Title: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939) Post by: Pat - 查尚杰 on May 24, 2011, 06:07:35 am A biography and study by Ma Zhengsan, ....
My long-awaited copy just arrived yesterday, and I cant say how pleased I am with this book. I highly recommend this to ALL IPB lovers and collectors! Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shouxuan (1867-1939) Post by: George on May 24, 2011, 10:56:00 am Congrats on getting the book !
Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shouxuan (1867-1939) Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on May 25, 2011, 09:35:38 am Hi Pat
Where did you get the book? Cheers Peter PS : I think you have no space problem at your home in Thailand but I do have serious a space problem in HK* and I'm trying to digitise my art books from now on. Seems there could be a trade in thids Forum in exchanging scanned / digitised copies of art books on memory sticks. That would also speed up cutting and cropping into data bases like mine . No point for two of us to go through all the work of scanning the same art book ( and it IS very hard work ..... ) Cheers Peter * and even a weight problem : I recently decided to move my heaviest art and bottle books from the top shelves above my bottle display cabinets to lower shelves under the cabinets, in case the weight of the books collapsed my glass display shelves and broke my bottles Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shouxuan (1867-1939) Post by: George on May 25, 2011, 12:24:31 pm Seems there could be a trade in thids Forum in exchanging scanned / digitised copies of art books on memory sticks. What do you mean ?? Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shouxuan (1867-1939) Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on May 25, 2011, 05:58:26 pm Hi George
I mean that if Forum member A has already scanned books XYZ and I have scanned books PQR , we could simply exchange memory sticks as mutual favor . It's nice to own art books and look at them . But many of the best and most important books ( eg J. H. Leung's "New Look" as the example per excellence) are long since out of print and both pricy and rare on the second-hand book market . But personally speaking, once I get aquire such books , I tend to just scan them and then use the cut / cropped images for regular viewing. Meanwhile the books gather dust and take up space at home. I don't mind sharing my scanned book images with a few other active Forum members free of charge : memory sticks these days cost peanuts. But the real work , and therefore the hidden cost, is the scanning / cutting/ cropping . A 200- page book like New Look is about a week or more of hard work : it takes about 10 minutes per page by the time you have scanned, page-numbered, cut, enhanced and cropped a page with multiple bottle images. So it would be nice if some other Forum members eventually share the workload, and also the rare books they have. The way forward is certainly digital ! Cheers Peter Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shouxuan (1867-1939) Post by: George on May 25, 2011, 07:13:28 pm Got ya .. ! :)
Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shouxuan (1867-1939) Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on May 25, 2011, 08:11:53 pm Hi George, All Hope some other Forum members also got the message ! Cheers Peter PS : scans must be made at max scanner resolution = 2 - 3 Mb per A4 page. Low- res scans ( 100 - 200 kb/page are useless) Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939) Post by: Pat - 查尚杰 on May 25, 2011, 09:24:10 pm I agree. The problem on my hand is time and presence in ONE location. I cant even find the time to catalog and take pics of my own collection. One day soon enough. I have started taking some basic photos for starters, and will at least create a web album of them in next few months. So dont go out and buy the book in the header. One day I will find the time to scan it according to the specs Peter indicated lol. I also have the Inkplay in Microcosm book on order, so that is another one that can be added to the list. Finally, I have also started putting post-its on ALL and ANY book or catalogs that has IPBs displayed or reference material on it ,for eventual scanning. So you see Peter (lol), if I am one of those OTHER members you refer to, I have started the basic work. But I am guessing you are not only referring to me, or at least I hope so. ;D
Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shouxuan (1867-1939) Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on May 26, 2011, 11:21:14 am Hi Pat
No OF COURSE not referring to you ! Cheers Peter Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939) Post by: Pat - 查尚杰 on May 30, 2011, 10:56:53 pm I have more time to answer some mail these days, so first of all. Paragon Books has a sale on the Ma Shao Xuan biography. $45 instead of $85. Go check it out.
http://www.paragonbook.com/html/browsesubj/fullcitation.cfm?item=9618 I read the entire book. I learned a lot and especially gained a much better appreciation for calligraphy bottles. Overall still very happy, but some critique before you go out and buy: The author, although the grandson of Ma Shao Xuan, and brother of a painter-grandson (Ma Zeng Quan) NEVER attempts to explain or even mention the relationship of MSX to Ma Guangju (older brother, also IP artist), AND a second older brother, never mentioned by name, who also painted. Furthermore, the relationship to Ma Shou Xian (cousin of MSX and his pupil) was never highlighted or explained. This books gives a good background but raises more questions, especially IF there ever was a 'MA' school, which in my opinion, there must have been, given the existence of rather succesful Ma Shou Xian, and Ma Guangju, and the third unidentified brother. Mindboggling that the author does not even attempt to mention his own brother, of whom there is a bottle in the book, with a portrait of MSX. Nevertheless, this book is still highly recommended, at the very least at this very discounted price!!! Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shouxuan (1867-1939) Post by: George on May 31, 2011, 01:40:18 am Looks like it is back to the original 85.00..
I wonder if because of being a biography and study that is specific to Ma Shaoxuan, recounting "his life" and career could expains the lack of recounting other family/painter relationships ? Title: Re: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939) Post by: Pat - 查尚杰 on May 31, 2011, 04:11:47 am :o .. darn. checked it before I posted this morning!!
Mine was full price when i bought it. But when I checked and linked it to you guys it was more than half off! Dont know how long they had it on sale or how many copies. Shipping alone was $50 USD, snail mail EVEN, took almost 4 weeks ...! THAT always kills me. The international shipping costs are prohibitive these days. Sad... Well, my thought was that a biography also recounts relationships with other family members, most of the time. And in this case, to have 2 brothers, one cousin, and a grandson as inside painters. It just seems a pity not to explore that piece, and put into perspective the pecking order or mastery of MSX and the Ma family. Seems Ma Shao Xian and Ma Guangju also signed MSX on bottles, just like the Ye family, but no mention of it in the book by the author (only a brief reference to Ma Shou Xian copying MSX work by John Gilmore Ford in the Foreword). Hugh Moss mentions this somewhere also, but I can't find the reference back. :( |