Customer Reviews

Giorgio Morandi (Twentieth-Century Masters Series)

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

 

 

It's true, this book is my oldest possession, from an earlier printing, I've had this book since the early 70's. If you are a painter and want to learn how to put space and light into your work then this book is your greatest resource and greatest challenge. For those in the know, Morandi is THE ONE for creating a palpable space in two demensions. The space shimmers and moves - it's real!

The prints are excellent - both in terms of variety and quality of print. I use them in classes and they are really a treasure. The text is very readable and enjoyable as well (though I care more about the print quality).

The color quality of the plates (or reproductions of the paintings) in this book are terrible. One plate was even backwards. I am not reviewing the authors writing in any way, but who would want an art book that had lousy pictures of the art?

Here is how I know:

I recently was visiting my mother in NYC when I went to the Morandi show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I love Morandi so much I went to the museum bookstore afterwords to buy a book. I have a masters degree in fine art with a major in painting so I know when buying an art book to check the quality of the photographic plates, especially for color. I repeat, this book has terrible reproduction quality (for example the light greens appear a dark brownish green and the contrast is to high - this last point is not to picky as Morandi's color palette is very delicate - and high contrast ruins it.)

The best book I found at the Museum store (I am going from memory here) was the one published by Museo Morandi (I did not see it for sale on Amazon). A very close second was Giorgio Morandi 1890-1964: Nothing Is More Abstract Than Reality (Hardcover), published for the show at the Met. (One note, the book on sale at the museum has a different color cover, but otherwise it seems to be the same as the one found on Amazon.) Good luck!

This is one of the best books on Morandi that I've come across. Wilkin's text is wonderfully clear and objective, and mercifully free of "art babble." The illustrations are well chosen and very, very well printed. Not everyone "gets" Morandi, as Wilkin points out, but this representation of his work will certainly make a few converts.