History of art Books

Book SynopsisA 44-card oracle deck focusing on the teachings, traditions, and wisdom of the Mi'kmaq people, meant to help the reader create a deeper connection with the spirit world and Mother Earth.Indigenous wisdom is sacred and has been shared for many generations by the Elders of the spirit world, and it is through their wisdom that we bridge the physical world to the spirit world. When you use these oracle cards you are walking in the world with the wisdom of the Elders. These teachings were meant to be shared with you, and to help you through your daily and spiritual life. This deck is a tool meant to support you on your journey through life; the purpose of sharing these teachings is to help you grow and develop spiritually, within your own personal connection to Spirit, and to your loved ones on the other side. The cards includebut are not limited toteachings like: the Seven Grandfather Teachings, the Four Sacred Fire Teachings, and the Four Sacred Medicines; and co

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[An] irresistible outing . . [Nelson's] intelligence and wisdom shine through . . . Fans will relish these insights into the singer-songwriter's many avatars: the kid growing up poor with close ties to his church and family; the political activist who wrote “Vote ‘Em Out” for Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 senatorial campaign; and the enigmatic, sui generis artist. This is a treasure." — Publishers Weekly "In a wry narrative shot through with a loopy, stoner spiritualism, the great songwriter and outlaw country artist takes a ramble through his back pages. . . . A lively accompaniment to Nelson's sprawling, genre-crossing, delightful catalog of recordings." — Kirkus Reviews "[Willie Nelson's] songwriting has consistently been indicative of a born storyteller. It’s fun and, at times, illuminating to read about where some of those stories stemmed from. The photos are great too. . . . A sweet and intimate retrospective of a long and prolific career. This book will make readers feel like they’ve sat down with Nelson, who has just regaled them with tales." — Library Journal "Throughout this lovely act of looking back and moving forward, Nelson wears his well-worn heart on his sleeve. . . . Willie Nelson's many admirers cross myriad lines, and they will eagerly pursue this chance to get close to their idol." — Booklist "[R]eflective and thoughtful . . . [Nelson's] commentary is clear, introspective, patient and wise—showing how his 90 years have funneled into a new perspective on his lyricism and canon. The stories read like Willie himself is sitting across the dinner table from you, regaling you of his best stories from years past." — The Tennessean

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Book SynopsisA critical survey of Leonora Carrington's legacies in contemporary creative practice. The medium of Leonora Carrington explores why creative people, especially women, are preoccupied with making work in her legacy today. -- .

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Book SynopsisExploring how artists at midcentury addressed the social issues of their day—from Jacob Lawrence to Elizabeth Catlett, Rose Piper to Charles White

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Book Synopsis"Graham has crafted a compact, jewel-like resource for all who seek to understand the sources, evolution, impact, and value of Japanese aesthetics and design principles in our modern world." —Dr. Jane Schall, Sanders Sosland Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of ArtThis beautifully illustrated guide offers stunning visual examples and detailed discussions of the objects, aesthetics, philosophy and cultural significance of Japanese design.Asian art expert Dr. Patricia Graham helps guide readers through the aspects of Japanese art and design we've all come to appreciate—whether it's a silk kimono, carefully raked garden path or modern snack food packaging. From the ten key characteristics of Japanese design to the Shinto and Buddhist influences on its aesthetics, this book serves as a great resource for the different styles and how they developed.Another fascinating and less explored piece of design in Japan is its influence on and interpretation by Westerners. From Frank Lloyd Wright to Lafcadio Hearn, artists, scientists, designers, journalists and philosophers were inspired by Japan's arts and crafts in the 19th century. This often romanticized version of Japanese design—viewed through a Western cultural lens—continues to influence our view of it to this day. Graham unpacks the sincere, but sometimes misguided, interpretations of concepts like wabi sabi and shibui.With more than 200 stunning color photos, this detailed guide will be enjoyed by everyone from professional designers to art students, and museum geeks to Japanophiles.Trade Review"Graham's book gives a thoughtful account of Japanese art and design, its cultural context in Japan and its proponents abroad. Her discussion of design terminology, including the origins as well as the uses and misuses through the decades of terms like wabi sabi and shibui is essential reading for anyone interested in Japanese art." --Janice Katz, Roger L. Weston Associate Curator of Japanese Art, Art Institute of Chicago"In this beautifully illustrated book, Patricia Graham extracts the overarching visual characteristics of Japanese design sensibilities and shows how deeply they are rooted in their cultural, spiritual, and social backgrounds--something none of the existing textbooks of Japanese art history do satisfactorily." --Mikiko Hirayama, Associate Professor and Director of Museum Studies, Art History/School of Art, College of Design, Art, Architecture & Planning, University of Cincinnati"In this unprecedented work, the underlying aesthetic and cultural roots that are essential for an understanding of Japanese design are explained engagingly and accessibly by Graham…A must-read for designers, artists, connoisseurs and scholars of Japanese art and culture, and many others." --Andreas Marks, Head of the Department of Japanese and Korean Art and Director of the Clark Center at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

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Book SynopsisCuriosity and critique foreground this novel history of porcelain that unravels the cultural myths of Chinoiserie, Europe's fantasy of the East Monstrous Beauty presents a bold cross-cultural history of porcelain told through a feminist lens. The delicate material prized for its whiteness was first imported to Europe from China in the early modern period and gained lasting associations with Chinoiserie, a style that encapsulated European fantasies of the East. This volume probes the collective anxieties around gender, race, and sexuality lurking under the surface of an ornate style, derided as an effeminate fantasy that was monstrous and unnatural. Through critical essays on objects from the sixteenth century to the present, leading scholars unravel Chinoiserie's language of curiosity and exoticism, and how the desire to collect and possess porcelain created trenchant cultural myths of the Asian woman with a long afterlife in photography and film. Works by contemporary artists respond to this fraught history by asking how we can engage in meaningful dialogues about Chinoiserie today. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (March 24August 17, 2025)

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Book SynopsisAn important reassessment of the later career and life of a beloved baroque artistTrade ReviewWinner of the 2016 Helen and Howard R. Marraro Prize given by the Society for Italian Historical Studies.“Artemisia Gentileschi opens up new understandings of a prominent female artist and baroque culture in Italy.”—Elizabeth Cohen, York University

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Book SynopsisKeith Haring (1958 -1990) is widely recognised for his colourful paintings, drawings, sculptures and murals. Haring exploded onto the early 1980s New York art scene with his vivid graffiti-inspired drawings, many of which found exposure in the public realm, such as the Times Square billboard broadcast of his famous Radiant Child in 1982. Haring's instantly recognisable `cartoon-like' imagery not only drew on the iconography of contemporary pop and club culture but also looked back to the patterns and rhythms of Islamic and Japanese art, and primitive wall-paintings,. Furthermore his work also reflected a profound commitment to social justice and activism, and raised numerous issues that remain relevant today, including the AIDS crisis, the Cold War and fear of nuclear attack, racism, the excesses of capitalism and environmental degradation. Featuring around fifty works supported by rarely seen photography, film and archival documents from the Keith Haring Foundation, this accessible book will not only introduce Haring to a new audience but also throw fresh light on an artist whose work remains symptomatic of the subcultural and creative energy of 1980s New York. Three short texts exploring various aspects of Haring's practice will be interspersed with illustrations of his works and a rolling time-line featuring key social and political events of the 1980s (from the election of Reagan in 1980 and the explosion of hip hop from underground movement to global phenomenon to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989) and Haring's responses to them. The publication also aims to include select and unpublished reminiscences from those who collaborated and interacted with Haring, including performers such as Madonna and Grace Jones and artists Jenny Holzer and Yoko Ono.

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Book SynopsisThe resonant ruins of Pompeii are perhaps the most direct route back to the living, breathing world of the ancient Romans. Two million visitors annually now walk the paved streets which re-emerged, miraculously preserved, from their layers of volcanic ash. Yet for all the fame and unique importance of the site, there is a surprising lack of a handy archaeological guide in English to reveal and explain its public spaces and private residences. This compact and user-friendly handbook, written by an expert in the field, helpfully fills that gap. Illustrated throughout with maps, plans, diagrams and other images, Pompeii: An Archaeological Guide offers a general introduction to the doomed city followed by an authoritative summary and survey of the buildings, artefacts and paintings themselves. The result is an unrivalled picture, derived from an intimate knowledge of Roman archaeology around the Bay of Naples, of the forum, temples, brothels, bath-houses, bakeries, gymnasia, amphitheatre,

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The story it tells is magnificent” —Duncan Fallowell, The Spectator“Art history of novelistic scope and atmosphere”— Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times, (Books of the Year 2018)“Ms. Semenova and Mr. Delocque trace the intricate story of how Shchukin built his collection and carefully arranged its presentation in the Trubetskoy Palace.”—E.A. Carmean Jr., Wall Street Journal“The French avant-garde paintings assembled by the Russian collector Sergei Shchukin in the early 1900s were exhibited in the West, specifically Paris, for the first time two years ago. Now comes the complex story of Shchukin as an alternately fearless and anxious collector; a successful textile merchant; and a doting husband and father. . . . The book shows the interiors of Shchukin’s Moscow palace lined with paintings (by van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso) whose vivid (digitalized) colors against the grisaille rooms still shock.”—Roberta Smith, New York Times, “Best Art Books of 2018”"For more than 15 years, Shchukin’s paintings (a breathtaking assemblage of Monets, Cézannes, Gauguins, Van Goghs, Matisses and Picassos) had caused as much outrage and derision in Moscow as praise and admiration: according to one newspaper, the paintings were simply an “excretion of manners and viscous muck”. In their biography of the collector, the art historian Natalya Semenova and Shchukin’s grandson André Delocque show that overcoming difficulties was nothing new to him. . . They transmit the daring of the man and his determination to face down naysayers." —Michael Prodger, The Sunday Times “This fast-paced and painstakingly researched book provides unique testimony of a supremely agile and intellectually curious patron, who from the edges of Europe injected precious energy into the vanguard of modern art.” —Rosalind P Blakesley, Literary Review“This thoroughly researched biography restores Shchukin to his rightful place in art history.” —The Lady“Art history, politics, money, tragedy and familial piety coincide in this detailed study of the life of the patron of perhaps the greatest contemporary collection of modern art ever made: the stuttering, Francophiliac, Muscovite billionaire textile merchant Sergei Shchukin (1854-1936).” —Marina Vaizey, Oldie“Sergei Shchukin combined vast financial power with a humble readiness to submit to his 'inner trembling' before works of art. The Collector is a momentous work of excavation and restitution, which brilliantly evokes the life of a great Russian family, through times of exuberant acquisition and devastating loss.”—Rachel Polonsky, author of Molotov's Magic Lantern “Semenova and Delocque tell the gripping story of Sergei Shchukin, a merchant whose wealth and artistic intuition led to an immense and unparalleled panopticon of works by Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse, Monet, Picasso. The Collector follows the biographical trajectory – family, education, cultural ambience – of this latter-day Maecenas. The authors demonstrate how the Shchukin collection served as a major source of inspiration to the Russian avant-garde and how, in spite of emigration, war, revolution and ideological aggression, it became one of the Soviet Union’s most prized artistic possessions.”—John E. Bowlt, author of Russian Art of the Avant-Garde“With the publication of this admirable book, the first up-to-date, in-depth study in English, we can at last fully understand Sergei Shchukin’s seminal importance as an art collector, not only in the early career of Henri Matisse, but in the meteoric rise of the Moscow avant-garde on the eve of 1917. For this we have to thank Natalya Semenova. Her painstaking research during the decades of Soviet neglect has resulted in the resurrection of a truly remarkable individual, whose life story she tells here with all the aplomb that came to be associated with Shchukin himself.”—Rosamund Bartlett, author of Tolstoy: A Russian Life

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Book SynopsisExploring the culture of interior design and architecture in the Age of the Enlightenment

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Written with careful precision and breadth. . . chronicling a rich, 100-year history of handmade moviemaking in which artists similarly trespass into other areas of creative practice." * Los Angeles Review of Books *"Gregory Zinman’s excellent new book on movies made (or remade) through the direct, often tactile engagement of artists and their filmstrips, video-feedback loops, and myriad other animated oozes and vibrant viscosities, Making Images Move: Handmade Cinema and the Other Arts is everything one wants in this age of over-scribbling at the margins of cinema. Lucid, smart, but entirely readable, and compellingly illuminated with color illustrations of the wonders it describes." * Cinema Scope Magazine *"Devoid of zeitgeisty romanticizations of the analog, Gregory Zinman's Making Images Move presents a defiant yet clear-eyed alternative history of the origins of cinema. . . . Zinman's prose sparkles in recounting artists' use of chemicals, bodily fluids, and elements like wind and water, which often render celluloid fragile or ephemeral." * Film Comment *"Zinman’s is the book perched on our balconies. It is worth way more than two in the bush. That’s the great thing about books that are also birds. Their singleness multiplies in hands that hold them. Running fingers through their feathered figures to thread additional ones in responds to their song." * Critical Inquiry *"Zinman explores the history of camera-less filmmaking in an exciting intervention that ennobles an underdiscussed mode of film production and challenges our very conception of what constitutes a 'movie.' . . . A groundbreaking immersion into a previously uncelebrated filmmaking practice." * Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television *"Rather than manifesting a site of contestation between painting, film, sculpture, or photography, Making Images Move espouses the handmade's medium-collaborative impulse through material investigations of light in time. . . . Though Zinman situates the return to craft as a response to mass digitization, the current pandemic transfigures Zinman's politics of handmade joy into something almost elegiac, as even the possibility of direct artistic experience remains untenable." * Millennium Film Journal *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction A Shadow History of the Moving Image PART I. HANDMADE FILM 1. Between Canvas and Celluloid Visual Music, Motion Paintings, and Cameraless Photography 2. Abstractions in Time Painting and Scratching on Film 3. By Chemical, by Body, by Mechanism Other Handmade Methods 4. Beyond the Frame Cameraless Questions of Politics and Representation PART II. HANDMADE MOVING IMAGES 5. Light in Motion The Moving Image between the Plastic Arts and Cinema 6. Making Space, Making Time Light Art of the 1950s and 1960s 7. Forms of Radiance The Practice and Significance of the Psychedelic Light Show 8. Video Art Analog Circuit Palettes, Cathode Ray Canvases Conclusion Handmade Moving Images in the Digital Era Notes Index

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Book SynopsisCostume jewellery is commonly understood to mean fashionable yet affordable adornments made from non-precious material. Originating in in mid-1700s France with the rise of the bourgeoise, the earliest 'costume jewellery' mimicked fine jewellery styles. Since then, costume jewellery has always been evolving. From Victorian sentimentalism to the mass-produced ornaments available today, costume jewellery has developed into an artform in its own right. An encyclopaedic study of its history is long overdue. Flush with expert information, identification tips and historical anecdotes, Adorning Fashion explores the development of costume jewellery across the past four centuries. The styles of each era - Victorian, Edwardian, Arts & Crafts, Jugenstil, Art Nouveau, and each decade of the twentieth century - are given individual attention. Production methods are also explained in depth. Alloys and gilded electroplating can mimic silver and gold, while the refraction index of treated glass can, to the untrained eye, be mistaken for diamond. Adorning Fashion discusses the contributions of a remarkable roster of designers and innovators, including Kokichi Mikimoto, Arthur L. Liberty, Carlo Giuliano, René Lalique, Elizabeth Bonté, the Castellani brothers, Jean Fouquet, Jean Després, Fulco di Verdura, Jean Schlumberger, Salvador Dalí, Miriam Haskell, Lina Baretti, Countess Cissy Zoltowska, Line Vautrin, Kenneth Jay Lane, Francisco Rebajes, Diane Love, Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, Paco Rabanne, Yves Saint Laurent, Napier, Haskell, Trifari, Brania, Bulgari, Versace and more.Trade Review'You will find full-page photos of jaw-dropping pieces that challenge your eye as to whether the pieces are real or not. Identification tips and historical anecdotes are given throughout the book. This is a wonderful gift for those who love to be pleasantly surprised' -- Forbes.com"The book serves as a thorough overview and discusses the contributions of a remarkable roster of designers and innovators, from Salvador Dalí to Balenciaga and Versace." -- Tatler“From the outset, costume jewellery paralleled the styles of its more precious counterparts…In her beautifully illustrated, fact-filled book author Deanna Farneti Cera offers a comprehensive guide to the topic.” -- Phyllis Schiller, Rapaport Magazine.

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Book Synopsis Now in paperback! The definitive biography and inspiring story of American sculptor Ruth Asawa.“A fitting homage to this remarkable woman.” —The Wall Street JournalThis is the story of a woman who wielded imagination and hope in the face of intolerance and who transformed everything she touched into art. In this compelling biography, author Marilyn Chase brings Asawa's story to vivid life. She draws on Asawa's extensive archives and weaves together many voices—family, friends, teachers, and critics—to offer a complex and fascinating portrait of the artist. Born in California in 1926, Ruth Asawa grew from a farmer's daughter to a celebrated sculptor. She survived adolescence in the World War II Japanese American internment camps and attended the groundbreaking art school at Black Mountain College. She then went on to develop her signature hanging-wire sculptures, create iconic urban installations, revolutionize arts education in her adopted hometown of San Francisco, fight through lupus, and defy convention to nurture a multiracial family. This richly visual volume is illustrated with over 70 reproductions of Asawa's art and archival photos of her life, including portraits shot by celebrated photographer Imogen Cunningham. It documents Asawa's transformative touch, most notably the way she turned wire—the material of the internment camp fences—into sculptures. Additions to the paperback: a foreword by Jonathan Laib, director of the David Zwirner Gallery, and an author's note that charts the continued rise of Asawa's star in the art world and beyond.  Ruth Asawa forged an unconventional path in everything she did. Her beloved fountains are now San Francisco icons, and her signature hanging-wire sculptures grace the MoMA, de Young, Getty, Whitney, and many more museums and galleries across America. Everything She Touched invites us to step into Asawa's story so “we can admire the magic of her sculpture and beauty as a person.' (Harry S. Parker III, former director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)Perfect for:  Artists and art students Fans of contemporary sculpture Anyone interested in Asian American culture and history Feminists, mothers, teachers, and history buffs Readers of art biographies and retrospectives such as Ruth Asawa: Life's Work, The Art of Feminism, and Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art 

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Finalist for the Marfield Prize (The National Award for Arts Writing), Arts Club of Washington""[Michelangelo, God’s Architect] paints a complex portrait of this tortured and talented Renaissance man and excavates a lesser-known but crucial final chapter of the artist’s approximately 75-year career….[An] extremely readable, engaging book. –Lauren Moya Ford, Hyperallergic""Michelangelo, God’s Architect represents the culmination of a career dedicated almost entirely to this single, engrossing figure. . . . Wallace’s book is a model of deep scholarship brought to life with lively prose through the integration of sixteenth century documents on almost every page. . . . A rollicking good story."---Cammy Brothers, Journal for the Society of Architectural Historians

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Book SynopsisNobles, ladies, scholars, and merchants were the subjects of Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98–1543), an inventive German artist best known for his dazzling portraits. Holbein developed his signature style in Basel and London amid a rich culture of erudition, self-definition, and love of luxury and wit before becoming court painter to Henry VIII. Accompanying the first major Holbein exhibition in the United States, this catalogue explores his vibrant visual and intellectual approach to personal identity. In addition to reproducing many of the artist's painted and drawn portraits, this volume delves into his relationship with leading intellectuals, such as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More, as well as his contributions to publishing and book culture, meticulous inscriptions, and ingenious designs for jewels, hat badges, and other exquisite objects.

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Book SynopsisThe third edition of this classic study, a thorough introduction to one of the most popular and recognizable artists of the 20th century. Salvador Dalà was, and remains, among the most universally recognizable artists of the twentieth century. What accounts for this popularity? His excellence as an artist? Or his genius as a self-publicist? In this searching text, partly based on interviews with the artist and fully revised, extended and updated for this edition, Dawn Ades considers the Dalà phenomenon. From his early years, his artistic friendships and the development of his technique and style, to his relationship with the Surrealists and exploitation of Freudian ideas, and on to his post-war paintings, this essential study places Dalà in social, historical and artistic context, and casts new light on the full range of his creativity.Trade Review'One of our foremost historians of Surrealism … has had access to her subject – a privilege available to few – and her book is particularly revealing' - The Spectator'A sensitive art-historical study' - Times Literary Supplement'Richly documented and illustrated' - Arts ReviewTable of ContentsPreface Chronology 1. Early years: Early influences; Madrid School of Fine Arts; Cubism and Purism; first one-man exhibitions. 2. Dalí and the Catalan avant-garde: The Catalan Anti-Artistic Manifesto and the L’Amic de les Arts group; Dalí’s early writings on painting, photography and film; Luis Buñuel and the making of Un Chien Andalou; Surrealism in Spain and its influence on Dalí. 3. Dalí, Surrealism and psycho-analysis: Dalí’s official affiliation with the Surrealist movement; the influence of Freud and psycho-analysis on his painting; collage; the legend of William Tell as obsessive theme; Dalí’s theoretical differences with Breton, and relationship with Surrealism on questions of taste and politics; Dalí, history and tradition. 4. Painting and the paranoiac–critical method: Theory and practice of paranoia–criticism; influence of Lacan; relationship with other Surrealist methods like automatism and the dream; The Tragic Myth of Millet’s Angelus as paranoiac–critical analysis. 5. Dalí and the Surrealist object: Dalí’s ‘Surrealist object functioning symbolically’; the object in relation to Surrealist theory; found or ‘involuntary’ and imaginary objects; furniture, spectacle, installations and exhibitions; Dalí’s jewels. 6. Dalí’s post-war painting: Modern science and mysticism; variety of visual experiment; use of photography, holography and stereoscopy. 7. Dalí and the cinema: Dalí and L’Age d’or; Short Critical History of the Cinema; unrealized scenarios; Hollywood collaborations and other film projects. Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIndia in Fashion explores the beautiful and sophisticated history and aesthetics of traditional Indian fashion, dress, and textiles and their profound impact on European and American fashion from the eighteenth century to today.This intoxicating and visually rich volume—with texts by experts from India, Europe, and North America—is published to accompany a major exhibition that celebrates the long historical contributions that Indian dress, textiles, and embroidery have had on Western fashion. From the introduction of chintz dressmaking fabrics in the eighteenth century to the early nineteenth-century vogue for light Indian fabrics, paisleys, and chikan embroideries to larger realities of empire and cultural appropriation, this volume features paintings, fashion magazine editorials, and portraits of influential people who championed Indian style throughout history.Traditional hues of brilliant royal blue, marigold, and fuchsia; intricateTrade Review"A new book, India in Fashion (Rizzoli), edited by Vogue Global Editor at Large and World of Interiors Editor in Chief Hamish Bowles, explores the nation’s sartorial legacy in vivid, expansive and captivating form. It illustrates a deep impact often unnoticed or distorted by the lens of colonialism while bringing to life a wealth of gorgeous design stories from the seventeenth century to today." —W MAG

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Book SynopsisThe seminal writing of Carlos Cruz-Diez, best known for his experiential works exploring color and its properties

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Book SynopsisThe first publication devoted to the textile designs of one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists, showcasing a rarely discussed aspect of the Pop Art superstar’s careerTrade Review“A new exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, together with a book by the curators, . . . showcase for the first time Warhol’s lost and virtually undocumented designs for dress fabric, which the artist produced in New York during the booming postwar years.”—Helen Barrett, Financial Times“To see [Warhol’s] pre-Pop creations helps to contextualise him in a new, illuminating way.”—Kathryn Reilly, World of Interiors“Beautifully printed, this is a book of real quality that allows the work room to sing.”—World of Interiors

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Book SynopsisReveals the contemporary art phenomenon of disrupted realism through the paintings of 43 artists at its coreTrade ReviewThis book shows the dialogue around figurative art today is alive and vibrant. Asking essential questions. Honest and anxious. Eyes wide open. It is essential reading for anyone who has something to say and wants to do so visually. -- —David Kratz, president, the New York Academy of ArtElegant and visually splendid...a tour de force. -- —Michael Shnayerson, author of Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary ArtJohn Seed once again does a phenomenal job bringing together contemporary artists who have a finger on the pulse of our fast-changing society... A dynamic collection of visually stunning work that explores our fluctuating world through impressive paint handling and innovative ways of envisioning the figure. -- —Erika b Hess, artist, curator, host of I Like Your WorkBoth celebrates and enacts the current zeitgeist of hybridity and its multiplicity of voices... As a personal fan of a why choose, both and approach to art's cyclical abstraction vs. figuration tussles, I find the book's contributions to contemporary art history quite satisfying. -- —Shana Nys Dambrot, arts editor, LA WeeklyOnce again, John Seed guides us through the complex, ever-changing landscape of today’s contemporary art scene. His deep understanding of art offers us a unique perspective on the evolution of representational art. -- —Martha Jordan, owner and director, Winslow Art Center

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the significant contribution to design culture made by Cassina, the first company to develop and industrialize timeless reeditions.Since 1973, when Cassina launched the iMaestri Collection, the company has authentically reissued some of the most iconic models by the greatest architects of the twentieth century. The brand began this process in 1965 with the first reeditions of furniture by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand, expanding over the years to create a specific collection with names such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, and Frank Lloyd Wright. These designs have been updated, finding new life, thanks to innovative technological development carried out by the company, always in respect of the original designs.The collection also tells of encounters between the company and renowned Italian architects, including Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa, and Franco Albini, and of how this combination of creative exce

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Book SynopsisThroughout his long career, David Hockney has insistently explored diverse ways of depicting the visible world. He has scrutinised the methods of the old masters, and explored radical departures from their cherished assumptions. The exhibitions accompanied by this volume are the first to focus on this central theme in his art. 'Western art' from the Renaissance until at least the late 19th century has been dominated by the depiction of nature. Was this to be accomplished by direct looking (called “eyeballing” by Hockney) or with the assistance of optical theory and devices, such as cameras? Hockney has experimented with the full range of existing strategies, overtly using perspective in some of his classic pictures and rigorously investigating optical aids for the imitation of nature, including the camera obscura and camera lucida.Yet he has come to reject the photograph as the definitive image of what we see. Along the way, he has identified a 'camera culture' in European painting from 1400, arguing very controversially that the supreme naturalism of painters like Jan van Eyck are the product of optical devices. His book, Secret Knowledge (2001), with its majestic panorama of paintings over the course of five centuries, claims that art historians have missed the central aspect of painters’ practice. The 'Hockney thesis' has been received more favourably outside the professional world of art history than in it.His own artistic practice has been in vigorous dialogue with his radical thesis, and he has progressively demonstrated new and dynamic ways of characterising the visual world without perspective and other conventional techniques. This quest results a series of joyous challenges to our ways of seeing in the major exhibition in Cambridge at the Fitzwilliam Museum and in the Heong Gallery (Downing College). It will look at the whole span of Hockney’s varied career and at the nature of the optical devices he has tested. His vision will be explored in the setting of traditional masterpieces of naturalistic observation, and in the context of modern sciences and technologies of seeing.The first section of the book looks at his thrilling experiments in seeing and representing in broad historical and contemporary contexts. This is followed by discussions of pre-photographic devices for capturing the appearances of things by optical means. The third section includes essays on Hockney’s experiments from the perspectives of neuroscience and computer vision. In short, it reveals in a new way the working of Hockney’s unique eye.

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Book SynopsisNiamh Whitfield is a leading authority on the metalwork of early Medieval Ireland and Scotland . Celtic metalwork of the seventh to twelfth centuries is extremely accomplished technically, and she has aimed at a thorough understanding of its manufacture. She has also been concerned to place Early Medieval Celtic design in its European context, and to analyse its relationship with Anglo-Saxon and continental work, as well as its debt to traditions which ultimately originated in the Classical world. Dr Whitfield has written about subjects as diverse as the origins of the gold used in early Medieval Ireland and Scotland, the development of animal ornament and geometrical principles of design. Her archival studies have succeeded in identifying the find-spot of the celebrated 'Tara' brooch and in documenting panels of ornament which are now missing. In addition, she has explored early Irish texts for attitudes to jewellery and clothing, considered the brooch as an emblem of status, looked at how brooches were worn, and whether descriptions of clothing and accessories in an early Irish saga provide an accurate description of contemporary finery.Table of ContentsPreface Finery in fiction and in fact: aristocratic dress and accessories in the early Irish tale, 'The Wooing of Becfhola' A Viking-age brooch fragment from recent excavations at Temple Bar West The manufacture of beaded wire in the post-Roman period More thoughts on the wearing of brooches in Early Medieval Ireland The Tara brooch: an Irish emblem of status in its European Context The earliest filigree in Ireland; Design and Units of Measure on the Hunterston Brooch Corinthian Bronze and the Tara Brooch The Waterford kite-brooch and its place in Irish metalwork Filigree animal ornament from Ireland and Scotland of the late seventh to ninth centuries: its origins and development The lozenge on the shoulder of the Book of Kells Virgin Formal Conventions in the depiction of animals on Celtic metalwork Some new research on gold and gold filigree from early Medieval Ireland and Scotland The filigree of the Hunterston and Tara brooches A mount with Hiberno-Saxon chipcarved animal ornament from Rerrick, near Dundrennan, Kirkcudbright, Scotland The Killamery brooch: its stamped ornament and inscription; Round wire in the early Middle Ages An Insular brooch-fragment from Norway Motifs and techniques of Celtic filigree: Are they original? The original appearance of the Tara brooch The finding of the Tara brooch; Additional Notes Index

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Book SynopsisBeautifully produced volume, including over 200 artworks by more than 35 contemporary Arab artists, whose ground-breaking works reflect the pulse of regionTrade Review`Impressive ... articulated as much by intellectual discipline as gut passion.' The Morning Star; `Provocative and reflective ... Arabicity is a wonderful collection of visual art which also serves as excellent introduction to the world of modern Arabic art. This book will be a worthwhile addition to anyone's collection of contemporary visual arts.' Blogcritics

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Book SynopsisIn 1908, an idea arose during a conversation between Dr Felix Peipers and Rudolf Steiner. Steiner had been lecturing on the healing nature of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, and drew a parallel to the Christian Madonna, Mary. From that, Steiner and Peipers started to formulate a sequence of fifteen Madonna images, primarily by Raphael, which Dr Peipers used effectively in meditative therapy with his patients. All fifteen images are included in the book.This book explores the nature of the Madonna images, addressing topics ranging from the mystery of seeing, beauty, truth and goodness, and Sophia, the divine feminine wisdom, to Isis and Madonna, working with images and Rudolf Steiner's healing mission. There is a special section on Raphael's Sistine Madonna.This book is a perfect complement to Raphael's Madonnas (edited by Christopher Bamford), a beautiful collection of colour Madonna images.

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Book SynopsisFull of surprises [and] evocative. The Spectator Passionately written. Apollo An extraordinary accomplishment. Edmund de Waal Monumental. Times Literary SupplementAn epic reshaping of ceramic art. Crafts An important book. The Arts Society Magazine In his major new history, Paul Greenhalgh tells the story of ceramics as a story of human civilisation, from the Ancient Greeks to the present day. As a core craft technology, pottery has underpinned domesticity, business, religion, recreation, architecture, and art for millennia. Indeed, the history of ceramics parallels the development of human society.This fascinating and very human history traces the story of ceramic art and industry from the Ancient Greeks to the Romans and the medieval world; Islamic ceramic cultures and their influence on the Italian Renaissance; Chinese and European porcelain production; modernity and Art Nouveau; the rise of the studTrade ReviewGreenhalgh describes the fluctuating status of pots and potters throughout history in connection with the technical development of ceramic as an industry and the emergence of the artist potter… [He] takes us from ancient Greece to the wilder shores of Conceptual Art, Post-Modernism and Californian Funk… Full of surprises [and] provocative * Jane Rye, The Spectator *Passionately written… At the end of his book, Greenhalgh writes that, ‘far more than religion, or war, or academic treatises, skill shaped civilisation’. So true, and there is no better example than ceramics. One closes this compendious history with a breathless feeling: what will potters come up with next? * Glenn Adamson, Apollo *This is an extraordinary accomplishment. It animates the history of world ceramics in a manner that has not been achieved before. It is full of remarkable insight and beautiful details and will reach a huge and appreciative audience. -- Edmund de Waal, artist and writer, UKThis is an important book. History has not examined the ceramic consistently. It has not always given the medium of clay credence for the part it has played in art. Greenhalgh puts this to rights. He gives the ceramic its rightful context and underlines its importance, telling its story from around 600 BC to the contemporary. And he tackles fundamentals: examining what ceramic is and how it featured in the Classical world, Middle Ages, Renaissance and on through Modernism to now. * The Arts Society Magazine *Ambitious [and] indeed monumental… Greenhalgh's enthusiasm for his subject is persuasively infectious and the narrative rarely flags over the book's more than 500 pages. The text is enhanced by 409 superb illustrations, intelligently arranged on the page and so captioned to make the reader look, and look again. * Times Literary Supplement *An epic reshaping of ceramic art… an adventure that I am already impatient to revisit. * Shane Enright, Crafts *This comprehensive text on ceramics – and the culture surrounding it – discussed its critical role in civilization over millennia, historical era in ceramic art, and the contemporary role of the potter. * Ceramic Arts 2022 Yearbook, a supplement to Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated *A fresh, eloquent and persuasive polemic that reads like a thriller. * Decorative Arts Society *If you're after some excellent lockdown reading, Paul Greenhalgh's fascinating book could just fit the bill. * ClayCraft *A glorious edition ... The photographs of excellent ceramic examples, the clear historical explanations and the pages of other interesting ceramic related information are enchanting. * London Potters *This is a splendid production, lavishly illustrated with superb images. It is a book to be ‘dipped into’ for reference, information, or simple fascination ... For art historians and ceramic enthusiasts, this is an outstanding book. * Anglian Potters *This comprehensive text on ceramics--and the culture surrounding it--discusses its critical role in civilization over millennia, historical eras in ceramic art, and the contemporary role of the potter. * Ceramic Arts 2022 Yearbook, a supplement to the US magazines Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated *Fascinating. * Emerging Potters *Greenhalgh’s scholarship brings the rapture he feels for ceramics to life in this beautifully written and readable book. It provokes, delights, informs and exposes ceramic’s complicity in civilization’s birth, moving on to the present with the author’s contemporary, witty and ruthlessly critical voice. -- Garth Clark, historian, writer, founder and Editor-in-Chief of the CFile Foundation, USANot for a long time has there been such a comprehensive account of the history of ceramics. In this book Paul Greenhalgh captures the importance of the material to our human experience. -- Dame Professor Magdalene Odundo OBE, Emerita in Ceramics and Chancellor of the University for the Creative Arts, UKMasterful. Paul Greenhalgh has engaged the epic span of ceramic art history with a maker’s hands, shaping it into a magnificent, vibrant form, filled to capacity with the voices of individuals, both unknown and known, who devoted their lives to earth and fire … Greenhalgh’s text is a remarkable container of sophisticated insight. It offers a longed-for coherent structure upon which to build an understanding of ceramic art as it has unfolded across the near immeasurable scope of human civilization. -- Wayne Higby, Professor of Ceramic Art, The Wayne Higby Director and Chief Curator, Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred University, USAGreenhalgh fills a major gap in the ceramics field where technique most often sets the content. His writing elevates the conversation and takes ceramics beyond its formal history to where it is effectively placed in a cultural context. His curatorial eye adds a perspective on the work not often found in such a survey. Thoroughly researched, expansive in both its timeline and depth, this book is a welcome resource for researchers and serious students of clay, as well as those with a general interest in ceramics. -- Anna Callouri Holcombe, Professor of Ceramics, University of Florida, USAPaul Greenhalgh takes the reader on a multi-faceted voyage exploring the long, complex history of a commonplace material and its intimate connection to human life. From humble to high society, hand or machine, meaning and function, this book is a revelatory celebration of the creativity, invention and skill of individuals and societies producing and using ceramic. -- Helen Walsh, Curator, Centre of Ceramic Art, York Art Gallery, UKSince the earliest of times, across myriad civilisations that have come and gone, ceramics endure. Each sherd tells us of the discipline’s discreet history, but also so much more. Ceramics form the fabric of societies and their anthropological connections to individuals and societies paint detailed and intimate pictures. Paul Greenhalgh takes the reader across the centuries citing links and dialogues between the modern and the ancient. To be able to step back and take in the panoply of this vast subject and select appropriate and relevant examples is an affirming indicator of a deep, specialist and eloquent knowledge. There are very few people qualified to take on a task such as this. Greenhalgh is one of a few and probably the best equipped to do so. -- Ashley Howard, Senior Lecturer in Ceramics, University for the Creative Arts, UKTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Prologue: A History in Shards CHAPTER 1. WHAT CERAMIC IS 1. Fundamentals 2. Stuff of the Earth 3. The Art of Heat 4. The Potter 5. Nomenclature and Culture 6. The Ceramic Continuum 7. Transformers: Classicism, Islam, China, and the Modern 8. The Discipline 9. Industry and the Levels of Production 10. Ubiquity: The Plastic of the Ancient World 11. Telling Stories 12. Civilisation, Power, and Domestic Life 13. Conclusion: Western Ceramic CHAPTER 2: THE VALUE OF THE GREEK POTTER 1. The World in Black and Red 2. Positioning the Pots 3. The Earlier Greek World 4. Reducing Iron and Oxygen 5. Who Were These People? 6. Secular Life 7. Anachronism, the Value, and the Price of Things 8. The Value and the Price of Things 9. Conclusion: The Spread of Red and Black CHAPTER 3: ROME AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 1. The Feel of Roman Pots 2. Red Gloss 3. The Pots of Empire 4. Greece, Rome, and the Classical Idea 5. Standardisation 6. Dark, Light, an End and a Beginning 7. Europe: The Coarse and the Local 8. Revivalism and the Vernacular 9. Conclusion: The Classical Heritage CHAPTER 4: RENAISSANCES OF TIN 1. The Chemistry of Islam 2. Islam and Ceramic History 3. The Pottery Revolution 4. Islam in Europe 5. Renaissance Pots 6. Colour, Line and Life 7. Secular Life 8. Pottery and Painting 9. Quantity, Quality, and Status 10. The Arrival of the Meal 11. Sculptural Form 12. Italian Potters and Potteries 13. Renaissances 14. Conclusion: a European Ethos CHAPTER 5: THE ENLIGHTENED REIGN OF WHITE 1. Chinese Pots 2. Technology, Style, Confidence 3. Porcelain City 4. China in Europe 5. The Quest for a European Porcelain 6. The Porcelain Explosion 7. Blue, White, War, and Peace 8. Delftware 9. Frivolity and Melancholy: the Figurine Reinvented 10. The Rise of Staffordshire 11. Conclusion: Modern Whiteness CHAPTER 6: THE NATURAL AND THE INDIVIDUAL: LEAD, SLIP, STONE, SALT 1. History, the Collective, and the Individual 2. The Renaissance Man 3. The Palissystes 4. The Salt Renaissance 5. Prose and Poetry 6. The Nature of Slip 7. Configuring Life 8. The Arrival of America 9. Conclusion: The Ingredients of Modernity CHAPTER 7: THE ACCELERATION OF STYLE AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE MODERN 1. Decoration, Complication, and Anxiety 2. The Last Transformer: Another Modernity 3. Institutionalisation 4. Exhibitions 5. Ugliness and the Era 6. The Invention of Style 7. Design Reform and the Ingredients of Modern Design 8. The Meaning of Majolica 9. The Vortex of Large-scale Production 10. The Republic of Tile 11. Ceramic Hell 12. Gender 13. Exoticism 14. The Designer 15. The Art Nouveau style 16. Conclusion: High Eclecticism to Art Nouveau CHAPTER 8: THE STUDIO ARRIVES 1. A Modern Place 2. Art Pottery 3. Defining Art 4. The Invention of Craft 5. The Completeness of Existence 6. The Artist-potter 7. Émigrés 8. Art Deco 9. The International Style 10. Mid-century Modern 11. Potters and Painters 12. Conclusion: A World is Formed CHAPTER 9: THE CREATIVE EXPLOSION 1. Thunderous Emotion 2. Another Modernity 3. The World of Funk 4. Conceptualism and Minimalism 5. A New Arena 6. New American Symbolism 7. The Ceramic Landscape 8. Abstract Vessels 9. Postmodernism 10. The New Ornamentalism 11. Conclusion: The Potter Now Postscript: Attica to California Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisWhen it comes to viewing art, living in the information age is not necessarily a benefit. So argues Michael Findlay in this book that encourages a new way of looking at art. Much of this thinking involves stripping away what we have been taught and instead trusting our own instincts, opinions, and reactions. Including reproductions of works by Mark Rothko, Paul Klee, Joan Miro , Jacob Lawrence, and other modern and contemporary masters, this book takes readers on a journey through modern art. Chapters such as "What Is a Work of Art?" "Can We Look and See at the Same Time?" and "Real Connoisseurs Are Not Snobs," not only give readers the confidence to form their own opinions, but also encourages them to make connections that spark curiosity, intellect, and imagination. "The most important thing for us to grasp," writes Findlay, "is that the essence of a great work of art is inert until it is seen. Our engagement with the work of art liberates its essence." After reading this book, even the most intimidated art viewer will enter a museum or gallery feeling more confident and leave it feeling enriched and inspired.Trade Review"I highly recommend Michael Findlay's new book, Seeing Slowly: Looking at Modern Art, published in September by Prestel. A longtime director at New York's Acquavella Galleries and, before that, the longtime head of Christie's department of Impressionist and modern art, Findlay is a veteran of the most specialized art speak and practical matters of history, condition, provenance - the works. Nevertheless, he believes that an appreciation of great art does not depend on knowledge of context and, in some cases, can actually be hindered by it." - Sarah Douglas, Editor-in-Chief, ArtNews

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Book SynopsisRose Wylie RA (b.1934) trained as an artist in the 1950s, but it was her re-engagement with painting in the early 1980s, after a period spent raising a family, that marked the beginning of a remarkable career that continues to evolve and impress. This monograph, the first of its kind, follows Wylie's fascinating artistic journey celebrating her achievements while also examining her current practice. Rose Wylie's large-scale paintings are inspired by a wide range of visual culture. Her subject matter ranges from contemporary Egyptian Hajj wall paintings and Persian miniatures to films, news stories, celebrity gossip and her observation of daily life. Often working from memory, she distills her subjects into succinct observations, using text to give additional emphasis to her recollections. In weaving together imagery from different sources with personal elements, Wylie's paintings offer a direct and wry commentary on contemporary culture. Her pictures refuse judgment but reveal a concern with the everyday that makes visible its enigmatic core. Drawing on a series of extended interviews with the artist, Clarrie Wallis unpicks the complexities of Wylie's visual language so providing an important contribution to our understanding, and appreciation of, a significant, and increasingly celebrated, figure in contemporary British art.Trade Review'A much-awaited homage to the artist's years of unwavering commitment to her métier.' – Honey Luard, Vanity Fair

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of echoes and resonances across two millennia of visual culture, celebrating ten years of The Public Domain Review. Gathering a remarkable collection of over 500 public domain images, Affinities is a carefully curated visual journey illuminating connections across more than two thousand years of image-making. Drawing on a decade of archival immersion at The Public Domain Review, the book has been assembled from a vast array of sources: from manuscripts to museum catalogues, ship logs to primers on Victorian magic. The images are arranged in a single captivating sequence which unfurls according to a dreamlike logic, through a play of visual echoes and evolving thematic threads â hatching eggs twin with early Burmese world maps, marbled endpapers meet tattooed stowaways, and fireworks explode beside deep-sea coral. At once an art book, a sourcebook, and a kaleidoscopic visual poem, Affinities is a unique and enthralling publication that will offer something differTrade Review'Builds bridges between visuals plucked from the last 2,000 years, in doing so prompting readers to rethink the meaning of originality by leaning into visual or thematic parallels' - Creative Review'Delightfully imaginative ... This is a book designed for random perusal' - BookPage

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Book SynopsisJohn Singer Sargent's approach to watercolour was unconventional. This book introduces readers to the sweep of Sargent's accomplishments in the medium, in works that delight the eye as well as challenge our understanding of this prodigiously gifted artist.Trade ReviewExperimenting with unusual compositions and new techniques, he reinvented himself aesthetically... far from stagnating Sargent was innovating in his watercolors. -- Judith Dobrzynski * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisIn the Middle Ages, it was thought that praying at the right shrine could save you from just about anything, from madness and famine to false imprisonment and even shipwreck. Kingdoms, cities, and even individual trades had patron saints who would protect them from misfortune and bring them wealth and prosperity, and their feast days were celebrated with public holidays and pageants. With saints believed to have the ear of God, veneration of figures such as Saint Thomas Becket, Saint Cuthbert, and Saint Margaret brought tens of thousands of pilgrims from all walks of life to sites across the country. Saints, Shrines and Pilgrims takes the reader across Britain, providing a map of the most important religious shrines that pilgrims would travel vast distances to reach, as well as descriptions and images of the shrines themselves. Featuring over one hundred stunning photographs and a index of places to visit, it explains the history of pilgrimage in Britain and the imporTrade Review“Rosewell crams an impressive amount into this handsomely illustrated book, from the processes of saint-making and the care lavished on shrines, to the chaos and destruction wrought by the Reformation.” * Catholic Herald *Table of ContentsIntroduction Sainthood Shrines Christ and the Virgin Mary Saints in Daily Life Legends and Miracles Pilgrimages Reformation Glossary of Well-known Saints Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisOn New Year's Day 1986, encouraged by her dealer Andras Kalman, artist Mary Newcomb, then aged 64, began to keep a diary. She wrote in its opening pages: 'I wanted ... to remind ourselves that - in our haste - in this century - we may not give time to pause and look - and may pass on our way unheeding'. This beautiful new book, compiled by the artist's daughter and grandson, reveals Mary Newcomb as an acute observer of her surroundings, reproducing her copious sketches alongside more finished paintings and short diary extracts to draw out the many themes which preoccupied her throughout her career as an artist. Mary Newcomb's world was rural East Anglia, where she managed a small mixed farm with her husband Godfrey Newcomb. The working life of the countryside engrossed her quite as much as the cycle of Nature: she noticed and relished everything, with as keen an eye for the colour of the bridesmaids' dresses at a wedding as for the yellow and brown of a dragonfly's body. Mary's daughter Tessa Newcomb, also an artist, introduces the key themes of the book with short texts which provide fascinating insight into her mother's world. A reflective introductory essay by art critic William Packer considers Mary Newcomb's written diary observations alongside the poetic language of her art.Trade Review'This is a beautiful and subtle book about a beautiful and subtle artist which made me want to run to the nearest art shop, buy supplies and take up painting myself' - Emma ThompsonTable of ContentsMary Newcomb: Drawing from Observation by William Packer; 1 The English Countryside; 2 Animals; 3 Figures; 4 Plants, Gardens and Public Spaces; 5 Travel; 6 The Universe; Biography; Exhibitions; Public Collections; Acknowledgements; Image Credits

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Book SynopsisA major monograph available again in a new, compact format, published to coincide with this autumn's Anselm Kiefer exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.Table of ContentsContents • Labyrinth • Venice, 1980 • Books I • Arts of Memory • Palettes • Acts of Mourning • Books II • Repositioning • Lead Threads of Time • ‘Something Raw’ • Notes • Bibliography • Index of Illustrations • Biography and Exhibitions • Selected Publications

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Book SynopsisFrench flower painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840) devoted himself exclusively to capturing the diversity of flowering plants in watercolor paintings which were then published as copper engravings, with careful botanical descriptions. The darling of wealthy Parisian patrons including Napoleon’s wife Josephine, he was dubbed “the Raphael of flowers,” and is regarded to this day as a master of botanical illustration. This elegant catalogue brings together all engravings from Redouté’s illustrations of Roses and Choix des plus belles fleurs (Selection of the Most Beautiful Flowers) and the most astounding images from The Lilies. Offering a vibrant overview of Redouté’s admixture of accuracy and beauty, it is also a privileged glimpse into the magnificent gardens and greenhouses of a bygone Paris.Trade Review“The magic of his art still has an almost meditative effect today. A magnificent volume.” * Victoria Magazine *“One of the most gifted botanical artists in history.” * Victoria Magazine *

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Book SynopsisExamines the curious endeavor to teach the unteachable that is generally known as college-level art instruction. This book traces the development (or invention) of the modern art school and considers how issues such as the question of core curriculum and the intellectual isolation of art schools affect the teaching and learning of art.Trade Review"Instead of proposing drastic changes in the way that art is instructed, Elkins asks that schools and art departments try to understand what they are already doing… He advises students to use a chain of questions process to try to uncover the teachers' reasoning and unexamined assumptions… Whether you're an artist, a teacher, an administrator, or a student, I encourage you to explore your own questions through Why Art Cannot Be Taught."--Teaching Artist Journal

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Book SynopsisThe seminal artist’s recent art and poster works, and his triumphant return to his street-art roots with murals, all in work never before published. Shepard Fairey rose out of the skateboarding scene, creating his “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign in the late ’80s, and has since achieved a mainstream recognition that most street artists never find. Fairey’s “Hope” poster, created during Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, is arguably the most iconic American image since Uncle Sam. Fairey has become a pop-culture icon himself, though he has remained true to his street-art roots. OBEY: Covert to Overt showcases his most recent evolution from works on paper to grander art installations, cross-cultural artworks, and music/art collaborations. The book also includes his ubiquitous streetwear and chronicles his return to public artworks. His signature blend of politics, street culture, and art makes Fairey unlike any Trade Review"[Covert to Overt] busts up the years from 2010 to 2014 into epochs of visual history and inspiration . . . Peppering the monograph's more than 250 pages are the fruit of Fairey's recent labors--all the murals, installations, music events and exhibitions -- both stateside and abroad, as well as a section devoted to his varied collaborations . . . "-MassAppeal.com"[Covert to Overt] is meant to help turn the page on the “Hope” chapter by highlighting some of the street murals, mixed media, installations, silkscreens, art-music events and other pieces of work he has done since. The tome also spells out his influence with such notables as Russell Brand, Chris Stein and Jello Biafra."-WWD ONLINE

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Book SynopsisIn the final decades of the nineteenth century, the Glasgow Style introduced Art Nouveau in Britain and helped transform an industrial city into Scotland’s premier cultural capital. The predominant force behind the Glasgow Style was Charles Rennie Mackintosh, an architect and designer who personified the movement’s intellectual freedom, sensuality, and spirit of collaboration. This lively and informative book showcases the work of Mackintosh and contextualizes it in relation to a larger circle of designers and craftspeople with which he shared sources, stylistic features, and patrons. Filled with color illustrations, archival materials, and essays, this volume explores every aspect of the Glasgow Style—from beautifully appointed homes and restaurants to everyday works of needlepoint, cups and saucers, stained glass windows, magazine illustrations, and textiles. It traces the birth of the Glasgow Style to The Glasgow School of Art, where Mackintosh met fellow students, including his future wife, who would form an influential circle nicknamed the “Immortals.” And it reveals how the rise of the Glasgow Style went hand-in-hand with the founding of the city’s Technical Arts School, where students trained in both industrial and artistic crafts, which helped establish a talented and creative workforce. Far-reaching and influential, the Glasgow Style improved nearly every facet of daily life. This book celebrates the immense achievements of Mackintosh and his fellow designers and highlights their impact in the United States and beyond.Trade Review"A fine survey of a vibrant arts movement." —W. S. Rodner, emeritus, Tidewater Community College, CHOICE

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewJapan and the Culture of the Four Seasons provides a compelling account of how Japan has appropriated, interpreted, and valued nature over the centuries. Haruo Shirane's wide-ranging study tracks the culture of nature in Japan and especially the central role of waka in constructing a vision of nature that influenced all the arts. In its breadth, depth, and accessibility, his book is of great value not only to scholars and students of Japan but also to anyone interested in the intersections of art and nature. -- Andrew M. Watsky, Princeton University A tour de force. Haruo Shirane synthesizes the long and complicated encoding of flora, fauna, toponyms, and annual events of the Japanese landscape and calendar, untangling their synchronic connections and their historical development from the eighth to the nineteenth centuries, from the small cuckoo (hototogisu) as a harbinger of summer in the Kokinshu to the lovemaking of cats as a topic for comic haikai verse in the Edo period. Shirane's book is essential for anyone interested in virtually any genre of the traditional Japanese arts: poetry, costume, painting, noh theater, architecture, tea ceremony, flower arranging-or even Japanese sweets (wagashi)! -- Joshua Mostow, University of British Columbia 'Sensitivity to nature' is one of those commonplaces about Japanese tradition that, because of its all-too-easy association with cultural nationalism, tends to set many people's teeth on edge. This engaging and impressive study provides a welcome antidote. Drawing from literary, visual, historical, and religious sources, Haruo Shirane cuts through the cliches to uncover multiple, evolving, and sometimes surprising dimensions of the Japanese relationship with nature from early times to the present. -- Kate Wildman Nakai, professor emerita, Sophia University A comprehensive view of the subject, replete with fascinating detail, and full scholarly apparatus. -- David Burleigh Japan Times As accessible as it is erudite, this volume will appeal to those with interest in any aspect of the arts...Highly recommended. Choice A vital contribution to our understanding of the literature, art, and daily practices of Japan over the centuries. -- Elizabeth Oyler Monumenta Nipponica Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons... enables us, for the first time in English, to gain a comprehensive, systematic, and authoritatively scholarly view on how very pervasive this seasons culture is and has been since the Nara and Heian periods. Japan Review Shirane is a reliable guide and reading this book will enrich one's understanding of almost any Japanese artifact. Journal of Japanese StudiesTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments Historical Periods, Romanization, Names, Titles, and Illustrations Introduction: Secondary Nature, Climate, and Landscape 1. Poetic Topics and the Making of the Four Seasons 2. Visual Culture, Classical Poetry, and Linked Verse 3. Interiorization, Flowers, and Social Ritual 4. Rural Landscape, Social Difference, and Conflict 5. Trans-Seasonality, Talismans, and Landscape 6. Annual Observances, Famous Places, and Entertainment 7. Seasonal Pyramid, Parody, and Botany Conclusion: History, Genre, and Social Community Appendix: Seasonal Topics in Key Texts Notes Bibliography of Recommended Readings in English Selected Bibliography of Secondary and Primary Sources in Japanese Index of Seasonal and Trans-Seasonal Words and Topics Index of Authors, Titles, and Key Terms

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Book SynopsisCo-founder and co-editor of October magazine, a veteran of Artforum of the 1960s and early 1970s, Rosalind Krauss has presided over and shared in the major formulation of the theory of postmodernism.In this challenging collection of fifteen essays, most of which originally appeared in October, she explores the ways in which the break in style that produced postmodernism has forced a change in our various understandings of twentieth-century art, beginning with the almost mythic idea of the avant-garde. Krauss uses the analytical tools of semiology, structuralism, and poststructuralism to reveal new meanings in the visual arts and to critique the way other prominent practitioners of art and literary history write about art. In two sections, Modernist Myths and Toward Postmodernism, her essays range from the problem of the grid in painting and the unity of Giacometti''s sculpture to the works of Jackson Pollock, Sol Lewitt, and Richard Serra, and observations about major trends in contemporary literary criticism.

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