Customer Reviews

Emil Nolde: Unpainted Pictures

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Nolde, though sympathetic to the Nazi Party, was included among the artists who were exhibited in the "Degenerate Art Show". He was also banned from painting throughout the war which he spent in the north German town of Seebüll. Being the artist he was he was unable to halt the creative process and began to paint watercolor pictures on small torn sheets of paper - these paintings, the "unpainted pictures" are the subject of this book. The paintings are quite beautiful and the viewer can see how Nolde played with the rich watercolors to create pictures of people, fantastic portraits, and landscapes and seascapes. They are heavily expressionistic as Nolde used dark colors and india ink to delineate figures, give depth, and provide shadow. At their best the pictures are akin to stained glass with a backlighting sun emphasizing the rich colors. If you're a fan of expressionism it's a must book to have. For an art historian there there is a concise text which explores Nolde's relationship with the Nazi Party and those Nazis (Goebbels among them) who attempted to intercede on his behalf.

I found the images in this little book breathtaking. The color and expression was so exciting and the history was fascinating. This tiny little volume is packed with beautiful images of Nolde watercolors. I'm so glad I found it.

it is a really beautiful book, in spite of being small, contains watercolors of this great artist, gorgeous, very good quality of illustration, that I make on paper Japanese, in small format, all are like small jewels, that display the great colorista that was. I am enchanted with the book.

Emile Nolde's Unpainted Pictures is a reminder that the Nazi regime affected everyone, not just the groups targeted for persecution. This is an example of one artist's adaptation to those horrible circumstances. It is a book of beautiful reproductions of watercolors done in secret and distributed to friends to keep them safe. Even the format of the book is small, implying that the paintings had to be hidden. It is not a book for generalists; it is for a specific audience, those who are interested in Expressionist paintings.

Muestra unas acuarelas increibles en toda la extension del libro

I liked, though did not love, this book. I think that perhaps there are too many reproductions, some of which are inferior to the others. I hope that when I die and become a famous artist (well, one can hope, can't they?) someone will edit my work with more care.
Still Nolde is always interesting and this book is worth it for fans of his work.