Book Description
In this beautiful and engaging book, an art historian and a conservation scientist discuss the techniques Vel‡zquez created in order to realize his artistic vision. Examining thirty works by Vel‡zquez that span his entire career, the authors show how his technical achievement developed over time.
From the Back Cover
"Vel‡zquez: The Technique of Genius is an illuminating introduction to what can be learnt from the surface of the pictures. . . . It is built round illustrations of details, nearly all from paintings in the Prado."-Peter Campbell, London Review of Books; "A ravishingly beautiful, highly informative book. Brown and Garrido work well together, interweaving the artistic/historical background with the messy forensic facts effortlessly; the detail is stunning."-George Crisp, Art Review
About the Author
Jonathan Brown is Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts at New York University. He is the author of many books on Spanish art, including The Golden Age of Painting in Spain, Vel‡zquez: Painter and Courtier, and, with John Elliott, Palace for a King, all published by Yale University Press. Carmen Garrido is head of technical services at the Prado Museum in Madrid.
Velazquez: The Technique of Genius FROM OUR EDITORS
Diego Velﾽzquez's innovations in painting technique changed the way every succeeding generation of artist approached a canvas, and how the audience viewed their work. Art historian Jonathan Brown and art conservationist Carmen Garrido Perez present this fascinating study of the Spanish master's use of materials and technique to create his sumptuous pictures. A rare look into the artist's creative process, it includes details of more than 200 of Velﾽzquez's works.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Great painters are invariably great technicians. In creating the techniques he needed to express his ideas, Velazquez became one of the most original practitioners of the art of painting ever known. In this richly illustrated book, two widely recognised specialists on Velazquez -- one an art historian, the other a conservation scientist -- combine their expertise to show exactly how Spain's most famous painter realised his artistic vision. More than two hundred photographs of details of Velazquez's paintings vividly demonstrate how the artist realised his vision of man and nature through a highly allusive, economical manner of painting.
SYNOPSIS
In Velázquez: The Technique of Genius, the authors undertake an intensive analysis of exactly how the artist worked. Focusing on 30 works
that span his career, the authors offer more than 200
photographs of details of Velázquez's paintings to demonstrate
his growth and development as an artist. They also examine the
materials -- the pigments, canvases, and binding media -- that he
utilized. It's an exciting in-depth exploration of the work of one
of the most acclaimed artists of all time.
Art & Photography
Book Info
