Since Vinayak asked about books, I thought I'd mention this one...even though it's not a book on drawing.
Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, as I'm sure you know, is one of the greatest painters to come out of Spain. In fact, he is often mentioned along with Sargent and Zorn as the holy trinity to many an art student. Sorolla, Sargent, and Zorn were contemporaries, and were friends, too. Imagine being in such company!
...But this post isn't about the life of Sorolla. I just wanted to talk about this book. When this book first came out in 2oo6 (I think), it sold out quickly. Typical of highly anticipated monographs, the price started to go up from $65 to $100 to $200. A year or so later, it was being sold for $1450 on Ebay! Those of us who didn't jump on it when it first came out watched in dismay as the price became unaffordable, then ridiculous.
I've actually seen it as high as $1850. I wanted this book but not that badly. I mean I have other books on his work and I can see many more online. Still, good art books are such treasures and I knew this one was really good. My guess was that once the hysteria subsided, the book would come down in price on the secondary market. Sure enough after about three years, it started to fall. I thought I'd wait and see how far it would come down. I'd be willing to pay ... I don't know, $150? Something like that.
A good friend told me that since this book is not a catalogue for a big museum show, there is a good chance that it would be reprinted. (Catalogues typically aren't reprinted) Well that would be great, I thought. I'm in no hurry, I'll just wait and see.
Sure enough, the second edition was published in 2009. And the ridiculous secondary market for this book all but disappeared. Now you can get this second edition for around $70 on Amazon. You may be able to find it for less in Europe. I bought mine from an outfit in UK, but with the shipping, it was about the same. In the U.S. St. Martin's Press is the distributor, so you're not paying an outrageous import price on this product.
Anyway, the book is beautiful and it does contain many paintings not in the other books I have. It has a wonderful chronology at the front of the book, which gives us a very good idea of his place in the art world at that time. And the paintings are awesome. If you have a chance to see these in person, do it. They will blow your mind. The sense of sunlight he imbues in these painting is just amazing. And talk about bravura brushwork! Can you say tour de force?
At $70, it's worth every penny!
13 comments:
I have been waiting for a really good Sorolla book too. His granddaughter's book that came out a few years ago are prohibitively expensive.
The new exhibition catalogue, however, is over 500 pages, has more than 300 color images and is currently selling for 200 dollars. The essays are well written. This book is fantastic. I am including a link to where one can be ordered. (I have no affiliation with barnsite)
http://www.barnsitegallery.com/fineartbooks/joaquinsorollapradocatalog.shtml
What an interesting post! I also love books so was intrigued by the price of this particular book. I rarely see books so expensive...well, maybe textbooks at universities...Now I wonder if the library has a copy?!
Daniel, I've seen that catalogue, too. I want that one also. I had to limit myself to one for now, because I have to feed my kids. hahaha~
Barnsite does bring us tempting offers though, don't they? Thanks for the link :-)
AutumnLeaves, I don't know where you live, but here in Sac, all the public libraries in the area are connected and I can access and order any book to be delivered to my local one, free of charge.
They rarely have big art books that I'm interested in, but I also found that I can access University library databases (California and Nevada) for free, and have found some interesting books that way.
Gotta love this technology!
Its amazing that you can write about any topic with equal facility. I have seen a few works of Sorolla on the internet but havent really seen any exhaustive collection. Thank you so much for discussing about this book and how it can be procurred. I surely will try to get my hands on this one.
Best wishes,
Vinayak
Hi Terry I didn't know you like Sorolla, He was born in the same city as I was, i think I have seeing most of his works. he knows very well how to get the Mediterranean light. I have send you some of his works in a pdf file, hope you enjoy it
Thanks Vinayak~ but you are too generous with your compliments :-) I can only talk about one subject, after all. If I started spurting out opinions on other things, I'll be left with no friends. hahaha~
muchas gracias jesus! the powerpoint was very very cool. I loved it. I wish I could've seen the exhibition in person~
Thank you for this information. Amazing how he capured the sunfligh.
The barnsitegallery link appears to be broken (leads to a parked domain).
Thanks anonymous for pointing out the broken link, I tried searching for them, and found this other link. I have no affiliation with this studio, but have ordered two books from them in the past and have been very pleased. As I mentioned before, the Sorolla catalogue is spectacular and, I feel, worth the hefty price. - Daniel
http://www.barnsiteartstudio.com/news/
Terry, I have been having trouble with the barnsite website: When I ordered the book, I just called the number below.
109 Duvall Street
Kewaunee, WI 54216
920-388-4391
info@barnsiteartstudio.com
Hey Daniel, I didn't realize it was you~ thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog! 'hope all's going well with you. Maybe I'll see you at some event this year.
Yeah, the barnsite's link didn't work even from their own e-newsletter. I've bought a Zorn book from them before I think. It's a great resource for some hard-to-find books.
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