The Louvre: All the Paintings

Wow! Gorgeous book! I bought this as a gift for my artist daughter-in-law and she absolutely loved it! She owns many books on art but said that this book has the most clear, colorful and vibrant pictures that she’s seen in an art book. It’s a big book and quite heavy, too. You definitely get your money’s worth!

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." -- Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)When I first heard about this book, I was overjoyed. I live across the Atlantic from the Louvre and my visits there are all too infrequent. I realized that this volume would help me remember favorite paintings. I was thrilled to find hundreds of descriptions of major paintings that added to my knowledge as well. I spent about 12 hours with the book just savoring happy memories from time in the Louvre.I was happy to find that the book also contains an excellent history of the painting collection, something I knew little about, even though I was a French History major in college. I found these materials to be fascinating.Beyond that, I loved that the book contains locations for the paintings. As a result, I can plan future trips to the Louvre to make better use of my limited time there. I find that I lose the ability to really focus after two hours, and this book will allow me to spend my time where it will do me the most good.I was astonished to find a searchable DVD that allows me to quickly look up paintings by artist, by collection, by school, and by location. I often do research on paintings, and this tool will save me many hours. I am a complete klutz when it comes to using resources like this, and I mastered how to use it in about three minutes. The directions are very clear. I ran it on Foxfire. It's a much easier way to research the works than handling this large volume.Now, be sure to realize what this book isn't: It isn't an attempt to create large size images in the highest possible definition. You can't do that in one book with so many images. It would take 20 volumes and the result would be priced at over $1,000, I'm sure.I was impressed that 80 percent of the thumbnails were photographed and printed clearly enough so that I could make out the relevant details. The biggest problems occur with the Northern School works because many are so dark to begin with.At the time I ordered the book, it was only $37.50 plus shipping. That's a steal for such a resource. When I first heard about the book, I estimated its price at $250.If you aren't familiar with the Louvre's painting collection, realize that its great strengths are in Italian and French works through the early part of the 19th century. There are many fine paintings from other countries, but the representation is limited.One unintended benefit I received from this book is that it greatly enhanced my understanding of the Christian works in the collection. If that subject is of interest, you'll be blessed by what you see and read.Bravo!

Beautiful book. A gem for any art lover.

gifted person loved it..would highly recommend for that art lover in your life! each page a virtual delight!

Great art book. Great service.

What can we say about the Louvre; it contains some of the greatest works of art in human history. Having had the great fortune of viewing quite a number of these paintings firsthand in the Louvre, I was extremely pleased to see that ALL the paintings in this grand treasure-trove were finally released. The main reason being, that I had seen works there that never seemed to appear in other art books, and memories alone cannot restore the original in detail in the mind’s eye, hence it cannot satiate one’s various reasons for being drawn to a particular work, be it for its aesthetic charm, psychological impact, creativity, color scheme, composition, etc. One such work was “The Young Martyr,” by Paul Delaroche.However, that example brings to light the main drawback of this ambitious volume. The image is sadly minuscule, as are the majority of artworks reproduced. I cannot fault the publisher too harshly, however, for these reasons. First, the huge number of works that the Louvre contains cannot be presented in one volume any other way. Second, if they did make this a multi-volume edition, it would have been too expensive for many people. Third, making this single volume gives people who never had, or will have, the chance to visit the Louvre a complete representation of their art treasures, all at a very reasonable price. Fourth, many art books aimed at the broad public have extremely poor color reproductions, some being an absolute insult to the artist and the art world. And while this edition does not boast the highest quality available, it nevertheless is “good,” especially considering the amount of works presented in this massive volume.Being an artist/author myself, I find the ability to open this book in the comfort of a favorite chair or sofa a great relief, sparing my eyes from the glare of a computer screen. This, again, brings to light another issue; namely that of the accompanying DVD. The images are likewise minuscule, and not worth the effort or strain.Nevertheless, the robust catalog that this edition boasts affords the professional or layman the ability to study lesser known artists and their works, thus broadening one’s knowledge and clarifying one’s vision about the exchange of ideas, from artist to artist, or from one school to another, and acquiring a better understanding of the chronological timeline of how tastes, influences and priorities change.As such, despite its flaws, for the price, it is a great addition to my library, and a book that anyone can pick up to gain pleasure from, or be inspired by one of the small images within to research an artist further elsewhere. But the wealth of artistic genius within this hefty tome is worth the sacrifices, as such, it is highly recommended for art lovers or art students interested in art history.

I got this as a remembrance as we went to France to visit churches and beautiful museums. It was a dream come true for an older lady. My husband and son took me and the wonderful people at the Louve let me up front at the Mona Lisa painting.

I love this book, as it provides excellent quality photographs. Even the thumbnail photographs are clear. I was especially excited to read reviews that the book comes with a DVD of all the paintings as well. However, mine did not. Apparently, there are two versions of this item. One version comes with the DVD, and 1 version comes without the DVD. If you are looking to have the DVD, read the description very carefully. I was able to find the 1 with the DVD but I'm not going to go through the trouble of returning the item.