An essential primer on collecting Black art that expertly blends the passion of an art student with the expertise of an...
A connoisseur offers advice for collecting African American works of art.
With an MBA in finance and a master’s degree in museum studies from Harvard (and a forthcoming doctorate in art education from Columbia), Moore has both a keen artistic eye and practical know-how on the ins and outs of the business of art collection. He acknowledges the structural barriers that have long confronted African American artists, but he believes that they’ve become “pillars” of today’s art scene. Museums from Los Angeles to Atlanta have seen an inclusive “curatorial shift,” he says, as “exhibitions rooted in the Black American identity” have become commonplace. The book’s first section offers guidance to novices interested in African American art, including a brief history lesson regarding important Black creators, from the early 20th century’s Norman Lewis and Jacob Lawrence to contemporary sensations, such as Tschabalala Self. The book is full of practical tips, with chapter topics that include general information on art museums and fairs, art schools, and auctions. The book’s second half profiles a cross-section of modern collectors of African American art, including actor Hill Harper, former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers, and tech entrepreneur Everette Taylor. The collectors discuss their love of varied aesthetics found in Black art, but many also emphasize their “socially conscious” approach to collecting. This book deals in a cultural realm that many people associate with elitism, but Moore’s writing style is always accessible and geared toward neophytes, and his advice effectively emphasizes “economical…methods on which we can educate ourselves in the art world.” However, many readers will be disappointed by the lack of images of actual artworks in a work devoted to art. Still, the book provides ample, useful reference materials, including a detailed glossary of art terms and an annotated bibliography of introductory texts on art criticism and theory as well as on African American history and culture.
An essential primer on collecting Black art that expertly blends the passion of an art student with the expertise of an insider.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73517-080-0
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Petite Ivy Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A beautifully produced, engaging homage.
Celebrating a beloved artist.
Published to coincide with a major exhibition of works by British-born artist David Hockney (b. 1937) at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, this lushly illustrated volume offers a detailed overview of the artist’s life and work, along with chapters focused on his various styles and subject matter, a chronology, and a glossary of the many techniques he employed in his art, including camera lucida, computer, and video. Contributors of essays include noted art historians and curators, such as Norman Rosenthal, who edited the volume; Simon Schama; Anne Lyles; James Cahill; and François Michaud. Growing up in the north of England, Hockney was drawn to the light and sparkle that he found in Hollywood movies. When he finally arrived in Los Angeles, the sunlit landscapes inspired him, and his new sense of artistic freedom concurred with sexual freedom: As a gay man, he felt liberated from the constraints that had weighed on him in Britain, even in the “relative Bohemia” of the Royal College of Art. Essayists reflect on his artistic interests, such as landscapes, portraiture, flowers, and the opera—for which he created boldly exuberant sets—as well as on his influences and experimentation. Michaud examines the impact on Hockney of a visit to Paris in the 1970s, where he became familiar with Henri Matisse and his contemporaries from museum exhibitions. In the 1990s, visiting his mother and friends in Yorkshire, Hockney painted both outdoors and in the studio, experimenting with various media—including the photocopier and fax machine—as he worked to render the woodsy landscape. As a companion to the exhibition, the volume offers stunning reproductions of Hockney’s prolific works. Enormously popular with museumgoers, Hockney, Rosenthal exults, “transforms the ordinary and the everyday into the remarkable.”
A beautifully produced, engaging homage.Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780500029527
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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