Customer Reviews

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism at The Art Institute of Chicago

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Just exactly as described in summary. A LARGE collection of paintings from the Chicago Art Institute with short blurbs on each one.

PLUSES
- The blurbs are interesting info & help bring the paintings to life. For instance, for Degas's two dancers it comments that the models who posted were older than Degas choose to paint them. Also that he used the same yellow undertones of the background in the skin tone of the girls. When looking at the photo this warm comes through & makes it special & this comment brings attention to why. The descriptions add a great deal of value, while not eliminating room for the paintings themselves or overwhelming with text.

- Large number of paintings, & photos are ample sized on the page.

MINUSES
- There is a slight lack of crispness to the prints of the paintings, so they don't "pop" off the page the way they could. If you've seen the painting already, you'll project in the clarity. If you haven't, it's hard to appreciate the details of the brush strokes in the originals, or how beautiful they are in person. The cover page is more impressive, large & vibrant than the inside shots.

- It's specifically only works from this museum. Many of the famous & prettiest impressionist works are elsewhere (Europe), for instance Van Goghs "Irises" or Renoirs "Parisian Scenes". So, if you are looking for an overview or appreciation of impressionism, it's a little limited. It does effectively cover many of the techniques & concepts of impressionism well in the scope of paintings.

I was getting it for a 6 year old who notices artwork. If I were to go back to researching, I'd find a book not specific to a museum but rather to the genre so it included more of the outstandingly famous works.

- There are no other close ups crops such as the cover page is. The cover is just one face out of an entire painting. That would make an interesting book.

SUMMARY
I paid around $15 which is much less than many list for, & it was in great condition. Maybe for $30 for a like-new, it would have popped better on slightly starker white paper, but I doubt it.

I'm pleased with the book & the six year old is glowing about her "grown-up" pictures to look at. When I visit her I'm going to take time to read the blurbs & learn.