Fifty Old Master Paintings from the Walters Art Gallery

by Eric M. Zafran

Book by Zafran, Eric M.

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1988

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received Fifty Old Master Paintings from The Walters Art Gallery for free when renewing my membership to the museum. Published a few decades ago during a reinstallation, it focuses on fifty paintings in the collection, and provides a one to two page discussion of each with accompanying page-sized photo. There is also a brief essay on the history of The Walters, which is particularly enjoyable as it references different paintings by number in discussing the collection. It was obviously put together specifically with this book in mind, rather than just a repackaged basic history of the museum. Overall, it was an easy read, and enjoyable. While it might be a little beyond what a casual reader might enjoy (some of the discussion can be fairly technical, and many of the entries assume you’re familiar with the artist’s career) it is easy reading, and certainly worthwhile. There are a few minor points for improvement. The work skews some towards Italian religious works of the Renaissance and Baroque, more so than their collection does generally. Several of the works only contain a sentence or two when much more could have been written (others go on for two pages, so it isn’t as if this book skimps on text). Finally, some painting discussions include long quotes in very tiny font, which seems strange from a layout perspective given that the text may only cover half the page. Those issues aside, this is certainly a fun book I’d recommend, particularly if you have an interest in The Walters collection. I wish more museums would put out books in this format (large images, mix of paintings from throughout the collection, lighter reading) in addition to the larger, collection specific tomes and brief guidebooks often seen.