Post-Impressionism: The Rise of Modern Art 1880-1920

You will not find a better album! It has it all: balance, beautiful illustrations, excellent - but short - analysis, perfect printing, the best paper, etc. Despite an impressive size, it is quite handy and not bulky or too heavy due to very good proportions. Highly recommended! CONTENTS: Forward by Bernard Denvir 7 Introduction The Naming of a Movement 9 Chapter 1 Science and Symbolism 41 Chapter 2 Three Recluses 95 Chapter 3 The Wild Animals 137 Chapter 4 New Geometries 173 Chapter 5 Developments in Germany 213 Chapter 6 Towards Abstraction 253 Chapter 7 Northern Lights 295 Chapter 8 The English-Speaking World 333 Chapter 9 Civilized Carnage 369 Chronology 400 Bibliography 408 List of Illustrations 411 Index 419

These prints are beautiful--you can see every stroke of the brush. Large and heavy book, hard for me to get comfortable reading in on the sofa--but at a desk it works fine. The interpretations the author offers are interesting but not neccessary, they might be more usuful for someone who has never tried to analyze art. I give it one star off because the medium used and dimesions of the piece are not listed. Unfortunate. Also, I wondered why artists such as Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Lucian Freud were not included. Might have been to riske. In any event, this is a beautiful book for one's personal library.

As a student of the visual arts I have encountered many art books, but few have the wealth and quality of reproductions as this one. The criticism of Parsons and Gale is emminently readable, if not at times simplistic, and provides a thorough introduction to a sweeping period of history. But even if this book contained not a single sentance of history or criticism it would be worth purchasing, simply for the images which take up most of this 400 page book. Featuring masterpieces, both well known and obscure, many of the images are given large size, full page, high quality photographs and others are given double page fold outs. Furthermore, Parsons and Gale do not restrict themselves to the Parisian Avant-Garde but extend there scope to include Russia, America, Britain and all of Europe. If you are after a pictorial history of modernism, this is the best I've ever seen.