From Library Journal
Newlands (the National Gallery of Canada; Meet Edgar Degas) has assembled a much-needed current and comprehensive survey of Canadian art. The book provides an alphabetical arrangement of about 300 biographies that reflect the types of art present throughout the history of Canada, including the native, European, and American influences. Each entry includes a photograph of excellent quality and information on the artist's interests, background, and training. The alphabetical layout, although chosen to allow the reader to appreciate Canadian art free from "predictable associations," does not allow for enough subject access to periods and styles. Anyone unfamiliar with Canadian art will wish for more background information; the book would have benefited from essays on the history of Canadian art and a subject index. Considering the problems it would pose as an introductory text, Newlands's book can only be recommended for specialized art libraries as a source of images and vital information on Canadian artists. Eric Linderman, East Cleveland P.L.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Newlands, an art historian at the National Gallery of Canada, introduces readers to nearly 300 outstanding artists from the deep past to the present in this handsomely produced survey of Canadian visual art. With a few shining exceptions, such as Emily Carr and Lawren S. Harris, each artist is represented by one sterling example of his or her work, which is accompanied by a brief biographical profile. By organizing the volume alphabetically by artist name, Newlands transcends categories such as time, place, and medium. Inuit and other First Nation artists stand beside artists of European descent, just as figurative works balance abstractions, and the new clarifies the old. Each and every evocative and masterful work is redolent of Canada's magnificent landscape and sensitive to the tenuousness of human life. Each double-page spread both vibrates with contrasting styles and creates surprising and affective formal and emotional harmonies. These diverse paintings, photographs, and sculptures chart a vital and many-splendored visual heritage. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
