Hieronymus Bosch: The Complete Paintings and Drawings [Hardcover]

Jos Koldeweij (Author), Paul Vandenbroeck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

Hieronymous Bosch (c.14553-1516) is one of the most enigmatic of painters, and among the most universally popular. His mysterious scenes of devils, monsters and other strange creatures tweak the imagination but very little is known about the meaning of his paintings or about his life. This book attempts to show how Bosch's ideas were consistent with those of his contemporaries in northern Europe, who include the scholar and humanist Erasmus, a major figure in the Reformation.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Fifteenth-century Dutch painter Bosch is known for complex panels featuring fantastic portrayals of demons and fools. This volume, published to accompany a recent exhibition in Rotterdam, includes all of the paintings attributed to Bosch by current scholarly consensus, as well as all surviving drawings linked to Bosch and his workshop. An overview and one or two details from each painting are reproduced, along with a generous selection of related artwork by contemporaries and artists who have been influenced by Bosch including Salvador Dal!, Robert Gober, Bill Viola, and others. The essays by European art scholars discuss what is known about Bosch and his cultural milieu, along with the likely meanings of his paintings and the residual interpretive mystery that has intrigued scholars and the public for centuries. The prose tends to be dry and a bit detailed for general readers. Recommended for larger public libraries and specialized collections. Kathryn Wekselman, MLn, Cincinnati
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Bosch's panoramic, otherworldly paintings writhe with legions of strange creatures doing strange things, dense and troubling scenes that require the sort of sharp-focus plates and enlargements this scholarly but crisply written and enlightening monograph, now the Bosch book, has in abundance. Koldeweij and his coauthors cite all that isn't known about the enigmatic Bosch, including his birth date, dates for his paintings, or proof that all works attributed to him are actually his. Yet they are able to present a vivid depiction of Bosch's hometown, from which he extracted his name and in which he was counted among the elite, and clear evidence of his "immense erudition," the source of his exotic, often diabolical images. As keen as the book's historical and technical sections are, its most enthralling passages contain the authors' insights into Bosch's original and satiric worldview and cosmic iconography. Fascinated by nature, eroticism, "wickedness and punishment," Bosch, the first artist in his milieu to address social issues, has profoundly influenced all who followed. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810967359
• ISBN-13: 978-0810967359
• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 9.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #892,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Get Your Glasses Out, April 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Hieronymus Bosch: The Complete Paintings and Drawings (Hardcover)

I've been thinking about buying this book and finally came across it in a bookstore so I was able to preview it before buying it on amazon.[com] I'm glad I did because like other reviews, the main disappointment with this book is that the paintings are reproduced small. They're reproduced almost as footnotes to the text but my main reason in buying an art book is for the visuals. And with Bosch, there are so many details but they were just too small to see here. The art should have been given a full page without text surrounding an image. This was a big let down, I was looking forward to buying this book, but now I'll pass on it. With the small reproductions it just isn't worth the price. The 1 star is for Bosch's art which is still great despite the poor book design.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Look elsewhere for Bosch..., February 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Hieronymus Bosch: The Complete Paintings and Drawings (Hardcover)

This book has three essay chapters. The first chapter deals with Bosch's home town..... anything about Bosch's home town. Details are thrown in because they are known, even when they do not add to our understanding of Bosch. The second chapter discusses a new method for dating the wood panels that Bosch and others painted on, and questions whether some paintings can really be attributed to Bosch. This could be an interesting discussion if there was more explanation of how the paintings had been judged and attributed to Bosch previously. Instead it is new data without much context. The final chapter deals with the imagery of Bosch. This has the potential to be the most enlightening, but falls well short. By the end the reader may know a little more about Bosch, but not enough to warrant wading through this book.
Now all could still be forgiven if the presentation of the artwork was good. Because Bosch is enjoyable without explanations. But the presentation in the book is not. The paintings and drawings appear scattered throughout with no rhyme or reason. The numbering of the pictures is frustrating to follow. You will be searching back and forth through the book looking for the pictures that correspond to the point being made in the text.
When you do find the picture, you probably will be disappointed. Even the quintessential Bosch work " The Garden of Earthly Delights" is presented in quarter page size. In contrast Bosch imitators are given larger representation. I don't understand why.
The poor lay-out even extends to page numbering. There is a reason for numbering the pages on the outer margins, away from the spine. This was brought home very strongly as I searched for the page numbers halfway along the pages near the spine. This may sound a trivial complaint, but this book seemed designed to test the patience of the reader.
I got this book for half price, but that was still paying way too much. There are far better and cheaper books out there on Bosch. Go with them.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best Recent Introduction to Bosch, December 22, 2004

By 

melquist (Big Rapids, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hieronymus Bosch: The Complete Paintings and Drawings (Hardcover)

I have read most of the monographs on Bosch, and this represents the best recent effort to present Bosch's works on an introductory level. Koldeweij examines Bosch's obscure biography; Vermet discusses the problems of dating and attribution of Bosch's works; Vandenbroeck looks at some of the themes in Bosch's iconography. The only problem with the book is a lack of imagery details. The reproductions are beautiful, but there are not enough of them. The publishers should have made the book much larger with more images. The publishers should have used Charles de Tolnay's huge monograph for a model. As of yet, there is no definitive Bosch monograph that combines Tolnay's amount of image examples and Dirk Bax's exhaustive iconographic analyses. But if I had to pick a good introduction to Bosch and his works, this would be it.