Exhibition catalogues and specific collections Books

Book SynopsisJose Clemente Orozco's 1930 mural, Prometheus, created for the Pomona College campus, is a dramatic and gripping examination of heroism. This thoughtful exhibition catalogue examines the multiple ways Orozco's vision resonates with four artists working in Mexico today. Isa Carrillo, Adela Goldbard, Rita Ponce de Leo n, and Naomi Rinco n-Gallardo share Orozco's interest in history, justice, social protest, storytelling, and power, yet approach these topics from their own twenty-first- century sensibilities. These artists activate Orozco's mural by reinvigorating Prometheus for a contemporary audience.This gorgeous volume presents substantial new scholarship connecting Mexican muralism with contemporary art practices. Three new essays address different aspects of Orozco, Prometheus, and the connections between Los Angeles and Mexico. The contributors take on a broad range of topics, from murals as public art to how Orozco's work fits into contemporary frameworks of aesthetic theory. The book also includes a chronology, vibrant reproductions, and critical essays focused on the contemporary artists.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume accompanies a major international loan exhibition featuring some three hundred works of art rarely or never before seen in the United States. It traces the development of gold working and other luxury arts in the Americas from antiquity until the arrival of Europeans in the early sixteenth century. Featuring spectacular works from recent excavations in Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico, this exhibition focuses on specific places and times-crucibles of innovation-where artistic exchange, rivalry, and creativity led to the production of some of the greatest works of art known from the ancient Americas. The book and exhibition explore not only artistic practices but also the historical, cultural, social, and political conditions in which luxury arts were produced and circulated, alongside their religious meanings and ritual functions.Golden Kingdoms creates new understandings ofancient American art through a thematic exploration ofindigenous ideas of value and luxury. Central to thebook is the idea of the exchange of materials and ideasacross regions and across time: works of great valuewould often be transported over long distances, or passed down over generations, in both cases attracting new audiences and inspiring new artists. The idea of exchange is at the intellectual heart of this volume, researched and written by twenty scholars based in the United States and Latin America.Trade Review"With twelve major articles and over two hundred detailed catalog descriptions/illustrations, this book will obviously be a necessity in any library that caters to an informed public."--Ornament magazine "With beautiful images illustrating the rich diversity of objects and the materials used to make them, this thorough book offers an insight into the values of different cultures in the ancient Americas." --Current World Archaeology "A lush compendium of ornaments, textiles and other objects associated with the gold-working cultures from the ancient Americas."--Wall Street Journal

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarald Szeemann is associated with some of the most important artistic developments of the postwar era. A passionate advocate of avant-garde movements like conceptualism and post minimalism, he collaborated with artists such as Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman, Richard Serra, and Cy Twombly, developing new ways of presenting art that reflected his sweeping vision of contemporary culture. Szeemann once stated that his goal as an exhibition maker was to create a "Museum of Obsessions." This richly illustrated volume is a virtual collection catalogue for that imaginary institution, tracing the evolution of his curatorial method through the materials he collected and produced while researching and organising his exhibitions, including letters, drawings, personal datebooks, installation plans, artists' books, posters, photographs, and handwritten notes. This book documents all phases of Szeemann's career, from his early stint as director of the Kunsthalle Bern, where he organized the seminal Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form (1969); to documenta 5 (1972) and the intensely personal exhibition he staged in his own apartment using the belongings of his hairdresser grandfather (1974); to his reinvention as a freelance curator who realised projects on wide-ranging themes until his death in 2005. The book contains essays exploring Szeemann's curatorial approach as well as interviews with collaborators. Its more than 350 illustrations include previously unpublished installation photographs and exhibition documents as well as many other materials from the curator's archive.Trade Review"Replete with installation photography and more ephemera than you could fit into three lifetimes, this book does justice to a figure who expanded the field of curating to be a limitless means through which to re-envision what we consider art." --Elephant "[This] hefty catalog, a yeoman's task to assemble given the volume of material from which to choose, is excellent." --Los Angeles Times

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs the discipline of art history has moved away from connoisseurship, the notion of beauty has become increasingly problematic. Both culturally and personally subjective, the term is difficult to define and nearly universally avoided. In this insightful book, Richard R. Brettell, one of the leading authorities on Impressionism and French art of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, dares to confront the concept of modern beauty head-on. This is not a study of aesthetic philosophy, but rather a richly contextualised look at the ambitions of specific artists and artworks at a particular time and place. Brettell shapes his manifesto around three masterworks from the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Edouard Manet's 'Jeanne' (Spring), Paul Gauguin's 'Arii Matamoe' (The Royal End) and Paul Cezanne's 'Young Italian Woman at a Table'. The provocative and wide-ranging discussion reveals how each of these exceptional paintings, though depicting very different subjects-a fashionable actress, a severed head and a weary working woman-enacts a revolutionary, yet enduring, icon of beauty.Trade Review"Brettell's skill at leading the viewer through formal as well as art historical details of certain paintings can be eye-opening to both novice students of art appreciation as well as art historians and curators, leading them to a lifetime of aesthetic pleasure." -- Caroline Boyle-Turner "H-France"; "An extraordinarily ambitious . . . commentary, one of those rare revelatory art history books that opens your eyes, and, it can be said, a real page-turner, a cliched phrase that only applies very rarely, in my experience, to art history writing." -- "Hyperallergic"; "On Modern Beauty is a well-illustrated and thought-provoking book about different aspects of beauty in French painting of the period." -- "Alexander Adams Art"

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the first half of the twentieth century, a group of American artists influenced by the painter and teacher Robert Henri aimed to reject the pretenses of academic fine art and polite society. Embracing the democratic inclusiveness of the Progressive movement, these artists turned to making prints, which were relatively inexpensive to produce and easy to distribute. For their subject matter, the artists mined the bustling activity and stark realities of the urban centers in which they lived and worked. Their prints feature sublime towering skyscrapers and stifling city streets, jazzy dance halls and bleak tenement interiors-intimate and anonymous everyday scenes that addressed modern life in America. True Grit examines a rich selection of prints by well-known figures like George Bellows, Edward Hopper, Joseph Pennell, and John Sloan as well as lesser-known artists such as Ida Abelman, Peggy Bacon, Miguel Covarrubias, and Mabel Dwight. Written by three scholars of printmaking and American art, the essays present nuanced discussions of gender, class, literature, and politics, contextualizing the prints in the rapidly changing milieu of the first decades of twentieth-century America.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn exploration of the radical artists who transformed the ways art is conceived, exhibited, and collected, through the Dada, Surrealist, and Fluxus collections of Jean and Leonard Brown. Throughout the 1960s, Jean and Leonard Brown used their radical tastes, prescient instincts, and friendships with artists to assemble an extensive archive of Dada and Surrealist publications and prints--including works by Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Tristan Tzara. After Leonard's death in 1970, Jean's attention turned to Fluxus and other contemporary genres. Jean also established a site of alternative art production at her Shaker Seed House in Tyringham, Massachusetts, where she invited artists to engage with her collections. Fluxus works embraced the social and political critiques of earlier avant-garde artists and questioned the authority of the increasingly powerful contemporary art world of critics, collectors, curators, and gallerists. This examination of artists and their antiestablishment demands for change shows how their art was created, performed, exhibited, and collected in new ways that intentionally challenged traditional modes. By providing an expanded understanding of avant-garde and Fluxus artists through the lens of the Jean Brown Archive at the Getty Research Institute, this volume demonstrates the profound influence these artists had on contemporary art. This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the Getty Research Institute at the Getty Center November 17, 2020, to April 4, 2021.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe northern Italian artist Giacomo Ceruti (1698–1767) was born in Milan and active in Brescia and Bergamo. For his distinctive, large-scale paintings of low income tradespeople and individuals experiencing homelessness, whom he portrayed with dignity and sympathy, Ceruti came to be known as Il Pitocchetto (the little beggar). Accompanying the first US exhibition to focus solely on Ceruti, this publication explores relationships between art, patronage, and economic inequality in early modern Europe, considering why these paintings were commissioned and by whom, where such works were exhibited, and what they signified to contemporary audiences. Essays and a generous plate section contextualize and closely examine Ceruti’s pictures of laborers and the unhoused, whom he presented as protagonists with distinct stories rather than as generic types. Topics include depictions of marginalized subjects in the history of early modern European art, the career of the artist and his significance in the history of European painting, and the period discourses around poverty and social support. A detailed exhibition checklist, complete with provenance, exhibition history, and bibliography, provides information critical for the further understanding of Ceruti’s oeuvre.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe radical changes wrought by the rise of the salon system in nineteenth-century Europe provoked an interesting response from painters in the American South. Painterly trends emanating from Barbizon and Giverny emphasized the subtle textures of nature through warm colour and broken brush stroke. Artists' subject matter tended to represent a prosperous middle class at play, with the subtle suggestion that painting was indeed art for art's sake and not an evocation of the heroic manner. Many painters in the South took up the stylistics of Tonalism, Impressionism, and naturalism to create works of a very evocative nature, works which celebrated the Southern scene as an exotic other, a locale offering refuge from an increasingly mechanized urban environment.Scenic Impressions offers an insight into a particular period of American art history as borne out in seminal paintings from the holdings of the Johnson Collection of Spartanburg, South Carolina. By consolidating academic information on a disparate group of objects under a common theme and important global artistic umbrella, Scenic Impressions will underscore the Johnsons' commitment to illuminating the rich cultural history of the American South and advancing scholarship in the field, specifically examining some forty paintings created between 1880 and 1940, including landscapes and genre scenes. A foreword, written by Kevin Sharp, director of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee, introduces the topic. Two lead essays, written by noted art historians Pennington, Estill Curtisand Martha R. Severens, discuss the history and import of the Impressionist movement--abroad and domestically--and specifically address the school's influence on art created in and about the American South. The featured works of art are presented in full colour plates and delineated in complementary entries written by Pennington and Severens. Also included are detailed artist biographies illustrated by photographs of the artists, extensive documentation, and indices. Featured artists include Wayman Adams, Colin Campbell Cooper, Elliott Daingerfield, G. Ruger Donoho, Harvey Joiner, John Ross Key, Blondelle Malone, Lawrence Mazzanovich, Paul Plaschke, Hattie Saussy, Alice Ravenel, Huger Smith, Anthony Thieme, and Helen Turner.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEverett Spruce came to Texas from his Arkansas home in 1925 to study at the Dallas Art Institute. Over the next seven decades, he became one of the most important painters and teachers in the region. One of the 'Dallas Nine,' a group of influential Texas Regionalists that included Jerry Bywaters, Otis Dozier, William Lester, and others, Spruce was among the artists who lobbied the Texas Centennial Commission for a greater role in the Centennial Exposition of 1936. These efforts, though unsuccessful, nevertheless led to greater recognition and influence for Texas art and artists.Spruce was assistant director and taught art at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts until 1940 when he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin. He painted and taught at the university for the next 38 years, guiding and shaping the next generation of Texas artists, including Roger Winter, William Hoey, and others. Spruce died in 2002 at the age of 94.Texas Made Modern: The Art of Everett Spruce traces Spruce's artistic evolution from his early experimental work of the 1920s through the mysterious, surrealist-imbued landscapes of the 1930s. The work addresses his boldly expressionistic imagery of the 1940s and his abstract expressionist - inspired paintings of the mid-twentieth century. Departing from previous accounts of Spruce, which label him a prototypical regionalist, this study reveals the nuanced meanings behind the artist's shifting approaches to Texas subject matter and resituates his artwork within the broader narrative of American art.Trade ReviewThe first comprehensive view of a Texas master . . .

Read more less

Book SynopsisArt for a New Understanding, an exhibition from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opening this October, seeks to radically expand and reposition the narrative of American art since 1950 by charting a history of the development of contemporary Indigenous art from the United States and Canada, beginning when artists moved from more regionally-based conversations and practices to national and international contemporary art contexts.This accompanying book documents and expands on the histories and themes of this exciting exhibition.This fully illustrated volume includes essays by art historians and historians and reflections by the artists included in the collection. Also included are key contemporary writings—from the 1950s onward—by artists, scholars, and critics, investigating the themes of transculturalism and pan-Indian identity, traditional practices conducted in radically new ways, displacement, forced migration, shadow histories, the role of personal mythologies as a means to reimagine the future, and much more.As both a survey of the development of Indigenous art from the 1950s to the present and a consideration of Native artists within contemporary art more broadly, Art for a New Understanding expands the definition of American art and sets the tone for future considerations of the subject. It is an essential publication for any institution or individual with an interest in contemporary Native American art, and an invaluable resource in ongoing scholarly considerations of the American contemporary art landscape at large.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBased on an exhibition organized by Joachim Pissarro and curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Lauren Haynes, Crystals in Art: Ancient to Today explores the complex and varied connections between crystal and art throughout the world. Included are both ancient artifacts-such as engraved gems, figurines, and vases-and works from contemporary artists around the world that explore the power of crystal in art by drawing on its form, properties, and mysterious qualities. Featuring more than sixty-five works from ancient Egypt and Greece, through to Rome, China, India, Japan, the Middle East, the Americas, and beyond, this book invites readers to discover how the power of crystal transcends the boundaries of time and space. Taken together, all of these objects illustrate how crystal has bridged the gap between things we can see and things we can't: science and art, fact and faith, medicine and magic-the visible and the invisible. Published in collaboration with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and University of Arkansas School of Art.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn American Waters is the catalog of an exhibition co-organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.The exhibition and this associated catalog invite visitors to discover the sea as an expansive way to reflect on American culture and environment, learn how coastal and maritime symbols moved inland across the United States, and question what it means to be 'in American waters.' Work by Georgia O'Keeffe, Amy Sherald, Kay WalkingStick, Norman Rockwell, Hale Woodruff, Paul Cadmus, Thomas Hart Benton, Jacob Lawrence, Valerie Hegarty, Stuart Davis, and many others is included, along with essays from scholars, critics, and the curators.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Curating the American Past, Pete Daniel takes readers behind the Staff Only door at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to reveal how curators collect objects, plan exhibits, and bring alive the country’s complex and exciting history. In vivid detail, Daniel recounts the exhilaration of innovative research, the joys of collaboration, and the rewards of mentoring new generations of historians. In a career distinguished by prize-winning publications and pathbreaking exhibitions, Daniel also confronted the challenges of serving as a public historian tasked with protecting a definitive American museum from the erosion of scholarly standards. Curating the American Past offers a wealth of museum wisdom, illuminating the crucial role that dedicated historians and curators serve within our most important repositories of cultural memory.

Read more less

Book SynopsisDante Alighieri’s long poem The Divine Comedy has been one of the foundational texts of European literature for over 700 years. Yet many mysteries still remain about the symbolism of this richly layered literary work, which has been interpreted in many different ways over the centuries. The Unexpected Dante brings together five leading scholars who offer fresh perspectives on the meanings and reception of The Divine Comedy. Some investigate Dante’s intentions by exploring the poem’s esoteric allusions to topics ranging from musical instruments to Roman law. Others examine the poem’s long afterlife and reception in the United States, with chapters showcasing new discoveries about Nicolaus de Laurentii’s 1481 edition of Commedia and the creative contemporary adaptations that have relocated Dante’s visions of heaven and hell to urban American settings. This study also includes a guide that showcases selected treasures from the extensive Dante collections at the Library of Congress, illustrating the depth and variety of The Divine Comedy’s global influence. The Unexpected Dante is thus a boon to both Dante scholars and aficionados of this literary masterpiece. Published by Bucknell University Press in association with the Library of Congress. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.Trade Review"This richly illustrated volume showcases the critical importance of the Library of Congress’s long-term collecting interests in Dante. Five insightful essays by eminent scholars focus on the historical development of the Library’s Dante holdings and various aspects of the Divine Comedy: the emblematic nature of musical instruments, the thorny question of Cato’s unusual presence in Purgatory, Sandow Birk’s thought-provoking illustrations, and the fortunes of the first illustrated edition of the Comedy (Florence, 1481). A useful annotated bibliography of selected Danteana in the LC collection closes this invaluable contribution." -- Christopher Kleinhenz * editor of Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia *"The Unexpected Dante is an impressive, finely produced volume worthy of the poet's 700th anniversary. In addition to its highly informative introduction and essays, its splendid display of illustrations, manuscript images, and artworks bring Dante and the editorial history of his poem alive before our eyes." -- Robert Pogue Harrison * author of Juvenescence: A Cultural History of Our Age *Table of ContentsForeword Carla D. Hayden Preface Lucia Alma Wolf Abbreviations and Alternate Names Source Abbreviations Chapter 1: Crossing Borders: The Library of Congress Dante Collections Lucia Alma Wolf Chapter 2: Notes on Musical Instruments in Dante’s Divine Comedy Francesco Ciabattoni Chapter 3: The Mystery of Dante’s Cato in the Light of Roman Law Bernardo Piciché Chapter 4: Dante in a Global World: Sandow Birk’s Divine Comedy Kristina M. Olson Chapter 5: A Florentine First: Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy in Print, 1481 Edition: Observations and Discoveries Sylvia Rodgers Albro Chapter 6: Crossing Borders with the Divine Comedy: Catalog of Selected Works from the Library of Congress Lucia Alma Wolf Acknowledgements Bibliography Contributors Credits Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDante Alighieri’s long poem The Divine Comedy has been one of the foundational texts of European literature for over 700 years. Yet many mysteries still remain about the symbolism of this richly layered literary work, which has been interpreted in many different ways over the centuries. The Unexpected Dante brings together five leading scholars who offer fresh perspectives on the meanings and reception of The Divine Comedy. Some investigate Dante’s intentions by exploring the poem’s esoteric allusions to topics ranging from musical instruments to Roman law. Others examine the poem’s long afterlife and reception in the United States, with chapters showcasing new discoveries about Nicolaus de Laurentii’s 1481 edition of Commedia and the creative contemporary adaptations that have relocated Dante’s visions of heaven and hell to urban American settings. This study also includes a guide that showcases selected treasures from the extensive Dante collections at the Library of Congress, illustrating the depth and variety of The Divine Comedy’s global influence. The Unexpected Dante is thus a boon to both Dante scholars and aficionados of this literary masterpiece. Published by Bucknell University Press in association with the Library of Congress. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.Trade Review"This richly illustrated volume showcases the critical importance of the Library of Congress’s long-term collecting interests in Dante. Five insightful essays by eminent scholars focus on the historical development of the Library’s Dante holdings and various aspects of the Divine Comedy: the emblematic nature of musical instruments, the thorny question of Cato’s unusual presence in Purgatory, Sandow Birk’s thought-provoking illustrations, and the fortunes of the first illustrated edition of the Comedy (Florence, 1481). A useful annotated bibliography of selected Danteana in the LC collection closes this invaluable contribution." -- Christopher Kleinhenz * editor of Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia *"The Unexpected Dante is an impressive, finely produced volume worthy of the poet's 700th anniversary. In addition to its highly informative introduction and essays, its splendid display of illustrations, manuscript images, and artworks bring Dante and the editorial history of his poem alive before our eyes." -- Robert Pogue Harrison * author of Juvenescence: A Cultural History of Our Age *"This richly illustrated volume showcases the critical importance of the Library of Congress’s long-term collecting interests in Dante. Five insightful essays by eminent scholars focus on the historical development of the Library’s Dante holdings and various aspects of the Divine Comedy: the emblematic nature of musical instruments, the thorny question of Cato’s unusual presence in Purgatory, Sandow Birk’s thought-provoking illustrations, and the fortunes of the first illustrated edition of the Comedy (Florence, 1481). A useful annotated bibliography of selected Danteana in the LC collection closes this invaluable contribution." -- Christopher Kleinhenz * editor of Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia *"The Unexpected Dante is an impressive, finely produced volume worthy of the poet's 700th anniversary. In addition to its highly informative introduction and essays, its splendid display of illustrations, manuscript images, and artworks bring Dante and the editorial history of his poem alive before our eyes." -- Robert Pogue Harrison * author of Juvenescence: A Cultural History of Our Age *Table of ContentsForeword Carla D. Hayden Preface Lucia Alma Wolf Abbreviations and Alternate Names Source Abbreviations Chapter 1: Crossing Borders: The Library of Congress Dante Collections Lucia Alma Wolf Chapter 2: Notes on Musical Instruments in Dante’s Divine Comedy Francesco Ciabattoni Chapter 3: The Mystery of Dante’s Cato in the Light of Roman Law Bernardo Piciché Chapter 4: Dante in a Global World: Sandow Birk’s Divine Comedy Kristina M. Olson Chapter 5: A Florentine First: Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy in Print, 1481 Edition: Observations and Discoveries Sylvia Rodgers Albro Chapter 6: Crossing Borders with the Divine Comedy: Catalog of Selected Works from the Library of Congress Lucia Alma Wolf Acknowledgements Bibliography Contributors Credits Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDuring the nineteenth century, Americans celebrated their towns and cities through printed landscapes. In Maine, lithographs were commissioned from such leading artists as Fitz Henry Lane and talented, lesser known local artists, such as Esteria Butler. This book reproduces many of these works and provides insights into how these growing centers of commerce and industry viewed themselves and wished to be viewed by others. It’s the perfect book for those who love Maine, both full-time residents and those who make it a beloved summer destination. Published in association with the Bowdoin College Museum of Art on the occasion of the bicentennial of Maine statehood.Trade Review"Devoting his life to documenting everything Maine, Shettleworth has written and lectured prodigiously on every aspect of Maine's built environment, and also written studies of female fly fisherman, photographers, painters, and parks. . . . Maine's Lithographic Landscapes is a handsome production." -- Will Morgan * The New England Diary *Table of ContentsForeword by Frank H. Goodyear IIILenders to the ExhibitionIntroductionHow Lithographs Are MadeMaine Towns and CitiesBowdoin CollegeArtist BiographiesExtracts from Period SourceBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe incredible painting collection of the State Library of New South Wales is documented for the first time.The State Library of New South Wales holds an unrivalled collection of oil paintings. Unlike an art gallery where the focus is usually on aesthetic excellence, the rationale behind the Library's collecting is broad and often eclectic. It features works from artists such as Conrad Martens and John Glover, and others of variable quality, execution and skill, with a range of formats and diversity of subjects that tell us much about Australia.Reading the Rooms reveals this little-known -- but rich and highly significant -- collection. It delivers a fascinating and authoritative account of hundreds of paintings, and a compelling argument for their importance.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAre We All Addicts Now? Digital Dependence is an artist-led enquiry by Katriona Beales into digital hyper-connectivity and the normalization of addictive behaviours through our everyday interactions with digital devices. While internet addiction is not yet considered an official psychiatric disorder, it is gaining increased recognition as a behavioral phenomenon in both scientific study and the popular press. This project is the first interdisciplinary exploration of this burgeoning diagnostic territory. The book combines visual and textual research, including artistic works from Katriona Beales and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, alongside essays from contributors in the fields of anthropology, digital culture, psychology and philosophy. Informed by the latest scientific research, the book acknowledges the increasing difficulty many people experience in controlling their online habits. At the same time, it also thinks beyond the biological model of internet addiction toward the social and political dimensions that shape everyday online activities and habit-forming behaviour. This book is co-edited by curator Vanessa Bartlett and medical doctor and neuroscience researcher Henrietta Bowden-Jones. It is published to coincide with a major exhibition of new artwork by Katriona Beales at Furtherfield, London.Trade ReviewReviews 'Henrietta’s perspective has been invaluable,” says Beales. “She’s brought this very robust medical research, and also this enthusiasm for the way that art can expand the audience for scientific research.' Katriona Beales, a-n

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book accompanies the first exhibition entirely of Jamaican art to take place in the north-west of the UK. The exhibition, Jamaica Making: The Theresa Roberts Art Collection, is sited at the Victoria Gallery and Museum, Liverpool in 2022, and is a comprehensive presentation of the best of Jamaican art since the 1960s. The Theresa Roberts Art Collection is the private collection of Theresa Roberts, a Jamaican-born businesswoman and philanthropist, who has made the UK her home. This collection offers an important insight into the development of Jamaican art since the country gained independence in 1962. Indeed, the exhibition also acts to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Jamaican independence in 2022. Included in the book are the following: an official welcome from the Prime Minister of Jamaica; an essay by the collector, exhibition donor and philanthropist, Theresa Roberts; an introduction by eminent British-Jamaican art historian, Edward Lucie-Smith; essays by Emma Roberts, the exhibition curator (Liverpool John Moores University), Davinia Gregory-Kameka, writer, educator and researcher (Columbia University, USA) and Sireita Mullings, arts practitioner and visual sociologist (University of Bedfordshire). The final section of the book is the full visual catalogue of the Jamaica Making exhibition – a unique record of this historic exhibition. An Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements: Emma RobertsWelcome: The Most Honourable Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of JamaicaIntroduction: Theresa RobertsThe Theresa Roberts Collection: Emma RobertsArt for Inclusion: Edward Lucie-SmithHome is in the Traces: Davinia GregoryBeyond Exotification: Sireita MullingsCatalogue of Images

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘Mr Roscoe’s Garden is a key outcome of The Fragrant Liverpool project. Conceived by Jyll Bradley, this is a unique international art project exploring the stories, rites and exchanges that occur when a flower is cut and placed in the human hand. The project centres on the fascinating story of the Liverpool’s Botanic Collection and the people involved in its intriguing history. Established by William Roscoe in 1802, and moved to more extensive sites in both 1846 when it became a public facility and in 1964, the complete Botanic Collection has not been on display since 1984 when it closed to the public in a political storm that mirrored the cataclysmic 1980s decline of Liverpool itself. The collection thus has both a glorious and tragic past. Jyll Bradley draws together the compelling tales of the Botanic Collection’s history in this creatively ambitious and beautifully illustrated book, evoking the people that made the collection and the distant lands that supplied the plants. By the early nineteenth century the Liverpool Botanic Collection was one of the greatest botanic gardens of its day, filled with strange and rare plants arriving on ships through the City’s port from an ever-widening imperial world. By the mid-twentieth the Collection included the greatest orchid collection ever amassed in municipal Britain, as it still does today. While the indignity of the closure lives on, so do, by miracle, the living plants and the dried plants (in Liverpool’s magnificent Herbarium); the books; the paintings and all the other riches that have, at one time, or another, co-existed in the Liverpool Botanic Gardens. The glory days are still in the past, but the plant collections have continued to be nurtured and grown and Liverpool’s current revival has signalled a new future for the Collection. Painstakingly designed by Jyll Bradley, Mr Roscoe’s Garden is a work of art in itself. Its publication also coincides with the re-emergence of the collection as goes to the Chelsea Flower Show for the first time in 30 years and the Gardens open once again to the public.Trade ReviewJyll Bradley approaches her subject with great sensitivity and has made her own the cause of those both living and dead whose portraits appear in these pages...beautifully produced book...is a delightful and informative book. * Plant Heritage, Vol 16, No. 1 *A Book exploring the story of one of the world's greatest plant collection has been unveiled. Yesterday the 168 page Liverpool University Press book, Mr Roscoe's Garden was unveiled at the Walker Art Gallery. * Liverpool Echo *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThroughout the ages, every culture has created myths and legends which recount the great deeds of its heroes and their epic struggles with larger-than-life forces. Designer Bookbinders 3rd International Competition, held at the Bodleian Library in 2017, brings to life this theme though the inventive structures and creative designs of bookbinders worldwide. This beautifully designed catalogue is not only a celebration of the winning entries, but also a lavishly illustrated record of all the entrants from a broad range of countries. Following on from Bound for Success in 2009, and Prize Volumes in 2013, Heroic Works is the third volume in the Bodleian Library’s series of publications which have documented these prestigious competitions. In this book, great classics of world literature, alongside modern texts, are given a new look through the consummate skills, seductive materials, and boundless inventiveness of the craft of bookbinding which is thriving in the world today.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat sets Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein apart from so many other famous works of fiction? What special combination of creativity and vision made possible the drafting of Mag¬na Carta? When describing exceptional accomplishments like these – and the men and women behind them – we use the word ‘genius’. And while genius is difficult to define, we all recognize that elusive, special quality when we encounter it. 'Marks of Genius' pays tribute to some of the most remarkable testaments to genius throughout human history, from ancient texts on papyrus and the extraordinary medieval manuscript 'The Douce Apocalypse' to the renowned children's work 'The Wind in the Willows'. Bringing together some of the most impressive treasures from the collections of the Bodleian Libraries, it tells the story of the creation of each work and its afterlife, offering insight into the breadth and depth of its influence as well as its power to fascinate. Illustrating works from Euclid, Dante and Handel to Einstein, Austen and Gandhi, 'Marks of Genius' showcases over 100 books and manuscripts that constitute the pinnacle of human creativity and which we continue to revere and revisit.Table of ContentsContents: Preface, Foreword, Blackwell’s and the Bodleian, The Genius of Sir Thomas Bodley: The Bodleian Library, The Character of Genius, Catalogue Part One: Marks of Genius, Catalogue Part Two: Genius and Learning, Bibliography, Index, Concordance of shelfmarks, Copyright credits, Acknowledgements.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince its foundation in 1860, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s world-renowned collections have become a key centre for scientific study and its much-loved building an important icon for visitors from around the world. The museum now holds over seven million scientific specimens including five million insects, half a million fossil specimens and half a million zoological specimens. It also holds an extensive collection of archival material relating to important naturalists such as Charles Darwin, William Smith, William Jones and James Charles Dale. This lavishly illustrated book features highlights from the collections ranging from the iconic Dodo (the only soft tissue specimen of the species in existence) and the giant tuna (brought back from Madeira on a perilous sea crossing in 1846) to crabs collected by Darwin during his voyage on the Beagle, David Livingstone’s tsetse fly specimens and Mary Anning’s ichthyosaur. Also featured are the first described dinosaur bones, found in a small Oxfordshire village, the Red Lady of Paviland (who was in fact a man who lived 29,000 years ago) and a meteorite from the planet Mars. Each item tells a unique story about natural history, about the history of science, about collecting, or about the museum itself. They give a unique insight into the extraordinary wealth of information and the fascinating tales that can be gleaned from these collections, both from the past and for the future.

Read more less

Book SynopsisRepresenting four centuries of collecting and 1,000 years of Jewish history, this book brings together extraordinary Hebrew manuscripts and rare books from the Bodleian Library and Oxford colleges. Highlights of the collections include a fragment of Maimonides’ autograph draft of the 'Mishneh Torah'; the earliest dated fragment of the Talmud, exquisitely illuminated manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible; stunning festival prayerbooks and one of the oldest surviving Jewish seals in England. Lavishly illustrated essays by experts in the field bring to life the outstanding works contained in the collections, as well as the personalities and diverse motivations of their original collectors, who include Archbishop William Laud, John Selden, Edward Pococke, Robert Huntington, Matteo Canonici, Benjamin Kennicott and Rabbi David Oppenheim. Saved for posterity by religious scholarship, intellectual rivalry and political ambition, these extraordinary collections also bear witness to the consumption and circulation of knowledge across the centuries, forming a social and cultural history of objects moved across borders, from person to person. Together, they offer a fascinating journey through Jewish intellectual and social history from the tenth century onwards.Trade Review"Jewish Treasures from Oxford Libraries [is] a handsome volume of coffee-table size. . . . After the shuttering of physical libraries during the pandemic, and as library budgets continue to shrink, it is right and good to remember the debt of gratitude we owe the great libraries and librarians for preserving our historical treasures—not to mention all those who brought this fine book into being." * Jewish Review of Books *"Today, one of the greatest collections of Jewish books in the world happens to reside in the Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford. Although the library’s two largest bequests of Hebrew books came from Jewish collectors, many of the most precious Hebrew manuscripts were donated or sold to the Bodleian by Christian collectors. . . . In the most fascinating feature of Jewish Treasures­—a feature never before attempted in a comparable volume about a collection of Jewish books—each of the work’s seven central chapters relates the story of one of the Bodleian’s Hebrew collections and, even more interestingly, the career of the collector behind it." * Mosaic Magazine *"A gorgeous book... Organized by chapters telling the stories of their Jewish and more often Christian collectors, it discusses, and shows in many beautiful plates, the greatest Jewish items in the Bodleian Library and Oxford colleges’ libraries. The editors, Rebecca Abrams and Cesar Merchan-Hamann, combine Western history,Jewish history, art history, and Oxford history in this beautiful and fascinating book." -- Elliott Abrams * Mosaic Magazine *Table of ContentsLibrarian's Foreword Richard Ovenden Preface Martin J. Gross Introduction to the Bodleian Library & College Collections César Merchán-Hamann Chapter 1 The Laud Collection Giles Mandelbrote Chapter 2 The Pococke Collection Benjamin Williams Chapter 3 The Huntington Collection Simon Mills and César Merchán-Hamann Chapter 4 The Kennicott Collection Theo Dunkelgrün Chapter 5 The Canonici Collection Dorit Raines Chapter 6 The Oppenheim Collection Joshua Teplitsky Chapter 7 The Michael Collection Saverio Campanini Chapter 8 The Genizah Collection Nadio Vidro Chapter 9 The College Library Collections Rahel Fronda From Collectors to Readers Piet van Boxel Notes Further Reading Contributors Picture Credits Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisEvery map tells a story. Some provide a narrative for travellers, explorers and surveyors or offer a visual account of changes to people’s lives, places and spaces, while others tell imaginary tales, transporting us to fictional worlds created by writers and artists. In turn, maps generate more stories, taking users on new journeys in search of knowledge and adventure. Drawing on the Bodleian Library’s outstanding map collection and covering almost a thousand years, 'Talking Maps' takes a new approach to map-making by showing how maps and stories have always been intimately entwined. Including such rare treasures as a unique map of the Mediterranean from the eleventh-century Arabic 'Book of Curiosities', al-Sharīf al-Idrīsī’s twelfth-century world map, C.S. Lewis’s map of Narnia, J.R.R. Tolkien’s cosmology of Middle-earth and Grayson Perry’s twenty-first-century tapestry map, this fascinating book analyses maps as objects that enable us to cross sea and land; as windows into alternative and imaginary worlds; as guides to reaching the afterlife; as tools to manage cities, nations, even empires; as images of environmental change; and as digitized visions of the global future. By telling the stories behind the artefacts and those generated by them, 'Talking Maps' reveals how each map is not just a tool for navigation but also a worldly proposal that helps us to understand who we are by describing where we are.Trade Review'A book dedicated to the romantic, the beautiful, the mysterious, the intriguing and the fascinating … beautifully produced, copiously illustrated in full-colour, excellent value and a joy to behold.' * Sheetlines (The Journal of The Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps) *'The weight and size of the book promised a plethora of detail, images and various carthographic representations, and unsurprisingly I was not disappointed. … incredibly interesting and informative … an exceptional piece of literature that does well to selectively choose a range of maps and cartographies from a collection of over one and a half million. ... Brotton and Millea have done a fantastic job and have achieved their aim to celebrate the creation, function and purpose of maps, using specific examples that cover nearly two millenia.' * The Bulletin of the Society of Cartographers *'While there is something for everyone in Talking Maps, it is not just a breezy coffee-table tome.' * IMCOS (International Map Collectors Society) *'This is a well-designed and presented book. There are many maps spread throughout the pages and theses are discussed and analysed in a very easy to digest manner. … A very good read.’ * The Globe *

Read more less

Book SynopsisDuring the Renaissance, artists and illustrators developed the representation of truthful three-dimensional forms into a highly skilled art. As reliable illustrations of three-dimensional subjects became more prevalent, they also influenced the way in which disciplines developed: architecture could be communicated much more clearly, mathematical concepts and astronomical observations could be quickly relayed, observations of the natural world moved towards a more realistic method of depiction. Through essays on some of the world’s greatest artists and thinkers (Leonardo da Vinci, Euclid, Andreas Vesalius, William Hunter, Johannes Kepler, Andrea Palladio, Galileo Galilei, among many others), this book tells the story of the development of the techniques used to communicate three-dimensional forms on the two-dimensional page and contemporary media. It features Leonardo da Vinci’s groundbreaking drawings in his notebooks and other manuscripts, extraordinary anatomical illustrations, early paper engineering including volvelles and tabs, beautiful architectural plans and even views of the moon. With in-depth analysis of over forty manuscripts and books, 'Thinking 3D' also reveals the impact that developing techniques had on artists and draughtsmen throughout time and across space.

Read more less

Book SynopsisMany important and valuable rare books, manuscripts and artefacts related to Korea have been acquired by donations throughout the long history of the Bodleian Libraries and the museums of the University of Oxford. However, due to an early lack of specialist knowledge in this area, many of these Korean items were largely neglected. Following on from the publication of the first volume of these forgotten treasures, this book collects together further important and often unique objects. Notable items include the only surviving Korean example of an eighteenth-century world map, hand-drawn, with a set of twelve globe gores on a single sheet; rare Korean coins and charms including excellent examples of the 1423 Chosŏn t’ongbo 朝鲜通寶; official correspondence from the archives of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, shining a light on the history of Christian missions from the opening of Korea in the 1880s until after the Korean War; photographs from the end of the nineteenth century up to the 1960s showing village and street scenes; a rare silk coat with inner armour plates of lacquered hide; a massive iron padlock inlaid with silver character inscriptions, bronze shoes and Nightingale robe; spectacles with dark crystal lenses and frames of horn; an elaborately decorated bow, arrows and quiver and many other rare artefacts.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPlants and gardens play a central role in life on Earth. They have provided food, clothing, shelter, medicines, employment, leisure and enjoyment throughout history. Both also have many symbolic uses in art, mythology and literature, making plants and gardens the perfect theme for the Designer Bookbinders fourth International Competition held at the Bodleian Library in 2022. The chosen theme also celebrates 400 years since the founding of Oxford Botanic Garden. This beautiful catalogue features richly illustrated texts and finely printed volumes which are bound with skill and creativity using varied materials by binders from all over the world. The fourth in a series following on from 'Bound for Success' in 2009, 'Prize Volumes' in 2013 and 'Heroic Works' in 2017, 'A Gathering of Leaves' is a celebration of the stunningly inventive winning bindings featured alongside all the competition entries.Table of ContentsContents Foreword Mark Getty Preface Richard Ovenden Introduction Lester Capon Competition Entries First prize Second prize Distinguished winners Oxford University students’ choice Competition entries: the full picture Contact list for entrants

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe impressive collection of 18th-century French paintings at the National Gallery, London, includes important works by Boucher, Chardin, David, Fragonard, Watteau, and many others. This volume presents over seventy detailed and extensively illustrated entries that expand our understanding of these paintings. Comprehensive research uncovers new information on provenance and on the lives of identified portrait sitters. Humphrey Wine explains the social and political contexts of many of the paintings, and an introductory essay looks at the attitude of 18th-century Britons to the French, as well as the market for 18th-century French paintings then in London salerooms.Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University PressTrade Review“The monolithic addition to the ‘new series’ of National Gallery Catalogues concentrates entirely on the comparatively meagre accumulation of French paintings of this period” —Ian Robertson, The British Art Journal“An impressive body of fully up-to-date research”— Guillaume Faroult, Burlington Magazine

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis new volume in the series of National Gallery collection catalogues focuses on 16th-century Bologna and Ferrara. The Gallery holds the most important collection of these paintings outside Italy, including works by Garofalo representing his entire range as an artist; exquisite and grotesque miniature narratives by Mazzolino; a large masterpiece by the short-lived genius known as Ortolano; and some of the most dazzling paintings by the eccentric Dosso Dossi. There are two altarpieces by Lorenzo Costa along with his highly original Concert, and Francesco Francia's Buonvisi altarpiece. The book defines the special quality of works from the region, but also traces the influence of Perugino, Raphael, and Titian. New archival and technical research and provenance information reveal the fortunes of artists’ reputations across a long arc in the history of taste.Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe National Gallery started life in 1824 when the British government purchased the collection of 38 pictures belonging to the estate of wealthy banker John Julius Angerstein. As there was no suitable space available to display the collection, the pictures were put on display in Angerstein’s former home in Pall Mall. It was only in 1838 that the collection moved to its current site in Trafalgar Square. The building and collection have continued to expand ever since; today, the National Gallery houses one of the world’s greatest collections of western European paintings. This book brings together the stories behind the founding and growth of the National Gallery: the generous benefactors, the architectural controversies, the protracted acquisitions, the dedicated staff, and the visiting public. Generously illustrated, it aims to give insight into the history of the people and events that have helped shape this much-loved national institution.Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a long career that spanned the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, and the Bourbon Restoration, Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845) created innovative and daring paintings in the midst of the most turbulent times. Bringing together two dozen of Boilly’s works—the majority of which have never before been published—this handsome volume includes portraiture, scenes of seduction, and groundbreaking representations of raucous Parisian street life. A master technician with acute powers of observation and a wry sense of humor, Boilly invented the term trompe l’oeil and popularized the genre through his stunningly realistic compositions. In this first English-language publication on Boilly in more than 20 years, Francesca Whitlum-Cooper vividly brings the artist and the period he lived in to life, shedding new light on Boilly’s work and expanding our understanding of how art functioned within France’s rapidly changing political environment.Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:National Gallery, London (02/27/19–05/19/19)

Read more less

Book SynopsisA comprehensive presentation of the important collection of Barbizon School painting at the National Gallery, London The significant collection of 19th-century French paintings at the National Gallery, London, includes many important works by artists associated with the Barbizon School. In addition to paintings by Courbet, Millet, and Rousseau, there are over twenty works by Corot, including the monumental Italian Woman, or Woman with Yellow Sleeve (L’Italienne) recently acquired from the estate of Lucian Freud. Works by Corot range from an early oil study made in Italy to late studio landscapes. This meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated volume contains entries that examine all aspects of the paintings, from subject and stylistic significance to physical condition and conservation history. Setting the individual works within a broader context, essays explore the impact of plein-air practice; examine the relationship of the Barbizon School to the academic landscape painters and the Impressionists; and trace the history of the passionate collecting of these pictures in Britain well into the 20th century.Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press

Read more less

Book SynopsisThough largely benign, volcanoes erupt continuously across the world. The eruption of Mount St Helens in 1980 and Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 exemplify the dramatic physical violence of volcanoes, and their potential for local destruction and global disruption. In Volcano James Hamilton explores the cultural history generated by the power, beauty and threat of the volcano. Hamilton describes the reverberations of early eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna in Greek and Roman myth, as well as depictions of volcanoes, from the earliest-known wall painting of an erupting volcano in 6200 BC, to the distinctive colours of Andy Warhol, to Michael Sandle's exploding mountains of the 1980s. He also discusses twenty-first century works that demonstrate the volcano's enduring influence on the artistic imagination today. Volcano is a richly illustrated account that combines established figures such as Joseph Wright and J.M.W. Turner with previously unseen perspectives. Making fresh links and discoveries, this book will appeal to the general reader, as having much to say to scholars and specialists in the field.Trade Review'At last, a series of books on the earth for lay people that combine authoritative, succinct and entertaining narrative with magnificent illustrations. The Earth series will make us marvel anew at the diversity and astounding beauty of the world around us. Each book will take popular understanding of the earth to a new level. No one seriously interested in the future of our planet should be without them.' - Brian M. Fagan, author of The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations 'An arresting collage of mythology, philosophy, literature and spectacular works of visual art inspired by nature's most exuberant phenomenon. Hamilton's unique and imaginative miscellany and cultural geography of volcanoes and volcanology is a veritable treasure trove.' - Clive Oppenheimer

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisBeginning with a Bang! features the shift between the explosive and experimental moment in the Argentine art scene of the 1960s, and the current scene emerging after the extreme crises in Argentina during the last 40 years. In the 1960s, artists explored destruction and dematerialization to propose original contributions to the fields of conceptual and action-based art. Today, artists explore fiction and intimacy as critical strategies to review and rebuild the artistic system. The exhibition catalogue brings together a historical section as well as information of performance-based actions and sound and video works by Argentine contemporary artists: Marina De Caro, Ana Gallardo, Graciela Hasper, Roberto Jacoby and Syd Krochmalny, Fabio Kacero, Fernanda Laguna, Patricio Larrambebere, Eduardo Navarro, Leandro Tartaglia, and Judi Werthein. Included are essays by Ana Longoni, Victoria Noorthoorn, Daniel Quiles, and Gabriela Rangel; manifestos by Alberto Greco, Aldo Pellegrini, Manuel Peralta Ramos and Eduardo Costa, Raul Escari, and Roberto Jacobi, as well as a historical timeline of Argentine art.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Passionate Pursuit: The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Collection and Legacy is the first comprehensive publication to document the richly diverse collecting activity and profound impact of the cultural patronage of Portland’s most distinguished post-war patrons of the arts and nationally-known art collectors, Arlene and the late Harold Schnitzer. Including painting and sculpture by Northwest masters, international glass works, Native American works, and English and American silver, the book presents singular artworks that form the core of their collecting activity and explores the impact of this deeply philanthropic couple’s activities as collectors, donors, and role models for successive generations in the arts. The curators of the Portland Art Museum will address the quality and impact of the Schnitzer’s collection on the Northwest arts community and the Museum. In Passionate Pursuit accompanies a major exhibition at the Portland Art Museum of the Schnitzer’s richly diverse collection and their promised gift of art to the community, with essays by Museum scholars on the impact of the Schnitzer’s cultural patronage and collecting of Asian, Silver, Glass, Native American, and Northwest Art, an interview with Arlene Schnitzer, and a definitive list of the artists represented in the Schnitzer collection.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisPublished in conjunction with an exhibit at the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College, "Edvard Munch: Psyche, Symbol and Expression" includes nine essays from scholars representing a variety of disciplines. From themes of love, sexuality, gender and anxiety to comparisons with Ibsen and Kierkegaard, the catalogue explores the meanings of Munch's imagery, his sources in Symbolist art, and his legacy for German Expressionism within the context of his contemporaries' developments in psychology, literature, and philosophy. The volume includes many illustrations from rarely seen private collections and some that have never been exhibited before.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince the Renaissance, art in Belgium and the Netherlands has been known for its innovations in realistic representation and its fluency in symbolism. New market forces and artistic concerns fueled the development of landscape as an independent genre in Belgium in the sixteenth century, and landscape emerged as a major focus for nineteenth-century realist and symbolist artists. Nature's Mirror, and the exhibition it accompanies, traces these landmark developments with a rich array of seldom-seen works. Nature's Mirror presents its collection of prints and drawings in chronological order, exploring the evolving dialogue between subjective experience and the external world from the Renaissance through the First World War. Essays by American and Belgian specialists examine artists within the regional, political, and industrial contexts that strongly influenced them. Featuring more than one hundred works, many from the leading private collection of Belgian art in America, the Hearn Family Trust, Nature's Mirror explores the evolution of Belgian art in this fruitful period with remarkable lucidity and detail.

Read more less