Customer Reviews

Celebrating Florida: Works of Art from the Vickers Collection (Florida Sesquicentennial)

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This book delivers what it promises; it celebrates the labor of love that has resulted in the finest private collection of Florida art. Well produced and printed, Celebrating Florida catalogs the exhibition of the same title that the Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences had the foresight to curate. (I saw the exhibition there and was overwhelmed by the installation and the paintings.) The book's design concept, of utilizing informative essays, contextualizes the images for viewers to understand the necessities that inspired the artists while permitting the paintings to work their magic. The introductory essays set the stage for viewing period art and the interpretive entries accompanying each plate help viewers to consider the particular image. It is difficult for even a finely produced book to do justice to the exhibition that it archives, but author Gary Libby realized that the goal was not to compete with the show but instead to serve it. In deed, the book encourages dialog and a sense of personal exploration. Celebrating Florida is a first to demonstrate what many of us know, that the state really does have an artistic heritage and it opens the door for other surveys (like Mann's Art in Florida and Libby's Coast to Coast: The Contemporary Landscape in Florida). The Vickers have judicially amassed images of Florida which seep in to viewers' consciousness, defining Florida. Their passion elevates collecting to creativity. A must-have for Floridians and those interested in its past and meanings.

I find that it is no more than a catalogue of a private collector's paintings with no idea or history of the art, why it was created, and what it may mean in the realm of art. It is a good collection, but not on view for the public. It is more of a personal vanity press item.