Customer Reviews

Reclining Nude

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

 

 

Not only does the author of this book choose to omit some of the classic works from almost every period, but seems to favor the degenerative works that reflect not the beauty of the nude but the disfigurement of the human form. From roughly halfway through this chronology to its head-scratching conclusion, the paintings chosen by the author resemble a gradual takeover by the "LSD period" of art... There are one or two delightful exceptions, but in general, the latter half of the book is a study in bizarre. Why would the author choose to omit Klimt but showcase not one, or two, but FOUR dreadful paint-by-number Wesselmanns? Picasso gets five pages to Michelangelo's none, Bacon makes a disturbing appearance, and Freud gets four crotch shots in while Leonardo da Vinci gets zip. While I realize artistic tastes do vary, readers should know that this is not a representative slice of the reclining nude through the ages, but the artistic equivalent of a double feature of National Velvet followed by Halloween II.

After the three page introduction, this is solely a picture book, but a very good one. The 129 full page illustrations are very well printed and they cover the range of styles for artists depicting reclining nude. It includes many famous pieces and many that this reader hadn't seen before. While we can always wish that the book was twice as long and included more of our favorites, there's no arguing that this is perhaps the best (if not only) book focused on a very narrow subject. A very good book for any library that includes other books on figure painting through history.

This is a very simple book, a collection of paintings of reclining female nudes from around 1500 when the genre first appeared to the present. There is very little text. The selection of images is what makes it work. This is a wonderful book for an artist interested in the human and female form and its exploration from an historical point of view.

This book demonstrates the way in which different artist "see" their subject and represent it. A good discussion tool for art class.