James W. Reid (1933–2016)

This is a Sotheby’s Publications product, and as could be expected quite a classy production. The binding is well crafted, the paper semi glossy and quite heavy, the layout is good, the pictures are well reproduced, the typography elegant and without undue boldness or size. The foreword by Prince Philip is printed as a facsimile of his letter, Buckingham Palace letter mark included, but pictures owned by him are only accredited at the end as with other lenders. After the intro follows 90 colour reproductions in geographically organized sections , followed by 180 pages of text with many b/w reproductions inserted.
The text is in general fine to me: there are a number of maps showing where Seago travelled and a good deal of text on these places, a biography, a not too speculative chapter on methodology, and a bit of low-key complaining about critics’ enmity towards Seago’s traditionalism.
A slight irritation I found in the constant “cultural” name-dropping, where the connection between the anecdote or citation containing a highly cultural name and Seago’s paintings must be said to be slight indeed, but okay: the snobbery is low-key too. “Upper class” book.… (más)