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Art & Beauty Magazine
Book by R. Crumb
Paperback
Published January 1, 1996
About the author
Robert Crumb
572 books545 followersRobert Dennis Crumb (born August 30, 1943)— is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.
Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin'" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters "Devil Girl", "Fritz the Cat", and "Mr. Natural".
He was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1991.
Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin'" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters "Devil Girl", "Fritz the Cat", and "Mr. Natural".
He was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 2, 2022
Crumb drew some shapely and rotund women. He inserted some deep quotes about art by great writers and painters beside the drawings of these beauties. The best quote is by Crumb himself:
"Despite the relentless drive towards elimination of the object in modern art movements, the female form continues to demand attention."
Hahahahha! Crumb like most pompous (most artists are that, it cannot be helped) artists tries very hard to explain his perversions. I modified my review after reading Art & Beauty #2, which does not have a separate page on Goodreads. I appreciate Crumb's endeavor to amplify his perversions. Very few artists have the guts to do this.
This is interesting. It is like pornography with an artistic touch. I like a bit of both - the artistic porn as well as the injudicious porn. At the end of the day, this is porn. Crumb is a brilliant creator of porn.
This man wanted to rise above the mundane and the mediocre like HP Lovecraft. All these drawings are simply hyperbole. Well, he hired a bunch of well endowed female models and imposed his fantasies onto them. Well done, Crumb. Reason is the enemy of art. I can drink to that.
"Despite the relentless drive towards elimination of the object in modern art movements, the female form continues to demand attention."
Hahahahha! Crumb like most pompous (most artists are that, it cannot be helped) artists tries very hard to explain his perversions. I modified my review after reading Art & Beauty #2, which does not have a separate page on Goodreads. I appreciate Crumb's endeavor to amplify his perversions. Very few artists have the guts to do this.
This is interesting. It is like pornography with an artistic touch. I like a bit of both - the artistic porn as well as the injudicious porn. At the end of the day, this is porn. Crumb is a brilliant creator of porn.
This man wanted to rise above the mundane and the mediocre like HP Lovecraft. All these drawings are simply hyperbole. Well, he hired a bunch of well endowed female models and imposed his fantasies onto them. Well done, Crumb. Reason is the enemy of art. I can drink to that.
September 30, 2022
The closest thing to a fine art book that crumb has published. A selection wonderful portraits of women done by a master of the pen.
February 3, 2017
Robert Crumb on form as usual.
The book itself is great, very nice edition.
As for the content, It's Robert Crumb drawing beauty.
You know what to expect.
The book itself is great, very nice edition.
As for the content, It's Robert Crumb drawing beauty.
You know what to expect.
February 9, 2021
an exceptional parody of the 50s titillation magazine driven out of business by the rise of Playboy. Instead of grainy photography, Crumb demonstrates his mastery of texture with meticulous crosshatching. The text counterpoints the artistic content and maintains the ridiculously enhanced flowery captions that sought to elevate the rather sordid visuals.
June 25, 2015
One really must read this to fully understand the Crumb aesthetic.
June 24, 2024
Overall, not a good read. Crumb's art is very far from being "beautiful" or "incredible", and the title don't holds itself while you begin reading whatever this was supposed to be. Like I said, Crumb's art is far from anything close to the very concept of " B e a u t y " itself. His art is ugly, and that is something that you should take in consideration when picking any comic book to read. His ugly art is very showed here, where he makes ugly drawings of women in sexual or sensual positions, and, of course, he makes every drawing of them adequate to his own sexual preferences. Every women depicted here are bulk, big, tall, with strong legs and big breasts, like uncle Crumb likes. Of course being the sex addicted pervert he is this is no surprise, but I was expecting something more interesting from old Crumb after reading some Fritz the Cat and the stuff he did for Eros Comix, the "ID" series (actually thinking better, even Art & Beauty magazine is better than ID...)
Which is interesting is that Crumb included a lot of phrases from random authors, even George Bataille is quoted eventually. This quotes were put with the illustrations to probably give a more meaningful thing behind the overly sexual illustrations made by Crumb. Another interesting, if not sad or desperate fact is that Crumb tries to copy classical artists in his pursuit to depict the female beauty. One example of this is his version of the three graces by Jean-Baptiste Regnault. The result, well... Crumb's version lack any "beauty", nothing even close to Regnault's work. And that's not matter of technique, it is a matter of understanding.
You see, what you notice in Crumb's work is that he is attached to sex in a way it keeps him from achieving art in itself. So, his drawings of women always have that sexual tone to it. That's it, Crumb sees women, the feminine beauty, the holy mother, as a sexual symbol and nothing more.
He makes art to masturbate to, not to appreciate.
Classical artists depicted nude women, but there was another element to it, something beyond sexual desire and sexual pleasure. Of course, there was themes about this in the works, but that wasn't all. There was a spirit in it, something metaphysical about the feminine and masculine principles in themselves. That is the distinction between high art and lower art. In one side you have Regnault, the female beauty being exposed for their own sake and symbol. By the other side you have Robert Crumb, where every women looks bulky and is sexually explored for the sake of quick orgasms. Crumb didn't get that, it's not about the sex, it's about the Divine.
So, this isn't a good read, avoid it because overall it is trash. If you want to get into eroticism or stuff like that read Milo Manara instead, at least he has good art.
Which is interesting is that Crumb included a lot of phrases from random authors, even George Bataille is quoted eventually. This quotes were put with the illustrations to probably give a more meaningful thing behind the overly sexual illustrations made by Crumb. Another interesting, if not sad or desperate fact is that Crumb tries to copy classical artists in his pursuit to depict the female beauty. One example of this is his version of the three graces by Jean-Baptiste Regnault. The result, well... Crumb's version lack any "beauty", nothing even close to Regnault's work. And that's not matter of technique, it is a matter of understanding.
You see, what you notice in Crumb's work is that he is attached to sex in a way it keeps him from achieving art in itself. So, his drawings of women always have that sexual tone to it. That's it, Crumb sees women, the feminine beauty, the holy mother, as a sexual symbol and nothing more.
He makes art to masturbate to, not to appreciate.
Classical artists depicted nude women, but there was another element to it, something beyond sexual desire and sexual pleasure. Of course, there was themes about this in the works, but that wasn't all. There was a spirit in it, something metaphysical about the feminine and masculine principles in themselves. That is the distinction between high art and lower art. In one side you have Regnault, the female beauty being exposed for their own sake and symbol. By the other side you have Robert Crumb, where every women looks bulky and is sexually explored for the sake of quick orgasms. Crumb didn't get that, it's not about the sex, it's about the Divine.
So, this isn't a good read, avoid it because overall it is trash. If you want to get into eroticism or stuff like that read Milo Manara instead, at least he has good art.
August 23, 2015
Estupenda selección de pin-ups que muestra el estilo y talento de un artista extraordinario.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews