The Art and Flair of Mary Blair

List Price: $45.00

Price: $70.76

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Lenny's description:

Seller's description:
For more than a dozen years, an unassuming, quiet-spoken woman dominated Disney design. The stylishness and vibrant color of Disney films in the early 1940s through mid-1950s came primarily from artist Mary Blair. In her prime, she was an amazingly prolific American artist who enlivened and influenced the not-so-small worlds of film, print, theme parks, architectural decor, and advertising. At its core, her art represented joyful creativity and communicated pure pleasure to the viewer. Her exuberant fantasies brimmed with beauty, charm, and wit, melding a child's fresh eye with adult experience. Blair's personal flair comprised the imagery that flowed effortlessly and continually for more than a half a century from her brush. Emulated by many, she remains inimitable: a dazzling sorceress of design and color.

Product details:

Item number (ASIN): B002ECEG98
Author: John Canemaker
Dewey Decimal Number: 709.2
Edition: 1
Format: Bargain Price
Manufacturer: Disney Editions
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 128
Package Dimensions: 60 x 970 x 1020 (hundredths-inches)
Publication Date: September 1, 2003
Publisher: Disney Editions
Release Date: August 11, 2003
Binding: Hardcover

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Amazon.com customer reviews:

Average Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- A GEM of a book... and a wonderful person
This book is a must for any student of Disney. I am certain a bigger book of Mary Blair could be produced, but you cannot pass this up. The only thing that weighs on me is the story of the end of her life. Pages 98-100 are absolutely heartbreaking. I shutter to imagine what her family's homelife was like. A woman with this spirit and lively vision deserved a better end. As much joy as this book brings to me... it carries an bittersweet edge that stays with me.

Rating:

- Wonderful artwork
A short Mary Blair biography, beatifully illustrated with Blair's work and some photos of her at different points at life. The text is simple and pleasant, but won't get much deep into her work. In addition to that, the volume of pictures is very modest compared to Mary's output, so the selection stands more for a brief portfolio of the artist, rather than a thorough compilation of her tremendous number of works. The design of the book is really beatiful and worth every penny, and if one desires a general overview of Mary's flair, this books suits perfectly.

Rating:

- Good but Blair deserves better
She's one of the legendary artists at Disney, still influential even to this day. I just wish there are even more images in this book. I don't buy the book to read, I buy it because I want to see her art.. She's an artist, let her artwork speak. I'm giving it a four star because this is practically the only book about her that I can find. If anyone else wants to find more of her work in Disney, try scouring the Disney art-of books for some color keys, and character designs.

Rating:

- Disney classic
my Mom LOVES Mary Blair, I got her this book for Mother's Day and it was a big hit. Great book, highly recommended.

Rating:

- Better than nothing, nevertheless...
While I sensed this work left a lot unsaid and seen (the text especially, seems thin) it still bears mentioning that we now have something in print that is solely devoted to this magnificent artwork. I thought the colorful book liner figures were the highlights. While I have no idea of how much time the author (who struck me as a lovely fellow and true fan during a brief autograph-signing years ago...) spent on his research and image-gathering it sure seemed like he could have gone deeper, at the very least in the commentary and analysis of her work and process. It seemed superficial and hurried in several places. But again, my happiness at just having something about Mary Blair on my shelf that I can pull out and leaf through any old time, has a supreme value on that alone.