In her blog, Book Reader's Heaven, Glenda A. Bixler blogs about Books, Reviews, Authors, Publicity, Tips, short stories, essays...a little poetry, a cat story or two, thoughts on music, movies and products selections. I am thrilled to find her review of my art book, Inspired by Art: Fighting Goliath:
Uvi Poznansky is not a new author to me, but she is one I would like to have had time to enjoy more of her books than I've had the opportunity. This book is quite different and is intended to support the story of David...and Goliath. It appears to be a complete, or, if not, an extensive collection of art through the ages as created by those who were inspired by the Biblical story of a young hero, David, who chose to fight the giant Goliath and, with God's promise, killed him. This is a continuation of the novels by Poznansky, The David Chronicles.
What a wonderful way to complement this trilogy! If you are familiar with the story, moving through a "gallery" of different versions of the same story creates an extraordinary event for the individual who chooses this fantastic book... Needless to say that you will see the works of all the great artists from the past... I appreciated the choice to include "detail" shots to emphasize different parts of the original work. For instance, in a Bernini sculpture, the author chose to hone in on the arm and the slingshot, while in reality you would have to move around the statue to see the detail of that small part of the whole... Only a talented writer and artist could have created this, it seems... emphasizing the story itself, as an important part of what was important to highlight on the complementary art work... I was impress.
I, for instance, became intrigued by the different perspectives of the story that were included in the finished works. Take, for instance, Goliath. Some artists portrayed him as a true giant, looking over the countryside, while others showed him as a man, perhaps, taller than any of his fellow soldiers, but, still not a giant... What was the message that each of the artists chose in deciding what Goliath must have looked like?
Even more importantly, David! Some portrayed him as a mere child, while others showed someone nearly a man. Was it to emphasize that David was the embodiment of God's strength inside of the boy-man? Did each artist portray David at an age and size that seemed most believable to he, himself? Bernini's portrayal of David as he got ready to throw his sling, is of a young strong man... While Rembrandt chose to emphasize the giant over the young boy. For me, I found Rembrandt's work more credible, simply because of the story as I learned it as a child...
But no matter what, readers will discover a unique display of creativity as you might never see anywhere else--the ability to compare the same characters of one of the great historical stories of all time, and witness how each artist chose to share the story in picture form! I found it not only a learning experience, but one that is memorable and exciting to revisit and ponder.
Hopefully, art students will find this collection among all the books out there. For me, I'd recommend it as a must-read to them... Also Religion scholars would also find it a valuable, compiled collection that in easy format provides a wealth of comparative analysis of the artists' works as well as the perspective of the historical tale that most impressed each artist. I certainly appreciated this opportunity and highly recommend it for your consideration...
Bravo!
GABixlerReviews
ByGlendaon February 27, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Uvi Poznansky is not a new author to me, but she is one I would like to have had time to enjoy more of her books than I've had the opportunity. This book is quite different and is intended to support the story of David...and Goliath. It appears to be a complete, or, if not, an extensive collection of art through the ages as created by those who were inspired by the Biblical story of a young hero, David, who chose to fight the giant Goliath and, with God's promise, killed him. This is a continuation of the novels by Poznansky, The David Chronicles.What a wonderful way to complement this trilogy! If you are familiar with the story, moving through a "gallery" of different versions of the same story creates an extraordinary event for the individual who chooses this fantastic book... Needless to say that you will see the works of all the great artists from the past... I appreciated the choice to include "detail" shots to emphasize different parts of the original work. For instance, in a Bernini sculpture, the author chose to hone in on the arm and the slingshot, while in reality you would have to move around the statue to see the detail of that small part of the whole... Only a talented writer and artist could have created this, it seems... emphasizing the story itself, as an important part of what was important to highlight on the complementary art work... I was impress.
I, for instance, became intrigued by the different perspectives of the story that were included in the finished works. Take, for instance, Goliath. Some artists portrayed him as a true giant, looking over the countryside, while others showed him as a man, perhaps, taller than any of his fellow soldiers, but, still not a giant... What was the message that each of the artists chose in deciding what Goliath must have looked like?
Even more importantly, David! Some portrayed him as a mere child, while others showed someone nearly a man. Was it to emphasize that David was the embodiment of God's strength inside of the boy-man? Did each artist portray David at an age and size that seemed most believable to he, himself? Bernini's portrayal of David as he got ready to throw his sling, is of a young strong man... While Rembrandt chose to emphasize the giant over the young boy. For me, I found Rembrandt's work more credible, simply because of the story as I learned it as a child...
But no matter what, readers will discover a unique display of creativity as you might never see anywhere else--the ability to compare the same characters of one of the great historical stories of all time, and witness how each artist chose to share the story in picture form! I found it not only a learning experience, but one that is memorable and exciting to revisit and ponder.
Hopefully, art students will find this collection among all the books out there. For me, I'd recommend it as a must-read to them... Also Religion scholars would also find it a valuable, compiled collection that in easy format provides a wealth of comparative analysis of the artists' works as well as the perspective of the historical tale that most impressed each artist. I certainly appreciated this opportunity and highly recommend it for your consideration...
Bravo!
GABixlerReviews
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