Christopher Lloyd (3) (1945–)

This rather charming book, which lists about 300 paintings from public collections throughout the British Isles, contains about half of those which I expected to find: in place of the other half it puts an entirely personal and idiosyncratic selection of those which simply thrill Christopher Lloyd who has chosen them. I was sceptical about this at first, but flicking through the book a few times has persuaded me that this is exactly the right approach for a book of this kind to take; it is show more more than the mere recitation of a canon; it allows for a thoughtful and intelligent recognition of the quirks of many of these collections; by implication it endorses our own choice of favourites too: none of us has to be bound by an arbitrary canon imposed from outside.
Many of these paintings are in London, but there is a generous trawl through regional galleries, including some which are small and obscure; Christopher Lloyd is not backward in giving plenty of space to small collections if the quality of their contents justifies it: it is no surprise, then, to find a disproportionate number of pieces from the Barber Institute in Birmingham, for example; but he chooses also five paintings from the Ferens collection in Hull, which may well be almost completely unknown to most art fanatics in the UK.
There is - for my taste - too small a choice from the last hundred years (Lloyd himself specialises in the Italian Renaissance, and for many years curated the Royal Collection, so a bias in favour of the Old Masters does not surprise), but his choices are far from merely conventional, and the descriptions of many of the works are spirited and unstuffy.
The illustrations have the grainy and non-realistic kind of colouration of postcards from the 1950s, and on the thick paper on which the whole book is printed, they create an attractive allure of gentility and taste which stays always just the right side of staid. show less

This might just be the go to Picasso book in this price category. Good overviews of Picasso are hard to find, as his output is so huge, so curating a comprehensive overview isn't easy. By focusing on drawing, Lloyd manages to not get lost.

Still, this book is not only about drawing: to explain Picasso's drawings, Lloyd includes references to - and pictures of - paintings and a bit of sculpture too, both of Picasso and of art that has influenced him. Lloyd writes with great authority, with a show more detailed knowledge of Picasso's life and work. It is structured chronologically, and investigates how events (and people, most notably Picasso's lovers) influenced his artistic practice. Loyd shows the genius of Picasso, but also his embeddedness, so to say.

This book also doubles as a biography. It is well researched - a few times even a bit too detailed for my taste. One might even say the title is misleading: this is much more than just a book on Picasso's drawings.

I have to say my respect & admiration for Picasso has only increased by reading this. Splendid illustrations, throughout, and excellent print quality.

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Lovely large format reproductions presented in chronological order, allowing one to trace the development of style and subject matter. For instance, I noticed an abrupt shift (for the better) when Pissarro started working literally side by side. According to the text the influence travelled in both directions. It would be interesting to see if that is equally obvious to me in Cezanne's works.

As well as commentary on each featured painting, there is a time-line biography and an introductory show more essay. show less

Fantastic well defined pictures of things like the field of the Cloth of Gold and the Embarkation of Henry VIII with insets. Also paintings of those of his time in lovely color.