The Painted House

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Beautifully designed and illustrated, and accompanied by a concise text, this book offers a curiously limited but enticing glimpse of the possibilities of interior wall painting. Rust, an English muralist, has compiled reproductions of over 100 of his murals designed for a variety of spaces, complete with handsome watercolor sketches illustrating the development of each design. His work, while masterfully executed, is largely derivative, relying on the art of antiquity and a trompe l'oeil painting technique. Most of the murals depicted are grand and fantastical and aspire to an old-world luxuriance better suited to hotel and restaurant walls than the average home, but contain details easily adapted to the needs of humbler spaces. Only a small portion of the volume is devoted to actual painting technique and practice. This is clearly not a do-it-yourself book; only an experienced painter could realize a mural based on information gleaned from the text. As a designer's sourcebook, it is limited by the homogeneity of Rust's own style, but offers valuable information on design considerations and conveys a refreshingly magical eccentricity. (Oct.)

Library Journal

These three books look at decorative painting on a grand scale. Wrigley provides an overview of the art in her mostly inspirational rather than practical guide. She gives an international look at mural and trompe l'oeil painting in historical and contemporary settings, even including work by Rust. In his own work, Rust details his approach to trompe l'oeil by showing planned and in-situ projects that he has designed. He gives painting and planning advice as well as his sources for the inspiration of his designs. His book will be useful for experienced decoraters. Buckingham offers the amateur more detailed instructions for decorating walls, beginning with a review of necesarry equipment. She provides instructions for smaller projects before approaching larger-scale stenciling work such as painting mosaic floors and trompe l'oeil fireplaces, although stenciling is covered in better detail in Jane Gauss's Stencilling Techniques (LJ 5/15/96). While all are recommended where there is an interest, Buckingham and Rust should be the first choices for how-to collections.