Van Dyck Paintings and Drawings

New York: Prestel Verlag. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 1999. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. 3791320904 . Cover is black with silver lettering on spine. Pages are clean and tight. This is the English language version [originally published in German]. Lavishly illustrated with dozens of color and b/w photos. Anthony van Dyck, knighted by King Charles I of England, was a masterly artist, who learned well from his master, Peter Paul Reubens, at his studio in Antwerp. He painted many works, both protraits and more epic pictures, but it was as the court painter to Charles I that he really gained his claim to fame. He has brought that court and time to life in a way rarely seen under the hand of one artist [he follows in the footsteps of Hans Holbein the Younger at the court of Henry VIII]. This book was done in celebration of the 400th birth of van Dyck, featuring an amazing exhibition first in Antwerp and then in London. While this book cannot claim to duplicate the experience of seeing those works hung room after room, immersing you in the world that van Dyck saw and painted, it comes close. The works examined here are his paintings, sketches, engravings and watercolors. From the formal court portraits to the delightful self-portrait on the cover of the DJ. Also includes my two personal favorites: "Triple Portrait of Charles I" 1635, which was done as a study for a bust commissioned to Bernini; and : The Five Eldest Children of Charles I" 1637, one of the most enchanting family groups ever portrayed. There are multiple copies of this title availbable; the others are not sealed in plastic but have the DJ in a Brodart cover. Wonderful book, I love my copy of this title. Oversized; 3.5#. ; Photographs; 9 1/2 x 11 3/4; 143 pages; Cover has some light bumping; very faint remainder mark. DJ has some edge wear and bumping; in a mylar cover. .