The Louvre: All the Paintings

by Vincent Pomarède, Anja Grebe (Contributor), Loyrette Henri (Preface)

An historic publishing event! Endorsed by the Louvre and for the first time ever, every painting from the world's most popular museum is available in one stunning book.

All 2,981 paintings on display in the permanent painting collection of the Louvre are presented in full color in this striking, slipcased book. Comes with an enclosed, supportive DVD-ROM

The Louvre is the world's most visited art museum, with 8.5 million visitors annually, and houses the most celebrated and important paintings of all time. For the first time ever, The Louvre: All the Paintings collects all 2,981 paintings currently on display in the permanent collection in one beautifully curated volume.

Organized and divided into the four main painting collections of the museum— the Italian School, the Northern School, the Spanish School, and the French School— the paintings are then presented chronologically by the artist's date of birth.

Four hundred of the most iconic and significant paintings are illuminated with 300-word discussions by art historians Anja Grebe and Vincent Pomarède on the key attributes of the work, what to look for when viewing the painting, the artist's inspirations and techniques, biographical information on the artist, the artist's impact on the history of art, and more.

All 2,981 paintings are fully annotated with the name of the painting and artist, the date of the work, the birth and death dates of the artist, the medium that was used, the size of the painting, the Louvre catalog number, and the room in the Louvre in which the painting is found.

The DVD-ROM is easily browsable by artist, date, school, art historical genre, or location in the Louvre. This last feature allows readers to tour the Louvre and its contents room by room, as if they were actually walking through the building.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Art History, Reference, France, Coffee Table Books

784 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2011

Reviews

[Katelyn Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read while alive and breathing. It made me feel worthwhile; although I cannot make it to the Louvre in France, I had it in my hands.

I still want to visit, this is an awesome book though.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having lived in Europe for a time, I was a huge Museé du Louvre fan. So when my dear husband bought this for me for Christmas, I was ecstatic. It truly lives up to the hype and is, in my opinion, well worth the hefty price tag. If you love looking at some the world's most beautiful paintings done by our most revered artists, as well as getting historical background for many of them, you will enjoy this book immensely.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Louvre: All the Pictures is by Erich Lessing and Vincent Pomarede. This magnificent book is simply wonderful. I have been to the Louvre but in the book, I saw paintings I had never seen. When you can’t go to the Louvre and go through the museum, this is the next to the best thing. In fact, that you can actually see all of the paintings makes them much easier to view. Of course, it is not the same as being there; but it works. It is not a book to sit down and read through at once, it is a book to be savored in small bites as you enjoy your trip through the Louvre.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really beautiful, huge, heavy book. I found the descriptions and paintings fascinating and it was nice to be able to really look at them without the interruptions you get when you go to a museum with people - commentary, other patrons wanting to see, noise.

The CD could have been better. It is hard to navigate and the titles that you click on to see the collections blend into the background. It was nice to be able to zoom into the paintings to see the details. Did you know that Mona Lisa is wearing a gauzy hair covering?

I don't know which school of artists I like best. They all have really good qualities. I most identify with the northern schools because they have a folk-like quality in their paintings. Think Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, and Peter Brughel.

Definately a book not to miss as long as you don't drop it on your foot.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

First - this tome is at least 3+ inches thick. Second - I can't believe my local library had this for checkout - but they did, and I'm grateful I could take advantage of that. In spite of it being a bit overwhelming, this was an enjoyable read. To really go through - not just skim, but really examine all of the paintings, would - like the louvre - take soooo much time. So my approach was to was skim and then slow down and dig in when I ran into things that really grabbed my eye. For me this became, in a way, an index. When I found something interesting (to me) I could say - ok, that's something I'd like to learn more about and make a note. The notes provided in the book were a good intro - but of course they really didn't have enough space to really present all there is on each notable painting, much less each of the non-notable items (non-notable?!? It's in the Louvre for hecks sake - that's not to say everything the Louvre has is out of this world, but I'm guessing the french kings did tend to have some good collectors working for them.)

[AnneMarie Nomico · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is just the most beautiful book. As a student of art history, I've seen many books on this subject, but this one is by far my favorite. Beyond gorgeous. The scope of this book is unmatched. For those paintings that are smaller, there are great resources online if a someone wants to see the painting in more detail, but I've found these prints to be sufficient. Although I am familiar with many of these paintings, I was introduced to new art here. Such a lovely book! It would be a great gift for anyone with an interest in art history.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me 10 months to read it but I did it! It was a fine idea to put all the paintings of the Louvre in one book but it wasn't really workable. It is a huge, heavy tome with 745 pages but the problem is many of the pictures are too small to see the detail described.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book! I can't think of anything wrong with it. (Unless you are weak! Ha)

[Chandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t *quite* finish this enormous book before I had to return it, but I feel smarter already.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally looked at all the paintings in the Louvre in a gaudy, hardcover, coffee table book. The introductions in my edition, as well as the descriptions of the paintings, are not written very well. The prose is either purple or clunky. There are also several errors in painting dates and such.

However, the paintings themselves are, of course, amazing. I could get lost in the way they are outlined in my book. I am so glad it comes with prints of the best paintings I can hang on my wall. I like how it is organized by geographical region (Italian school, French school, etc) because that means I can witness how painting revolved over time in each country. I love seeing beautiful paintings and this coffee table book made me want to go to the real Louvre.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one heavy book; Amazon says it weighs 9 pounds. It is over 700 glossy pages of all of the paintings in the Louvre. There is the Mona Lisa / La Giaconda and Raphael and Delacroix and JMW Turner and many more paintings by people I had never heard of. For me, the remarkable thing about this book is the paintings that are conspicuously not there. There are 2 Claude Monet paintings that I had not seen before (an icy river) but no garden nor waterlilies. There was one Degas painting. No Pablo Picasso. No Vincent Van Gogh. No Manet. No Gauguin. No Seurat. This was a cheap and comfortable way of seeing the Louvre from the comfort of my couch.

[Amy Pauwels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love!

[Jonathan Palo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish the paintings were larger in book

[Stormy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellisima, beau, belle, beautiful.

[Elesha Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding!

[Matthew Wilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep, they’re all here—and now that “Eurocentric” art is getting cancelled, we can spend the rest of our lives enjoying it in contraband like this.

[Manny Villa]

623800

[M]

623800

[Francesca Aquino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giggles because I read this before traveling to Paris and then never went inside because it was too overwhelming.

[Ayde · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Louvre All The Paintings

It is a large (and heavy) and wonderful book, full of pictures and with lots of information. So it deserves more than several visits, as it does The Louvre.

While watching and admiring those pictures, I was aware of few female artists doing that extraordinary work, even though in many paintings the woman and her beauty are captured.

I wonder if there is a kind of theory related to that, because even in modern days the tendency seems to be the same. There are simply few female painters.

Do males, in general, have more artistic sensibility? Who knows.

I have to say I liked a lot “The Black Woman" by Marie-Guillemine Benoist as well as the works of Ann Vallayer-Coster. Also, those of Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Lebrun, and of course all the famous masters that made such a wonderful work, that nowadays we can still enjoy.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is without a doubt an extraordinary collection, compiled for the first time in a massive volume. Yes, it’s a bulky book, but once I had it on my lap, I paged through it for hours on end. Admittedly one cannot read every last description or caption, but it is a thoroughly visual experience for art lovers and novices alike. I did not watch the DVD, this is strictly a review of the contents of the pages. I appreciated the background offered in the introduction, though I read it as more of an afterthought, wanting to dive in straight to good stuff. I know I will reference this book for years to come and I have to shout out to my favorite painting of Anne of Cleves by Holbein.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via the Amazon Vine program.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suppose I should have expected this to be more of a "coffee-table book" than anything else. I did appreciate the quick bios of some of the artists and the opportunity to narrow my must-sees for when I (finally!) get there in person. My only real problem with the book was that all the paintings were formatted down to the same two sizes. There is a level of appreciation and comparison that is lost when everything is put in the same size box. Still, a good introduction to what the Louvre has to offer!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Can't imagine what it took to put it together. A must for anyone with the slightest interest in paintings. This book is the 1st time I have ever seen a picture of Henry VIII's son, Edward who would have been King had he not died, instead of Elizabeth I becoming Queen for the next 45 years. How that would have changed history! You won't read every word, that would take months but you will appreciate the collection the Louve has, which is the largest museum in the world.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not read all of this book, but I did look at all of the book. I just wanted to peruse the Louvre collection and this book was perfect for that. The organization of the book into major collections (Italian, Northern, French, and Spanish) and the further presentation of the paintings chronologically by artist allowed for a big picture understanding of the development of painting styles by region and over time.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my spanish review; go here: http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2...
The perfect center table decorative book. It is gorgeous; complete; educative; with beautiful pictures and great paper quality. I loved each and every page of it. It is like going to the museum; just better because there are no hordes of tourists shooting photos and not letting you see the pictures.

[Beckie · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I actually didn't 'read' this book, I did go through every page and every painting. It is just too big of a book to actually sit and read unless you were studying the works or something. I would love to buy this book, though, because it is just amazing to see all of these works of art together in one book.

[Chris Webber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful. It is like having an art museum in your home. Just open up the front cover and you are transported into an art/culture rich environment. It's tough to abandon the pages once you're in. Such brilliance.

The book itself is high quality glossed pages and mine came with a DVD. I will treasure this book always.

[Ina Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid survey of the paintings in the Louvre.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I'll admit to not reading all of it. I spent a few good hours looking at all of it tho. I didn't get a chance to see the DVD before I had to return it to the library so I have no opinion on that, but this is a really impressive and stunning (and heavy!) book!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book to leaf through and the cd-Rom allows you to see more detail