Charles Bell: The Complete Works, 1970-1990

by Henry Geldzahler

A monograph on the work of Charles Bell, a painter of photorealist still lifes. His gigantic toys, colourful gumball machines and glowing pinball machines are part of his unique contribution to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810931141
• ISBN13: 9780810931145
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: ABRAMS
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 2.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 10.7" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

It's not a photo, it' s a painting - a great book

Charles Bell belongs to the 13 founder members of the photorealistic art in the United States, a counter - movement to the established abstract art in the world. Bell's work has a deeply personal intensity that makes him unique within that group of artists. He is the most accomplished and durable creator of Photorealist still lives. Unfortunately, "The Complete Works 1970 - 1990" is the only, almost full - length study of his significant work. Until the time of his death in 1995, he completed a total of 157 paintings. 145 of these paintings are illustrated in full-colour and high quality in this book. You are getting more than a general view of his "oevre." You get a close look of the artist's development from the earliest giant Raggedy Ann dolls and other toys, through the fantastic gumball machines of the fifties, the marble series, and the toy tableaux, to the masterly viewed pinball-machines. In the introduction you get also an impression of his meticulous pre-work (with camera and macro lenses) in order to create a masterpiece of art. Finally, the subject matters of his paintings are real objects. - Dipl.-Ing., Dipl.- GwL. Christoph Erlemeier, Stuttgart, Germany

Paintings that are easy to like.

Charles Bell's images will be attractive to those with some nostalgia for childhood and the accoutrements of childhood, e.g., wind-up toys. The images feature marbles, old-fashioned roller skates, bubble gum ball machines, Donald Duck pull toys, wind-up rocket ships, hopping bunnies, and seals. Most of these objects comprise painted metal, though the paintings also include cloth Raggedy Ann dolls. The nostalgic aspect is reinforced when one realizes that metal wind-up toys are not much manufactured any more, and that pinball machines have been replaced by games with computer screens and software. The paintings are in the photorealist style. The quality of the work seems similar to that of the Flemish masters. Possibly, Charles Bell's name should be a household word, just as Jan van Eyck (Wedding Portrait) is a household word. My own analysis of photorealism is as follows: A man might spend a minute or so gazing at a chrome plated napkin holder, ketchup bottle, or grocery window, losing himself in the reflections, and the plurality of layered reflections, taking a mental journey through adjacent zones of color. However, most people do not do this sort of thing with these objects, or even with photographs of these objects. On the other hand, when rendered as a photorealist painting, the resulting painting is a format that invites the eye to explore. Even if the photorealist painter refrains from altering the image of a photograph of the napkin holder, bottle, or grocery, the resulting painting on canvas places the image in a format that invites gazing and visual exploration. (That is my analysis). If you admire Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, or Don Eddy, there is little question that you'll like Charles Bell. The book being reviewed is authored by Henry Geldzahler. According to Pop Art by Anne Umland, Mr. Geldzahler, as a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of art in 1962, helped to identify and legitimize the pop art movement. Umland writes that at the time Mr. Geldzahler argued that pop art: "still carried on art's task of self-criticism . . . maintaining a dialog with itself . . . and was therefore connected to the most advanced contemporary art." Thus, the book being reviewed was authored by an established art critic. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. is the publisher. This publisher is responsible for art books of high quality, e.g., Photorealism at the Millennium (2002) by Louis Meisel or Desert (1999) by Jack Dykinga.