Customer Reviews

Paintings of the Southwest

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Paintings Of The Southwest compiled and capably edited by Arnold Skolnic is a gorgeous, full-color art book filled with rich and emotional landscapes from southwestern America, as well as some portraits of the people who call this splendid land home. Works from a wide variety of artists are presented, often with a brief quote from the artist that is relevant to the heart and soul of his or her creation. Enhanced with a thoughtful introduction by independent art historian and curator Suzan Campbell, Paintings Of The Southwest overall is an informative, engaging book of art showcasing the sweeping strokes of memorable works by gifted artists on every page and admirably succeeds in capturing the land's natural spirit. Also very highly recommended are Arnold Skolnick's previous two volumes of artwork, Paintings Of Maine (Clarkson Potter, 0517582295...) and Paintings Of California (University of California Press, 0520211847...).

On a recent first time visit to Santa Fe, I was rather disappointed with much of the art on display in the numerous galleries. One either loves it or hates it, but there seems to be no middle ground on the modern art found in Santa Fe, most of it being atrociously expensive. Then I happened upon this book in one of the stores, immediately fell in love with it, and brought it home. With time to enjoy it slowly, this book harkens back to the days before modern photography, whereby landscape painters were the best means for portraying scenery. Most of the images presented in this book date back to the time between 1925 to 1940, with some going back as far as the mid 1800's. I found it quite interesting that very few images from the last twenty years are presented here. Has landscape painting fallen out of fashion? Evidently so. But, for those who love this style and want a good picture of the southwest the way it was, I can highly recommend this book, which is quite a bargain. The added poetic comments only enhance it's appeal.

This book is short, and small. Some buyers may be frustrated by the size of the images or the sparseness of information. However, the price is also small, and the images, while small, are reproduce in very nice color. This wouldn't be a good book for comprehensive treatment of the Southwest Art movement. But it is a great, inexpensive introduction to the movement. For someone who is new to the movement, this is a cheap way to get an overview of some of the more important names in Southwest Art. The images selected were also quite delightful representations of the artists.

for a small, paperback book printed for tourists, this is a wonderful book full of excellent examples of art from the southwest.

I have to say this is probably the most disappointing book that I have ever bought from amazon. The reviews were great so I thought it might have some wonderful examples of southwest painting. I was wrong. The book is very small in size and doesn't look as it should cost more than $7 total. Save your money on this one.

Following a similar format to the other books in this series, Art of the Southwest provides a particularly interesting collection of images. As with the other books a brief introduction is followed by the plates, each full page, and occasionally accompanied by a relevant literary quotation.

The artists represented include: Marsden Hartley, Sheldon Parsons, Walter Ufer, Ernest I Blumenschein, Edward Hopper, E Martin Hennings, Oscar E Berninghaus, Andrew Dasburg, Maynard Dixon, Georgia O'Keefe, Victor Higgins, John Marin, George Bellow, Thomas Hart Benson, William Midgette, Max Ernst, Philip Pearlstein and many others. All images are in colour, there are approaching 100 in total. Great value in a little package.

Definitely worth buying. For the price, the book was adequately sized. The artwork was gorgeous and numerous.