History of art Books

Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1939, this book presents an artistic memoir by the Scottish painter and lithographer Archibald Standish Hartrick (18641950). A richly detailed account is provided, reflecting Hartrick's first-hand experience of 'violent and puzzling' changes within the art world and his personal relationships with figures such as Van Gogh, Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec.Table of ContentsPreface; 1. The painter; 2. The Atelier Julian; 3. Paul Gauguin; 4. Vincent Van Gogh; 5. The Glasgow school; 6. The Graphic and The Daily Graphic; 7. Renouard, Toulouse-Lautrec, and others; 8. Some black and white artists; 9. The Penels; 10. The Pall Mall Budget; 11. The Chelsea Arts Club; 12. Early days at the New English Arts Club; 13. Changes and chances; 14. Acton Turville; 15. Tresham; 16. The International Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Gravers; 17. Retreat from Arcady; 18. London again; 19. The war years; 20. Peace and after; Index.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, eleven essays by leading scholars of music, liturgy, literature, manuscript production and architecture analyse how the medieval arts invited collaborative performances designed to persuade. Using concepts derived from rhetoric to analyse specific examples, the essays show the immense power of those forms of rhetoric which are 'beyond words'.Trade Review'Mary Carruthers and the contributors to this volume have produced an extraordinary collection of essays, rich and complex with thematic intercon- nections andmany avenues for further exploration … readers will find Carruthers' collection a remarkable resource not only for historical and textual studies, but also for insights into medieval culture, worship, and performance through the art of rhetoric.' Elza C. Tiner, Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of RhetoricTable of ContentsEditor's introduction Mary Carruthers; 1. 'Working by words alone': the architect, scholasticism and rhetoric in thirteenth-century France Paul Binski; 2. Grammar and rhetoric in Late Medieval polyphony: modern metaphor or old simile? Margaret Bent; 3. Nature's forge and mechanical production: writing, reading, and performing song Elizabeth Eva Leach; 4. Rhetorical strategies in the pictorial imagery of fourteenth century manuscripts: the case of the Bohun Psalters Lucy Freeman Sandler; 5. Do actions speak louder than words? The scope and role of pronuntiatio in the Latin rhetorical tradition, with special reference to the Cistercians Jan M. Ziolkowski; 6. Vultus Adest (the face helps): performance, expressivity, and interiority Monika Otter; 7. Special delivery: were medieval letter writers trained in performance? Martin Camargo; 8. The concept of ductus, or, journeying through a work of art Mary Carruthers; 9. Ductus and memoria: Chartres Cathedral and the workings of rhetoric Paul Crossley; 10. Ductus figuratus et subtilis: rhetorical interventions for women in two twelfth-century liturgies William T. Flynn; 11. Terribilis est locus iste: the Pantheon in 609 Susan Rankin.

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Book SynopsisThe relation between the visual and the verbal spheres has been much contested in recent years, from laments about the 'logocentricism' of the academy to the heralding of the 'pictorial turn' of the multimedia age. This lavishly illustrated book recontextualises these debates through the historical lens of Greek and Roman antiquity. Dr Squire shows how modern Western concepts of 'words' and 'pictures' derive from a post-Reformation tradition of theology and aesthetics. Where modern critics assume a bipartite separation between images and texts, classical antiquity toyed with a more playful and engaged relation between the two. By using the ancient world to rethink our own ideologies of the visual and the verbal, this interdisciplinary book brings together classics and art history, as well as a sustained reflection on their historiography: the result is a new and explosive cultural history of Western visual thinking.Trade Review'This book is a major contribution to our understanding of image-text interactions in antiquity.' Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewTable of ContentsPreface: kicking the habit?; Part I: 1. Words and pictures in a post-Lutheran age; 2. Towards an older Laocoon? Reviewing the 'limits' of painting and poetry in the Graeco-Roman world; Part II: 3. Materialising ecphrasis: image and word in the Sperlonga Grotto; 4. Speaking for pictures? Images, texts and modes of visual-verbal response in the 'House of Propertius' at Assisi; Part III: 5. Cyclopian iconotexts: the adventures of Polyphemus in image and text; 6. The art of nature and the nature of art: visual-verbal interactions in the consumption of Roman 'still-life' paintings; Envoi: the bigger picture.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first general monograph on ancient Greek dress in English to be published in more than a century. By applying modern dress theory to the ancient evidence, this book reconstructs the social meanings attached to the dressed body in ancient Greece.Trade Review'Lee pulls together a variety of topics with sophistication. This book will hold special appeal for anyone working on dress, Greek art, gender, or the history of classical scholarship, but so much ground is covered that any reader will find something of interest. It achieves approachability without succumbing to superficiality and is a pleasure to read. It will become a resource for reimaging Greek dress (and perhaps even ancient dress more generally).' Laura Gawlinski, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewTable of Contents1. Greek dress and dress theory; 2. Bodies in ancient Greece; 3. Body modification; 4. Garments; 5. Accessories; 6. The body as dress; 7. Social contexts of dress.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Clemente Marconi provides a new interpretation for the use of figural decoration in Greek temples of the archaic period, through a study of the archaic metopes of Selinus. Marconi examines the function of figures on temples within the cultural and social context of the communities for which these images were created.Trade ReviewReview of the hardback: '[Marconi's] control of ancient literary sources, historiographies, relevant mythologies, the archaeological and archival record, the contents of dusty storerooms, and iconographic and stylistic comparanda is remarkable. The reintegration of the Selinus metopes into the fabric of the architecture, the broader contextualizations of temple into sanctuary and polis, and of the figural décor into concepts of civic identity and of the individual's place in society, open whole new avenues of research.' Journal of Hellenic StudiesTable of Contents1. Figure and temple in the Greek world until the beginning of the late archaic period (ca. 700–530 BC); 2. Monumental architecture and colonization in archaic Sicily; 3. Selinus: history and urban development of an archaic Greek colony; 4. The small metopes; 5. Temple C and its metopes; 6. Gods, heroes, and monsters: the cultural identity of a Greek colony in the West.

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Book SynopsisThe Afterlives of Greek Sculpture is the first comprehensive, historical account of the afterlives of ancient Greek monumental sculptures. Whereas scholars have traditionally focused on the creation of these works, Rachel Kousser instead draws on archaeological and textual sources to analyze the later histories of these sculptures, reconstructing the processes of damage and reparation that characterized the lives of Greek images. Using an approach informed by anthropology and iconoclasm studies, Kousser describes how damage to sculptures took place within a broader cultural context. She also tracks the development of an anti-iconoclastic discourse in Hellenic society from the Persian wars to the death of Cleopatra. Her study offers a fresh perspective on the role of the image in ancient Greece.It also sheds new light on the creation of Hellenic cultural identity and the formation of collective memory in the Classical and Hellenistic eras.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. The Afterlives of Greek Sculptures: 1. Dangerous afterlives: the Greek use of 'voodoo dolls'; 2. Use and abuse: toward an ontology of sculpture in ancient Greece; Part II. Barbaric, Deviant, and Unhellenic: Damage to Sculptures and its Commemoration, 480–31 BC: 3. 'Barbaric' interactions: the Persian invasion and its commemoration in early classical Greece; 4. Deviant interactions: the mutilation of the herms, oligarchy, and social deviance in the Peloponnesian war era; 5. Collateral damage: injury, reuse, and restoration of funerary monuments in the early Hellenistic Kerameikos; 6. State-sanctioned violence: altering, warehousing, and destroying leaders' portraits in the Hellenistic era; Conclusion: the afterlives of Greek sculptures in the Roman and early Christian eras; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisKousser builds on recent scholarship to offer a unique analysis of Hellenistic and Roman sculptures. Unlike other books, she focuses on the reception rather than the creation of works of art, giving readings of important monuments integrating their analysis with less well-studied ones such as German provincial relics.Trade Review'Kousser demonstrates how careful iconographic analysis of the material can be insightful and help us understand better the importance of sculpture in specific contexts.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review'This book is an in-depth examination of a widespread visual motif in ancient art, most famously represented by the Capua Venus and the Victory of Brescia. Kousser presents many intelligent and thought-provoking interpretations of individual works.' Classical Journal OnlineTable of Contents1. Creating the past: the origins of classicism in Hellenistic sculpture; 2. From Greece to Rome: retrospective sculpture in the early empire; 3. From metropolis to empire: retrospective sculpture in the high empire; 4. From Roman to Christian: retrospection and transformation in late antique art.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Gabriel Zuchtriegel explores and reconstructs the unwritten history of Classical Greece - the experience of nonelite colonial populations. Using postcolonial critical methods to analyze Greek settlements and their hinterlands of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, he reconstructs the social and economic structures in which exploitation, violence, and subjugation were implicit. He mines literary sources and inscriptions, as well as archaeological and data from excavations and field surveys, much of it published here for the first time, that offer new insights into the lives and status of nonelite populations in Greek colonies. Zuchtriegel demonstrates that Greece''s colonial experience has far-reaching implications beyond the study of archaeology and ancient history. As reflected in foundational texts such as Plato''s ''Laws'' and Aristotle''s ''Politics'', the ideology that sustained Greek colonialism is still felt in many Western societies.Trade Review'… this groundbreaking book offers a fresh and compelling portrait of daily life in Classical Greek colonies. Zuchtriegel's forward-thinking analyses prompt his readers to question longheld beliefs about Greek colonization, and his discussions of early colonial architecture (Chapter 2), residential patterns (Chapters 4 and 5), the reinterpretation of land distribution practices at Metapontum (pp. 132–134), and specialized craft production (Chapter 7) are of particular note. This book is a must-have resource for all scholars of Greek colonization, and will undoubtedly shape the discourse of the field for years to come.' Ancient History BulletinTable of Contents1. Places of darkness: colonial settlements and the history of classical Greece; 2. Huts and houses: a question of ideology?; 3. Tombs: visibility and invisibility in colonial societies; 4. Fields: colonial definitions of equality; 5. Farms: the end of equality?; 6. Mountains: the limits of Greekness and citizenship; 7. Workshops: Banausoi in the colony; 8. Classical Greece from a colonial perspective; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book is for those interested in the Roman world. It treats the reuse of sculptural and architectural materials in new contexts, and explores the new associations that these 'out of place' materials created for their viewers. Materials were sometimes used to create new meanings, and sometimes for economic expedience.Trade Review'Throughout, the volume is impressively well illustrated. It is wide ranging, informative, challenging and thought provoking. It is one of the best edited volumes I have read for some time. While each paper has a specific aim, sight of the bigger picture and wider context is never lost. Moreover, the fact that the papers communicate with each other throughout the volume is indicative of both careful editing and collaborative participation by the contributors in the overall process. The success of this volume means that there is good scope to broaden the contributions to include extra-urban regions and more provinces in future endeavours.' Rebecca J. Sweetman, The Journal of Roman StudiesTable of ContentsIntroduction. 'Reuse, renovation, reiteration' Diana Y. Ng and Molly Swetnam-Burland; 1. 'The reuse and redisplay of honorific statues in Pompeii' Brenda Longfellow; 2. 'The Vigiles, dynastic succession and symbolic reappropriation in the Caserma dei Vigili at Ostia' Margaret L. Laird; 3. 'The epigraphy of appropriation: retrospective signatures of Greek sculptors in the Roman World' Catherine M. Keesling; 4. 'Gateways to the past: the Hadrianic architecture of procession in Pisidian Antioch and Athens' Adrian J. Ossi; 5. 'Visual literacy and reuse in the architecture of late Imperial Rome' Elisha Ann Dumser; 6. 'Urban transformations at Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity: destruction or intentional preservation?' Esen Ogus; 7. 'Acquiring the antique in Byzantine Rome: the economics of architectural reuse at Santa Maria Antiqua' Gregor Kalas; 8. 'The afterlife of the amphitheater: cultural biography and social memory at Tarragona' Sheila Bond.

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Book SynopsisThe aesthetics of everyday life, as reflected in art museums and galleries throughout the western world, is the result of a profound shift in aesthetic perception that occurred during the Renaissance and Reformation. In this book, William A. Dyrness examines intellectual developments in late Medieval Europe, which turned attention away from a narrow range liturgical art and practices and towards a celebration of God''s presence in creation and in history. Though threatened by the human tendency to self-assertion, he shows how a new focus on God''s creative and recreative action in the world gave time and history a new seriousness, and engendered a broad spectrum of aesthetic potential. Focusing in particular on the writings of Luther and Calvin, Dyrness demonstrates how the reformers'' conceptual and theological frameworks pertaining to the role of the arts influenced the rise of realistic theater, lyric poetry, landscape painting, and architecture in the sixteenth and seventeenth centTrade Review'… the book is loaded with excellent references … [This book] … an invaluable resource for theologians, church historians, art historians, cultural critics, and liturgical scholars.' Michael N. Jagessar, Canadian Journal of Netherlandic StudiesTable of Contents1. Introduction: the medieval context of the Reformation; 2. Like and presence in Holbein, Luther and Cranach; 3. John Calvin: creation, drama and time; 4. Calvin, language and the rise of literary culture; 5. Portraits and dramatic culture in sixteenth century England; 6. The emerging aesthetics of early modern England: a new world with echoes of the past; 7. The new visual culture of reformed Holland and France; 8. Epilogue: the cultural afterlife of Protestant aesthetics.

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Book SynopsisTheodosius II (AD 408450) was the longest reigning Roman emperor. Ever since Edward Gibbon, he has been dismissed as mediocre and ineffectual. Yet Theodosius ruled an empire which retained its integrity while the West was broken up by barbarian invasions. This book explores Theodosius'' challenges and successes. Ten essays by leading scholars of late antiquity provide important new insights into the court at Constantinople, the literary and cultural vitality of the reign, and the presentation of imperial piety and power. Much attention has been directed towards the changes promoted by Constantine at the beginning of the fourth century; much less to their crystallisation under Theodosius II. This volume explores the working out of new conceptions of the Roman Empire - its history, its rulers and its God. A substantial introduction offers a new framework for thinking afresh about the long transition from the classical world to Byzantium.Trade Review'The reader of this volume is offered valuable insights into one of the crucial periods in the history of the Christian Church.' Fergus Millar, Journal of Ecclesiastical HistoryTable of ContentsPart I. Introduction: 1. Rethinking Theodosius Christopher Kelly; Part II. Arcana Imperii: 2. Men without women: Theodosius' consistory and the business of government Jill Harries; 3. Theodosius and his generals Doug Lee; 4. Theodosius II and the politics of the first Council of Ephesus Thomas Graumann; 5. Olympiodorus of Thebes and eastern triumphalism Peter Van Nuffelen; Part III. Past and Present: 6. Mapping the world under Theodosius II Giusto Traina; 7. 'The insanity of heretics must be restrained': heresiology and the Theodosian Code Richard Flower; 8. Writing in Greek: classicism and compilation, interaction and transformation Mary Whitby; Part IV. Pius Princeps: 9. Stooping to conquer: the power of imperial humility Christopher Kelly; 10. The imperial subject: Theodosius II and panegyric in Socrates' Church History Luke Gardiner; 11. Theodosius II and his legacy in anti-Chalcedonian communal memory Edward Watts.

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Book SynopsisIn this study, Marcello Mogetta examines the origins and early dissemination of concrete technology in Roman Republican architecture. Framing the genesis of innovative building processes and techniques within the context of Rome''s early expansion, he traces technological change in monumental construction in long-established urban centers and new Roman colonial cites founded in the 2nd century BCE in central Italy. Mogetta weaves together excavation data from both public monuments and private domestic architecture that have been previously studied in isolation. Highlighting the organization of the building industry, he also explores the political motivations and cultural aspirations of patrons of monumental architecture, reconstructing how they negotiated economic and logistical constraints by drawing from both local traditions and long-distance networks. By incorporating the available evidence into the development of concrete technology, Mogetta also demonstrates the contributions of Trade Review'… [a] stimulating work … the bold thesis will inspire much discussion, in no small part because it rests on a keen understanding of the evidence … [Mogetta's] efforts deserve broad readership and serious engagement.' Seth Bernard, American Journal of ArchaeologyTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Deconstructing Roman Concrete; 3. A New Date for Concrete in Rome; 4. A View from the Suburbium; 5. Building Samnite Pompeii; 6. Colonial Networks; 7 Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis Element discusses the ancient statues once set up in Byzantine Constantinople, with a special focus on their popular reception. From its foundation by Constantine the Great in 324, Constantinople housed a great number of statues which stood in the city on streets and public places, or were kept in several collections and in the Hippodrome. Almost all of them, except a number of newly made statues of reigning emperors, were ancient objects which had been brought to the city from other places. Many of these statues were later identified with persons other than those they actually represented, or received an allegorical (sometimes even an apocalyptical) interpretation. When the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade conquered the city in 1204, almost all of the statues of Constantinople were destroyed or looted.Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. 'Shining like the sun upon the citizens': Constantine's statue on the Forum; 3. Other statues of emperors on triumphal columns; 4. Of emperors and elephants; 5. Constantine Helios as charioteer; 6. The Forum of Constantine; 7. The servant of the wind; 8. The rider on the Tauros; 9. The place of brotherly love; 10. Empress Helena and the lord of Amastris; 11. The Ox of bronze; 12. Three-headed statues; 13. Exakionion and Golden Gate; 14. Prophecies of the future; 15. Testing chastity; 16. Collections of statues; 17. Statues in the Hippodrome; 18. The statues of Constantinople in the late Byzantine age; Bibliography.

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This Element focuses on the 'content' of illustrations and its adaptation within the framework of a new medium; case studies examine the use across different media of illustrations of three eighteenth-century works. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

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Book SynopsisRoman portrait statues, famed for their individuality, repeatedly employed the same body forms. This book examines the 'Large Herculaneum Woman' statue type, a draped female body common in the second century CE and surviving in about two hundred examples, to demonstrate how sameness helped to communicate a woman's social identity.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Origins; 2. Production; 3. Replication; 4. Portraiture; 5. Space; 6. Difference; 7. Endings; Appendix. Dating the statues; Catalogue; Bibliography.

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Book Synopsis“Matching gorgeous prose to gorgeous artworks, Prose responds to each image as a moment of theatrical revelation, sensual or spiritual, and frequently both.” — Boston Sunday GlobeIn Caravaggio, New York Times bestselling author Francine Prose offers an enthralling account of the life and work of one of the greatest painters of all time. Caravaggio defied the aesthetic conventions of his time; his use of ordinary people, realistically portrayed—street boys, prostitutes, the poor, the aged—was a profound and revolutionary innovation that left its mark on generations of artists. His insistence on painting from nature, on rendering the emotional truth of experience, whether religious or secular, made him an artist who speaks across the centuries to modern day. Called “racy, intensely imagined, and highly readable” by the New York Times Book Review, Carav

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“One of the many virtues of Michael Tisserand’s richly illustrated biography of George Herriman, the creator of “Krazy Kat,” is its evocation of the early 20th-century newspaper world from which it sprang.” — Wall Street Journal “Essential reading for comics fans and history buffs, Krazy is a roaring success, providing an indispensable new perspective on turn-of-the-century America.” — Kirkus (starred) “Who was the man behind “Krazy Kat”? This fascinating biography and guide to the work of the cartoonist, who passed for white, tells the full story.” — New York Times “Tisserand … has written the rarest kind of book: scholarship that is accessible and captivating, genuinely fun to read. His prose sparkles, smooth and flowing, rich with metaphor and invention.” — Chicago Tribune “... one of the year’s best biographies.” — Boston Globe “Krazy, so rich in anecdote and so warm in affection, succeeds in adding a good deal to the wonder of George Herriman’s legacy – mainly by putting the artist in last place on Earth he liked to be: in the spotlight, center stage.” — Christian Science Monitor “It’s one of the best true stories told in 2016.” — Philadelphia Inquirer “... engaging, revealing…. Herriman’s adventures in newspapering in the early years of the 20th century are alone worth the price of the book.... Whether you’re a longtime Krazy Kat fan, as I am, or a new acquaintance, this biography will enrich your knowledge of the Kat and its creator.” — Tampa Bay Times “Perhaps no one in his field is as deserving of a top-notch, in-depth biography as Herriman. And with Michael Tisserand’s Krazy we now have a most valuable, studiously researched, and, indeed, definitive profile of the man that does him full justice.” — Print “Herriman’s delight in anarchic transformation and gentle subversion had personal roots, as Michael Tisserand reveals in this scrupulously researched, luminously written and eye-opening biography.” — The Times Literary Supplement “A visionary strip. Who drew it, and wherefrom? Tisserand’s robust research illuminates, without diminishing, the mystery.” — Roy Blount Jr. “An athletic feat of scholarship and an effort of love—like one of Ignatz’s bricks to the head. Tisserand’s immaculately researched and super-readable biography captures the madcap modernist Herriman and the weird America of surreal racial realities and publishing superpowers that shaped his revolutionary art.” — Hillary Chute “George Herriman was a poet in a new visual language. As a man, he was an enigma to match his greatest creation, the sublime Krazy Kat. Michael Tisserand has done a masterful job of illuminating this life lived in the shadowy borderlands of racial identity; along the way he also gives a brilliant overview of the golden years of American cartooning. Krazy is a monumental work of biography about a true American genius.” — Tom Piazza “This is a gripping read at the intersection of pop culture and American history.” — Publisher’s Weekly “An absorbing study of a genius with a secret.” — New Orleans Times-Picayune “Rich in original research, New Orleans writer Tisserand’s encyclopedia biography of Krazy Kat artist George Herriman is also an enlightening history of modern comic strips.” — Shelf Awareness “Tisserand presents a well-researched, engaging biography of George Herriman (1880-1944), creator of the comic strip Krazy Kat.... At every step, this work brilliantly re-creates the milieu of its subject’s life by shading in the historical context. A significant book for comics scholars and those interested in tracing Herriman’s development from novice to master of the medium.” — Paul Steins, Library Journal

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Book SynopsisLooks at a pivotal year in the author's personal and professional life through an illustrated diary that begins in spring 2008 and ends in summer 2009. This title features the many of her sketches, photographs, images of a variety of finished tattoos and her many unusual personal collections - all shot by herself.

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Book SynopsisThe universe isn't made of atoms; it's made of tiny stories. This title offers a selection of stories small in scope but outsize in impact.Trade Review"Told with haiku-like precision." -- LA Weekly "From the department of Perfect Hipster Stocking Stuffers ... Buy it for your brooding-artist cousin, but then selfishly decide to keep it for yourself." -- Philadelphia City Paper "Not just a coup for [hitRECord.org] but also an object lesson in how it works." -- New York Times "A brand new collection of moving (and funny!) stories from the hitRECord family and It Books." -- Entertainment Weekly "A handsome hardbound book full of wit, whimsy, and a little wisdom." -- Philadelphia Inquirer "Fascinating ... A wonderful little book ... highly recommend[ed] to anyone who loves ingenuity, irony and beauty."- -- Tampa Bay Books Examiner, "Top 10 Best Books for Christmas" Dive into its shortest of short stories and relish its captivating illustrations, and soon enough you'll realize: Even if you're not physically carrying the book, you're carrying its stories with you throughout your days ... [an] itty bitty bound book with a big ol' heart. -- Austin Chronicle

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Book SynopsisA 2019 EDGAR AWARDS NOMINEE (BEST FACT CRIME) • A BANFF MOUNTAIN BOOK AWARDS FINALISTTwo modern adventurers sought a treasure possessed by the legendary “Wild Men of Borneo.” One found riches. The other vanished forever into an endless jungle. Had he shed civilization—or lost his mind? Global headlines suspected murder. Lured by these mysteries, New York Times bestselling author Carl Hoffman journeyed to find the truth, discovering that nothing is as it seems in the world’s last Eden, where the lines between sinner and saint blur into one.In 1984, Swiss traveler Bruno Manser joined an expedition to the Mulu caves on Borneo, the planet’s third largest island. There he slipped into the forest interior to make contact with the Penan, an indigenous tribe of peace-loving nomads living among the Dayak people, the fabled “Headhunters of Borneo.” Bruno lived for years with

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Wise and ebullient . . . . Gefter takes the reader inside so many of Avedon’s photo shoots, and so deftly explicates his work, that you’re thirsty to sate your eyes with Avedon’s actual images . . . . One of the achievements of Gefter’s biography is to argue persuasively for Avedon’s place, as a maker of portraits, as one of the 20th century’s most consequential artists.” — Dwight Garner, New York Times "Gefter weaves the particulars of Avedon’s life story into a larger narrative about American culture in the decades after World War II . . . . Read in the context of our own precarious political and ecological moment, this assessment alone argues eloquently for the abiding, even urgent relevance of Avedon’s imperfect Art." — Caroline Weber, New York Times Book Review “Imagine the offspring of Marcel Proust and the Energizer Bunny—that’s who Richard Avedon was, a chronicler of fashion, an analyst of social types, the author in pictures of his era. And Philip Gefter captures him. His biography is an Avedon of Avedon.” — Louis Menand, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Metaphysical Club “Mesmerizing. . . . Like Avedon’s blank white backgrounds, blasted with light, Gefter’s pages expose in a controlled and intelligent manner all the bigness and littleness of one of the greats.” — Brad Gooch, New York Times bestselling author of Flannery and City Poet "A compelling, beautifully written examination of Avedon's life as it reflects the larger cultural milieu of post–World War II New York, and, more importantly, an argument for the role of the artist in contemporary society." — Stephen Shore, photographer "The portrait that emerges in these pages is not only a biography of the artist—his professional triumphs and disappointments and personal demons—but also a beautifully written assessment of his work, which brings Avedon to life and also vividly evokes his most memorable images." — Kate Betts, Air Mail “Revealing, fluent, and very well written—an exemplary biography of an underappreciated artist.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Gefter’s expert, comprehensive, and sensitive biography embodies the electricity and complexity of Avedon’s work as he centers Avedon within the crossfire of both the battle to legitimize photography as a fine art form and the struggle for gay rights… Gefter’s engrossing portrait of a master portraitist vividly proves his claim that Avedon is “one of the most consequential artists of the twentieth century." — Booklist, starred review "Definitive and insightful." — Publishers Weekly "With this engrossing biography, readers will come away with a greater appreciation of Avedon’s artistic strengths and achievements, as well as the complex man behind the camera." — Library Journal (starred review) "Philip Gefter’s welcome new biography . . . takes Avedon at his own estimation as a serious 20th-century artist. It creates a dense, convincing portrait of a man with huge talent and a gift for life." — Scott Eyman, Wall Street Journal

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Book SynopsisIn this lush compendium illustrated with full-color images, the author of The Burlesque Handbook chronicles the history of one of the world’s most beloved fashion patterns—leopard print—celebrating its beauty and place in couture, and the women who have dared to wear it.In nature, the distinctive markings on big cats served as camouflage, helping them to blend into their surroundings when hunting prey. Unlike these magnificent predators, humans have donned this distinctive animal pattern to be noticed; leopard print demands an audience. Jo Weldon, an expert in the world of burlesque, reveals how this sexy, playful, decadent, and vibrant pattern once reserved for royalty came into vogue and became a staple of fashion.With the revolution in technology and the rise of mass production in the early 1900s, textiles could be produced quickly and inexpensively, transforming every industry. Couture experienced a creative awakening: colors, prints, and

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewLooking at art through Amy Herman’s lens gives us a powerful new perspective to envision our problems and craft concrete solutions. — Col. Christopher Costa, USA, (Ret.), executive director of the International Spy Museum and former special assistant to the president for counterterrorism

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Book SynopsisAn essential guide to fashion’s favorite print. Since Christian Dior first brought leopard print to the catwalk in 1947, it has earned a cult following. Popularized by everyone from 1940s screen sirens to pop goddesses and Instagram stars, the print has undergone numerous incarnations in the fashion world and has earned a reputation for being daring, bold, and rebellious. This compelling, full-color illustrated book celebrates all things leopard, from fashion to food, and everything in between making it the ultimate gift book for leopard-print lovers everywhere!Includes: Introduction: a brief history of leopard print Leopard Fashion: from punk to the catwalk Leopard Eats: leopard print cakes, cookies, and breads Leopard Philosophy: quotes, tips, and inspiration Leopard Fun: fun facts and stats about leopards and leopard print  Full of gorgeous yet fierce illustrations and print

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Book SynopsisAt a star-studded auction in 1990, a painting was sold for the record-breaking price of $82.5 million. That painting, Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet, has seemed to countless admirers to portray our times as 'something bright in spite of its inevitable griefs.'This fascinating book reconstructs the painting's journey and becomes a rich story of modernist art and the forces behind the art market. Masterfully evoked are the lives of the thirteen extraordinary people who owned the painting and shaped its history: avant-garde European collectors, pioneering dealers in Paris and Berlin, a brilliant medievalist who acquired it for one of Germany's great museums, and a member of the Nazi elite who sold it after it had been confiscated as a work of 'degenerate art.' Remarkable and riveting, The Portrait of Dr. Gachet illuminates, in dramatic detail, the dynamics of the art market and of culture in our time.

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Book SynopsisJoin one of the most influential artists of our time as he investigates the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Hockney’s extensive research led him to conclude that artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez, da Vinci, and other hyperrealists actually used optics and lenses to create their masterpieces.In this passionate yet pithy book, Hockney takes readers on a journey of discovery as he builds a case that mirrors and lenses were used by the great masters to create their highly detailed and realistic paintings and drawings. Hundreds of the best-known and best-loved paintings are reproduced alongside his straightforward analysis. Hockney also includes his own photographs and drawings to illustrate techniques used to capture such accurate likenesses. Extracts from historical and modern documents and correspondence with experts from around the world further illuminate this thought-provoking book that will forever change how the world looks at art.Secret Knowledge

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Book Synopsis“There are more than 50 creative prompts for the artist (or artist at heart) to explore. Take the title of this book as affirmation, and get started.” —Fast CompanyMore than 50 assignments, ideas, and prompts to expand your world and help you make outstanding new things to put into itCurator Sarah Urist Green left her office in the basement of an art museum to travel and visit a diverse range of artists, asking them to share prompts that relate to their own ways of working. The result is You Are an Artist, a journey of creation through which you'll invent imaginary friends, sort books, declare a cause, construct a landscape, find your band, and become someone else (or at least try). Your challenge is to filter these assignments through the lens of your own experience and make art that reflects the world as you see it. You don't have to know how to draw well, stretch a canvas, or mix a paint color that perfectly match

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Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author Mari Andrew, a collection of essays and illustrations, divided into phases of the sky--twilight, golden hour, night, and dawn--that serves as a loyal companion for life's curveballsA whole, beautiful life is only made possible by the wide spectrum of feelings that exist between joy and sorrow. In this insightful and warm book, writer and illustrator Mari Andrew explores all the emotions that make up a life, in the process offering insights about trauma and healing, the meaning of home and the challenges of loneliness, finding love in the most unexpected of places--from birds nesting on a sculpture to a ride on the subway--and a resounding case for why sometimes you have to put yourself in the path of magic.My Inner Sky empowers us to transform everything that's happened to us into something meaningful, reassurance that even in our darkest times, there's light and beauty to be found.

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Book Review Editors'' Choice Pick?Cosmetic, tool of rebellion, status signifier: Eyeliner has been all these and more. Moving through millenniums and across civilizations, Hankir gives the makeup its eye-opening due.??The New York Times Book Review?An impressive, rigorously researched, winding path through centuries and over continents.? ?NPR.org?I loved Eyeliner. Hankir approaches her subject with dedicated curiosity, humility, and humor, blending anthropology, travel writing, memoir and history. A treat.? ?Kassia St. Clair, author of The Secret Lives of ColorFrom the acclaimed editor of Our Women on the Ground comes a dazzling exploration of the intersections of beauty and power around the globe, told through the lens of an iconic cosmeticFrom the distant past to the present, with fingers and felt-tipped pens, metallic powders and gel pots, humans have been drawn to lining their eyes. The aesthetic trademark of figures ranging from Nefertiti to Amy Winehouse, eyeliner is one of our most enduring cosmetic tools; ancient royals and Gen Z beauty influencers alike would attest to its uniquely transformative power. It is undeniably fun?yet it is also far from frivolous.Seen through Zahra Hankir?s (kohl-lined) eyes, this ubiquitous but seldom-examined product becomes a portal to history, proof both of the stunning variety among cultures across time and space and of our shared humanity. Through intimate reporting and conversations?with nomads in Chad, geishas in Japan, dancers in India, drag queens in New York, and more?Eyeliner embraces the rich history and significance of its namesake, especially among communities of color. What emerges is an unexpectedly moving portrait of a tool that, in various corners of the globe, can signal religious devotion, attract potential partners, ward off evil forces, shield eyes from the sun, transform faces into fantasies, and communicate volumes without saying a word.Delightful, surprising, and utterly absorbing, Eyeliner is a fascinating tour through streets, stages, and bedrooms around the world, and a thought-provoking reclamation of a key piece of our collective history.

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Book Synopsis.Trade ReviewThis is a lucid text, very reader friendly for the college student who does not want overtly dense material but still wants to be richly and adequately educated on the art traditions of the continent." - Aderonke Adesanna, James Madison UniversityThe Visual Arts of Africa touches on the most important points that my course addresses succinctly but with enough information to generate discussion on a range of issues that are essential to the beginning student of African art." - Elisabeth L. Roark, Chatham University

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Book SynopsisIn Destinations in Mind, Kimberly Cassibry asks how objects depicting different sites helped Romans understand their vast empire. At a time when many cities were written about but only a few were represented in art, four distinct sets of artifacts circulated new information. Engraved silver cups list all the stops from Spanish Cádiz to Rome, while resembling the milestones that helped travelers track their progress. Vivid glass cups represent famous charioteers and gladiators competing in circuses and amphitheaters, and offered virtual experiences of spectacles that were new to many regions. Bronze bowls commemorate forts along Hadrian''s Wall with colorful enameling typical of Celtic craftsmanship. Glass bottles display labeled cityscapes of Baiae, a notorious resort, and Puteoli, a busy port, both in the Bay of Naples. These artifacts and their journeys reveal an empire divided not into center and periphery, but connected by roads that did not all lead to Rome. They bear witness to aTrade ReviewDestinations in Mind is an engaging and sophisticated analysis of 'material texts' (objects with writing on them), which reveals the lived experiences of mobility, globalization, and empire in the Roman world. Examining portable portrayals of place in the form of itinerary and spectacle cups, fort pans, and cityscape bottles, Cassibry provides a sophisticated analysis of multilateral change within the Roman empire. A major contribution to the study of the Roman empire and provinces, this book should be of interest to scholars, teachers, students, museum people - anyone fascinated by the ancient Mediterranean. * Gail L. Hoffman, Boston College *For Cassibry's inhabitants of the Roman world, the entanglement of people in motion, and objects in motion, was quintessentially embodied in the tangible `portrayal of place,' the thing that denotes space and place to evoke experience and emotion. This insightful book should be read by anyone interested in how humans and their things and images construct one another, in `mapping,' the `souvenir,' and archaeologies of memory, in addition to scholars of identities--local and global, individual and communal- across the Roman empire. * Ann Kuttner, University of Pennsylvania *I expect her book will inspire its readers to discover with fresh eyes objects already sitting in museum galleries and storerooms and to better appreciate in future those that are still to be excavated. Seen in this way, Destinations in Mind marks a boldly original intervention—a first roadmap of sorts—into a highly promising but still uncharted field of study. * Sinclair W. Bell, Northern Illinois University, The American Journal of Archaeology *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: En Route to the Roman Empire Chapter 1 - On the Road: From Gades to Rome on the Itinerary Cups Chapter 2 - At the Games: Charioteers and Gladiators on the Spectacle Cups Chapter 3 - On the Border: Hadrian's Wall on the Fort Plans Chapter 4 - By the Sea: Baiae and Puteoli on the Bay Bottles Conclusion: Not All Roads Lead to Rome Bibliography Captions Index

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Book SynopsisOne of the most important and underappreciated visual artists of the twentieth century, Romare Bearden started as a cartoonist during his college years and emerged as a painter during the 1930s, at the tail end of the Harlem Renaissance and in time to be part of a significant community of black artists supported by the WPA. Though light-skinned and able to pass, Bearden embraced his African heritage, choosing to paint social realist canvases of African-American life. After World War II, he became one of a handful of black artists to exhibit in a private gallery-the commercial outlet that would form the core of the American art world''s post-war marketplace. Rejecting Abstract Expressionism, he lived briefly in Paris. After he suffered a nervous breakdown, Bearden returned to New York, turning to painting just as the civil rights movement was gaining ground with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education and the Montgomery bus boycott. By the time of the March on Washington in 1963, Bearden Trade ReviewHer adept weaving of biography and art history is richly detailed, a scholarly life's work. * Amy M. Mooney *An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden is a fascinating book, lovingly detailed and closely illustrating how its subject had to struggle, both as an artist and as a black person, to establish a place in the history of art in America. * Jim Burns, The Penniless Press *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Terms of the Debate Chapter I: Origins Chapter II: Harlem: The Promised Land Chapter III: The Evolution of a Race Man Part II: The Negro Artist's Dilemma Chapter IV: The Making of American Art Chapter V: Fame and Exile: 1945-1950 Chapter VI: A Voyage of Discovery: 1950-1960 Part III: The Prevalence of Ritual Chapter VII: Prevalence of Ritual: Part I Chapter VIII: Prevalence of Ritual: Part II Chapter IX: The Public Romare Bearden Epilogue: The Bearden Legacy

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Book SynopsisInsane Acquaintances explores a range of exhibitions, organisations and institutions that mediated and promoted modernism in Britain. In a series of case studies on subjects ranging from the first Postimpressionist exhibition in London in 1910, the teaching of modernist art in schools, the decoration and design of the modernist home, the International Surrealist exhibition in London in 1936 and the Festival of Britain in 1951, Insane Acquaintances charts some of the ways in which modernism not only sought to improve the quality of art but also the quality of art''s reception in Britain. It also provides an institutional history of some of the groups and organisations that fostered modernist art in Britain during that period.Table of ContentsList of figures List of colour plates Acknowledgements 1:Revolutionising 'Bird's Custard Isle' 2:Postimpressionism (TM) 3:'A revolution of incalculable effect': modernism and the teaching of art in schools 4:'But is it possible to live in such a motley setting?': the modernist interior in Britain 5:'A Transformed World': Herbert Read, British surrealism and the institutionalisation of modernism 6:Conclusion: 'Half-Baked if you like': modernist afterlives in Britain, 1945-1951 Bibliography Index

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