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Title: Gustave Moreau by Genevieve Lacambre ISBN: 0-691-00734-9 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 08 March, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $75.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A book worth the painter
Comment: I have not much more to add on the other reviews regarding the quality of text and reproductions. It is a real non-exhaustive "catalogue raisonné" of the most relevant Moreau's works (his "St. Sebastian" is mesmerizingly and ominously sublime) plus interesting essays.
Moreau is the flagship of French symbolist painting. Although he was a secluded artist he had interesting disciples, like Desvallières, in the circle of the so-called "peintres de l'âme" (painters of the soul). For them, he always was a reference, an idol, like his Semeles, Sphinxs and Salomés. Interestingly Moreau never took part in the Salon de la Rose-Croix (lead by "Sar" Péladan) or any other artistic movement. He was a perfect example of the Balzac's hero-painter in the famous novel "The unknown masterpiece": the never ending painting. Moreau's preciousness, craftmanship, genious, exoticism, decadence, mythological poetry, fin-de-siècle illness, all shape a world of his own, yet fanatically worshipped by his gallerists and collectors and, why not, by his contemporary academic popes.
If decadenticism, 19th century artistic atmosphere and fin de siècle appeal to you, this is your book.
The only thing I miss is more of Moreau's writings and letters. Probably you will find them in the books published by his museum-sanctuary in Paris. Remember his famous and evocative sentence: "I just believe what I cannot see".
Rating: 5
Summary: Sweet decadence
Comment: I had very high hopes when I bought this book, though afraid the text would override the images; however I wasn't disappointed. The sheer quality of the printing is nothing less than remarkable. All the images in this book meet the highest standards of the printer's profession. Books on the symbolist genius Gustave Moreau are extremely hard to come by, so Between Epic and Dream (the book's title) is a rare art book being the only large volume in print at the moment.
The text acompanying the lush pictures is very informative, not only on Moreau's life's work, but there are notes on each item underneath. There is a good balance between text and images and this makes the enjoyment of viewing or reading a particular delight. Moreau's watercolors are beautifully presented and so are the paintings with both large and medium reproductions. There are drawings and studies as well to give this book a usefulness to those who would study Moreau's methods of work.
This book is a great buy at a very reasonable price. You will only need Joris Karl Huysman's novel, Against Nature (describing the painting Salome on the cover), to dream away into sweet decadence.
Rating: 5
Summary: A must for art freaks!
Comment: It's got all the goods: scholarly essays, dossiers on Gustave's most important works, wide historical sweep, accessibility for those who are more casual art-lovers, tons of color plates, good details (for painters like me, looking for something to steal). Moreau was a super-important figure in the decadent years of 19th Century France. Not as well known as, say, Degas or Courbet, his schtick seemed pretty far out. Anticipating Surrealism as well as the the nascent Symbolist movement, Moreau made insanely detailed, obessive, jewel-like paintings whose time is just now arriving. Make your coffee table as swanky and plush as an old New Orleans hotel. Moreau knew how to mix it up but certainly has his own flavor. Super great book.
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Title: Discoveries: Gustave Moreau by Genevieve Lacambre ISBN: 0810928779 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Pub. Date: 01 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Symbolist Art (World of Art) by Edward Lucie-Smith ISBN: 0500201250 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: February, 1985 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: J.W. Waterhouse by Peter Trippi ISBN: 071484232X Publisher: Phaidon Press Inc. Pub. Date: 18 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema by Russell Ash ISBN: 0810918986 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Pub. Date: 01 March, 1990 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Ultimate Picasso by Brigitte Leal, Christine Piot, Marie-Laure Bernadac, Jean Leymarie ISBN: 0810939401 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Pub. Date: 01 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $95.00 |
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