New series of art books fills a publishing gap

A new publishing company in Canada is getting good notices from schools and libraries regarding a series of good looking and informative art books. Each book in the 100 Paintings Series represents a famous artist and an analysis of his work with detailed illustrations.

Published by NDE Publishing of Ontario, the books, geared for young adults and art lovers of all ages, serve as both an educational tool and entertaining read, according to Today's Librarian.

NDE began publishing two years ago and has already released more than 32 titles including the first 20 in its 100 Paintings Series. Artists featured include: Dali, Van Gogh, Leonardo, Renoir, Matisse, Titian, Degas, Munch and Toulouse-Lautrec. Each book ($14.95) is devoted to a separate artist.

This is what the trade journal Today's Librarian said: "Elegant, critical and alluring, the 100 Paintings Series epitomizes the educational link between art and skill. Large photos of the featured artists' works are spread across the pages, including extreme close-up pictures for studying compositional structure. Text is minimal and to the point, based on interviews with Frederico Zeri, an eminent art historian and critic. The series features one artist per book, and while each volume appears to focus primarily on one painting, many of the artist's works are included."

The books are designed to make scholars of laymen and any book that can do that without falling into the jargon that devils the art world is doing the rest of us a service indeed.

The books include a bibliography, chronological presentation of principal works and a brief biography.

Today's Librarian called the series "outstanding," and praised it for being affordable, too, at $14.95 per book.

Parents wishing to instruct teen-agers about the world's great art works will find this series extremely useful.

"We publish these books to provide readers with an introductory and comprehensive look at artists and their art, but without the weighted-down feel of too much information that so many books in the art market seem to possess," said Christi Davis of NDE Publishing.

"The format of the books provides a solid and clear presentation of each artist and his work which appeals to students as young as 13-and 14-year-olds, but to adults as well who are interested in learning more about the art world," she said. "In terms of sales, the series becomes increasingly more popular and gains more recognition with each passing month.

"This is not to say that we're selling like Stephen King novels, but for a very small Canadian press trying to appeal to the art market, we are doing well," Davis added.

For instance, the book on Rembrandt focuses on the painting "Supper at Emmaus," with commentary by the late Frederico Zeri. The first 11 pages of the 48-page book (printed in a convenient picture-book format) contain 11 different views of the painting exploring aspects of lighting, color, composition, design, foreground and background. You will get to know that painting well, and also will be treated descriptions of other paintings and a look at Rembrandt's place in history. Those who expect to travel will like the fact that the book lists the international locations of his principal works.

The book on Klimt focuses on "Judith I," again with a penetrating look at that painting before going into the history of the artist's life and times and other works.

Also recently released by NDE is a DVD-ROM/DVD-video hybrid that presents a 3-D virtual interactive tour of The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Twenty-five virtual rooms and more than 310 art images are featured, as well as a descriptive 30-minute video that can be played on a computer or a regular DVD-video player.

The idea is to let participants walk around the world-famous Russian museum while classical music and informative narratives play in the background. It sounds fabulous.

For more information, visit www.ndepublishing.com.

To inquire about ordering any of the above mentioned books from an independent bookstore,
Bogey's Books at discounted prices [ Click Here ]

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