History of art Books

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Book SynopsisSmall, smart, essential a chronological introduction to women artists through 500 years of history, providing a rich understanding of key female artists from the Baroque to today.

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Book SynopsisClosely based on Haring’s own concept for the monograph he wanted to publish before his untimely death, this volume represents more than a decade of research and contains a wealth of unpublished photographic and written material including drawings, studio photographs, and journal entries. From chalk drawings deep in the New York City subways to murals in Pisa and Berlin; collaborations with William Burroughs and the famous body painting of Grace Jones, this book follows the incredible trajectory of Keith Haring’s artistic career: how a young man from a small town in rural Pennsylvania came to revolutionize the art world—and the course of art history—within little more than a decade. An incredibly prolific artist, Keith Haring created countless bold, provocative, endearing, and unforgettable images that continue to inspire artists—and delight children—worldwide. Tracing the arc from his early subway tags to his poignant work on social issues as diversTrade Review"...the book's soul is in the artwork itself--and this volume has plenty of heart." ~Metro Source NY"Visually stunning...and absolutely essential for anyone with an interest in the art world at the end of the 20th Century." ~The Village Voice"...homage to a thrilling and inspiring career..." ~Flordia InsideOut"The hefty tome incorporates more than a decade of research and a trove of unpublished photographic and written material ranging from chalk drawings to subway murals and the famous body painting of Grace Jones. A major, well-deserved tribute to the late artist, this handsome offering is a fan’s dream-come-true and just in time for Christmas gifting." ~Indulge Magazine"...an awe-inspiring monograph of bold, provocative, endearing, and unforgettable images that Haring was renowned for...Truly a book to be treasured." ~Le Petite Chic"...a definitive book on the artist..." ~Cincinnati Enquirer"The bold, visionary artist is celebrated in art dealer Jeffrey Deitch’s exhaustive tome that features Haring’s early subway chalk drawings, unpublished photos and never-before-seen journal entries." ~ModernTonic.com

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Book SynopsisFashion Game Changers traces radical innovations in Western fashion design from the beginning of the 20th century to the present.Challenging the traditional silhouettes of their day, fashion designers such as Madeleine Vionnet and Cristóbal Balenciaga began to liberate the female body from the close-fitting hourglass forms which dominated European and American fashion, instead enveloping bodies in more autonomous garments which often took inspiration from beyond the West. As the century progressed, new generations of avant-garde designers from Rei Kawakubo to Martin Margiela further developed the ideas instigated by their predecessors to defy established notions of femininity in dress, creating space between body and garment. This way, a new relationship between body and dress emerged for the 21st century.With over 200 images and commentaries from an international range of leading fashion curators and historians, this beautifully illustrated book showcases some of the most revolTrade ReviewLet the dynamic and bright photographs in Fashion Game Changers guide you through the world of the 20th-century silhouette … A whistlestop tour through 100 years of fashion. * Daily Mail *A great resource for those who are inspired by the experimental side of fashion. * The Independent *[Images] bring each designer’s work vividly to life, and make the book engaging for casual readers and academics alike ... An invaluable visual record of a group of designers, spread across decades and continents, who embody a new way of dressing the female form. In exploring designers who seek formal perfection over body modification, and who place the wearer at the centre of their practice, the book also stands as a record of women’s place in the world at this point in history. * The Journal of Dress History *This book is a tribute to those designers who radically transformed the female silhouette in the 20th century and created alternatives to the hour-glass silhouette that had dominated women's fashion for centuries. * Vintage Made Magazine *Fashion Game Changers is the kind of book I relish: both academic and captivating in its observations. It contextualises fashion and its designers, and illustrates just how significant clothing has been in documenting social history. * The Hon. Daphne Guinness *Fashion Game Changers is an innovative and important book with extraordinary images and intelligent essays devoted to the designers who have radically transformed fashion's relationship with the body. * Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator, The Museum at FIT, New York *Fashion Game Changers is a fascinating and intelligent take on the designers of the mid 20th century, whose experiments with form and shape have changed attitudes towards the female body and femininity itself. * Frances Corner OBE, Head of London College of Fashion and Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of the Arts London *Before designers like Coco Chanel and Madeleine Vionnet, hourglass silhouettes dominated Western fashion, constricting waists and restricting women's movements. That started to change in the 20th century with innovations ranging from Chanel's gamine jackets to Cristóbal Balenciaga's cascading dresses. The book Fashion Game Changers, out April 21 from Bloomsbury Visual Arts, traces the evolution of fashion designers creating freer, looser-fitting forms. With these radical, avant-garde designs, women were finally able to breathe. -- Catie L'Heureux * NYMag.com *The writing is as exhilarating as the photographs … Especially interesting are short pieces called “The Insider View,” in which individuals give a personal testimony to what it means to wear clothes from Comme des Garçons, Martin Margiela and Miyake, not for a few fleeting catwalk minutes, but in real life. I simply cannot praise this accessible, enlightening book highly enough. -- Colin McDowell, author of The Business of FashionTable of Contents1. Fashion Game Changers: Reinventing the 20th Century Silhouette - An Introduction Kaat Debo 2. Iconoclastic Visions of the Silhouette: Cristóbal Balenciaga Miren Arzalluz 3. Self-Taught and Experimental: A New Approach to the Body Karen Van Godtsenhoven The Inside View – Karin Dillen on Wearing Maison Martin Margiela Hettie Judah 4. Kindred Spirits: The Radical Poetry of Japanese and Belgian Designers Anabela Becho The Inside View – Liliane Lijn on Wearing Issey Miyake Hettie Judah 5. The Discovery of Abstraction in Twentieth-Century Fashion Akiko Fukai 6. Shadows of the Body Olivier Saillard 7. Cultural Liberation Springing from Physical Liberation: Reception Study of the 1980s Avant-Garde Hettie Judah The Inside View – Isolde Pringiers on Wearing Commes des Garçons Hettie Judah 8. More Game Changers: Louise Boulanger, André Courrèges, Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, Georgina Godley Miren Arzalluz, Karen Van Godtsenhoven and Alexandre Samson Endnotes Bibliography Notes on Contributors Photo Credits Index Acknowledgements

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Book Synopsis''Rich and funny'' Julian Barnes, Guardian''Poirier''s hugely enjoyable, quick-witted and richly anecdotal book is magnifique'' The TimesA captivating portrait of those who lived, loved, fought, played and flourished in Paris between 1940 and 1950 and whose intellectual and artistic output still influences us today.After the horrors of the Second World War, Paris was the place where the world''s most original voices of the time came among them Norman Mailer, Miles Davis, Simone de Beauvoir, James Baldwin, Juliette Greco, Alberto Giacometti, Saul Bellow and Arthur Koestler. Fuelled by the elation of the Liberation, these pioneers hoped to find an alternative to the Capitalist and Communist models for life, art and politics a Third Way.Agnès Poirier transports us to a time when Paris was at the heart of all that was new and brave and controversial, skilfully weaving together a collage of images and destinies.Trade ReviewBriskly plotted, gossip-fuelled, character-driven cultural history ... Poirier’s hugely enjoyable, quick-witted and richly anecdotal book is magnifique’ * The Times *A tour de force … weaves together so many people, ideas, trends, occurrences, and above all Parisian places, into a tapestry of fascinations – a distillation of the essence of an amazing time … the best of its kind I have ever read -- A.C. GraylingA brilliant recapturing of a fascinating era. Artistic and intellectual Paris comes vividly and memorably alive in these pages. A tremendous achievement -- William BoydWeighty thought and earthy behaviour are the twin engines behind Agnès Poirier’s briskly entertaining ride through France’s most mouvemonté decade * Sunday Times *Poirier does not shy away from exposing the joy and pain of experimental living or from exploring with sensitivity the moral ambiguity of living through the Occupation ... compulsive reading -- Anne Sebba, author of 'Les Parisiennes: Resistance, Collaboration, and the Women of Paris Under Nazi Occupation'A book which combines rich and subtle intellectual history with all the pleasures of a great soap opera. Its gallery of characters is wonderfully realised - but the most wonderfully realised of all is Paris herself -- Tom HollandA remarkably exhilarating read … Left Bank is an enchanting account of how these exceptionally talented and original people not merely endured these harsh years but also found pleasure, and even a kind of joy, in creating small pockets of private utopia … Poirier is acute and witty on the love-hate relationship between Paris and America -- Kevin Jackson * Literary Review *Left Bank reads as an erudite and deeply satisfying gossip column, in which each story is more incredible than the last * New Republic *Left Bank moves scene to scene, cafe to cafe, tracing the affiliations and intrigues of a group of writers, philosophers, artists and curators ... [Poirier] manages to create the feeling we're peeking into the windows of her subjects, looking at buildings that still stand, at inhabitants long gone * International New York Times *A detailed chronicle of a decade alive with intellectual and political ferment. London-based journalist Poirier (Touché: A French Woman's Take on the English, 1997), a panel member of the BBC's weekly program Dateline London, offers a gossipy, well-informed cultural history of her native Paris, beginning in 1938, with Europe on the brink of war, and ending in 1949, with the Marshall Plan in effect to help the continent recover … An animated, abundantly populated history of dramatic times * Kirkus *Poirier does not miss a trick in her lively accounts of the intense discussions and adulterous liaisons that centred on the Café de Flore or the nearby nightclub Le Tabou; but her real achievement is to contextualise these politically and culturally … Entertaining and well-written story -- Andrew Lycett * Spectator *One of the most entertaining of the year -- Books of the Year * Telegraph *A vivid account of the lives of the bed-hopping intellectuals and artists of Paris * The Times *[Paris] is undeniably a mythic sort of town, and almost no period is richer in myths than the decade that Agnès Poirier charts in her excellent Left Bank…It has a huge cast, any of whom could be the subject of a book on their own, but Poirier marshals them deftly***** * Daily Telegraph *Poirier's unbounded energy, particularly in research, brings forth an entertaining, stimulating and, at times, insightful book … Left Bank is gloriously vibrant * Sunday Herald *Amid the tensions of the phoney war, Agnès Poirier deftly establishes what will become the central argument of her well-researched and compelling book: the fraught connection between action and intellectual engagement … Left Bank might not quite come complete with peeling wallpaper and a dubious lavabo, but in conjuring the atmosphere of this extraordinary period, it is surely the next best thing … Poirier navigates the philosophical and political intricacies of her subjects’ work, their intellectual feuds and alliances, with panache * Times Literary Supplement *With mastery of her sources, Agnès Poirier provides an engrossing synthesis of a great capital city's cultural and intellectual life in this crucial decade. It is acute, often brilliant and beautifully written. When liberal values on both sides of the Atlantic are being threatened by a recrudescence of xenophobia and nationalism, Left Bank could hardly be more timely and vital -- Oliver KammDelightful * Economist *A captivating portrait of those who lived, loved, fought, played and flourished in the City of Light and whose intellectual and artistic output still influences today … The cast of characters is long, varied and colourful * Irish Examiner *This is in many ways a very familiar story with a well-known cast of characters, but [Poirier] tells it in vivid and highly enjoyable detail … Poirier’s is an extremely busy book, recounted at a dizzying pace and packed with gossipy tales of sex, drugs, high art and low life … Poirier makes her case with wit, sympathy and elegance -- Andrew Hussey * New Statesman *Even correcting for nostalgia, Paris in the fifties seems to have been a time when giants really did walk the earth … Gossipy without being prurient, Poirier is good at tracing the links between the work and the ever-shifting sexual liaisons of her subjects * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisWilliam Morris - poet, designer, campaigner, hero of the Arts & Crafts movement - was a giant of the Victorian age, and his beautiful creations and provocative philosophies are still with us today: but his wife Jane is too often relegated to a footnote, an artist's model given no history or personality of her own. In truth, Jane and William's personal and creative partnership was the central collaboration of both their lives. The homes they made together - the Red House, Kelmscott Manor and their houses in London - were works of art in themselves, and the great labour of their lives was life itself: through their houses and the objects they filled them with, they explored how we all might live a life more focused on beauty and fulfilment.In How We Might Live, Suzanne Fagence Cooper explores the lives and legacies of Jane and William Morris, finally giving Jane's work the attention it deserves and taking us inside two lives of unparalleled creative artistry.Trade ReviewLyrical...enjoyable * Mail on Sunday *Jane is fortunate in her biographer * The Times *Well researched and extensive * BBC History Magazine *Fascinating * The Field *[Cooper] traces the Morrises' shared and separate lives with clarity and judicious assessment * History Today *Fagence Cooper succeeds, against the odds, in restoring some reality to our view of Jane Morris, giving a proper sense of a woman with striking gifts and talents identifiably her own * Literary Review *Delightful, accessible and insightful * Church Times *Jane Morris's creative influence on her husband's design empire has finally been revealed in a new book [...] the first joint biography of the couple will shine a light on their personal and creative partnership, and reassert the rightful place of Jane Morris - a skilled embroiderer and talented designer - in the history books. * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA rare art history classic that The New York Times calls a “delightful, scholarly and gossipy romp through the character and conduct of artists from antiquity to the French Revolution.”Born Under Saturn is a classic work of scholarship written with a light and winning touch. Margot and Rudolf Wittkower explore the history of the familiar idea that artistic inspiration is a form of madness, a madness directly expressed in artists’ unhappy and eccentric lives. This idea of the alienated artist, the Wittkowers demonstrate, comes into its own in the Renaissance, as part of the new bid by visual artists to distinguish themselves from craftsmen, with whom they were then lumped together. Where the skilled artisan had worked under the sign of light-fingered Mercury, the ambitious artist identified himself with the mysterious and brooding Saturn. Alienation, in effect, was a rung by which artists sought to climb the social ladder.As to the reputed madness of artists—well, some have been as mad as hatters, some as tough-minded as the shrewdest businessmen, and many others wildly and willfully eccentric but hardly crazy. What is certain is that no book presents such a splendid compendium of information about artists’ lives, from the early Renaissance to the beginning of the Romantic era, as Born Under Saturn. The Wittkowers have read everything and have countless anecdotes to relate: about artists famous and infamous; about suicide, celibacy, wantonness, weird hobbies, and whatnot. These make Born Under Saturn a comprehensive, quirky, and endlessly diverting resource for students of history and lovers of the arts.“This book is fascinating to read because of the abundant quotations which bring to life so many remarkable individuals.”-The New York Review of Books

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Book Synopsis'A marvel of storytelling and a masterclass in the history of the book' WALL STREET JOURNALThe Renaissance in Florence conjures images of beautiful frescoes and elegant buildings - the dazzling handiwork of the city's artists and architects. But equally important were geniuses of another kind: Florence's manuscript hunters, scribes, scholars and booksellers. At a time where all books were made by hand, these people helped imagine a new and enlightened world. At the heart of this activity was a remarkable bookseller: Vespasiano da Bisticci. His books were works of art in their own right, copied by talented scribes and illuminated by the finest miniaturists. With a client list that included popes and royalty, Vespasiano became the 'king of the world's booksellers'. But by 1480 a new invention had appeared: the printed book, and Europe's most prolific merchant of knowledge faced a formidable new challenge.'A spectacular life of the book trade's Renaissance man' JOHN CAREY, SUNDAY TIMESTrade ReviewIf you want to celebrate the place that bookmaking and bookselling still have in our lives . . . immerse yourself in Ross King's rich history of Vespasiano da Bisticci, "the king of the world's booksellers," in 15th-century Florence . . . wonderful -- Simon Schama * New York Times *Excellent . . . a fascinating read . . . Though ostensibly a biography of Vespasiano, he is less the book's subject than its method: a window on to the intellectual, political and technological developments of a time in radical ferment . . . entertaining, witty and expert -- Tim Smith-Laing * Daily Telegraph *A brilliant narrative that seamlessly weaves together intellectual debate, technological exploration and the excitement of new ways of thinking about ethics, politics and human capability -- Rowan WilliamsA terrific and utterly absorbing read, full of narrative pace and remarkable breadth and depth of scholarship. It deserves to make the bestseller lists . . . I haven't enjoyed a history book as much for years -- John GuyThe Bookseller of Florence is a way of entering the world of Renaissance humanism and its fascination with the writings of the past at a time when these were still - but not for much longer - handwritten -- Charles Saumarez Smith * Oldie *

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Book SynopsisInspired by his passionate interest in Ireland's architectural heritage and concern for its preservation, The Irish Aesthete culminates the writings and photography of Robert O'Byrne to showcase Ireland's historic architecture.

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Book SynopsisThis book is the first, in any language, to provide a comprehensive study of the founders of the German Werkbund: the twelve artists and twelve firms represented at the establishment of the organization in 1907. Although these twenty-four were not always in agreement, they were committed to a common cause: strongly influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement, their aim was to inspire good design and craftmanship in mass-produced goods and architecture. Together they put forward a dialogue about the nature of German culture, both visual and intellectual, and about the character of German design. They were representatives of the regional centres of Germanic culture in Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, Weimar, and Vienna and of craft-based industries throughout Central Europe. The twenty-four reflected the distribution of their common, German-speaking, socio-economic identities: they were a microcosm of the society they hoped to reform. In shedding light on these highly influential individuals, who were the fore-runners of the Bauhaus, modern architecture and the international style, this book provides a new understanding of how the Werkbund functioned, how it pursued its aims, and how it achieved such a profound and enduring legacy.

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Book SynopsisA stylish gift and inspirational self-purchase that distills Van Gogh''s extraordinary writings, artistic talent, creative insight and ambition.With a flexibound cover and gold foiling, this beautiful book features more than 100 artworks from the Van Gogh Museum collection and quotes that bring affirmation, solace and spiritual guidance.Well placed to share advice for the soul, Van Gogh worked in the face of extreme mental health problems for more than a decade and overcame extreme adversity to become one of history''s most important and inspiring artists.Other titles in this series include The Healing Power of Nature and Creative Inspiration.

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Book SynopsisThis attractively designed publication documents the work of Hirmer Verlag during the past 65 years. Since 1948 a total of over 1,100 titles have appeared under this brand name. True to the motto “Art books that set standards,” the publishers have always worked in the service of art, upholding their determination to maintain the very highest quality. A book about those who make books and those who sell them, about book art and art books, about partnership with museums and loyalty to authors.

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Book SynopsisThe most famous 18th-century copper engraver, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) made his name with etchings of ancient Rome. His startling, chiaroscuro images imbued the city’s archaeological ruins with drama and romance and became favorite souvenirs for the Grand Tourists who traveled Italy in pursuit of classical culture and education. Today, Piranesi is renowned not just for shaping the European imagination of Rome, but also for his elaborate series of fanciful prisons, Carceri, which have influenced generations of creatives since, from the Surrealists to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, Jorge Luis Borges, and Franz Kafka. Loosely based on contemporary stage sets rather than the actual dingy dungeons of Piranesi’s day, these intricate images defy architectural reality to play instead with perspective, lighting, and scale. Staircases exist on two planes simultaneously; vast, vaulted ceilings seem to soar up to the heavens; interior and exterior distinctions collapse. With a low viewpoint and small, fragile figures, the prison scenes become monstrous megacities of incarceration, celebrated to this day as masterworks of existentialist drama.Trade Review“The Eternal City has never looked as poetic as in the hand of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, the greatest printmaker of the 18th century. This new oversize coffee table book unites all his etchings of Rome’s crumbling monuments and fantastical gardens.” * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Kisokaidō route through Japan was ordained in the early 1600s by the country’s then-ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu, who decreed that staging posts be installed along the length of the arduous passage between Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto. Inns, shops, and restaurants were established to provide sustenance and lodging to weary travelers. In 1835, renowned woodblock print artist Keisai Eisen was commissioned to create a series of works to chart the Kisokaidō journey. After producing 24 prints, Eisen was replaced by Utagawa Hiroshige, who completed the series of 70 prints in 1838.Both Eisen and Hiroshige were master print practitioners. In The Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaidō, we find the artists’ distinct styles as much as their shared expertise. From the busy starting post of Nihonbashi to the castle town of Iwamurata, Eisen opts for a more muted palette but excels in figuration, particularly of glamorous women, and relishes snapshots of activity along the route, from shoeing a horse to winnowing rice. Hiroshige demonstrates his mastery of landscape with grandiose and evocative scenes, whether it’s the peaceful banks of the Ota River, the forbidding Wada Pass, or a moonlit ascent between Yawata and Mochizuki.Taken as a whole, The Sixty-Nine Stations collection represents not only a masterpiece of woodblock practice, including bold compositions and an experimental use of color, but also a charming tapestry of 19th-century Japan, long before the specter of industrialization. This TASCHEN volume is sourced from one of the finest surviving first editions and revives the series in our compact anniversary edition.Trade Review“A masterpiece of Japanese woodblock prints, an exquisitely designed illustrated book.” * Kulturzeit *“An incredible ticket to travel.” * L’Express *“Spectacular views, local delicacies, hot spring baths, and other more carnal pursuits.” * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisCécile Girardeau is conservator and curator at the Musée dell'Orangerie in Paris. Stefano Zuffi, an Italian art historian and exhibition curator, has published numerous volumes on art from the Renaissance to the 18th century.

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Book SynopsisThis third collection of SAO illustrations highlights events from Volumes 16 through 22 of the main story, as well as Volumes 1 through 3 of Sword Art Online: Progressive. Art from the anime and games is also featured, along with all-new illustrations you won't find anywhere else!

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Book Synopsis Introducing over 100 great artists (both historic and contemporary), Art Rules provides practical, creative and sometimes tongue-in-cheek advice inspired by those who have succeeded before. Trade Review“A vibrant tribute to endlessly varied frameworks of making and being.” Creatives of all stripes will be energized.” * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsList of Abbreviations | ix List of Figures | xi List of Plates | xv Preface | xvii Introduction: The Articulate Codex, Manuscription, and Empathic Codicology | 1 1 Florentius’s Body | 11 2 Monks at Work: Grammatica and Contemplative Manuscription | 33 3 The Garden of Colophons | 64 4 Manu mea: Charters, Presence, and the Authority of Inscription | 92 5 Makers and the Inscribed Environment | 106 6 Remember Maius: The Library and the Tomb | 128 7 The Strange Time of Handwriting | 160 8 The Weavers of Albelda | 185 Conclusion: The Handy Manuscript | 207 Acknowledgments | 217 Notes | 221 Manuscripts Cited | 291 Bibliography | 293 Index | 321 Plates follow page 168

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Book SynopsisCapturing the highlights of the major Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, this stunning souvenir celebrates the House of Dior from its foundation in 1947 to the present day. Haute-couture gowns by Christian Dior and the illustrious creative directors who followed him -Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, John Galliano, Bill Gaytten, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri-are showcased here, each described by Oriole Cullen and atmospherically photographed by Laziz Hamani.Trade Review"From breath-taking gowns, to authentic design sketches and phenomenal fashion photography, this enchanting volume celebrating the House of Dior’s history is the ideal keep-sake for any haute-couture enthusiast." --Daniela Saunders, 20+ Must- Have Fashion Coffee Table Books, Country & Town House, 24th May 2022, "stunning" --The Observer Magazine, 3rd February 2019, "this companion book is just the ticket if you want to soak up the highlights for years to come" --Daily Mail, 11th January 2019,"From breath-taking gowns, to authentic design sketches and phenomenal fashion photography, this enchanting volume celebrating the House of Dior's history is the ideal keep-sake for any haute-couture enthusiast." --Town and Country, 9th December 2020, "this book is bound to be a hit with any fashion devotee." --The Upcoming, February 2021, "Following the captivating exhibition at the V&A, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams. Christian Dior by Oriole Cullen shines a spotlight on some of the most celebrated pieces from this legendary fashion house, from 1947 up until the present day. The book explores the history of the House of Dior, from key collaborations to its famous client list." --Love SewingTable of ContentsDirector's Foreword / Introduction / Dior in Britain / I The New Look / II The Dior Line / III Dior in Britain / IV Historicism / V Travels / VI The Garden / VII Designers for Dior / VIII The Ateliers / IX The Ballroom / Timeline / Acknowledgements / Photography Credits

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Book SynopsisA celebration of over 100 years of queer creativity, featuring 70 outstanding works of drawing, painting, photography, sculpture and installation. Over the last century, many artists have made works that challenge dominant models of gender and sexuality. The results can be sexy or serious, satirical or tender, discreetly coded or defiantly outspoken. This beautiful book illustrates the wide variety of queer art from around the world – exploring bodies and identity, love and desire, prejudice and protest through drawing, painting, photography, sculpture and installation. 70 outstanding works - from 1900 to the present – reveal how queer experiences have differed across time and place, and how art has been part of a story of changing attitudes and emerging identities. Featuring works by, among others, Egon Schiele, Duncan Grant, Claude Cahun, Hannah Hoch, Frida Kahlo, David Hockney, Glenn Ligon, Zanele Muholi, Allyson Mitchell and Tomoko Kashiki – all of whom subverted the norms of their day via bold, new forms of expression, A Queer Little History of Art is a celebration of over 100 years of queer creativity.

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Book SynopsisA Way of Life has been put together as lovingly as Kettle's Yard itself. It takes the form of a guided tour; you enter the door and venture through the house, taking in the rooms one by one, seeing the light play on glass, china, wood, stone and canvas, and seeing how the art and the living-space bring each other alive. A series of remarkable black and white photographs catches the spirit that Jim Ede was trying to evoke, and the text comments on them in his own words.The visit is interwoven with Jim Ede's account of earlier attempts to create the same wholeness in earlier houses in London and France. He has also placed in the spaces and intervals of the book his choice of poetic texts; an anthology which indicates the spirit in which he has worked. Three influences animate this unique book: the sense of the way of life that Jim Ede created at Kettle's Yard, the spirit of the house itself, and the gentle but persistently creative spirit of the man who put i

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Book SynopsisLiberation of Colour explores the whole career of Winifred Nicholson with a special emphasis on her theories of colour. Throughout her life, Winifred Nicholson was interested in prisms and rainbows. When she was given some prisms by a physicist friend in the mid-1970s, her painting took on a new direction. Looking through a prism, she saw objects with a rim of prismatic colour. She explored and developed these ideas, often painting pictures that verged on the abstract. Using specific paintings to examine her ideas and writings about colour, the book includes her late 'prismatic' pictures which have never been properly explained. These pictures were a culmination of her life's search to find "form's secret and rhythmic law". She painted them in Greece in 1979, at her home in Cumbria, and during her last painting trip to the Island of Eigg in the Hebrides in 1980, where she had an inspired period of painting and made some of her best-loved pictures. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Liberation of Colour at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, the book illustrates many previously unseen paintings from private collections, as well as some of Nicholson's best known works. It also draws on new research, including previously unseen archival material.Table of ContentsDirectors’ Foreword Liberation of Colour Catalogue Sparks of Light The Abstract View of Colour Mysterious Fulfilment The Prismatic Paintings

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Book SynopsisManuscripts from the British Library, Bibliotheque Nationale de France and the Getty Museum have been selected, and projects are illustrated with step-by-step photographs and beautiful images of the finished works.

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Book SynopsisMary Fedden (1915-2012) is one of Britain's most popular artists. The focus of this acclaimed book, newly available in paperback in celebration of her life's achievement, is the artist's creative process in various different media - oil, gouache, pencil and collage.While Fedden is often considered almost exclusively a still-life painter, still life was far from being her only preoccupation, as this book shows. Fantasy and imagination always also played a strong part, as is particularly evident in her small gouaches. A quietly surreal, enigmatic streak runs through much of her work.Fedden's collages are a witty and affectionate homage to the work of her husband, Julian Trevelyan. They lived, worked and travelled together from 1949 to 1988. The book re-emphasises her debt to him, but also her independence, even during their early life together when he stimulated her move into Modernism. In an engaging text, which draws on numerous conversations with the artist during her final years, Christopher Andreae considers why Fedden has always had such a popular following, looks at the English quality of her work, and talks about the commercialisation of her art and her attitudes to the art market. Fedden is shown to be an original, serious and prolific artist, a draftsman of unusual sensitivity and prowess, and a colourist of power and subtlety.Profusely illustrated with works from private and public collections, this is a book for Mary Fedden's existing devotees as well as newcomers to her work.Trade Review'This book is a delight...' RA MagazineTable of ContentsContents: Thanks and Acknowledgments; Introduction: Mary Fedden: Themes, Variations, and Enigmas; Chapter One: A Gallery of Mary Feddens; Chapter Two: Three Beginnings; Interlude: Poetical; Chapter Three: Fedden vis a vis Other Artists; Chapter Four: Painting and Other Media; Chapter Five: Still Life; Interlude: Flowers and Cats; Chapter Six: Figures - Memory, Imagination, and Fantasy; A Bizarre Interlude; Chapter Seven: Pattern, Composition, Colour; Chapter Eight: Travels; Chapter Nine: Sidelines; Interlude: Familiarity Breeds Contentment; Chapter Ten: Repeats, Replications and Re-explorations; Final Thoughts; Index of Works.

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Book SynopsisThe Bayeaux Tapestry is unique both as a historical document and as a work of art. It was made soon after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and it tells the story of the events that led up to William the Conqueror's invasion of England and the battle itself.

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Book SynopsisThis invaluable guide enables students to get the most from their art history course. Written in an accessible style, the book introduces two basic art historical methods - formal analysis and contextual analysis. In this new edition revising author Michael Cothren has extended the discussion on iconography and iconology, as well as adding discussions on the effects of the market and museums on art. Greater emphasis is placed on the global and multicultural aspects of art creation and analysis with new images and more case studies. There is more step-by-step guidance on how to use these methods to prepare for exams and write papers.

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Book SynopsisTrace the hidden history of Tarot in this pocket-sized volume from TASCHEN's Library of Esoterica. Artfully arranged according to the sequencing of the Major and Minor Arcana, this visual compendium gathers hundreds of cards and works of original art from around the world in the ultimate exploration of a centuries-old art form.

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Book SynopsisA fascinating look at John Singer Sargent's formative years as a young painter in Paris, a city that helped forge his artistic identity and sparked his rise to the pinnacle of the nineteenth-century art world In 1874, eighteen-year-old American artist John Singer Sargent went to Paris to become a painter. A mere ten years later, he would be an art-world sensation, sparking controversy with his scandalous portrait Madame X at the 1884 Salon. Sargent and Paris focuses on this decisive early decade in the artist's storied career, when he first achieved recognition for ambitious portraits and bold canvases that pushed the boundaries of convention. Incisive essays by the world's foremost Sargent scholars explore his life in Paristhen the epicenter of the cultural worldand the cosmopolitan circle of artists, writers, and cultivated patrons that nurtured his career and helped forge his artistic identity. Authors highlight the painter's connections to giants of the Parisian art scene as well as the influential patrons who were key to Sargent's progression as an artist. Presented alongside lavish images of more than a hundred paintings and works on paperbrought together from public and private collections throughout the United States and Europethis publication offers an intimate look at the roots of Sargent's signature, breathtaking style and his indelible experiences as a young artist in the French capital. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (April 27August 3, 2025) Musée d'Orsay, Paris (September 22, 2025January 11, 2026)

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking and essential survey of the art of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, offering an in-depth discussion of the development of the artist and positioning her work within a wider history of portraiture. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly In League With The Night celebrates the work of one of the most significant and acclaimed figurative painters of her generation. Fact and fiction fuse in Yiadom-Boakye’s paintings: they appear to be portraits, yet the people she depicts are not real but invented. Created from a composite of found images and her own imagination, her characters seem to exist outside of a specific time or place: they feel at once familiar yet mysterious. This ambiguity resonates again in the enigmatic titles she gives to her artworks. The artist is also a writer of poetry and prose, and for her, the two forms of creativity complement each other: ‘The things I can’t paint, I write, and the things I can’t write, I paint.’ This perceptive and engaging publication provides a comprehensive account of Yiadom-Boakye’s practice over the past two decades. With contributions by the celebrated poet Elizabeth Alexander and curators Andrea Schlieker and Isabella Maidment, alongside new writing by Yiadom-Boakye, Fly In League With The Night reflects the dual aspects of the artist’s career as both a painter and a writer and offers an intimate insight into her creative process.

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Book Synopsis Immerse yourself in the curious and macabre with this treasure trove of ephemera—with 200+ stickers, 50+ activity and coloring pages, and instructions for tarot reading, phrenology, and more. If you’ve ever felt like the odd one out, this book is for you. Oddities & Curiosities Sticker, Color & Activity Book offers you a chance to celebrate your uniqueness with a journey through all things weird and wonderful.People on the periphery are often creative, and it’s this creativity that leads them into art, jewelry making, poetry, even taxidermy—anything that can make use of a mind filled with curiosity, empathy, and a unique outlook on life. A pursuit of oddities and curiosities often overlaps with an interest in the more macabre and weird elements that surround us. With this activity book, you, too, can partake in these curious and leisurely pastimes.Relax, explore your creativity, and add fun to your free time with:<

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Book SynopsisThe National Gallery Companion Guide celebrates over 200 masterpieces from one of the finest art collections in the world. The reader is guided through the history of the Western European painting tradition, from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries, with engaging commentaries that illuminate each artist’s unique contribution. This comprehensive, newly designed edition has been revised and expanded to feature recent acquisitions by Artemisia Gentileschi, Edgar Degas and Thomas Lawrence, alongside much-loved works by artists ranging from Leonardo and Raphael to Van Gogh and Picasso.

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Book SynopsisThe first publication dedicated to artists' zines in North America, a revelatory exploration of an unexamined but thriving aesthetic practiceCopy Machine Manifestos captures the rich history of artists' zines as never before, placing them in the lineage of the visual arts and exploring their vibrant growth over the past five decades. Fully illustrated with hundreds of zine covers and interiors, alongside work in other media, such as painting, photography, film, video, and performance, the book also features brief biographies for more than 100 zine-makers including Beverly Buchanan, Mark Gonzales, G.B. Jones, Miranda July, Bruce LaBruce, Terence Koh, LTTR, Ari Marcopoulos, Mark Morrisroe, Raymond Pettibon, Brontez Purnell, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and Kandis Williams. Accompanying a major exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, this expansive book, bound as a paperback with a separate jacket, focuses on zines from North America, celebrating how artists have harnessed the medium's essential role in community building and transforming material and conceptual approaches to making art across all media since 1970. Trade Review‘Enriched by concise biographies of 100 artists and a wealth of images, this masterfully brings a lesser-explored vein of popular culture to light.’ – Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2022 Longlisted for the William M B Berger Prize for British Art History 2022 Guardian Art Book of the Year 2021 A dazzling, boldly original work that tells the powerful and passionate stories of a group of extraordinary women as glimpsed through their still life paintings What is contained in a still life – and what falls out of the frame? For women artists in the early twentieth century, such as Dora Carrington, Vanessa Bell and Gwen John, this art form was a conduit for their lives, their rebellions, their quietly subversive loves for men and women. But for every artist whom we remember, there are those whose work is almost forgotten. In This Dark Country, Rebecca Birrell conducts a dazzling fusion of group biography and art criticism, exploring, from the celebrated to the overlooked, the structures of intimacy that make – and dismantle – our worlds. 'A brilliant book ... A truly radical aesthetics fit for the twenty-first century at last!' - Thérèse Oulton '[A] wonderful book. I am impressed and fascinated. It is beautifully written' - Celia PaulTrade ReviewBlending flights of poetic rhapsody with more traditional critical language, This Dark Country is as seductive as it is scholarly ... Riveting * Financial Times *[A] wonderful book. I am impressed and fascinated. It is beautifully written. Each woman artist, in this superb book, addresses the need to transform the confines she inhabits into a space of empowerment. These artists all lived and worked in the first part of the twentieth century yet their legacy continues to be relevant -- Celia PaulA brilliant book ... A truly radical aesthetics fit for the twenty-first century at last! -- Thérèse OultonA beautifully written and important art historical work, This Dark Country is a magnificent debut by one of Britain’s most electrifying new talents. I cannot wait to read what she writes next! -- Camilla Grudova, author of THE DOLL's ALPHABET[An] unusual and refreshing group biography of artists ... I loved Birrell's brilliant re-apprehension of Rodin’s The Thinker through the experience of Gwen John. And her explanation of the magnitude of rooms and importance of room, in these women’s lives -- Leanne Shapton[A] beautiful, bold new book … explores the desires and ambitions of women artists, moving beyond the frame to reflect lives that rarely fit convention -- Chlöe Ashby * Elephant *Birrell’s blend of art criticism and biography works best when it is tethered to real-world calculation. She is particularly good at teasing out the stubborn material facts that underpin the most serene of still lifes -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *Rebecca Birrell urges us to ask new questions about gender and genre, domesticity and work … At its heart is the challenge of understanding the lives and works of women whose desires and ambitions often demanded secrecy, evasion and ambiguity -- Norma Clarke * Literary Review *[I was] captivated by this extraordinary book - stayed up way too late scribbling my astonishment on all the pages -- Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of 'A Ghost in the Throat'This is a bold, unusual book, filled with archival research, exuberant ideas and a determination to counter misogyny -- Diana Souhami * RA Magazine *We have not generally thought of the still life as a radical feminist genre – until now. In This Dark Country, Rebecca Birrell gives a sensitive, deeply researched look at the lives behind the still lives, showing us how for a group of early twentieth-century women artists the home became a radical feminist space in which to redefine domesticity and their relationships to the world outside. There is a calm and companionable stillness to Birrell’s prose, too; I loved seeing these paintings through Birrell’s eyes. -- Lauren Elkin

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Book SynopsisCelebrate the fairy tale life of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British monarch in history, with this majestic paper doll collection. Two dolls capture Elizabeth as a young woman and a more mature matriarch, while dozens of royal outfits feature her stunning coronation gown designed by Norman Hartnell as well as other fabulous couture that have made her a fashion icon admired worldwide. Plus, a doll and wardrobe for Prince Philip is also included.

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Book SynopsisThe most wide-ranging and up-to-date volume available on the enigmatic and controversial graffiti artist, this deeply researched and highly personal tribute explores how Banksy continues to defy accepted wisdom about artistic success, growing only more famous and powerful even as he sticks to his anti-establishment platform and to his mission to give a voice to the voiceless. Accompanied by stunning full-page, full-color reproductions and photographs of works in situ—including many that have been lost to time­–photographer and street art expert Alessandra Mattanza’s impassioned and informed text follows Banksy’s career trajectory from creator of message-laden stencils on London’s city walls to a sought-after champion of human and environmental rights. She investigates many of the key images that populate Banksy’s work—animals, children, historic figures, balloons, cartoon characters, police officers, and others. She shows how Banksy’s oeuvre has expanded beyond graffiti and stenciling and how his art has helped support his activism in a variety of causes—from calls for peace in the Middle East to the preservation of the natural environment. Best of all she helps readers make sense of the rather unusual path Banksy has chosen—an artist who uses his global platform to raise awareness about the underserved, rather than to his own celebrity. Readers will come away with a new understanding of how Banksy helped transform an illegal act of criminal damage into a high art form, and how, by ridiculing institutionalized art, he has achieved enormous fame within those very institutions.

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