Paintings in the Louvre (Hardcover)

by Lawrence Gowing (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Though many cities boast impressive art collections, Paris's Louvre is the art museum, and this 1987 title gathers more than 800 of its most famous items spanning 500 years of European art. LJ's reviewer found Gowing's text slightly prejudiced (LJ 1/88), but the hundreds of illustrations are simply stunning. As its original incarnation sold for $85, even at $50 this is a good buy.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Groundbreaking in its comprehensiveness and its reproduction quality, Paintings in the Louvre includes more than 800 European paintings, the most important masterpieces from the greatest collection in the world. 900 full-color illustrations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 688 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (July 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556700075
• ISBN-13: 978-1556700071
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 10 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #289,251 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #77 in

  Books > History > Europe > France > Paris

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE REFERENCE FOR LOVERS OF FINE PAINTINGS!, March 19, 1998

By	[e-mail] (England) - See all my reviews

After visiting the Louvre on two occassions we wanted a good reference book to place on our coffee table. This book is the best on the market! The profusely detailed colored photos throughout are nothing less than superior quality. The history of each painting is explained and a lot of information about the artist, their life, and style is also discussed in great detail. This is NOT a small book. It has proven to be invaluable in researching various art works. If you cannot make a trip to Paris to visit the Louvre in person, this book is mandated. Unfortunately, I bought the book at the Louvre and paid SIGNIFICANTLY more! Don't make the same mistake I did. I can honestly say, this book is a family favorite and I have several.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paintings In the Louvre, July 22, 2002

By A Customer

Unparalleled in its breadth and scope, and unique in the quality of its sumptuous color reproductions, "Paintings In the Louvre" is THE BEST, the most lavish and comprehensive book ever published on the greatest collection of paintings in the world - in the Louvre Museum, in Paris. If you really like beautiful, fine European art, then this oversized, weighty, hard-back book is the book for you! Crisp, clear, beautiful full-color reproductions of more than 800 of the most important paintings that hang in the Louvre, this book is especially wonderful in that a good portion of this book is some of the most striking Christian art in the world....

BTW, if you visit the Louvre, you will need one entire day just to see all of the magnificent paintings (carry a MEDIUM-SMALL rucksack with food and water and take a break(s) outside - at the refreshing and beautiful huge fountains). To see all of the over 300,000 "objects d' art" at the Louvre (with 12 miles of corridors on four massive floors!), then plan on spending a minimum of one-and-a-half to two days there! Bring lots of film, and if you have an automatic zoom camera, be sure to get the relatively new special "zoom" camera film made by ...

ENJOY!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great overview., June 3, 2007

By	Lon Welsh "Lon Welsh" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Context: I'm not an academic or a scholar; I'm a regular guy who likes visiting museums when I travel and I wanted to do a little researach before I left. This book worked well for my daughter and I to determine which parts of the museum deserved the most time (on a short trip) and to get a better understanding of the works. I'm not qualified to evaluate it from an academic perspective, but as a layman it was exactly what we needed.