Portraits by Ingres Image of an Epoch

Rating:
Summary: superb
Review: A foundational link in the chain of Masters whom had passed the realist/ impressionist atelier skills down from generation to generation. Ingres' portraits are all here, showing just how prolific one can be when consumed by the art. Fantastic volume- I hope to get to NY for the show.

Rating:
Summary: Favorite Painter!
Review: Always my favorite painter, I was lucky enough to see an exposition of his work at the National Art Gallery in London in 1999 and his more famous works on constant display the Louvre in 2000. While his historical and allegorical paintings are impressive, his talent with portraiture is unmatched. I am particularly struck by the detailed imagery. It feels like you are looking at a photography, the realism is so intense. Yet as the book demonstrates, numerous studies were done before each painting, trying to determine how best to capture the subject.

The book is a large format, with numerous full color, full plate images. Personally, I did not find the accompanying essays particularly interesting but thought that the notes on each specific work more compelling. The choices of artwork included in the book is primarily restricted to portraits, but not only paintings but paper drawings and minatures also.

Rating:
Summary: Favorite Painter!
Review: Always my favorite painter, I was lucky enough to see an exposition of his work at the National Art Gallery in London in 1999 and his more famous works on constant display the Louvre in 2000. While his historical and allegorical paintings are impressive, his talent with portraiture is unmatched. I am particularly struck by the detailed imagery. It feels like you are looking at a photography, the realism is so intense. Yet as the book demonstrates, numerous studies were done before each painting, trying to determine how best to capture the subject.

The book is a large format, with numerous full color, full plate images. Personally, I did not find the accompanying essays particularly interesting but thought that the notes on each specific work more compelling. The choices of artwork included in the book is primarily restricted to portraits, but not only paintings but paper drawings and minatures also.

Rating:
Summary: The Book About Ingres You Have Been Waiting For!
Review: I have been waiting for a first-rate work on Ingres portraits for many years and now it is finally here! This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone who admires Ingres. The book was published in conjunction with the wonderful exhibition of Ingres portraits which played in London, New York, and Washington DC. I attended the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and this book does justice to what I saw in person. Since not every work of art was seen at each venue, the book provides reproductions of several works which were not made available for viewing in the United States (such as the great Rothchild portrait). I have the books on Ingres by both Robert Rosenblum and Georges Vigne. Although both of those books were good, this new book surpasses them due to the quality of the writing and the superb reproductions. There are enlightening essays by both the exhibition curators together with outside experts such as Rosenblum and Vigne. The reproductions are plentiful and very good quality. In addition to the oil paintings, there are dozens of high quality reproductions of the superb portrait drawings. Each portrait is accompanied by an essay together with the provenance and exhibition history of the work. The book also deals with the thorny issue of collaborators. Although the book is fairly expensive, it is well worth the money. Perhaps one day we will have similar books published on other great portrait painters such as Holbein, Moroni, and Bronzino. Anyone in the museum or publishing world listening?

Rating:
Summary: The Book About Ingres You Have Been Waiting For!
Review: I have been waiting for a first-rate work on Ingres portraits for many years and now it is finally here! This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone who admires Ingres. The book was published in conjunction with the wonderful exhibition of Ingres portraits which played in London, New York, and Washington DC. I attended the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and this book does justice to what I saw in person. Since not every work of art was seen at each venue, the book provides reproductions of several works which were not made available for viewing in the United States (such as the great Rothchild portrait). I have the books on Ingres by both Robert Rosenblum and Georges Vigne. Although both of those books were good, this new book surpasses them due to the quality of the writing and the superb reproductions. There are enlightening essays by both the exhibition curators together with outside experts such as Rosenblum and Vigne. The reproductions are plentiful and very good quality. In addition to the oil paintings, there are dozens of high quality reproductions of the superb portrait drawings. Each portrait is accompanied by an essay together with the provenance and exhibition history of the work. The book also deals with the thorny issue of collaborators. Although the book is fairly expensive, it is well worth the money. Perhaps one day we will have similar books published on other great portrait painters such as Holbein, Moroni, and Bronzino. Anyone in the museum or publishing world listening?

Rating:
Summary: Ingres was the master of line and sensuality
Review: I saw the exhibit in NY today, and had a chance to review the book as well. It's been a long time waiting for a book of this magnitude depicting these great portraits.The uncluttered detail of this neo-classical giant is staggering.His ability to paint cloth is incredible. He and Sargent rank as my personal favorites. His teacher David would be proud to see his treatment of the human being with pristine classical beauty combined with personal insights into an individuals character. His later portraits including the last two self portraits reveal the soul of this devoted artist. The volume traces fashion and history, and the many greats he depicted. Essays are excellent. Ingres is beauty truth and human elegance.

Rating:
Summary: A phenomenal undertaking about an incredibly gifted artist.
Review: Ingres is my favorite artist, for his skill in detailing. The lushness of the womens' jewels, the sleekness of their silk, satin, velvet with lace gowns! One feels as though one can caress the silk of the costume that Madame Moitessier is wearing. One feels that the Comtesse de Broglie, languidly leaning on a silk covered chair, that one can smell her parfum, and hear the rustle of her silk gown. Ingres' use of color, shadow, and nuance revolutionized the art of the portrait. No idealized "Madonna-like" likenesses these! He painted the famous and infamous, warts and all, hardly sparing the sitter. ALL of this lyric realism, warmth, and exquisite attention to detail, and ALL between 1804-1867. C'est marveilleux!!! ONE in a million.

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Rating:
Summary: An important and seminal contribution to art history studies
Review: Portraits By Ingres: Image Of An Epoch showcases odalisques and dramatic historical scenes painted by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) and are justifiably considered to rank among the master-pieces of nineteenth-century French art. The superbly reproduced paintings are enhanced with informative contributions on Ingres' life and work by Philip Conisbee, Rebecca A. Rabinow, Christopher Riopelle, Robert Rosenblum, Andrew Carrington Shelton, Gary Tinterow, and Georges Vigne, as well as drawing entries by Hans Naef. With its photographs of the artist and his sitters (and caricatures from contemporary journals) Portraits By Ingres is a seminal, scholarly, beautifully presented, landmark publication that will secure Ingres in his proper place for students of art history.