Review by Choice Review
Rendez-vous with Art features an ongoing discussion between Philippe de Montebello (former director, Metropolitan Museum of Art) and the art critic Martin Gayford about the experience of viewing works of art, particularly, though not solely, within the museum environment, in locations throughout the world. Though the focus is certainly on individual objects, the authors also grapple with the particular considerations of viewing works in museum collections. Because of the presence of artworks within institutions, no matter how comprehensive the collections, the view and even the understanding of artworks remain fragmentary. In other words, as the authors emphasize, the art that viewers see in these institutions is representative of the greater whole of the civilization or culture from which it emanates. Through 23 chapters arranged around different locations and with color illustrations of iconic works of art throughout, this volume offers an intimate entry point into the process and pleasure of encountering art objects within museums and other collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. --Kristina Maria Keogh, Indiana University Libraries
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
The chronicle of a series of conversations between de Montebello, the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Gayford, an art critic at BlouinArtinfo, this volume tags along as they visit museums, galleries and churches around the world. The "My Dinner With André" construct isn't a bad one, but in the end this is a hard book to love. It isn't much more, as Gayford concedes, than mere "fragments" of their various discussions. We learn, with delight, from de Montebello about his first encounter with Sir Harold Acton, who had invited the young man to lunch in early November 1966 at his villa in the Florentine hills. The visit was threatened when, after days of heavy rain, the Arno flooded the city, caking mud and debris on famous artworks like Ghiberti's bronze doors and Donatello's sculpture of Mary Magdalene. In those days before cellphones, the overwhelmed de Montebello felt he had no choice but to high-tail it up to La Pietra and inform Acton of the unfolding tragedy, arriving breathless and a mess. "Young man," Acton told him, "I was about to say one dresses up to come and see me." However, informed of the devastation, Acton "put on his hunting boots" and headed to the Baptistery. "When Sir Harold saw the Magdalene, the Donatello, he just stood there and wept." Unfortunately, such scenes are rare. Instead, we're left with the more typical pedantic observation, as the authors enter the Brancacci Chapel, also in Florence, and find they have it to themselves. "It is, like so much of what we see," de Montebello remarks, "a visual palimpsest."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [December 14, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
Former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art de Montebello and art critic Gayford embark on an experiment in shared appreciation, traveling to the great museums of the world to stand together in front of the masterpieces that move them. Wandering the halls of the Prado, Palazzo Pitti, and the Louvre, the connoisseurs allow themselves extended encounters with ancient classics and Renaissance masters, formulating a series of conversational and loosely organized dialogues. Though they are extremely knowledgeable on the historical background of the works, the authors' main focus is more narrowly aesthetic. Their exchanges center on the importance of sustained observation, on the formal characteristics of beauty, and on the work museums perform in framing the visitor's experience. The outspoken de Montebello particularly emphasizes the importance of the viewer's own emotional connection with art in discriminating the good from the great. Rather than a traditional art history or theoretical text, the authors' seeks to revive, through their journeys and conversations, the timeless pleasures of looking deeply at artworks themselves and to mark the irreplaceability of first-person artistic encounters.--Bosch, Lindsay Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The premise-two art experts look at some of the world's most magnificent works in tandem-is a good one, offering readers guided tours of the Louvre, the Prado, the Palazzo Pitti, and other prestigious institutions. The experts in question, Philippe de Montebello, who spent 31 years as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Martin Gayford (Man With a Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud), a highly regarded British art critic, certainly fit the bill. The book adds an ingenious twist to the classic approach to art criticism, which is, for the most part, effective. Montebello and Gayford offer depth and context to key works by Bosch, Goya, Vermeer, followed by erudite discussions. The authors' admissions that they didn't appreciate certain styles or eras at first; explanations regarding the effects of a museum's physical layout on a visitor's experience and interpretation, and the declaration that we're now spending more time looking at photos and reproductions of artworks than the real thing are sure to provoke a response. Assuming readers can get past the authors' egos (which loom large) and their penchant for peppering their text with purple prose, there are considerable insights into the featured art. 75 color and b&w illus. Agent: Vital Vayness; David Godwin, David Godwin Associates (U.K.) (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Eclectic art museum treasures prompt critic Gayford (Man with a Blue Scarf) and de Montebello, emeritus director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to engage their future readers with pleasant, unapologetically scholarly, nostalgic conversation in a dialog format. Gayford's short narrative smoothly connects the visits. Topics shift with careful editing as the men stroll through museums across continents, over a two-year span, stopping to ponder some 70 pieces (alas, no women artists). Several pieces evoke controversial responses, as when de Montebello decries modern museums' promotion of their collections and "artist-stars" as a form of entertainment. He stands firm that art "demands an effort if we are to be absorbed in its world." The tone of the Eastern antiquity section elicits the most effect on the complex issues of keeping "war booty" and other prickly aspects of acquisition and display. The authors are clearly passionate about their shared history of art in museums, the institutions' sense of place, and even their commiseration about "museum feet" (fatigue). VERDICT Top-shelf art appreciation behind the scenes makes this one-to-one "opportunistic" and "impulsive" discourse stand out. Not for researchers but for thinkers responding to its highbrow banter, this is for the avid art lover, curator, docent, museum studies student, and any well-traveled sophisticate who knows the way around a museum.-Marianne Laino Sade, Maryland Inst. Coll. of Art Lib., Baltimore (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
