The Laws of Fesole: Principles of Drawing and Painting from the Tuscan Masters - Softcover

John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the most influential art critic of the nineteenth century. A watercolorist, a botanist, a moralist, a sensualist, a socialist, an economist, a Romantic, a prophet, a priest, and a poet, his writings integrate the aesthetic experience with moral purpose and ecology. He established his reputation with The Stones of Venice and his masterwork, Modern Painters, then held the Slade Professorship of Art at Oxford University from 1870 to 1878. One of his students, Oscar Wilde, said of him, "To you the gods gave eloquence such as they have given no other, so that your message might come to us from the fire of passion and the marvel of music, making the deaf to hear and the blind to see" Bill Beckley is an artist who has exhibited widely in America and Europe since l970. His works are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum, and the Guggenheim in New York; The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He teaches Semiotics and Film at the School of Visual Arts in New York and is the editor for the Aesthetics Today series from Allworth Press.

"As vital and relevant today as it was over a hundred years ago. This timeless classic, now back in print, will introduce a whole new generation of readers and art lovers to the analytic genius of John Ruskin." -- The Bookwatch, October, 1996

"As we read Ruskin's art criticism we find revealing and stimulating insights into the early beginnings of the Modern movement. . . . As we read Beckley's annotations we can revisit 19th-century art criticism with greater detachment." -- Arts & Activities, March, 1998

"Ruskin's strength lies in his ability to absolutely commit to a concept, and translate that commitment into the written word. This attention to the craft of writing makes it possible for Ruskin to propound several divergent themes in one text and allow for the inconsistencies (because the structure is consistent and can contain the thoughts) inevitable in such a breadth of inquiry. . . . it is his poetic evocation of self-purpose and his refusal to apologize for deeply held beliefs that make his writing so enriching. . . ." -- New Art Examiner, March, 1997

"This isn't a discourse on how to paint or a treatise on art history, but a critical examination of painting at the beginnings of the Modern movement. This approach provides artists and students with guidelines for assessing work of the period, and this edition includes over forty black-and-white illustrative examples and a new introduction by artist Bill Beckley. An excellent examination of forms, sense, and artistic license." -- The Midwest Book Review

This isn't a discourse on how to paint or a treatise on art history, but a critical examination of painting at the beginnings of the Modern movement. This approach provides artists and students with guidelines for assessing work of the period, and this edition includes over forty black and white illustrative examples and a new introduction by artist Bill Beckley. An excellent examination of form, sense, and artistic license. -- Midwest Book Review