Customer Reviews

Pleasure Palaces: The Art and Homes of Hunt Slonem

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This is the second Hunt Slonem book I have purchased for my coffee table and it is truly amazing! Hunt's art and homes together in one collection is a "must have" for any Hunt Slonem fan. The photographs are truly of such high quality that each page I turned was more exciting than the previous. You will not be dissapointed!

Hunt Slonem is a highly successful contemporary artist who has devoted his career as a painter to revisiting those subjects dear to his heart and his sensitive eye - tropical birds, saints both known and obscure, butterflies, animals such as monkeys and other exotic jungle creatures, old silent movie stars such as Valentino and Swanson, and the atmospheres he has created in the many homes he owns. Finally there is a book that does justice to his unique output, a book that not only is lavishly illustrated with richly colored images of his paintings, but also a book that shares Slonem's romantic studios and homes complete with aviaries for his vast collection of tropical birds, allowing the viewer unfamiliar with his work to gain an appreciation not only for the art but also for the inspiration.

Opening with a very fine biography and sensitive appreciation by art critic/curator/port/essayist Vincent Katz, the large-scale book gradually unfolds in color-saturated glossy pages the splendid art created by Slonem over the past thirty years. His images are oil on canvas (with the exception of a well documented 'first look' at his superb watercolors!) and each is framed in 'found' antique frames aglow in gold patina and hints of a more eloquent time. The book takes the reader on tours of his impressive lofts in Manhattan, his Victorian mansion in Hudson, New York, and his two restored plantations in Louisiana. Juxtaposing photographs of his living spaces and gardens along with his inspired paintings makes for a banquet for the eyes. The book ends with an interview with Hunt Slonem, which adds the human touch in words that is so very evident in his paintings, and a detailed Chronology of the artist's career and exhibitions.

Even for those who are unfamiliar with the peculiar beauty of Hunt Slonem's art this book is a volume to treasure, a suggestion that there are still those artists/poets in the world who celebrate history while visually reminding us of the constant pleasures around us. A beautifully designed volume well worth the investment. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, November 07

If you love Hunt Slonems' art works, you are going to love this book which shows several of his homes also. His decorating sense is just as astounding as his art!

Really enjoy having this as a coffee table book. The art is beautiful and the information about the artist is very interesting. We enjoy it and all our guest
enjoying looking through the book. Hunt Slonem....what an interesting person.

Very nice and informative book. Full of excellent examples of the artists' work and style