This volume of Gruau's art is astonishingly beautiful. The paper, print and the color are of high quality, There are more than 100 plates, mostly in color, each devoid of text and page numbers. For easy reference there are numbered thumbnails at the back of the book. This man's portrayal of women and fashion is mesmerizing. His economy of line, portrayal of movement and use of color are breathtaking. The expression of emotion on these pages almost "speaks out loud". Although brimming with style and sophistication, to limit Mr. Gruau's art and this book to the category of fashion would be an injustice. This is true art and there is much to be learned from studying these drawings. What a treasure!

This is a wonderfully illustrated collection of Gruau's work that cannot be found anywhere else. The colors are breathtaking and the images are larger than life. If you like fashion illustration, you will not be disapointed by Gruau's work. He is in a class by himself. Chic, stylish and unique!

This book is absolutely gorgeous and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who loves art and design books. His work is beautiful and it captures the elegance and glamour of the fashion world. His use of line and colour is simple but perfect and it fills each image with life and emotion.

The book itself is well thought-out. The first section is devoted to information about the artist, along with some photographs. The majority of the book is devoted to his work, with each image given an entire page, with no text or even a page number to detract from it. The last section has information on each of the individual pieces in the main section. It even has thumbnails of each piece to save flipping back and forth(handy since there are no page numbers!!) I absolutely love this book!!! It may be expensive, but it's well worth the money.
Enjoy :)

I had never heard of Rene Gruau until I saw the book on display at a local bookstore. As I started to open the book, I figured that the inside couldn't possibly be as beautiful as the cover (see above). I'm happy to say that this big book is awe-inspiringly beautiful from cover to cover. Many times I would turn a page and gasp at the bold design, fluid line, aggressive color and sheer brilliance of composition. I know nothing about fashion, but I know what I like. If you like Mucha, Klimt, Scheile, Petty (not to mention Japanese brush and ink) you'll love this book. Even at that price, it's a bargain!