Customer Reviews

The Book as Art: Artists' Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are looking for inspirational, high quality photographs of some of the best fine art bookwork out there, this is for you. A few of the artists' books featured in here are also illustrated in other books, but the quality of the photographic reproductions here is so top notch that even though I'd seen some of the work before, it didn't matter all that much. The reproductions are fresh and full of detail. Each entry is accompanied by a nice little blurb from the artist explaining the work. Keep in mind that this is a catalogue from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It is not a how-to, and the artists do not give instructions for making similar work or anything like that. This is for inspiration and enjoyment, with a little bit of art criticism thrown in. It's refreshing to see work of such originality and high quality, reproduced so well.

A wonderful book with lovely photography. It highlights the National Museum of Women in the Arts collection of handcrafted books with examples from 108 national and international book artists. Beautiful examples of intricate craftsmanship and fine art.

This book is wonderful! It features many artists and their foray into the world of book arts. The photos are splendid and the background information on the artists is excellent. It arrived in shrink-wrap which protected it nicely. Great book!

One of the best! This book should be on your bookshelf if you are interested in the books as an art form. I would suggest it for any school or college media center. I would not include it on a list for coffee table books but if you have a serious home library which leans toward the book arts,artist journals and sketchbooks; by all means, put this out on the reading table.
The next best thing:Visiting the Museum in person!

This book is a wonderful review of the art of books as contemporary sculpture. As a fiber artist-bookmaker-handmade paper maker, I bought a copy for my own library, then gave another copy as a gift to a fellow artist who was interested in using books and book images in art. Inspirational as well as informative. I look forward to seeing the actual exhibition.

This is one of those products which is true to its theme from the moment you unwrap it.Being a book about the beauty and creativity of books it has itself to be worthy, which it certainly is. It is a pleasure to hold and to explore, as the design and concept have been carefuly considered.
The examples chosen are rich and varied and are divided thematically.The problem is that so many of the books are enormously intriguing that one wants to handle them to discover their mysteries. However the descriptions are usually very good and do allow one to at least understand the concept of the creator.If you love books as art, this is a truly wonderful possession.

I am a mixed media artist and art teacher who has discovered a love for viewing and creating artist books. This catalogue of artist books is one of the most beautiful I've seen. Even though this isn't a how to book, it has given me much inspiration for art projects for my students and for myself.

So, I did not give this 5 stars, although if you're looking for a "coffee table" or "inspire me" book, this is definitely AMAZING. I was looking for a little "more" out of it and so returned it. I thought it would be a bit more detailed for the work itself. So, if anyone wants a book on altered books and books as art that is even somewhat instructional or has examples, then this is NOT the book for you. If I had room on my book shelf for something that is "eye-candy" then this would be IT. It is awesome to see these artist's work. I just wanted something more hands-on than what this book is.

It's a very nice book, all the pages in full color. A lot of good ideas and all different.
The price is ok between quality and artwork.
All the artwork is innovative.
If you can buy it, just do it, don't hesitate.

This is such a beautiful book for lovers of artists' books. I wish I'd bought it a long time ago when I could have gotten it cheaper through Amazon.