Saul Steinberg: Illuminations

Book Description

Best known for his barbed and brilliant art for The New Yorker, Saul Steinberg (1914–1999) did much more. He executed public murals, designed fabrics and stage sets, was an inventive collagist and printmaker, and turned his magic touch to the fields of painting, sculpture, advertising, and even wartime propaganda. This is the first comprehensive look at Steinberg’s extraordinary contribution to 20th-century art, which was that of a modern-day illuminator, putting word and image in play to create art that spoke to the eyes, and minds, of readers.
An introduction by poet Charles Simic tracks the origins of Steinberg’s darkly comic sensibility in the “Balkan bazaar” of his native Romania. Joel Smith shows how architectural training and an early rise to fame as a cartoonist in Fascist-era Milan honed the artist’s gift for subtle graphic invention, and explores why one of the most visible, prolific, potent, and cosmopolitan careers in postwar American art has so thoroughly evaded serious study. Tracing the evolving motives that underlie Steinberg’s multi-layered activity, this handsome volume also raises fundamental questions about the historiography of modernism and the vexed status of “the middlebrow avant-garde” in an age of museum-bound art.
Previously unseen sketches, documents, and printed matter from the artist’s papers illustrate the essay, career chronology, and entries for 120 objects featured in this important book.

Customer Reviews:

Steinberg.......2007-03-11

This book sums up most of the best work of Saul Steinberg, and for those who like his graphics, an absolute "must have"

Inspiring, inventive........2007-02-22

The marvelous Saul Steinberg exhibition at the Morgan Library in NYC is almost too much to take in even if one devotes an entire afternoon. Unlike some art exhibitions, Saul Steinberg's work is full of references and verbal ques that make ones brain fire on all cylinders simlutaneously. That can be exhilarating, but also exhausting. Saul Steinberg, the book, allows one to take in the artists's work in smaller bites: indeed, you can dip into the book at any page and be well fed. Don't miss the exhibition. But then, make sure you get the book.

A Splendid Volume for Connoisseurs of Saul Steinberg.......2007-02-06

First, I must confess that I am predisposed to enjoying this book. I love everything about the man and his work. Over the past several years I've acquired fourteen volumes of Steinberg's art as well as other printed pieces. Before the internet this would have been almost impossible and very costly. My earliest recollection of art I had strong feelings about goes back to the late 1940's when I saw a series of drawings by Saul Steinberg in The New Yorker.

That being said, this catalog is one of the finest volumes of his work to date. It is a generously sized book at 10 x 12 inches, hardcover and 288 pages. It is printed on a matte coated paper which means the reproductions are excellent. The book is very well thought out. It begins with two illustrated essays. They are followed by the catalogue of the exhibition. This is followed by notes, chronologies and other information which illuminates Mr. Steinberg's career.

It is a very well designed book. The type choices and page formats make it quite easy to actually read. This is not always the case since the advent of computer composition. The catalogue section gives each work of art a two-page spread. The title, pictorial information and a brief commentary are on the left facing page and a reproduction is on the right facing page. The illustrations are large and accurate to the originals. For some art works there are extra illustrations below the commentary on the left facing page.

If you are intrigued about this artist, Saul Steinberg ILLUMINATIONS, is a must for your library. To round out your collection, consider purchasing STEINBERG AT THE NEW YORKER which was recently published and should still be available. If you are interested in seeing the actual exhibition, you should be able to find information online at the Saul Steinberg Foundation website.

Great overview of Steinberg's career, minus the New Yorker stuff.......2007-01-20

"A writer who draws," that's how Steinberg described himself, and that's what Joel Smith's explores in his great essay on Steinberg's life and art which accompanies the pieces from the ILLUMINATIONS show. If you're looking for Steinberg's New Yorker work, you won't find it here. (Buy the must-have Complete New Yorker on DVD and you'll have everything he ever published there!) But if you're looking for a good place to start on Steinberg, this is the book.

Average customer rating:

EYE CANDY!!!
Halston: An American Original
a great salute to a great designer!
Nice Cover - Leave Shrinkwrap On
ANOTHER MEDIOCRE BOOK ON A FASHION DESIGNER

Halston: An American Original
Elaine Gross , and Fred Rottman
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060193182

Book Description

When I think of my beloved friend, the five words I think of are these: elegant, fashionable, generous, supportive, decent. I thank you, Halston.
-- Liza Minnelli

No American designer since Claire McCardell has had such an impact on redefining fashion as Halston. His designs have experienced a tremendous revival and are as popular today as they were when he was alive. This is the first extensive look at Halston and his contributions to the fashion world, starting with his days as a milliner; through the explosion of his clothing lines and licensing deals, to the sale of his name and trademark and his theatrical designs for Liza Minnelli and the Martha Graham Dance Company.

This comprehensive survey of Halston's work is based on exclusive interviews with the people who knew and worked with Halston throughout his turbulent career. They include such celebrity Halston fans as Liza Minnelli, Katherine Graham, and Angelica Huston as well as industry insiders such as Marc Bohan, Stan Herman, Valerie Steele, and contemporary designers who claim Halston as an inspiration for their designs. Joe Eula and Kenneth Paul Block contribute their original sketches, as do manyy well-known fashion photographers.

With more than two hundred photographs Halston: An American Original is the quintessential volume for all fans of Halston and lovers of fashion.

Customer Reviews:

EYE CANDY!!!.......2001-07-30

Photographs are worth the price of the book alone! I haven't had a chance to read any of the text yet, but there's a lot of it, and a lot of STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHS! THE BEST PHOTO HISTORY OF HALSTON I'VE EVER SEEN. MANY THANKS TO THE AUTHORS FOR THIS WONDERFUL BOOK AND LABOR OF LOVE! LOTS OF HUGE, COLOR, AND RARE PHOTOS. THANKS!

Halston: An American Original.......2000-01-16

A tasteful book that focuses on Halston's unique talent. He really was "An American Original."

a great salute to a great designer!.......2000-01-13

If you like fashion..you'll love this book. I have to agree with June Weir,former fashion editor of Vogue and Harpers,its a wonderful book that covers the designer's rise to success in great detail. The photos were exceptional!

Nice Cover - Leave Shrinkwrap On.......1999-09-11

Roy Frowick Halston is rolling over in his grave faster than he ever did at Studio 54. The sorry accumulation of texts and stilted design make this a disappointment for Halston fans.

Does it address the body of work? No. We have had stupid anecdotal accounts galore, but this is a shame-faced attempt to be - WHAT? Coffee table tome? It cannot be. Too ugly. Some quality assessment of his millieu? Not a thing. Who are all of these parties involved? Embarrassing. Do not waste your money.

ANOTHER MEDIOCRE BOOK ON A FASHION DESIGNER.......1999-08-28

THIS IS JUST ANOTHER UNDERWHELMING BIO on a Fashion Designer...Considering how important he was, the book is poorly edited, and cheaply done. It is well-researched though, but this hardly gives the reader a feeling for how this man changed the way women dress...I FELL ASLEEP!

Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference

Average customer rating:

comprehensive bliss
Wow!

Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference

Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0300093314

Book Description

This stunning book celebrates the many contributions of women designers to twentieth-century American culture. Encompassing work in fields ranging from textiles and ceramics to furniture and fashion, the book features the achievements of women of various ethnic and cultural groups, including both famous designers (Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, Donna Karan) and their less well-known sisters.

Customer Reviews:

comprehensive bliss.......2001-09-01

This book is the result of extremely thorough research by the best authors and scholars in the business. It contains masses of detailed information not previouly brought to light, and helps both serious researchers and the general reader alike due to its easy-reading style and interesting coverage. There is an excellent timeline, with superb illustrations and revelations of all those designers whose names and works had not yet been recorded. A must for all teachers of any of the areas of design in the book, such as Interior Design, Jewellery, Ceramics, Film, Textiles, Fashion, or Furniture. A superlative addition to the Design History world. I just wish I could see the accompanying exhibition.

Wow!.......2001-02-03

That about says it. If you love design, and if you love learning about women's history, as I do, you will love this book.

Building the Empire State (Norton Book for Architects & Designers)

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The "Dead Sea Scrolls" of the Empire State Building.
Astonishing insight in the building process of this landmark

Building the Empire State (Norton Book for Architects & Designers)

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393730301

Book Description

A rediscovered 1930s notebook charts the construction of the Empire State Building. Constructed in eleven months, the 1250-foot Empire State Building, the world's tallest skyscraper from 1931 to 1971, was a marvel of modern engineering. The frame rose more than a story a day; no comparable building since has matched that rate of ascent. The construction of the Empire State Building was orchestrated by general contractors Starrett Brothers and Eken, premier "skyline builders" of the 1920s. They scheduled the delivery of materials and the construction and recorded daily the number of workers by trade. Compiled from these records, an in-house notebook documented the construction process. Meticulously typed on graph paper and illustrated with construction photographs, this unique document combines a professional specificity of detail with a charming rhapsody to the firm's crowning achievement.

Customer Reviews:

The "Dead Sea Scrolls" of the Empire State Building........2000-08-11

This is actually three stories in one. First, the discovery of a personal notebook documenting the construction of the ESB by an involved, but unknown author. Meticuously typed, with photographs, the manuscript was obviously a labor of love. Second, the written manuscript provides details of the construction which are engrossing, and the notebook's photos show the processes of constuction - not what was done but how they did it. Finally, the first 40+ pages provide a great summary of the ESB's history for the uninitiated. One of the most intriguing aspects of this book are the full-page photocopies of the notebook's actual pages, which only add to the historical sense and mystique of the manuscript. A great gift for the "construction-type" in your life, which is how I got mine...after numerous hints.

Astonishing insight in the building process of this landmark.......2000-06-19

Based on actual records the construction company kept during the building process, this book gives an insight of how such an astonishing effort was completed. The whole process of buying the spot, finding an architect(!), tearing down the existing building, design, and building the Empire State took only 22 months. It's an outstanding example of how the management of a very complex project can be done and a must read for everyone in the software industry ;-). Fun to browse through yourself, a sure hit as a gift to anyone interested or working in architecture, construction or project management.

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Charles and Ray Eames: Discover them for yourself
A GREAT BOOK TOGETHER WITH "EAMES DESIGN" BY JOHN NEUHART AND MARILYN NEUHART
Modern Design @ it's best!!
Everything Eames
Founders of a Profession

Work of Charles and Ray Eames
Donald Albrecht
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810917998

Amazon.com

Published on the occasion of a major international traveling exhibition organized by the U.S. Library of Congress and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany (holders of the two richest Eames collections in the world), this comprehensive volume is a testament to the Eameses' belief that good design could improve people's lives. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the prolific husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames designed furniture, buildings, exhibitions, and interiors, and made films. They are perhaps best known for the form-fitting chairs that were mass-produced using the same techniques the Eameses developed in their first apartment. Taking a multifaceted approach to their multifaceted careers, this comprehensive, clothbound volume with French folds includes a filmography, making clear the pair's profound influence on the visual vernacular of the 20th century.

Book Description

From the 1940s to the 1970s, the Los Angeles-based husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames practiced design at its most virtuous and its most expansive. Their furniture, toys, buildings, films, graphics, exhibitions, and books all aimed to improve society-not only functionally but also culturally and intellectually. The essays in this handsome and generously illustrated volume examine the Eameses' projects in the contexts of science, corporate patronage, and politics as well as those of modern design, architecture, and art.

Customer Reviews:

Charles and Ray Eames: Discover them for yourself.......2006-03-23

An interesting couple who remained highly creative through the span of their careers. I first discovered their work as a child when I saw their brilliant film "Powers of 10". I intend on picking up more books of their work. Great reference for designers and architects.

A GREAT BOOK TOGETHER WITH "EAMES DESIGN" BY JOHN NEUHART AND MARILYN NEUHART.......2006-01-15

Charles and Ray Eames were not only creative artistic talents, they were also commercial geniuses (just like George Nelson was). These two talents provided the secret for success that would reward them throughout their life. This book gives a good view about the creative talent of Charles and Ray Eames had.
But I would also suggest to purchase the book "Eames Design" by John Neuhart which I also thought was wonderful. If you like modern design I also suggest to visit the wonderful online archive about George Nelson at WWW.GEORGENELSON.ORG and if you like 1960's design also check the museum archive from Verner Panton at WWW.VERNERPANTON.COM

Modern Design @ it's best!!.......2002-04-13

Words don't do justice to the work & imagination of Ray & Charles Eames! This is a beautiful book covering the creative minds of two of the best modern furniture designers. Filled with great pictures, & very complete text of their design & the many other things they created besides furniture.The Eames' are my biased favorite, if you love modern 50's furniture,fabric, & art you must have this book.They worked for the infamous Herman Miller company, who has reissued many of the Eames furniture pieces available again today.As creator of the modern molded fiberglass chair, & molded plywood, the Museaum Of Modern Art has Charles' chairs as Art, which they are & comfortable too!More than comparable to their Danish counterparts,this couple brought us sleek,smooth lined furniture that will take us into the space age for at least another fifty years!(check out A.I.-incredible backgrounds of modern furniture!)

Everything Eames.......2001-07-06

This is a wonderful addition to any coffee table! I learned so much about this creative couple that I never knew before. The pictures are A+ & very well done. If you are a fan of Eames furniture, you cannot live without this book!!

Founders of a Profession.......2000-08-23

The Eamses were innovators in many fields such as Architecture, furniture design, film, etc. But to my mind their gretest acheivement was the definition of a new profession, 'Graphic Design', or as I beleive they called it, a 'Design Office'.

Up till then, there was 'Commercial Art', and 'Art Departments', and whatever styling was applied to an industrial product was done as an afterthought, and usually by an amateur.

After The Eamses, a new recognition that the design of appearances was a craft and a profession, and not just an art, was born.

Book Description

One of fashion's great icons, Bill Blass transformed American chic into the single most important influence on contemporary fashion. Favored by First Ladies, celebrities, and women of style, his sophisticated gowns and impeccable suits embody modern sophistication.

As exquisitely tailored and visually extravagant as a Blass ensemble, this impressive volume features over 100 new photographs and a stunning array of historical images by such notables as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Horst, and Guy Bourdin, in addition to Blass's own sketches. Published to accompany a major retrospective of the designer's 50-year career, it has been created with Blass's full cooperation, and every page reflects his exceptional taste. This is the book Blass fans have been waiting for.

Average customer rating:

very good seller

Excellent companion, but missing something important...

Form Analysis

visual exercises - for serious designers

A Good Guide

Elements of Design: Rowena Reed Kostellow and the Structure of Visual Relationships
Gail G. Hannah
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition

Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art

Design Through Discovery: An Introduction

Architectural Drawing: A Visual Compendium of Types and Methods

Visual Grammar (Design Briefs)

ASIN: 1568983298

Book Description

A hands-on book design students and designers alike will welcome. Elements of Design is a tribute to an exceptional teacher and a study of the abstract visual relationships that were her lifelong pursuit. Rowena Reed Kiostellow taught industrial design at Pratt Institute for more than fifty years and the designers she trained-and the designers they're training today-have changed the face of American design. This succinct, instructive, invaluable book reconstructs the series of exercises that led Kostellow's students from the manipulation of simple forms to the creation of complex solutions to difficult design problems. It includes her exercises and commentary along with selected student solutions, and concludes with examples of work from former students who became leaders in the field, including such well-known figures as Tucker Viemeisater, Ralph Applebaum, Ted Muehling, and many others.

Customer Reviews:

very good seller.......2007-09-28

It was very fast to get the product and I experience a very good seller!

Excellent companion, but missing something important..........2007-03-28

To truly get the most out of this book, you need one of Rowena's dwindling number of students still left at Pratt teaching to stand over your shoulder. The exercises in this book can all produce amazing results in terms of beautiful abstract relationships but to "know" what is right or wrong with an object using this visual language really takes someone showing you what is wrong with a transition or how this proportion is too similar to that one or how this spacial relationship is not quite right. In the end, you need to know what is wrong in order to really be able to see what is right and it takes someone to show these things to you over and over again. The book is an excellent companion and record of Rowena's interesting and effective exercises, but it's difficult to use as a guide for someone not dialogging with one of her former students and even that is challenging because each one delivers her gospel of 3D a little differently.

Form Analysis.......2007-03-19

This book is a nice window into a professional display of techniques and exercises that garner superior forms and shapes. I bought this book for an industrial design class, it was not mandatory, but completley necessary and helpful. i highly recommend it.

visual exercises - for serious designers.......2004-05-04

This is a technical book that is an attempt to teach what RRK developed over a lifetime obsession with visual compositions. She did one thing, over and over, refining it over a long and productive career at Pratt, in Brooklyn. As such, I believe that it would best be used in the classroom, rather than as a simple read for those who want to understand modern design. Being ignorent about issues in studio design - really doing it, rather than observing it like I do - I got a lot out of it. But I will need to refer to it and read through many more times to truly absorb the exercises. For what it is, the book is a masterpiece as an exercise in visual thinking and the method left its imprint on many of the greatest American designers from before WWII to the 1980s.

Recommended, but for designers rather than design critics.

A Good Guide.......2004-04-14

I agree with one of the reviewers in that the rules presented in this text should not be applied loosely and expected to produce "a beautiful design". As far as industrial design goes it still is not even so great. HOWEVER what it does teach is basic 3-dimensional design. There are lessons in here that anyone who works in a 3-d medium (interior, industrial, fashion, sculpture, etc) should be fluent in. I did the exercises and it has allowed me to get such a tighter grasp on my work and understand all the subtle effects I can produce in it. It is also invaluable to me as a reference guide. Study this book in order to help develop your sense of 3 dimensional structure and compositions but not as a base for design education (only because design incorporates much more than "beauty").

Designing Modern America: Broadway to Main Street

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The Creators of American Modernism

Designing Modern America: Broadway to Main Street
Christopher Innes
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300108044

Book Description

From the 1920s through the 1950s, two individuals, Joseph Urban and Norman Bel Geddes, did more, by far, to create the image of “America” and make it synonymous with modernity than any of their contemporaries. Urban and Bel Geddes were leading Broadway stage designers and directors who turned their prodigious talents to other projects, becoming mavericks first in industrial design and then in commercial design, fashion, architecture, and more. The two men gave shape to the most quintessential symbols of the modern American lifestyle, including movies, cars, department stores, and nightclubs, along with private homes, kitchens, stoves, fridges, magazines, and numerous household furnishings.

Illustrated with more than 130 photographs of their influential designs, this book tells the engrossing story of Urban and Bel Geddes. Christopher Innes shows how these two men with a background in theater lent dramatic flair to everything they designed and how this theatricality gave the distinctive modernity they created such wide appeal. If the American lifestyle has been much imitated across the globe over the past fifty years, says Innes, it is due in large measure to the designs of Urban and Bel Geddes. Together they were responsible for creating what has been called the “Golden Age” of American culture.

Customer Reviews:

The Creators of American Modernism.......2007-04-17

Modernism was the artistic world's response to the widescale destruction and carnage of the Great War. Although the United States came out of the War as the world's strongest economic power, it was late to join in the Modernist movement. As late as 1925, the United States was unable to find qualified craftsman or manufactures working in the modern spirit to attend the Paris Exposition. This Exposition was to serve as the high point of the Art Deco movement.

Into this creative void, entered two American theater designers, Joseph Urban and Norman Bel Geddes. Sensing a need and market for new ideas, they left the Broadway theater and branched out into a truly astonding array of artistic ventures. Working seperately, they designed clothes, jewlery and fabric. In the world of architecture, they designed theaters, office buildings, houses and night clubs. They ventured into areas such as automobile, train and ship design. The two men became America's first and most influential industrial designers. Urban and Bel Geddes' creations dominated American material culture from the late 1920's to the mid 1950's.

There are some very attractive coffe table books about American Design during this period. From such books as "American Modern", "Machine Age", and "American Streamlined Design", I knew they were important designers but I had no idea of the sheer scale of their creations. "Designing Modern America" does not have the beautiful pictures of the earlier mentioned books but for detailed information on the age and history of its two design giants, it is a superior book. Highly recommended.

Sister: The Life of Legendary Interior Decorator Mrs. Henry Parish II

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Sgt. Sister
Speak softly, and carry a big roll of chintz
Great lady, great read!
Mrs. Parish was one of the grandest of the Grand Dames.
Not Just For Interior Decorators

Sister: The Life of Legendary Interior Decorator Mrs. Henry Parish II
Susan Bartlett Crater , and Apple Parish Bartlett
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312242409

Amazon.com

Born with the silverest of spoons in her mouth, Mrs. Henry Parish II went on to become, of all things, a working woman. Yet she couldn't have picked a métier more suited to her milieu. As a decorator, she drew upon both her blue-blood connections and the exquisite taste that was her birthright to become one of the foremost figures in American interior design. Not bad for a woman who never received a high school diploma, and who was known most often (and most endearingly) by her childhood nickname of Sister. (When she was hired to do over the White House for Jackie, the headlines read "Kennedys Pick Nun to Decorate White House.") In Sister, Parish's daughter and granddaughter lovingly chronicle this remarkable woman's life and work. She began adulthood as the wife and mother she had been expensively nurtured to become. But when the Depression hit and her husband's stockbroker salary plummeted, this Sister started doing it for herself. She hung out a shingle, literally, and soon upper-crust types from far and wide were clamoring for her untrained but decidedly stylish services. In narrating the illustrious career that followed, the book alternates interviews with past clients, coworkers, and friends with excerpts from Sister's never-completed autobiography--and with few exceptions, the most vivid passages are those in her own inimitable voice. Parish described her own style, quite correctly, as "timeless and personal," yet she actually innovated key elements of what we now take for granted as the "American country" look, including quilts, painted floors, and mattress ticking upholstery. But she never sacrificed a client's wishes to an inflexible ideal. For her, design was always about matching a house with the personality of those who lived inside it, making her work the truest extension of her love of family and home. More than just a tribute to a remarkable woman, Sister is also a fascinating portrait of a bygone world, almost Jamesian in its manners and morals. --Chloe Byrne

Book Description

This intimate portrait of Mrs. Henry Parish II-known to friends as Sister-chronicles one woman's remarkable life and groundbreaking career, painting a unique portrait of American high society and recounting the transformation of an art form.Dorothy May Kinnicutt was born into a patrician New York family in 1910 and her privileged early life was one of the right schools, yacht clubs, coming out parties, and the Social Register. Compelled to work because of the lean years of the Depression, Sister combined her innate design ability and her high echelon social connections to create an extraordinarily successful interior decorating business.Her firm, Parish-Hadley, served a list of clients that comprised the crme de la crme of American aristocracy, among them Rockefellers, Astors, and Whitneys.To them, she was in indispensable presence, both in their salons and in designing them. Her style, influenced by her family's country house in Maine, came to be known as "American country" and was a reflection of Sister's deeply felt Yankee roots.It influenced an entire generation of American decorators.To the pubic at large, she was the visionary who helped transform Jacqueline Kennedy's White House from a fusty relic of the fifties into the international symbol of American elegance-Camelot.To Apple Parish Bartlett and Susan Bartlett Crater, she was a mother and grandmother.Drawing upon Sister Parish's own unpublished memoirs, as well as hundreds of interviews with world-famous interior decorators and socialites, Bartlett and Crater take readers into the houses-and the lives-of the most famous and powerful people of Parish's time, telling the story of the enormously charismatic woman who redefined American design.

Customer Reviews:

Sgt. Sister.......2003-02-23

Sister (Dorothy) Parrish was "gently" born, and she played this card like a violin all her life to great success. Expensively, but scantily educated Sister had an "eye" for proportion and taste that never failed her. Her decorating services became astronomically expensive, yet she had a Grande Dame persona that made her clients feel she was doing them a great favor by decorating their homes.

"Sister" is authored (perhaps edited) by her daughter and granddaughter very respectfully indeed. It contains little essays and remarks by friends and colleagues, plus sections by Sister herself from her autobiography that never was completed. Her daughters were clearly terrified by her, though her granddaughter seems to be a little bit of a chip off the old block. An oddity I noticed in the pictures: movie-star-handsome men run in her family while the women are plain as peahens. Sister speaks of growing into beauty, but I would have to respectfully disagree. Imposing, and dramatic--yes; but "beautiful"--no. All mention her wonderful sense of humor, which struck me as cruel and belittling along with a razor sharp tongue. The pictures of her projects (sadly, most in black and white) show her capabilities in making a fabulous mansion into a home rather than a museum. However, in spite of Sister's declamations that the client's wishes were first and foremost, most of her actions show that you go her way or the highway. Her Pekinese dogs always were with her and each seemed to have a talent for vicious nipping.

"Sister" is fascinating and does a good job (mostly Sister herself) describing her artistic techniques. The family history is well done. But there is a slightly patched together quality of the book that makes this reader feel the events are only half-told and some not told at all. I don't mean I expected or remotely wanted a "Sister Dearest." I admire the tact and respect displayed by Ms. Parrish's heirs. I just wish a few of the reminiscences were by folks who had less than 100% adoration for Sister!
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

Speak softly, and carry a big roll of chintz.......2000-10-29

The book, a series of interviews, doesn't hold together as well as I might have liked, though it is chock-full of intriguing raw materials, including reminiscences of Sister by other legends (e.g. the late Mark Hampton, John Fowler, and Mario Buatta). I read it in a hotel room dashing out to shop and to go to a wedding, and I naturally began to critique the decor from what I imagined as Sister's point of view. The hotel forbade dogs, small or otherwise, which would never have done. Sister's Pekinese Yummy went everywhere. There was a certain baroque grandeur to the lobby, which was carried into the rooms, where one could not miss the giant chandelier. You just stared at it, and perhaps felt that this justified the price of the night. But this would not have been Sister's way. As she demonstrated during her days in the Kennedy White House, she could differentiate between public spaces and private ones. Private ones were subtle in tone, with the emphasis on incorporating one's own sentimental possessions into the general scheme. A client's library might have a Picasso or a Monet, but it wouldn't be the first thing that would hit you when you walked into the room. You'd probably be drawn to a cozy fire, and only gradually realize the masterpiece off somewhere to the side. Public spaces could be grand as befitted their function. None of her clients wound up living in a museum. She's worth knowing about, and a nice guide to what endures. The current rage for "homekeeping" probably would have pleased her, as the basis of it is making people comfortable rather than knocking them upside the head with your worldly success. She also had a sort of innate ability to measure things, and to compose with her eye, like a really good candid photographer. However natural things appeared, her own description of a "typical" day makes one think of show business. She was a life force, and no family can ever make up for the gap someone like this leaves, I am sure, but this book is a fine eulogy, which works the way the great ones do: it's an encouragement to more life. Sister Parish seems thoroughly to have enjoyed hers.

Great lady, great read!.......2000-10-25

One of the legendary designers of any period - this book by the granddaughter and daughter of Sister Parish is a terrific testament to the legacy this lady left on the decorating world. It's chatty without being gossipy, plus you get a real feel of how Sister decorated. Thoroughly enjoyable and readable!

Mrs. Parish was one of the grandest of the Grand Dames........2000-09-21

I couldn't put Sister down once I started reading it. It was a great tribute by the daughter and granddaughter of one of the most interesting, eccentric and outlandishly one-of-a-kind people I've ever encountered in print, or anywhere else for that matter. She was so fascinating as to be almost a figment of someone's imagination. What I really appreciated was that even though Mrs. Parish could be cruel (telling her chauffeur "turn left, stupid", etc.,) most people (including her chauffeur) seemed to have liked her immensely. Her style of decorating is as fresh and likeable today as it must have been back when she first got started. And it's lovely to read about someone whose relatives obviously adored her. No Mommie Dearest here! Such a treat.

Not Just For Interior Decorators.......2000-09-20

This book is a fascinating account of the life of a woman from a privileged social background who defended tradition while breaking with it completely: starting her own business, forming friendships in the art and design world, painting the antique mahogany tables red and stripping the stained wood floors. An oral history told by the people who knew her best, "Sister" illustrates by their varying perspectives how Sister Parish was many things to many, very different people, and how creative, innovative talent can override even the inherited attitudes of the people who possess that talent to change taste and style. A very interesting, fun book: gossip, decorating tips, and all.

Average customer rating:

A must have for any Gustav Stickley collector

Gustav Stickley
David Cathers
Manufacturer: Phaidon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Modern | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Artists, Architects & Photographers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0714840300

Book Description

Gustav Stickley (1858-1942) founded his own design company, Craftsman Workshops, with his brother in upstate New York in 1898. The company was highly successful through the 1920s and eventually became a national enterprise with retail stores in New York, Boston, and Washington, DC. Although influenced by the British Arts and Crafts movement and Continental Art Nouveau, Stickley advocated the creation of a distinctive American style that would integrate furnishings, architecture, handicrafts, and principles of harmonious living; he believed that well-designed furnishings could help "make life better and truer by its perfect simplicity." This book is a critical study of Stickley's life and enterprise. It focuses on his furniture making, drawing from primary research, interviews, and correspondence to describe both how Stickley approached his craft throughout the arc of his career, and what makes the individual pieces distinguished and valuable. Separate chapters are included on Stickley's most important collaborator, Harvey Ellis; on his business venture in New York City; and on his utopian family homestead in rural New Jersey, Craftsman Farm. Rare archival photographs, advertisements and pages from early catalogues and "The Craftsman" magazine, family snapshots, and extensive archival and new photographs of Stickley furniture, metalwork, and decorative objects provide a rich visual context. At the pinnacle of his career, Stickley was a nationally known maker of furniture, metalwork, and textiles; he was also a successful retailer, the publisher of an influential monthly journal called "The Craftsman", and an advocate for affordable, bungalow-style "Craftsman" houses who sold house plans through his magazine and store. Many of his furniture designs became icons of American decorative arts; among the classic pieces illustrated with specially commissioned colour photographs in this book are his Morris chair, fall-front desks, various settles, leaded-glass lanterns, 510 bookcase, and 967 sideboard. Such pieces are now coveted by collectors, and Stickley's successor firm, the Stickley Furniture Company, is producing reissues of his designs. As revealed in this book, Stickley was not a solitary purveyor of the American Arts and Crafts aesthetic but more broadly a representative figure in American business history, an early proponent of what we now call branding and lifestyle. "The Craftsman" magazine (published from 1903 to 1918) and the numerous furniture catalogues he issued on a regular basis functioned as effective advertising, helping not only to establish the company's name but also to shape public opinion about the value of design. Stickley's business ventures dovetailed well with the revival of traditional handicrafts that was gaining momentum in the United States and Britain around the turn of the century. One of the central aims of this book is to identify the creative individuals - artists, craftsmen, architects, writers, editors, and illustrators - who worked with Stickley and to give them the recognition they deserve; biographies of 17 collaborators are collected in an appendix. The book also includes a chronology of Stickley's life and career, a visual chronology of the evolution of the fall-front desk, and a complete bibliography.

Customer Reviews:

A must have for any Gustav Stickley collector.......2004-04-13

I am usually the kind of buyer that likes a lot of illustrations in a book to keep my interest. While the author includes many quality photos in this book his detailed knowledge of Gustav Stickley was more than enough to keep me interested. David Cathers has done his research well and gives a very detailed history of this great American craftsman. Even readers not familiar with this Gustav Stickley or the Arts & Crafts movement will find this book easy to read and understand. Overall a must have companion to David Cathers earlier "Stickley Style" which happens to be loaded with beautiful illustrations.

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