Synopses & Reviews
The American artist Theresa Ferber Bernstein (1890and#8211;2002) made and exhibited her work in every decade of the twentieth century. This authoritative book about Bernstein provides an overview of her life and artistic career, examining her relationships with contemporary artists.
Bernsteinand#8217;s work is noteworthy, even among her more famous male contemporaries such as John Sloan, Stuart Davis, and Edward Hopper, all of whom she knew. Working in realist and expressionist styles, she treated the major subjects of her time, including the fight for womenand#8217;s suffrage, the plight of immigrants, World War I, jazz, unemployment, racial discrimination, and occasionally explicitly Jewish themes such as a synagogue interior or ritual objects such as a menorah. She was a member of the American Artistsand#8217; Congress and painted a mural for the U.S. government during the Great Depression.
Bernsteinand#8217;s portrait subjects include Albert Einstein, Martha Graham, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, and Billie Holiday, yet it is her particular sensibility and empathy with those subjects that set her apart from her mostly male contemporaries.
Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art includes thematic essays by Michele Cohen, Patricia M. Burnham, Elsie Heung, Sarah Archino, Stephanie Hackett, Gillian Pistell, and by the editor, Gail Levin. It features more than two hundred images, including full-color reproductions of her art and rare documentary photographs, many published here for the first time. It also includes a detailed chronology of Bernsteinand#8217;s life, a list of public collections, and a list of her writings.
Review
“A must-purchase. . . . Handsomely illustrated and enlightening. . . . A fascinating history of the fate of the artists drawings after his death”
-- Choice
Review
“The catalog . . . is really an artistic biography told through the drawings, but with several informative sidelights….”Ingrid D. Rowland,
New York Review of Books -- Dave Gagon - Deseret Morning News
Review
'\". . . this book includes not only wonderfully rich [works] . . . but also places those works within a developing consistency of style. . .\"
Virginia Quarterly Review -- Gene Seymour - Bookforum'
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'\"This fascinating volume lets us watch genius creating itself.\"Don Fry, Virginia Quarterly Review -- Lewis Galantiere Award - American Translators Association'
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'\"That Michelangelos architecture evolved from his sculpture is generally acknowledged. With unprecedented precision and thoroughness, Brothers, the author of this beautiful volume . . . explains exactly how. . . . A refreshing contribution to Renaissance studies, and to Michelangelo scholarship. . . . Recommended.\"
Choice -- Don Fry - Virginia Quarterly Review'
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'Winner of the 2010 Charles Rufus Money Book Award given by the College Art Association -- Choice'
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'\"This book is one of the most important to have appeared on Michelangelo since James Ackermans The Architecture of Michelangelo of 1961. It is beautifully written, crisp, astute, and witty, its felicities and insights are too numerous to enumerate here, and it should be included in every course on Renaissance architecture.\"--Caroline Van Eck, Renaissance Quarterly -- Charles Rufus Money Book Award - College Art Association'
Review
"[A] meticulously researched and clearly presented account. The content is uniformly reliable and objectively reasoned. The ample and judicious bibliography and notes focus on documentation, making this work particularly useful for researchers. Publication of this authoritative reckoning of the artist's life and works is a significant event, and one greatly anticipates the next volume."and#8212;A.V. Coonin, Choice
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"This book helps bring to life Theresa Bernstein, her life and her art. . . . Her work is impressive, especially compared to her peers at the time. . . . This book will help people appreciate her art more."and#8212;Kevin Winter, Portland Book Review
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andquot;Levinandmdash;who first encountered Bernstein's name while researching her book on Edward Hopperandmdash;has rendered an intriguing biography out of wonderful artwork and a provocative life story.andquot;andmdash;Arlene B. Soifer, Jewish Book Council
Review
andldquo;Gail Levin and her team of authors have assembled a fascinating account of the life and art of Theresa Bernstein, who came of age in the early years of the twentieth century and painted with a boldness of technique and feeling on a par with John Sloan and Stuart Davis. Indeed, she often surpassed them in terms of the praise showered on her when she exhibited in New York and Gloucester during the interwar years. Eclipsed at midcentury, as so many other women artists were, she is today recognized as a leading artist of the early twentieth-century urban scene.andrdquo;andmdash;Patricia Hills, professor of art history at Boston University and the author of Painting Harlem Modern: The Art of Jacob Lawrence
Review
and#8220;Based on extensive research, this important book illuminates the compelling life and work of American realist painter Theresa Bernstein. Bernsteinand#8217;s career spans a century, from her early success in the vibrant New York art world of the 1910s to the diverse portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and prints she produced and exhibited until well past the age of one-hundred. This volumeand#8217;s rich essays and illustrations restore Bernstein to the place she deserves in art history.and#8221;and#8212;Laura R. Prieto, professor of history and womenand#8217;s and gender studies at Simmons College and author of
At Home in the Studio: The Professionalization of Women Artists in Americaand#160;
Review
and#8220;
Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art is a major contribution to art history. Although there are exhibition catalogs of Theresa Bernsteinand#8217;s work and her writings, there is no overview of her life and career, so this book is unique in viewing all the aspects of Bernsteinand#8217;s artistic career and her biography, as well as her relationship with contemporary artists.and#8221;and#8212;Alicia Craig Faxon, professor of art history emerita at Simmons College and the author of
Self-Portraits by Women Paintersand#160;
Synopsis
A fresh look at the exquisite drawings by this towering genius of Italian 16th-century art
Synopsis
One of the best known and most influential artists in the history of art, Michelangelo was a prolific sculptor, painter, architect, and draftsman. This lovely book focuses on more than 250 of his drawings executed in chalk, charcoal, and pen and ink. Distinguished art historian Hugo Chapman examines this array of works and discusses how the act of drawing figured prominently in Michelangelos work.Chapman considers the artists training and his choice of various techniques in a close investigation of the central role of drawing in Michelangelos career. The author describes the artists frugal use of paper, explaining how he often recycled letters and drawings (working on both the front and back of the sheet) throughout his career. Organized chronologically, the book looks at Michelangelos early development in Florence and Rome, his accomplishments as papal artist for the Sistine Chapel ceiling with its myriad preparatory studies, and his drawings for the tomb of Julius II, the Medici tombs, the Laurentian library, and the Last Judgement. The fascinating history of the fate of Michelangelos drawings after his death is also explored in detail.
Synopsis
'An intimate view of beloved Florentine works from one of the greatest eras in Western art\n
'
Synopsis
'The decades from 1500 to 1550 in Florence encompassed one of the most original and outstanding periods in the entire history of art. This gloriously illustrated book gathers and describes many of the beloved paintings, drawings, and sculptures created by the greatest masters of the period along with less familiar but equally beautiful and intriguing works. The contributors to the volume explore the masterpieces of Florence and challenge conventional interpretations of the evolution of this art.The book outlines the historical context of the Florentine High Renaissance and then discusses drawings, paintings, and sculpture in turn. Focusing on major artists and their contemporaries and allies, the authors demonstrate the great importance of drawing during this period and show that there was a consistency in the brand of creativity found in such artists as Michelangelo, Fiorentino, Cellini, and Bronzino. The authors question the relevance of terms like High Renaissance and Mannerism, and they contend that, contrary to commonly held assumptions, there was no strong stylistic division between art produced in Florence before and after the death of Raphael in 1520.'
Synopsis
Michelangelo (14751564) is a giant in the history of art. The versatility of his artistic skill was extraordinarily wide: apart from being a sculptor, painter, and draftsman, he was also an architect and a poet. In all of his works, it is the beauty, perfection, and virtuosity of execution that continues to inspire and endure.
Central to all of Michelangelos artistic endeavors were his drawings, in which his creative ideas originated, evolved, and were perfected. This handsome book takes a fascinating tour of the artists drawings by looking at highlightsranging from unfinished sketches to delicate, refined studiesall of which are located in the exceptional collection of the British Museum. Included are studies of some of Michelangelos most famous works such as the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the Last Judgement.
With an introductory essay on the artists life and key works, and beautiful color reproductions of the drawings, this book provides an indispensable foundation for understanding Michelangelos art, his creative genius, and his unparalleled gift as a draftsman.
Synopsis
In this engaging and handsome book, Cammy Brothers takes an unusual approach to Michelangelo's architectural designs, arguing that they are best understood in terms of his experience as a painter and sculptor. Unlike previous studies, which have focused on the built projects and considered the drawings only insofar as they illuminate those buildings, this book analyses his designs as an independent source of insight into the mechanisms of Michelangelo's imagination. Brothers gives equal weight to the unbuilt designs, and suggests that some of Michelangelo's most radical ideas remained on paper.
Brothers explores the idea of drawing as a mode of thinking, using its evidence to reconstruct the process by which Michelangelo arrived at new ideas. By turning the flexibility and fluidity of his figurative drawing methods to the subject of architecture, Michelangelo demonstrated how it could match the expressive possibilities of painting and sculpture.
Synopsis
From the leading authority on Michelangelo, a major new biography of the artist many consider the most influential in history
Synopsis
This remarkable book is the first of two volumes in what will be the definitive modern biography of Michelangelo. An illuminating study of Michelangelo's extraordinary career, it follows the artist from his apprenticeship in Ghirlandaio's workshop to hisand#160;final move to Rome in 1534, when, at the age of 59, he left behind his native Florence, never to return. During these years he created such outstanding works as the marble
Pietand#224;, the giant marble
David, commissioned for the cathedral in Florence, the Sistine Ceiling frescoes, and the new sacristy and library for the Medici family at San Lorenzo. He began the monumental tomb for Pope Julius II in Rome, and he became one of the most sought-after artists of the early 16th century.
Written by the leading Michelangelo scholar, this prodigiously informative account benefits from recent archival discoveries and restorations, and is enriched by material from the long-awaited editions of the artist's correspondence and artistic contracts. The wealth of new information enables light to be shed on the genesis of Michelangelo's works in sculpture, painting, and architecture, and on his complex psychological relations with his family, friends, and powerful patrons.
Synopsis
The leading authority on Michelangelo presents a major new biography of the artist, shedding freshand#160;light on the years when he built his reputation with the Pietand#225;, the Sistine Ceiling frescoes, and many other masterpieces.
About the Author
Gail Levin is Distinguished Professor of Art History, American Studies, and Womenand#8217;s Studies at the Graduate Center and Baruch College of the City University of New York. She is the author of several books, including
Lee Krasner: A Biography,
Becoming Judy Chicago: A Biography of the Artist, and
Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography.