To start off, I can't believe this book is out of print already! I'd still like to write a review, because this is a very good book and perhaps the publisher will do a new hardcover print run or come up with a paperback edition..... Mr. Beck is a professor of art history at Columbia University in New York City. One of the nice things about this book, though, is that it is written for the layperson. It is not full of technical terms and art world jargon. Even better, it is well written. Professor Beck has a very good style of writing so the book flows along very smoothly. I think the author's intention was to balance out the popular picture of Michelangelo as a tortured, ill-mannered genius. Professor Beck shows him to be, in some respects, a pretty regular fellow. For example, we find out that Pope Julius appreciated him for his ironic, sarcastic and apparently typically Tuscan sense of humor. Michelangelo also was always very much a person concerned with the well-being of his family. Although he never married and never had any children he was deeply attached to his father and his brothers. Once he started to earn some money he was always very good about helping his family financially. One of the strong suits of this book is that Professor Beck constantly shows us the humanity behind the artist. Although Michelangelo loved his father it is also true that his father never approved of his choice of career. An artist was not highly regarded back in those days and when Michelangelo decided to become a sculptor, well, that was even worse. Imagine going around with your clothes full of marble dust all the time! Michelangelo was always looking for approval from his father and he never got it. The book also covers Michelangelo's relationship with Lorenzo The Magnificent and Pope Julius II. We get an especially nicely rounded portrait of Julius as a warrior pope who was more interested in power and politics and women than in culture, but who nevertheless appreciated the talent of Michelangelo. He also had a fierce temper and when Michelangelo answered the question, "When will the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel be finished?" with "It'll be done when it is done..." threatened to have some lackeys go up and have Michelangelo thrown off of the scaffolding! My only complaint with this book is that perhaps Professor Beck goes a little too far trying to portray Michelangelo as a "nice" guy and basically somebody that really had no faults whatsoever. But as I wrote near the start of this review I think the intent was to try to swing the pendulum the other way..... Still, this book is very good and well worth reading.

James Beck has written a wonderful and easy read about the life of Michelangelo. By not focusing on details about Michelangelo's sex life, Beck has put a much needed focus back on the actual art work of the artist. Regardless of whether he was gay or straight, Michelangelo is a gifted and talented artist who will be remembered for eternity.

This biography might have been wonderful to me if it had not been spoiled by the author's foolish attempts to cast doubt on Michelangelo's homosexuality. This puts Beck into the same category with Irving Stone and Charlton Heston in The Agony and the Ecstasy. On the verge of the 21st Century to get yet another book denying that there were any great gay men in history is simply not acceptable.

I bought this book based on the recommendation of a friend who was taking a course in which it was mentioned. She knew of my interest in art and thought I might enjoy the book, and I certainly did!

Beck opened up new vistas to me, of which I had little knowledge. He writes of the art and the politics of restoring great works of art, and of the options which should be considered before restoration is done. His opinion is that, many times, the restoration destroys the original painting, for all intents and purposes.

An example he gives is what happens to the halos in paintings. We have all seen paintings with halos over certain figures. In the old original paintings, these halos are seen as airy and light, almost ray-like. When restored, Beck compares them to heavy golden plates sitting atop the heads of the figures in the painting.

Upon finishing this book, I realized that it left me with as many questions as it answered regarding the need for and methods of restoring great works of art. I also realized that there are as many differing opinions on this topic as there are museums. It seems that the best course in some instances might be no restoration at all. Although I now feel almost more confused about the topic than when I started the book, I will always have an interest in reading about it.

I find it interesting to visit the Art Watch International home page (which Beck founded) to be brought up to date on current restoration proposals. Some of the goals of this group, as outlined in its mission statement are "TO ACT as a watchdog organization in the arena of cultural policy, protecting works of art and the public interest from vested private and institutional interests.  TO SERVE as an international advocate for the conservation and stewardship of historically significant works of art and cultural monuments.  TO PROMOTE an open exchange of ideas and information on the full range of practices in the field of conservation, restoration and international stewardship of important cultural artifacts."

James Beck's Book Art Restortaion:The Culture, The Business, The Scandal, gives all those interested an incite into the world of preserving the treasures of the arts masters. He demonstrates through arguement and photograph the havoc occuring among the world's most valued art accomplishments, and allows the laymen to see the politics and personal ambitions that penatrate into the field of art conservation. While his book is of course very much based on opinion, he is very astute at backing his opinion up with historical and scientifc fact. Beck uses this book as a ladder to launch his campaign to save the artistic masterpieces of the past as well as those which will need conserving in the future. Anyone who is interested in the processes of conserving or the preserving of powerful pieces of art should read this book, and become aware of the way in which our public treasures are being handled.