The Art Shelf

The Oil Painter's Color Handbook
Todd M. Casey
Monacelli Studio
c/o The Monacelli Press
www.monacellipress.com
9781580935883, $45.00, HC, 320pp

https://www.amazon.com/Oil-Painters-Color-Handbook-Contemporary/dp/15809358=
85

Synopsis: With the publication of "The Oil Painter's Color Handbook: A Cont= emporary Guide to Color Mixing, Pigments, Palettes, and Harmony", artist To=
dd M. Casey provides informative instruction, including step-by-step demons= trations, and challenging exercises, with which even the most novice of asp= iring artists will be able to learn how to apply these techniques and conce= pts to their own painting. Once educated with this fundamental knowledge, a=
s an artist, anyone can begin to find the balance between the science and e= motional intuition in creating art.

Critique: A coffee-table style volume (11.25 x 2 x 9.25 inches, 3.62 pounds=
), this edition of "The Oil Painter's Color Handbook: A Contemporary Guide =
to Color Mixing, Pigments, Palettes, and Harmony" is an impressively inform= ative, visually dynamic combination of instruction manual and 'how to' guid=
e book that will be of particular interest and value to artists, art studen= ts, and art instructors, as well as serious amateurs and dedicated hobbyist=
s. Beautifully and effectively illustrated throughout, "The Oil Painter's C= olor Handbook: A Contemporary Guide to Color Mixing, Pigments, Palettes, an=
d Harmony" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, profess= ional, community, and academic library Oil Painting/Graphic Art Design coll= ections and supplemental art studies curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Todd M. Casey (https://www.toddmcasey.com), drawing inspira= tion from classical art, historical literature, and personal experience, im= bues each piece of his artwork with a love of both pragmatic, corporeal for=
m, and storied, intentional function. That is to say, every painting has a = tale to tell; whether emergent from the viewer's own perception, or brewed = from the very deep well of introspective thought, the artist inculcates wit=
h each brush stroke. Subtlety, refined grace, meditation, and honesty are t=
he hallmarks of Todd Casey's artistic aesthetic. His paintings have been ho= nored with awards, several times in recent years. Most recently, he won fir=
st place 3 years in a row in the Portrait Society of America Members Only C= ompetition, and first place in oil painting from the Allied Artists of Amer= ica, in 2015. His work can be found in collections throughout the United St= ates; and exclusively on the East Coast, at Rehs Contemporary Gallery, in M= idtown New York City.

Reimagining History from an Indigenous Perspective
Joyce M. Szabo
University of New Mexico Press
www.unmpress.com
9780826364098, $29.95, PB, 120pp

https://www.amazon.com/Reimagining-History-Indigenous-Perspective-Graphic/d= p/0826364098

Synopsis: Few contemporary artists before the 1990s explored the culturally=
negative impact of the Spanish in the Southwest. Unreflective celebrations=
of the Columbus Quincentennial brought about portrayals of a more complica= ted legacy of Columbus's arrival in the Americas -- especially by Indigenou=
s artists.

Through a series of etchings, Floyd Solomon of Laguna and Zuni heritage und= ertook a visual recounting of Pueblo history using Indigenous knowledge pos= itioned to reimagine a history that is known largely from non-Native record=
s. While Solomon originally envisioned more than forty etchings, he ultimat= ely completed just twenty.

From nightmarish visions of the Spanish that preceded their arrival to the = subsequent return of the Spanish and their continuing effects on the Pueblo=
people, Solomon provides a powerful visual record. These insightful, probi=
ng etchings are included in this important full-color volume showcasing Sol= omon's work and legacy.

With the publication of "Reimagining History from an Indigenous Perspective=
: The Graphic Work of Floyd Solomon", Professor Joyce M. Szabo positions So= lomon among his contemporaries, making this vibrant artist and his remarkab=
le vision broadly available to audiences both familiar with his work and th= ose seeing it for the first time.

Critique: Impressively and informatively illustrated, "Reimagining History = from an Indigenous Perspective: The Graphic Work of Floyd Solomon" is a met= iculous and exceptionally well written study that will be of special appeal=
to readers with an interest in the impact that the Spanish had upon Native=
American Art and Culture. While highly recommended as an invaluable contri= bution to personal, professional, community, and academic library Native Am= erican Studies and Art History collections, it should be noted that "Reimag= ining History from an Indigenous Perspective: The Graphic Work of Floyd Sol= omon" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $29.95).

Editorial Note: Joyce M. Szabo (https://art.unm.edu/profile/joyce-m-szabo) =
is the Regents' Professor of Art History Emerita at the University of New M= exico. She is also a specialist in Native American art and museum studies a=
nd the author and editor of several books, including Howling Wolf and the H= istory of Ledger Art (UNM Press).

The Portraitist: Frans Hals and His World
Steven Nadler
University of Chicago Press
1427 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
www.press.uchicago.edu
9780226698366, $35.00, HC, 360pp

https://www.amazon.com/Portraitist-Frans-Hals-His-World/dp/022669836X

Synopsis: Frans Hals (c. 1582 - 26 August 1666) was one of the greatest por= trait painters in history, and his style transformed ideas and expectations=
about what portraiture can do and what a painting should look like.

Hals was a member of the great trifecta of Dutch Baroque painters alongside=
Rembrandt and Vermeer, and he was the portraitist of choice for entreprene= urs, merchants, professionals, theologians, intellectuals, militiamen, and = even his fellow artists in the Dutch Golden Age. His works, with their visi= ble brush strokes and bold execution, lacked the fine detail and smooth fin= ish common among his peers, and some dismissed his works as sloppy and unfi= nished. But for others, they were fresh and exciting, filled with a sense o=
f the sitter's animated presence captured with energy and immediacy.

With the publication of "The Portraitist: Frans Hals and His World", Profes= sor Steven Nadler gives us the first full-length biography of Hals in many = years and offers a view into seventeenth-century Haarlem and this culturall=
y rich era of the Dutch Republic. He tells the story not only of Hals's lif=
e, but also of the artistic, social, political, and religious worlds in whi=
ch he lived and worked.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a two=
page listing of Acknowledgments, thirty-two pages of Notes, twenty-two pag=
es of References, and an eighteen page Index, "The Portraitist: Frans Hals = and His World" is an impressively work of meticulous research and scholarsh= ip, making it a very special and unreservedly recommended addition to perso= nal, professional, community, and academic library Artist Biography and His= tory collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be no= ted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an inte= rest in the subject that "The Portraitist: Frans Hals and His World" is als=
o available in a digital book format (Kindle, $26.49).

Editorial Note: Steven Nadler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Nadler)=
is a professor of philosophy and director of the George L. Mosse/Laurence =
A. Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madi= son. He is the author, most recently, of Spinoza: A Life, which won the 200=
0 Koret Jewish Book Award for biography, and Spinoza's Heresy: Immortality = and the Jewish Mind.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promo= ting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no fund=
s from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these=
reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, inte= rnet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested indivi= duals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "Califo= rnia Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwat= ch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available=
for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview=
(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: ---:- FTN<->UseNet Gate -:--- (3:633/280.2@fidonet)