Painting-the

I was fortunate enough to have purchased this magnificent volume for its original retail price -- but now feel it may be the most priceless item I have ever owned! As a person who loves to paint (notice I don't call myself "artist" or even "painter") I'm inspired to move forward in capturing something -- ANYTHING of what these artists did. Every time I look through this book and its gorgeous plates, I learn something new about color and light and using paint to sculpture a scene. Having been happily saturated with French and American Impressionists (and we still love them!) it is like entering a parallel universe where all is familiar yet new, and somehow more robust than you can imagine. These works are simply luscious. I pray I live long enough to see a major retrospective. Until then -- this book is my bible, my solace and inspiration. If you can afford it -- or find a deal -- I suggest creating a place of honor in your home -- for the Russians have arrived!!

Wonderful! Well-done!

This is about all I can think to say about this book. Superb text and many, many beautiful illustrations. Russian art wasn't even touched on in my American university art history courses, except for a few important 20th century avant-garde artists...explore this little-known world of Russian impressionist painting with this book. I'm happy I paid the retail price, not the prices asked by the used booksellers now that it is out of print.

Sanctuaries blends beautiful artworks by Peter C. Stone portraying the Wampanoag Homeland of southern New England, with Peter's brief notations communicating the importance of understanding the value and wonder of the natural world. A gentle and inspirational picture book which is suitable for all ages, Sanctuaries truly and visually celebrates the joy and transcendence of life, growth, and love.

This slender book is far more than a strikingly visual evocation of the New England landscape, its lost wolves and native Wampanoags. Its multiple layers of hidden imagery and the sparse, powerful and poetic text encourage readers of all ages to enjoy the sensuousness of our great open spaces, to develop a better appreciation of native culture, to feel the thrill of finding things others don't see. If I were going on solitary retreat, I would take Sanctuaries and read it time and time again. On the other hand, I would also delight in staying home and enjoying it with my children.

i had the experience of being flooded with light and clarity when i first opened and browsed this book. my enthusiasm is in part because of kemp's extraordinary scholarship and detailed command of paintings and art publications across the entire span of western art. but it's also because the story of artistic imaging over the past six centuries is woven around the european romance with linear perspective, which has become so discredited and disliked by artists that it qualifies as a repressed memory. (like any buried memory, perspective surfaces in the dreamlike digital animations of intergalactic science fiction and first person computer games, which take perspective effects to the ultimate level of technical accuracy and artistic triviality.) kemp unearths those repressed perspective memories and shows how vital they were to the development of art and the connections between art and the wider culture of the times.

it is jaw droppingly fun to see how intensive, sophisticated and singleminded was the artistic interest in optical and perceptual issues of seeing. everyone will find special surprises here, but mine include kemp's spatial analysis of velazquez's "las meninas," and the extraordinary drawings and engravings produced c.1800, which force us to realize that we are already looking at "photo graphs," light drawings created by hand, at a time when film photography was not yet practical. there is a large section on various optical devices utilized in visual arts, including the camera obscura and camera lucida, and an excellent section on the evolving understanding and use of color, from the renaissance to seurat.

poignant for me was the victorian fascination with light as a spiritual quality, which comes through in turner's paintings and ruskin's amazing perspectival studies of "clouds" -- images that verge on op art. the intelligence and strength of these images reveal a road left untraveled in art, which turned toward the perceptually driven styles of impressionism and fauvism instead. as a bonus to the many interesting visual exhibits, the writing is lucid, sensible and alert. an invaluable publication.

It's amazing what happens when a scientist studies art history. This is a historical perspective on color theory, camera obscura and perspective. It relates the work of indvidual artists to the advances in science.

The refreshing thing is that Kemp realizes that artists who used perspective were not slaves of science, and an artist such as Turner actually realized that the main item of interest in a scene perceptually appears larger than mathematics would dictate.

My favorite story is how it was considered obvious that there were 5 primary colors because Christ had 5 stigmata, but when Newton proved there were 3 primaries, that was obvious because of the Trinity.

This book is certainly not an easy, but the knowledge gained should forever change the way you look at art.

An excellent book of rare and unique intelligence into the drawing and painting techniques of the Old Masters. It's unusual to find a book by a knowledgeable painter, chemist, historian who was also well connected to some very good painters of the 19th century. As painter himself he actually practiced what he preached and his writings are based on his empirical insights. It shouldn't be out of print as I am continually asked by painters how to get a copy of it.

Jacques Maroger, was the former Technical Director of the Laboratory of the Louvre Museum and President of the Resources of France prior to emigrating to the United States in 1939. Maroger spent most his life painting while he rediscovered the secret painting mediums used by the Old Masters. His medium, made from cook oils saturated with lead and combined with mastic resin, will give your paintings the inner light of the early Dutch Masters. If you are a realist painter, there is no paint medium found today that matches the brilliance of Jacques techniques and formulas. For the student, Maroger's flair for a motivating treatise is a must read

We always did want to see the spirit of a tree. Susan Seddon Boulet did & brings us every detail, enchanting our eyes & entrancing our minds. This artist has a host of calendars & greeting cards to touch the heart, uncurl our modern neutered spirits & fill our eyes with affection, calm & starlight. Lovely & profound.

There is very little I don't own of Susan Seddon Boulet's work in calendar, card or book form. Shaman is an exemplary achievement and work of love done by a woman of profound talent.

I met Susan at a workshop in Rhinebeck, N.Y and was instantly struck by her inner glow. The radiance of a woman who is grounded and knows the path of a Shaman. How better to portray her inner beliefs than through her art work?

The Shaman's Paintings are a testament not only to a spiritual path but also to one of our finest American women artists.

The path of a Shaman is best expressed by someone like Susan Seddon Boulet as she weaves ancient myth and folklore into beautiful tales on canvas.

A must have.

I have never seen such a well done rock art book. It has a good section on styles and fillowing the Rio Grande drainage all the way to Texas. The maps, drawings, and photos are numerous and helpful.

Relative to his work for the state of New Mexico as a water resource geologist, Slifer sees that "one of the principal ideas conveyed by rock art is a sense of place in the landscape...the creation of people who knew intimately their surroundings...they were keenly aware of territory since they walked everywhere; they knew which way the water ran because it was a life-sustaining element." The book includes descriptions of more than a hundred rock art sites in the region beginning near the headwaters of the Rio Grande in Colorado and progressing downstream through New Mexico to south of El Paso, Texas, with more than 300 illustrations, selected not only to represent the various styles, but to be visually interesting and when possible, not previously published. Some relatively unknown sites are presented from more than a decade of fieldwork in the region. Drawings are used when the rock art is so deteriorated that it doesn't photographs well. It begins with background information on the land and its people, progresses to a discussion of rock art styles, then goes to specific sites, first in the Ancestral Pueblo area, then the Mogollon. The last chapter is about public sites, for those who have no local informants to lead them to lesser known ones. As would be expected, throughout the book Slifer ties the rock art to the landscape, as well as the culture. This is a thoroughly researched, well-written, gracefully presented book, a must-have guide to the region for anyone interested in its rock art.

This is a beautiful & unique children's storybook about writing a book! It's a "folder size" glossy softcover, and is filled with vivid imagery and a couple of sentences per page. Published by Scholastic Inc, this book has been featured on the acclaimed PBS-TV children's show "Reading Rainbow".

Simon's Book is a fantastic story for children of all ages that wonderfully illustrates what can happen when you use your imagination. Henrik Drescher's illustration and artwork along with the humourous plot-line and way-cool ending make it a MUST READ. :)

This book was read to me as a child by my father. It taught me a lesson that keeping things simple in life is the key. The phrase "simple Pictures are best" was used in my home from the age of 6 to 21. Anytime I would ask my parents there opinion regarding an outfit I was wearing or an ensamble I was puting together my father would say "simple pictures are best" . I am now 26 and have a baby of my own on the way.I always smile and laugh when I am getting dressed or buying an outfit for my son to be and think of my father saying that key phrase.I just ordered a used version of this book from the 1980's so I can read it to my son in utero. Of all the books that were read to me as a child I have the fondest memories of this book and the lesson that I learned is so valuable.

I've read a lot of books on photography. So, when I saw this book, the title immediately caught my eye. I looked through it and immediately knew I should pick this up to read to my children. It was funny, they laughed, and, I really enjoyed it because it drives home a really fundamental concept of photography. My kids always get a laugh out of the ending; and, the illustrations are great. It's a fun book to read.

I highly recommend it.

This is a wonderful watercolor book, and I must have dozens in my library. Malcolm Beattie gets right to the point and shows you how to emphasize the main points in watercolor painting, and how to add punch and drama to each work.

I especially liked his instruction on how to do figures, whether simple and undetailed, or with action in their movement, to add life to the painting. If you like doing landscapes or cityscapes, this book is for you. I really got some useful tips, and of course Beattie's paintings are worth looking at just for enjoyment alone. Great resource.

As a beginner-to-intermediate painter, I have bought several watercolor books and this seems to be one of the best ones for me. It is not a beginner book, as it is targeted more for the intermediate painter; short on fundamentals and long on technique. In reading it, I had more than one "light-bulb moment". The book sets some realistic goals, and accomplishes them. I really enjoy the painting style represented here, fast and loose with implied rather than explicit detail. The book has lots of example excercises and many full blown projects with varying levels of guidance. It will likely stay on the top of my stack for a while.

This book sums up Siron Franco's best pictures from his most productive and inspired period.

Professor Ades has written a rather comprehensive and honest survey about one of the most important painters of the 20th Century. The trajectory shown in this book is impressive. Siron Franco, a Brazilian artist, certainly deserved a monograph of this level