Albert Kostenevich

Well printed, but in most other aspects a bit of a disappointment; obviously the curators of the exhibition have a very different conception of this art than people like me. Just a few remarks on the russian section: My holy beasts- Somov, Rozanova, Filonov- got short shrift; Serebryakova did not even appear. Goncharova's roayal bird was reduced to a sparrow. The decision to cut the story at 1920 (not 1925) is inexplicable on artistic or historical grounds, but very predictable on political show more ones. I bothered to read carefully only the piece on gender, that starts from a sound remark -in no artistic movement till then did women play as significant a role as in the early 1900s russian avant-garde. The rest of the chapter, not overly informed by the scholarly discussion on gender in the last thirty years, was so full of cliches that i did not believe my eyes. show less

Fantastic book for its many, many reproductions, all in full color. Mostly of works by Bonnard of course but also of others who were part of the "Nabi" grouping: Vuillard, Denis, Vallotton; and the occasional artist in a nearby orbit. The text in the sections on Bonnard's life and the post-Impressionist age generally are fine and adequate. The middle Masterworks section goes into details about Bonnard's individual paintings, but only those held in Russia by the Hermitage and Pushkin museums.

Compared to other similar books on the period, this doesn't add much to the scholarly discussion of cultural ties between Russia and Western Europe. Its main strength is its high quality reproductions of familiar and unfamiliar works. It is intended as a broad visual overview of artistic exchange between Russia and France and the essays for the most part speak to that purpose. There also is no bibliography of the works cited and referenced.

The selection of French works was typical with a show more mix of Barbizon, Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Modernist works. The highlights for me were the Matisses and Cezannes. Some of the works have been shown in the UK and US in various exhibitions over the past 15 years, so they are familiar. The text that explains the art work is rather terse and not too frequently cites other scholars. There also is no exhibition history of the works shown.

The Russian works were a revelation. Kandinsky, Malevich, and Chagall are among the few who are familiar to museum goers, even though Kandinsky is better properly appreciated with the German modernists. The real discoveries for me were the various Russian modernist movements from the World of Art to the Futurist-Cubist hybrid style.

Other recommended books
-Old Masters, Impressionists, and Modernists French masterworks from the State Pushkin Museum, Moscow / Irina Antonova
-Natasha's Dance / Orlando Figes
-The Pearl / Douglas Smith show less

Bonnard and the Nabis includes the work of Pierre Bonnard along with Edouard Vuillard, Ker Xavier Roussel, Maurice Denis and Felix Vallotton. The first half of the book concerns Bonnard; in pages seven through fifty-nine the well illustrated text discusses his life and work. The Masterworks runs from page sixty to one hundred and thirteen, and comprises full page plates of Bonnard’s paintings, occasionally accompanied by a page of explanatory text. The remainder of the book is given over show more to the other four artists; following a general discussion of the Nabis the life and work of each artist is discussed individually along with colour plates of their work. The book concludes with five separate biographies of a page each, notes and a bibliography.

This is a fine book, the text is comprehensive and very readable, and it is superbly illustrated almost entirely in full colour with the vast majority of the images being full page size or nearly so. The plates illustrating the text are placed close to their mention in the text. In addition to the work of the artists under discussion there are several examples of the paintings of other artists for purposes of comparison. There are about 200 illustrations in total, all but about half a dozen in full colour, and the quality of reproduction is excellent. show less