This is Warhol by Catherine Ingram Illustrations by Andrew Rae, Laurence King Publishing, 80 pages, $18.95.
This is Dali by Catherine Ingram Illustrations by Andrew Rae, Laurence King Publishing, 80 pages, $18.95.
This is Pollock by Catherine Ingram Illustrations by Peter Arkle, Laurence King Publishing, 80 pages, $18.95.
Art history can be very enlightening when presented properly and when done poorly it can be incredibly dull. Catherine Ingram has taken the concept of artist profiles and turned it upside down to create something brand new.
Three recent books look at the lives of some of the most influential artists of modern times. Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol are presented through a collaboration between the words and illustrations to provide a new level of interest in their careers.
Ingram looks at the significant events in the artists' lives and the influences on them. She includes their close friends and the roles they played as well as the major supporters of their art.
The illustrations add an air of graphic novels to these books and bring a contemporary feel to the presentation. Interspersed throughout each one are photographs of the artists and their paintings, showing important highlights There are plenty of fascinating details of their careers, such as Pollock's 1947 decision to paint the canvass on the floor, or Warhol's 1962 painting of a Campbell soup can that became a pop culture icon and was featured in his first pop art exhibit.
Ingram has managed to include a significant amount of information in a limited space and to do it an incredibly entertaining fashion. We can only hope that she will apply this approach to even more artists in the future.
