Last week, I received a heavy box in the mail from a friend I met on Facebook.
She had mentioned to me back in Dec. she had some art books she wanted
to give me. Many months went by and I had long forgotten about the wonderful
gift she had offered.
On this hot, sunny SC day, as I carried the box in the house, I didn't know what to expect, this box was much bigger and heavier than I ever imagined. When I opened the box, the first thing I saw was a very thick book on Salvador Dali and then a coffee table book titled Dali and another coffee table book on the works of N. C. Wyeth. These are wonderful works to study and contemplate. Below these three books was a huge surprise, old paperbacks on Matisse, Manet, Hawthorne, Michelangelo, Cezanne and paperbacks about different art eras and techniques with print dates ranging from 1930-1969.
A book in a scrapbook style binding was especially intriguing. It held 36 etchings and was written in a foreign language. One of my friends that loves research offered to research it for me. We found out it is called a tourist book. These were popular in European galleries. The etchings were used at that time because it pre-dates film. The Tourist Book is similar to an art catalog that some galleries and museums have today. This one came from a Gallery in Italy in the late 1800's. Now that is exciting!
All this was indeed very exciting and a wonderful box of books, but wait, there is more.
Filling the box and attributing to it's heavy weight, was eight hardcover books. Books on Fauvism, Oil Painting, Leonardo, French and Italian Art and Art Through the Ages, with publication dates from 1892 to 1937. At the very bottom of the box was the grand finale in my package. It was a leather bound coffee table book about American Art with a publication date of 1848!
Thank you to my dear Facebook friend, your gift is priceless and means a lot to this Artist!
