Product Details
The Last Romantics: The Romantic Tradition in British Art : Burne-Jones to Stanley Spencer

The Last Romantics: The Romantic Tradition in British Art : Burne-Jones to Stanley Spencer
From Lund Humphries Publishers

Price:

This item is not available for purchase from this store.
Click here to go to Amazon to see other purchasing options.


11 new or used available from $32.00

Average customer review:

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #1254800 in Books
  • Published on: 1993-05
  • Format: Illustrated
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 208 pages

Customer Reviews

An Indispensible book5
Quite simply the best book/catalogue of it's type I have ever seen. The presentation of the book is good, as is the reproduction of the paintings. The short biographies of the artists are quite simply the brilliant, and contain more information than much longer articles. If you only have one book about late romantic art have this one.

Good, but not THAT good.3
I should preface my review by saying that I have not read any of the text yet and so have not considered that aspect in my rating. That said, I was really disappointed with this book. I am an artist and I appreciate visually stunning art books, but this is not one. Perhaps in 1989 (first edition) it would be acceptable to print so many black and white images in an art book, I'm not sure. But by 2008, it is almost inexcusable and really outdated. There seems to be about three b/w images per one in color. Really disappointing, and it certainly doesn't deserve the 5 stars it currently has. If there is a redeeming quality, it would be the inclusion of many lesser known British artists of the period whom I have never seen before.

Superb, so far as it goes5
This review is based on the 1995 UK reissue.

What a superb book! An awesome depth of scholarship, but arrayed in a palatable semi-encylopaedia -like arrangement. Wonderful reproductions of all manner of rare paintings, many in colour and many at a size large enough to see fine detail and even brush-strokes. If you think you've "seen" some of these works on the web, these reproductions will make you think the web versions look very fuzzy and 'off-color'.

Three gripes: 1) the sub-title would lead you to think that the book covers the post-1930 neo-Romanticism revival and on through the Second World War. True Stanley Spencer is in here briefly, but only three early works and they are not his best. Otherwise, coverage after around 1929 is poor. 2) no index! 3) it's mostly painting - no literature or poetry, no music, no photography, no film-making, very little sculpture. There are whole books yet to be written on post-1900 British Romanticism that go 'beyond painting'. But until we get them, enjoy this gem of a book.