Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

A meticulous and beautiful catalogue raisonne of the more than 650 extant paintings of Louis. Upright is straightforward in her approach. She concentrates on development of technique and on material matters: unprimed canvas, special paints and thinners, the problems of dating and orientation of works, of size and stretching. She de-emphasizes somewhat the much-discussed relationship between the artist and the critic Clement Greenberg, whose championing brought Louis recognition and whose judgment strongly influenced the direction of his work. The artist as person and creator remains elusive (this is, after all, a catalog). But the work reproduced in gorgeous color platesthe veils, the unfurleds, the stripesis indeed accessible. Fine documentation, including exhibition history and bibliography. Margot Karp, Pratt Inst. Lib., Brooklyn, N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

For the first time, 655 known paintings by Morris Louis can be studied in a single volume. Author Upright details both Louis's development as an artist committed to explorations of color and his pioneering use of magna acrylics, beginning in 1947. Ideally suited to Louis's stain technique, magna was the only medium he used after 1954. Influenced by the work of Pollock and Frankenthaler, Louis turned from recognizable form to a daring new attitude toward composing the picture plane. Being able to visually chart the changes from the well-known Veil series to the less-familiar Alpha and Stripe series is gratifying. Many of Louis's transitional variations come as agreeable and revealing surprises. The text is a confident blend of biography and technical concerns with well-selected reviews, the artist's comments, and Upright's own astute critical assessments. The book will be valued for this well-balanced approach as well as for its addition as a catalogue raisonne. Although the reader might long for a less visually tiring page design than this seven-inch type-column, the wide format owes much to the necessity of reproducing Louis's large canvasses correctly. The color printing conveys the intensity, if not the subtlety, of Louis's hues. The volume is an excellent selection for private, public, or university libraries, recommended for undergraduates, all levels, graduate students, and general readers.-P.N. Holder, Austin Peay State University