The book group appreciated Art Books for the July 2023 meeting. Subjects ranged from global, influential artists to regional folk art painters, and from under-rated to critically acclaimed artists. Art types included painting, glass art, and illustration art.
Artists
Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)
Linocuts
Picasso, Pablo. Linocuts. London: Thames and Hudson, 1963. First issued as Linolschnitte in German
by Verg Gerd Hatje (Stuttgart) in 1962. Introduction
by Wilhelm Boeck. Contains 45
reproduction linocuts on 14 unnumbered pages with slipcover box.
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| Sample linocuts |
Nino Caffe (1908 – 1975)
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| Nino Caffe exhibition brochure |
Greene, Graham. "Nino Caffe." New York: Knoedler Gallery, 1953. Four-page pamphlet with two pages of text in
English by Greene. Gallery brochure for
the first American exhibition of Nino Caffe's works at the Knoedler art gallery
in 1953. This rare bifold brochure inspired
and led to the 1960 publication of Nino Caffe.
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| Nino Caffe |
Greene, Graham. Nino Caffe. Rome: Galleria L'Obelisco, 1960. Introduction by Greene in English, Italian, and French. Bound in velvet. Contains 14 color plates of Caffe's whimsical flying priests. This copy is inscribed in Italian by the subject, Nino Caffe, on the artist's photo page.
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| Caffe's flying priests |
Mattie Lou O'Kelley (1908 – 1997)
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| From the Hills of Georgia: An Autobiography in Paintings |
O'Kelley, Mattie Lou.
From the Hills of Georgia: An Autobiography in Paintings. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1983. Contains 28 color plates of paintings depicting
the artist's life on the family farm and in her hometown of Maysville, Georgia.
This copy is signed by O'Kelley on the
title page.
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| "Killing the Rats" and "Coming to the Celebration" |
Alan Bean (1932 – 2018)
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| Apollo: An Eyewitness Account |
Bean, Alan. Apollo:
An Eyewitness Account. Norwalk, CT:
Easton Press, 1998. Limited
edition. Bound in genuine leather with
the spine, page edges, and cover decorated with gold. Illustrated with artwork by the author. This copy is number 203 of 3000 copies
personally signed by Apollo 12 Moonwalker and artist Alan Bean.
Hubert Shuptrine (1936 – 2006)
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| Jericho: The South Beheld |
Shuptrine, Hubert and James Dickey. Jericho: The South Beheld. Birmingham, AL: Oxmoor House, Inc., 1974. First edition. Jericho depicts life in the American South as
seen and painted by Shuptrine, with commentary by novelist and poet James
Dickey. When published, Jericho
"broke all records for art books," according to ArtNet, quickly selling
out the first printing of 150,000 copies.
This copy is inscribed by Dickey and signed by Shuptrine on the half
title page.
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| "Nettie" (Waycross, Georgia) |
Hans Godo Fräbel (b. 1941)
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| Fräbel: Excellence in Glass Art |
Ese, Gerrit op de.
Fräbel: Excellence in Glass Art.
Medford, OR: Morgan & Chase Publishing Inc., 2007. A photographic retrospective of the artist's
glassworks, including bespoke sculptures created for President Jimmy Carter, Sir
Elton John, President Nelson Mandella, Queen Elizabeth II, and others. This copy is inscribed by the subject, Hans Godo
Fräbel, at the opening of the 2007 Orchid Daze with Fräbel exhibit at
the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
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| "The Dogwood" and "Zachor" |
Illustrators
Chesley Bonestell (1888 – 1986)
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| The Art of Chesley Bonestell |
Miller, Ron and Frederick C. Durrant III. The Art of Chesley Bonestell. London: Paper Tiger, 2001. Foreword by Arthur C. Clarke. Bonestell pioneered astronomical art and his
paintings strongly influenced science fiction art and illustration. This copy is signed by Ron Miller and
Frederick Durrant III on a tipped in bookplate.
J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 – 1973)
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| Pictures by J. R. R. Tolkien |
Tolkien, J. R. R. Pictures
by J.R.R. Tolkien. London: George,
Allen and Unwin, 1979. Foreword and
notes by Christopher Tolkien. Contains
artwork by Tolkien, mostly works published in calendars by George Allen &
Unwin between 1974 and 1979. Some images
which were previously truncated for the calendars are published here in full
for the first time.
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| "Doors of Durin" and "Moria Gate" |
Tolkien, J. R. R. Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. A new edition published nearly 30 years after the 1992 revised edition.
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| The Art of the Hobbit |
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Art of the Hobbit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. 143 p. Wayne G. Hammond and Cristina Scull, editors. Contains more than 100 of Tolkien's illustrations for or related to The Hobbit. The editors state, "more than two dozen of these pictures are previously unpublished, and many have never before been printed in colour."
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| The Art of The Lord of the Rings |
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Art of The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. 143 p. Wayne G. Hammond and Cristina Scull, editors. Contains more than 190 of Tolkien's illustrations and maps for or related to The Lord of the Rings. According to the editors, 101 illustrations are previously unpublished, and 42 are published in color for the first time.
Paul Hogarth (1917 – 2001)
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| Graham Greene Country |
Hogarth, Paul. Graham
Greene Country. London: Pavilion
Books Ltd., 1986. Foreword and
commentary by Graham Greene. Hogarth
visits four continents, 20 countries, and 50 cities, traveling over 50,000
miles in one year, to capture the settings of Greene's novels to illustrate the
Penguin paperback reprints of 21 of Greene's books. This copy is signed by the artist on the half
title page.
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| "Palace Pier, Brighton" |
Frank Kelly Freas (1922 – 2005)
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| A Separate Star |
Freas, Frank Kelly. A Separate Star. Virginia Beach, VA: Greenswamp Publications,
1984. Introduction by Robert
Silverberg. Limited edition. Signed, leatherbound edition in publisher’s
slipcase. Freas was a science fiction
and fantasy artist. He won 11 Hugo
Awards for Best Artist. This copy is number
1353 of 1500 signed copies.
Cor Blok (1934 – 2021)
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| A Tolkien Tapestry |
Blok, Cor. A
Tolkien Tapestry: Pictures to Accompany The Lord of the Rings. London: HarperCollins, 2011. Blok was a Dutch artist and professor of art
history. Throughout the 1960s, he
created more than 100 artworks inspired by Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Greg Hildebrandt (b. 1939) and Tim Hildebrandt (1939 – 2006)
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| The Tolkien Years |
Hildebrandt, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. The Tolkien Years. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2002.
Twin brothers Greg and Tim were fantasy
artists who painted as a duo—either together or in shifts depending on the time
they had to complete the art—until Tim's death in 2006. In the 1970s, they produced Tolkien art,
including the artwork for the 1976 Tolkien Calendar.
Alan Lee (b. 1947)
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| The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook |
Lee, Alan. The
Lord of the Rings Sketchbook. New York:
Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005. Lee is
an English illustrator best known for his fantasy art inspired by Tolkien's novels. Lee served as a conceptual designer for Peter
Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film
adaptations. This sketchbook reveals
Lee's conceptual design work for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
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| The Hobbit Sketchbook |
Lee, Alan. The Hobbit Sketchbook. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2019. This sketchbook reveals Lee's conceptual design work for The Hobbit film trilogy.
Audrey Niffenegger (b. 1963)
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| Awake in the Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger |
Niffenegger, Audrey.
Awake in the Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger. Brooklyn, NY: PowerHouse Books, 2013. A mid-career retrospective of Niffenegger's surreal
work, containing book art, works on paper, and paintings in media including
aquatints, lithographs, and letterpress prints.
Donato Giancola (b. 1967)
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| Middle-Earth: Visions of a Modern Myth |
Giancola, Donato. Middle-Earth: Visions of a Modern Myth. Nevada City, CA: Underwood Books, 2010. Giancola is a science fiction and fantasy artist painting in the style of narrative realism. In Middle-Earth: Visions of a Modern Myth, he takes readers on a tour of Tolkien's world of wizards, dragons, dwarfs, and warriors through artwork reminiscent of classic realism artists like Vermeer and Rembrandt.
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| Middle-Earth: Journeys in Myth and Legend |
Giancola, Donato. Middle-Earth: Journeys in Myth and Legend. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Books, 2019. Giancola adds nearly 200 more paintings and drawings to complement Middle-Earth: Visions of a Modern Myth.
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| "Beacons of Gondor" |
