Libros en Espanol Books

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, born in France in 1940, was declared in 1994 France's number one novelist. Primarily a resident of New Mexico, he makes frequent journeys into Mexico, studying cloely her land, history and peoples, from which he has also writtenLa conquista divina de Michoacan (Cuadernos de La Gaceta), Las profecias del Chilam Balam, and El sueno mexicano, published in English as The Mexican Dream: Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations.

In handling the political and sentimental history of the great Mexican painters Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, he turns for source material, among others, to Frida: Una Biografia de Frida Kahlo and La Fabulosa Vida de Diego Rivera. All of this source material serves to produce a lively and eminently readable synthesis in this excellent novelist's skill and art. Skipping the historical record we do well to find the living reality in all its aspects here in this one book.

Frida received only one exposition of her art during her lifetime. Now a comprehensive collection is on display in the city of Mexico. Diego saw the Rockefellers destroy his internationally acclaimed and heroic art in Manhattan. Now is the time to recall fully their history and their struggles as well as their life long sustaining love, so well retold within the pages of this one book.

(A review of the papeback editon)

The two volume book is arranged in seventeen chapters concluding with a considerable Chronology illustrated with numerous black and white pictures, mostly photographs with many of the artist, Notes, a Bibliography which includes exhibition catalogues, and a rather brief (one page) Index of Names.

The opening Chapter reminds us of the stature of the man, and of his prodigious output; briefly summarising his career. The subsequent Chapters chronicle Picasso's progress starting with his childhood efforts, through the Blue and Rose Periods, Cubism, "Guernica" to mention just a few and concluding with "The Legend of the Artist". It is intelligently written, accessible and makes very interesting reading. The illustrations run with the text and are usually within a page or two of the relevant reference.

Produced in two paperback volumes in a cardboard slipcase Taschen's 25 anniversary edition is an impressive effort. It is superbly illustrated throughout with approaching 1,500 images mainly in colour but with a few back and white (usually drawings or photographs). The smallest pictures are just thumbnails, the largest full page and the occasional double page spread, with every size between; but there are plenty of good sized pictures with whole sections of colour plates, it certainly makes an impressive array. Overall the pictures far outweigh the text.

At such good value for money it is hard to be critical of this two volume set, but I fear I have two concerns. Firstly the Index seems wholly inadequate, an Index of Names which amounts to one page; finding a particular painting or anything else might prove difficult. Secondly, while the two volumes come protected in a slipcase, the card covers (paperback edition) to the individual volumes feel very slight; with each approaching 400 pages one feels one has to handle them with great care for fear of damaging the binding. It is however a very worthwhile set, one would be hard pressed to find so many reproductions of Picasso's work elsewhere for the money, and would not hesitate to recommend it.

A very successful introduction to Picasso's work and life! Whether you just want to admire his paintings or try to learn from him, this book is a good choice. Some people don't understand Picasso and are insulted by astronomic prices of his "childish" looking paintings. In this book Ingo F. Walther sheds light on the phenomenon of this genius by presenting all the phases of painter's development that naturally resulted in the spontaneous expressions of his imagery. Or with the artist's words: "When I was as old as these children, I could draw like Raphael. But it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like them!" Thus we can follow Picasso from his youth, blue and rose periods to his invention of cubism and all the way to his late works. In addition there are chapters on his sculptures, posters and ceramics.

The book also gives a rich selection of interesting aspects of Picasso's life. An enormous publicity was haunting him as well as helping him test his brave inventions. Whatever he touched turned to gold. When he finally grew tired of publicity and decided to move from Paris to a provincial village of Ménerbes, he was given a chalet in exchange for a still life.

This is a very nice introduction to the works of Picasso. In the early nineties this book was a gift to one of my sons who was a mere child then. It is quite appropriate for young readers as there are many pictures . The parent or teacher can cultivate or nourish a young persons interest in art with these nice reproductions. The early period of Picasso's works, most notably his Cubist period seems to particularly intrigue young artists as they seem to relate to the "disfigured" human anotomy etc. In the case of my son he liked these pictures very much and as a result has a pretty good eye and hand for art that translates into interesting drawings and graphic arts. I believe this is in part a result of his early exposure to this Picasso book. Although the text is ackward at times it can be modified or paraphrased for youngsters. This is good stuff for the budding Picasso in your household and of course the price is right.

For anyone who is seeking a decent overview of Picasso's work, this is a good bet for the modest price. Granted the writing may seem a bit akward, but it's perfectly readable and not misrepresentative. I admit, I haven't finished reading the book entirely, but there is a fairly concise chapter concerning each stage of his artistic career, and plenty of good color and B&W reproductions that are a good sample of his incredibly large and varied body of work. Anyone who is more than superficially interested in Picasso could never get by on just one book anyway, and this is a very good primer. The best Taschen published art book I have seen.

An abundance of full-color plates and numerous black-and-white photographs made this book worth the modest price. The text is awkward. It sounds as if English is not the author's first language and certain elements of carelessness in the writing suggest that the author was more concerned with the manuscript deadline than scholarship. Picasso's own words, appearing as blocked quotes in the margins are not dated, nor sources given. The reader is not able to chronologically trace the change in philosophy reflected in his words. The text also suffers from an inordinate number of typographical errors. Walther's poorly disguised gut reaction of disgust in describing some of Picasso's work may reflect the reaction his early critics felt in viewing some of his paintings. Walther uses words such as "horror," "grotesque," "misshapen," and "ugly," at one point writing, "Picasso wanted to destroy absolutely everything."