History of art Books

Book SynopsisHave you seen the Waste Land documentary? It's about the largest landfill in the world in Brazil where people make a living out of garbage in the dump. Until artist Vik Muniz comes and Art is born out of rubbish materials and ends up in Phillips, an auction house in London, one of the most important in contemporary art. Inspired? Through Trashures useless garbage will become indispensable to your project. You can also get to know how other artists reacted to the transition from useless, scrap, ordinary things to unique pieces of art, ingenious assemblages of beautiful and smart designed new products. For whoever has an eye for it, there is beauty in everything, from rubbish to stuff that is plain useless. This book features fifteen international artists who work with rubbish, showcases some of their projects, and includes a DIY spread for a project by every artist.

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Book SynopsisRedheads have a glorious reputation for a fiery temperament to match their exquisite beauty, and artist Raffaele Marinetti has a distinct penchant for capturing such fireworks! Noted for his many delightful ginger pin-ups, Raffaele has collected a full colour (mainly red, naturally) gallery of curvaceous crimson wonders!

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Book SynopsisDescribes the process of erecting the great cathedrals in the Gothic era. This text explains the building equipment and falsework needed, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as far as they can be deduced from manuscript illuminations and pictorial representations.

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Book SynopsisImages in the Margins is the third in the popular Medieval Imagination series of small, affordable books drawing on manuscript illumination in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Library. Each volume focuses on a particular theme and provides an accessible, delightful introduction to the imagination of the medieval world.Trade Review"A truly unique and sublime visual study into medieval artistry - awe-inspiring in its detail and imagination." Harry Bliss, cover artist for the New Yorker; "One of a series of well-produced books that showcases the riches of the Getty's collections." Reference and Research Book News; "The reproductions are intricate and lovely puzzles for the grown-up eyeball/mind, so beauteously high-coloured and attractive that it is hard to stop looking." Lincoln County News (Damariscotta, Maine); "Strikes the perfect tone, focusing in each instance on the role of marginalia within its manuscript." Comitatus, A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies

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Book SynopsisAn eminent theologian’s original and compelling study of how images of Jesus through history reveal each era’s temper and valuesTrade Review"An enlightening and often dramatic story. . . . As a succinct account of the image of Christ before faith began to falter, in the indubitably Christian centuries, it is as stimulating as it is informative."—John Gross, New York Times"Mr Pelikan, who is the Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, writes for a broad readership. What he offers us in Jesus Through the Centuries is a rich and expansive description of Jesus' impact on 'the general history of culture. . . . Jesus Through the Centuries seems to me unique among current publications in bridging scholarly and popular discourse on the prophet from Nazareth over the past 2,000 years. Believers and skeptics alike will find it a sweeping visual and conceptual panorama. Mr. Pelikan is particularly adept at discerning the political implications in various Jesus images."—John Koenig, front page, New York Times Book Review"Pelikan here draws on his commanding grasp of Christian history not to try his own hand at one more 'life' of Jesus, but to lay before us the principal images that have appeared, sometimes recurrently, from the 1st century to the 20th. Starting with 'The Rabbi' and moving with precision and balance through 18 well-crafted chapters, he uses stained glass and statuary, hymns and doggerel, creeds and exposes, to carry the reader finally to 'The Man Who Belongs to the World.' The final chapter demonstrates conclusively that if imaging Jesus ever was the monopoly of the 'Christian West,' it surely is no longer."—Harvey Cox, front page, Washington Post Book World"Celebratory study of Jesus' impact on Western art, thought and culture over the last 2,000 years."—New York Times Book Review"Writing for the general reader, eminent church historian Pelikan proposes that, while the figure of Jesus provides the chief continuity in the history of Christianity, each age has depicted him in accordance with its own character."—Library Journal"[Pelikan] offers an elegantly written and handsomely illustrated account of the changing ways in which, over the last 19 centuries, men and women have seen Jesus, and worshipped him as 'the Christ.'"—Peter Fuller, New Society"Jaroslav Pelikan is encyclopedic in learning and universal in sympathy. . . . To read this study of Jesus is to receive a humane education, and few will fail to make some new discoveries about the richly varied story of reactions to him."—J.L. Houlden, Theology"This book, from one of the foremost historians of Christian culture, is a delight to read."—ChurchmanWinner of the 1986 Logos Bookstores Award given by the Association of Logos Bookstores"Jaroslav Pelikan has one of the most seminal minds in this generation. Nowhere is this more evident than in his most recent volume, Jesus Through the Centuries. It is not a doctrinal study nor a volume on the life of Christ but, rather, an analysis of some eighteen images of Jesus as he has been perceived through the centuries, images running from the Rabbi to the man who belongs to the world. Pelikan shows the enormous influence of Jesus on human culture, illustrating this through history, literature, philosophy, and art. It is a book that could only have been written by a mature scholar, but it can be read with profit and joy by anyone interested in the place of Jesus in the formation and development of culture from the first century until today. It is highly recommended."—James I McCord, Chancellor, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton"Like a master jeweler working with hard but valuable material, Jaroslav Pelikan has given distinctive shape to a great subject. He has chiseled eighteen surfaces, each with a different image of Jesus Christ affecting human culture. The result is an often glittering intellectual history that illuminates important chapters of human sensibility with flashes of light and color from Eastern as well as Western Christianity. Jesus Through the Centuries invites us to go beyond narrow scholarship in our study of that historical record and to reexamine what we are in the light of what Jesus was."—James H. Billington, author of Icon and the Axe and Fire in the Minds of Men"With learned insight and readable style, Pelikan traces the cultural incarnations of Jesus through nineteen centuries. . . .He concludes that Jesus now belongs to the whole of humanity, far beyond the reach of the organized Church and ecclesial theology. And I agree."—Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame"Jesus Through the Centuries reflects the deep faith and spirituality of the noted historian and theologian Jaroslav Pelikan expressed with Apostolic simplicity and clarity. It expresses sound scriptural doctrine and profound cultural history of the last 2,000 years which can also serve as a blueprint for examining the images of Jesus through the study of politics, society, and economic events in history. Through its contents, the book evinces a profound understanding between tradition and innovation through each particular age marked by intellectual vigor, theological substance, humanity and warmth. Even more, Professor Pelikan emits an historical faith that is unabashedly Christocentric, straightforward and poetic, which will make the book appeal to a wide audience because of its rich humanism, and its informed use of references to writers and philosophers from St. Gregory of Nyssa to Albert Schweitzer. His book should be read by not only historians and theologians, but by all Christians who wish to seek ways of coming closer to one another through an understanding of Christ down through the ages."—His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of North and South America

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Book SynopsisThis book explains the Eightfold Path to end suffering by cultivating wisdom through mental training. It emphasizes a balanced middle path and covers aspects like right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration with practical examples. The final chapter discusses enlightenment in the Buddhist path.

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Book SynopsisWhat is abstract art good for? What's the use - for us as individuals, or for any society - of pictures of nothing, of paintings and sculptures or prints or drawings that do not seem to show anything except themselves? This book presents an account of abstract art.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2006 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Arts and Art History, Association of American Publishers "With the publication of Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock by Kirk Varnedoe, we have a welcome reminder of the high esteem that abstract art came to enjoy in its heyday... Pictures of Nothing, based on a series of lectures that Mr. Varnedoe gave at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, is a book that everyone with a serious interest in modern art will want to read, and it has the additional merit of being well-written and excellently illustrated."--Hilton Kramer, Wall Street Journal "Pictures of Nothing [is] the transcribed text of one-time MoMA chief curator Kurt Varnedoe's final lectures... [T]he talks are not just for Varnedoe completists--they tackle the question 'What is abstract art good for?' and constitute the charismatic scholar's final word on the subject."--ArtNet.com "Your favorite realist's eyes might suddenly pop open after reading Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock by Kirk Varnedoe... The art historian ... is a clear-eyed, eloquently plain-spoken, unfaltering guide through the thickets of drip painting, minimalism, and more. Why abstraction? Look here for an answer."--Nancy Tousley, Calgary Herald "The knowledge that this would be Varnedoe's last public appearance brought a plainspoken urgency to the lectures that's carried over to this transcribed and edited text."--Peter Goddard, Toronto Star "Varnedoe's enthusiastic insights fill the pages. Through his descriptions, bare, arbitrary or seemingly interchangeable works start to bristle with distinctiveness... His vision of America's abstract half-century in Pictures of Nothing is ... eclectic and embracing."--Edmund Fawcett, RA Magazine "[These] lectures are remarkably fresh and conversational--not only because Varnedoe did not have a chance to edit and revise them, but also because he gave these lectures, as he did every other lecture, entirely from memory... Varnedoe's lectures reveal the positive role of abstract art in modern cultural life... Varnedoe insists; abstract art is difficult, it takes practice to understand, and if it is governed by rules that appear arbitrary, that only makes it like every other cultural practice."--Daniel A. Siedell, Christian Today "Kirk Varnedoe's book ... confronts the central question of modernism: How are people supposed to understand pictures that appear to be self-referential?"--Philadelphia Inquirer "Readable and elucidated by well-chosen examples that help illustrate changing trends in a fast-paced time."--Globe and Mail "Kirk Varneode begins by pointing out that the development of abstract art coincided with the cataclysm of World War I, which jarred artists into revolutionary forms... [An] extraordinary series of lectures."--Sheila Farr, Seattle Times "Elegiac, in the truest sense of the term: It is the pensive summation of a career undertaken by a man in the last stages of a devastating illness, and it is, too, the posthumous reckoning of his words by his closest friends... [T]his book is a remarkable trace of its author... He wanted to insist that any art worth looking at had, at least, many stories to tell."--Aruna D'Souza, Bookforum "Pictures of Nothing examines how, while names like Pollock, Mondrian and de Kooning are immediately recognized for their significance in modern culture, the importance of depicting squares or splattered paint is not as widely understood. With humor and candor, Varnedoe illuminates the meaning behind nonrepresentational works of the past 50 years--the contradictory intentions of Josef Albers's and Carl Andre's shared geometry or the minute artistic details of Robert Smithson's massive Spiral Jetty."--Museum News "An eminently readable, deeply insightful book."--Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times "Varnedoe is a pragmatist. To those who would say that abstract art is a classic case of the emperor's new clothes, he simply says that it has been around for more than a century and that is proof enough of its efficacy. What he wants is not to validate what artists have been doing all this time but, rather, to find cogent ways of talking about it and, hence, a deeper understanding... What this wonderful book shows is that although the original motivations behind abstract art were puritanical, crypto-religious or collectivist, it has flourished as a series of secular, diverse, individualistic, private visions. Society thrives, Varnedoe bravely suggests, when it gives free play to these visions, even those that initially seem absurd, banal or hermetic."--Sebastian Smee, The Australian "A provocative defense of modern abstraction... Varnedoe's analysis of abstraction, using specific works, helps make sense of various approaches to non-representational art."--Edward J. Sozanski, Journal Sentinel Online "Expressed in vivid, accessible, and often passionate language. Varnedoe ... speaks as a teacher."--Arthur C. Danto, ArtNews "This is an important time capsule of cultural history, grappling with 60-plus-years' history of abstract art's legacies... [T]his book captures the cadence, energy, and verve characteristic of Varnedoe's immensely effective lectures... Erudite in all the best ways, this book is also deeply human, born of love for the experience of art... Highly recommended."--ChoiceTable of ContentsForeword by Earl A. Powell III vii Preface by Adam Gopnik ix Note to the Reader by Judy Metro xvii Chapter 1: Why Abstract Art? 1 Chapter 2: Survivals and Fresh Starts 47 Chapter 3: Minimalism 91 Chapter 4: After Minimalism 145 Chapter 5: Satire, Irony, and Abstract Art 191 Chapter 6: Abstract Art Now 239 Acknowledgments 275 Index 277 Photography and Copyright Credits 287

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Book SynopsisThe Très Riches Heures is the most luxurious and most famous examples of manuscript illumination in late medieval Europe. Commissioned by the influential patron, Jean de Berry, in the early years of the fifteenth century, this masterpiece was executed by the three Limbourg brothers, the greatest miniaturists of the time. Their beautifully presented texts are accompanied by lush illustrations, in which the artists'' imaginative and decorative genius are fully revealed. Their elegant images influenced the course of painting in France and all of Northern Europe; but, as Millard Meiss comments, ''no painter could match the smooth perfection of their surface, their limpid colour and complex simplicity. Their art could capture the delicate transitory beauty of a newly opened flower.'' This edition reproduces each of the miniatures in The Très Riches Heures to scale and in full colour, capturing both the subtle colour and minute detail of these historic images.

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Book SynopsisThis monumental masterwork by the renowned nineteenth century scientist and authority on color, M.E. Chevreul, is unquestionably one of the greatest books ever written on color; the first English translation is reprinted here with the original color restored and an introduction and explanatory notes by Faber Birren, the leading color authority of the present time. Chevreul's book dominated the schools of Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, and exerted profound influence on later schools of painting including today's Op Art. Chevreul set forth principles that have become basic in color training throughout the Western world. In his illuminating commentary Mr. Birren shows how many of Chevreul's ideas on color harmony, contrast effects, optical mixtures, and legibility have been validated by modern scientific research in visual perception. mr. Birren also provides a helpful glossary of Chevreul's terminology. Lavishly illustrated, the volume contains many color plates, including 15 plate

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Book SynopsisAn original consideration of how spirituality is represented in contemporary art.

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Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive survey of the beloved figurative realist painter Fairfield Porter to be published in more than two decades. A figurative realist in the heyday of abstract expressionism, Fairfield Porter (1907–1975) painted himself, his family, and friends in New York City, in Southampton, Long Island, and on an island off the Maine coast, all depicting a relaxed and comfortable world that seemed to mirror his own affluent, well-connected existence. With virtually all of the artist’s previous publications now out of print, this much-anticipated volume is an important addition to the literature on this great American master. Porter graduated from Harvard in 1928 and then studied at the Art Students League in New York with Thomas Hart Benton. Along with months in Maine, Porter lived in New York and from 1948 on, in Southampton where he purchased a large, late Federal-style house for his own expanding family. Porter painted several artist friends, including Elaine de KoTrade ReviewThe Season's Outstanding Art Books "By turns awkward and graceful, these images dodge nostalgia but not the aching pleasure found in, among other things, the clotted light of a bunch of buttercups."—ArtForum"The comprehensive book is special because it includes many color reproductions of paintings otherwise seen only in black-and-white (and small) in the artist’s catalogue raisonné from 2001."—HyperAllergic.com"The spare elegance of the realist Fairfield Porter (1907-1975) never gets old. A monograph on the artist and his work, recently published by Rizzoli, provides an intense exploration of the intriguing and complex life of this important painter."—Art of the Times

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Book SynopsisWhat a shock it must have been for the Utrecht painters Hendrick ter Brugghen, Gerard van Honthorst and Dirck van Baburen when they first encountered the breathtaking and unconventional paintings of Caravaggio in Rome. This volume shows impressively how the young artists individually explored this role model and thereby developed their own individual style. In around 1600 Rome was the centre of the world. Attracted by Caravaggio’s spectacular success, young artists from all over Europe converged on the bus tling metropolis. The up-and-coming painters studied the same works, discussed matters with each other and used Caravaggio’s style to develop their own individual pictorial language. Tracing the careers of the three most important Utrecht Caravaggists, the authors describe the atmosphere of this artistic mood of renewal. Only in a comparison with their European fellow artists does it become evident how strongly the Dutch tradition, with its love of merciless realism, influenced the creative work of the Utrecht painters.

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Book SynopsisSince the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Prague has become one of Europe’s—and the world’s—most popular tourist destinations. As in London, Paris, and Rome, visitors flock to the gorgeous buildings and monuments that grace the streets of Prague, entranced by structures ranging from Gothic and baroque to cubist and neoclassical. And while hundreds of thousands stroll over Charles Bridge and gaze up at St. Vitus Cathedral each year, far fewer venture away from the crowds to seek out the countless gems of art nouveau peppered throughout Prague. With Art Nouveau Prague, Petr Wittlich—one of Europe’s leading experts on nineteenth- and twentieth-century architecture—tours those monuments and buildings of Prague that are most representative of the art nouveau movement while offering insightful commentary on each. Along the way, Wittlich visits such sites as the Municipal House, the Wilson Railway Station, the Grand Hotel Europa, and works by sculptors František Bílek, Ladislav Šaloun, and Stanislav Sucharda. An introductory essay by Wittlich emphasizing the role of art nouveau within contemporary currents of modern European art accompanies more than one hundred color illustrations of some of the most stunning examples of art nouveau architecture and decoration in existence, and a detailed bibliography provides additional reading for each of the sites displayed in the book. Art Nouveau Prague is a must-have for those traveling to Prague for the first time or for anyone who appreciates or wants to learn more about art nouveau style.Trade Review“The color images of this small paperback are intelligently selected and gorgeously reproduced; the professionalism of Maly’s photography is evident in every page. Most heartening, the authors include not just a checklist of the illustrations but also precise addresses for the structures, making the book attractive and useful.” * West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture *“For many years Wittlich has been the most respected art historian of his generation in the Czech lands.” -- Otto M. Urban, National Gallery Prague * Slovo a Smysl *

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Book SynopsisExploring the writings of major thinkers (among them Montesquieu, Burke, Kant, Marx, and Freud), and leading art historians (including Pliny, Winckelmann, Ruskin, Pater, Gombrich, and Baxandall), as well as artists such as Alberti and Leonardo and scientists from Aristotle to Zeki, John Onians shows how an understanding of the neural basis of the mind contributes to an understanding of all human behaviorsincluding art.Trade ReviewAn “ambitious study” – Steven Jaron, The Burlington Magazine"A book that changes everything"- David Carrier, Champney Family Professor, Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Art

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Book SynopsisAncient and medieval labyrinths embody paradox, according to Penelope Reed Doob. Their structure allows a double perspective-the baffling, fragmented prospect confronting the maze-treader within...Trade Review"An admirably argued, massively informed, and often brilliant book. It will be a widely useful source, and will lead to important new approaches to a whole range of texts and artworks. Doob includes superb new readings of Virgil, Boethius, Dante, and Chaucer." -- Christopher Baswell, Barnard College

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Book SynopsisLet Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts guide your tarot practice with this beautifully illustrated tarot deck inspired by Disney’s classic animated film Alice in Wonderland.Experience the magic of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland like never before in this enchanting and delightfully unique take on the traditional 78-card tarot deck. This set features beloved characters from Alice to the Cheshire Cat to the White Rabbit and more in gorgeous original illustrations based on classic tarot iconography. Featuring both major and minor arcana, the set also comes with a helpful guidebook explaining each card’s meaning, as well as simple instructions for easy readings. Packaged in a sturdy, decorative gift box, this charming tarot deck is the perfect gift for the Alice in Wonderland fan or tarot enthusiast. ORIGINAL ART: The booklet and each of the 78 cards in this deck feature never-before-seen original Alice in Wonderland-themed art. GUIDEBOOK INCLUDED: This unique deck includes a guidebook to help tarot practitioners of all skill levels perform fun and informed readings. BEAUTIFUL GIFT: The tarot deck and guidebook are packaged in a deluxe gift box perfect for gift giving. OFFICIAL DISNEY DECK: The only official Disney Alice in Wonderland tarot deck and guide. 70th ANNIVERSARY: This deck is the perfect way to celebrate 70 years of the beloved Disney film.

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Book SynopsisA monumental new work of scholarship on a luminary of twentieth-century art

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Book SynopsisThe Bauhaus, the legendary school in Dessau, Germany, transformed architecture and design around the world. This book broke new ground when first published in 1991 by introducing psychoanalysis, geometry, early childhood education, and popular culture into the standard political history of the Bauhaus. The ABC's of Triangle, Square, Circle also introduced two young designers, Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller, whose multidisciplinary approach changed the field of design writing and research. With a new preface by Lupton and Miller, this collection of visually and intellectually stimulating essays is a must-read for educators and students.Trade Review"The book disquiets the mythology surrounding the Bauhaus by dissecting the conflicting principles of design, form and visual perception. [...] Whilst challenging the ambitions of the movement, the monograph presents design criticism through precisely assembled diagrams and layouts in a manner that recognises the Bauhaus’ pedagogical and theoretically self-conscious ideals.” -- Aesthetica

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Book SynopsisThe definitive collection of artist profiles by legendary journalist and New Yorker writer Calvin Tomkins, from the 1960s to todayTrade Review"Calvin Tomkins is one of our era's great documentarians. His insightful and probing profiles of some of the most innovative artists are guideposts to the last sixty years of visual culture. He is an archeologist of sorts, excavating and articulating those salient aspects of an artist's character lurking beneath the surface. Tomkins' work will stand as an important resource for future generations."—Marshall N. Price, Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University"The Lives of Artists promises endless hours of pleasurable and enlightening reading and re-reading. More than that, it will deliver a world of new friends into your life. While the six-volume set is imposing in total, each Profile remains a wondrously intimate portrayal of its subject."—Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art"Generous and insightful, Calvin Tomkins tells the story of the things we call art, and the colorful spirits called artists who make them."—Paul Chan"Over his long career, he has published masterly profiles of visual artists and creative virtuosos. His pieces are marked by a keen eye for detail and an elegant understanding of an artist's relationship to her work."—David Remnick, The New Yorker"For more than half a century, Calvin Tomkins has brought readers breathtakingly close to the personalities, practices, ideas, and immediate environments of many of the most significant artists and creators of our time. From Robert Rauschenberg and Nam June Paik to Julie Mehretu, Chris Ofili, and Mark Bradford, his artist profiles have charted an entire era. I cherish this volume as an invaluable resource about the art of our time."—Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, The Studio Museum in Harlem"[For] those seeking creative inspiration."—Bloomberg Businessweek"...The handsome new Phaidon tome-six volumes in a fluorescent red case... Clocks in at about 1,600 pages and weighs a healthy 6 pounds. An essential and highly pleasurable record of the era, it also amounts to a sprawling, lifelong investigation into what it means to be an artist. Tomkins would go on to become the premier chronicler of the age's art scene, right up to the present... [his] prose exudes the sheer joy of writing about art."—ARTnews"Longtime New Yorker writer Calvin Tomkins has compiled a massive boxed set of 82 profiles that he's written from 1962 to 2019 - from famous names like Jasper Johns to contemporary heavyweights like Cindy Sherman and Mark Bradford."—Bloomberg Pursuits"An elegant homage... Reading [the interviews] only confirms the enviable lucidity and profound insight of Tomkins' writing. He has championed the avant-garde and worked the miracle of making the difficult seem easy without talking down to readers. Who could ask for anything more?"—The Evening Standard"Legendary Journalist Calvin Tomkins... has profiled many of the greatest artists of the age... A lavish new multi-volume set... His profiles make artists human, allowing other humans to understand their art."—Artnet News"A prolific collection of artists-many of them eccentric or otherwise challenging, all of them great (or at least noteworthy)."—The Art Angle"...As a study of a longtime critic, it's unmatched."—Chicago Tribune

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Book SynopsisJoy Emery was, until her death in 2018. Professor Emerita of Theatre and Curator of The Commercial Pattern Archive at the University of Rhode Island, USA.Trade ReviewWith this volume Emery reveals important facets of American and women's history. She covers domestic and professional sewing from hand-drawn patterns to Internet- and computer-based creations […] Her publication is profusely illustrated with 200 style and pattern drawings (mostly from period catalogs and advertisements). It features nine complete patterns, usable for readers/sewers, which cover fashion styles from 1850 to 1968. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. -- B. B. Chico, Regis University * CHOICE *Students of fashion and historical-costuming enthusiasts will delight in this in-depth examination of the paper sewing pattern. The evolution of the tool is examined in full, from its inception as a cutting guide for minimizing cloth waste to the fashion-forward instructions sold today […] Home sewing has seen a resurgence of popularity in the last few years, and although this is not the book for the Pinterest populace (though browsing the illustrations is both fascinating and hilarious at turns), serious costumers and designers will appreciate the depth and breadth of information and the easy-flowing narrative of this “home dressmaking fashion revolution. -- Genevieve Grove * Booklist *It will be a springboard for students, collectors, curators and historians, and an appendix of nine patterns from 1854 to 1968 rendered for today’s users will surely appeal to adventurous dressmakers. -- Barbara Burman * Costume *Emery’s deep knowledge of her subject makes this book not only a crucial reference work, but also an important pointer to numerous avenues for future scholarship in this neglected area of fashion industry. -- Lindsay King, Yale University * Art Libraries Journal *[A] skilful examination of how home dressmaking changed expectations about and the means to be fashionable on a limited budget ... Well-chosen illustrations ... are an essential and well-integrated complement to the text and provide an extra layer of information on the evolution of the pattern-making industry. -- Valerie Cumming, Costume Society * Reviews in History *This is an essential book for anyone interested in vintage sewing patterns and the home sewing industry, especially anyone seeking information about the pattern companies and their dates of operation. It could be useful to vintage pattern resellers, as well, in helping to date patterns. -- Stephani Miller * Threads *The details Emery includes about the business models, innovation, and marketing of paper patterns means that this book would be of great interest to students of marketing, business, and finance as well as dress historians, home sewers, and collectors of paper ephemera. * The Journal of Dress History *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1 Tailoring and the Birth of the Published Paper Pattern Chapter 2 Development of Dressmaking Patterns Chapter 3 Nineteenth Century Technology Chapter 4 Early History of Pattern Companies 1860s-1880s Chapter 5 New Markets and Expansion 1880s-1900 Chapter 6 Shifts and Balances 1900-1920s Chapter 7 Blossoming Economy 1920-1929 Chapter 8 Surviving the Great Depression 1930s Chapter 9 The War Years 1940s Chapter 10 Shifting Trends 1960s Chapter 11 New Challenges 1960s-1980s Chapter 12 Reinvention and Renaissance 1980s-2010 Epilogue Appendix 9 Pattern Grids 1854-1968 Endnotes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“[A] very useful guide to Ensor’s life and art...Tricot has uncovered new data about Ensor’s life from memoirs and Ensor’s own letters.”—Alexander Adams, Alexander Adams Art

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Book Synopsis An attractive new hardcover edition of the classic biography of Tamara de Lempicka, whose paintings defined Art Deco and whose life epitomised the Jazz Age. As F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed the mad glories of the 1920s on the printed page, Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980) captured them on canvas. A seductive Garbo-esque beauty with an irresistible force of personality, this refugee of the Russian Revolution successively conquered Paris, Hollywood, and New York with coruscating portraits of the world''s rich and famous. Her Art Deco paintings earned for her a life more fabulously excessive than anything Fitzgerald dreamed of. Passion by Design, authored by Tamara de Lempicka''s own daughter, is an intimate look at a fascinating personality, and remains the best account of her life and work. This new edition is illustrated with vibrant colour reproductions of her finest paintings, as well as exclusive photographs from family albums. An additional chapter by Victoria de Lempicka, the artist''s granddaughter, explores the ever-evolving legacy of Tamara de Lempicka, from the record eight-figure price fetched by her painting La Tunique Rose in November 2019 to the new musical based on her life.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Few archaeologists would venture into as many regions or across as many disciplinary boundaries as David Wengrow does in his eloquent and ambition analysis."---Christina Riggs, Times Literary Supplement"The Origins of Monsters is a fascinating exposition of the archaeology of the ancient world as a topic that has current resonance. Well written and presented, wonderfully informed and confident, it is well placed to achieve Wengrow's worthy ambition to start a particular dialogue between disciplinary approaches to the topic of monsters."---Michael Punt, Leonardo Reviews

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Book SynopsisMohammad Gharipour is professor at the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University. The recipient of the Hamad Bin Khalifa Fellowship in Islamic Art and the Spiro Kostof Fellowship Award from the Society of Architectural Historians, Gharipour has published extensively on architectural history. He is the the author of Gardens of Renaissance Europe and the Islamic Empires, Synagogues of the Islamic World, and Historiography of Persian Architecture and is editor of 'Bazaar in the Islamic City' (2012) and the founding editor of the 'International Journal of Islamic Architecture'.Trade ReviewMohammad Gharipour's fine book focuses on Persian gardens and the permanent or temporary structures within them, during the period from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, but includes a useful concise survey of references to gardens in earlier literature stretching back to ancient Sumer, the Bible and the Qur'an. A scholarly book, it includes extensive apparatus of glossary, notes and sources, and 100 illustrations, many in color, generally of high quality and beautiful to study. It relies heavily on textual sources, including histories and poetry and travelers' accounts especially, and also pictorial sources, especially manuscript illuminations. Its wide scope seeks to set the garden in its social and historical context as a place for meetings and display and pleasure, as well as sometimes places of production. It goes beyond earlier treatments of the theme, including even color visualizations of Haravi's proposal for a "paradise" garden in the fifteenth century, and has systematic investigations of many questions, especially in regard to structures, such as tents, or thrones in gardens, and also discusses what can be said about the types and arrangements of plants." -- Lawrence Nees, university of Delaware * CHOICE *Much has been written about Islamic gardens and Islamic architecture. Mohammad Gharipour usefully discusses the relationship between the two…the contents are clearly arranged. -- Caroline Stone * SAUDI ARAMCO WORLD (US) *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Garden and Pavilion in Near Eastern Pre-Islamic Texts, the Qur'an and Persian Poetry Chapter 3: The Garden and Pavilion in Persian Art Chapter 4: The Garden and Pavilion through the Lens of Travelers and Historians Chapter 5: Conclusion Matrix Glossary of Terms Poets, Historians and Travellers Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn an age of myriad computer fonts and instant communication, your handwriting style is increasingly a very personal creation. In this book, Margaret Shepherd, America's premier calligrapher, shows you that calligraphy is not simply a craft you can learn, but an elegant art form that you can make your own. Calligraphy remains perennially popular, often adorning wedding invitations, diplomas, and commercial signs. Whether it is Roman, Gothic, Celtic, Bookhand, or Italic style, calligraphy conveys class and elegance. Margaret Shepherd makes this ancient art form accessible in a completely hand-lettered technical guide that will:• Provide context for calligraphy as an art, exploring the rich tradition of hand-lettering and mapping the evolution of the most popular styles.• Give detailed technical advice on choosing pens, paper, and inks, setting up your workspace, mastering various pen angles, along with step-by-step illustrations to guide you as you practice. • Explain which alphabets are appropriate for different forms of writing. For example, the Roman alphabet works well for short, unpunctuated passages, while the Italic alphabet is more suited to informal everyday communication. • Encourage you to personalize your lettering by using variant strokes and interpreting how you would like the words to look on the page.• Inspire you with carefully chosen illustrations and examples, which bring letters to life.­Learn Calligraphy is the authoritative primer for this age-old craft, and will help develop a new appreciation for lettering as you discover your creative personality.

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the cultural and philosophic conflation between the oriental and the ornamental, Ornamentalism offers an original and sustained theory about Asiatic femininity in western culture. This study pushes our vocabulary about the woman of color past the usual platitudes about objectification and past the critique of Orientalism in order to formulate a fresher and sharper understanding of the representation, circulation, and ontology of Asiatic femininity. This book alters the foundational terms of racialized femininity by allowing us to conceptualize race and gender without being solely beholden to flesh or skin. Tracing a direct link between the making of Asiatic femininity and a technological history of synthetic personhood in the West from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, Ornamentalism demonstrates how the construction of modern personhood in the multiple realms of law, culture, and art has been surprisingly indebted to this very marginal figure and places Asian femininity at the center of an entire epistemology of race. Drawing from and speaking to the multiple fields of feminism, critical race theory, visual culture, performance studies, legal studies, Modernism, Orientalism, Object Studies and New Materialism, Ornamentalism will leave reader with a greater understanding of what it is to exist as a person-thing within the contradictions of American culture.Trade ReviewCheng's scholarship affectivizes theoretical approaches to subjectivity, to objectivity, and to their relation, by showing how...the ornaments ...of modernity are not additions to (adornment on) pre-existing subjects and objects, but instead bring these elements into ontological and phenomenological tangibility. * M. Gail Hamner, Syracuse University *Cheng offers no less than a thorough reworking of the dichotomies that have thus far structured racial thinking--self/other, subject/object, surface, depth, agency/injury. * Los Angeles Review of Books *What Anne Cheng looks to offer in her new monograph Ornamentalism is a heretofore-missing theory of Asiatic femininity ... Ornamentalism offers an alternative vision of agency as not resistance but resilience, of forms of living produced under impossible conditions -- providing, too, a much-needed concretization of post-humanism's rhetorical gestures. * Chalay Chalermkraivuth, Brink *Through a constellation of mesmerizing scenes- from the courtroom to the museum to the sushi bar, from early photographs to cyberfiction film- Anne Anlin Cheng reveals the drama of ornamentalism in Anglo-American culture: the ontological force with which Asiatic femininity resides in an aesthetics of ornamental personhood. Within the dynamics of this drama- conflating the abstract and the corporeal, the figural and the real- personhood and objecthood ineluctably converge. Above all Ornamentalism tracks new and essential questions for the study of racialized gender. * Bill Brown, University of Chicago *A worthy successor to Edward W. Said's Orientalism, Cheng's Ornamentalism contours the breadth of ornamentation's enmeshment with orientalist logics and poses socially pertinent questions regarding the distinctive ways in which Blackness and Asianness are visualized and adorned. * Rachel Lee, University of California, Los Angeles *This bold and astonishingly original book is many things at once. Attending to the ways in which race and beauty troublingly but also pleasurably intertwine, it begins as a study of comparative racialization that shows how the dehumanization of persons transpires differently: some by being reduced to flesh and biology, others, by being turned into artificial shells. A much needed theorization of Asiatic femininity in the Western imagination that thinks without moralizations, Ornamentalism is a brilliant, groundbreaking book that shows how the ideology of race renders subjects excessively visible but also simultaneously hard to see. * Sianne Ngai, University of Chicago *This is a stunning critical-historical unpacking of the figure of the 'Asiatic yellow woman' as a peripheral person/object, exotic/erotic, she/it. This haunted 'theory of being' nudges and advocates a fuller critique adding to #MeToo universalism and the shorthand of 'black and brown' women and fem bodies- opening a more decolonizing internationalist theory of raced, gendered, and sexualized intimacies, differentiation, and power. * John Kuo Wei Tchen, Rutgers University-Newark *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Borders and Embroidery Chapter 2: Gleaming Things Chapter 3: Blue Willow Chapter 4: Edible Pets Chapter 5: Dolls Coda: Chokecherry Credits Notes Index

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Book SynopsisSusan Kay-Williams is the Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court. She has a long-term interest in textiles and was introduced to dyeing on a one-day workshop in the 1980s. Susan is constantly in demand as a speaker, especially for NADFAS in the UK, and internationally in the US and Japan. She is a fellow of the RSA.Trade ReviewThe Story of Colour in Textiles is an introduction to a broad, diverse and fascinating subject of how and why people dyed textiles. A fresh review of this topic, this book brings previous scholars' work to light again, alongside new discoveries and research. * Embroidery *A detailed and fascinating history of the dyeing of fabric and yarn, this is a great book for textiles students, history lovers and anybody interested in dyeing processes and history. Its subtitle is Imperial Purple to Denim Blue, which is a fabulously concise and intriguing description of the journey dyeing has taken over the centuries. The book looks at the symbolism of colour through the ages, the many natural dye sources and their origins and the impact of synthetic dyes on the textile industry. * Inside Crochet *The book covers an impressive range of material; The Arnolfini Marriage, the emergence of meanings in colour, The Plictho, selvedge colours and hierarchies of dyers are all clearly discussed... The Story of Colour in Textiles is well-researched and readable. It is engaging...has good colour reproduction, and satisfyingly extensive references at the end of each chapter. A great book for both the casual and the academic reader, it merits being kept for reference. I thoroughly recommend it. -- Lorna Lindfield, Avon Guild * Journal for Weavers, Spinners & Dyers *Aimed equally at textile student and the craft dyer, [The Story of Colour in Textiles] is full of fascinating information for anyone interested in the history of decorative arts . . . For anyone who works with fabric, this is a very interesting read and an ideal way to gain an overview of fabric dyeing and its lengthy history. * Creative Life Magazine *This beautifully presented book with its superb illustrations will be greatly enjoyed and appreciated by all those with an interest in textiles and embroidery. As we follow the history of colour and dyeing from pre-history to the present day it is interwoven with politics, religion, social standing, wealth, trade, fashion and the exciting developments and challenges that came with the arrival of synthetic dyestuffs. It is a fascinating story on a subject that is part of our everyday life. * NADFAS Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Preface Introduction Chapter one: Fragments and glimpses - dyes from pre history Chapter two: The Dark Ages - surprising colour Chapter three: New skills, burgeoning trade - the Middle Ages Chapter four: Broadening horizons - the sixteenth century Chapter five: Mystery, art and science - the seventeenth century Chapter six: Analysis, understanding and invention - the eighteenth century Chapter seven: Ryots, rewards and handsome colours - the nineteenth century Chapter eight: A hundred yellows - the twentieth and twenty-first centuries References Photo credits Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Christian Krohg, the Radical Naturalist 2. Naturalism, the Dark Side of Realism 3. The Heroism of the Scientist 4. Hippolyte Taine and the Modern Breakthrough in Scandinavia 5. Christian Krohg in Skagen: Painting according to Taine 6. Naturalism and the Beholder: Sympathy and Theatricality 7. Naturalist Paragone: Literature and Painting 8. Albertine in the Police Doctor’s Waiting Room: Panopticon, Spectacle, Speculum 9. Modern Pessimism: From Naturalism to Symbolism Epilogue: Naturalism Is Dead, Long Live Naturalism!

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