The Art of the Great Hollywood Portrait Photographers [Hardcover]

John Kobal (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 291 pages
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (October 14, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051764102X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517641026
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,367,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the stars in heaven, April 11, 2007

By 

Phillip Kay (Sydney) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of the Great Hollywood Portrait Photographers (Hardcover)

John Kobal's The Art of the Great Hollywood Portrait Photographers is as good as his book on Hollywood with Kevin Brownlow, which is one of the essential books to read (and one of the essential TV series to watch) for anyone interested in movies.

Kobal gives an illuminating account of the function of the movies during the Depression, contrasted with eg Walker Evan's photography, and explains 'glamour', tying movie stars in with the Venus from Milos and the Mona Lisa quite convincingly. Well thought, well written. Chapters follow on the organisation of the studios, how publicity was done as it has rarely been done before or since. And some beautiful images - Garbo by Ruth Harriet Louise, Clara Bow by Nicholas Murray and Eugene Richie stand out, but there are many. The images are exceptional, taken by some of the greatest artists of the camera and the volume layout does the images justice. All complemented with reminiscences from the stars and photographers themselves. The very best history, anecdotal, with many perspectives and implications explored, and written with love.

This book has touched a deep chord sensitive to vanished beauty. The stars are now just names, some of them not even that. And of course they were not the same as their carefully crafted images displayed in this book. These evoke not only the stars themselves but the fact that they brought hope to many who perhaps would have found it otherwise hard to deal with the Depression - all those hopes, fears, ambitions, petty, grand and mean, silly and endearing. Only the images of beauty remain!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of the Great Hollywood Portrait Photographers, May 5, 2004

By 

Raechel Reiter "raechelr" (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of the Great Hollywood Portrait Photographers, 1925-1940 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Knopf; (October 12, 1980)
First edition copy. This book is oversized and OUTSTANDING!

291 pages of glamour. 1925 - 1940 is the tops in Hollywood glamour. Though the 40s weren't bad either.

These are some magnificent photoplates. Superbly printed in this volume. Even the pickiest at quality (like me) will be happy. Amazing images not shown in other books. The Kobal colection is vast and bar none the best. This is a wonderful selection from him, that he put together in this book.

See more of my reviews for more must have full page or near full page portrait glamour books from this Golden era.

BUY THIS BOOK, then thank me later.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars photos are good enough to frame and I did., December 22, 2010

By 

S. Hoover (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of the Great Hollywood Portrait Photographers (Hardcover)

I bought this book 25 years ago and the photos are unbelievable. Great art of the glam Hollywood at its height. One copy I used to remove the photos to frame them. Book is very hard to find.