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Dvora
(new)
Oct 14, 2010 11:04AM
I made my suggestion partially because I don't see much discussion around our current read and thought perhaps it was because the book was focussed on information not giving us much to actually discuss. A discussion of hoists or quality of marble is not an interesting discussion if you are not in the profession.
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I suspect the problem was not that it is information as such, but that it is information of a sort that many art/art history people find a bit dull and mechanical.Anyway - why not just let heather run the vote and see if the next doesn't show better results.
We could also try dedicating Nov. to Lemons & Oysters, and the voted book for Dec.
Just an idea fwiw.
Lemons and Oysters sounds good to me. I'm hoping more people will throw their titles in. I have a huge Art shelf, Art History shelf, Exhibition Catalogue shelf... There are several I'd like to suggest but I don't know what would appeal to anyone...if anyone wants to browse, feel free!Art
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Art Gallery
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Art History
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Arts and Crafts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Decorative Arts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Architectural History
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Exhibition Catalogues
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Monica, Make your suggestions, I thought everyone was just putting up ideas for monthly reading. I just went on goodreads and found some that I thought might be interesting.
Monica wrote: "Lemons and Oysters sounds good to me. I'm hoping more people will throw their titles in. I have a huge Art shelf, Art History shelf, Exhibition Catalogue shelf... There are several I'd like to sugg..."Can't see your choices as your shelves are private.
Lemons and oysters sounds good to me, Monica.
I sent friend requests Robin and Lobstergirl
fwiw my suggestions were in post #42. #53 was for browsing.
I's like to read Lemon and Oysters as a group.
AC started the Lemon and Oysters title. I think! Now we know what title we're talking about.
I'm game... (and yes, Ruth - that's what I meant)
Does anyone know where I can go online to read Still Life with Oysters and Lemons, it seems to have disappeared off the shelf from my local library.
Robin wrote: "Does anyone know where I can go online to read Still Life with Oysters and Lemons, it seems to have disappeared off the shelf from my local library."I think most books under copyright are not posted on-line. That's probably the majority of books (apart from old literature) that one would likely want to read... But one never knows...
OK, we will read the Still Life With Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy for the month of November and we will keep thinking of which book to vote on next for December We will vote on the first of November for December's book. I will start a thread for the ...Oysters and Lemon book for those of you who have finished or discarded the Brunelleschi's book and would like to start reading that now.
I like what I see of this book and I love the idea of having the author around for the discussion. I also have no problem with reading fiction about artists. As some people say "it's all fiction" anyway, only with so-called non-fiction, people tend to think they are getting the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth whereas I think sometimes fiction can sometimes be truer than non-fiction (depends on the writer). I support the nomination of The Jump Artist.
I think this book looks great, love the reviews and they got high marks! I've added it to my list to read and hope more people check it out! Thanks, Austin.
After History of Beauty, maybe it's time for something a little lighter. I'd like to nominate a delightful memoir, The Life in the Studio by Nancy Hale. It's out of print, but copies would be in libraries, and at Amazon, abebooks and Alibris. Cheap.Here's my Goodreads review:
"Nancy Hale's father Philip was a painter, art critic, and teacher. Her mother, Lillian Westcott Hale, was a portrait painter. She grew up in a house not only permeated with art, but glowing with the joy of making art. This memoir is full of that joy. It's gone out of print, which is a damned shame."
ON SEEING by F. Gonzalez-Crussi (below is synopsis of book)Sight is almost unanimously regarded as the sense most vital to our day-to-day survival and awareness of the world around us. It is also the sense that dominates our subconscious and our dreams, and from the earliest efforts in the arts, painters and sculptors have explored the boundaries between these two states. In this elegantly written and probing examination of vision, award-winning author F. Gonzalez-Crussi explores the breadth of fascinating phenomena associated with seeing.
From ancient myth (Actaeon's illicit glimpse of the bathing Diana), to eighteenth-century France (when two voyeurs sparked a bloody anti-royalist riot on the Champs-de-Mars), to modern-day advances in microscopy and photography, Gonzalez-Crussi surveys the ways in which, through the sense of sight, perceiver and perceived are inextricably joined, each affecting the other in a profound way, and how our awareness of this union has led to millennia of curious preoccupations. With its spectacular breadth, insight, wit, and fascinating detail. On Seeing is a vastly entertaining book that enlarges our awareness of the world around us. Book jacket.
Those are great suggestions Ruth and Jim. And thank you for leaving the synopsis of each book!I would like to introduce one of our own member's books:
The Jump Artist
by Austin Ratner (Goodreads Author)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57...
"The Jump Artist, praised as “a remarkable work” by Harper’s Magazine and featured in Publishers Weekly in 2009 as one of ten promising debuts, is a novel based on the true story of Philippe Halsman, a man who Adolf Hitler knew by name, who Sigmund Freud wrote about in 1930, and who put Marilyn Monroe on the cover of Life magazine.
The story begins in September 1928, when Halsman and his father were hiking in the Tyrolean Alps. While Halsman went ahead on the trail, his father was attacked and murdered. The Jewish 22 year old would be falsely accused of killing his father. The Jump Artist follows his life story from the murder and trial in Austria, into the depths of Halsman's despair in prison, to his rise in Paris and New York as one of the world's most renowned photographers.
Austin Ratner’s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine and has been honored with the Missouri Review Editors’ Prize in Fiction. He attended the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Before turning to writing he received his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and he is co-author of the textbook Concepts in Medical Physiology. This is his first novel."
Goodreads Review
On that note, I would like to put a vote in for our Jonathan's book:
The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren
by Jonathan Lopez (Goodreads Author)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33...
"It's a story that made Dutch painter Han van Meegeren famous worldwide when it broke at the end of World War II: A lifetime of disappointment drove him to forge Vermeers, one of which he sold to Hermann Goering in mockery of the Nazis. And it's a story that's been believed ever since. Too bad it isn't true.
Jonathan Lopez has drawn on never-before-seen documents from dozens of archives to write a revelatory new biography of the world’s most famous forger. Neither unappreciated artist nor antifascist hero, Van Meegeren emerges as an ingenious, dyed-in-the-wool crook—a talented Mr. Ripley armed with a paintbrush. Lopez explores a network of illicit commerce that operated across Europe: Not only was Van Meegeren a key player in that high-stakes game in the 1920s and '30s, landing fakes with famous collectors such as Andrew Mellon, but he and his associates later cashed in on the Nazi occupation.
The Man Who Made Vermeers is a long-overdue unvarnishing of Van Meegeren’s legend and a deliciously detailed story of deceit in the art world."
Goodreads Review
Some of us may have read Jonathan's book and if this book is chosen, we can place our informed comments for the rest of the group.
I appreciate Ruth's suggestion of choosing a more 'light read'. I agree that a couple of the past books have been a little heavy.
Any more suggestions?
I'll read anything about Cornellhttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/81...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45...
I was going through past posts, there are so many good ones suggested! I would like to put in for another one that Monica suggested last time:Michelangelo: Six Lectures (Oxford Studies in the History of Art & Architecture) Johannes Wilde
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...
Per AC:Poussin and Nature (Christiansen):
http://www.amazon.com/Poussin-Nature-Arc...
Giotto to Dürer (Dunkerton):
http://www.amazon.com/Giotto-Durer-Renai...
Masters of 17th century Dutch Landscape Painting:
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Century-Du...
David Hockney by David Hockney
http://www.amazon.com/David-Hockney/dp/0...
The volume Giotto to Dürer was highly recommended by Gombrich as including a lot of material on the material aspects of early modern art -- and is large format (heavy) and beautifully produced. The Poussin volume is great. Dutch landscape Painting looks magnificent, but will be hard to find.
One more, Heather -- in addition to those fourChinese Painting:
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Thousand-...
Where is our previous book list and where is the Japanese New Years thread??
I will come up with the list from the polls. The Japanese New Years thread is: topic: Picture of the Day > January 2011 Favorite Pictures
These are from the most recent poll where we voted for History of BeautyThe Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo
Leonardo's Notebooks
Giotto to Durer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery
Corot: the Poetry of Landscape
Bauhaus Women
Masters of 17th Century Dutch Landscape Painting
The Stranger from Paradise: A Biography of William Blake
Naked Came I: A Novel of Rodin
M.C. Escher: The Graphic Work
Hockney by Hockney
I'm very interested in reading Ruth's suggestion of The Life in the Studio by Nancy Hale. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76...But here are a few other to consider:
Women and Art: Contested Territory – 192 pp.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/94...
and I'm still interested in reading this larger book:
Tom and Jack: The Intertwined Lives of Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock (416 pp.)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66...
I hope I got in everyone's suggestions by now as I just posted the first three polls. I think that for our next poll, I will only post those books with 2 or more votes. And I will create this poll on Thursday. Hopefully that will give everyone enough time to vote for the current polls.
Regarding what book to read for April . . .I believe that the challenge is that many people who are a member of the Art Lovers group vote, but do not participate online. I feel you should only vote if you are going to participate in the discussion.
For instance if the book selected is based on 8 votes, but only 2 of the voters actually participate, then the book which only had 3 votes, which had all 3 people participating, would reflect the highest number of those actually participating.
Another group where I'm a member has a policy of sending out an email that requires you to submit whether you will partipate in the group read (commitment.) That way they know how many people will actually be participating in the discussion.
If you look at the votes and those who actually participated, it was a total of 5 people.I think the "But Is It Art?: An Introduction to Art Theory" looks good. Many reviewers gave it 3 to 5 stars. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...
Or if you want to vote for other books . . .
I'm new to this group, but I would love to read and discuss"The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo" by Irving Stone.
Wow, you're ambitious Kelley. Both are over 600 pages.
Well, either/or really. Hmm. My old edition of the Story of Art is only 469 not including the index and mostly illustrations.
Story of Art is a fairly easy read. My old edition is only 400 and some, too. Maybe they've added a section on more recent art. Altho that couldn't be by Gombrich--he's long dead.
The Story of Art is looking good to me, too. I like 'easy read' and 'mostly illustrations'! I kind of hope it gets chosen.
Donna wrote: "I'm new to this group, but I would love to read and discuss"The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo" by Irving Stone."
Hi Donna! That is a great book, I really enjoyed it. I like anything by Irving Stone, really. We had that one on the poll to vote for last time, I will post it again. Thank you for your input.
I have some books to contribute to the monthly book challenge selection process.1) The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation
Judy Chicago
2) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
3) Thomas Gainsborough edited by Michael Rosenthal, Martin Myrone
4) The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr
5) Alphonse Mucha: The Spirit of Art Nouveau by Victor Arwas, Jana Bravcova-Orlikova and Anna Dvorak (1998)
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin But I suppose that is number 6. I will quit now.
Thank you for your suggestions, Caryl!About the book The Story of Art. I have two comments. John's concern about an 'introduction' book could be applied also to this book since it is basically an introduction into art history.
But in another thread, Judi commented the following: "I'm very new to this group, and I am getting the feeling that this group is intended for advanced art and art history professionals. Is there a group that is not so "well read" for people interested in learning about art?"
How should we address this issue? The Story of Art got mostly great reviews by novices and professionals alike. But I don't want anyone to be bored to death! How many members are there who would like more of an introduction, or overview of art? I know I wouldn't mind brushing up a bit!
Gombrich's Story of Art is basically a one-volumne art history text. It's written very well and never drags or preaches. Maybe it would be a good idea to mix up the kinds of books read--art history, novels with an art theme, biographies, art theory, books that are basically picture books showing works from a single artist or period, books discussing a single artist or period in depth.
I would not be opposed at all to reading The Story of Art. Every book comes from its own particular slant with new information. And even if I have read several sequential Art HIstory books, I always put things together differently and make connections I hadn't previously made.I also think it a good idea to have a group read on a variety of book types with the visual arts theme as Ruth mentioned above.
I wouldn't care to read the Agony and the Ecstasy, but if you want novels with an art theme, there seem to have been a plethora of them lately, starting with Girl With a Pearl Earring, which is quite well done.
One art-related novel I enjoyed a lot was Susan Vreeland's The Luncheon of the Boating Party -- a story based around Renoir, his painting, and the people portrayed in it.
I agree with Ruth on reading a variety of books that deal with art. It would also be good to alternate the sizes of the books (one month a "big" read, next month a "small" read).some book suggestions --
1. Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory, 128 pp.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33...
Many reviews are 5 stars -- here is what one reviewer wrote:
After his wife is paralyzed from having an accidental fall onto the subway tracks of NYC, Danny Gregory attempts to make sense of the tragedy of life by picking up a pen and some watercolors to document the everyday objects that we neglect by leading busy lives. His idea of slowing down life, a necessity with his wife, leads him to appreciate the little things that surround us.
2. What is Art? by Leo Tolstoy, 252 pp.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...
many good reviews
3. Ways of Seeing by John Berger, 176 pp.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27...
good reviews
IMO Steve Martin's Object of Beauty was not that good. The main character was flat. But it does talk about NYC art world. I preferred his "Shopgirl."
Art Lovers
Books mentioned in this topic
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling (other topics)The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism (other topics)
American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America (other topics)
The Story of Art (other topics)
Still Life with Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy (other topics)
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