ИСКУССТВО - ЖИВОПИСЬ - ИЗОБРАЗИТЕЛЬНОЕ

            Reynolds, Graham.
           Turner. - New York : Oxford University Press, 1969. - 216 p. - 15-00. 176 plates, 35 in   color

           The World of Art

          The World of Art is a series that ranges through the entire field of art in all its aspects. Its aim is to present books on the main periods, cultures, and artists, from the ancient world to the most current movements.

         Each volume is written by an acknowledged authority and contains a large number of color and black and white illustrations which form an essential complement to the text.

          Graham Reynolds, the author of the book, weaves together the artist's biography with sensitive criticism of his work, through all phases of his career, in this classic work - first published in 1969 - that has long served as an outstanding introduction to Turner's life and art. The book will serve as the best available study of this perennially popular artist for all generations of readers.

Few British artists have ever achieved such a wide range of style in oil painting, watercolour, drawing and engraving as J.M.W. Turner. He had a precocious gift that was developed over a lifetime of experiment and innovation. This classic book in the World of Art series traces the artist's career - from youthful pictureseque views and watercolours of "Gothic" ruins to the romantic landscape and historical compositions of his maturity, and the astonishing art of his later years. In these late paintings Turner's tragic sense of life is stated most profoundly and the work was unintelligible to his contemporaries - but his reputation as the greatest British painter now rests on our understanding of these as pioneering explorations of abstraction, prefiguring the art of the 20th century.