"A CT Place" places Weir in the highest ranks of 19th century American painters. This catalogue brings together some of his best work, revealing the amazing subtleties of his style as he portrays the Connecticut landscape as it really is and feels - the dense woods, rolling fields, the colors of spring and fall. A must have for any fan of impressionism and painting in general.

From mentor Rene Francois Gignoux, GEORGE INNESS knew to paint "Sunshine and clouds" with a classic Dutch 17th-century straight horizon. As one of the greatest 19th-century landscape colorists, he preferred civilized nature to wilderness: "The Lackawanna valley" met nature and train, with the informally simple composition and lighter coloring influences of Barbizon school artists Corot, Daubigny, Diaz, Dupre, Jacque, Rousseau and Troyon. He colored emotions and ideas with the depth and richness earlier seen in Titian and with the arbitrariness later seen in Mark Rothko: popular and widely known "Autumn oaks"; "Lake Nemi," with 2 white birds above accenting the crater depth below; "Off the coast of Cornwall," as one of his rare coast and sea scapes. His style included organizing horizontal and vertical elements: "The brush burners" had the perfect balance later seen in Piet Mondrian; "The monk" showed Japanese-style flatness and occult balance; and architecturally detailed "St Peter's" contrasted darkly solid foreground with lighter distance. He started out faithfully finishing in the studio what he sketched in the field: "Landscape with fishermen" was an early exception, with a made-up water body near the very real Sharp Mountains rocks and trees. He ended making up his own landscapes: "October" was one of the clearest examples of this Synthetic style. Thanks to Harvard's Fogg art museum having "October noon" on a back stariway, Nicolai Cikovsky Jr went on to become recognized for his authoritative knowledge of the painter's work and to organize this book with fellow art curator Michael Quick. Readers might want to go on to James EB Breslin's MARK ROTHKO, Rudolf Herman Fuchs' DUTCH PAINTING, Hans Ludwig C. Jaffe's PIET MONDRIAN, and Filippo Pedrocco's TITIAN.

I'd been looking for a book about Winslow Homer for a while and was delighted to find this one. Kate Jennings' copy about his life and art are very good and the 68 color prints are large and on glossy paper. The prints are not top notch, but very nice. If you're looking for a nice collection of Homer's work without breaking the bank, this is for you. (This review pertains to the Winslow Homer book by Kate Jennings. Alas,I havn't seen the one by Nicolai Cikovsky.)

As an Art student, venturing into watercolor recently, I received this book as a gift. I truly gained much information about the artist and the additon of color plates (90+) make this a complete reference guide. The author has separatedhis works into catogories by subject matter.The intro- duction reviews his travels, family life,interests,educa-tion,recognition and awardsduring his lifetime. A brief review proceeds each Chapterwhich then is visually supp-orted by wonderflul,colorful plates of Winslow works of that subject. The Chapters are Civil War, Sea PaintingsTropics, Adirondonck and Canada, and Prout's Neck,Me. He was an extraordinarypainter of various mediums,and always captured the 'atmosphere' in his workswhether it was stormy seasoff the coast of Maine, placid lakes in the mountains, clear skies in the tropics or children at play at that time. Fortunately, he was an artist who was noticed during his lifetime and rewarded with fame before his demise at age 74, having enjoyed his love of his work. I would highly recommend this hard cover version, to any art lover or student of the arts. I will plan to purchase this publication for my son, and perhaps a friend in the near future.