse Press
Box 919003, Lexington, KY 40591-9003
www.eclipsepress.com
158150120X $60.00 1-800-582-5604
The Sporting Art Of Franklin B. Voss compiled and edited by Peter
Winants is a splendid, full-color art book featuring the work of
Franklin B. Voss, widely viewed as one of the most reknowned American
equine artists of the twentieth century. With a background in riding
and sporting as surely as artistic talent, his oils on canvas
exquisitely capture the bond between horses and riders in high detail.
A one-page commentary accompanies each full-page illustration, offering
background on the individuals and horses painted as well as notes upon
the artwork itself. A splendid and highly recommended addition to art
shelves, The Sporting Art Of Franklin B. Voss is especially recommended
for the equine sport enthusiast.
May Stevens
Patricia Hills
Pomegranate Communications, Inc.
Box 808022, Petaluma, CA 94975-8022
www.pomegranate.com
076493323X $40.00 1-800-227-1428
May Stevens is an exquisite, artbook presenting the life and works of
artist, poet, teacher, and activist May Stevens, whose prestigious
paintings are among the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, and many
more. Presenting a matter-of-fact "conversation" with May Stevens that
reveals at length her history, motivations, styles, motifs, and other
nuances side-by-side with a breathtaking gallery of black-and-white
photographs and full-color plates, May Stevens thoroughly explores both
the visual originality and the philosophical subtext of Stevens' art.
Highly recommended!
Rockwell Kent
Jake Milgram Wien
Hudson Hills Press
PO Box 205, Manchester, VT 05254
155595250X $50.00 hudsonhills.com
Rockwell Kent: The Mythic And The Modern is a superbly organized,
deftly written, engagingly presented showcase of American modernist
painter Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) by independent curator and history
Jake Milgram Wien. From stunning oil on canvas to wood engraving to
linecut on paper invitations, Kent's art encompasses a wide diversity
of mediums, celebrating everything from the passion of lovers to the
majesty of nature. The glory of Ket's work in full color is
complemented by the insightful elaborations of the text vignettes
concerning each piece. A most welcome contribution to personal and
library artbook shelves.
Artists' Houses
Gerared-Georges Lemaire
Jean-Claude Amiel
The Vendome Press
1334 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021
0865652309 $50.00 1-212-737-5297
In Artists' Houses, historian and art critic Gerard-Georges Lemaire has
compiled and written a informed and informative work that blends art
history, interior design, and biographical sketches of fourteen
fascinating artists from Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, the
Czech Republic, and America. The reader is treated to a kind of survey
of the private homes of these extraordinary men and women who put as
much care and creativity into the design and furbishing of their homes
and gardens as they did their paintings. The artists featured include
Andre Derain, Frantisek Bilek, Frederic Church, Alphonse Mucha, Rene
Magreitte, Rosa Bonheur, Gustave Moreau, William Morris, Gabrielle
Munter, James Ensor, Claude Money, Alfred Kubin, Giorgio De Chirico,
and the members of the Bloomsbury Group. The fascinating text is
wonderfully illustrated throughout with the impressively visual
photography of Jean-Claude Amiel. Enhanced with the inclusion of a
House Directory and a Bibliography, Artists' Houses is an strongly
recommended addition to academic library Art History collections -- and
would make a superb Memorial Fund Acquisition choice community
libraries as well.
The New Acrylics
Rehni Tauchid
Watson-Guptill
770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
www.watsonguptill.com
0823031594 $24.95 1-800-451-1741
So, what's new in the world of acrylic painting? Plenty, according to
acrylic product developer Rheni Tauchid, an artist who has given
demonstrations across the country. New colors have been developed, new
textures are possible, and new applications are revealed in The New
Acrylics: Complete Guide To The New Generation Of Acrylic Paints.
Chapters cover tools, innovations, mediums and everything the artist
needs to know about the latest paints on the market.
Cocinando!
Pablo Yglesias
Princeton Architectural Press
37 East 7th Street, New York NY 10003
www.papress.com
156898460X $19.95 1-800-722-6657
Other books have been written on rock album cover art: here's the first
to cover fifty years of the brightest and best album covers in Latin
music history - and those who fostered them. Using album covers over
the decades, Cocinadndo is an artistic, visual treat of the best Latin
record covers from all genres of Latin music, from congo and bassa nova
to salsa. Cocinando! is a simply gorgeous, rich presentation with
full-page color album covers packing every page.
The Complete Idiot's Guide To Drawing Manga
John Layman & David Hutchison
Alpha Books/Penguin Publishing Group
375 Hudson Street, New York NY 10014
www.idiotsguides.com
1592573355 $19.95 1-805-523-9270
If you're a manga fan thrilled with the Japanese-style comic art which
comprises the medium, and wish to know how to draw your own, then The
Complete Idiot's Guide To Drawing Manga Illustrated is for you: a
survey not just of how to draw, but covering the basic differences
between Japanese and Americanized manga. From typical manga characters
and their props to using the symbols and sound effects involved in
drawing the manga style, this covers all the basics,
Netsuke Masks
Raymond Bushell
Weatherhill
568 Broadway, #705, NY, NY 10012
0834803410 $80.00 www.amazon.com
Masks are the oldest models for Netsuke art, designated as national
treasures, yet remaining a relatively untapped collector's source.
Perhaps that's because few in-depth coverages of Netsuke masks are
available: an absence rectified by Netsuke Masks, packed with black and
white and color plates and historical background on all kinds of
Netsuke masks. Discussions of trick Netsuke, Netsuka characters, and
more assure collectors thoroughly understand mask origins and culture.
The Miracle Of Bryan Pearce
C.J. Stevens
John Wade, Publisher
PO Box 303, Phillips, ME 04966
1882425200 $20.00 www.johnwade.com
Artist Bryan Pearce was born in 1929 and eventually diagnosed as
mentally retarded: he was sent to a school for the retarded when he was
ten and six years later worked at his father's butcher shop scrubbing
pots and pans. When mother Mary brought home a child's coloring book
for her son to play with watercolors, little was she to know his
paintings would eventually be displayed in art galleries around the
world, and would come to be prized by collectors. The Miracle Of Bryan
Pearce follows his evolution as a noted painter, using a first-person
documentation of family challenges and artistic ventures to create a
compelling story.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to
promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We
accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to
post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites,
newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational
newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book
Review a credit line when doing so.
The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines
"Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch",
"Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available
for free on the Midwest Book Review website at
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
If you would like to submit a review for inclusion in our Midwest Book
Review publications, please send an email request to m...@execpc.com for
our "Reviewer Guidelines". We invite your comments, questions and
suggestions.
James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575-1129