Saturday, March 5, 2011

l' art de l' aquarelle - le livre


I received my copy of l' art de l' aquarelle - le livre from France this week. It is a magnificent collection of paintings from 24 of the top contemporary watercolorists in the world, all of whom have been featured in the magazine of the same name. The book is softbound, 196 pages printed on very high quality paper, with outstanding reproductions. (see this post for more information about content and ordering) It is divided into sections according to subject matter, including a chronological history of watercolor, and very interesting write-ups about the artists.

In Simmons' paintings, instantly recognisable and precisely drawn images appear in the midst of a whirlpool of vivid, dense and raw colour. His is considered to be one of those contemporary watercolourists who are exploring the very limits of what is possible in watercolour, sometimes in a far from orthodox way, but always with some surprises in store. Neither does he hold his tongue when it comes to defending his favorite medium!

All text in French and English. Along with the catalog of the Shanghai Zhujiajiao exhibition, it is the best book of watercolor paintings I have seen. At 94 Euros (including shipping) for American customers it is not inexpensive, but an indispensable publication for the serious watercolor enthusiast.

The book may be purchased via PayPal, please email Sonia Seince for more information: s.seince@megastar.fr

12 comments:

Christian COUTEAU said...

Hi
I'm a french watercolorist and fan of your artwork.
Bravo for your magic creative spirit!

Christian Couteau

Nick said...

Christian - there seems to be a bit of a renaissance in european watercolor, much of it emanating from France and Belgium. This book is a prime example of that, and an impressive addition to our medium's library.

Cristina Dalla Valentina said...

Congratulations on the publication, Nick! And thanks for letting us know of this book, I'll buy it for sure!

Nancy Lee Galloway said...

Kind of exciting to see so much new stuff coming out and being published, Nick. And thanks for keeping us in the loop!

Nick said...

Cristina - I'm sure it less expensive to buy in Europe - email Sonia S. for details. I think it's worth it!

Nancy - it's impossible to keep up with all the stuff out there, I think we've hit the TMI limit

olivia said...

Nicholas, this publiction is wonderful.Congratulations !
Lucky french girl, I will look for it !
I am following your wonderful work. All is happiness... Kind regards.
Olivia.

William K. Moore said...

Hi Nicholas - nice work up on the magazine a la francese. I'll have mine with a napoleon and cafe au lait on the Côte d'Azur with a Ms Bardot clone beret gauloises a chase through Marseille by the Sûreté baccarat more Bardot less Sûreté topped off with a dripping camembert on baguette that was dragged throught the street by Duchamp's ghost - put that on my account please.

Nick said...

Bill - one of the all time classic posts, I can't touch it! Between you and Burge, I think I'll stick to filling in DMV forms and lottery tickets.

Nick said...

Olivia - I'm sorry I missed your post. I showed the book to some people a few days ago, they ordered it immediately. I'm looking forward to coming there this year, hope to meet you. :)

olivia said...

L'art de l'aquarelle is also a wonderful magazine and all publications they propose are very high quality !
It should be a real pleasure to meet you some day in France Nick !

wayne said...

Hi Nick, congrats on further international recognition and inclusion in such a major compendium/survey of contemporary watercolorists. The displayed pages you've shown look awesome! Cheers and best as always, wayne

Btw, also agree with you that Bill's post above is an all time classic!

Nick said...

Olivia - yes the book is extremely high quality, not just in paper and reproductions, but the range of work is amazing. I'm sorry I can't make it to St. Cyr, but I'll be in Dordogne in July. I hope I meet you somewhere!

Wayne - ha, one of Bill's best,no doubt tossed off without a thought. Re the above comment ^^^, you could probably do all of the paintings in the book yourself, you'd just have to work on the signatures!!! Thanks as always for the visit.