Customer Reviews

Stuart Sutcliffe: A Retrospective

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I will start off with the only two negative things I can say. They are both very minor concerns. The first is there are typos in the text of this work (I know, big deal). The second is there is not enough text! More interviews would have been nice, as the ones presented here offer much more information about Mr. Sutcliffe than has previously been released. The high grade glossy paper is a huge plus. The famous pictures of the early Beatles taken by Astrid Kircherr look even more impressive on this paper, as does Stu's art. The range of styles Stu used in his art was a revelation. Many early paintings presented here bear more similarity to Primitivism of the American South than anything else. Lots of people know Stu was a creative individual, but I don't hink many realized exactly how creative he was. This book should change that.

I saw a movie about this guy's brief career with the Beatles and his subsequent decision to return to art school before his premature death at age 21. Out of curiosity I googled his work and was surprised at how mature his work appeared. I bought the book to confirm my suspicions. I returned today from the Abstract Expressionist show in NYC at the MoMa. Mr. Sutcliffe's paintings not only would not have looked out of place in this show, I think that they're better than some of the "masters" work. If you like Ab Ex, you should give this book a serious look.