August 2017 - Art

Art: Making it, Preserving it, Collecting it, Stealing it:



I do love a book about art forgery or art theft, but there are also lots of books about authors, painters, architects, and yes, collectors and thieves.

A few books I've read and enjoyed:

The Art Forger
The Monuments Men
Crocodile on the Sandbank
The Street of Five Moons
The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Immaculate Deception
The Rule of Four
Possession: A Romance

And any biography or non-fiction books are also welcome.

Oh! Perfect opportunity to get to The Monuments Men! Last spring, I got to see one of the statues which they restored to its home. This is Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, at the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. (Sorry the image is blurry. My camera doesn't do well in low light.)

As I am trying to read mostly from my own shelves, I will most likely be reading Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran about the famed sculptress who perfected her art in wax images.

Great category, Majkia! I will probably go with Madame Tussaud which was a 2016 Santa Thing gift or with The Art Forger, also on my Kindle.

Ooooh, I've had James Anderson Winn's Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts in a TBR pile for quite some time. It's a little bit cumbersome a read because the author's got several musical MP3s on-line so you need to be at a computer (or else I have to download the MP3s to CD and play them on a boom box).

I've also got a couple biographies of William Blake, including Leo Damrosch's, that I've been meaning to get to.

Something else. I have quite a collection of those Poetry for Young People, which include very artistic and colorful illustrations. I've also got some books illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith.

Well I already read The Art Forger and I've scheduled Madame Tussaud for another category. Since I want to use books from my shelf, I will most likely go with Dvorak in Love: A Light-Hearted Dream which is the story of Dvorak's trips to the U.S. and their inspirations to write The New World Symphony. This is a novel as it is told through various eyes.

For this category, I'm thinking of reading Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor.

Very good book.

I noticed Immaculate Deception is listed in the intro. Iain Pears has several of these art mystery books. Very well written, filled with lots of art history, and quick reads!
He also wrote novels such as Instance of the Fingerpost, Dream of Scipio and stone falls, all excellent if you are interested in history in general. He also has a novella The Portrait about a painter who has been commissioned to do a portrait of his biggest enemy. All well worth reading.

I stumbled across Patti Smith's Just Kids in a really nice HC w/DJ for just $5 in a used book store so I think I'll start with that one. It looks to be a quick read, and when I'm done I can decide whether I want to plunge into Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts (which will also satisfy the 18th century third-quarter read on the Reading Through Time Group). Being newly acquired, Just Kids won't qualify for ROOTing, but still, as I said, it should be a quick read. I love Patti Smith but those "musician memoirs" aren't the kind of books I'd normally buy, so the $5 price was the clincher.

I can't find my Dvorak book so I'm going with The Life and works of Gustav Klimt by Nathaniel Harris. It's rather short, but I go back to school this month so it works for me!

The Life and Works of Gustav Klimt by Nathaniel Harris. Fifty of Klimt's most famous paintings were shown in beautiful color and also discussed. I loved this book; it was so visually pleasing. Three comments/observations:
1. The last sentence of many of the painting bios is "destroyed in 1945." (sad--degenerate art to the Nazis)
2. ".....was created for Klimt's secret erotic gratification" This author certainly was not in a position to
make this assumption.
3. ".....no men were allowed in 99% of Klimt's paintings, but the male voyeur is an unseen presence...." very opinionated! (but maybe true) The fact is that it is women who wanted portraits of themselves.

Even though I thought the author babbled too much concerning the erotic nature of some of the paintings, this was a great book. 78 pages 4 stars

... and now for more on Gustav Klimt. The book I read, The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor, focused on the painting, by Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, also known as The Lady In Gold. Fascinating close up look at this painting, from its composition in Vienna, Austria near the beginning of the Twentieth Century on through what happened to it and to those connected with it up to the present day. Quite a bit regarding Hitler's takeover of Austria and life for Jewish people living there at that time. Also quite a bit about what happened to the art held by the Jewish families in Austria. Closer to present day, we even hear about a court case concerning the ownership of this painting. I don't always come across nonfiction page turners, but The Lady in Gold definitely qualifies!

I am going to use the topic this month as an excuse to read another book from my Tom Thomson collection. This time I will read Tom Thomson: Trees by Joan Murray.

I've started The Titian Committee.

>12 cbfiske: The movie was great. I haven't read the book.

Finishing The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, about the life and art of Michaelangelo. Over 700 pages, so it is pretty thorough, and sometimes a bit overstuffed with historical details but really a very entertaining story. The author manages to portray him as a fascinating character with very strong ideals.

>15 majkia: . Still haven't seen the movie. Glad to hear it was a good one. I'll have to look for it.

>16 Darth-Heather: Thanks for the recommendation. The Agony and the Ecstasy is one I've always meant to read. You give me another push toward it.

Just Kids (4****), Patti Smith's memoir of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. I stumbled across this in excellent condition hc w/dj for $6 at Central Books in Doylestown, PA, and I'm awfully glad I did because, although I love Patti Smith, I've never been a fan of "celebrity memoirs." I wouldn't have bought it at full price in retail, but I'm delighted to have gotten hold of it. [ETA: It includes several Mapplethorpe photos of himself and several of Patti Smith. Since Mapplethorpe worked in B&W there was no need for expensive color plates.]

I'm currently working on Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts and hoping to finish it for the current August read, but it's a doorstopper. If I don't finish it this month, it will still qualify for the third-quarter 18th Century read.

>16 Darth-Heather:
>17 cbfiske:

The Agony and the Ecstasy is probably in the top 10 of my all time fav books!! Have read it at least twice.

>19 Tess_W: Another great recommendation! Thanks.

>18 CurrerBell: Also heard great things about this one and you liked it too. So many good books out there and this month's category was one for which I thought I might have trouble finding a book I liked.

I have completed my book for this theme, Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran. The author chose to put more more of her attention onto the French Revolution than to the actual process of wax sculpting, but there was enough details about this process to give the reader a fair idea of how this process works.

Can anyone recommend other Irving Stone books? This is my first of his and I really enjoyed his writing style.

>21 DeltaQueen50: I have that book in my TBR from Santathing 2016. I was hoping for more!
>22 Darth-Heather: The only other Stone book I've read is Lust for Life, about Van Gogh. I read it 30 years ago but I believe I liked it very much.

Just finished The Titian Committee by Iain Pears. Fun read. Pleasant sort of bumbling, distractible protag with a far more serious and focused female working with him. Art history, yay.

I've been following this group for a long time, wanting to join in, but I have too many challenges. So, I think I'll add something if it fits when I get to it. But, if I don't make a point of a certain challenge (that is, make a note of it and keep track), I tend to forget!

However, I am remembering now and I should be reading one that fits this month! I have a couple other books to get through first, but I plan to read:
The Lady and the Unicorn / Tracey Chevalier.

Depending how my list of monthly reads is looking for next year, maybe I'll try to make this one a priority.

>23 Tess_W: Don't get me wrong, Tess, I really liked Madame Tussaud, the research was excellent and the story was very good. I will certainly be picking up more books by Michelle Moran at some point.

>25 LibraryCin: Welcome and please be assured that this challenge is a "take it or leave it" one. Join in when you can and no guilt feelings if you don't have a book for any of the themes.

>25 LibraryCin: Howdy Cin, fancy meeting you here :D

I don't keep up with all the challenges in this group, but I do add quite a bit to my wishlist from reading everyone's reviews here.... You know how that goes...

I liked The Lady And The Unicorn and I hope you do as well. Have you read The Virgin Blue?

>27 Darth-Heather: I have read The Virgin Blue and really liked it. I've read a few by her already, also including The Girl With the Pearl Earring. I think (going from memory!) both got 4 stars from me. This one, so far, may be on track for 3.5 - still good, but maybe not as good! We'll see. I'm only about 1/3 of the way in or so.

And thank you both for the hello/welcome!

I just finished Queen Anne: Patroness of Arts (4****). Very worthwhile for placing such writers as Dryden, Swift, Pope, Addison, Steele, and others within their political context. The heavy discussion of musical work accompanied by online examples (unfortunately, in Flash format) may make this book more useful for classroom use accompanied by the instructor's discussion of the music, rather than for casual reading.

The Lady and the Unicorn / Tracy Chevalier
3.5 stars

It’s late in the 15th century and artist Nicolas des Innocents is hired to design tapestries for nobleman Jean le Viste. Nicolas is a notorious womanizer and decides he wants to bed Jean’s daughter, Claude. Claude, in turn, is attracted to Nicolas, but she is yet to be betrothed and certainly can’t afford any stains on her reputation! Meanwhile, after the tapestries are designed, Nicolas must hand over the actual crafting of them to a weaver in Brussels, Georges de la Chapelle. Georges, his family, and his workers take it from there to actual make the tapestries. Georges also has a daughter, Alienor, who happens to be blind. Nicolas also works his charms on her.

Overall, I did like the book/the story, but I REALLY didn’t like Nicolas, nor did I like Claude. I did like Alienor, but I just don’t understand how all these women would fall for the jerk, Nicolas! Each chapter is told from a different point of view, but the start of the chapter tells you whose point of view you are a following, so it’s not hard to follow.

>31 LibraryCin: Glad to see you joining us! I don't read a whole lot of books for these challenges, but it's fun when one I'm planning on fits!

>11 Tess_W:>12 I have both of those books; agree on the first how awful it is that so much was destroyed and agree that the author goes overboard a bit. Do love the pictures and explainations. The second book was the source for the movie with Helen Mirrin 'Woman in Gold'. Its predictable but still well done (anything with Mirren is gold anyway :) )

>13 Familyhistorian: I loved this book! Was in NYC that summer and got to see them at the Cloisters, wonderful exhibit!

>32 majkia: It is nice when something fits, anyway, I just have a tendency to forget to check! Am going to try to remember better to check in to this group, as well. :-)

Just finished The Art Forger by Shapiro--what a delight! Claire Roth, a struggling artist with an albatross round her neck, is given the promise of a one woman showing at a prestigious gallery by the owner with just one condition.

He says he's been offered a missing (stolen) Degas painting of Degas' Bathers series. He wants Claire to make a copy of the painting to be sold to one of his clients, then, he promises to return the original to museum from which it was taken years before.

>36 cfk: Read it last year, knew about half way through what was going to happen---still liked it@

>36 cfk:, >37 Tess_W: I read it last year also and really really enjoyed it. Something very different from the usual forgery novels.

Colm Toibin et al, Henry James and American Painting, just published to accompany a current exhibit at the Morgan Museum and Library.

This weekend I was able to see the actual Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer I aka The Lady in Gold. What a treat to view this beautiful painting and know and appreciate the story behind it, thanks to Anne-Marie O'Connor's The Lady in Gold.

>34 cindydavid4: It is a beautiful book. I would have loved to have seen the exhibition in person. I hope you enjoyed it.

I have a collection of books about Tom Thomson on my shelves. Most of them are about the artist's history as I am always looking for biographical clues to gain insight into the family history. This time I read Tom Thomson: Trees to find out more about his art. It was a very beautiful book with lots of coloured plates of his work.

>41 Familyhistorian: Enjoyed it very much! I'm a big fan of taking the opportunities to learn something that present themselves and this was a great adventure this summer.