Velazquez: The Technique of Genius

by Jonathan Brown, Carmen Garrido

Great painters are invariably great technicians. In creating the techniques he needed to express his ideas, Velazquez became one of the most original practitioners of the art of painting ever known. In this richly illustrated book, two widely recognised specialists on Velazquez - one an art historian, the other a conservation scientist - combine their expertise to show exactly how Spain's most famous painter realised his artistic vision.
More than two hundred photographs of details of Velazquez's paintings vividly demonstrate how the artist realised his vision of man and nature through a highly allusive, economical manner of painting.

Genres: Art

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent discussion of Diego de Velazquez and his techniques for creating thirty paintings currently in the Museo Nacional de Prado. Velazquez was apprenticed to a philosopher and painter at age 11, and at age 18 was able to gain Philip IV's favor (Philip was 16). He then spent the rest of his life painting for the court in Spain and Italy. He was a very intelligent painter (with a library of 150 books on mathematics, anatomy, chemistry in 1650), and able to capture emotions and new ways of using perspective not used till centuries later. Manet "discovered" him and spent much time in Spain studying his works. 110 known paintings survive. He paints with a looseness using thin washes, with no studies sketched on the under-canvas and large swoops of color--as ground minerals and oil provided at the time. Great photos--supplement with Khan Academy videos, and you've got a summer course.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a unique combination of theory and materials. The text is easy to read but the close-ups are worth the price of the book. Just being able to see some of the surfaces in tight focus, reminds me of my earlier time standing in front of Velázquez's work.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot recommend this book enough to anybody that loves Velazquez's art and is interested in his techniques and the circumstances of his artwork. The text is clear and mercifully concise. The introduction delves in Velazquez's life and technique (pigments, canvas, grounds) and the rest of the book elaborates on individual paintings from the Prado collection including "Las Meninas","The Weavers", many portraits of kings,queens,dwarves and officials, his two famous Plein air landscapes from Villa Medici and other religious commissions.
The illustrations are superb with many detailed close ups and x rays. Velazquez rarely made preparatory work for his paintings and this book shows his creative process "on the fly" by pointing out corrections and changes done while the painter searched for the best solutions. Velazquez's economy of brush strokes, his adaptation of technique to each new challenge and his more than miraculous visual understanding are dutifully expounded upon. The biographical notes and historical details of relevance never crowd the text but invite the reader to further exploration. A must have for any art lover or anybody wondering what all the fuss is about.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book! Especially for anyone interested in the techniques of Velasquez. It is loaded with beautiful prints of Velasquez's work, many of which are full page detail shots; the kind that painters drool over. It also has sufficient information on the progression of Velasquez's methods; most interesting are the differences in the painter's work before and after he spent an illuminating month with Reubens, as well as the differences between his early works (where he started with a burnt sienna underpainting) and his later works (where he usually worked wet into wet, or began with a grey underpainting). Very interesting stuff! Check it out...

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This covers a lot of Velazquez's painting and is very in depth to different interpretations. I recommend to any Art HIstory buff or someone who has to do a Velazquez research paper.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The detail photos of the paintings are outstanding.

[Malik Purvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible insight on his painting methods, from x-rays to palette dissections this book is to die for for painters.