John Currin (Hardcover)

~ Robert Rosenblum (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Currin is currently generating the kind of buzz that purchased publicity alone can't account for, and it's easy to see why: his paintings' smoothly executed combination of droll social commentary, offhand reference to old masters and va-va-va-voom sexuality is hard to look away from-and easy to argue about. Unlike his colleague in pneumatic inspiration, Lisa Yuskavage, Currin can't hide behind presumptive feminist theory. Are the anatomically impossible figures Currin so lovingly depicts pitiable projections of an arrested sexuality or a brave exploration of (in the words of essayist Rosenblum) "the crumbling myths and icons of twentieth-century America, revealing, as in a warped looking glass, their bizarre surface and their dark underside"? Given that America's "dark underside" has been exposed almost as often as its "innocence" has been violated, such critical formulations could easily be mistaken for intellectual window dressing. But a combination of confident execution and the often subtle referencing of everyone from Vargas to Lucas Cranach means that although there may not be more to Currin's paintings than meets the eye, what meets the eye holds interest beyond the immediate moment of shock or titillation. Currin is his own best advocate here; his long interview with Rochelle Steiner-bluntly plainspoken, knowledgeable and entirely pleased with the fuss his work has caused-candidly reveals an engaging and unashamed artist on the make. The essays, as the quote from Rosenblum would indicate, are competent in a manner endemic to books like this. But neither interview nor essays can begin to compete with the 79 lush color reproductions, whose accumulation of craftily mixed signals is disturbing and compulsive.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

John Currin's paintings sit at the crossroads where Old Master painting technique and 20th-century kitsch collide. His figurative paintings mix humour with traditional painterly skills and have earned him comparisons with artists ranging from Breugel to Rockwell. This monograph is a major survey of Currin's career, featuring his work since 1989.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810991888
• ISBN-13: 978-0810991880
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #121,127 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent monograph on an excellent painter., December 30, 2005

By	Antonio A. Urdiales "ethical void" (NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had the pleasure of picking up this volume at the opening of Mr. Currin's American retrospective in Chicago a few years back, and subsequently meeting Mr. Currin. He's a very quiet and gentle man but you can honestly sense his vast knowledge of painting and the psyche lying just underneath his guy next door-ness. Painting and the psyche is exactly what his work is about. He paints mainly women, in the lushest and most traditional manner you can think of. He paints them in his own twisted version of neo-mannerism using extremely traditional oil painting techniques. Indeed, he's probably the only painter on the contemporary art scene who's capable of painting in the manner that he paints, which recalls Raphael, Cranach, and Chardin to name a few. He has a sense of style and color that challenges the greatest masters, but he never runs too far with his talent, he has always maintained an effortless and subtle outrageousness. Imagine if Russ Meyer had let Martha Stewart helm his pictures and you have a John Currin painting. This book is a sublime example of what an artists monograph should be. A terrific and long interview with the artist, a landmark and rare essay by Rosenblum on his favourite topic of figurative painting, and the best colored plates you can imagine, fully recreating the color and freshness of Currin's paintings. I hate to touch this book because it's value will undoubtedly increase as the monograph becomes rarer, but I find this impossible because it's just so terrific and filled with Currin's imagery and information. This is the definitive John Currin book, and a MUST for any fan of his work.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Little Disappointed, September 21, 2005

By	Stephanie M. Shiers (Nashville, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Was disappointed to find that my favorite picture - Stanford After-Brunch 2000, was split between two pages so that you were unable to get a look at it and really apprecaite it. May want to let other buyers know that the cover that is shown is not the cover that is actually on the book - Wish a viewer could peak inside and actually see if it is what they are looking for. Other than that it is what one would expect to find in any other art book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great figures!, February 10, 2008

By	T. D. Nielsen (albany, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I already liked John Currin's work...but this book gave a lot more insight into it. In addition the images were Great.