Delights for the senses: Dutch and Flemish still-life paintings from Budapest

I've just recently become interested in still life, and I picked up a cheap used copy of this book out of curiosity. I'm very happy I stumbled upon it, as it has many fine examples of the genre.This is an exhibition catalogue of still lifes found in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts and the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin. It is 176 total pages, with 41 introductory pages about the history, themes, and subcategories of the genre, liberally illustrated. There are 124 pages dedicated to the paintings and artists, and 11 pages of bibliography. Every featured artist is given a short biography, and every painting is given some historical context and a brief analysis. The types of still life in the catalogue include vanitas, flowers and garlands, fruit, fish and game, and a few genre hunting pieces.What I like most about this catalogue is that it features many lesser-known but supremely talented European painters of the 16th-17th centuries (and a few of the 18th). I didn't know that there were so many still life painters who were as gifted as Claesz, Kalf, Weenix, Van Aelst, Brueghel, Coorte, Cotan, Ruysch, Melendez, De Heem, Chardin, et al. There are about 30 artists in the book I hadn't heard of and whose work I will seek out in other books and galleries.The only notable drawback for me is that about 1/3 of the images are reproduced in black and white. Most of the paintings take a third to half a page, with some being nearly full-page. Though many of the paintings are quite dark to begin with, it seems some of the images here could be a bit brighter. The reproductions are generally far from ideal, but all are at least sufficiently large and bright to read clearly. Even considering the limitations of the book, the paintings can easily be admired for their exquisite attention to detail, color and composition.I highly recommend that anyone interested in still life and art in general pick up a reasonably priced copy, and there's probably enough artwork here for even die hard still life enthusiasts to find something new.

It goes without saying, I wish they had all been in color, I wish the plates had been all the way to the edges. First pub in 1989, and the age shows somewhat. But the paintings are truly great, and many aren't available elsewhere. About 40 full page repro's, about twice that number small B & W.

Not enough pictures.