Masterpieces: The Best-Loved Paintings from America's Museums

by David Frankel

Featuring an innovative foldout design that allows readers to view and read about the art simultaneously, a guide to thirty-three popular paintings, as selected by curators, includes commentary on each work and nearly three hundred photographs. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Art

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1995

Reviews

[Tanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic and interesting book that I found at a local thrift store (hardcover and great shape no less)! More and less well known painters' most famous pictures are showcased along with some of their other artwork. Each section contains a little background about the artist him or herself, their technique, a deeper description of their most famous piece, history of that painting and the museum exhibiting it. Some of the painters included (and the ones I liked best) are Paul Gauguin, Georgia O'Keefe, Charles Marion Russell, Grant Wood, Claude Monet, Giovanni Bellini, Vincent van Gogh, Albert Bierstadt, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Canaletto.

[Lidja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable book. Other “reviewers” obviously did NOT read this book! It is not about famous painters at all. It is a compilation of the most *beloved* painting in each collection held by 32 American museums. Beloved is not the same as famous, or valuable, or significant. These 32 paintings are the ones that museum-goers love the most from each respective collection. A fascinating perspective on fine art. This is a great book.

[cia sunshine ☭ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I disliked that Diego Rivera’s art was shown but not Frida Kahlo’s… she was mentioned, and one painting of hers was shown on his page…