Book Description
Nicky Epstein, one of today's hottest knitwear designers, has created a fabulous follow-up to last season's bestselling Knitting on the Edge. With hundreds of new and super edgings to try, it's a must-have in every knitting library.
Practically every knitted project needs an edging, and with her hit knitting reference, Knitting on the Edge, Nicky Epstein took the humble traditional rib to new heights. She now proudly presents a companion volume that's equally informative and rich in designs. Knitting Over the Edge takes the craft further, with more than 300 unusual edge combinations and shapings that will add a special, unique touch to any piece. The striking patterns will keep knitters of every level busy experimenting with different types of ties, loops, knots, braids, twists, bobbles and more. The topics explored in depth include cords, appliqués (such as flowers, leaves, hearts, and geometrics), color work, and a host of truly extraordinary corners, angles, bindings, and closures. A Selection of the Crafters Choice Book Club.
Knitwear designer Nicky Epstein has gained nationwide recognition for her informative workshops, her distinctive and innovative work, and her whimsical sense of style. She has authored numerous books including Knitting on the Edge, Crochet for Barbie Doll, and Knits for Barbie Doll. Her designs have also been featured in Vogue Knitting magazine, as well as many other publications, as well as on television and in art exhibitions.
Customer Reviews:
Nicky Epstein gets it every time!.......2007-02-23
I love Nicky's books and this is no exception! This one is more 3D and colour work than Knitting On The Edge, plus some new wonderful cable trims.Brilliant!!
Great creative ideas.......2007-02-06
This is a book which I would have been thrilled to have years ago. It gives great ideas and gets your imagination soaring.
creative.......2007-01-11
Great ideas if you like to create your own borders and edges on sweaters. Something a intermediate or beyond knitter can use. I also have her first book on edges and will plan to buy or new book.
A great source of inspiration.......2006-11-09
I've recently returned to knitting and bought this book after many months of passing it in the book store. In fact, it was the cover that started making me itch to pick up the needles again. If you've ever felt the urge to design your own, this book will definitely give you ideas to start from.
A must have!.......2006-08-19
I really liked the book, it inspires you to make your handwork wonderful! i liked so much i just can;t wait to try all the designs.
Book Description
This beautiful book focuses on Laurelton Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s extraordinary country estate in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. Beginning in 1902, Tiffany (1848–1933) designed every aspect of the immense home, which had eighty-four rooms and eight levels, and extensive grounds into which the house was carefully integrated. Tiffany’s residential masterpiece was also a quasi-museum, for he filled it with his own works—windows, glassware, pottery, enamels, lamps, oil paintings, and watercolors—as well as with objects from his collections of Islamic, Asian, and Native American art.
Laurelton Hall burned down in 1957, but about ten years earlier most of its contents had been removed and sold. Every aspect of the estate is examined and re-created in this volume: its terraced gardens with fountains and pools; the many outbuildings; and Tiffany’s life there. The interior decoration of Laurelton Hall, a particular focus of the book, is represented by both numerous period photographs and newly commissioned color photography of surviving artworks and salvaged architectural components from the estate. For all who admire Tiffany and his work, this book presents a unique portrait of his remarkable home.
Customer Reviews:
Louis Comfort Tiffany's Laurelton Hall.......2007-01-19
This is an excellent and scholarly book filled with incredible photos and descriptions of LCT's home, Laurelton Hall. The author has written a series of fine chapters that look at all aspects of this magnificent residence. What the fire at Laurelton destroyed, this book restores with words and photos. For all of you who love Tiffany's artistry, this book is not to be missed!
Tiffany Book.......2007-01-16
Nicely put together and informative for those who are seriously interested in the life and works of Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Amazon.com
Art nouveau embraced massive works of architecture and delicate pieces of jewelry, images of eerie seductresses and sinuous plant forms as well as flowing abstract shapes. The style transformed the decorative arts of many countries at a moment when Western culture believed itself to be on the brink of enormous change. Being ultramodern in the 1890s meant moving away from classical standards of beauty to create a sophisticated blend of nature and artifice. It also meant finding fresh inspiration in art history (Gothic architectural ornament, the airy curlicues of rococo art), non-European cultures (flat patterning in Japanese woodcuts, whiplash curves in Islamic art), or native folk art traditions.
Authoritative and elegantly written essays by 22 specialists, illustrated with 507 sumptuous photographs, make Art Nouveau, 1890-1914 one of the finest art books in recent memory. Produced to accompany a major exhibition that opened at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and runs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from October 8, 2000, through January 28, 2001, this volume is the first to illuminate the full range of art nouveau media and the complex connections--scientific, literary, mystical, mythological, psychological, industrial, nationalistic--that allowed it to take root in Europe and the U.S.
The famous art nouveau figures are all represented, of course: architects and designers Charles Rennie Macintosh, Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, Josef Hoffmann, Antonio Gaudí; art glass wizards Louis Comfort Tiffany and Émile Gallé; illustrators Aubrey Beardsley and Alphonse Mucha. But part of the pleasure of this book consists in discovering exquisite or bizarre pieces by lesser-known designers empowered by the dark sensuality of a style that perversely borrowed from nature to celebrate the nervous energy of urban culture. --Cathy Curtis
Book Description
Art Nouveau exploded onto the art and design scene in the early 1890s and spread rapidly throughout the Western world. This lush volume-created to accompany a major museum exhibition that opened at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, before moving to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in October 2000-is the most beautiful, complete, and wide-ranging study ever published on this enormously popular and influential style.
A wealth of illustrations and rare period photographs showcase masterpieces in all mediums-from Tiffany lampshades, Mucha posters, Klimt paintings, and Lalique jewelry to architecture by Victor Horta, Antoni Gaud, and Louis Sullivan. The text, by 20 leading scholars, is a timely reappraisal of a style that flourished at the turn of the last century, in a world grappling with new ideas and rapid social change. Decadent yet popular, both loved and hated, Art Nouveau gave rise to the concept of an all-encompassing "lifestyle environment"-a total work of art designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience.
This season's most scintillating art book, Art Nouveau, 1890-1914 will be unrivaled for years to come.
PAUL GREENHALGH is head of research at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Former head of art history at Camberwell College of Art, he is the author of several books and articles, and a contributor to Abrams' A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum. He lives in London.
507 illustrations, 407 in full color, 496 pages, 81/4 x 93/4"
Customer Reviews:
A Reminder That One's Entire Home Can Be "Art" .......2007-07-12
A lot of people hear the word "Art" and think of a painting on the wall or a sculpture proudly displayed on a table or mantle. The lush images in this book remind us that we can incorporate "Art" into every physical part of our lives. There's no need to sacrifice form for function or beauty for utility. All you have to do is look at the woodwork, the floors, the lighting, the walls, and, yes, the decorative objects--in short, every aspect of an art nouveau home--to see "Art" in the smallest detail. Art Nouveau exemplifies the principle of "Art for Life".
All the pictures are color!!!!.......2004-12-10
This is a rare gem among art histories: A well researched book that an average person will enjoy as much as a researcher. What makes this book stand out from other books about art nouveau is how thorough it is (It is phone book thick) and the quantity and quality of the pictures. All the reproductions of art in this book are color, with the obvious exception of older photographs of artists and occasionally architecture or artifacts that no longer exist except in black and white pictures.
The book takes the theory that art nouveau was part of a social response to industrialization. So the art is defined as art that used a return to nature or investigation into magic to try to make sense of the world. Art works are organized by what materials they were created from (jewelry, ceramics, textile, commercial advertising prints). Paintings and some examples of the other medias are grouped by country with a historical write on art nouveau in that geographical region.
This book is great. The high quality color reproductions and so many of them are worth looking through again and again. If you are at all into art nouveau then you are likely to love this book. Libraries should make this available because of the wonderful high quality color reproductions.
This is THE BOOK on Art Nouveau........2004-03-20
This is the book to get on Art Nouveau. The authoritative essays are well annotated, and an excellent bibliography is included. The illustrations are very fine. Of course this is a nice "coffee table book," but really this is a wonderful reference book for scholars of the Fin de Siècle-Belle Époque. Highly recommended!
ALL ART NOUVEAU FANS MUST SEE THIS!.......2004-01-08
First off, thank you Paul! I have loved Art Nouveau from childhood, before I ever knew what the style was called. It is somewhere in my blood. ART NOUVEAU, 1890-1914 (pronounced Art Newvo) is like something from a dream. The photographs alone are worth buying this book for!
Here are the chapters along with two or more of my favorite works from each:
1 THE STYLE AND THE AGE
Emile Galle' "Hand." Hot-worked glass with patination. French, 1904. Victor Horta, Hotel Tassel (Tassel House) First-floor landing with view towards staircase. Brussels, 1893.
2 ALTERNATE HISTORIES
Gustav Klimt, Pallas Athene. Oil on Canvas, Austrian, 1898. Museen der Stadt Wien, Vienna. / Doorway with two jambs and a pillar from the 11th-century church at Urnes, Norway. Late 19th-century plaster cast.
3 THE CULT OF NATURE
Louis Majorelle and Daum Freres, pair of magnolia lamps. Gilt bronze and carved glass. French, c.1903. / Louis Majorelle and Daum Freres, Le Figuier de Barbarie. Lamp of patinated bronze and carved glass. French, 1903.
4 SYMBOLS OF THE SACRED AND PROFANE
"Spiritualism: In philosophy the state or condition of mind opposed to materialism or a material conception of things." Madame Blavatsky, Theosophic Glossary, 1892.
Rene Lilique, Dragonfly Woman*** corsage ornament. Gold, enamel, chrysoprase, moonstones and diamonds. French, c.1897-98. Calouste Gullbenkian Museum, Lisbon. / Gustav Klimt, Judith II (Salome). Oil on canvas. Austrian, 1909.
5 THE LITERARY HERITAGE
6 ORIENT AND OCCIDENT
Tsuba (sword guard). Iron with gold and silver inlay. Japanese, c.1700-1800. / Inro (small container). Wood with black, gold and brown lacquer and glazed pottery., Japanese, c. 1775-1800. Signed Mochizuki Hanzan.
7 ARABESQUES: NORTH AFRICA, ARABIA AND EUROPE
(left and right) Glass flasks from Persia (Iran). c, 1885. / (centre) Glass flask by L.C. Tiffany & Co. ***American, 1896.
8 LE STYLE ANGLAIS: ENGLISH ROOTS OF THE NEW ART
James McNeill Whistler, Peacock Room for the Frederic Leyland Hourse, 1876. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. / Alexander Fisher, peacock sconce.** Steel, bronze, silver, brass and enamel. English, c.1889.
9 THE AGE OF PAPER
Camille Martin, Portfolio, L'Estampe orignale.* Tooled mosaic leather. French, 1893. / Henri Bellery-Desfontaines, L'Enigme. Colour lithograph. French, 1898.
10 MOULDING WOOD: CRAFTSMANSHIP IN FURNITURE
Rupert Carabin, table, Wood. French, 1896. [I wish you could see this photo.** Two nude women on either side of the rectangular table have arms outstretched to hold the x top left of it, and their heads are the top right side of the x and their knees are bent to go down the bottom right of the x respectively.] / Eugene Gaillard, dining room** [black and white but oh I can see it in full color!] L'Art Nouveau Bing, Expositioin Universelle, Paris, 1900.
11 THE NEW TEXTILES
Henry van de Velde, dress** Belgian, 1900. / Otto Eckmann, Five Swans. Woven tapestry. German, 1896-97.
12 THE NEW CERAMICS: ENGAGING WITH THE SPIRIT
Agathon Leonard, part of a table setting: Jeu de l'echarpe. Porcelain.* French, 1898. / Weduwe N.S.A. Brantjes, dish.** Earthenware, Dutch, c.1900.
13 THE NEW GLASS: A SYNTHESIS OF TECHNOLOGY AND DREAMS
Louise Comfort Tiffany, vase.** Glass with applied and marvered colours, combed. American, 1895.
14 MODERN METAL
Horta House, view from the music room towards the dining room. *** 1898-1900. /Fernand Dubois, candelabra.** Electro-plated bronze. Belgian, c.1889.
15 JEWELLERY AND THE ART OF THE GOLDSMITH [one of my favorite chapters]
Phillipe Wolfers, orchid hair ornament, gold, enamel, diamonds and rubies.*** Belgian, 1902. / Ren' Lilique, iris bracelet.*** Gold, enamel and opals. French, 1897. / Rene Lalique, damselflies necklace.*** Gold, enamel, aquamarines and diamonds. French, c.1900-02. / Rene Lalique, winged female figure.*** Bronze. French, c.1899-1900. / Alphonse Mucha, bodice ornament.*** Gold, ivory, enamel, opals, pearls, and coloured gemstones. Czech, c.1900.
Ok, time for just the chapter titles and most essential loves listed from each chapter. This gives you an idea of how comprehensive this book is!
16 THE CONCENTRATED ESSENCE OF A WRIGGLE: ART NOUVEAU SCULPTURE
Jean Dampt, The Fairy Melusine and the Knight Raymondin. French, 1894.
17 THE PARISIAN SITUATION: HECTOR GUIMARD AND THE EMERGENCE OF ART NOUVEAU
Hector Guimard, principal entrance to Le Castel Beranger.** Paris, 1898.
18 VICTOR HORTA AND BRUSSELS
All the photos from the Victor Horta House!
19 MUNICH: SECESSION AND JUGENDSTIL
Franz von Stuck, The Sin. Oil on canvas. German, c.1906.
20 SECESSION IN VIENNA
Josef Hoffmann, Palais Stoclet, detail of tower.** Brussels, 1905-11.
21 GLASGOW: THE DARK DAUGHTER OF THE NORTH
22 LOUIS SULLIVAN AND THE SPIRIT OF NATURE
Adler and Sullivan, Transportation Building, Columbian Worlds Fair. Chicago, 1893.
23 BARCELONA: SPIRITUALITY AND MODERNITY
Lluis Domenech i Montaner, auditorium of Palau de Musica Catalana.*** Barcelona, 1905-08. / Antoni Gaudi, Casa Batllo, detail of fascade.*** Barcelona, 1904-06. / And all photos of Antoni Gaudi, Sagrada Familia!***
24 BUDAPEST: INTERNATIONAL METROPOLIS AND NATIONAL CAPITAL
Odon Lechner, interior of The Museum of Applied Arts.*** Budapest, 1896./ Zsolnay factory, vase. Prcelain-faience covered in Eozin glaze.** Hungarian, 1899.
25 THE NEW ART IN PRAGUE (where my violin was made)
Oswald Polivka, entrance to the Novak Building.** Nove Mesto, prague, 1901-04./ Interior and exterior photos of Osvald Polivka and Antonin Balsanek, the Municipal House
26 HELINSINKI: SAARINEN AND FINNISH JUGEND
27 MOSCOW MODERN
Elena Polenova, plate from Mir Isskustva. St. Petersburg, 1900.
/ Fyodor Shekhtel, both photos from the Riabushinsky mansion.*** Moscow 1900-02.
28 LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY AND NEW YORK [another one of my favorite chapters--I adore L.C.T!]
Everything! Four Seasons window. Leaded favrile glass. American, 1897.
29 TURIN: STILE FLOREALE, A LIBERTY FOR ITALY?
The coolest chair I've seen in a long time: Carlo Bugatti, chair.*** Parchment over wood, copper, paint. Italian, 1902.
30 A STRANGE DEATH...
"Decorative Art can no longer exist any more than the 'style' themselves...Culture has taken a step forward and the hierarchical system of decoration has collapsed." Le Corbusier, L'Art decoratif d'aujourd'hui, 1925.
ILLUSTRATED OBJECT LIST: ART NOUVEAU 1890-1914 EXHIBITION, NATIONAL GALERY OF ART, WASHINGTON. Perhaps the best for last, has thumbnails of 375 additional pieces! I love it!
Listening to King Crimson The Power to Believe...awesome too.
Soar!
Incredible!.......2003-06-04
A book of incredible detail and beauty. I first saw this book in my local library and decided I simply must have it. There are print art, furniture and jewellry, arcitecture examples and more. Worth the purchase price to the last penny!
Customer Reviews:
Important for Reference and Historical purposes.......2007-02-19
This is an excellent collection to own.
The visuals in Little Nemo are excellent, leaps and bounds above what most filmmakers can do, even with technology and money.
And Little Nemo was probably one of the ten most important comic strips of the early part of the 20th century.
And this is a reasonably affordable edition that contains all (or at least claims to contain all) of the strip.
That being said, I'm not sure that Little Nemo is really something that would hold the interest of a lot of contemporary readers, comic and otherwise. This was kind of a hard thing for me to write because it is an important work in terms of comic history.
If you do plan on buying this, think of it as a reference book or a picture book (when I bought this at the comic store, the employee said it really existed solely for the art and, history aside, I'm not entirely sure I disagree with him). It is incredibly useful in that regard. In terms of an actual plot or characterization, don't really go in with high expectations. This is an attractive volume worth having on a shelf and consulting every few months but it isn't something that you are probably not going to read cover to cover.
Little Nemo has little to speak of in terms of plot or characterization. And, like the Walt and Skeezix collection, racial stereotypes come in occasionally, something that would probably have flown in 1905-1914 but something that is unacceptable now (though I regret that the dislike of such things often comes at the expense of a reasoned view of the historical context).
And I really wish that I could give this a better review due to its historical importance. Overall, it gets three stars but with a qualifier of some kind.
What Dreams May Come!.......2006-12-12
Little Nemo in Slumberland was introduced to America over a century ago, and these pages still have the power to astonish and touch anyone that reads them. The utter timelessness of this strip, both in artwork and vision, is the kind of testament to genius that very few graphic artists ever receive. Winsor McCay was such a genius and his major work, Little Nemo in Slumberland, is a vastly rich exploration of human dreams.
What is it about Little Nemo that was so special? First and foremost, we have the pure draftsmanship of Winsor McCay. The man could (and with his imagination, often did) draw anything. Where a great deal of comic art from the time was somewhat static and stiff, McCay's figures had fluidity. His characters seemed to be caught in motion, captured in very difficult angles and postures to draw. McCay handled it all with incredible ease. When McCay drew Little Nemo climbing over a wall, it captured perfectly the struggle of a nine-year-old boy, fighting both his own small size and his pajamas. The man had a sense of perspective and composition that was nearly superhuman. He could portray an entire make-believe city, with shimmering towers and distant castles, in a single panel and give it a quality of detail and depth that barely seems possible.
Secondly, of course, was the breadth of McCay's imagination. Sometimes little Nemo dreamt beautiful fantasies, sometimes disturbing nightmares (Nemo's journey toward Slumberland at times resembled Dante's journey through the nine circles). Suffice to say that the details of these dreams are simply mind expanding. One can only imagine the impression they made on a 1905 comic strip reader.
Lastly, and for me most importantly, was the character of Nemo. McCay's portrayal of a six year old boy was completely spot on and timeless. Anyone that has ever had a boy child will instantly see their own son in Nemo, and this superb characterization was done more visually than with text or dialogue (if this doesn't make sense, have a look at the strip to see what I mean. Nemo's very posture suggests all the heartbreaking vulnerability and innocence of a young child). There is a subtle and complete sweetness that underlies the entire work that makes it emotionally memorable and captivating. The staggering beauty of McCay's panels often overshadows the fact that Nemo was nearly always the terrorized victim of his dreams. Yet no matter how hostile and threatening his dream world became, he never responded with anything but trust and hope (amazingly, this quality never seemed sentimental but always rang true - such was the power of McCay's art). It is the kind of work that has a place in both your heart and your mind.
This is a very affordable and worthwhile edition of McCay's historic series. The colors are well reproduced, the paper stock is excellent, and the binding is superb. Lovers of the graphic arts should be very grateful to Evergreen for producing this well-done and reasonably priced book. I highly recommend it. ---Mykal Banta
An intensely imaginative and creative road, though with some bumps along the way.......2006-11-30
Little Nemo has been praised as one of the most original comic strips ever created, and it certainly is. It is surreal, imaginative, and very well-drawn and colored. It doesn't keep up all these qualities through to the end, but there is tremendous gold to be found in this treasure.
Little Nemo is a comic strip about the adventures of a young boy as he encounters a great many surreal situations in his dreams. Each comic starts off with Nemo either in the dreamworld at the start, or in bed, and about to enter it. Each comic contains one final panel of Nemo waking up, often startled by what happened in the dream.
Things start out on a fantastic note. In one early strip, Nemo is taking a walk through a forest made of giant mushrooms. He is told not to touch the mushrooms, because they are very delicate. At one point, he accidentally bumps into one, and it breaks neatly into several giant pieces, which then fall and hit another mushroom, which in turn breaks onto another, and so on, thus starting a chain reaction. Another early comic has Nemo accidentally causing disaster in a world made out of living glass people.
The early strips are more about individual surreal adventures rather than telling a continuing story, and they work quite well. At one point, however, McCay must have decided that he had to create a storyline to tell, and that is where each comic tends to be directly related to the story in question.
That's not a bad thing. The stories at first are generally used as vehicles to get him from one original dream sequence to another. Sometimes these sequences are directly related to the story at hand, but oftentimes they are detours. The comic continues in this style for a long while.
At one point, the character of Flip the clown is introduced, and quickly becomes one of the main characters. Flip is a troublemaker who is not allowed to join the Princess of Slumberland, but he eventually does so anyway after a great many failed tries. He soon joins Nemo as a constant companion, with plots that occasionally result in him being thrown out of or separated from the group, with him later either trying to rejoin, or just causing trouble on his own.
Once Flip gets involved in the comic, the comic begins to slowly revolve more and more around him, but for a long time, the stories continue to be largely Nemo-centric affairs about the strange and unusual experiences he has in Slumberland. One wonderfully creative plot had Nemo and the Princess visit the North Pole, and experience, among other things, a snowmaker, which ends up causing more trouble than it's worth when Nemo climbs up a tower to see it in action. During this plot, Flip constantly tries to catch up with the group, often getting thwarted, and serving as a mild sideshow rather than the main attraction.
Later in the strip, though, McCay begins to have an increasing reliance on story arcs. That becomes a problem, however, when some of these story arcs don't really fit in with the dream-like stories that make the comic so original. For instance, at one point there is a story arc that revolves exclusively around Nemo and a crew on an airship traveling to famous cities around the US and Canada, visiting them, and learning facts about them. There is nothing surreal or dream-like that happens in these stories, and they contribute nothing to the comic. As if realizing this, McCay later had Nemo and his crew land on Mars, where the story becomes wonderfully surreal and creative again.
After continuing that re-energized creative spark, McCay loses it again late in the book. During the last two years of Little Nemo, the comic degenerates into slapstick comedy involving Flip and his efforts to break into Slumberland. The title begins to reflect this. This is where "Little Nemo in Slumberland" is now known as "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams", and each story now has its own title. Each title tends to be about Flip; i.e. "Flip Breaks In", "Something's Up, Must Be Flip", etc. This only shows that Flip has succeeded in hijacking the comic. What was once Nemo's story about his trips through surreal dreamscapes is now changed into Flip's slapstick comedy. Some surreal dreamlike elements continue to present themselves, but the story had gone downhill, and the collection ends on a sour note.
I loved this comic collection and I'm very glad I got a chance to read through 10 years worth of the most original newspaper comic I'd ever seen. However, I did notice the comic's bumpy quality, ranging from fantastic to downright bland.
My recommendation is to check out this collection. There's a lot going for it, and don't let the later drop in story quality get to you - all great things go through that kind of phase. McCay may not have kept up his creative spark forever, but when he had it going for him, he turned out wonderful, amazing, truly original work, work that is worth seeing for yourself.
Outstanding collection.......2006-08-30
If you are looking for a great, affordable complete set of the Little Nemo comics, this is it! Taschen always does a great job and this book is no exception. The quality of the images are excellent and the reproductions, though not the same size as the originals, are large enough to easily read.
Nice Reproductions of McCay's Seminal Strip.......2002-04-28
This Taschen book adequately reprints the first run of Winsor McCay's seminal comic strip, Little Nemo in Slumberland. Little Nemo is a 9-year old who drifts off to sleep each night only to be transported to Slumberland, a hallucinogenic world of circus performers, royal court attendants, exotic personages of all stripe, and animals both tame and wild. I loved looking at these strips as a child, but I didn't understand them until much later.
McCay worked on an epic scale. Each strip ran to dozens of dialog baloons and hundreds of clearly rendered people and things, and often involved a half dozen characters or more. The most notable denizen of Slumberland other than Nemo is Flip, Nemo's arch-nemesis, who is set on nothing more than casting Nemo out of Slumberland by tricking him into waking up. The stories are scary in the amorphous manner of dreams -- characters grow large and walk over cities, or so small they are dwarfed by raspberries, inducing a dreamlike sence of vertigo and plasticity. Another recurring dream-like theme is flight, effected by baloons, stars, giant dragonflies or even Nemo's own out-of-control bed.
The strips, originally filling a 15x23 inch newspaper page, are perhaps the most intricate and well rendered comics ever to be produced. At just over 12 inches tall, these reproductions are disappointingly small. And although the text is clear, it is tiny. Each panel is exquisitely composed and could stand on its own as a compelling work of graphic art, drawn with a beautiful art nouveau line and a rainbow pastel palette that makes one wonder what they knew about printing comics in 1905 that's been since forgotten. Although numbered for readers at the time, McKay's control of flow leaves no doubt as to the order of panels in the mind of the modern comic entusiast; he would routinely stretch time and space, and think nothing of propelling action from one panel to the next -- tricks in the bag of every modern comic artist. (As an aside, Scott McCloud's book "Understanding Comics" is a most excellent treatise on comic book art in general and page flow in particular.)
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful.......2003-12-29
This is an unbelievably beautiful book! The photos are very good quality, the information accompanying them is interesting. Also loved the chronology at the end. Very lovely and well done.
Amazon.com
The Art of Glass is a beautiful introduction to the art of glassmaking during its most innovative period of the 20th century. Beginning with the precursors to art nouveau, this survey traces art glass through the magnificent creations of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Argy-Rousseau, Lalique, art deco, and Swedish modernism. The historical background of each artist and company is discussed in detail, as are evaluations of their achievements, making The Art of Glass an invaluable guide to the medium. A glossary and index of glass artists are also included.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful glass with a major omission........2000-08-22
Fine pictures with solid historical copy. I would rate "The Art of Glass" five stars if it were't for the exclusion of the glass of Frederick Carder, not only a major contributor to the genre, but designer/maker of some of the most beautiful glass objects of any period ever made.
Book Description
Nearly 200 beautiful examples of wrought iron gates, screens, balustrades and other architectural adornments.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic plates from original portfolios with examples of 1.......2002-01-25
It is difficult to find an original porfolio full of plates illustrating the work of the French "ferroniers" in the twenties. This inexpensive booklet lets one admire these marvelous and rare examples, many of which no longer exist.
Art Deco Ornamental Ironwork.......2000-04-01
This book is a collection of 670 illustrations. No text is included with the illustrations, but could be a good resource for someone interested in seeing the various types of design used in what was mainly cast iron. The books groups the ironwork into handrails, window balconies, railings. banisters, drapery screens and door panels etc. For someone looking for a copyright free set of graphics this would be a good choice. For those interested in finding out how this ironwork was made and by who it would be a bad choice. These is no explanation of who, when or how in this book - just a collection of detailed illustrations.
Book Description
The fabulous Easter eggs that Carl Fabergé created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the Russian imperial family are legendary. Yet few know that during those same years, the renowned goldsmith and jeweler crafted exquisite flowers and fruit for his aristocratic clients throughout Europe, including the crowned heads of Russia and England. Carved from colored hardstones, set on gold stems, and embellished with jewels and enamels, these stunning pieces meticulously replicated real botanical specimens: wild roses, lilies of the valley, hawthorn flowers, and blueberries.
This beautiful volume tells for the first time the story of these tiny marvels, most of which disappeared or were sold following the Russian revolution. Today, Fabergé's existing botanical creations, such as the Wild Rose Collection of Queen Elizabeth II and the Red Currants at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, are found in museums and private collections. Fabergé Flowers combines superb photographs of these dazzling objects of fantasy with texts that illuminate the lost world of Fabergé's early collectors. AUTHOR BIO: Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey is an independent scholar of Russian decorative arts and cultural history. Alexander von Solodkoff is a historian of Russian decorative arts. Joyce Lasky Reed is the president of the Fabergé Arts Foundation of Washington, D.C., and St. Petersburg, Russia.
Customer Reviews:
Exquisite craftsmanship of nature's beauties.......2007-07-21
Just about a year ago, I went to a special exhibition in Newark, New Jersey that had artifacts from the private domain of Russia's last Tsar and his family. As I strolled among the clothing and photographs and paintings, there was one object that stood in solitary splendour in a glass case, occupying a place of honor.
The object was a bouquet of lilies of the valley, arranged in a beautifully woven basket, nestled in moss. But unlike real flowers, this was all crafted in gold, pearls and diamonds, and jade. It's so carefully made that you can see the veining in the leaves, the delicate strands of moss, and so vivid that if there was a breeze, you would swear that the arrangement would quiver.
Presented to the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna as a coronation gift, it sat on her desk until the Revolution. But it wasn't the only object that she owned that was crafted by Faberge. Every well-to-do and aristocratic home had frames, silver, and other designs created by Faberge and his firm in their homes. One of the most popular of these were the small floral arrangements, usually just one or two sprigs of a particular flower in a vase of rock crystal.
In Faberge Flowers, Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey explores these tiny treasures. Most are only a few inches high at the most, and delightful to look at. With other researchers and others that have fallen under the spell of Faberge's work, she takes a look at the works of this craftsman. Each essay is accompanied by splendid photographs of the flowers -- and a few of the famous Imperial Eggs -- which made the book worth purchasing.
One of the top researchers on Faberge, Alexander von Solodkoff, writes the first essay, cleverly disguised as the introduction, where he talks about the fondness of Russians for flowers, and the cultural significance of them, especially with their associations with spring and Easter. He also talks about the varied collectors of Faberge, both before the Russian Revolution and after.
"A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Foever:" The Faberge Flowers, by the editor of the book, Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey, goes into the history of these little objects of art. Known as "flower studies," these were also the rarest of the various objects d'art that the firm crafted. Only a hundred or so of these fragile objects are known to have survived to now, and when they rarely come to the open market, they fetch astronomical prices. Swezey discusses the materials used -- most remarkable is the actual dandelion fluff used to create the dandelion flowers, each held in place with minute wires -- along with the Art Noveau style which drew inspiration from nature. For the Russian court, it was a breath of fresh air, and reaction to the at times overbearing magnificence of the most wealthy court in Europe. Also covere are the various exhibitions that were held of the Faberge flowers as well.
An Astonishing Discovery by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm
discusses how the fall of the Soviet regime in Russia has led to the discovery of the original designs and notes that were made in the creation of the flowers. She shows the finished object side by side with the designer's notes, and the details on both are what takes my breath away when I look at them. The author also goes into the decision making process and the steps in crafting the finished product, from the selection of the stones to the making of the rock crystal vases that formed the base of many of the flowers.
"His Greatest Patroness:" Queen Alexandra and Faberge's Flowers by Caroline de Guitaut talks about the largest collection of Faberge outside of Russia, and the woman who started it. The elder sister of Empress Marie, Queen Alexandra was very familiar with Faberge's work, collecting small hardstone animals as well as more than twenty-three of the floral studies. There are also notes about the others who have added to the Faberge objects in the Royal Collection today.
Faberge's London Branch and the London Ledgers by Tatiana Faberge is the shortest of the essays, just covering how Faberge opened the London branch of the firm, and how the surviving business ledgers have proved to be valuable in tracking down where many of the objects are today.
In Search of Faberge's Flowers in Russia by Valentin V. Skurlov is translated by Dudley Hagen, and talks about the collectors in Russia before the Revolution. Not only discussing the various collectors, he also mentions that having a knowledge of flowers was a sign of being educated, and that the flowers were quite an acceptable present when a piece of jewelry would be 'awkward.' Many of these objects vanished in the confusion of the Revolution, and their whereabouts are unknown. Another tidbit is that Skurlov talks about the various floral firms that supplied many of the hothouse flowers for the aristocracy -- and as models for Faberge's artisans. Using notes and ledgers, Skurlov gives a list of the various flowers purchased or given by the Romanovs, and among the photographs can be seen one creation nestled in the original case.
Faberge's Flowers: Science in the Service of Art by Mark A. Schaffer talks about his own love of Faberge (his firm A La Vieille Russe sells jewelry and often Faberge objects in New York City) and the little touches and detail that Faberge put into his designs, showing fruits and flowers in every stage.
Every photograph is annotated, and the essays have plenty of notes attached. There is an extensive index and while the book is not cheap -- the cover price is over 30$US -- it is worth it to add to any collector who is interested in Russian art, Faberge, or who simply delights in beautiful things. This is one of the best books about the Faberge workshops, and gives plenty of information that hasn't been revealed before. The photographs are what make this worth looking at -- they are very sharp, clear and evocative, each one a serene portrait of nature caught in time and craftsmanship.
Book Description
Jewelry was one of the purest, and most successful, expressions of the Art Nouveau movement. It captured the atmosphere and the passion of the fin de sicle, as well as the moral and artistic freedom that characterized the period. Fresh designs and motifs were created with an intense excitement that was shared by artists all over the world. Sensuous animal and plant forms surged with new life; the female form struggled toward a new freedom, suggesting a long-hidden eroticism; and sunsets and changing seasons reflected the symbolic view of art in nature borrowed from the Japanese. This book deals with major jewelers in France--their inspirations, techniques, and themes--and then follows the parallel modern movement that spread through Europe and the United States. With a detailed reference section and a collection of dramatic photographs, this treasury will appeal to collectors and jewelry lovers alike.
Customer Reviews:
Impressive, comprehensive.......2007-01-10
A very good book about this period, no other one has covered the subject as this one.
complete but dissapointing.......2006-11-01
i wanted to know more about art nouveau jewelry and this book really helped me for that purpose.
it has lots of pictures and info about whatever there is to know and see.
the only dissapointment was that majority of the pics are in black and white. You miss out on all the enameling work colors..
also i expected to see more from lalique.
overall though its a good book for starters.
Beautiful and Informative Book.......2006-06-27
This book far exceeded my expectations for the price! The only minor criticism I have is that I wish ALL the photographs had been in color. A great deal......
FANTASTIC!!.......2006-04-12
Beautiful book, this book was much more than I expected. The pictures of jewellery and the information contained within was worth every penny.
Art Nouveau Jewelry.......2006-03-09
This is a gorgeous book with fine high quality photos and great history, but it lacks a price guide which would add greatly to the appeal.
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