Customer Reviews

Sister Wendy's 1000 Masterpieces

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It would be hard to argue that, whether you love her or hate her, Sister Wendy has probably had more impact than anyone else on shaping what the wide, non-specialist audiences know about art. In spite of being a mega hit, her last best seller "The Story of Painting" has sometimes been criticized for its naiveté, and [perhaps rightly so] for too little scholarship, and far too much touchy-feely stuff. And yet, it was this combination of direct, and unabashedly personal take on art, along with DK's splendid reproductions, and accessible "perfect X-mas gift" pricing, that made Sister Wendy's book and TV series a well-deserved runaway success [and my students' favorite]. She was so different, so irritating, and yet strangely likeable, all at once. Now DK is back with another lavish Sister Wendy production, just in time for yet another X-mas season. Sorry to say it, but this one is sort of a dud. Arranged alphabetically like an encyclopedia or a dictionary, but far form encyclopedic depth, discipline, precision, or detail, this sizeable book crams 1000 reproductions on its by now regular-fare DK pages. It is an impressive, if odd collection, and yet, despite all this dazzling lavishness and colorful fireworks there is more glitter than substance here and, alas, all Sister Wendy's oddball charm and likeability are gone for good too. Sure, it's a nice coffee-table book, and at this price, with literally 1000 decent [not great] reproductions it's certainly a bargain. But the necessarily short sound bites that accompany most paintings are often banal, always shallow, and sometimes of arguably questionable interpretive accuracy [e.g. Frida Kahlo piece]. The text is hardly worth reading, having none of its predecessor's charm, coherence, and gusto. As for pictures, impressive collection that they are, many have frequently been reproduced in DK's earlier books, including Sister Wendy's own "Story of Painting." On the merit of its colorful variety alone [since clearly not for its text], this book deserves a place in any library's reference section. It will also be a wonderful gift for any experienced art aficionado: a quick review of the great and famous, with a few rare, bonus finds, but only if you know enough to fill in the fine details yourself. It's like a concert piano: unless you have the skill to transform it into art, it's just a piece of furniture, impressive as it may look in your living room. As an entry-level introduction to art, however, "The Story of Painting" remains an unbeatable champion, and neither this book, nor DK's similarly hefty, lavish, and even more failed "Art: World History" comes close.

This book is a collection of the most beautiful reproductions and is a must-have for anyone who loves art. The comments are brief but insightful, but it is the quality of the art that makes the collection outstanding. At the price it's a steal.

I love this book. The reproductions are fantastic, and although I don't always agree with the choice of artists and paintings (no two people could), it is undeniably a staggering array of great art. I cannot recommend this highly enough: it is the perfect single-volume work for anyone who wants an introduction to some of the world's greatest paintings.

A simply enjoyable book for those of us that appreciate art but do not have the time nor the resources to devote much time to it. One can sit down and just study one or two pictures and feel the sense of the picture. I have found my 13 year old paging through it at times and studying the pictures. I don't think I could get her to read too many other art books. Sister Wendy's reviews give us a place to start to think about what the artist was trying to achieve. Perhaps having this book in the home will lead to a greater interest and study. But, if not, it will surely make one appreciate the diversity and beauty of the art world over the centuries.

I have to say right off that I enjoyed sister Wendy's The Story of Art more. The writing was better and I found her descriptions of the different art works much more exciting and occasionally even inspired. In this book the descriptions seemed more mechanical and less interesting. It's still not a bad book, though, and sister Wendy's books on art are a relatively painless way for someone without any previous art knowledge to get at least an introduction and a basic background in the field before going on to more advanced works.

Sister Wendy not being a traditional academic, perhaps, I understand her intepretations have been criticized for their less than stellar scholarship, but I've read many dozens of books on art in the past, perhaps hundreds, ranging from coffee table picture books like this to very technical, scholarly works, and much of the information is similar to what I encountered there. But sometimes her interpretations are her own and not necessarily the accepted ones, and you should be aware of that.

But in an area as big and difficult and confusing as art history, one can't read one coffee-table book and expect to have a real grasp of the subject. The best way to use sister Wendy's books is as a stepping stone to get your feet wet, and then to progress to more advanced reading. In learning to understand a painting for example, you're really trying to become a visual thinker just like the artist was, and to understand at least the basic principles of color, texture, shape and form, perspective and space, design, and overall composition, that the artist uses and manipulates when he paints a picture.

For example, a 17th century Dutch artist like Vermeer's use space and light is not the same as the early Italian artist Mantegna, or even Vermeer's contemporary, Rembrandt. Likewise, a modern painter like Matisse doesn't use color and form in the same way as Mantegna's contemporary, Fra Angelico (actually they do in the sense that they both employ heavy symbolism :-)). But anyway, the point is that people often look at artists as painting by means of some mysterious talent, a sort of artesian well of ineffable inspiration and genius that bubbles up from nowhere that they have and the rest of us mortals lack. This view, however, is not the case. Although not everyone can learn to draw or paint well, probably, anyone can learn, if they try and work hard enough at it, to actually understand works of art very well. The main problem is that the verbal desciptions in the text don't really represent that well the visual aspects of a painting, and one must learn to really "see" the painting with one's own visual system as opposed to just reading the textual description.

As the great psychologist of art and aesthetics, Rudolph Arnheim, showed in his books, such as Visual Thinking, artists are really visual thinkers and problem solvers, no different from thinkers and scholars and even scientists themselves in many ways. Once you learn to think in this way yourself, you can understand a great deal about a painting on your own without having to read the "official descriptions" in the books intended for mass consumption, and you can form your own aesthetic interpretations, opinions, and analyses that will be just as accurate and valid on your own. You should still be aware of the "standard scholarship" and interpretations of the paintings before doing this, though, since knowing and understanding those is how you will eventually get the idea for how to strike out on your own and interpret them yourself.

But getting back to the present book, this is a good volume for getting a basic understanding, and the 1000 masterpieces in this book contain many of the most important works that one should know about in the history of art. So overall, a another good book by sister Wendy even if, as I said, I prefer the earlier one myself.

While presenting the subject in a serious light, Sister Wendy's approach to the evaluation and critique of art in this publication is both refreshing and entertaining. Sure, some of the more 'popular' Masterpieces are not addressed, but then it does not purport to be the all encompassing reference from A-Z. Her digression from the pathway of the pure academic is what makes the volume a pleasure to read and view; her comments stirring the imagination. The book is a veritable treasure of art and commentary and the photographic reproduction is absolutely superb. I have no hesitation in recommending this publication; even those for whom art is a bore will find this book interesting.

If you are looking for a work that covers art history, from medieval religious paintings to abstract expressionism, look no further. There are 1,000 paintings shown in their authentic beauty. 500 of the world's greatest artists are featured.

Sister Wendy makes each piece of art an intellectual experience. She explains the paintings so you will never look at them again in the same way. How I wished she had been with me when I visited the Louvre a few years ago. Somehow, I felt I was missing some insight into the greatest art I would ever see. And by the way, the Mona Lisa's eyes did freak me out...they follow you!

While watching a recent special on Claude Monet, I realized there was so much more to the art than just the scene being painted. How did the artist feel when he created the work? What emotions is he trying to convey to the viewer? In Sister Wendy's book: Love: Meditations on Love, she brought a new meaning to Camille on Her Deathbed, and oil on canvas by Claude Monet. Since then, I have been intrigued with her observations. My mother has a bed spread based on a painting by Claude Monet. I love the art of Renoir much more, but one day we will travel to Paris together and really enjoy going to museums. For now, this book and local galleries will have to do!

If you are looking for in-depth information on each artist, you might however be a bit dissapointed. This book could not possibly hold that much information. What you will find is that you will gravitate to one artist or the other. In this way, this book is only the start of your journey. I only found one page on Renoir, but then discovered she has also written a book called: Sister Wendy's Impressionist masterpieces which now I must have!

This is a book to be savored. If you can sneak in a few minutes each day to look at a few pages, you will really enrich your life. After seeing this book, you will want to find more of Wendy Beckets inspirational books. This one will now have a permanent place on my coffee table!

If you can, visit the Louvre. They also have a tempting food court! Visit Paris and you will never regret it. Just don't only spend a weekend there, spend a entire week! There is way too much for an art lover to see in a weekend! The Louvre deserves at least two days at the very least. Plus, the food there is so worth going back for! I would highly recommend a tour because otherwise you might miss something important.

Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self.
- Jean-Luc Godard

~The Rebecca Review

Usually a DK book is THE DEFINITIVE book on its topic. The problem with this book is that the "masterpieces" are not always the definitive ones. A number of the world's most famous works are missing and a number of inclusions are not so famous or particularly good. Suggest you go with her original, less expensive work, "the Story of Painting," and Wendy's videos, which are expensive, but very good.

I got this book out the library and enjoyed it so much that I purchased it online. Sister Wendy is a great art critic,especially for people who might be intimated by it. She is to the point,uses unfussy language and truly seems to love painting. I did question some of her choices,but art is a subjective medium,.and overall,I agreed with many of them, Although why she didn't include the "Mona Lisa" or Dega's dancer's is beyond me. Finally,she is very-open minded (considering her vocation) so a lot her choices were pleasantly surprising. Enjoy the beautifully reproduced paintings and pick your own favorite works..

This Nun is a maverick in taking the reader off the beaten path of Art appreciation. Sister wendy has a great point of veiw in showing the power that Art has. It's endless capacity for Truth. How the pieces of Art in this book are a mirror showing us to ourselves. (not to mention some of the Art and Artists were new to Me also) No matter how much we think we know, there is always something new we can learn, and this wonderful book is an example of that.