The Accidental Masterpiece : On the Art of Life and Vice Versa

Average customer rating:

excellent anecdotal reviews

art for the rest of us

this book will enrich your perspective on the world around you

good start but cut some corners

environmentally friendly art

The Accidental Masterpiece : On the Art of Life and Vice Versa
Michael Kimmelman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

Matisse the Master: A Life of Henri Matisse: The Conquest of Colour: 1909-1954

New Art City

The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece

Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock (A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts)

de Kooning: An American Master

ASIN: B000FZDKNY

Book Description

The chief art critic for The New York Times on the creative impulse that emerges in all of us when we realize that the art of making art starts with the art of living.

Michael Kimmelman, the prominent New York Times writer and a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books, is known as a deep and graceful writer across the disciplines of art and music and also as a pianist who understands something about the artist's sensibility from the inside. Readers have come to expect him not only to fill in their knowledge about art but also to inspire them to think about connections between art and the larger world--which is to say, to think more like an artist. Kimmelman's many years of contemplating and writing about art have brought him to this wise, wide-ranging, and long-awaited book.

It explores art as life's great passion, revealing what we can learn of life through pictures and sculptures and the people who make them. It assures us that art--points of contact with the exceptional that are linked straight to the heart--can be found almost anywhere and everywhere if only our eyes are opened enough to recognize it. Kimmelman regards art, like all serious human endeavors, as a passage through which a larger view of life may come more clearly into focus. His book is a kind of adventure or journey.

It carries the message that many of us may not yet have learned how to recognize the art in our own lives. To do so is something of an art itself. A few of the characters Kimmelman describes, like Bonnard and Chardin, are great artists. But others are explorers and obscure obsessives, paint-by-numbers enthusiasts, amateur shutterbugs, and collectors of strange odds and ends. Yet others, like Charlotte Solomon, a girl whom no one considered much of an artist but who secretly created a masterpiece about the world before her death in Auschwitz, have reserved spots for themselves in history, or not, with a single work that encapsulates a whole life.

Kimmelman reminds us of the Wunderkammer, the cabinet of wonders--the rage in seventeenth-century Europe and a metaphor for the art of life. Each drawer of the cabinet promises something curious and exotic, instructive and beautiful, the cabinet being a kind of ideal, self-contained universe that makes order out of the chaos of the world. The Accidental Masterpiece is a kind of literary Wunderkammer, filled with lively surprises and philosophical musings. It will inspire readers to imagine their own personal cabinet of wonders.

Customer Reviews:

excellent anecdotal reviews.......2007-03-26

Very fun reading, and he touches on some of the big guns in art today, ones that are often difficult to describe, much less review critically. Kimmelman has a smooth, scholarly manner making his work accessible and insightful. If you're looking for rigorous analytical parsing of contemporary art, this is not your destination.

art for the rest of us.......2007-01-18

When I lived in Moscow and would visit St. Petersburg, a visit to the Hermitage Art Museum was always an obligatory pleasure. Ditto for New York; the last time my wife and I traveled there we visited the Metropolitan Museum. But at both museums I felt a pronounced sense of dislocation, like I somehow lacked the knowledge, the experience, or the aesthetic sensibility to appreciate fully the exhibits we saw. We enjoyed much of what we saw, but we still saw a lot of "art" that caused me to resonate with Harry Truman's judgment that Churchill's works were "damn good" because "at least you can tell what they are and that is more than you can say for a lot of these modern painters." Were the artists and their work pretentious, or was I just ignorant?

Kimmelman, chief art critic of the New York Times, has written an unpretentious book that genuinely appreciates that common dilemma for both artist and amateur. He moves the reader beyond Truman's humorous but ill-informed notion, and does so in a manner that does not condescend toward the reader or dumb down his subject. His book is eminently accessible and written with a deft touch, itself a textual work of art that is a pleasure to read. Yes, he takes you through the world of professional artists like Matisse and Michelangelo, the brilliant and the bizarre, but he also gives equally serious attention to the artistic impulse in the likes of dentist Hugh Hicks who had a collection of 75,000 light bulbs, a prisoner named Ray Materson who learned how to do exquisite embroideries of his beloved New York Yankees, painting by numbers that I tried as a child, and the homemade quilts made by poor black women in remote Gee's Bend, Alabama ("...some of the most miraculous works of modern art that America has ever produced."). Although a professional critic, Kimmelman imparts an infectious sense of wonderment and enthusiasm that democratizes art in the best sense of that term.

Art can transform our lives by helping us to live more fully and attentively, and not only by engaging the sublime but by appreciating the mundane and the utterly ordinary. Humanity's creative impulse hints at something beyond and greater than ourselves that emerges not despite but even because of restraints, conflicts, and confinement. Beauty, in Kimmelman's view, clearly has a spiritual element that helps us to "slow our systems" so that we can live as we ought. Through appreciating art, "we may learn something about how to conceive of our own ordinary existence--about how to live and die, more constructively or at least more alertly." Which is to say that even, or especially, one's life can be a creative act of art and beauty.

this book will enrich your perspective on the world around you.......2006-09-22

I simply can't avoid the cliche -- this book changed my life. This book is, as Kimmelman hopes, a good read for anyone who picks it up, but it's so much more than that. I am an art history major at a university, and I was impressed with Kimmelman's ecclectic choices for artists. He merely references Picasso and Michelangelo, not wasting time or detailing a name that is common even to the most common of men. Kimmelman takes -- often times -- eccentric artists who devoted their entire lives to some form of art. When people think of art, they think of oil on canvas or they think or Italian architecture or modern sculpture. They think of GENRES of art, whereas Kimmelman points out that all of life is an art. Everything that we do, what we say, who we say things to... everything and everyone is part of the greatest canvas of all, our own personal lives.

Kimmelman was -- somehow -- able to clearly express his thoughts and views with both enthusiasm and fact. He is a wonderfully gifted writer, and I learned more about myself, life in general, and art, than I have in my entire 22 years of existence. Each chapter held a refreshing look on the world, and I was deeply touched by many of the stories. My favorite chapter was The Art of Maximizing Your Time, and the story of Charlotte Salomons.

You don't need to be an artist or to have studied art in order to "get" this book. You simply have to be human, to exist in a world of beauty and heartache. Kimmelman illustrates this point by retelling a story of artist Jay DeFeo:

DeFeo once described a waking dream in which, reborn as someone else in the future, she wanders through room after room of a museum and suddenly finds The Rose, restored, a person staring intently at it. She walks up to the person. "You know," she says, "I did that." (p. 130)

Seriously. This book changed my life, and it will change yours.

good start but cut some corners.......2006-09-10

I would not consider myself an expert in art and especially modern art. I appreciate art and have visited museums and even made it a point to see some exhibitions but beyond that I would consider myself a "sideline appreciator". I picked up this book in the classic effort to broaden my horizons and learning something new, different. I am probably exactly the type of reader the author and publisher would hope by this book.

With that being said this book is not written for people like me. The book is broken into a series of essays with a common theme, art presents itself in ways people often overlook and art is created as byproduct of how people choose to live their lives and in a sense live to create art. If it sounds confusing it's because it is. Some of the people profiled truly created things for the sake of it never expecting anyone to appreciate it or even know about it...just driven from within. Other artists profiled are quite well known, ( within the art world) and make their living at it.. not exactly the accidental masterpiece the title implies.

Almost The entire focus of the book is what would be considered Modern Art .(.Evidently before the modern era the accidental masterpiece was nonexistent.) The book could have been much more informative if there was more images of the actual art that was being described. I often had to go the internet to take a look at what was actually being described. Furthermore, the author has annoying habit of stringing together names of artists when making a point as if anyone reading the book would know those names and have reference point. (needless to say they were always Modern Artist).

As a result of these internet searches I discovered that one of the chapters was essentially lifed from a magazine article that the author had written in 1999. The book is published in 2005. It struck me as odd that he would take a six year old article and then edit it and without telling the reader. The book is not being marketed as reprinting of previous work. I just felt the author cut and pasted from his old work and six years after the fact has it published as if the dialogue and events recently happened.

environmentally friendly art.......2006-09-05

I thought the book was sometimes engaging with a number of interesting perspectives and anecdotes. But the "Art of the Pilgrimage" chapter was not constructive. The author seemed to completely ignore the environmental impact of some "environmental art." He raves about creating "lush green pastures" without considering the negative impact of such excessive consumption on deserts and other fragile habitats. I was especially offended by his assertion that art is better appreciated by traveling as much as possible - actually art and life are better appreciated by cultivating a responsible attitude toward consumption and environmental impact. It made me appreciate Manet even more: 'A painter can say all he wants to with fruit or flowers or even clouds . . . .'

Customer Reviews:

collectible traditional Russian art.......2000-07-30

This is a large, excellent book on the traditional Russian art of lacquered miniature painting. Over 250 color reproductions of the works of Masters are featured. This is really the definitive book on the craft. The art is famous for its tiny, but finely-detailed illustrations of folk tales or village life, painted free-hand with a homemade brush of a single squirrel or sable hair. Real gold leaf and mother-of-pearl insets add to the beauty and value of the paintings, which are created on papier-mache' shkatulki (boxes) or plaques. Many layers of lacquer finish the artwork, giving it a long-lasting, lustrous, three-dimensional quality (and incidentally, its name). Each creation can take several months, or as much as a year, to complete. Some of the rarest, most magnificent paintings are presented in these pages. The book contains a history of the craft and its Masters. Also included are short essays on each of the four schools -- the villages of Palekh, Kholui, Mstera, and Fedoskino -- which have produced generations of painters in this enduring and endearing folk art.

Average customer rating:
A Velvet Silence
David Wise
Manufacturer: Urban Fox Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1905522118

Average customer rating:
The wise silence: Photographs
Paul Caponigro
Manufacturer: New York Graphic Society Books, Little, Brown and Co., in association with the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000721I7U

Average customer rating:
The Wise Silence: Photographs by Paul Caponigro
Paul CAPONIGRO
Manufacturer: See notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UX9VJ8

Average customer rating:
The Wise Silence: Photographs by Paul Caponigro
Paul Fulton Caponigro
Manufacturer: New York Graphic Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0316948624

Average customer rating:
Voluntary Employee Withdrawal and Inattendance A Current Perspective
Meni (EDT)/ Krausz, Moshe (EDT) Koslowsky
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSG0SE

Average customer rating:
Choosing the Right Camp:: 1995-96 Edition (Choosing the Right Camp)
Richard Kennedy
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
Camping | Hiking & Camping | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 0812924908
Release Date: 1995-01-17

Book Description

Written with humor and spirit, this foolproof guide to finding the perfect summer experience has been fully updated and includes two all-new sections on choosing specialty and day camps. Features nine new camp profiles.

Book Description

From its revolutionary inception in 1917 to its demise in 1991, the Red Army played a crucial role in all aspects of Soviet life. The Soviet Military Experience is the first general work to place the Soviet army into its true social, political and international contexts. This timely account includes discussion of: the origins of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army; the Bolshevik regime's use of the military as a school of socialism; the Second World War and its repercussions; and the effect of Gorbachev's policies of Glasnost and Perestroika.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent summary of Red Army.......2004-06-24

Dr. Reese does an outstanding job in finding the middleground between the political, operational, and anecdotal history of the Soviet military. An immense amount of knowledge is ably condensed into a relatively swift read and his analysis of the early years of the Red Army is especially well done. The only book is only lacking in its examination of the mid-late Cold War years, which he covers very fast, but all in all a very good book, a must-read for anyone interested in the USSR's military history.

Book Description

John Dyson has contributed to the study of the hydrodynamic processes that govern a wide variety of astrophysical sources which he has helped explain. In this volume dedicated to him, introductory reviews to a number of the key processes and to the sources themselves are given by leading experts. The mechanisms in which the multi-component natures of media affect their dynamics receive particular attention, but the roles of hydromagnetic effects are also highlighted. The importance of cosmic ray moderation and mass transfer between different thermal phases for cosmic ray moderation and mass transfer between different thermal phases for the evolution of flows are amongst the topics treated. The main types of regions considered include those where stars form, the circumstellar environments of evolved stars, the larger scale interstellar structures caused by the mass loss of stars, and those where the lines of AGNs form.

The reviews complement one another and together provide a coherent introduction to the astrophysics of diffuse sources suitable for postgraduate students and researchers in astrophysics. Individual reviews stand alone and are suitable for an audience that includes advanced undergraduates doing final year projects.

Star Formation, Galaxies and the Interstellar Medium

Average customer rating:

Star Formation, Galaxies and the Interstellar Medium

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astrophysics & Space Science | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Solar System | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Star-Gazing | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Rocks & Minerals | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Starbursts or spectacular star-forming events are seen on large scales in some galaxies, often triggered by galactic interactions. An intriguing implication of starburst research is that active galactic nuclei (AGN) may not be powered by accreting black holes. Instead theories are presented where compact powerhouses of dust-enshrouded star formation lie at the core of AGN, with supernovae exploding roughly once per year within massive nuclear concentrations of gas. This book comprises a thorough review of the most important developments in galactic-scale star formation since the starburst revolution of the late 1980s.

The interstellar medium in external galaxies summaries of contributed papers (SuDoc NAS 1.55:3084)

Average customer rating:

The interstellar medium in external galaxies summaries of contributed papers (SuDoc NAS 1.55:3084)
NASA
Manufacturer: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Management, Scientific and Technical Information Division For sale by the National Technical Information Service]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00010HFT8

Book Description

Each book focuses on up to 68 terrific ideas for family days, from museums and puppet theaters to skyscrapers and parks. Written by parents who live in the cities they cover, these books are smart about what kids like--and about what parents need. All the details for planning are included: addresses, phone numbers, admission prices, and age-appropriateness. "Hey, Kids!" info boxes provide fun facts and interesting trivia about the destination, and "Kid-Friendly Eats" features recommend three or four places to grab a bite to eat nearby. Fun to read and easy to use, these handy little guides make it easy to plan an enjoyable, hassle-free day with children in the world's most popular cities. They're perfect idea books for every city parent and grandparent, and indispensable aids for families on vacation.

Customer Reviews:

What fun!.......2003-05-09

With summer here, it's great to have so many ideas on keeping the kids entertained in Atlanta. This is a fun, practical guide for parents with all kinds of helpful info like kid-friendly food near every attaction. No other travel guide has so many cool, off-the-beaten-path attractions specifically aimed toward parents and kids.

Book Description

Making of the American Republic seeks to provoke readers to think about the implications of the American Revolution in a new way, offering a larger interpretive theme other than the rise of democracy. This interpretive book places the events, the people, and the ideas of the period within the context of how the American Revolution gave birth to a dynamic capitalist economic system. The book argues that out of the democratic impulses of the era emerged an aggressively entrepreurial American social order. Provides a synthesis, covering the fundamental details of history, while providing a larger statement of the meaning of the changes in the period. Includes detailed portraits of Franklin, Washington, and Jefferson, as well as descriptions of how ordinary people lived. For the study of the American Revolution and the Early Republic to 1815.

Book Description

Breaking the Rules in Publication Design showcases annual reports, brochures, book jackets, catalogs, magazines, newsletters, collateral, promotions and electronic publishing that break new ground in graphic design. Insightful commentary at the beginning of each section defines why the designs are "ground breaking," and each image is accompanied by a caption that indicates who the designer is and for whom the piece was designed.

Customer Reviews:

Could Have Been Better.......2006-08-15

It's a nice book visually, but it does lack detail. They tell you who the designer or design house is, etc., and there are some great, unique things in this book, but a bit of information about the hows and whys would have taken it to an entirely new level.

If you are a design book collector, then I'd recommend it. If you're looking for a book that gives you enough detail and instruction that you might learn something from it, then I'd give this one a pass.

Pretty images but no explanation.......2004-07-13

It is not what I expected. The book starts with a two page introduction where the author expose his point of view on how publication design is constantly changing. Then another brief paragraph to introduce us to every topic and on the next pages there's nothing but images with samples with no explanation of the purpose of the publication, or how the creative director solved the problem. The book doesn't give you any insight of the projects displayed in it. In other words, the book is nothing but pretty images with no explanation (other than the creative group and the page number). I was really disappointed because I have seen better publications from Supon Group like "Breaking the Rules in Graphic Design", but "Breaking the Rules in Publication Desing" is really bad.

Customer Reviews:

the only thing i didn't like were the pictures........1999-11-02

It was very informative and i liked it very much.

Parrots.......1999-02-17

Parrot

Average customer rating:
The 2002 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook
United States Postal Service
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Reference | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Stamps | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The 2001 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook

The 2003 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook

The 2000 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook (Commemorative Stamp Yearbook)

The 2004 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook

The 2005 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook (Commemorative Stamp Yearbook)

ASIN: 0060198982

Book Description

Greetings from America

From the halls of the United States Military Academy to the sand and surf at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, the 2002 commemorative stamp program offers a grand tour of the best of America, highlighting the people, places, events, and issues that are important to us as a nation.

The centerpiece of this year's stamp program is the colorful Greetings From America pane. The first pane of fifty stamps in a decade, these delightful stamps pay tribute to each of the fifty states with lively illustrations of monuments and landmarks. Borrowing a design sensibility from vintage "large letter" postcards, Greetings From America is an exciting tribute to America's many sites and attractions. Also honored with commemorative stamps is a genuine diversity of distinctly American subjects-from Langston Hughes to Andy Warhol, from Hollywood legends to pioneering women journalists, from cuddly teddy bears to the darkly fascinating world of American bats, each, in its own way, sending a special "Greetings From America."

Beautifully designed and illustrated as a keepsake for collectors of all ages, The 2002 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook is the perfect way to capture the excitement of the year's stamp program. Featuring space for collectors to affix their matching stamps, this is a book no stamp enthusiast will want to be without.

Average customer rating:

The 2002 Commemorative Stamp Yearbook
U. S. Postal Service Staff
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OABHXA

Average customer rating:
Sleeping with a Sunflower: A Treasury of Old-Time Gardening Lore
Louise Riotte
Manufacturer: Storey Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Astrological Gardening: The Ancient Wisdom of Successful Planting & Harvesting by the Stars

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening

Roses Love Garlic: Companion Planting and Other Secrets of Flowers

Great Garden Companions: A Companion-Planting System for a Beautiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden

Grow the Best Strawberries: Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin A-190 (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, a-190)

ASIN: 0882665022

Book Description

Arranged month by month, this book is packed with pure gardening folk wisdom: planting by the moon, fishing when and where the bass will bite, and more. A treasured gift for anyone interested in the forgotten lore of gardening.

Sleeping with a Sunflower: Treasury of Old-time Gardening Lore

Average customer rating:

Sleeping with a Sunflower: Treasury of Old-time Gardening Lore
Louise Riotte
Manufacturer: Storey Publishing LLC,US
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RKGDYU

sleeping with a Sunflower a Treasury of Old-time Gardening Lore

Average customer rating:

sleeping with a Sunflower a Treasury of Old-time Gardening Lore
Louise Riotte
Manufacturer: Portland House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LCIVA8

Average customer rating:

Sleeping with a Sunflower: Treasury of Old-time Gardening Lore

Manufacturer: Storey Publishing LLC,US
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GRSEG4

Average customer rating:

Sleeping with a Sunflower: Treasury of Old-time Gardening Lore
Louise Riotte
Manufacturer: Storey Publishing LLC,US
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O7RQMY

Book Description

Volume 2 offers a unique classification of two large suborders of nematodes: Oxyurata and Ascaridata. A total of 748 species, constituting 146 genera and 21 families, distributed among 4 superfamilies - Oxyuroidea, Subuleroidea, Cosmocercoidea, and Atractoidea - are included in the suborder Oxyurata. Another 424 species, included in 44 genera and 5 families, distributed in 2 superfamilies - Ascaridoidea and Anisakoidea - comprise the suborder Ascaridata. The present work is unique not only because it represents the first classification of all the known memgers of the suborder Oxyurata, and a radical revision of the taxonomy of the suborder Ascaridata, but also for defining taxonomic features for every taxon based on both the literature published in the last 100 years and extensive personal research. Helminthologists will welcome this book for two reasons: its obvious value in systematizing the oxyurids identified up to 1950 into a cohesive, scientifically well founded taxonomic subdivision of Nematoda, and as a collation of all the material published worldwide on members of the suborder Oxyurata available to the authors at that time.

Book Description

"This work is first rate! It is exciting to find this collection of truly short plays by truly accomplished playwrights ... ideal for school reading and workshop productions." -Kliatt Applause is proud to continue to publish the series that for over 60 years has been the standard of excellence for one-act plays in America. From its inception, The Best American Short Plays has identified new, cutting edge playwrights who have gone on to establish award-winning careers, including Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, Terrence McNally, and David Mamet. Here is the latest volume in Applause's campaign to fill in the missing gaps in this acclaimed series. The plays include David Ives' "Lives of the Saints"; Will Scheffer's "Alien Boy"; Joyce Carol Oates' "When I Was a Little Girl and My Mother Didn't Want Me"; Christopher Durang's "Kitty the Waitress"; Donna de Matteo's "Her Name Is Kathy"; Beth Henley's "Sisters of the Winter Madrigal"; Arthur Kopit's "Chad Curtis, Lost Again (Episode 14)"; Leslie Ayvazian's "Deaf Day"; Paul Kuritz' "The Yellow Wallpaper"; Neena Beber's "In Bed with Kafka/Kafka in My Bed"; and Laura Shaine Cunningham's "El Depresso Espresso."

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books