The Art and Flair of Mary Blair (Hardcover)

by John Canemaker (Author) "Let us begin with a contemplative self-portrait of Mary Robinson Blair, a charming watercolor made soon after she married Lee Blair in 1934, when both..." (more)
Key Phrases: Mary Blair, Walt Disney, Peter Pan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
For more than a dozen years, an unassuming, quiet-spoken woman dominated Disney design. The stylishness and vibrant color of Disney films in the early 1940s through mid-1950s came primarily from artist Mary Blair. In her prime, she was an amazingly prolific American artist who enlivened and influenced the not-so-small worlds of film, print, theme parks, architectural decor, and advertising. At its core, her art represented joyful creativity and communicated pure pleasure to the viewer. Her exuberant fantasies brimmed with beauty, charm, and wit, melding a child's fresh eye with adult experience. Blair's personal flair comprised the imagery that flowed effortlessly and continually for more than a half a century from her brush. Emulated by many, she remains inimitable: a dazzling sorceress of design and color.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Disney Editions; 1 edition (August 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786853913
• ISBN-13: 978-0786853915
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,313 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment, September 21, 2003

By A Customer

This has to have been one of the most eagerly-awaited books for animation pros and fans in a long while....and although Canemaker usually does a terrific job writing and editing animation tomes, he's done a frankly poor job here. Considering that Mary Blair is justly famous for her brilliant(in more ways than one)use of color, the reproductions are not good at all. The text is not only rehashed from Canemaker's much superior "Before the Animation Begins"(which has a chapter on Blair), it's awkwardly shortened here. As a matter of fact, the book itself-text and pictures-is ridiculously slim, given the sale price, and the fact that this will probably stand as the only book about the subject.

As another reviewer mentioned, Mary Blair did much more work than is represented here, particularly her children's illustration. It's mystifying as to why the author didn't include or couldn't find many, many more worthy examples of Blair's work to include, when in any month on Ebay, one can bid on some eye-popping merchandise(scarves, for one!), magazine illustration, greeting cards-and even original work-that has no representation here. It appears he merely asked two or three collector friends he knows for permission to publish what they owned, but that's it. A real shame and a pity. Still, diehards will have to have it(as I do)on their shelves-but this artist deserved a LOT more than this lazy, slapdash volume.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Terrible color reproductions of a GREAT colorist's work, September 4, 2003

By	R. Haas "muchaphile" (Kansas City, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having seen some of Mary Blair's original masterworks firsthand, and having been a Disney fan all of My Baby Boomer life, I was thrilled to hear that the wonderful writer and historian- animator, John Canemaker was at long last going to write "the definitive study" about the remarkable Mrs.Blair. My anticipation was instantly dashed when I opened the book, and saw the consistantly murky, greyed and even out of focus reproductions of Blair's incomparable work. For instance, a Blair bedroom set design for an unrealized Duke Ellington Broadway stage musical was changed so much by the inept color separation/printing that all of the very vibrant pinks, hot yellows and vivid lime greens were not at all in evidence, and the image is instead seen as if through a deep grey filter.. The essay also deserved MANY more illustrations of her actual work, and fewer of snapshots of persons boarding airplanes for South America, images of her fellow workers or repetitive (and even poorly scanned/ moire pattern laden) images for Pall Mall cigarettes. HER TRUE ART SEEMS TO BE MISSING HERE! Blair's great genius in her conceptual art for Disney, was being able with her incomparable understanding of COLOR and emotion to convey excitement and cinematic wonderment. This slim, somewhat repetitive and empty (BUT WELL WRITTEN!) book should be redesigned, rethought and certainly republished to emphasise the true colors of the rainbow minded Mrs.Blair. She deserves a better tribute, one that is more true to her spirit and verve.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 2.5 stars, tops., February 8, 2004

By A Customer

the reviewer who states this book is a disappointment is dead on. i'm a fan of blair and eagerly awaited this book's arrival. i'm astounded at the amount of work not represented here, especially considering the price. blair was an AMAZING colorist and the poor reproductions don't do her work justice.