The Art and Flair of Mary Blair

Well, after a few of the reviews below I fully expected this to be a big disappointment, but, as one of the negative reviewers put it, the book had to be owned. I'm a big fan of Mary Blair's work.OK, book arrives in the mail (thanks Amazon) and lo and behold it's just swell. Problems with color reproductions?--well, if the same high standards were applied to about 70% of the art books sold here online--the ones that run UNDER $100--then few would pass muster. Heck, it took me most of last year to scrounge a long-out-of-print copy of a Max Ernst book that was the ONLY one I'd ever encountered where the color was even remotely right. Honestly, the color quality in this Mary Blair book is just fine--a tiny bit muted here and there is about the worst I can say, and no different than a lot of books that feature production art, including some published by Disney.Otherwise, I had no problem with the text (heck, if another reviewer hadn't pointed out that it was largely pulled from something else Canemaker had written about her, I never would have known--and why should the guy rewrite what he's already written anyway?) and the background info, along with production photos are very informative. I'm sure there were problems with rights to some things some of these reviewers wanted to see but maybe they also had evaporated. Heck, I did plenty of concept work that I never saw again and might be hanging on the wall of some project manager or something. Who knows? This isn't art gallery work.So, more perfect book? Sure! A 300 page Mary Blair complete would suit me just fine and I'd find the $100 to pay for it. I'd also like to see ANY extensive Winsor McCay Little Nemo just stay in print for fives minutes and the world hasn't seen a decent Gluyas Williams or Rowland Emett book in nearly 50 years (an if you don't know who either of those guys are it's because there hasn't been a decent book in print for way too long--not having a big and modern Rowland Emett is just plain criminal!). While I'm at it, how about any Arthur Rackham repro that's even a vague ghost of the originals! Ah, for a perfect world!

If you're interested in Blair's work, this is a nice book, but it's not worth the sudden massive price jump it's taken. (I can only guess it's gone out of print) $45, yes. But these $90+ prices, no.I stupidly delayed buying this book based on reviews from people who have been lucky enough to see Blair's work in person. The thing is, printers can only do so much. They have a total of 4 colors to work with, and can never ever perfectly recreate a painting's true brightness and color. There's a reason people go to museums to see paintings in person. The print quality is frankly, just fine. Nothing sticks out as horribly off or awkward. It has far more content in it that you could ever hope to find just looking online, so I certainly don't regret this purchase.

She's one of the legendary artists at Disney, still influential even to this day. I just wish there are even more images in this book. I don't buy the book to read, I buy it because I want to see her art.. She's an artist, let her artwork speak. I'm giving it a four star because this is practically the only book about her that I can find. If anyone else wants to find more of her work in Disney, try scouring the Disney art-of books for some color keys, and character designs.

The NYU Animation Professor and Academy Award Winning Animator John Canemaker has an easy job creating a great book when the subject matter is Mary Blair. Luckily, he chose to create the sort of animation porn we are looking for when it comes to the Disney master. The book is full of gorgeous plates interspersed with well-researched writing. This books walks the line between being a great academic book about an often overlooked Disney master and a gorgeous coffee table book. Buy the book for any reason, you won't be disappointed!

One of the absolute greatest artists that ever worked for Disney. Walt saw Mary Blairs talent and she soon became one of his favorites. My only fault with this book is I wish it was longer. Thank God for the Japanese catalogs.

A short Mary Blair biography, beatifully illustrated with Blair's work and some photos of her at different points at life. The text is simple and pleasant, but won't get much deep into her work. In addition to that, the volume of pictures is very modest compared to Mary's output, so the selection stands more for a brief portfolio of the artist, rather than a thorough compilation of her tremendous number of works. The design of the book is really beatiful and worth every penny, and if one desires a general overview of Mary's flair, this books suits perfectly.

Fun pastel art style wich influnced many of Disney animated classics!

This book is a must for any student of Disney. I am certain a bigger book of Mary Blair could be produced, but you cannot pass this up.The only thing that weighs on me is the story of the end of her life. Pages 98-100 are absolutely heartbreaking. I shutter to imagine what her family's homelife was like. A woman with this spirit and lively vision deserved a better end.As much joy as this book brings to me... it carries an bittersweet edge that stays with me.

The book is a very well put together treasure trove for animation fans, graphic artists and lovers of Mary Blair's fine art.John Canemaker knows what he is doing. Nothing new here. Just a very solid addition to an art or animation library.

ディズニーアート展で彼女の絵を見て好きになった方必見です。ディズニー作品以外の作品も多く載っているのですがやさしい感じの絵と色使いは見ているだけで癒されます。文章は英語なので僕には読めませんが（笑）