The Art Of Olivia (Olivia's Cheesecake Chronicles, 1) [Paperback]

Olivia De Berardinis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2004

The first in a series of books, Olivia's Cheesecake Chronicles, featuring Olivia's art of her favorite models. This volume features cheesecake pinup girl, Rhonda Ridley, cover girl for Olivia's first book Let Them Eat Cheesecake. Over 75% new or unpublished art, with 4 new paintings shown as works in progress to finish. Features a new interview with the artist and a technique page. Contains some nudity.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Olivia De Berardinis was born in California in 1948 but spent most of her childhood on the East Coast. Her father, Sante De Berardinis, was a freelance aeronautical engineer, and his work kept Olivia's family constantly on the move. Being the only child, Olivia lived in an adult world where she spent much of her time drawing. Olivia's playful, flirtatious mother, Connie, served as her favorite model and muse. In 1967 she attended the New York School of Visual Arts. Over the next few years she took odd jobs to pay the rent but continued to paint and began to show her work, primarily minimalist oils on canvas. By 1974 financial pressures induced Olivia to seek out commercial art work, and so she returned to the skills she had gained as a child, painting beautiful women for periodicals and paperback publishers. In a short time Olivia secured regular work painting erotic fantasies for men's magazines. In 1975 Olivia met Joel Beren and they were married four years later. Living on Manhattan's Upper West Side they developed a small publishing business, O Cards, primarily printing Olivia's work as greeting cards. They created another company, Ozone Productions, Ltd. to license Olivia's artwork. In 1984 Olivia met Robert and Tamara Bane and signed her first fine art publishing agreement with Robert Bane Publishing. Over 200 limited editions have since been published. In 1987 the Tamara Bane Gallery in Los Angeles opened its doors with a gala one-woman show of Olivia's artwork. Later that year Olivia and Joel moved to Los Angeles where they reside today. Olivia has had shows throughout the United States and Japan and her work is collected by fans worldwide. Robert Bane Editions remains the exclusive publisher and representative of all of Olivia's original paintings, drawings, studies, gouaches, signed and numbered limited editions, and posters, while eOlivia is the online outlet for books, catalogs, greeting cards, postcards, and collectibles featuring Olivia's art.  

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Ozone Productions; First Edition edition (March 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929643127
• ISBN-13: 978-0929643120
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shows Great Promise of Things to Come!, December 21, 2000

By 

John Gibney (Blackburn, Victoria AUSTRALIA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art Of Olivia (Olivia's Cheesecake Chronicles, 1) (Paperback)

I was unable to attend the recent opening of Olivia's latest exhibition at the Tamara Bane Gallery but I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of this beautiful and informative book.

The first in an on-going series that will focus on some of Olivia's favourite models, this volume showcases Rhonda Ridley, a classically-featured blonde who Olivia transforms into a multitude of personalities, from the contemporary-styled "pin-up" look of "Rhonda II" (my favourite Rhonda painting) to the smouldering "Loose Cannons", where you can't help but wonder what mischief the horny-devil Rhonda has in mind for the hapless viewer.

A particularly interesting feature of this book is the step-by-step explanation Olivia offers on how she created one of her most recent pieces. From pencilled roughs, through to the finished work, Olivia provides details of the techniques she uses when creating her beautiful paintings.

For those of us who love the ways in which Olivia represents the sensuality and personality of women, this is a genuinely insightful volume that offers a glimpse into the secrets of how Olivia draws-out all aspects of the beauty of her models.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing at the very least!, September 4, 2002

By 

P. Campero "Camphark" (Ankeny, IA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art Of Olivia (Olivia's Cheesecake Chronicles, 1) (Paperback)

This comes from an avid admirer and owner of her previous releases: "Let them Eat Cheese Cake", "Second Slice" and now "Cheese Chronicles, 1". Olivia's best work was already published several years earlier. Although this book is chronicled on the beautiful model Rhonda Ridley over the past 10 years, it doesn't do her justice with this "out takes" version of works that didn't make the cut for Olivia's first two books. Save your $ and get the quality Olivia herself wanted us to have...her original series.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Artist, September 4, 2010

By 

Cherry pie "Beauty is only skin deep and even... (Stockton) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art Of Olivia (Olivia's Cheesecake Chronicles, 1) (Paperback)

I am a huge fan of Olivia's work, her paintings and drawings of Betty page and famous models are some of my favorite images in the world. I really admire her unique style and this book really show cases some of her best work its a must have for those who are large fan's of her work.