Landscape Into Art

Harmonsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books: Pelican. Very Good. 1956. First Edition Thus [1979], Third Printing (1986); First Printing. Hardcover. Very Good in Wraps: shows indications of careful use: the head of the backstrip has been neatly reinforced with clear cellophane tape; just a hint of rubbing to the panels and a bit of consequent soiling to the white areas of the background field at the rear panel; a hint of a crease to the backstrip; the text pages have tanned rather heavily, due to aging; the binding is square and secure; the text is clean. Free of creases to the panels. Free of creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of underlining, hi-lighting, notations, or marginalia. Free of any ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, plates, or labels. A handsome, lightly-used copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing very mild wear a number of minor, unobtrusive cosmetic imperfections. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club or Ex-Library. 12mo. (7.2 x 4.4 x 0.5 inches) . 158 pages. Index. Profusely illustrated with 96 duotone plates. Powder blue and white self-wraps with black & white titles at the backstrip and illustrated front panel. Portrait of a youthful Kenneth Clark at the rear panel. Language: English. Weight: 6.5 ounces. Pelican A 369. This text was first published in the UK in 1949. Mass-Market Paperback. Among many honours, Kenneth Clark was knighted at the unusually young age of thirty-five, and three decades later was made a life peer shortly before the first transmission of his acclaimed BBC Television series 'Civilisation'. Three decades after his death, Clark was celebrated in an exhibition at Tate Britain in London, prompting a reappraisal of his career by a new generation of critics and historians, during which his skill as a writer and his enthusiasm for popularising the arts were widely recognised. Both the BBC and the Tate described him in retrospect as one of the most influential figures in British art of the twentieth century. This is an engaging read. It describes the history of western landscape painting, from medieval manuscripts up through the neoimpressionists, Van Gogh and Cezanne. It considers both "realism" and fantasy landscapes, and demonstrates how the depiction of light was always an essential aspect of the portrayal of landscapes, long certainly before the Impressionists. It explains why Constable is the great progenitor, and what was new, and what was not, in the impressionists. He's a gracious and knowledgable writer. A classic of the genre. ; Thin 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 158 pages .