Fauvism (World of Art)

This book has haunted me for years. It is the only extensive book on this art movement and, as others have complained, of the 171 illustrations ONLY 24 are in color... and this movement was BASED on color. The first chapter is even entitled "The Path to Color" which only doubles the irony . In older art books, due to the cost at the time of publication, most illustrations were not in color. But this was printed in 1991 long after color costs had dropped. The book has haunted me because I have seen it in libraries and on book lists always with a different cover, always thinking that it is a different book on the Fauves and, yet, lo and behold, it is always the same Whitfield volume. If you like black and white value studies this is the book for you. The only value this book has is its text. We need a NEW book on the fauve movement. Where is Taschen when you need them? Had THEY published the book all would be forgiven. DON'T be fooled by this title if you are looking for glorious, living fauve color. It ain't here.

As many have pointed out, the majority of photos are not in color. But I still feel that this is a great buy, considering that there isn’t a lot of information on such a short lived movement.

This is a lovely book which is hugely kind to Matisse and his Fauve friends. It transports one beyond the vivid colors and wildness of the art to an appreciation of the intellect of these artists. Everyone, art lover or no, will learn something from this book and enjoy the new knowledge. It is a gentle and pleasant read. What a pity all the numerous illustrations could not be in color.

I was extremely disappointed when I recieved this book. Who expects an art book to have mostly black & white pictures? The Fauves are know for their bright use of colors, & there are only a very few pictures in color. I feel like I wasted my money.

Very disappointed. Color is such an important aspect of Fauvism. The illustrations in the book are in muddy shades of grey.

Fauvism (World of Art) Color was supreme in the Fauvism movement. Most of the reproductions in this small volume are in black and white rendering the book just about useless for appreciating the art. "171 illustrations 24 in color."

Great

I wanted to learn more about this period in art and have enjoyed this book and of course the incredible paintings. It has opened my eyes to different methods of painting and I'll refer to it often.

Fauvism book arrived: in black & white*FAUVISM*black & whiteLet that sink in

If you want a book with any level of illustration, this isn't the one for you. There are a number of illustrations which are both small and monochrome. Colour examples are sparse and tiny. For my purposes this book is useless to me. Such a shame when colour is so much the point. It may well be that someone who has mainly need of the text will find it a five star book, but don't buy it for the pictures, which in many cases could have been omitted so worthless are they.

I really enjoyed reading this book, though like the other reviewers have already said it is a shame that there aren't more illustrations in colour (hence only 4 stars). However, the text is well-written and well-researched and I found it very difficult to put the book down once I got into it. I recommend other books in this series, like the ones on Henri Matisse, Surrealism and Realism.

An excellent history of a movement which only lasted for about five years but whose effects are still with us today.

Fauvism is all about the use of outrageous colour. 95% of the illustrations are in black and white! It is very text heavy which I haven't read yet so maybe this could be enlightening, but I bought this as inspiration in the use of colour. Always best to go to a proper bookshop and buy there.