Little book makes big story

Kid & Dog, one of Ans Westra's images from Washday at the Pa, which stirred up controversy when it was first published in 1964. Photo / Supplied

Washday at the Pa
by Ans Westra
(Suite Publishing $24.95)

First published as a Department of Education booklet in 1964, this was a controversial little book in its time because Westra's photos - taken over a period of one day - showed a family in Ruatoria as they really were. Not all scrubbed up and carefully presented but kids with holes in their jerseys, grime on their bare feet, the walls of their house unpainted, mum smoking a cig.

Never mind that the family was obviously warm and loving. The book was, says the introduction, "a lightning rod for discussion about how society - and in particular Maori - are represented through photography". It was withdrawn, then republished with "tidier" images and PC captions. This is a selection from both, with a commentary contextualising its lasting impact.

The Louvre: All the Paintingsby Erich Lessing & Vincent Pomarede

(Black Dog & Leventhal $129.99)

A hefty tome (784 pages) which gathers for the first time every single painting from the Louvre, as well as examining in greater depth 400 of its most significant works.

If you have ever staggered around the enormous Paris gallery, you'll know you can manage a maximum of two or three hours before the legs and brain start to buckle. While nothing can be better than face-to-face engagement with its art, this is an invaluable collaboration between photographer Erich Lessing and the book's writers, Louvre painting collection curator Vincent Pomarede and art historian Anja Grebe. Its aim is to offer "a view of the treasures ... to the highest possible number of people".

It is supplemented by a DVD-ROM that allows you to browse the collection by artist, era, genre and room-by-room.

Art Toi: New Zealand Art at Auckland Art GalleryEdited by Ron Brownson

(Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki $59.95)

This is a handsome book published to mark the reopening of the expanded gallery in September. It surveys more than 300 works by 181 artists of "Aotearoa New Zealand", says the foreword by AAG director Chris Saines.

That means many of the earliest people represented here were not New Zealanders but artists attached to explorers such as Cook and Abel Tasman, who came here, recorded their impressions and left. Then came a wave of colonial artists such as John Kinder and Petrus van der Velden.

Some, like Frances Hodgins, were born here but moved to Europe. The book starts with 1642-1920 and advances through to contemporary artists such as Liz Maw, Andrew McLeod and Rohan Wealleans. The striking thing is the emergence of New Zealand artists with a confidence and originality that could come from no other country. The Best of the Rejection CollectionRescued by Matthew Diffee

(Workman $29.99)

"293 cartoons that were too dumb, too dark, or too naughty for the New Yorker", and some of them are very naughty indeed. As the introduction notes, "this collection of cartoons happily exploit all that is vile for the sake of a smile". It also warns that while some of them might make you laugh out loud, they could also "cause incontinence, nausea and fainting". That's absurd. But some of them will make you wince. Others will induce a snigger - and the standard of drawing is excellent.

Art In Actionby Maja Pitamic

(Modern Books $29.99)

Here's a lovely one for kids aged 5-12 who enjoy drawing (it might also be nice for adults who never learned). It asks a valid question: if you used to scribble away all the time when you were little, why did you stop?

Each themed chapter - colour, black and white, shape, animals, portraits, landscape, myths and legends, light and shade - focuses on a specific work of art and the story behind it, then teaches techniques to try to emulate it in multi-media ways.

Great fun