Cezanne: The Eye and the Mind
This two-volume set by art history professor Machotka, himself a painter, is a beautiful work of scholarship. The first volume offers 399 color prints of outstanding quality. The second includes series of carefully documented essays that stand alone in examining specific aspects of Cezanne's career but, taken as whole, provide an insightful overview of the artist's development. Machotka's explanation of the narrative paintings is especially noteworthy because he explores how C6zanne's touch (i.e., the translation of his imagination into line, composition, and brushstroke.) is linked to the artist's vision and intellectual convictions. This unique book also contains an unexpected treat for librarians: one of the most sensitive, creative indexes this reviewer has ever seen. For example, under "touch." the subdivisions listed include "as integrating, balancing the composition" and "curved, flocculent, fleccy." A bravura work; highly recommended.--Katherine Adams, Bowdoin Coll. Lib., Brunswick' ME   --  Library Journal, April, 2009.