I was just in Berkeley, CA and happed to see an exhibit of the original art which is the subject of this book at the GTU Library. The illustrations in the book are true to the original and the book provides the necessary context for a complete appreciate of this marvelous work.

This is a truly lovely book: beautifully produced in paper-back with quality materials (so a joy to handle), interesting and insightful commentaries written in styles that aren't bound up by artistic jargon, and a wonderful, comprehensive collection of images in colour, put in meaningful order. I highly recommend it.

Ashton sees postwar Japanese art from an American point of view. She is very good on the influence of Japanese who studied in Europe and Americans who brought New York '60s avant-garde art to Japan. Unfortunately, she has little background in Japanese art, history, culture and society. And it shows-particularly in her views of ikebana.See CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE SCULPTURE by Janet Koplos for a MUCH better treatment of contemporary Japaneses art and its relation to the traditional culture

An engaging, if not wholly cohesive, account of Picasso's sayoing and writings about art, but more. The strength of the book comes when he speaks on art. The ancilliary issues that come up serve to round out the figure of Picasso more, but may not quite be the art treatise you're looking for.

I was arrested in my steps the first time I saw Ms. von Rydingsvard's powerful sculptures. Without any "education" about this artist or her work, I was moved. I bought this book in the museum gift shop right away. Unfortunately, it is primarily useful for giving its readers many phtographs. This is no replacement for experiencing the sculptures in person, but that is not always possible. The pictures will give the reader a feel for the breadth of this artist's body of work and a longing for the depth of an actual encounter. I found some of the text useful, but unfortunately there is a tendency to glom on to the personal history of the artist to buy an unassailable "importance" for work that speaks quite nicely for itself. It seems that many female artists are "reviewed" this way. I do not believe the authors intended this outcome. They seemed to share my respect for von Rydingsvard as a professional, nevertheless the dwelling in her personal life serves to tie her sculpture to a ready-made context that narrows viewers' focus and ultimately trivializes the WORK. The details of von Rydingsvard's life are riviting, but when there are so many valid aesthetic approaches to her work (that evoke tremendous emotional response), I have to wonder about the sexism in the academics of art. As an aside, I must say that this book is much less guilty in this regard than the Madison Art Center's exhibit catalogue (1998) about von Rydingsvard. I rated this book at four stars because real ART always transcends the pedantics that surround it and you owe it to yourself to discover THIS ART one way or another.

Seriously I did. The first time I saw a Rothko painting was at the SFMoMA. It covered an entire wall of the room and was the biggest thing on canvas I have ever seen. I was hoping that Dore Ashton's book would give me an insight into the meaning and style of Rothko, but rather, it seemed to be a biography of the man rather than a critism of the work. I suppose that's partially my fault since I'm sure there quite a bit of art critism books out there on Rothko...unfortunately, the historical presentation of the book isn't really all that interesting. I guess in the end, the big picture is that Rothko was deeply influenced by his Marxist experiences because that's what I got from Ashton's book. On a side note, Dore Ashton writes for Modern Painter magazine, which is actually a good magazine.

The definitive book on Mark Rothko's work, by one of his closest friends. Ashton gets as close as she can to a very elusive, contradictory person. The book requires the same kind of sublime imagination that Rothko's paintings - his "children," as he often called them - require. Those without soul should pass this book by.

The most intelligent and sensitive writing on Rothko's painting and thinking. Dore Ashton continues to be the most perceptive individual representing painters and their concerns. She is an amateur in the true sense - L. amator - lover, fr. amare - to love. Would that more writers on painting share her imagination, enthusiasm and integrity.

The Mystery of Philip Guston

Dore Ashton wrote this book in 1974 while Guston was still alive and apparently he reviewed it and it had his authorization. I am the brother of Reuben Kadish, who met Phillip Goldstein in 1930 in Los Angeles and with whom he collaborated on at least three murals ending in 1936. In 1936 Goldstein became Guston.

During 1996, the City of Hope, a cancer research center in Duarte, California, rediscovered a mural made by Kadish and Goldstein in 1935 and 1936. They found that it was in good condition, having been in a protected area for the past 60 years. They got a Donar, Ernest Lieblich, and with the cooperation of the Getty Museum had the mural cleaned and restored. Bob Reid, of the City of Hope, found the Kadish family two weeks before its rededication on June 11, 1998. Since Goldstein went on to fame and fortune as Phil Guston, Reuben, in his lifetime, gained little recognition as an artist. I decided to research their collaboration and to establish the relationship in their work.

Being two and half years younger than Reuben, I met most of Reuben's friends of that period including Goldstein. Ashton's book is the first I read about Guston. She starts from his birth and goes on to review his life from an artistic viewpoint. Goldstein and Kadish painted in a classical Thomas Hart Benton Italian style. When Guston started to work by himself after 1936, his work became more stylized, and in 1950 his style changed and he became a leader in the abstract expressionist school. About 1966 he abruptly changed his style into a cartoon type of painting that he did to the end of his life in 1980.

In his earliest paintings he had Klu Klux Klan figures as part of his theme. In the last ten years of his life the Klu Klux Klan figures reappeared and other images of a forehead and eyes showing over a wall became a dominant theme in addition. These sudden shifts in style confounded the critics. Ashton tries to explain those changes by quoting from different people to clarify Guston's reasons. She does not succeed.

Goldstein was the youngest of his families many children. The family was not a religious one. There is nothing to indicate how much contact or knowledge Goldstein had with Jewish religious life. Nowhere in the book does Ashton say that he is Jewish or that his name was Goldstein. As I remember it, he did not come from a political family. I do not know if he had any knowledge or spoke Yiddish. He is the only one in the family to become an artist. Goldstein was a dandy, being an esthete in everything he did, food, clothes and in his art.

Reuben came from a political family, his father was a socialist in Russia, and was active and sympathetic to the communist led organizations after he came to the United States. There is a strong artistic streak in the family. My father's brother was a killed painting craftsman and was an actor and director on the Yiddish stage. At one moment, I and my two brothers each had a child being trained to be art historians, in separate Universities in Flagstaff, San Francisco and Connecticut without knowing or having any connection with each other.

Nowhere in her book does she explain this change or even make the point that it happened. The result is a portrayal of Guston who constantly searched to find himself, with no explanation of the cause. Guston's sensitivity allowed him to create great art although his changes were totally unexplained. It is apparent to me that the contradictions of his life created the artist that he was.

I should have known better than to buy a book without actually holding it in my hands and giving it at least a cursory once through. One of the editorial reviews said that it was "lavishly illustrated", and that was good enough for me. There simply is not enough books with illustrations of the works of Joseph Cornell. Hence, I bought it, only to find that there's not a single color plate in the whole book. All the illustrations are B&W. Not only that, but most of the photographs of the works are not particularly well done. I admit, I haven't even looked at the text--so, call me provencial. Art books are about art. Art is colorful. In writing a review of a book, I would be ashamed to call it "lavishly illustrated" when not a single plate is in color. What, then, makes it lavish? You've got me. I'm going to bet that you're going to see a lot of used copies of this book in the near future. Frankly, if you need a fix of Joseph Cornell, buy the Prestel Post Cards of Cornell. You'll save money and actually get some idea of what his creative work was about.