An Artist in Venice

by Adam Van Doren, Simon Winchester (Foreword)

For the depiction of Venice by artists, it's a high bar that's been set, but Adam Van Doren, grandson of the Pulitzer-prize-winning poet Mark Van Doren, convincingly confronts the competition in this charming memoir, a verbal and visual account of his love affair with the city. His story is personal; like all other artists, he sees the city with and through his own eyes, but he is also well-informed historically. He laces his tour with information, opinion, and citation. With Van Doren as guide, the reader's tour of the city is rich and convincing, filled with the presence of illustrious predecessors.

With an informed preface by the scholar Theodore Rabb and a charming foreword by Simon Winchester, with 23 full-color drawings by the author/artist, and even six pages of commendably lucid notes on the personalities and structures discussed, this is a book that will proudly take its place alongside the many others that have celebrated this city for centuries.

123 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful evening scenes with deep colors. The text was less engaging but it sent me online to find some lovely stuff by Sargent, Whistler, and Turner.
3.5

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Van Doren] has such a gift for watercolors . . . with a bold wet look that still sits up on the page. --John Updike

[Van Doren's] depictions of San Marco and the Grand Canal in Venice, architectural ruins, and boats on the Thamse could double as illustrations for a Henry James tale of Americans abroad. --The New Yorker

[Van Doren] can often be found wandering the streets with his paints, pad, stool, and umbrella for shade, squinting at domes and corbels, caryatids, bays, oriels, cornices, medallions, entablatures and pediments, which he rushes to capture before the light fades. --The New York Times

[Nini · Rating 5 out of 5]

A definite for anyone who has been or wants to go to Venice. Van Doren's book emits the flavor & atmosphere along with a deep appreciation of this "world on water that shouldn't have been". This is a book to savor for its prose, as a roadmap, as an artistic reference, and as a visual biography of a truly magical place. Thanks!

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

As someone who both works at Columbia (which is referenced in the book several times) and has spent several weeks in Venice, I feel I should have enjoyed this book more. Unfortunately it feels like something that could really only be truly enjoyed by a very avid art history major.

[Steven Minniear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book. The pictures are beautiful and the text took me back to our visit a few years ago. The type is pretty and the layout is quite nice. However, the printing in my copy is blurry and/or faint on some pages toward the end.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to return to Venice and I can see Venice with a new view - an architectural one influenced by Adam Van Doren in his art work, his studies of architecture and his stories of Venice. I traveled to Venice in 2011 and it was a wonderful place to experience, Adan's book is a lovely composition about Venice, Venetian art and architecture with equally lovely sketches and paintings.