Harvey Rachlin

As an art lover and historian, I so wanted to like this book, but it was a disappointment. The title was misleading, a marketer's ploy--these weren't "remarkable" art tales, a majority were known to me, as they would be to many art lovers, and the tales didn't reveal many new facts or insights. There were far too many well-known stories-behind-the-paintings, the stories you heard when you took "Art Appreciation 101" at University, and not enough unknown "scandals, vandals" to meet the show more title's tease. Nevertheless, I skimmed it cover to cover, but with a space-constrained library, didn't feel it was a "keeper" so gave it to the neighborhood book sale -- where, I hasten to add, I'm sure it would have been scooped up by someone who would have enjoyed it before passing it on in turn. In short--light reading, and entertaining, but a better title would have been "The Stories Pictures Tell"...or some such. show less

The title of this book is somewhat over dramatic . The objective of the author is to explore and tell the stories behind some famous works of art and the artists who created them. It is an excellent selection and a new different angle in art history. It makes for an interesting read , but sometimes links are somewhat tenuous , such as the Redgrave painting The Outcast being linked to Emma Hamilton, the mistress of Lord Nelson . In this story the more interesting story is the link between the show more artist Romney and Emma Hamilton (she was his muse and he painted this beautiful woman a number of times). I enjoyed the story of Gilbert Stuart's The Skater. I learnt much. Each chapter is self contained and an opportunity to explore art themes that coukd have linked artists was missed. Nonetheless it is a clever book with a fair amount of research, a bibliography , where you can view the originals and an index are all competent. However the author has been let down by his publisher. The contents page does not match the page numbers in the book, the type is very small and the illustrations of the paintings is appalling .Small little dark pictures mean that you need to find another source for viewing the fine great paintings being discussed. Its a cheap and nasty effort in book design and production . The author deserves better. show less

A collection of short vignettes concerning the world of European painting (and America, or rather the United States, is seen as part of this world, and quite rightly too). Some of the Paintings described are ubiquitously well entrenched in the collective psyche of the Western World, such as the Mona Lisa, The Anatomy Lesson, Guernica and Dali's Crucifixion. Others are somewhat less well known (to me at any rate) and it was a pleasure to learn of their existence.

The stories behind those show more paintings range from the fascinating to the humdrum, with a lot of space given to conjectures, hypotheticals and what-ifs. Some of them are interesting but a lot remain just that, conjectures. The reproductions at the beginning of each story are not of the highest caliber, being in black and white and rather small in size. You could, however, amble to your computer and view the works in glorious colours. This will make the experience of reading much more satisfying.

A final word referring to the title. There are very few scandals (mostly conjectured), almost no vandals and only one da Vinci, but to its credit, the text flies amiably and rapidly and you can read it through in a couple of days. Happy reading. show less

The fascinating stories behind some of the best known and best loved paintings in the world.My personal favorite in this selection tells us about the beautiful love story behind Gainsborough's painting of ' The Honorable Mrs.Graham'. I wager that it will bring tears to the hardest heart.
My only quibble,and it is a big one,is why oh why are the illustrations heading each chapter,so poor. They are in monochrome,they are small and they are of an appalling quality. However even that cannot show more spoil my enjoyment..To obtain the full picture the reader will have to get hold of a really good book of colour illustrations and refer to it as they progress. show less