Journal of Delacroix (Arts & Letters)

Customer Reviews:

how one great artist thelt and fought (sic).......2003-05-07

In order to get something worthwhile out of reading Delacroix's Journals, the reader should know something about Delacroix other than that he was a 19th century painter of the first rank. Ingres found Delacroix's work execrable and cast aspersion upon him by saying that: Delacroix was an apostle of ugliness who had come to 'end' painting as the French and the Europeans in general knew it. Today, Delacroix's work occupies a huge chunk of the Louvre's halls -- outstripping Ingre's portion. The fact that Delacroix in fact did fulfill Ingres' curse/prophecy may say something about the nature of death/life and rebirth/resurrection in art.
I read this wonderful book over ten years ago and so powerful was the impact of Delacroix's insights into the nature, perception, creational origin, and fate of art that much of it still remain with me. Delacroix in his day was not revered as he is today. He did not have people knocking down his doors to see his work, nor did he always have it easy trying to show it publicly. One day, after a bad review, to console himself, he wrote that (I paraphase) a great work of art in history is like a plank of wood held under water -- it is kept down when the powers-that-be hold it down. But that power ('political agenda' in contempo art-babble) does not last forever and must sooner or later let go of the plank whose nature is to float to the surface for all the world to see. He seem to have had the same intuition about the nature and fuction of art as the Greeks did: that art is light, that which shines of its own, and by which power that which 'sheds lights' and 'explains' what is around it rather than something that needs to be explained.
He never married but was looked after by a doting housekeeper. Not exactly a recluse, but most certainly a man of breeding descended of a noble stock who was careful about the company he kept, Delacroix spent much time, as artists and thinkers do, with his own thoughts and feelings, and expressing them. He was famous for his cordiality and urbanity, and among his friends in town (Paris) were Chopin, Georges Sand, and other individuals who would leave a mark (or in some cases, a mountain) in the arts one way or another. In other words, Delacroix was an agreeable man and as sociable as any thoughtful man would be but no more. Delacroix's social life is visible in these pages as is the Parisian milieu in which he lived and worked.
But the really great thing about Delacroix's Journals is that one gets to see something about how a great artist sees and feels things. Although he is over a century removed from us, his work and thoughts serve as a reminder that art is not always about anything socially or politically itchy; that art is just art; and that art is not something one needs to get hysterical about or merely a medium to carry an agenda. The fact that, historically, art was always commissioned by the aristocracy, and executed by those who were aristocratic in feeling and sensibility is one that is largely ignored today. Read this and see the significance of this fact, and why the term democratic art is ultimately an ugly oxymoron. Those who would champion the 'demos' sometimes think too highly of art and the need for "the people"'s participation in it.
In my humble opinion, if Delacroix were alive today, I think he would have loved Rauschenberg's and Jean-Michel Basquiat's work and their strong democratic origins but he would detest the democratization of art as such as found in Van Gogh umbrellas and calendars so loved by those who "love" art. He wouldn't go to Mozart Festivals either.

Greatest Testament.......2001-04-17

Critic Roger Kimball called Delacroix's Journal "perhaps the greatest literary testament any painter has left." See Roger Kimball, "Delacroix Reconsidered," The New Criterion, Sept. 1998, p. 10.

An intimate glimpse into the mind and times of Delacroix.......2000-12-29

This journal is a surprisingly accessible account of Delacroix's life. It has been well edited and covers a time frame spanning his early years, then his later life. Within these pages he includes his observations of Paris and the French countryside in the mid-nineteenth century, the people he knew like Chopin and Georges Sand, as well as his passionate reviews of works of art that influenced him. He offers sublime meditations on the nature of creativity and ruminates over ideas he has for new works. His outpourings capture the essence of the romantic movement. As an artist, even though separated from him by over a century, I found him to be a kindred spririt.

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Journal of Eugene Delacroix

Manufacturer: Hacker Art Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0878172750

Painting and the Journal of Eugene Delacroix

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A remarkable mind

Painting and the Journal of Eugene Delacroix
Michele Hannoosh , and Eugene Delacroix
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691043949

Book Description

The Journal of Eugne Delacroix is one of the most important works in the literature of art history: the record of a life at once public and private, it is also one of the richest and most fascinating aesthetic documents of the nineteenth century, as Delacroix reflects throughout on the relations between the arts, especially painting and writing. Indeed, he approaches the question from a unique perspective, that of a painter who wrote extensively and theorized his own writing in the Journal, a painter who had a passion for literature and a powerful literary imagination, a narrative painter whose work is rooted in literature and the literary. This book is the first to explore the crucial importance of this relation for Delacroix's aesthetic theory and artistic practice. Countering the long critical tradition which sees his writing as the inverse of his painting, it argues that, through his diary and art criticism, he sought to develop a painter's writing, proper to painting itself, and that such a writing is closely related to his conception of pictorial art. This approach has significant implications for interpreting the narratives of his public decorations, four of which are analyzed here: the library schemes of the Senate and the Assemble Nationale, the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre, and the Chapel of the Holy Angels at the church of Saint-Sulpice. Delacroix's ideas on the theoretical and practical relations between writing and painting, narrative and the image, are shown to be central not only to his aesthetic, but also to his views on civilization, history, and culture, and on the role of the artist in the modern world.

Customer Reviews:

A remarkable mind.......2004-02-11

I have a passion for original sources - as close as I can, reading the master's own words. This book is the only introduction I know to the original thoughts of this great painter.

Delacroix presents a paradox: a skilled, expressive writer who argues against writing as an expressive medium. In his day, there was some kind of contest. One would be superior, either images or words. Even if the one-must-win mind seems silly now, he surely wrote his point about writing much better than the writers drew theirs about drawing.

Back then, his use of color was considered brash or worse. A mind like his must have its own way, though, and his critics are mostly forgotten. There was very little outlet for his views of art, so he planned his own art encyclopedia. It was really to have been an encyclopedia of his own thoughts on art, but would still have been a magnificent work.

It would also have been 150 years ahead of its time. Like the Journal itself, this dictionary was to be highly non-linear. Instead of alphabetical or other order, it would present a structure relating each part to others through footnotes. Give or take a technological vocabulary, it sounds like a heavily linked hypertext to me. He also, without using modern words, expressed fractal, self-similar structures like the recursive branching of trees.

The Journal did not follow strict time sequence - events were reported in contradictory orders and also revised at various times. This is where Hannoosh's scholarship adds its value. She has not only made the text available to French-deficient readers like me. She has also unwound its convoluted structure, and pinned it to other historical sources.

The proper balance is delicate, though. I wanted to read Delacroix's journal, not a commentary on Delacroix. The translator and scholar makes the original accessible, but also injects her own voice. The last chapter or two is almost exclusively about Delacroix, not by him. Even though Hannoosh seems to be a fine scholar, it was not her words that I hoped to hear.

There is a brief pictorial section in this book - black and white (although Delacroix was a famed colorist) and of uncertain sharpness. I respect that. It indicates the structure of paintings noted in the text, but makes no pretense at being a proper rendering of Delacroix's work. If you want to study the images themselves, you really need another book. These reproductions support the text. But isn't that where we came in, discussing the text vs. the painted image?

The book has voluminous footnootes. It also offers the original French for many of the passages presented in English translation. Together, these cut perhaps half the apparent bulk from the text. That makes this book a brief and very informative lesson in a great man's thinking. Although a bit dry, I really do like this one.

A Century of Artists' Letters: Notes to Family, Friends, & Dealers : Delacroix to Leger
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A Century of Artists' Letters: Notes to Family, Friends, & Dealers : Delacroix to Leger
Jacqueline Albert Simon , and Lucy D. Rosenfeld
Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0764319345

Delacroix : Journal et Correspondance / Journal and Correspondence
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Delacroix : Journal et Correspondance / Journal and Correspondence
Pierre (editor; introduction) Courthion
Manufacturer: Egloff
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H0II0C

Eugene Delacroix Drawings: With an Introduction Based on the Artists Journal
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Eugene Delacroix Drawings: With an Introduction Based on the Artists Journal
Kurt Badt
Manufacturer: AMS Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0404200168

Journal de Eugène Delacroix: Tome 1. 1823-1850
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Journal de Eugène Delacroix: Tome 1. 1823-1850
Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0543869202
Release Date: 2001-04-12

Book Description

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1893 edition by E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie, Paris.

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THE JOURNAL OF EUGENE DELACROIX
Walter, translator Pach
Manufacturer: Crown Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P033T0

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THE JOURNAL OF EUGENE DELACROIX.

Manufacturer: Phaidon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GHT7F6

The Journal of Eugene Delacroix; translated from the French; illustrated with reproductions of the drawings of the artist (Evergreen Encyclopedia, 9)

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The Journal of Eugene Delacroix; translated from the French; illustrated with reproductions of the drawings of the artist (Evergreen Encyclopedia, 9)

Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: B000BJJ9N4

Product Description

In addition to his reflections on his work, on his problems, on other artists, and on the principles of art, Delacroix's journal includes a fascinating revelation of his personal life--of his love affairs, of his models and mistresses, of his dealings with friends and enemies, and of the hopes and aspirations by which he was motivated.

Book Description

Over 350 striking black-and-white illustrations of early 20th-century fashions — from elegant, high-necked hobble-skirted gowns of 1910 to the loose-fitting, barrel-shaped dresses of 1919. Includes figures garbed in rich furs, sumptuous fabrics, swooping drapes, clutched cloaks, "harem" pants, lounging pajamas, leg-revealing beach wear, and much more. 120 black-and-white plates.

Book Description

Rose is Rose has long garnered attention from fans across the country and around the world. When the National Cartoonists Society named Rose creator Pat Brady Outstanding Cartoonist of 2004 it only confirmed what those readers already knew in their hearts: Brady rolls out one of the best strips in the business.

Red Carpet Rose is Brady's first book since he received the NCS honors. As the seven previous Rose is Rose books have done before, this one continues the tales of the hilarious Gumbo family: Rose, her husband, Jimbo, and their devilish, delightful, and demanding son, Pasquale. Brady deftly captures the innocent and ageless qualities of wonder and awe at the world's boundless experiences, as seen through the lives of his beloved characters.

Whether the Gumbos are sharing a simple family moment in the park, Pasquale is pushing his little-boy limits, or Rose is morphing into her Biker Chic alter ego, this Rose is Rose compilation of daily and Sunday strips delivers all the fun, laughter, and family-loving moments that mark Brady's work. This is cartooning at its best!

Customer Reviews:

Not quite the same with Wimmer handling the art chores.......2006-10-15

I will readily concede that it's certainly a difficult chore producing a daily comics strip and that joint efforts and ghost writers and artists are the norm in this artform.

That being said, Rose is Rose is not quite what it used to be now that Mr. Wimmer has become involved.

Laundry the Rose Way.......2006-05-19

Rose, Jimbo and Pasquale Gumbo are back (and let's not forget Clem and Vicki) in another collection of daily strips. Rose and family continue their way through daily life as only they can. Only here can making tea become a romantic moment or guardian angels carry school books.

While Rose is part of the most loving family in comics, the romance is turned down a little in this collection (unlike in RIGHT ON THE LIPS). The love is there but with less kissing. Pasquale seems to have become a little better adjusted and doesn't get his feelings squashed by Clem so much. All in all a very good collection.

Book Description

Stephen Hawking’s worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of Time, has been a landmark volume in scientific writing. Its author’s engaging voice is one reason, and the compelling subjects he addresses is another: the nature of space and time, the role of God in creation, the history and future of the universe. But it is also true that in the years since its publication, readers have repeatedly told Professor Hawking of their great difficulty in understanding some of the book’s most important concepts.

This is the origin of and the reason for A Briefer History of Time: its author’s wish to make its content more accessible to readers –as well as to bring it up-to-date with the latest scientific observations and findings.

Although this book is literally somewhat “briefer,” it actually expands on the great subjects of the original. Purely technical concepts, such as the mathematics of chaotic boundary conditions, are gone. Conversely, subjects of wide interest that were difficult to follow because they were interspersed throughout the book have now been given entire chapters of their own, including relativity, curved space, and quantum theory.

This reorganization has allowed the authors to expand areas of special interest and recent progress, from the latest developments in string theory to exciting developments in the search for a complete unified theory of all the forces of physics. Like prior editions of the book–but even more so–A Briefer History of Time will guide nonscientists everywhere in the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.

***

Stephen Hawking will be lecturing at the following locations:

11/7/05: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 408 Alamden Blvd., San Jose, CA, 95110, (408) 277-5277

11/10/05: Paramount Theater of the Arts, 2025 Broadway, Oakland, CA, 94612, (510) 465-6400

11/16/05: The Paramount Theater, 911 Pine Street, Seattle, WA, 98101, (206) 467-5510

Tickets for "The Origins of the Universe with Dr.Stephen Hawking" are available through Ticketmaster.

Customer Reviews:

Half confused, half amazed.......2007-09-20

For as simple as Hawking was supposed to present the complicated theoretical physics concepts, at times I still found myself as confused as Adam on Mother's Day. Dr. Hawking's work is caught between a rock and a hard place in "A Brief History of Time" and the subsequent "The Universe in a Nutshell"; he provides neither the technical language to satisfy the experienced readers, nor the sufficiently simplified rhetoric to appeal to the uninitiated. Not to worry as the theories and supporting arguments in both books can still satisfy the curiosity of the inexperienced, and his celebrity status in the world of physics keeps the experienced audience engaged.

There is one update to this book not mentioned, and that is, Hawking eventually admits that he was wrong about his theory of loss of information in black holes. This idea of his had put him at odds with many theoretical physicists. Instead, he puts forth the unproven theory that information in a black hole is transferred to a parallel universe. Unfortunately, time may not permit Hawking to complete his work on the proof or supporting evidence of this important theory. His terminal illness appears to be finally catching up to him. I wish him well and thank him for his important contributions to the science of understanding the universe.

Despite its shortcomings, A Brief History of Time succeeds in shedding light on the mysteries of the creation of the universe at the point of singularity, what happened subsequently, and what may or may not transpire in the future. Hawking discusses in length Einstein's general theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and the attempt to combine these into a grand unified theory, a lofty goal that has eluded theoretical physicists to date.

Fascinating.......2007-09-17

Quite accessible for a book on the beginning of the universe. It doesn't explain how it got here, but begins at 1 second post big bang. It has a good explanation of the work of Isaac Newton and why it was important and also the work of Einstein. I understood the physics, at least I did when I was reading it. The explanations were good enough to let me wrap my mind around them. It is interesting that the idea of ether is coming back up for consideration again. Not sure I believe in string theory though. Why not just say everything is made of energy?

Hawking :a master writer.......2007-09-02

Hawking's new book "The Briefest History of Time" should be read by all intelligent Americans. Every book of this quality and with a similar contents may help to stop the tide of idiocy proposed by supporters of creationism in America.Only by spreading real science we will escape becoming the richest but also the most primitive intellectually nation in the world. We need a heavy counterweight to the evangelic snake oil peddlers who can gather tousands sing along automata and preach bible which offenses every educated and intelligent mind. Hawking's book can help to be such a counterbalance.

Great Renewed Introduction on our Time.......2007-08-21

This book explains the physical concepts in very understandable fashion. It can be understood by any person. You do not have to be a scientist or physicists to read the book. There are also wonderful examples explaining the scientific phenomenon underlying our universe and black hole or other galaxies.

customer.......2007-06-27

Book arrived in timely fashion, excellent condition, well packaged to protect it during shipment. I'd read it in the library and thought it excellent. I'm a logical person but not a physicist or a mathematician yet the material was understandable, well presented and the illustrations very helpful. The absence of long proofs/equations not only shortened the book but made the descriptions and illustrations easier to follow and not so intimidating. The large print version was especially helpful even though my eye sight is good. I'll read it a number of times and I'm sure my understanding will increase with each reading.

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A Brief History of "A Briefer History..."
Monty Python meets Einstein
Funny and informative -- the perfect package!

A Briefer History of Time
Eric Schulman
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Briefer History of Time
A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Godel And Einstein

ASIN: 0716733897

Customer Reviews:

A Brief History of "A Briefer History...".......2000-06-20

It is a very rare occurance for a book to come out that will make you laugh out loud as well as teach you something. It is even rarer for a book to be funnier and funnier as the reader has more and more education. From personal adds to and from chloroplasts to a "Jerry Springer"-ish script on the rise of sexual reporduction. Great book, although (and this is few and far between) some of the science seems, to this reader, to be a little suspect (such as the author's contention that everything possible will happen in the universe). All in all, a great book and a great value.

Monty Python meets Einstein.......1999-06-02

With a real gift for both science and humor, the author takes us from the Big Bang to The Internet. Many of the short sketches remind me of either Monty Python or the Farsign Theater (anyone who can describe the "birth of Netscape to the theme of the Beverly hillbillies is truely warped, or gifted.) Careful where you read this book or you will find yourself laughing out loud in airplanes, the subway, ect. After many presents that were ok-this was one of the best gifts that I ever got. An excellent purchase and a keeper. PS-Get Your Library to Order onw so you don't have to lend yours

Funny and informative -- the perfect package!.......1999-05-13

This book will appeal to scientists and non-scientists alike. The only requirement is a sense of humor -- the excessively serious-minded need not apply. The glossary is one of the best parts -- and I can't think of a single other book about which such a statement could be made.

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A Briefer History of Time
Stephen Hawking , and Leonard Mlodinow
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 073946731X

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A Briefer History of Time (Unabridged)
Mlodinow, Stephen, Leonard Hawking
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000BKSFZ6

Random House Audio.(A Briefer History of Time)(High Druid Of Shannara: Straken)(John)(Never Have Your Dog Stuffed)(The City of Falling Angels)(The March ... review): An article from: Library Bookwatch

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Random House Audio.(A Briefer History of Time)(High Druid Of Shannara: Straken)(John)(Never Have Your Dog Stuffed)(The City of Falling Angels)(The March ... review): An article from: Library Bookwatch
Gale Reference Team
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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This digital document is an article from Library Bookwatch, published by Thomson Gale on December 1, 2005. The length of the article is 461 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Random House Audio.(A Briefer History of Time)(High Druid Of Shannara: Straken)(John)(Never Have Your Dog Stuffed)(The City of Falling Angels)(The March )(Audiobook review)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Library Bookwatch (Newsletter)
Date: December 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
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A Briefer History of Time
Stephen Hawking; Leonard Mlodinow
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QYCW4C

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