Decorative Art of Russia

by Random House and Rh Value Publishing

Hard cover with dust jacket. Comprehensive historic overview of decorative art motifs unique to Russia. Fully illustrated with color references. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517017741
• ISBN13: 9780517017746
• Release Date: August 1990
• Publisher: Gramercy Books
• Weight: 3.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great resource for calligraphy

With 100 oversized full color plates, this is a wonderful resource for old Russian design, particularly for calligraphers. The first 20 pages are a brief introduction and the rest of the book is simply gorgeous images. The first 60 plates are directly taken from Stasov's Slavic and Oriental Ornament and are the most useful. They are collections of ornaments from Russian gospels ranging from the 11th-17th centuries, as well as both Armenian and Georgian examples. Nothing new here, but Bowater including them here makes them more available to English speaking audiences since Stasov's books are much less affordable. I was hoping for better coverage of textiles and embroidery. There are only 5 total plates (with one item each on them, all from the 18th century.) Really, there isn't much here other than the scribal ornament, but it was well worth obtaining the book for just that and what there is in the other sections is beautifully photographed.

Russian Design Reference

I bought this book because it was in one of my favorite quilt designer's book library. She was right to have it. Russian Design is a rich reference tool for any artist of any media needing a little extra inspiration for their project. I look at it at least once every few weeks to see what I can glean from its pages. A good book to have.