Customer Reviews

Ad Reinhardt

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Aside from being rather expensive, this is an excellent introducion to Ad Reinhardt, perhaps the most irascible and independent of the (by their own description) irascible abstract expressionist artists of the 1940's and 50's. There are enough reproductions that you can see Ad's development, and they were done very well technically. This is an achievement because Reinhardt's late paintings, which relied on very subtle gradations of black, have to be among the hardest to reproduce in the history of art. (By the way, they are also good paintings to show to people who think abstract art does not take any skill.) The introductory essays are more readable than much of what has been written about modern art. However, the best writing about Ad Reinhardt's work was that of Reinhardt himself He was a very witty and idiosyncratic writer who fiercely defended his attitude about art and life in prose that is sometimes difficult, but always funny and ultimately enlightening. This book is comprehensive enough to be a mini-anthology of Reinhardt's writings. If you can possibly look at this book before you buy it, I would do so, since it is so expensive; if you like abstract art, however, I think you will find it beguiling.