Mrs. BookFox pointed out to me the work of Stanford Kay, who paints books in a series called “Gutenberg Variations.” She paints quite a lot of books, actually. One might call it an obsession. An obsession that has been going on since 2003.
Since I’m quite skeptical of the companies that sell beautiful hardback books by the foot, books that will never be read and exist only to spruce up the colors and sophistication of a room, I would advocate Kay’s work as a replacement. You get art and avoid pretense. Plus your walls still have that busy peace of a well-read individual.
Her style is akin to abstract realism, with a hint of impressionism, built around the solidly geometric shapes of the books. I especially enjoy the complexity of the grids formed by all the quadrilateral shapes. It reminds me of the work of Hans Hoffman, who paints brightly colored squares and rectangles reminiscent of cityscapes.
Here are some examples of Kay’s paintings:
4 comments
These are amazing, I’d love to own one, especially that last one. Thanks for sharing!
I think the third one down is my favorite. I love the hues of blue.
I love these! Thanks for sharing!
I’d like one of those for the only wall that’s not book covered in this room.