The books in the Art and Ideas series, which will cover everything from Fra Angelico to Frida Kahlo, are supremely pleasurable to read. Written by scholarly experts who know how turn a phrase and focus a gaze, the books are filled with hundreds of crisp, color reproductions that give purely visual pleasure and information. There have been many coffee-table books on Monet in the last two decades, for example, but the details in this Phaidon volume reveal more of his buttery, brilliant surfaces than many larger but less carefully reproduced pages. Their handy size, 6 1/4 by 8 1/2 inches, makes them easy to carry in a briefcase or backpack, and the text is printed in an easy-to-read typeface, with generous spacing. Even the time lines, biographies, and glossaries in the back are inviting to the eye. There will eventually be more than 100 volumes in the series, which is comparable to Thames and Hudson's World of Art series.
Monet FROM THE PUBLISHER
Claude Monet (1840-1926) the quintessential Impressionist, started his career in the 1860s but remained productive throughout the first quarter of the twentieth century. Carla Rachman's clear and engaging account offers an accessible introduction to Monet's art, analysing the works themselves and also the social basis for the shifts in taste and the changing political and economic forces within Monet's lifetime. The artist's personal life, his relations with dealers, patrons, critics and institutions are seen as formative influences on the choice of subject and construction of pictures. The book traces critical reaction to Monet's work from the early years, which were marked by a clash with conventional artistic values, to the present, when Monet's vision of the world has gained popularity with the public at large.
Art & Photography
Book Info
