Customer Reviews

The Watercolors of Winslow Homer

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To: Amazon.com

The hundreds of paintings reproduced in this large-format book deserve five stars. The publisher should be thanked for bringing together works scattered around a large number of museums, and for giving us a finely produced art book. Even fans of Winslow Homer will not have seen most of these paintings, which may represent the summit of American watercolors. Unfortunately, the accompanying text goes far beyond what is necessary to appreciate Homer's art. The descriptions of personal history and technique are helpful, but not the philosophical musings and overwrought interpretations. The text should have been cut by a third.

My first impression of this book was WOW!!! The size of the reproductions is astounding. Many extend over both large pages of the text. The binding is such that the book lies flat on the table and so the seam in the middle is negligble. THe colour of the reproductions is rich, detailed, and rings true (altho I have not seen any of Homer's work in real-life). Compared side-by-side with Cooper's book, Cooper's reproductions are much smaller and the colour appears weaker and washed out.

As for the text of the book, it is interesting, informative, and insightful. Altogether, this is a very well put together book; it is one of the finest books I have in my collection.

As a very young child I would spent many hours looking through my grandmother's art library.Winslow Homer and the French impressionists were my favorites and that early experience is probably one of many reasons I became an artist. I bought this book as a gift for my sister who is also an artist. I was able to read most of it before I gave it to her but intend to get a copy for myself. I especially liked the way the book follows Mr. Homer's growth as an artist. It's well written and the collection of his work is incredible. There are so many paintings I have never seen and some I have only seen in black and white.

I am delighted with this book. Although there is extensive text, it is foremost a picture book of Homer's watercolors. Beyond the fine illustrated introduction, every spread of pages contains at least one of his pictures. Many of the pictures are full page in this generously dimensioned book, and those that cross the gutter show the care in placement exercised by the author and designer in minimizing any loss of impact. Enormous care was taken that no picture detail was lost in such two page printings. The ten chapters parallel Homer's life, and there is a sense of picking up of the easel, canvas, and paint box along with him as he moves to his considerably different venues. I enjoyed this book so much that I was inspired to hunt down my ancient watercolor equipment and try a few imitations!

Hard to imagine a more inspiring watercolorist, historically or right now. Homer had a sure touch with his wonderful, calligraphic brushstrokes. He depicted life around him and makes it feel as real as the view out my own window--I'm there.

The book is beautifully produced, with many crisp illustrations to pore over. Even after well over 100 years, we still can learn contemporary techniques from this man.

I only gave 3 stars because I am comparing this book to my extensive collection of other watercolor books (including some on Homer). I was excited to see some new watercolors featured here that are not seen in other books. The tropical paintings are lovely. There are lots of paintings shown, however, some are quite dull and even though Homer was a great painter, do we need to see these sepia studies and rough, gestural figures full-page?. Design-wise there are poor choices made. The text is too long, and the artwork often spans the 'gutter' in awkward places. The reproductions are not as good as ones I see in my other books. The book is printed in China and has a slightly funny smell. I like to see the size and location of the artwork right next to it, but in this book you have to look in the back for that information. The extensive text seems to be all all the same old stuff... where he was, studied, etc. For example, in the description of his materials, details such as the color of his paints and types of brushes are not mentioned, but there is loads of text about washes and paint application and how art critics of that time and other painters felt about watercolor. As an artist, this is less interesting to me. I like to browse through art books for artistic inspiration -- for myself and my students. I think this book would be excellent for someone who did not have books on Homer's art already. I'm thinking of returning this.

i love the book. It has many good prints. It's great for watercolorists to see how the master did it.

The book is full with Winslow Homer's master pieces. Most painting images are big and clear, so you can see his strong brush strokes easily. The only minor flaw is the colors of the reproduction tend to be on bit of "dull" side - not as rich and sharp as to the real paintings.

This is a nice collection of watercolor images by Winslow Homer. The text, while a little flowery at ties, gives some nice insight into the artist. The reproductions are what really makes this book a keeper. I refer to it regularly for inspiration and to study how this artist worked.