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| Paul McCartney: Paintings | 
 enlarge | Creators: Paul Mccartney, Brian Clarke, Julian Treuherz, Barry Miles, Wolfgang Suttner, Christoph Tannert
Publisher: Bulfinch
Category: Book
List Price: $50.00
Buy New: $2.89
You Save: $47.11 (94%)
Buy New/Used from $2.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  (13 reviews)
Sales Rank: 423664
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 148
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.2
Dimensions (in): 12.9 x 10.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0821226738
Dewey Decimal Number: 759.2
EAN: 9780821226735
ASIN: 0821226738
Publication Date: September 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Tony Bennett, David Byrne, and occasionally David Bowie all do it--they make art. With the introduction of Paul McCartney: Paintings, we can now add the famous Beatle to the list. The book is a catalog of paintings from McCartney's 1999 exhibition in Germany. Music and art have many things in common; for McCartney it is the freedom to "play" that connects both endeavors. Fittingly, his paintings draw most of their influence from abstract expressionism, in which the material quality of the paint itself inspires the drips, blobs, and splatters. His paintings range from cartoon-like figures and faces to open landscapes. The colors are dynamic with varying thicknesses of paint, some with marks scratched into the surface, all with stories and symbolic value. From the illustrations and accompanying essays to the very candid interview, we are given remarkable insight into McCartney's practice as a committed creative person. He confides his insecurities as a painter who has never gone to art school, and his defining moments as an artist both musically and visually. There is an unusually generous section in which McCartney discusses many of the paintings in the book; it's a behind-the-scenes look as he elaborates on the personal meanings behind certain symbols, tells stories and anecdotes, and acknowledges his painterly influences, specifically Willem de Kooning. Also included are personal photographs of the artist at work, 117 color illustrations, and 17 duotone photographs. --J.P. Cohen
Product Description
For over seventeen years, Paul McCartney has been a committed painter, discovering in paint on canvas another expression beyond his music that has made him such a beloved artist worldwide. His painting, like much of his life, has been a very private endeavor. Last year he exhibited the work for the first time in a small museum in Germany, where it met with critical acclaim. In Paul McCartney: Paintings he shares this work for all to enjoy. His is a world full of faces: from the many lovely abstract portraits of Linda to irreverent, affectionate portraits of the Queen, and the playful, Warhol-like portrait of himself as an Elvis clone ("Elvish Me"). This positive mood is shaded by intriguing, darker masks and portraits, and also abstract landscapes redolent with a sense of place. He sculpts and carves the paint upon the canvas, working with a physical pleasure and immersion influenced by his friend, Willem de Kooning. Candid photographs by Linda McCartney of her husband in the studio provide an exciting counterpoint to the work revealed. Brief texts by critics place his paintings within context, while a long and insightful interview allows McCartney's own voice to be heard. The delight he feels in his exploration of pigment and canvas is contagious; readers cannot help but be drawn into this warm and often playful world and will emerge with a new respect for his creative genius.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 One of the best art books in recent years January 16, 2008
Among hundreds of art books in my collection, Paul McCartney's Paintings is one of the 5-6 I return most often to.
His are very personal paintings - as he admits himself. I find them beautiful and inspiring, every time after viewing the book I feel like grubbing the brush myself...
Are they professional?
If by that we mean 'commercial' - I believe they are not.
But they represent very special type of abstract expression: inspired by but not necessary aspiring to "approach the style of the models (de Kooning in this case)" as some very pompous reviewer wrote in Publishers Weekly (cited by Amazon), expression of a deep intellectual persona.
The interview with the artist and discussion of the more significant paintings presents very unpretentious, down-to-earth and passionate painter.
There are thousands of us - painting our hart out for our own use, craving a feedback, but not necessary willing to step out from our own, intimate world...
Who knows, we may encounter an art 'specialist' like those two who gave 1-star valuations of the book (Jim-the-good-guy or the Anonymous). The two who wrote just to write something negative about a celebrity stepping out-of-the-line, rather than presenting their point of view. That's probably their only chance to 'get' an over-achiever, excelling in yet another field of art and adding more to his celebrity - all what most of us desire, but very few achieve. I bet that these two buy tabloids and devour tasty details of Paul's divorce...
But the biggest put-down comes from the above mentioned Reed Business Information (?) reviewer. 'Inane titles', not even approaching the style or significance of the 'master', one, (truly weak) sentence, taken out of context from otherwise interesting, intimate discussions between Paul McCartney and Wolfgang Suttner, and, finally, the "loose assortment of little-known art journalists with varying degrees of separation from McCartney" - how else to display high-brow disgust... on implied self-promotion of Paul McCartney.
As I mentioned before, I have access to hundreds of art books. Most of them were written by independent, well-known, influential and knowledgeable art critics... Most of the books are un-readable art-gab - I keep them just for the pictures of, otherwise, great art.
I recommend this book to anybody who likes free, un-educated but sophisticated abstract art.
I can only hope that the artist continues to paint and we will be able to see more of his internal life on canvas - it's very interesting.
Sooo Impressed August 1, 2003
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Paul McCartneys is not only a great recording artist, but he is a GREAT painter as well. He is a true artist. I enjoy his art very much, and I was extremely impressed that he can paint the way he can. I would place right up there among Picasso and Chagall. He's that good.
Dripping with color July 13, 2001
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
It's a joy to flip through this book of wildly inventive faces and colorful dreamscapes. There is a freedom and a vibrance to McCartney's paintings, that, like his music, can't help but draw you in and infect you with a buoyant kind of wonder.These paintings tear at the boundaries of what you think can and can't be done. They're appealing and yet completely unpredictable. In short, they are paintings from the same imagination that came up with both "I Will" and "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" and then had the not-so-common-sense to put them back-to-back on the same record. McCartney is obviously setting the artist inside free with these bold, bright canvases. Whether this is great art, that is really a question that each pair of eyes must answer in its own way, in its own unique language. I for one am glad that McCartney has chosen to make his paintings public. I find these colorful canvases, and the artisitic courage that propelled them into being, quite inspiring.
Unpretentious Art! May 5, 2001
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Regardless of the high brow reviews of this book, I chose to purchase this book to see if this was another celebrity who found art and realized their celebrity could sell their art. Bottom line I had hoped that McCartney's personality would triuumph and his down to earth philoposphy would come through. Indeed it did and this is the first Unpretentious book on Art I have ever read. If anyone has the desire to paint, draw or create but is held back through social conditioninig this book is for you. McCartney albeit through interviews and ghost writers tells how he himself freed himself from his own perfectionist procrastination mode and at the age of 40 painted. What resulted I found to be liberating in the way that in his celebrity circle of friedns he learned from William De Kooning how to "kill the canvas" and get over the fear of standing in front of a blank canvas. Additionaly McCartney goes onto explain his creative process for his paintings again influenced by De Kooning. He discussed how he would write a friends name on a canvas or a sketch or just a smudge of paint and see what stimulated his creative enery to produce and be led by creativity instead of coming to the easle prepared with a pre-conceived idea. McCartney never pretends to be a De Kooning or indeed a high brow artist. He comes across as someone who enjoys the process and output that art offers. Through his own conditioning he is also seeking the feedback for his efforts, regardless of the technicalities I for one see his work as inspirational and has encouraged me to go and "kill the canvas" myself.
Interesting Abstract Expressionism February 26, 2001
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
While I didn't like all of the paintings, I did find it an interesting book to look through. The influence of DeKoinig and the other Abstract Expressionists is clear and interesting (if not on the cutting edge of today's art scene.)All in all, it adds another dimention to this very complex man. I look forward to reading his book of poetry for the same reason. I am a dancer who is also a writer, so I understand the desire to expand disciplines, and I applaud it.
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