Customer Reviews

The Art of Lassen: A Collection of Works from Christian Riese Lassen

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This book has most of his paintings each with a brief description of them. Not only does the description explain the medium and other basic info, some also go into detail about how he became inspired to draw each particular painting. Most of the pictures are at least half a page to a full page, therefore you can really observe details. It contains a brief biography of him as well. It is a great book to add to any Lassen/Wyland collection. In addition to his famous aquatic scenes, his self portraits are included, and even early work he created in different mediums and techniques. Every painting you would want from him is there so vivid you can imagine yourself there... I genuinely loved the book and can honestly recommend it to everyone.

I feel extremely fortunate to own this book. I was window shopping at the mall and it was there just screaming out to me! I rushed into the store, flipped through it, saw the reasonable price and bought it without hesitation. The high quality galleries are amazing!

The protective book cover (which screamed to me) has his piece entitled "Sanctuary" which in the book he says "Sanctuary was created for the United Nations to be used for its 1992 commemorative First Day Cover calling for the preservation of the world's oceans...In this work, I have expressed the interconnectedness that I see between Earth's life forms and the very basic creative forces of the universe itself."

This book is priceless to me. It has everything: from writings about Lassen's exotic background and plenty of photos of him (surfing, beside his car and on his motorcycle, with family and friends,) and 2 self portraits; to his spectacular work in amazing color (over 100 plates in all!); to possibly the best part- his notes on each plate which gives the reader insight into who Christopher Riese Lassen really is.

It also includes many of his triptychs in fold-out display. I am a very proud owner of this book which will easily be worth 10x or more than what I paid for it. It will remain priceless to me.

I highly recommend you find a way to get your hands on this book! Awesome! This is a keeper!

I have to mention my personal favorite plates: 1 ETERNITY 2 BLUE HANA MOON 3 AFTER THE STORM 4 NIGHT DANCER 5 SANCTUARY 6 IN ANOTHER WORLD 7 OUR WORLD 8 THE FALLS OF HANA 9 THE INFINITE WAY 10 REVELATIONS 11 DREAM 12 TIGER 13 LAHAINA VISIONS TRIPTYCH

I COULD GO ON FOREVER! HE IS ONE OF THE MOST GIFTED ARTISTS OF OUR TIME!

Christian Riese Lassen is truly a magnificent painter. His paintings are so myterious. He has a creative mind always swimming with imagination as he paints dreamlike worlds of beautiful seasides, above the surface and below in the deep oceans realm flooded with marine life. His art is simply amazing and he paints with so much detail! Soooo colorful too. It's unbelievable. I'm a marine life artist myself, and still I can not even come close to painting like him! I don't know how he does it. Just gorgeous.

This book is marvelous. Not only containing many of his marine life paintings,but also self portraits, impressionism, and a few other sorts of other types of interresting paintings. It also has some text explaining his life story since his miraculous birth as his mother diagnosed with Polio wished for another son, who came into the world as Christian. His mother's promise to God to give this name to another son and raise him in a religious way. This son, born by a miracle, became one of the best and truly gifted artists of our time. God gave Christian this other miracle besides his birth. His talent to create such wonderful pieces of art to capture our imagination and appreciation for nature as it is and should remain. In beauty and magnificence as we should preserve it. Christian shares his gift with the rest of us.

This book also shows in pictures as well as explains Christian's other passions in life besides painting, his love of surfing the waves, and exotic cars. He has recieved many awards in his life and is the founder of "The SEAVISION FOUNDATION" in an effort to restore and preserve the oceans so marine life can live healthy in clean waters.

This is a wonderful book. I give it 5 stars even though I wish there were more of his underwater paintings, but it is outdated-1993. Overall, a good book anyway.

-Rehana(Chicago, IL)

While living in Hawaii in early 2002 and exploring Waikiki beach,I discovered Christian Riese Lassen's art galleries.
After spending countless hours getting lost and absorbed in his one of a kind artwork,I had to own some of it!His first book,THE ART OF LASSEN,was my first Lassen collector's artifact.In addition to his stunning art,the book also includes his
biography and personal journey towards becoming a world class artist,as well as surfer and wind surfer(Mr. Lassen was actually FIRST renowned for his athletic prowess as a surfer BEFORE he became renowned as an artist!)This first book displays many of his earliest works.Many of the ocean themed paintings are rendered in the "above and below" style.That is,the art piece shows above and below images of what's on land and what's beneath the ocean.There are also a few color photos of Mr.Lassen at work on his paintings.Also pics of him with people who have influenced his life,most notably his mother,Carol Lassen,who prayed for another son after contracting polio,and surviving.That son would be,and is,Christian Riese Lassen.
Even if you've never visited or lived in Hawaii,you'll truly appreciate the unique skill of this incredibly talented artist and his portraits of Hawaiian and sea life.He has a truly spiritual touch to his work.Be sure to visit his website at Lassenart.com.

I've actually almost worn out the binding on my book. I always look at it. You can spend some time noticing the various details in the art. The crisp photos (plates)of each painting are sharp.

I actually appreciate the biography, and the index, where you get to know a little bit more about the artist. There are some good photos from behind the scenes that provide a little insight into his process. He also provides some thoughts on each painting in the index.

I enjoy his work. When I first visited Hawaii as a kid, I thought his painting captured the elation of my first time in a tropical paradise. As an avid sketch artist, he was able to capture my attention. I remember my father telling me we had to go. But, I wanted to sit and analyze the details in his paintings that were displayed.

Now that I'm a trained artist, with an art education, I still appreciate his detail, and his methods. As a bodyboarder, I'm trying to capture my own vision of the ocean. I think his work will no doubt influence me. I hope I can be original though.

Great book !

If you like his art you'll love this book. It's big a colorful. And his art work is outstanding.