The essays collected in this book are beautifully written and intellectually valuable, providing the reader with both pleasure and challenge. Despite The essays collected in this book are beautifully written and intellectually valuable, providing the reader with both pleasure and challenge. Despite the thematic guide that suggests the reader consume only a selection of the essays that center around a particular theme (a useful tool for those who know exactly what they want out of this book, and probably something that should be included in more essay collections) I decided to read the essays sequentially and not miss out on any of them. I’m glad I did–I was introduced to so many artists in such great depth, and so many ways of approaching writing about art. My favorites in this collection are Sheila Heti’s essay on Sara Cwynar and the way artists shop, Chris Kraus on the art scene in LA in the 90s and early 2000s, Ben Lerner on art vandalism, and Hanya Yanigahara, whose essay on David Wojnarowicz concludes the book purely by alphabetical accident but is somehow the perfect final act. The emphasis of this collection is on the art essay as a literary form, so I understand the decision (and the practicalities) behind not including more images in this book, but I can’t help wishing there were more, as long stretches of description or ekphrasis are often easier to comprehend with a visual aid. Art Essays is a fantastic bridging of the literary and art-historical worlds, and I think it would be an amazing addition to an art or book lover’s library, as well as a useful resource as part of a syllabus for a writing or art history course....more
A charming and irreverent take on a style of architecture most people find inaccessible and ugly, Concrete Concept’s beautiful photography and cheeky A charming and irreverent take on a style of architecture most people find inaccessible and ugly, Concrete Concept’s beautiful photography and cheeky text force the reader to reconsider Brutalism and also makes its variations more recognizable. As it is more image-heavy than text-heavy, it is probably best for those seeking a coffee-table book, and certainly one should look elsewhere for in-depth explorations of the Brutalist style and its conceptual basis. I came away from it with a greater affection for a style that I myself have scoffed at quite a bit, and am definitely interested in learning more. Perhaps it’s my own relentless curiosity that makes me wish this book had a little more exposition about Brutalism and its context, but despite this it fulfills a need for a more lighthearted approach to architectural history and is certainly tailor-made for those who are already big fans of the style....more
The Museum provides a useful survey of the history of museums, supplemented by a wealth of excellent photography that enriches the text and would makeThe Museum provides a useful survey of the history of museums, supplemented by a wealth of excellent photography that enriches the text and would make this a great coffee table book. Hopkins discusses a wide variety of museums and brings in extremely current, relevant issues. This book is probably best for readers new to the history of museums and collecting; since I already knew quite a bit, there wasn’t much until the last couple of chapters that was truly new to me. It seems to me that some of the assertions made in the book--mostly in the Introduction and the final chapter--need more explanation or unpacking, such as the idea that museums “embody architecture at its most fundamental,” or the idea raised in relation to the Capitoline collection in Chapter 1 that a museum *needs* a museum building, or the idea expressed in the final chapter that the object is not central to the museum, based on three defining characteristics set out by the author. Despite an insistence on the importance of architecture to a museum, the book seems to treat museum architecture rather unevenly, discussing newer museums’ architectural innovation at much greater length than the architectural developments of museums before the modern age. Quibbles with the text aside, this book would make a great addition to an art lover’s library or as part of the reading for an undergraduate survey course introducing museum studies. Its extensive inclusion of non-Western museums is especially welcome in a field that often lingers on storied European and American institutions....more
The Getty’s catalogue for its Hans Holbein exhibition upholds the usual excellent standard of quality and visual richness of Getty catalogues in generThe Getty’s catalogue for its Hans Holbein exhibition upholds the usual excellent standard of quality and visual richness of Getty catalogues in general--replete with full-color illustrations, this makes an excellent addition to the bookshelf or coffee table of an art lover, Tudor history buff, or Erasmus fan.
The essays within are, by and large, also excellent, with a heavy focus on the materiality and process behind Holbein’s works. The contributors elaborate upon Holbein’s relationship with his patrons, in particular Desiderius Erasmus and the constellation of humanists who followed him. General readers might be more familiar with Holbein’s work as a portraitist to the Tudor court, which the essays discuss less extensively, and as such might be disappointed by the focus on lower gentry, merchants, and intellectuals. I was personally pleasantly surprised by the focus on humanism and the world beyond the Tudor court, as well as the positioning of Holbein within the word-versus-image debate of the period. If one reads the essays in the order they appear, however, they might have difficulty getting past the first essay in order to explore these larger questions--while packed full of detail, citations, and dates, it is also quite dry and difficult to penetrate, and it may put off someone from reading the rest of the catalogue, depending on how they choose to read. The essays finish strong, however, with a clearly written and accessible overview of the technical analysis of Holbein’s Allegory of Passion that would be a great entry point for someone trying to better understand conservation and attribution methods.
Overall, this is a lovely volume with a great deal of interesting material, but, as is the case with many exhibition catalogues, its cohesion and overall argument may be less useful to readers than the quality of its reproductions and the information and observations of its individual essays. For catalogue collectors, Holbein aficionados, and others like them, this is certainly a must-get. General readers will definitely enjoy the images and hopefully glean fascinating information from the essays. However, not being a Holbein expert, I can’t comment on whether it is a substantive addition to the scholarly conversation on the artist....more
(I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and W.W. Norton in exchange for an honest review.) With Women in the Picture McCormack(I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and W.W. Norton in exchange for an honest review.) With Women in the Picture McCormack creates a beautifully written, broad-ranging survey of feminist concerns in Western art history that serves as an entry point to feminist art history for general audiences and enriches enthusiasts’ understanding of the field. McCormack investigates the work of big names--Botticelli, Michelangelo, Morisot, Gentileschi, Ringgold, Beyoncé--as well as that of more niche figures like Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Leonor Fini, to explore four major archetypes of womanhood in art history and visual culture: Venus, the mother, the damsel, and the monstrous woman.
Within this four-archetype structure, McCormack also takes time to specifically address the implications these archetypes have for Black women’s bodies and how they are portrayed, a welcome and necessary element, given art history’s tendency to focus primarily on white, Western images, bodies, and artists. The relationship of the four archetypes to queerness, transness, and non-binary identities is occasionally discussed, but I think the book would have benefited from a little more engagement with this (for example, the “monstrous women” chapter seems like a perfect opportunity to discuss the current cultural tendency to characterize trans women’s bodies as “monstrous” or “deceptive.”) Overall, I’d love to see even more broad-ranging and intersectional analysis in this book, not because there’s any great lack of it, but because I enjoy McCormack’s analysis and want to see how far she can take it and what interesting images she can bring in for discussion.
Women in the Picture is a great addition to art lovers’ personal libraries, with elegant prose and insightful, well-supported analysis, not just of the art historical canon, but of contemporary visual and pop culture. There are some points which may be a little difficult for general readers to penetrate, and possibly some missed opportunities for further analysis, but I’d absolutely recommend this book regardless of one’s art education level....more