Rating: 
Summary: Luigi Will Be Most Satisfied
Review: Paul McCartney only cautiously agreed to publish this book of paintings, fearing, quite rightly, he would be categorized as just a 'celebrity painter' - the Stallone and Curtis kind. "I know I'll be getting a few snide comments for doing this book - it seems that if you approach the art world by one route, that's OK, but if you've come via another route, then it invites prejudice. In fact [...], one 'critic' wrote that I 'shouldn't be allowed to do this.'"The simple, almost child-like honesty with which McCartney comments on this crossing into a different field, manifests itself in his paintings: they carry schoolboy-naughty titles like 'The Queen After Her First Cigarette' and 'Bowie Spitting', often display bright, simple colors, and have the kind of surprised pleasantness - for example "Ancient Connections" - which is often associated with children. That said, his work is actually pretty good. Its diversity (there are abstract paintings, figurative paintings, portraits, surrealist ones) is a plus, as is the execution, which reveals McCartney has a keen eye for colors and shapes (composition and detail, i.e. the more technical side of painting, are of lesser interest to McCartney, who said: 'I like the primitive approach, so if I learn to sail I don't take sailing lessons: I get into a boat and capsize a lot. It's actually very much my philosophy and it works equally well in painting and in music.') For people who are unaware, it should be pointed out that McCartney was a key figure in sixties' London, not only in the music field but also in the underground movement, doing collages, experimental music (long before Lennon), and drawings for the International Times paper and Indica Gallery, as well as collecting Magrittes and befriending Willem De Kooning. Also, he was the brain behind such legendary covers as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" (1967) and "Abbey Road" (1969). Some of the paintings in this book remind of the ones featured in the "Standing Stone" CD booklet, which he'd done to illustrate the story of that 1997 classical piece. Big, three-dimensional (it's as if they're made out of shiny plastic) figures with soft, often sandy yellow, pastel colors. In paintings like "Unspoken Words", "Ancient Connections" and "Yellow Celt" (all featured in this book) McCartney effectively uses this style. They are the best ones in his catalogue. In a way, his paintings - bright, simple, enjoyable, shapely - are the equivalent of his musical work. His approach is best summed up by himself: "In my mind I have a friend who is Luigi. Luigi owns a restaurant and he's got an alcove, and he always needs a painting for it. So whatever I'm doing, if I ever get that terrifying moment I say: 'It's for Luigi's alcove, Luigi will like this.' And he just lets me off - it frees my head for two seconds and then I'm over the hurdle and I can carry on. Luigi's alcove is one of my huge saviours."
Rating: 
Summary: Sooo Impressed
Review: Paul McCartneys is not only a great recording artist, but he is a GREAT painter as well. He is a true artist. I enjoy his art very much, and I was extremely impressed that he can paint the way he can. I would place right up there among Picasso and Chagall. He's that good.
Rating:
Summary: Unpretentious Art!
Review: Regardless of the high brow reviews of this book, I chose to purchase this book to see if this was another celebrity who found art and realized their celebrity could sell their art. Bottom line I had hoped that McCartney's personality would triuumph and his down to earth philoposphy would come through. Indeed it did and this is the first Unpretentious book on Art I have ever read. If anyone has the desire to paint, draw or create but is held back through social conditioninig this book is for you. McCartney albeit through interviews and ghost writers tells how he himself freed himself from his own perfectionist procrastination mode and at the age of 40 painted. What resulted I found to be liberating in the way that in his celebrity circle of friedns he learned from William De Kooning how to "kill the canvas" and get over the fear of standing in front of a blank canvas. Additionaly McCartney goes onto explain his creative process for his paintings again influenced by De Kooning. He discussed how he would write a friends name on a canvas or a sketch or just a smudge of paint and see what stimulated his creative enery to produce and be led by creativity instead of coming to the easle prepared with a pre-conceived idea. McCartney never pretends to be a De Kooning or indeed a high brow artist. He comes across as someone who enjoys the process and output that art offers. Through his own conditioning he is also seeking the feedback for his efforts, regardless of the technicalities I for one see his work as inspirational and has encouraged me to go and "kill the canvas" myself.
Rating:
Summary: A very cool thing.
Review: This is not expressly about McCartney's art as it is about the creative process. Many of these paintings are reminiscent in some ways of outsider art (art brut). Much of it is primitive/naive art, but all of it provokes (at least for me) a great deal of joy. Paging through it, I found myself laughing out loud at the silly characters -- Shock Head, Green Head, etc -- that reveal a glimpse into the soul of one of this centuries more creative people. I live in New York and see a lot of art (some extraordinary, much of it quite bad). But in the last year alone, I have been privileged to see works by Egon Schiele, Sue Coe, Edward Gorey,and Lucian Freud, to name but a few. I would hardly call McCartney a master, but he is competent and he's much fun. To the reviewer who dismissed McCartney's art out-of-hand, citing that it was John who was the art student: art (true art) is not about precision or literal interpretation. Quite the contrary. It's about freedom. Breaking out of the box. It's other worldly. McCartney's stuff, on that level, succeeds.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: Well, I'm a Beatles fan, and in that spirit this book was of interest, but, really, McCartney doesn't have much talent as a painter. It was Lennon who was the visual arts student, after all.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Abstract Expressionism
Review: While I didn't like all of the paintings, I did find it an interesting book to look through. The influence of DeKoinig and the other Abstract Expressionists is clear and interesting (if not on the cutting edge of today's art scene.) All in all, it adds another dimention to this very complex man. I look forward to reading his book of poetry for the same reason. I am a dancer who is also a writer, so I understand the desire to expand disciplines, and I applaud it.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Abstract Expressionism
Review: While I didn't like all of the paintings, I did find it an interesting book to look through. The influence of DeKoinig and the other Abstract Expressionists is clear and interesting (if not on the cutting edge of today's art scene.) All in all, it adds another dimention to this very complex man. I look forward to reading his book of poetry for the same reason. I am a dancer who is also a writer, so I understand the desire to expand disciplines, and I applaud it.
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