Looking For a Good Book

I love black and white art from the late nineteenth century/early 20th Century.  The art deco and art nouveau looks are still among the classiest period in modern art, in my opinion.  Part of what has made it so fantastic is the care and dedication of the artists who took pride in their work.  It wasn’t typically throw-away art, even though much of this was for advertising.

This book collects nearly 700 images, many of them from books on design so they are examples of the typical style for the periods, rather than actual advertising pieces with the advertising brand names removed.  Of particular interest for me were the monthly ‘decoration’ samples.  One very nice aspect is that these are reproductions of the original works, and not re-drawn works.

Some of the designs are in a gray-scale, and except for the above mentioned monthly decoration samples, I typically preferred the hard black and white images, but then I’m someone who works mostly in pen and ink, so I’ve always liked the pen and ink look.  For any artist looking to familiarize him/herself in the art of the period, this book is a real treasure-trove of samples.  From letters to borders to signage, there is much here than might be adapted for a modern artist.

Publisher Dover has done a really nice job with this book and other art titles and has proven itself as the place to turn to for quality art books.

Looking for a good book?  Whether you’re an artist looking for samples of a period or someone who enjoys thumbing through a book of quality art, Vintage Advertising Art & Design is highly recommended.

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Vintage Advertising Art and Design

author: J. N. Halsted

artists: various

publisher: Dover Publications 

ISBN: 0486491196

paperback, 128 pages