Hieronymus Bosch, Painter and Draughtsman: Catalogue Raisonné

WOW. The best coffee table, art book I've ever owned. You'll entertain all the right guests and frighten all the wrong ones. The amount of research that went into this book is staggering. They treated the work of Bosch with the reverence deserved. With one painting you may have 4 pages of history, 3 pages of x ray scans and fine details of sub-layers. It's incredible.I've never seen an art presented with such diligence and respect. I'm not kidding when I say the book itself is a work of art. It's set the bar high for all books in this genre to follow.I'm the guy that spends 30 minutes studying every purchase - whether its something for $3 or $300. I do my research. This was a steal, it sells for $30-75 more on other book sites. And, ITS GORGEOUS

This is the BEST art book I have ever ordered. Its quality is A-1 as well as the size and length and everything! Worth every penny! I will treasure this book forever.

An exceptional edition! Just peace of art...

This book is so gorgeous I don't know where to start with the superlatives. Bosch is the Man of Nightmares, and this book reproduces them in fabulous color prints that leap off the page, terrify one, and keep one up at night. Scary stuff, and very, very good.

A remarkable, indeed, landmark accomplishment in the field of Bosch research. This definitive work will be the last word for years to come. Bravo to the entire team of specialists who gathered the data and assembled this amazing book. which is a work of art in its own right.

Huge tomb! Amazing photos. The best on the subject. I'll have this book in my shelf for decades.

High quality book. Text is a bit dry, and the illustrations are not oriented with the text on the same page which is a major problem; I could never figure out the cryptic reference system they use for illustrations.

An outstanding book on an iconic genius.

2016 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of one of the the great geniuses of Early Netherlandish painting - Hieronymus Bosch. To commemorate this anniversary, an exhibition is being held in his home town of 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, and thereafter at the Prado in Madrid, Spain. The exhibition itself has achieved praise far and wide for having secured 20 of 25 surviving panels by Bosch.Accompanying the exhibition, the Bosch Research and Conservation Project have produced three English language books published through Yale and Mercatorfonds. There is 'Hieronymous Bosch: Visions of Genius'; an inexpensive paperback exhibition catalogue, and is considerably smaller than either of the other two major works - the one reviewed here and the other being the 'Technical Studies', a similarly large tome to this. The inexpensive paperback catalogue is lavishly illustrated with the works that appear in the show. It is also testament to the marvellous organisation and work of the couriers in producing what appears to be a dazzling show. The essays therein are short, but thorough, clear and to the point - discussing the paintings themselves as well as Bosch's life and approach to painting.This work under review, however, is nothing short of splendid. A beautifully produced and fascinating catalogue raisonné in the truest sense of the word. After just shy of a hundred pages introducing the artist and being a fuller, more thorough series of essays touched upon in the exhibition guide mentioned above, the catalogue launches into the paintings and drawings themselves. The body of the catalogue contains extensive and lengthy entries for all the known works by Bosch, as well as those by his studio and those of his followers. The language used by the authors is intelligent, yet approachable, without being patronising (I smiled when I read the description of one of Bosch's dogs not being a "mutt", and some of the knives being seen as "Bollock daggers" - truly a first in art historical terms!). The book is full and thorough information about the subject or subjects of the painting, accompanied by an excellent bibliography of sources by each picture, and an extensive discussion, and thorough assessment of the painting or drawing in question. There is an absence of specific technical information such as the framing, the mounting, etc but that level of technical detail would appear to covered in significant depth of the accompanying 'Technical Studies' (which I have only scanned through). Colours in the book appear true and accurate; in addition, there are lots of close ups of important relevant details of the paintings discussed in the work. This is rather than having to look for them with a strong magnifying glass - always a good thing in any book of paintings which contain such a magnicent wealth of detail.The book is large and heavy in weight. It is also protected by a strong reinforced slipcase to protect it. To be sure, this is no lightweight work - psysically nor mentally. But, it is a superlative work - one of the best on the artist (who has had numerous books over the years), and is certainly one of the best "complete works" over the last few decades. The scholarship and writing is serious and has been compiled by recognised experts of Bosch, rather than in-house authors. This is demonstrated by the high level, and high standard, of contributors who are from various institutions around the world.To conclude, this work is certainly for the discerning Bosch enthusiast and/or scholar, if bought alongside Larry Silver's splendid monograph on Bosch (still in print as of May 2016) published by Abbeville, so if these two books together, they should be sufficient for most private libraries. Certainly, short of another Bosch being discovered in the future, it is unlikely that between these two works one will ever need to buy another book on Bosch ever again. Even for the beginner or somebody just starting to dip into the strange universe Bosch created, this book is an excellent choice. Finally, on a personal note, I feel that this work should set the standards by how catalogues raisonné should be produced from here on, on all artists, and at a more than reasonable and acceptable price given the high standard of work, research and writing not to mention reproductions of the works inside.A masterful work indeed on a fascinating, extraordinary, complex and complicated artist. A bold but exciting step forward in art scholarship, as can be seen in the continued high standard of catalogues raisonné produced by Yale on this and other artists (Pompeo BAtoni, etc) . Also it is without question one of the best books so far on Renaissance (including the Northern Renaissance) in 2016 - recommended most strongly and highly !!

Overall, an excellent work and edition as expected. Stars deducted for an abysmal presentation of the main works - e.g., triptychs - discussed here. While the details of all works are presented in an excellent fashion - both editorial and technical - the starting images of the large works (dissected further in a minute detail) are printed very small and are of very poor quality. Why not proper, large fold-outs? Why cutting the corners in artist key reference source? I need my other books on Bosch to enjoy their beauty, originality and composition of these complex works. Such approach should not have place in this catalogue raisonne; this should be a pinnacle of presentation of Bosch's output - sadly, it is not. It seems that the art critics working on Bosch here are falling into typical approach to his works, and are overtaken by the fascination by the details, not being able to appreciate the impact and cohesiveness of his overall individual oeuvre.

A truly beautiful book about an amazing artist. Sadly I returned it as its so very heavy and I struggled to pick it up. Its the biggest and heaviest art book i have bought and I have many. Don't let this put you off as its beautiful and im sure fascinating. Will replace with a decent Tashen.

Amazing bookBest Bosch book by farAmazing illustrationsIt was like swimming in the art

In my view as a general medievalist rather than an art historian this colume in its protective case appears to be a superbly documented catalogue raisonné, beautifully illustrated with much close-up detail illustrating Bosch's techniques.