Hieronymus Bosch: Visions of Genius

To mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch (1460 - 1516), s'Hertogenbosch, the city in the Netherlands where he was born and lived and worked most of his life, staged the largest Bosch retrospective ever. The exhibit closed two weeks ago (it is now headed for the Prado, in Madrid). It contained 20 of the 25 painted panels attributed to Bosch, as well as 19 of the 25 drawings judged to be his, along with additional works from his workshop or by his followers. The exhibition, which culminated the multi-year Bosch Research and Conservation Project, is the basis for this splendid book.The book contains 51 reproductions of the "catalogue" works of art in the exhibition, along with individual textual discussion of each. In many cases, blow-ups of details are also included. In addition, there are reproductions of related works of art as well as the few works of Bosch not included in the exhibition. (Foremost of those not on display in s'Hertogenbosch was "The Garden of Earthly Delights", which the Prado declined to loan to the show. It did, however, contribute "The Haywain Triptych", the first time in 450 years that work had left Madrid. For compleatists, the book nonetheless does include a full-page reproduction of "The Garden of Earthly Delights".)Two things stand out about Bosch's artwork: the stories they tell and the myriad of striking or enigmatic details. Many of those details are freakish little monsters, part human and part animal, with re-arranged, missing, or fanciful body parts. Examining the paintings closely, I see such things as a man urinating against the corner of a house, swinging bells with humans as their clappers, and birds flying out the rear end of a bent-over person (a repeated motif -- what could it signify?). Owls seem ubiquitous, watching and brooding over everything. As for the stories, the central one, probably, is that each and every individual person is responsible for his or her fate -- heaven or hell.The textual discussions augment the illustrations, congenially and informatively. They are not in the least pedantic. The authors give appropriate background and point out some of the interesting details, but they don't prattle on, inducing catatonia. In their more general discussion, they make the point that s'Hertogenbosch in the late fifteenth century was a second-tier city in the region (after Brussels, Antwerp, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Bruges, and Ghent). It was, they write, "precisely the 'splendid isolation' resulting from the lack of local tradition and of strict conventions that allowed [Bosch] to arrive at his distinctive and original work."Thoroughly distinctive and original it is. It also is, to me, more captivating than any other artwork of its era.

sensational--covers a whole lot, most of the images are fine, a couple are too small but we don't know the reason behind that layout -- and I wouldn't expect to. Even got through to a few people who really aren't interested in art history...

I wasn't able to get tickets to this show, although I very much wanted to go. I was hoping the catalog would be the "last word" in Bosch scholarship. Unfortunately, that's not the case. It's fairly short, and it turns out that there were fewer of Bosch's major works in this show that I expected. Still, it's a decent summary of the state of research on the works that were exhibited, and the illustrations are excellent, with many closeups.

I went to the show in den Bosch and this book is a wonderful memory of an amazing show.

I saw this exhibition and the book is full summary for me. I love it.

If you love Bosch; you will love this book.

This catalog summarizes the new research performed for the exhibit in den Bosch. Given certain friction between den Bosch museum and Prado (which categorically refused to lend Garden of Earthly Delights to be shown in painter's native town) it's interesting to compare the notes from Prado Exhibition (on view till Sep 25, 2016) - the very well produced Prado catalog is available here as well  Bosch. The 5th Centenary Exhibition Catalogue, Museo del Prado  .

Good if you would like to know more about bhis life.

EN: I bought this catalogue because I did not have the opportunity to see the 2016 exhibition in s'Hertogenbosh. I am perfectly satisfied with the product per se, not so much with the vendor.The book was sold (at €21.10, the discount was less than the 15% customarily applied to books sold online) and shipped by Amazon EU S.a.r.L. AS NEW. My copy is a REMAINDER, i.e. it is new inside but on the outside it shows minor scratches and dirt marks, especially on the back and on the pages side (which is supposed to be white), apparently it was stored on the floor or on a dirty shelf instead of a box. BEWARE: gift wrapping is offered but THIS PRODUCT IS NOT SUITABLE AS A GIFT.IT: Ho acquistato il catalogo perché non ho potuto vedere la mostra olandese del 2016. Sono soddisfattissima del libro in se, non altrettanto del venditore. Il libro è stato venduto (a €21.10, quindi con uno sconto inferiore al 15% che si applica normalmente ai libri online) e spedito da Amazon EU S.a.r.L. COME NUOVO. La copia che ho ricevuto è un REMAINDER, cioè il libro è nuovo all'interno ma all'esterno ha dei piccoli graffi e segni di sporco, soprattutto sul retro e sul lato pagine (che dovrebbe essere bianco), evidentemente è stato stoccato per terra o su una scaffalatura sporca invece che in una scatola. Quindi nonostante venga offerta la confezione regalo NON E' ADATTO PER UN REGALO.

We made a special effort to visit the Bosch exhibition in 's-Hertogenbosch in April, and we were not disappointed - it was excellent if rather crowded, being completely booked out. Almost all Bosch's known and presumed paintings and drawings were on view, but we were rather disappointed that the English version of the catalogue was already sold out at the exhibition itself. However, Amazon came to the rescue, so we ordered it online, and it had been delivered by the time we got home. There are many books on Bosch, but this one is among the best, and can be recommended as the standard work on the subject.

Pubblicato in occasione della mostra per i 500 anni dalla morte di Hieronymus Bosch (dal 13 febbraio all'8 maggio 2016 nella sua città natale, 's-Hertogenbosch) non è un catalogo, anche se contiene le fotografie realizzate in altissima risoluzione delle opere raccolte (la grande maggioranza di quelle riconosciute essere di Bosch). Alcune opere sono state restaurate proprio in occasione della mostra e quindi le foto sono pubblicate qui per la prima volta. Il testo in inglese racconta tutta la vita e le opere di Bosch attraverso un percorso tematico: Il pellegrinaggio di una vita; La vita di Cristo; Bosch illustratore; Santi; La fine dei tempi...La qualità grafica del libro è straordinaria e così la narrazione, rivolta ad un pubblico vasto e allo stesso tempo molto approfondita.

Superb modern colour photos/printing, with nice blow-ups. One reviewer thought it was not quite sharp: probably low light, so as not to damage the originals? Would have liked more monsters/ hell. But, on balance: a delightful book.

(I've been to the Visions of Genius exhibition in 's-Hertogenbosch, so I'm hoping this review might be helpful to others in placing the role of this book.)This book is the official catalogue for the Bosch - Visions of Genius 500 year retrospective and celebration of the work of Hieronymus Bosch, currently on display in 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. This English version of the catalogue is completely sold out at the venue, so if you want it buy it here.Like all art exhibition catalogues, this is a walk through of the works displayed and gives some detail of their history and features. This isn't an academic discussion book and it doesn't go into detail on immense research, exploration and re-assessment of Bosch's work that went into making the exhibition (if you want that it's available from a specialist publisher in two volumes, costing £100 each).The book is very good value. Similar catalogues from art shows at the Tate and National Gallery cost £35-£40. So this is a bargain. The paper weight and print colour is excellent, and the text size and white space is easy on the eye - which is necessary when you're looking at page after page of monsters.I've docked the book one star for two reasons. The text layout can be a little confusing. The text is presented in two strict columns, but placement of the column headings often lead me to think I was still reading about the previous painting. The other issue is the translation from Dutch. It's very, very well translated, but there are still the occasional jarring words and odd phrasings which possibly should have been picked up at the native proof read stage. But I'm being a bit harsh here. It's a wonderful catalogue and a bargain price.