Good Night

Good Morning

Book 10 - Martin Kemp "Art In History"

Martin Kemp "Art In History" (Profile Books)






In the blurb on the inside, it says "Art has always been part of history. But we often think of it as outside history. When we look at a painting by Raphael, Rembrandt, or Rubens it speaks to us directly, but it's also a historical document, part of a living world. Renowned art historian Martin Kemp takes the reader on an extraordinary trip through art, from devotional works to the revolutionary techniques of the Renaissance, from the courtly Masters of the seventeenth century through to the daring avant-garde of the twentieth century and beyond.

Along the way we encounter the great names of art history: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo; Vermeer and Velasquez; Picasso and Pollock. We get under the skin of the many 'isms', schools, styles, and epochs. We see the complex sweep of art history with its innovations, collaborations, rivalries, break-throughs, and masterpieces. Above all, Kemp puts art in context; art isn't about disembodied images, art itself is history."

So in just 233 pages, it covers a wide ground which is partially its strength as an introduction to art history and partly its weakness. Such sweeping overviews tend to miss out some corners of art history and this one resolutely sticks to painting rather than the other arts. However, it was an enjoyable fairly quick read and I would recommend it. Just one caveat, the pictures of selected artworks are all monochrome so to get a full appreciation of them I would certainly go to the various online art museum sites.

Friday Morning Selection

Another mostly classical selection -

John Harbison - The Flight Into Egypt

Michael Finnissy - Part one, Green Meadows

Michael Finissy, English Country Tunes for piano solo
℗ Etcetera
Released on: 1990-01-01

Arthur Bliss - The Enchantress

»The Enchantress« F. 157 (1951), Scena for contralto and orchestra, set to words by Henry Reed, adapted from the Second Idyll of Theocritus.

Linda Finnie – mezzo-soprano
Ulster Orchestra
Vernon Handley, 1989

ENJOY

The Friday Focus

Well, what a glorious day it has been. Sunny and warm - around 11C here in the garden. Perhaps the calm before the storm.

Anyway, lunch was delicious with a very tasty chicken pie with greens and roast tatties. All washed down with a Shiraz and the pudding was a way too small bread and butter pudding. All very scrumptious though.



Now for a bit of a rant.

Second-hand CDs from Amazon marketplace. Sometimes the info given is not enough unlike that on Discogs. For example, I picked up a Michael Nyman Cd on Amazon for £3 plus postage and description was Very Good condition. This usually means CD is in top condition, might have minor surface scratches and booklet in top condition. The latter was not. It had bubble indentations on the booklet due to it not being secured in jewel case properly and an indentation on the back cover. Discogs sellers would mention this and then I could decide to buy or not. I am a stickler for condition overall. I never buy anything less than VG+ and I demand it to be so. So on the feedback, I gave them a poor 3 out of five. This is why I miss going to charity shops and places like MVE in Notting Hill. Please can these shops open up again as soon as possible!!!

Friday Freak Out

Time for some music-

Micahel Nyman - For John Cage

Lionel Marchetti - La grande vallée (1998)

François Bayle -  L'oiseau chanteur (1963)

Bruno Maderna: Notturno (1956)

ENJOY

The Friday Five

Would you ever live in an underground house?

Would you live by a graveyard?

Did you have a dollhouse growing up?

Have you ever owned a set of military dog-tags?

When was the last time you wadded up a piece of paper and tossed it into a wastebasket just to have something to do?

Good Night