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Automobiles of the Chrome Age: 1946-1960
 
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Automobiles of the Chrome Age: 1946-1960 [Hardcover]

Michael Furman (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)


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Book Description

November 1, 2004
Features more than 150 lavish photographs of top models, providing an illustrated index of technical information as well as text that places the creation of period cars within a context of their time, in a volume that includes depictions of such examples as the Buick Skylark, the Ford Skyliner, Fire

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Michael Furman is perhaps the most in-demand photographer of automobiles today, and after one peek inside this large, fetishized monument to the great flowering of the auto industry after WW II, it's easy to see why. Huge fins, bright gleaming chrome, and colorfully glowing paint speak of incredible optimism and consumption of natural resources. A swell companion piece to his Motorcars of the Classic Era, Furman is capable of focusing on details that really make a particular car stand out while never losing sight of the importance of the overall design. There are things you totally expect to see here, like the fin from a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Seville or the deco/ Futurist "angel in flight" hood ornament for the 1947 Nash Ambassador Suburban as well as full side views of the 1951 Buick LeSabre and 1959 Firebird III (which still look like they came from the future for rides to the moon in total comfort). But even the biggest car aficionado will see these immaculately-restored museum quality rides in a different light through the clearly obsessed lens of Furman, whether it be the fin and light detail of the 1956 De Soto Adventurer or the oil cap on a 1959 Fiat Abarth Record Monza Bialbero Zagato! It's hard to think of a better gift for a fan of cars from this era, aside from one of the cars. --Mike McGonigal

About the Author

Michael Furman is a nationally recognized specialist in automobile photography. For more than 25 years he has photographed important launches of such vehicles as the Nissan Altima and Quest, the Mercedes CLK, and the BMW-7 series. He is also the author of Abrams' Motor Cars of the Classic Era.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; Limited, leather edtion with slipcase, only available new from coachbuilt Press edition (November 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0810949725
  • ISBN-13: 978-0810949720
  • Product Dimensions: 13 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Furman's artistry in capturing the romance, power, glamour and extraordinary design of notable cars, from classic-era prewar coachbuilt automobiles through to the present day, has brought him acclaim as the world's preeminent fine art automotive photographer. His proprietary studio techniques and unsurpassed visual craftsmanship create an almost tactile level of nuance and color while faithfully capturing the authentic visage of each car, producing images of exacting realism as seen through the eyes of a great artist.

An award-winning writer and publisher, Furman's work has been featured in both classic car journals and leading popular media, including Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Town & Country, and CBS Sunday Morning. He often collaborates with major museums and notable collectors, such as when he produced "Speed, Style and Beauty, the Cars of the Ralph Lauren Collection", for The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The imprint he founded, Coachbuilt Press, produces volumes widely considered as among the most beautiful and important fine art photography and automobile books ever published. Architectural Digest described "Curves of Steel" as "Filled with sensuous photographs." Library Journal said of "The Art and Colour of General Motors," "A stunning visual history of the company and its most notable cars...Michael Furman's technically exquisite studio photographs of classic cars capture the vehicles' grace and elegance...a strikingly beautiful and substantive history of GM. Highly recommended." And Automobile Quarterly called "Automobiles of the Chrome Age" "A bound compilation of one of the day's most accomplished image gurus." Furman lives and works in Philadelphia, his hometown.

 

Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Five star pictures in a three star frame, April 28, 2006
This review is from: Automobiles of the Chrome Age: 1946-1960 (Hardcover)
Have autos looked any better than Michael Furman's stunning photos, I doubt it. These vehicles look just perfect with liquid looking bodywork and perfect chrome, in fact they probably look better than ones just off the assembly line. This is fine art photography and if you wonder how the 'Furman look' is achieved there is a clue on his website. Click on BIO and you'll see a shot of his studio with an amazing looking light panel hovering over what looks like a very small car. It seems to me that his controlled lighting source is the key and when digital images are printed on quality paper with a 200dpi screen you'll see the perfect picture as on these pages.

The choice of cars seems rather arbitrary, classics like the 56 Austin-Healy, the 58 Ferrari Testa Rosa or the 59 Cadillac Eldorado are a few page turns from possibly the ugliest chrome grill ever of the 51 Hudson Hornet or the bubblegum styling and color scheme of the 56 Ford Crown Skyliner. As well as whole cars there are plenty of lovely close-ups of logos and styling features, the fins of the 48 and 59 Cadillacs, a Buick 49 Dyna-Flow trunk handle or the hood ornament of a 57 Oldsmobile Super 88. Furman's photography can make any vehicle sparkle.

Awe-inspiring as all these photos are I was very disappointed with the book because it is the wrong shape. There are seventy-one side shots of cars and they clearly don't fit an upright page. They rightly have generous margins left and right which means they are even smaller still on the page. If the book had been turned sideways into a landscape format it would perfectly complement these profile photos so instead of being small and surrounded by too much white space the existing ones would be three or four times larger. Another advantage would be to avoid the middle of the book splitting those shots that do extend over a spread. Also, for a lavish photobook it has the usual conceit of placing all the captions on back pages but because of the wrong shape there is plenty of white space on each page for the captions to be set in some elegant typography.

Michael Furman takes beautiful auto photographs and it is unfortunate that this book does not give them the exposure they rightly deserve.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.










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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful!!!!, November 7, 2004
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This review is from: Automobiles of the Chrome Age: 1946-1960 (Hardcover)
Micheal Furman created an amazing collection of car photography. You're taken by the beauty of the different design of the era. Excellent gift for any car enthusiast.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Art of the Automobile between two covers, December 22, 2008
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This review is from: Automobiles of the Chrome Age: 1946-1960 (Hardcover)
If you want a history of the post-WW II automobile industry, this isn't it. Historical sketches of the automobiles that are presented are very brief. If you want a stunning collection of photographs which explore the interplay of light and shadow on the American and European designs of this period, and you want top notch printing to go with the wonderful photography, this is it. Each page is a visual delight, with careful lighting and visual angles that cause you to see these designs in a different way. Highly recommended for 'art of the auto' fans.
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