Tom Lubbock
Författare till Great Works: 50 Paintings Explored
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Verk av Tom Lubbock
Fragments From Berlin by Tom Lubbock 1 exemplar
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Associerade författare
Statistik
- Verk
- 7
- Även av
- 1
- Medlemmar
- 110
- Popularitet
- #176,729
- Betyg
- 4.5
- Recensioner
- 3
- ISBN
- 10
The book contains 50 short essays on paintings which were originally published in The Independent. There is no rhyme nor reason to the paintings chosen, no particular school to study, no point to make, no "I'm here to teach you", just paintings that struck Lubbock's fancy, and his unique observations about each painting.
Here's an example to give you a taste of what the essays are like, from the very first painting, "Boy Lighting Candle" by El Greco. Lubbock begins by asking us to imagine a kitchen sink with the tap flowing, but so slowly that when we look at it we are at first not even aware of the flow of the water. Then he asks us to imagine a man falling against the backdrop of a cliff--somewhat Wiley Coyote--so you keep imagining the end to come, the big crash at the end, but no, the man keeps falling and falling and falling.....Finally Lubbock asks you to imagine a man on a stationary bicycle, pedaling and pedaling away, but getting nowhere. Then you notice a cable which is attached to a dynamo, and you realize the man pedaling the bike is creating the light that lets you see the image of him pedaling. Lubbock then applies these apparently random images by asking you to imagine these three effects in a single picture--El Greco's "Boy Lighting Candle" We see a boy blowing on embers: movement that is invisible, like the water in the tap. We await an imminent climax--the candle bursting into flame--as we await the falling man's impending crash at the bottom of the cliff (which never comes). And the whole image is lit by the ember--but what will happen when the boy stops blowing, the light will fade away, and we will no longer see the image, as with the man pedaling the bike.
I thought the way Lubbock brought us into the picture was brilliant. His approach to the other paintings is similar, but all in a way unique to the paintings themselves. I was enthralled. This is not an academic book, it's a book about thinking about painting, and you learn by seeing how one brilliant person thought about painting.
Highly recommended.
4 stars… (mer)