Customer Reviews

Ilya Repin: Russia's Secret

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

 

 

As Amazon has not given some basic detailed info about the book, I include them here. Size: 0.5 x 9.5 x 11.5 inches. Catalogue starts from page 57 with nearly 50 color plates (which take up 100 pages, in the way of one page for a plate, then another page for the text description of that plate) and about 40 black and white plates, the rest of the pictures are small to very small (4 to 2 inches) scattered in the beginning introduction parts of the book. You can find more info from the publisher's site: http://www.kunstboeken.nl by searching "Repin".

I give the book four star because it is the most current painting catalogue of Repin in English. The introduction articles are good to very good, but the texts describing the plates are short and superficial.

The color of the book is not high-quality considering the fact that it is printed after 2000.

The book is okay if it is your first time to introduce yourself to Repin's works, as it shows SOME of Repin's best works, also some of the mediocre ones, including primary design sketches. At least you can learn design ideas from the book, as Repin's design gift is clearly shown in the pictures. However, from this book, you will see very few, if any, of Repin's loosely, and elegant brushworks which he did "alla prima", one of which was the portrait of Stasov he did in 10 hours in two days. You can find such images from internet by typing "Repin" and "Stasov", or using the following link www.abcgallery.com/ R/repin/repin41.html