Synopses & Reviews
In this stimulating book, a leading authority on the Spanish master Diego Velázquez discusses this enigmatic artist and explores the mysteries presented by his paintings.
The essays collected here, written over the course of Jonathan Browns distinguished career, include some which are published in English for the first time and one which has never before been published. Two themes unite them. The first concerns the changing relationship between Velázquez and his patron Philip IV, which provides a framework for Brown to interpret the painters career. The centerpiece of this relationship is Veláquezs masterpiece, Las Meninas, and this painting is the subject of two essays. The second theme is the problem of attributions and the related issue of Velázquezs innovative technique. Since Velázquez was not a prolific painter, questions of authenticity become increasingly contentious. Brown considers this matter in its widest dimensions and participates in the debate about individual attributions.
Review
'“Brown and Galassi have produced a remarkably rich study ….”
Library Journal -- Virginia Quarterly Review'
Synopsis
'Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (17461828) spent the last four years of his life living in Bordeaux with other political
émigrés from Spain and South America. In those years he created small-scale, intimate pieces, including uncommissioned portraits of friends and family, miniature paintings on ivory plaques, and numerous drawings and lithographs. These works attest to the artists continuing vitality in his old age and also offer insight into his life in Bordeaux.This beautiful book presents fifty-one key works from Goyas late period along with two essays that illuminate his works of that time. Jonathan Brown retells the story of Goyas difficult years in exile when he nevertheless continued to make art, experimenting with the new medium of lithography, inventing a technique of miniature painting on ivory, and painting remarkable portraits of friends and supporters. Susan Grace Galassi describes the rich historical and cultural milieu of Bordeaux and establishes a biographical context and sense of place that underscore the triumph of Goyas final achievement.
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Synopsis
Known primarily as a great painter, Bartolomand#233; Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) was also one of the best draftsmen of the 17th century. Although his devotional paintings seem to have been created effortlessly, they are the result of careful thought and study, a process that comes alive in the preparatory drawings. Murillo used a variety of techniques, favoring pen and ink and brown wash and red-and-black chalk. Like painters schooled in Italian Renaissance practice, the Spaniard developed his paintings in stages, starting with sketches of the full composition and then focusing on details that posed specific problems. Occasionally, Murillo used drawings as a medium for original compositions; these are highly finished pieces, usually enhanced by the use of wash and unmistakably stamped with the artist's personality.and#160;
This sumptuous book is a thoroughly revised edition of the 1976 publication Murillo and His Drawings. Twenty sheets have been added to the catalogue of authentic works, the bibliography has been brought up to date, and the entries have been revised.
About the Author
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Jonathan Brown is Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and the author of many books, including
Velázquez: Painter and Courtier,
The Golden Age of Painting in Spain and the Yale Pelican History of Art volume
Painting in Spain, 15001700, all published by Yale University Press.
Susan Grace Galassi is curator at the Frick Collection, New York, and is the author of
Picassos Variations on the Masters and co-author of
Whistler, Women, and Fashion, published by Yale University Press.
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