An innovative new history of Cubism told through some of the most significant artworks ever produced, drawn from a distinguished private collection
This groundbreaking new history of Cubism, based on works from the most significant private collection in the world today, is written by many of the field’s premier art historians and scholars. The collection, recently donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, includes 80 works by Picasso, Braque, Gris, and Léger and is unsurpassed in the number of masterpieces and iconic pieces deemed critical to the development of Cubism.
Twenty-two essays explore various facets of Cubism from its origins and consider small groupings of works in light of specific themes—such as a study by neuropsychiatrist Eric Kandel on Cubism and the science of perception. Also included is a fascinating interview in which Lauder discusses his approach to collecting. This is a work to place beside other great histories of Modernism. It is a comprehensive, copiously illustrated book that offers a greater understanding of Cubism and will stand as a resource on this pioneering style for many years to come.
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press
Exhibition The Metropolitan Museum of Art (10/20/14–02/16/15)
الكتاب حجمه كبير .. كان ف أوله حلو ومليان صور بس بعد كده الكلام بقى كتير 😂 ٩٠٪ من الصور من أعمال بيكاسو هشوف لو هصوره ولا لأ وانزله ع اليوتيوب لأنه معجبنيش اوي بالمناسبة عندي فيلم وثائقي عن بيكاسو والفن التكعيبي والسينما ان شاء الله يظبط واعرف أنزله ع اليوتيوب من غير حقوق ملكية .. ع قناة عن الفن لو حد مهتم 😌👇 3nelf@
TL;DR This is a book of academic essays NOT meant for a general reader. You may not want to start the book unless you have a good background of art history and want to devote a significant amount of time to reading this book.
While the description of the book on Amazon may not seem intimidating, the Amazon reviews look great, and there is no doubt that the book is well edited, you should probably think twice before spending $60 on this book. The content is definitely not something I would call an easy read, and in my opinion the ratings in Amazon reviews are very bloated. People who say this book is "scholarly but readable for a general audience" are just terribly out of touch of reality.
I have been to many art museums and galleries in many cities, and have read dozens of books on art history and exhibitions, so it is probably not an overstatement to say I know a bit more about art than the general population. However, I still have quite a bit of difficulty reading this book. In the book, for each art work there are something like 600 words of discussion with multiple references to art work not featured in the book. The books discusses the art history a lot, and often just throws out words like "Fauve" and names like "Alfred Stieglitz" which I am pretty sure a majority of random people you can find on the street have no idea what they mean. Of course, a reader can easily look up these art work or the names online, but with all these additional work one can easily get lost.
What are real "readable for a general audience" art books? I hope everyone can agree that books like The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings and MoMA Highlights: 350 Works from The Museum of Modern Art, New York are good candidates. Still many people would not be able to finish these books. This book on cubism is not even close to these introductory art books, and certainly not for a general audience.
The rating may feel a bit unfair, as I am sure the authors and editors put a lot of effort in it and the book does look nice. Sorry I am not able to criticize the books in an academic manner, as I am not an expert in the field, but I feel this review could help people out there interested in this book. You may want to look for something more introductory.