Customer Reviews

Cezanne: Visions of a Great Painter (The Impressionists)

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

 

 

As this book will prove to anyone who doubts it, Paul Cezanne is definitely the Father of Modern Art. Of course, that is ironic because Cezanne was said to be against many of the principles of modern art.

That said, this book is a wonderful source for art history lovers like me. There are many beautiful reproductions of paintings in this book, spanning Cezanne's entire career, that are ALL IN COLOR. And that makes the book quite a gem on its own account. However, not only are the paintings in color, but also since this is a tall, wide book, the paintings take up a page, even a whole page, if need be. The book also explores Cezanne's personality--how it affected his art, as well as his life. It is not serious reading, by it will enable one to better appreciate his art more. This book, despite only being $..., is priceless. It will probably be worth much more in coming years. There is no excuse not to buy this book if you love art history--I know you'll enjoy it immensely!!!

This book used to be my favorate Cezanne until I got Cezanne and Beyond.

What I like:
- large format pictures (whole page)
- great selection of paintings -- landscape, still life, figures, all well represented. (note: it doesn't have water colors or the skulls)
- the text does a good job to explain Cezanne's life and artistic struggles and his style

What I don't like:
- color and contrast are hugely distorted. (for this, it should only worth 3 star). For example, white exposed canvas in the original is bright yellow in this book, strong purples that are not in the originals shows up in the reproduction. The original's dark muted blue is light turquoise green in this book. Initially, I liked its bright, fresh, intense colors and crisp outlines. So when I received Cezanne and Beyond, I was shocked to see its muted colors, less sharp outlines (edges) and weaker contrast. I was quite unhappy as C&B had such a high reputation. Then I did a head to head comparison between the two books against the pictures on the database of Met, Art Institute and the museum in Philadelphia. C&B's reproduction was true to the originals and won hands down!

In short, if you intend to use this book as a reference book to paint and to learn from the master, it can be very misleading and you'd be better off to spend your money elsewhere. But if you are interested in learning about Cezanne's life/art or want to get a beautiful coffee table book, then this one is not a bad investment. Now,I still use it for quick reference, but I definitely take it w/ a grain of salt.