Synopsis
There is no doubt that the first edition of this Dictionary, published in 1971 as The Dictionary of Victorian Painters, put Victorian painting on the map , and its subsequent two revisions and eight reprints only go to reinforce the fact that it is the accepted reference on English art of the period. With the continued interest and the author s ongoing research in the subject, it was perhaps inevitable that a further revision and new format was necessary. The Dictionary is now revised in two volumes, each complementary to one another yet entirely independent works depending on the particular interest of the reader. This volume contains over 11,000 entries. In addition to those on artists who have not featured before, many of the existing entries have been revised and updated. In the case of the giants of Victorian painting, the entries take the form of short, analytical essays. Every attempt has been made to list all artists recorded during the period 1837-1901, and the exhaustive research
Reviews
A writer on and dealer in Victorian art, Wood has revised and enlarged into two volumes this third edition of Volume 4 in the six-volume series "Dictionary of British Art." The first book is a dictionary of painters with over 11,000 entries; the second book is well illustrated, with 750 black-and-white and 40 color plates containing an historical survey of Victorian art, defined as the period in English art from 1837 to 1901. The illustrations encompass everything from the fantastically imaginative to the Pre-Raphaelites, the social realists, Turner's pre-Impressionism, the end of Romanticism, landscape painting, etc. A catalog following this survey shows examples of many major works. Entries in the first book provide dates that an artist was working, professional affiliation, biography of exhibits, and, in the case of Turner, Rossetti, Ruskin, and other major figures, a bibliography. An asterisk in the dictionary of painters denotes the artists' representation in this catalog. There are many obscure painters here, with only one- or two-line descriptions, a comprehensiveness that should benefit curators, collectors, and dealers who need to authenticate a given artist as well as those studying the Victorian era. Wood describes the popular view of Victorian art, and his evaluation organizes the wealth of its offerings and documents its history. Together these books serve as a necessary, comprehensive, and readable reference source in the study of British art and as sales material for the market in Victorian painting. Recommended for public and special collections.?Ellen Bates, New York
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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