Frederic Church: The Art and Science of Detail by Jennifer Raab

Frederic Church: The Art and Science of Detail Reviews

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  Creative Force

  I'm giving.it three stars because I thought it would be a book about.the. techniques Church implemented in.his painting but is all bluff and no technique
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  W.L.F.

  This is not a coffee table book. The author states in her introduction “This is by no means a comprehensive monograph”. Although it is well written, it is not always a “fun and easy” read either. It is academic at times (and I do not mean that in a derogative way). It is a beautiful volume and a fine piece of scholarship, so it would difficult for me to give it less than five stars but, the buyer should know this is not a picture book or a light read. As the title of suggest, details are a major theme and the subject of much of the text; how they were perceived then and now, how they can both distract from or illuminate the whole, and other implications. The author states “The purpose of this book is to take detail seriously: as a key component of Church’s visual language, as a defining aspect of 19th century American culture, and as a concept fundamental to the practice of art history.”Each chapter focuses on one of Church’s masterworks [I. Niagara; II. The Andes of Ecuador; III. The Heart of the Andes; IV. The Icebergs; V. Vale of St. Thomas, Jamaica; VI. El Khasné, Petra; VII. Olana]. I am pleased with the book, but honestly, I’m slightly disappointed with the illustrations, which are high quality but limited in number. The jacket states there are “60 color and 43 black and white illustrations”. However, there are inordinate quantities of detail illustrations of the same six paintings that the chapters focus on. More illustrations are devoted to sketches and studies for the same six paintings, as well as comparative illustrations of other artist’s works and documentary photographs. Excluding the detail illustrations, there are only 20 of Church’s paintings reproduced in color, and eight of those are small images, a quarter of a page or less. I am left wanting to know of Church’s work, a volume showing the full depth and scope of his oeuvre. I can’t deny that this is a nice book but, I am thinking about getting a second volume on Church.
• 
  Jehoshephat

  A retired academic (not in art or art history), I've been immersing myself in art books for the last 10 years, with almost always a great deal of pleasure and mental profit. I found this volume about Frederic Church to be too much like a dissertation that hasn't been rethought for readers who are not part of the candidate's committee. Wide ranging references everywhere, heavily notated, as if to demonstrate that the author has done her homework. Every opinion is qualified. Seeming contradictions are marveled at, as if any work of art should resolve any such things. The result is a quite stagnant study for only one example, the author seems quite astonished that a painting could be both vast and detailed, implying that it should be one or the other. Given that her subject is Frederic Church, I find that a bit mystifying, and her conclusions overwhelmed by the demonstrations and emphases on her working methods. I wish she'd taken a few steps back and done some re writing with a fresher eye and mind.
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  goodreads Customer

  A Brilliant work. Besides the beautiful reproductions of the artwork, you get avery insightful history of the artist and very readable historical context.
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  D. Williams

  Excellent for serious landscape artists.