I had not read anything by Juliette Aristedes, but ran across her book “Classical Painting Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice” in a bookstore while on a business trip this week. As the title suggests, it is oriented toward the kinds of information presented in a modern classical painting school, generally known as an atelier, after the 19th century system of professional French art instruction.
Classical Painting Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice
I don’t personally find Aristedes’ work to be particularly compelling, but this is a very nice book. She mixes instruction on art history, methods, procedures, and historical teaching methods with suggested exercises and excellent reproductions of paintings by great masters of the past. Additionally, she provides brief profiles of modern artists who use classical painting methods, such as Jacob Collins, Daniel Sprick, Steven Assael, Andrew Wyeth, and Tony Ryder. Aristedes has a broad education in art and a gift for lucid, thoughtful explanation. Her focus is far less on materials and methods (although these subjects are touched on) than on composition, use of color, selection of subject matter, and other issues related to bringing an artistic vision to effective fruition.
Recommended.
Belatedly, good to see the blog back up.i’ve read adn appriciated you on the web since seeing you on Cennini. To the point today, thanks for the review. I’ve seen the book and read recommendations from people I expected to like it without much thought. You’re opinion I trust to be reasonably objective. I have about 1400 books catalogued in my library and about 200 of them are art books. After reading this I think I will add Aristedes to the shelf.
Thanks, Steve Baker
Steve,
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Let me know what you think of the book.
It is a fabulous book — my only criticism being, that English artists such as Lucien Freud and Jenny Saville are not featured.
However, it ‘opened my eyes’ to some American artists that I was not yet aware of.
I am shortly purposing to purchase the drawing book by the same author, but do you know, if is it written in the same format — i.e does it include features on particular artists towards the end.
Carole,
I think of it as a fairly personal book that makes no attempt to cover all of modern realists, or even a fair representation of them. There are plenty of people not represented in this book who would deserve to be in any volume that attempted to survey modern classical realists whose work derrives from an atelier tradition. On the other hand, so far as I know, neither Freud nor Saville quite fit into that category. Aristedes, however, certainly seems more familiar with modern Americans than modern Europeans.
As far as her book on drawing goes, I have not seen it, so I could not tell you if it follows the same format.
Aha, now it is clear … And then I just not very much and did not understand where is the link with the very title …
Informative, but not convincing. Something is missing, and what do not understand. But I will say frankly: — light and benevolent thoughts.
Strange but true. Your resource is expensive. At least, at its auction it could sell for good money.
I would have added something of course, but in fact said and written about almost everything.
Do not regret that I spent a couple of minutes to read your blog. Write often, even inevitably’ll come to read something new.
Article written ochentochno. In other words, and not say.