Customer Reviews

Velazquez: The Technique of Genius

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book consists in essence of two parts: The first 20 pages cover briefly Velazquez's life, career, techniques, and materials. The rest of the book comments on the artist's works.

Concisely, the author discusses the artist's choice on (painting) supports, pigments and colors, and composition and execution, as a prelude for in-depth discussions of the artist's works that follow.

Common art appreciaters will enjoy beautiful paintings (of in general not-very-beautiful people) in which face expressions and body language are deploited ingeniusly by the artist to convey drunkeness, retardation, sovereignty, self-importance, etc...

As for readers who are artists, an in-depth discussion on each painting reveals (with the aid of radiograph) techniques and procedures Velazquez used to create his work. In essence, a majority of Velazquez paintings were prepared with a layer of flake white as foundation. Over the underpainting, the artist applied pigments of different homogeneity and thickness to render desired effects. In addition, close-up pictures of painting details allow readers to understand better the secrets of creating luminosity in the paintings of this painter.

Perhaps as interesting is that mistakes and corrections made by Velazquez in his masterpieces are also unveiled, indicating the fact that although ingenius, the artist did have certain "imperfections" in his art maneuver.

I think the first reviewer has mentioned the important points, but I would highlight some of the conclusions.

The purpose of this book is to apply the tools of art history and conservation to the practical question of how Velasquez painted his masterpieces. This is a topic of primary interest to practicing painters, and it is an approach that may prove fruitful in the future, but I think is only moderately successful here.

The important contribution of this book is the large number of close up views of a small number of paintings. The image quality is good, though not of the highest quality.

The text and analysis does address the practical question of how the paintings were constructed, but only provides rather shallow results. The ground used, the pigment selection, additions to the canvas - these topics are well covered. But the more involved question of how the paint layers were developed was not really explained. In the end there is little information for someone seeking to understand precisely how these paintings were made.

As the first reviewer mentioned, the art historical background has a sort of "rah rah" quality. For example, referring to The Fable of Arachne: "The expressive potential of color posited in the works of Titian is here [by Velasquez] exploited in ways that this venerated old master could never have conceived."

How many stars should you give to the only book on this very important topic? If you are a painter you have to buy it. I give it three stars, and will keep the book for the illustrations.

The previous review by Greg Munger is pretty much right on. Although there's tons of information in regards to the pigments, binders, radiographs etc., for each painting, there is very little significant insight into Velazquez's technique that would be of any real interest (or help) to someone trying to emulate his style.

All this could have been forgiven if not for the inconsistent and sometimes Horrendous image quality of the paintings - in particular the closeups - a fact that no one else seems to have picked up on. In "The Forge of Vulcan", you will see that the colors of the same painting are significantly different in each and every closeup. While in another, "Feast of Bacchus", the detail photo of Bacchus' face is totally overexposed. There are even some blurry photos which were inexplicably never taken out of the book (having a competent photographer for this book would have made all the difference). I was also disappointed to find that two of my favorite Velazquez paintings, "Innocent X" and "Juan de Pareja" - two of the finest portraits ever done - were not in this volume. Kind of a bummer since this is my only book on the painter.

I guess this book isn't THAT bad - just not as good as the other reviews would have you believe. In all honestly, I read this book right after reading Ernst van de Wetering's excellent 'Rembrandt: Painter at work' and I was hoping for more of the same. If not for the poor quality of some of the closeups I might have given it another star, as it is I'm still on the lookout for a good book on Velazquez.

This recent addition to my Velazquez collection, is by far the best yet on the technique of this master painter. Jonathan Brown has again produced a book with wonderful information and reproductions. A must have for the Art historian, Art lover, and Fanatic of Velazquez!

This book made me love Velasquez. The true quality of his work can not me appreciated from afar. The close-ups, as other reviews state, make the book. I have spent hours staring at these pictures, and I felt like I was watching him paint. I own hundreds of art books, and this is the one I would save if my studio burned down.

Brown and Garrido has something remarkable with this book. They provide detailed technical analyses of many of Velazquez's principal works, discussing both his use of pigments and his application of paints. Close-up photographs illustrate details that shed light on the distinguishing features of Velazquez's paintings -- the thin layers of heavily diluted pigment and the rapid, hurried brushstrokes which bring his subjects to life. The photographs are large and the text illuminating. A highly worthwhile purchase. Brown's solo work on Velazquez's career makes a wonderful accompaniment.

A great value book, a lot of technical information, amazing photographs, detailed zooms, biographical information, methods and techniques used by the spanish painter, pigments and binders, brush expression, etc., etc....
The only complaint is that the book has not a solid construction, at the very first reads groups of pages threatened to separate from the spine

This book enables the reader to not only penetrate some of Velasquez's secrets, but also to focus on some wonderfully photographed details of his most famous paintings (brushstrokes are even distinguishable in some cases). It is almost better than a museum experience, since in museums you are usually kept at a certain distance from such precious works. To the professional artist, it undoubtedly gives valuable insights on the great master's skills and technique; to the layman like myself, it gives a unique opportunity to enter the sphere of high art.

This very fine book on the painter Velazquez is full of historical details, details of the master's painting techniques, and many photographic details of his masterpieces. The several close-up detail reproductions of each painting in the book show the artist's brush strokes and the weave of the canvas as the text describes the pigments used. This extraordinary art book deserves close examination.

This is a beautiful, beautiful book. Each of the paintings is shown in close detail, so that the brushstrokes are easily seen, even the weave of the canvas. Radiographs are also included. The text discusses the history of the painting (the subject, interesting stories of its commission, and so on), the colors and techniques of application of paint, ways it was changed before it was completed. Anyone interested in one of the greatest painters of all time and how he worked, and the world in which he lived, will be more than pleased. The book is exactly what I was hoping for, and a real bargain.