Customer Reviews

J. W. Waterhouse: The Modern Pre-Raphaelite

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Length:: 0:20 Mins

I've just bought this hardcover book by Peter Trippi and I am impressed with the overall size of each color plates and drawings contained within this book. The color plates could be a little bigger to fit each page, but I guess that's just asking for too much for how many wonderful paintings and drawings are in this book already. Also the cover shown here on Amazon is not the actual cover, it's a cover of the painting "The Lady of Shalott".

This is an exhibition catalog, focusing specifically on the works in the exhibition. This might sound limiting, but the exhibition had a superb display, and this book catalogues all of the works in detail. A great introduction to Waterhouse, and a must-have for all fans of Waterhouse and similar artists such as Alma-Tadema. The work is large, and makes an excellent "coffee table" work. I have all other works on Waterhouse in print, and if I had to retain just one, it would definitely be this book.

I have seen most of the works here before aside from the drawings. In my opinion, the quality of the prints is better in Trippi's phaidon book.

This book was difficult to obtain for several months, but now it is available again. It is a first rate presentation of Waterhouse's paintings, despite the fact it only covered those works in the exhibition. The gatefold plates and oversize details are very welcome, too many art books are content to frustrate the collector with overly small reproductions of gorgeous, highly detailed works. There are some lesser seen paintings among the more well known masterpieces, and a selection of drawings.

What is modern about his work? it is the handling of paint, the looseness of many passages is a stark contrast to the original Pre-Raphaelite school, and their painstaking fidelity to nature. The subjects and visions transport us to an ancient world, but the technique reflects the awareness that a new era and esthetic sensibility had arrived. I recommend this highly to those who are enchanted by the mysterious and melancholy beauty of the women he portrayed, and also those who are curious about the evolution of representational art in the early 20th century.

Arrived very quickly with an indentation on the spine. As a professional framer with more than 20 pieces I am still Impresed