Reviews for Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies

The average rating for Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-04-02 00:00:00 Patricia Mattson A really helpful book for art historians and interested lay people who want an understanding of how paintings age, and also how specialists examine them. The chapters are ordered by material, wood supports, canvas supports, grounds, oil and acrylic paint, varnish, and there is a balance between technical discussion and art history, describing what we can learn from difference scientific examination techniques. Although technical in nature, it is written in a clear language, with plenty of illustrations. Seeing Through Paintings is insightful for anyone who has a even remote interest in paintings conservation.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-05-31 00:00:00 Daniel Lemieux While reading Howard Zinn's The People's History of the United States I experienced some personal losses. Unable to focus on additional upsetting news, I turned instead to a book on art. Diane Waldman's personal and scholarly JOSEPH CORNELL Master of Dreams brought comfort at a difficult time. Waldman met Cornell in 1963 while writing her MFA thesis about him and she spent a lot of time with him until his death 9 years later. The book is organized chronologically with the phases of Cornell's work: Romantic Ballet, Medici Boxes, Portraits of Women, Aviary Series, Cosmology (Cosmogony), Film Experiments and Late Collages. Waldman's book contains personal and touching insights I haven't found in other books about Cornell. Although he resisted giving dates for his works, believing they diminished the their value, readers will appreciate the way Waldman has organized Cornell's rich oeuvre in a cohesive and beautiful manner. Life, death, love, time and emotion are wonderfully depicted in Cornell's art, his works reproduced beautifully here by Abrhams, and observed masterfully in this book by Waldman. Reading books can heal.