A voyage towards a masterpiece?
932376
This work was written according to the author's introduction to the revised version between 1942 and 1943 in the midst of the great war. It was written when the former capitol of the world, according to him, London was filled with gloom. It is a reflection on literature and life, and many believe it is the masterpiece that Cyril Connally all his life strove to create.

In it he reflects on greatness in literature and on the meaning of the true masterpiece. He says,when including works by Horace, Virgil, Villon, Montaigne, La Fontaine, La Rouchefoucaud, La Bruyere, Baudelaire, Pope, Leopardi, Rimbaud, Byron in his list, that what is common to them is"Love of life and nature: lack of belief in the iea of progress: interest in , mingled with contempt for humanity. .. In feeling, these works of art contain the maximum of emotion compatible with a classical sense of form."

'Palinurus' is clearly a Francophile who in the midst of the war feels deeply the separation from the Continent, from France especially.

He writes what he calls ' the doubts and reflections of a year' in 'three or four rhythms: art, love, nature and religion.an experiment in self- dismantling , a search for the obstruction which is blocking the flow from the well and whereby the name of Palinurus is becoming an archetype of frustration."

The great critic Walter Benjamin thought to construct according to Hannah Arendt , a masterpiece made out of the quotations of other writers. Connally here devotes a good share of the text to the wisest wisdom he according to his lights could find in others. He also offers his own ruminations in part as a way of consoling himself for the personal loss which in some way sets the grieving tone of the work.

Does it amount to a masterpiece? I would almost want to answer ' for those who feel it so'.

Palinurus himself says of Palinurus in the concluding page of the volume, "Palinurus, in fact, though he despises the emptiness of achievement , the applause of the multitude and the rewards of fame, comes in his long exile to hate himself for this contempt and so jumps childishly at the chance to be perpetuated as an obscure cape."

It appears that if Cyril Connally is perpetuated in Literature it will be through this particular voyage in the heart of life and literature.
4013102
It's all been said. This is a classic, and I knew it would be illustrated in B&W (duh!), but I have been looking for color reproductions of the originals. I would just like to see them. His paintings are as beautiful as his writing. I wish i could have studied with him.
You may have to grow into his realm of experience to appreciate his views, but he knew what he was writing about.
2307670
Certain kinds of books, it seems, all too soon go out of print and become "unavailable." Why in the world would "Looking at Art: An Introduction to Enjoying the Great Paintings of the World" become a corpse, too, is beyond my understanding. Originally, it was the bulk of volume 1 of the "Random House Library of Painting and Sculpture" (also available, as a set or individual volumes, from independent sellers with Amazon).

There are many history of art books in print. I speak in amazement regarding print status because of the content and quality of this definitively representative book. "Looking at Art" approaches art differently from its history, although history is incorporated in the separate sections.

David Piper, the major contributor, sets up the book in four parts:
1. Variations on Twelve Themes (a sort of introduction to famous paintings of the world, with themes like the Human Face, Life and Leisure, Landscape, Still Life, Images of Divinity, the Inward Eye, and so on),

2. The Language of Paintings (space, perspective, line, pattern, texture, edge qualities, abstraction, etc.)

3. Materials and Methods of Painting (tempura, wall-painting, watercolor, gouache, oil, mixed media, and others, with each having subdivisions),

And now that the reader/viewer has background understanding, he/she is ready for "looking at art":
4. Looking at Paintings (famous paintings from around the world, e.g. "The Arnolfini Marriage" by Van Eyck, the Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Michelangelo, "The Ambassadors" by Holbein, etc.).

A small book would not do justice to the art contained, so the volume is 14 inches high and 10 inches wide (actually in fractions). The color reproduction is good with most of the paintings shown in color; some are shown in black and white, and in varying sizes (mostly for lay-out purposes).

The accompanying essays for each section and subsection are outstanding. Here is an excerpt from the Subsection "The Inward Eye" concerning Rothko's "Black on Maroon, 1958" (78-79). Rothko's canvas's are huge; this one is 12 feet wide. "Nebulous, sombrely glowing, the colour gives the impression that the paint is generating its own light, as in the embers of a fire" writes Piper.

One example of examination of a masterpiece is Caravaggio's "The Conversion of Paul, 1600-01." This is what Piper says in a condensed summary: "The picture is a masterpiece of simple, forcefully stark, concentrated drama. The unbalanced composition, in which the massive, unmoved figure of the horse fills almost the entire canvas, makes all the more emphatic the prostrate Saul's shock. He falls back thunderstruck almost out of the picture frame, involving the viewer as witness" (174).

In the main essay, Piper writes: "The source of light is not shown; but the violent, even awkward foreshortening of the figure hurled down expresses an impact of huge energy, and the outflung arms embroil the whole in the vortex of a blinding miracle" (174). I love writing like that!

This book is listed several times on Amazon, but I selected this particular entry because several sellers are listed and most of their prices are right. "Looking at Art" is a book to keep handy, to pick up at spare moments to read, look, learn, and in doing so, expand your world. Highly recommended!
4750762
Whatever your specific chosen path, anyone with spiritual outlook should relate to the thrill of the experience that this film illustrates. Further, anyone who desires to see the breadth and depth and beauty of the world and all G-d's creatures will surely enjoy traveling along on such an adventure.

The photography is beautiful, the music is lovely, and the narrator charming!
1646105
George Fellner takes us on a journey filled with wonder and imagination. Each of the realms photographed by George invites us to explore its features and lose ourselves in its phantasmal qualities. The photographer's eye uncovers far away landscapes in the very earthbound stones and crystals, causing us to ask whether their language speaks of otherworldly locations, which may have been communicated across the lightyears.

In addition to the great technical execution of each image, the wondrous content of every photograph draws the mind's eye in. This monograph is enjoyable to read and study intently time and again, as each viewing of every plate reveals intriguing details.

Highly recommended!!
4745698
The real interest in this novel is the contact with alien life.  The novel actually contains two stories -- two examples of contact with alien life from Mars.  The one about the Inca could imho have been left out entirely.  I think Watson tried to use this part to reinforce the archetypal images, which I feel ultimately drags down the story of the astronauts.  However, this is a very ambitious novel that does succeed on a mythic level, and some readers may prefer this story that takes place on Earth.  For me, the mystery of Martian life forms takes place in a stronger way with the space story.  Could an encounter with an alien life form be of benefit to mankind in both a mental and physical way?  This is the question Watson answers at least in a poetic fashion in this classic of science fiction.  I had to read the last chapters a number of times to get at least some idea of Watson's conclusions.  Even then, the answers do enter the realm of the mystic, which is, I guess, his forte as a writer.
4559325
This lavishly illustrated book of "space art" by a leading practitioner in the field is a treasure of spectacular paintings that rekindles the age-old dream of venturing to new worlds. All the great names in the genre are represented here from the grand master Chesley Bonestell to ultra-modernist Bob McCall. The value of such inclusivity is that the book offers a full spectrum of subjects from spaceships to space colonies and from star views to depictions of aliens. Moreover, every technique and style is represented, so whether you are a fan of the photo-realism school or of free-form expressionism you will find something here to warm the heart. Because author Ron Miller has spent a lifetime immersed in this artistic specialty, he has come to know the key players and their prolific portfolios with an unmatched depth of understanding. Accordingly, he tells the story of his fellow artists with sensivity and verve. His knowledge of the background and meaning of each image comes across in expert captions that elucidate technical and conceptual aspects for the novice who may leaf through the book seeking to understand what a painter was trying to convey in a fantastical canvas. My favorites pertain to visions of futuristic hardware, so I just love the artwork showing an orbiting space city illuminated above a cloud-draped planet and a space elevator piercing the upper atmosphere. In a similar vein, albeit of a generation ago, are the incomparable Bonestell creations for Colliers and Life magazines, presenting finned spacecraft on far-away planets with helmeted spacemen heroically wandering jagged landscapes in service to the high calling of exploration. Those remarkable paintings inspired a comfortable postwar society to embark on a high adventure to fulfill humanity's noble destiny in the far reaches of the universe. Ron Miller's magnificent contribution to the cause as manifested in this beautiful volume is likely to serve in the same way as its precursors of the 1950's to awaken a long-slumbering civilization to the rewards of blasting off into the last frontier and satisfying the human quest to unlock the mysteries of the unknown.
2987337
Nearly everyone will have seen some of the work of Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1970). His woodcuts and lithographs are largely based in mathematics and geometry, and provide endless fascination. Many of the two dimensional images Escher created simply could not exist in the three dimenional world, yet on paper they LOOK entirely plausible at first glance (for instance, "Ascending and Descending" and "Belvedere"), and this alone gives the mind of the viewer plenty to ponder. Escher also incorporated tessellations - images composed of repeating, interlocking shapes - into many of his pieces (such as in "Reptiles" or "Fish"), and he played with the idea of having different figures in the same composition existing on different planes, despite sharing the same space. For instance, a surface which is the floor for one figure may be a wall for another (see "Relativity").

This particular book is a very nice collection of some of Escher's most well-known pieces, and is very afordable. There are certainly more detailed books on Escher's life and work available, such as J.L. Locker's 200-page "The Magic of M.C. Escher," but "29 Master Prints" is a great alternative for those who simply want something visually stimulating to put on their coffee table, without too much text. Each print covers a full page (and these are large pages - approximately 14.5 x 10.5 inches), and is accompanied by a small amount of text on the facing page, giving the piece's title, date of completion, medium, dimensions, and a short blurb offering insights about the print, written by either Escher himself or one of several other authors. The explanations written by the artist are often delightfully witty. At the beginning of the book there is a short essay by Escher, "On Being a Graphic Artist."

One disappointment I found was that the print of "Metamorphosis III" is broken up into pieces to fit it all on one page, so you can't see it end-to-end. I would rather have seen this done as some sort of fold-out. Also, unfortunately, this book does not appear to be available in hardcover, so it is slightly less durable. Nevertheless, I would certainly recommend "29 Master Prints" to any fan of Escher's work.

Following is a list of the particular twenty-nine prints included:

"Rind" - on front cover

"Other World"

"Smaller and Smaller"

"Circle Limit III"

"Knots"

"Hand with Reflecting Sphere (Self-Portrait in Spherical Mirror)"

"Balcony"

"Circle Limit IV (Heaven and Hell)"

"Ascending and Descending"

"Day and Night"

"Regular Division of the Plane III"

"Sky and Water I"

"Cycle"

"Metamorphosis III"

"Belvedere"

"Reptiles"

"Relativity"

"Fish" - 1942 woodcut

"Mobius Strip II (Red Ants)"

"Snakes"

"Fish" - 1941 woodcut

"Drawing Hands"

"Three Spheres I"

"Stars"

"Waterfall"

"Double Planetoid (Double Planet)"

"Dream (Mantis Religiosa)"

"Concentric Rinds (Concentric Space Filling / Regular Sphere Division)"

"Dragon"
113501
The German obsession with the legend of Faust is updated richly and memorably in what may well be Thomas Mann's greatest achievement. This is a novel about the exploration of ideas--about the underpinnings of art, music and literature. It is a novel about why art and humanity are inextricably intertwined. And it is a novel about how the death of humanity in art is mirrored in the social death of humanity.
This book is my fantasy of university comes to life. When I was young, I imagined that getting a college degree entailed exploring the meaning behind intelligence, art, philosophy and morality. What I got was a bunch of slackers trying to coast through classes just to have something to put on a resume. Doctor Faustus helps fulfill the dream a younger me had. Rich in subtext and detail, many may find it tough slogging at first. Persevere and you will be richly rewarded.
If I had a major criticism with this book, it would be that some chapters seem more like essays than chapters of a work of fiction. I don't care. The ideas are brilliantly explored and presented for your consideration.
Just a note about the review below: My copy of the hardback didn't contain the musical translation errors noted by this previous reviewer. One page, in particular, clearly delineates the differences between the German scheme of musical notation and our more widely known system. Either the reviewer accidentally skipped over this, or the text was corrected somewhere along the line (although I have the first English edition).
3521873
This book is truly remarkable although can be at times tiring. It tells the story of the palimpsest which was sold at an auction in 1998. The author takes us on a journey that spans through the early European history up to the Byzantine era and even the Second World War.

Although it encompasses the theories that have so far been discovered in the codex originally written by Archimedes himself in a letter, and thus a fair bit of Mathematics is involved, it can be a very enjoyable experience. You can ignore the parts in which the author explains the technology behind the imaging systems they used to uncover the original texts or the logistics of the processes involved, but then you would have missed a part of the whole adventure.

This book is about unraveling history and discovering its secrets. What a journey indeed !
4719779
This book tests your attention to detail.  At first glance, many of the pictures seem to be something they're not, which requires a second, more patient look.  Noticing things like fingerprints and head hair as opposed to the other options our imagination tends to grab hold of first.  This book is tasteful, inspiring and something much deeper than just a "second glance".  I'd recommend it to everybody who enjoys a visual challenge.
4649768
"the best surrealistic piece of celluloid in all creation"?  Actually, I would award that particular title to Santa Sangre-- though I would grant The Holy Mountain a close second-- though perhaps I am splitting hairs here...

What is the movie about?  Some may interpret it as Jodorowsky's version of Siddhartha's journey.  I prefer to think of it as a grandiloquent representation of a simple conversation expressed most concisely by two of Robert Crumb's characters-- Flakey Foont asks, "What does it all mean?" to which Mr. Natural responds, "It don't mean s#*t!"

Jodorowsky's visuals in fact, ask questions that have no answers, except for the apologetics created by those who's discomfort in uncertainty requires an artificial reality.  And these are questions that are rarely asked, as it raises that discomfort level present in many societal institutions.  Not only that, Jodorowsky is able to do all this keeping it light-hearted and with a sense of humor-- something that would probably further exacerbate the discomfort in many.  The Holy Mountain is a journey well worth taking only if you aren't one of those who wears beliefs on your sleeve.

The opening scene really deserves to be seen on the big screen-- the impact is stunningly phenomenal in such a way that is unfortunately pretty hard to reproduce with NTSC or PAL television equipment.  But as one who couldn't wait a couple of years ago and ordered the Raro video release direct from Italy, I anxiously await the arrival of this restored version into my collection, placing my order for it as I write this review...

-- Just got my order and took the opportunity to do a little comparison of the video quality of this ABKCO release with the earlier RARO VIDEO Italian release.  This ABKCO release CLEARLY shows that the restoration was a success-- the quality of the image is FAR better than the RARO VIDEO version.  It was well worth the money to upgrade to a higher quality print-- the ABKCO restoration was a digital color correction + a few other things, apparently at 2K resolution and it shows-- NICE picture compared with the VHS-like RARO release.  There's a brief discussion piece of the restoration process in the extras with some side-by-side comparisons, and I can vouch for the fact that the left-side images in the comparisons are similar to the RARO release.

Now if someone would do the same sort of restoration to Woiciech J. Has' "Sanatorium pod klepsydra" (Hour Glass Sanatorium from Bruno Schulz), my collection of favorite surrealist films would be mostly complete (which includes Fellini, Jan Svankmajer, the Brothers Quay, Veit Helmer, Guy Maddin, Marc Caro, Terry Gilliam, and I'm sure quite a few others that I can't think of at the moment)...

-- another update, 03/16/09-- Hour Glass Sanatorium HAS now been released, in an at least, decent quality print on Mr. Bongo label in the UK-- all regions PAL.
367249
As someone who loves world travel, antique objects, and interesting stories, I really enjoyed "Chess Masterworks." In many ways, it's not really about the game of chess at all, although I think most avid chess players would appreciate it. I would recommend it especially to art historians, but also to anyone who collects or just appreciates handmade and historical objects and the intriguing questions and stories that accompany them. When were they made? How were they made? Why were they made? For whom were they made?  The mini-documentaries create a fascinating tapestry, weaving together the pieces of chess sets with art, culture, history, politics, religion, and philosophy. From the wacky Salvador Dali chess pieces which were made from casts of his thumbs, fingers, and nipples, to the Communist Propaganda pieces glorifying the virtues of the communist revolution, to the whimsical Sea Life set with lobster bishops and sea horse knights, to the abstract Persian Muslim Silver Mushroom pieces, each mini-documentary presents a set so original in the way it was handcrafted and so historically different from the one before it, that you don't get bored watching and are excited to see what is going to be next. Perhaps what I enjoyed most was the way that "Chess Masterworks" appeals heavily to the tactile sense with glorious high definition shots of chess pieces made of jade, quartz, clay, topaz, silver, gold, crystal, ivory, ebony, porcelain, bronze, pearl, wood, coins, amber, and the list goes on. I found myself wanting to reach out and touch the pieces.

As a professor of Arabic language and someone who has spent a lot of time traveling in the Middle East, I particularly enjoyed viewing some of the more abstract Islamic chess sets such as the 19th century Woven Moroccan and the 17th century Muslim Silver Mushroom. I also was very intrigued by Dr. George and Vivian Dean's life story and travels and how they came to own this world-renowned collection of chess sets.

The combination of the dazzling visuals and the music selections is mesmerizing. "Chess Masterworks" transports you momentarily to other times and places and realms and it's a journey you want to keep repeating (if only to fantasize that you own all these jewels!) The next time I see a chess exhibition going on, I may actually go check it out now--something I never thought I would say!
4950012
October 11, my last day in Florence, I wondered upon a small, private museum called Leonardo daVinci's Machines, where one can view reconstructions of ideas Leonardo put to paper, but did not necessarily build.  Gripped by the breadth and depth of his intellect, I decided I would read a complete biography when I got home.  What timing!  Isaacson's book came out October 17th, and I have just now completed it, along with savoring Christie's record-breaking sale of Leonardo's Salvatoi Mundo for 450 million dollars in the middle of reading it (I wrote a notation in the book above this painting).

Isaacson has a talent for biography (this book is my third of his), especially in bringing to life, in a wonderful, readable way, people of extraordinary genius.  Isaacson studied deeply, and really knows his subject; as I read, I was awed by Leonardo's work across multiple disciplines, yet amused by his tendency not to finish work---there is a reason there are only 20 or so extant daVinci paintings.  Isaacson is careful to provide detailed assessment of his major work, as well as bemoan his failure to ever put his thousands of pages of notes and observations into any published format, leaving students of his life to do their best.  I especially enjoyed Isaacson's conclusion, an application for readers to understand what made Leonardo's genius, and to learn from him.

If I have any complaint, it is that perhaps Isaacson discounted Leonardo's spiritual dimension.  Yes, he was a scientist, and not a fervent deist, but in an age saturated with belief in God, and his ability to see unity and analogy in creation, perhaps there was more to Leonardo's spiritual side than Isaacson would prefer to cede as a thoroughgoing humanist.
863123
I loved this book. But a warning if you take this journey, if you follow Ophelia's Ghost with mind and heart:  It will not end neatly or simply--nor will you want it to. The journey ever goes on ...

Through the reader's entrance into a linear story, a "simple" search for a missing anthropologist opens up into labyrinths of soul-and-spirit probing venues ... uncovering a memory-evoked trail of human origins, a harking back to points of catastrophic change in directions of human destiny ... a search for the key to how the earth conjoins and mirrors the heavens--and how it all relates to our ability to love and creatively engage in our life here together.

From the book:

"What most people don't understand is that magic is actually about becoming very intimate with nature. Not the supernatural, but the within nature, understanding it. Magic is simply focusing hard enough on something, using our minds, wills, and emotions, to see a pattern. Without the seeing, we'd be wandering fools" (p. 209).

"Other worlds are all around us, close enough that we can touch them, and they can touch us but only when we are open to them ... " (p. 238).

This intelligent and intriguing novel surprises and delights through planting hints/clues from the likes of Shakespeare, Plato, Giordano Bruno, James Joyce, Albert Einstein--and is facilitated by the hermeticist authors' own ability both to celebrate life and to make cosmic connections along the way.

Isabel Anders has co-authored with Diane Marquart Moore the Father Malachi mystery Chant of Death.  Isabel is also the author of Becoming Flame; Soul Moments; Awaiting the Child; and 40-Day Journey with Madeleine L'Engle, among other titles.
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Becoming-Flame-Uncommon-Mother-Daughter-Wisdom/dp/1608992667/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Becoming Flame: Uncommon Mother-Daughter Wisdom</a><a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Chant-of-Death/dp/0982156170/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Chant of Death</a>
She blogs on philosophy for BlogHer.com:
[...]
610607
This episode is a joint National Geographic-Nova effort that explores the process of tracking down the provenance, the origins, of a piece of art that was originally listed as an early 19th Century drawing by an unknown German artist.  It didn't look like one to one expert, who bought it with the idea of showing that it was something much more.
  He pegged the style as Italian and the subject, a young woman, certainly wasn't dressed in 19th Century garb.  But could it really be an undiscovered work by Leonardo da Vinci?
  We follow the experts, who include an expert on Leonardo, another who's an expert forger, experts on the time when Leonardo lived, and several whose skills include the scientific testing of art, a forensic approach to tracing an art object.
  Along the way we find people who are convinced of the possibility that it is indeed a work of da Vinci, and others who are skeptical, some very skeptical.  One by one, the various tests fail to prove that it cannot be a da Vinci.
  Is it really a da Vinci?  Perhaps.  Nothing proved it otherwise, but there is always that doubt.  If you like a good whodunit and would like something different from the usual fictitious search for the blunt instrument that "done in the victim"; if you like art and really understand it (or not -- I'm no artist, and my tastes are the usual run-of-the-mill "Hey, I like that one!) you may very well enjoy this exploration into the world of art.  I have done that several times now.
2713963
This large, sturdy volume is the catalogue/souvenir of the touring exhibit of "Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Muse D'Orsay, currently on display at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. This exhibit is, in a sense, the sequel to a exhibit of Impressionist painting from the D'Orsay, which has already passed through SF. Both exhibits are relatively small, just a few tight rooms full of paintings. Together they might have been "more than enough" but seen in close sequence they are "just right" for people, like me, who are easily overloaded by vast exhibits.

This exhibit is hardly as focused on the greatest paintings by the three masters as its 'title' implies. Yes, there are indeed several undeniable masterpieces each by Czanne, Gauguin, and van Gogh, along with several surprisingly masterful paintings by Paul Srusier, Tho van Rysselberghe, mile Bernard, and others, plus two stupendously potent and original large paintings by Henri Rousseau. The whole exhibit, however, is patently the concept of art historians, intended as pedagogy, with just a soupon of condescension. Don't worry! The pedantry can be overlooked, along with the couple of inferior paintings chosen for 'historical' reasons. What do art historians and musicologists have in common? I'll let that question settle itself.

As a 'coffee table' art book, this catalogue has pluses and minuses. The color printing is quite accurate. The textures and brushwork are adequately reproduced, given the issues of scale. The paper is sturdy and the book seems likely to wear well. Some of the finest paintings, however, are annoyingly creased across two pages. But the book is not just a set of photographic reproductions; it also contains eight historical essays by the curators of the exhibit, Sylvie Patry and Stphane Guegn, translated from French to slightly awkward English.  Each essay is amply footnoted, amounting to a substantial resource for further historical research. This is where, for me personally, the whole exhibit and its catalogue tips toward the tearing of wings off butterflies. Painterly geniuses like Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin should probably not be expected to hold sound philosophical or political notions. Often their 'notions' require more forgiveness than scholarly explication. It's deflating to discover that three (and more) of my favorite painters were muddy-headed dingbats about religion and society. I suppose I'm a post-modern Derrida disciple about paintings; the 'meaning' and impact of any painting is always and only what the viewer negotiates with the colors and lines.