Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful subject...but not presented as well as expected., 26 Jul 2006
Being a great fan of J.W. Waterhouse for a long time, I was looking forward to adding another book devoted to him and his beautiful artwork to my collection. And indeed this book does give an interesting account of both the man and his many subjects and stages of work - from the more classical styles and subjects of his early work, through to his most prolific (and in my opinion most beautiful and inspired) pre-raphaelite paintings with an assortment of portraits thrown into the mix also. As we do not have much information about Waterhouse's life and thoughts outside the studio, having left no dairies, letters, etc unlike many of his other fellow pre-raphaelite painters, we have to gain most of our knowledge of this painter through his works and the stories they tell, so any written extensive and detailed account is welcome and this book does not disappoint.
However, the most important and intrinsic piece of the book - the pictures themselves - are presented in a far from perfect manner and let the book down a great deal. Only one picture of each painting is printed and far too many of them are simply in black and white! For example, one of my favourite Waterhouse paintings is Ophelia in the blue dress. The depth of colour he portrays in her dress alone - a deep vibrant blue with gold trim and red underskirt - would take your breath away...but in this book it is rendered as a drab, unappealing black and white picture which, if you hadn't seen a copy of how it is supposed to look in all it's coloured glory, you would be mistaken to pass over and think it was nothing special! This happens again and again in this book with some of Waterhouse's most beautiful and interesting works - "The Magic Circle", "Psyche entering Cupid's Garden" and, one of the worst travesties, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci". These paintings are all presented in black and white only, and therefore lose all depth and drama and suffer a great deal.
Also the odd layout lends nothing to the importance of each painting. A prime example here is the painting of the "Lady of Shalott" (the more famous of Waterhouse's "Lady of Shalott" paintings in which she is sailing down the river in her boat). This is one of Waterhouse's most well-known and loved paintings, it sums up the pre-raphaelite movement as a whole as it has all the elements they were trying to achieve, and it is one of Waterhouse's own most accomplished works (he was at the peak of his artistic powers in that year, and this painting is a culmination of all that talent). However in this book it does not even warrant a full page display...instead it is reduced to a mere half-a-page, thus losing most of the detail and dramatic intensity of the painting. Whereas, only a few pages away, a simple uninspired sketch - "Head of a girl" - is given the same, if not a little more display space!
In conclusion, this book works well as a narrative piece on Waterhouse and his many stages of artistic progress seen through the eyes of Antony Hobson - a practising painter himself; it certainly has enough pictures to whet the appetite of a person who is just beginning to get to know the artist and his paintings; and as a book to add to any collection of pre-raphaelite interest. But if you are a Waterhouse fan already and have viewed many of his works before, then give this book a miss. It will not add any more knowledge about the man himself, or give you any more beautiful renditions of his paintings than you have already seen. Rather it will leave you disappointed that such masters have been reduced to two tone photographs, and not given the page display they deserve. When so many other books do it so much better why pay for this second rate attempt?
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Beauty of JW Waterhouse, 6 Feb 2001
By A Customer
John William Waterhouse is one of my favorite artists. His paintings were inspired by myths, classic literature and Shakespeare. His paintings are not only beautiful to behold, but each picture tells a story. This book has the largest collection of Waterhouse paintings I've seen (including some of his early work and sketches for paintings) and is well worth owning if you love his work and want to know more about him as an artist. Or if you just like looking at pretty pictures!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dated but still well worth buying ..., 17 Feb 2007
This book is now over ten years old - my copy dates from 1999, and the first edition was pubished in 1995. So the fact that more recent works, whose authors had the benefit of access to private collections for the purpose of photographing Waterhuse canvases, provide more lavish illustrations is only to be expected. By the standards of its time, however, the book was excellent, and is still a worthy addition to the library of any Waterhouse fan, or for that matter the library of any 19th century art devotee. While more recent monographs are, as already stated, more lavishly illustrated, the text is still valuable as a reference source, even though such details as the identity of Waterhouse's favourite muse (Muriel Foster) have become available after this book was published. This shoudl not in any way detract from a fine work, which will remain a treasured part of my library even if I acquire a more recent monograph in the near future. While I would have liked to have seen the black and white renditions of certain paintings (such as the utterly heavenly "Juliet") printed in full colour, they are inspiring enough to exhort the reader to engage in some detective work and discover just HOW glorious some of thsse works are first hand - it was thanks to this book that I headed for the Tate Britain and saw "The Lady Of Shalott" at first hand, motivated to find out more about Waterhouse and his work. Was I ever glad I made that trip! Probably would never have happened if I hadn't been given the initial impetus. Even if you already possess a more recent monograph, add this to your collection for the sake of completeness - you may find yourself unexpectedly pleased that you did!
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by John William Waterhouse
by Peter Trippi
by Peter Trippi
by Lucinda Hawksley
