Friday 15 March 2024

Brushstrokes: up front and personal 5/5






























Don't be put off by the words Great Masters in the title, it actually covers artists from the Old Masters (1300-1860) Impressionists (1860-1905) and Modern Masters (1905-1980). A hundred paintings, in color, from seventy-seven artists are considered and each work gets the same treatment, for instance, Roy Lichtenstein's 'Whaam!' gets two spreads. The first page has a small photo of the artist and about three hundred words regarding his painting technique, this text relates to seven small line drawings and captions revealing how he worked. The right-hand page has a picture of Whaam! and a preparatory black and white drawing, both of which have long captions. The next spread has four life-size details of the painting (each with a simple thumbnail of the work to show where the detail comes from) and again long captions explaining techniques and the materials used.


It is the life-size illustrations that, to me, make this book special. There are plenty of visual art history books, my favorites are the Phaidon series: The Art Book; The 20TH Century Art Book; The American Art Book, all bursting with whole-page works of art but it is only when you can see a lifesize close-up of the work (plus a detailed caption) that things somehow start to fall into place and a greater appreciation is acquired. There is something special in looking at part of Henri Rousseau's 'The Dream' or Frank Stella's 'Hyena Stomp' and knowing that you're seeing part of the painting the same size as these artists created it.

Apart from looking at art techniques (and art history) in a rather unusual way, another reason I love this book is because it is beautifully designed and printed. You can use it as a reference work or just browse through some stunning paintings and understand them and their creators more.

BTW It originally came out in 1985 and it seems there are various reprints so I think it's worth checking the page numbers to see that you buy the complete book. This edition has 541 pages plus another eighteen unnumbered pages at the back. There are three sections to the book (Old Masters, Impressionists and Modern Masters) and I believe each section has been published as a single book.

UK

 


Ella and her life 5/5
































Gordon Parks photo of Ella Watson might not be as famous as that other 'American Gothic', the painting by Grant Wood but this book makes the photo come alive and reveals fascinating details about Mrs Watson, her family and the Washington DC community where she lived.

The first forty-three pages have four illustrated essays about the position of the Black population in Washington and Parks work for the Office of War Information. The last one by Melanee Harvey contributes an excellent overview of the Verbrycke Spiritual Church which was so important to Ella Watson. The essays are followed by sixty photos that Parks took of Ella at work cleaning government offices, street scenes, stores and the congregation at the Spiritual Church. A worthwhile touch here is showing some of the OWI photos on their file cards with the original captions and photo reference numbers. 

An intriguing part of the book are forty pages of Ella's government records from 1919 to 1944. These, apparently, are just a small selection of Ella's several hundred documents in the National Archives in St Louis. (Perhaps worth saying that all government employees have their papers stored in the Archive.) Some pages reproduce creditors' letters sent to her employers saying she was behind with her payments for goods, included are her handwritten replies.

The book is the usual first-class print job from Steidl using a 176 screen for the photos printed on a matt art paper. The book is a revealing celebration of Ella Watson's life and her community through the photos by Parks and the contributors' essays.

US
UK