Individual artists, art monographs Books

Book SynopsisThis first major monograph on cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener traces his life and career, bringing new insights into his business practice, designs and construction techniques. Jean-Henri Riesener (1734–1806) was one of the greatest French cabinetmakers of all time. From humble beginnings as a German immigrant in Paris, he found fame through the delivery of a magnificent roll-top desk to Louis XV in 1769. He went on to become Marie-Antoinette’s favourite cabinetmaker, supplying the queen and the court of Louis XVI with sumptuous furniture of superb quality. Renowned for his exquisite marquetry and refined designs, his pieces were ornamented with spectacular gilt-bronze mounts made by some of the greatest metalworkers in Paris. In the nineteenth century, Riesener’s name became associated with the very best of Louis XVI-period French furniture. His pieces continue to be highly sought after and are found in major museums worldwide. Based on the extensive collections of Riesener furniture in the Wallace Collection, Waddesdon Manor and the Royal Collection, the authors examine the objects and their history, and highlight the changing tastes of the nineteenth-century collectors who acquired so many former French royal pieces. The new illustrations and visual glossary add another important resource for art historians, decorative arts enthusiasts and furniture lovers.Trade ReviewThe first serious Riesener monograph. -- Alexandre Pradère * The Art Newspaper *This authoritative tome is both an enjoyable read as well as a scholarly compilation of original research [...] it is extremely refreshing to be presented with such a clearly written and entirely unapologetic celebration of one of the creative geniuses of the French eighteenth century. This publication would do Watson, Bellaigue and Verlet proud. More, please. -- Wolf Burchard * The Furniture History Society *Table of ContentsThe Riesener, Oeben & Vandercruse families THE CABINETMAKER Jean-Henri Riesener: a portrait sketch Christian Baulez A German in Paris Laura Langelüddecke Jean-Henri Riesener and the business of furniture-making Carolyn Sargentson A question of language: the royal furniture administration’s accounts Lindsay Macnaughton ‘Executed in the taste of painting’: Riesener’s marquetry designs Mia Jackson Jean-Henri Riesener: the portraits Juliet Carey THE COLLECTORS From Versailles to Windsor Castle: George IV and Riesener Rufus Bird Alteration and appropriation: the 4th Marquess of Hertford and the taste for Riesener Helen Jacobsen Riesener and the Rothschilds at Waddesdon Manor Ulrich Leben Buying from Britain: the development of a new market Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide THE FURNITURE Works in the Wallace Collection, the Royal Collection & Waddesdon Manor THE MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES Materials and techniques Jürgen Huber Visual glossary Alexander Collins

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Book SynopsisDelve into the world of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his Glasgow School of Art-trained contemporaries who forged a unique and distinct vision in both art and architecture at the end of the Victorian era. The Glasgow Style is the name given to the work of a group of young designers and architects working in Glasgow from 1890–1914. At its centre were four young friends who had trained at Glasgow School of Art; two architects and two artists – Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Herbert MacNair, Margaret Macdonald and Frances Macdonald – who were simply known by their friends and contemporaries as ‘The Four’. Their work was a personal vision in the new international style of the 1890s, Art Nouveau, and is perhaps best known for Mackintosh’s architecture and furniture. But at the root of this new style was a graphic language which all four shared.Charles Rennie MackintosTable of ContentsPreface 1 Beginnings 2 Art School 3 Ghouls and Gaspipes 4 Collaborations 5 Art and Craft 6 Recognition 7 Partnerships 8 Turin and Beyond 9 Hardships 10 Solace 11 France Epilogue Select Bibliography Abbreviations Notes Index

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Book SynopsisNow available in paperback, this definitive book explores the multidisciplinary career of one of the most experimental and pioneering artists of the 20th century. Encompassing the entirety of Isamu Noguchi's work in sculpture, ceramics, photography, architecture, design, as well as the artist's playscapes, gardens and stage sets for modern dance and theatre performance, this survey explores Noguchi's creative process and lesser-known aspects of his practice, his engagement with a wide range of mediums and cultures, and his innovative achievements over six decades. Brimming with imagery and contributions from an international range of authors, this book helps readers grasp the diversity and patterns of Noguchi's work both in situ and in galleries. Archival photographs of the artist's studios offer glimpses into his experimental attitude towards sculpture. Themes of harmony and dissonance, which were central to his practice, are explored in a series of essays that consider the artist's dual heritage, the Japanese American experience, his worldwide travel and his many influences. It also pays tribute to Noguchi's fruitful collaborations with creatives from a range of industries, such as R. Buckminster Fuller, Martha Graham and Louis Kahn. Throughout the monograph Noguchi's own words provide a critical backdrop towards understanding an artist who embraced many schools of thought, and whose entire life and career set an example for partnership and cooperation across artistic, political and cultural boundaries.

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Book SynopsisThe definitive monograph on one of the most revered artists of our time.Trade Review'For the consummate minimalist, here's a maximalist book on 92-year-old artist Ellsworth Kelly's lifetime of groundbreaking work. Curator Tricia Y. Paik guides us through the artist's color-soaked career in 400 illustrations and scholarly essays. It's a must for any Kelly fan: the only book, in fact, to completely span the artist's entire oeuvre.' –Bloomberg Pursuits'This work of beauty and scholarship proves that Kelly is one of the great master artists of the last century.' – Publishers Weekly'The wonderfully eloquent and illustrated book maps the projects from the earliest in the 1940s to his final few projects in 2015. What's really mesmerizing about the book is that it feels very personal and insightful at the same time...Phaidon's Ellsworth Kelly is an absoloute must-have for those who want to understand thorough, modern minimalism at its finest.' – Cent Magazine'A comprehensive celebration of all that distinguishes Kelly's work from his peers.' – Wallpaper

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Book SynopsisThe poems have been rendered into vigorous contemporary English. A selection of Michelangelo''s letters, many of the to important contemporaries such as Vasari and Duke Cosimo, is accompanied by the `Life'' of the great artist written by his pupil Ascanio Condivi. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewEnglish readers are deeply indebted to Mr Bull's skilful translations and Mr Porter deserves credit for his share in the gargantuan task of translating poems that even Wordsworth found "the most difficult to construe". * The Tablet *The entire book is readably and vividly translated. * The Universe *

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Book Synopsisdoes drawing make one 'see things clearer, and clearer, and clearer still', as Hockney suggests? What significance do different media - from a Lascaux cave wall to an iPad - have for the way we see? What is the relationship between the images we make and the reality around us? This title deals with these questions.Trade Review'A remarkable picture of Britain’s greatest living artist' - Daily Telegraph'Elegantly and simply written … full not only of good-quality reproductions of Hockney’s paintings, but characterful photos of the artist at work' - Observer'A rewarding book that turns out to be far more than simply the story of how and why Hockney made his most recent pictures. It offers a series of snappy essays on the complicated act of looking' - Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisThe first major U.S. monograph in ten years on Murakami is the definitive survey of the paintings of one of today’s most influential artists.   Takashi Murakami (b. 1962), one of contemporary art’s most widely recognized exponents, receives a long-awaited critical consideration in this important volume. Accompanying the first retrospective exhibition devoted solely to Murakami’s paintings, this book traces Murakami’s career from his earliest training to his current studio practice.   Where other books address the commercial aspects of Murakami’s work, this is the first serious survey of his work as a painter. Through essays and illustrations— many previously unpublished—it explores the artist’s relationship to the tradition of Japanese painting and his facility in straddling high and low, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, commercial and high art. New texts address Murakami’s output in the context of postwar Japan, situating the artist in relation to folklore, traditional Japanese painting, the Tokyo art scene in the 1980s and 1990s, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. This richly illustrated volume also includes a detailed biography and exhibition history. Takashi Murakami is a true essential for collectors and fans alike.Trade Review"This richly illustrated volume also includes a detailed biography and exhibition history. Available in May 2017, TAKASHI MURAKAMI is a true essential for collectors and fans alike."—ArtFixDaily.com"Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg accounts for the first serious survey of the famed Japanese artist’s work. Through various essays and illustrations, many of which were previously unpublished, the book traces Murakami‘s career from training, to his current studio practice."—HighSnobiety.com "Through essays and illustrations it explores the artist’s relationship to the tradition of Japanese painting and his facility in straddling high and low, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, commercial and high art."—Hamptons Art Hub"A definitive survey of the paintings of Japanese contemporary artist Murakami, The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg explores his relationship to traditional Japanese painting and the many contrasts in his work—high and low, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, commercial and high art."—PureWow.com". . . magnificent catalog . . ."—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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Book SynopsisTrade Review'Modern Britain’s answer to Leonardo da Vinci' - Sunday Times'Category-defying... An exquisitely produced and immersive artwork in itself, containing photographs, texts, foldouts, pullouts, translucent overlays and cutout pages that reflect the intricacy and imaginative extent of Devlin’s processes, from concept to final iteration' - The New York Times'Sculptural … as much art object as art book, the 900-page tome gorgeously layers stories and interviews, pull-outs of sketches, playing with cut-outs over images as it maps each set from concept to realisation' - Vogue'An exquisitely designed gift book that keeps giving. Nine hundred pages open to offer fold-out sculptures, fragile little paintings, paper cuts, mechanical models, mirrors. They distil in miniature the genre-bending kinetic creations of the artist and designer who has set the stage for Beyoncé and Adele; experimental opera and the London Olympics; Trevor Nunn and AI poetry recitals' - Jackie Wullschlager, Best Books of the Year, Financial Times'Hefty, multitextured … an interactive physical experience, requiring the reader to unfold sections, overlay others, skim and delve. Devlin’s aim with her work is “to restructure the human imagination”, and this book is part of that project … Amazement is her modus operandi – “The role of artists is to amaze people into changing their minds” – but she always returns to the primary text for her inspiration. Now she has created a primary text that will serve as inspiration for the rest of us' - Times LUXX'The book reads like one of [Devlin's] stage sets; that is to say, it’s an experience. Featuring cutouts, foldouts, various paper types and sizes, mirrors, and other materials, the 900-plus-page book shows Devlin is more than a set designer for flashy pop stars but also an artist, a sculptor, a poet, and an activist' - Fast Company'[Devlin’s] smallest-scale but most personal project to date … Part-memoir, part-monograph, the volume comprises her life story, favourite creations and conversations with collaborators including Virgil Abloh, Carlos Rovelli and Pharrell Williams, alongside exercises for the reader. There are shapes to cut out, pages to unfold, annotated scripts to read and mirrors to see yourself in' - Reference.Point'From the cardboard sculptures and paintings that developed into stage sets for the 2012 Olympic closing ceremony and the 2022 Super Bowl, to her activism, theater, poetry and more, this 900-page monograph traces ... Es Devlin's three-decade-long career across disciplines' - The New York Times Book Review'Despite its heft, the book's complex form...feels intimate and inviting... A surprising variety of translucent and mirrored papers, page sizes, die cuts, and other unexpected moments invite readers to pause and appreciate the object they hold in their hands. The ideas startle, provoke, and reward. Devlin searches for ways to provide dopamine hits. As with her designs for the stage, she invites readers to become part of a temporary society traveling through a rich, creative landscape of observing and feeling... An Atlas of Es Devlin is an immersive, joyful reading experience, an encyclopedia of creativity, and a tribute to the sculptural possibilities of the printed book. It gives form and substance to the artist’s philosophy of why she creates' - PRINT'Vibrant photographs of Devlin's stage and arena structures contrast with the simplest of doodles, and everything in between. There are booklets within booklets; there are holes to look through and ideas to imagine… 858 pages altogether, in which the entire expanse of Devlin’s world is mapped out (hence the title) in vivid color and sumptuous design... One of our most brilliant and creative modern artists comes to scintillating life before you' - Goldmine'An extravagant catalog, a doorstop designed by Devlin and Lipps with Thames & Hudson nearing 1,000 pages and containing thousands of words by the artist, herself a clear and generous writer … Documenting far more work than the exhibition - including her Damien Hirst-like LED cubes for Jay-Z and Ye - the book serves as both hatchling and egg … Sincerely interesting and aggressively tactile' - The New York Times, 19.1.24

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Book SynopsisOne of two titles in a new series introducing the life and work of the great illustrators, both contemporary and historical.Trade Review'An exquisite resource. Images … combine engagingly with critical overview and stylistic analysis' - Times Higher EducationTable of ContentsIntroduction • The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans • Endmatter

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Book Synopsis“I want to have an effect at this time, in which people are at such a loss and so much in need of help.” Käthe Kollwitz is the woman artist from 20th-century Germany whose works are best-known internationally. She also enjoys the highest esteem beyond the boundaries of Europe. The inimitable, touching language of her graphic and sculptural works is universally understood and her haunting message is more topical than ever. Outraged at the societal and social ills of her time, Kollwitz devoted herself throughout her life to the representation of people, giving a voice through her works to the distress and grief of the poor and underprivileged. Equally inspired in both expression and artistic execution, she took up topics like parting and death, peace and the sufferings of war. Her intimate portrayal of mothers and children and her self-portraits are full of strength and beauty. They, too, form part of Käthe Kollwitz’s oeuvre and show how multi-faceted her creative works were.

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Book Synopsis Distillations: Nancy Goldring Drawings and Foto-Projections 1971–2021 surveys 50 years of visual and conceptual explorations by artist and writer Nancy Goldring. Material is arranged according to predominating themes throughout her career: Thresholds, Sites, Sets, Perspectives, Dreams and Visions, and Chiaroscuro. The book reveals her unique process, how she devised her technique of melding graphic and photographic material through projection, and tracks its evolution from the sandwiching of black-and-white graphic and photographic images through to the creation of her "foto-projections" and large installation work. Included are interviews with the artist and an introduction by Jarrett Earnest with essays by writers and curators Paolo Barbaro, David Levi Strauss, Michael Taussig, and Ellen Handy.

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Book SynopsisSeán Kissane is a curator at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. Karim Rehmani-White is a distinguished publisher and writer.Trade Review'Does a thrillingly exhaustive job of summarising Jarman’s life, career and impact' - World of InteriorsTable of Contents1. Youth • 2. Arcadia • 3. Desertscape • 4. Cinema • 5. Ancient Avebury • 6. Design 7. Super-8 • 8. Angelic Conversations • 9. Caravaggio • 10. Disco • 11. Protest 12. Garden • 13. Timelapse | See over for full list of contributors

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Book SynopsisAllen Jones has created some of the most powerful and provocative images of the past half century. His Pop Art paintings are icons of Swinging London, while his controversial Furniture sculptures helped set the dystopian mood of the 1970s, the era of A Clockwork Orange and Punk, on which he exerted a crucial influence. Yet Jones's art hasn't stood still. From early shaped canvases to current experiments with virtual reality and AI, Jones's career has developed through a succession of formal innovations moves as he calls them which are the subject of this ground breaking publication. Lavishly illustrated with many little-seen images, the book examines Jones's personal iconography, and not least his contested approach to the female form in greater depth than any previous study. Far from uncritically reflecting the male gaze, as some have claimed, Jones's art has been preoccupied with themes of gender convergence and interchangeability from the outset. Allen Jones Moves takes us inside the artist's thinking at the key junctures of his career, highlighting the intellectual curiosity that has powered a life of constant, intense creative activity.

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Book SynopsisRaphael (1483–1520) is considered the most important artist of the Italian High Renaissance alongside Michelangelo and Leonardo. In his short lifetime he created around one hundred paintings and numerous frescoes, including nine fresco cycles, on an unsurpassed variety of themes – from sensual female beauties, antique myths and portraits of wealthy Romans and church dignitaries to history cycles and biblical scenes. He produced altarpieces, as well as designing tapestries for the Sistine Chapel and directing the construction of St Peter’s Basilica. His Sistine Madonna is one of the most frequently reproduced religious paintings of all time. Raphael was a tireless learner, for whom there could be no standing still, no repetition of tried and tested solutions, but only the constant forward thrust of an inexhaustible imagination. He transformed his central theme, the visionary experience of divine grace, into visible pictorial reality. It was his mature work in Rome, and above all the frescoes in the Vatican Palace, that secured him his place in art history. Admired even during his own lifetime as the most modern artist of his day, Raphael’s mastery would pave the way for Mannerism and the Baroque era. This XXL edition is the most comprehensive work published on Raphael. The volume encompasses in total 112 paintings and all the frescoes, architectural projects and tapestries in many new photographs and numerous details, as well as the most extensive catalogue raisonné of the artist’s oeuvre. A team of Raphael experts introduces the reader also to the fascinating interplay of art and power in the High Renaissance.Trade Review“The search for powerful expressiveness is virtually unmatched in Raphael’s work.” * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisCharles Nicholl's previous publications include The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe (winner of the James Tait Black Prize for Biography), Somebody Else: Arthur Rimbaud in Africa (Winner of the Hawthornden Prize), The Fruit Palace and The Creature in the Map.

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES''His last great work of art'' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian''Cruel, sexy, and sometimes heartbreaking ... Warhol is no neutral observer, but a character in his own right'' Newsweek Andy Warhol kept these diaries faithfully from November 1976 right up to his final week, in February 1987. Written at the height of his fame and success, Warhol records the fun of an Academy Awards party, nights out at Studio 54, trips between London, Paris and New York, and surprisingly even the money he spent each day, down to the cent. With appearances from and references to everyone who was anyone, from Jim Morrison, Martina Navratilova and Calvin Klein to Shirley Bassey, Estee Lauder and Muhammad Ali, these diaries are the most glamorous, witty and revealing writings of the twentieth century.Edited with an Introduction by Pat HackettTrade ReviewCruel, sexy, and sometimes heartbreaking ... Warhol is no neutral observer, but a character in his own right * Newsweek *A guilty pleasure, famed for their celebrity anecdotes, their triviality, their lack of engagement...The 90s bestseller that no one admitted having read...In his diaries, as in much else, Warhol was way ahead of the game. -- Nicola Barr * The Observer *Diaries are his last great work of art, and no less valuable for having been created with even less visible conscious intent than anything else he produced....There's something about them that makes you strongly suspect that editor Pat Hackett has done a very thorough and sympathetic job...There is much to surprise, though...Warhol was a more amusing person, and a more human one, than the mask and blond fright-wig might have let on. The deadpan are by no means immune to human feeling, after all. -- Nicholas Lezard * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA major new survey that offers fresh insights on Pablo Picasso's artworks, written by a leading authority on the master. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. This important new monograph, released to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the artist's death, presents Picasso's unparalleled achievements in all media: painting, sculpture, drawing and prints. Art historian and curator Pepe Karmel offers fresh analysis of this great master for a 21st-century audience, considering Picasso's work through the lens of art rather than biography. He demonstrates how Picasso's style, evolving over the course of seven decades, introduced visual languages and narratives that transformed modern art. Arranged chronologically by themes and movements, Looking at Picasso is profusely illustrated with renowned paintings, such as the provocative Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and his monumental Guernica, protesting the horror of war; these are accompanied bTable of ContentsPreface 1. Life 2. Symbolism 3. Cubism 4. Surrealism 5. War and Peace Notes

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Book SynopsisThe first biography to look at the entirety of Barbara Hepworth's multi-faceted artistic practice.Trade Review'Clayton’s book may be unusual in that she avoids the British biographical tradition of combining amateur psychoanalysis with elevated gossip. But it is perfect on its own terms, dissecting Hepworth’s thoughtful writing, the technicalities of her changing sculptural practice, the demands of motherhood and her ambition and seriousness. What emerges most powerfully from Clayton’s study is the importance of female friendships and loyalties in Hepworth’s life' - Literary Review'Clayton, drawing on a cache of unpublished letters that Hepworth wrote to a small group of her closest female friends, puts the other side of the story. The woman whom you will meet, rather than being the steely Stakhanovite of cliché, is also a mother in post-natal crisis, struggling to care alone for a trio of toddlers, agonising over which was the right course to take. The reader taps into her desperation as, confined to a dingy London flat with her newborns, she cries “for days on end”' - Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times'This biography’s value and novelty are level-headedness and fine-grained research. Clayton explains rather than exculpates, narrates rather than judges. She sets Hepworth talking through the pages, quoting generously from letters … The book’s illustrations (nearly 200 of them, mostly colour) bring together a lifetime’s vision …The pages glow and thrum with stringed bronze, humped wood and bored stone, with cool white plaster scooped and painted' - Guardian'Through both the book and exhibition we gain a sense of Hepworth as a strong, clear-headed figure moving back and forth within a set of influences: her beloved children, her lifelong faith as a Christian Scientist, romantic love, music, her interest in the spiritual realm and her fascination with materials and the natural world' - Hettie Judah, The i'Well-researched and richly illustrated… Having access to previously unavailable private correspondence, Clayton provides a fascinating account of Hepworth’s yearning to bridge the gap between her art and life by finding harmony, rhythm and balance within materials ... This book will vividly illuminate hitherto unknown aspects of her life and prolific art practice, and will be an inspiration to many' - FX Magazine'Wonderful illustrated biography' - Daily Mail'Thoughtful and enjoyable… The biography’s many excellent illustrations, aligned with relevant passages of text, have helped Clayton put together a comprehensive account of Barbara Hepworth’s talent and determination' - The Spectator'This biography – and the exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield – extends throughout her career, shedding new light on her interests and relationships, and how the artist held conflicting ideas and forces, and made sense of them through her work' - Arts Society'This new book by The Hepworth Wakefield’s curator Eleanor Clayton reveals a multifaceted life informed by dance, music, poetry and theatre, as well as science and technology. Complete with in-depth sketchbook annotations, drawings, paintings and in-progress documentary footage, it fully brings the artist’s world to life' - Elephant'Eleanor Clayton is the author of this exemplary biography of the artist. With clarity, modesty, and skilled appreciation, she tells the story of Hepworth’s life and work in a way that can be equally enjoyed by specialist and general reader alike' - Lord Harries, Church Times'Anybody who likes her sculpture in bronze, wood and stone, and the life she found in them, will want to see this fully illustrated account of her work and to read her correspondence' - Mature Times'A fascinating and significant contribution to the existing body of Hepworth scholarship' - Art QuarterlyTable of ContentsForeword Introduction 1. The Shadow Dance 2. An Expanding World 3. Material Harmony 4. A New Order 5. Mother & Child 6. Artists for Peace 7. War Work 8. Landscape Sculpture 9. Concentration, Movement & Gesture 10. Fierce Counterpoint 11. Rhythmic Form 12. The Aegean Suite 13. Forms Ascending 14. Single Form 15. Affirmation of Life 16. Sun & Moon

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Book SynopsisThe most comprehensive showcase ever published of Azuma Makoto's astonishing flower art and botanical sculpture.Trade Review'[Pushes] the boundaries of art and photography to the outer limits with bold, adventurous installations portraying flowers and trees in environments where normally they could never exist' - Royal Photographic Society JournalTable of ContentsIntroduction • The Works

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Book SynopsisBrassaï's most famous portraits and cityscapes, collected in this reissued book in the acclaimed Photofiles series, form a unique vision of life in pre- and post-war Europe.Trade Review'Indispensable as a work of reference, the book will also delight the general reader' - The Art Newspaper

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Book SynopsisPart of the seven titles in Thames & Hudsons' Photofile series that features the best works of some of the world's greatest photographers, together with critical introductions and a bibliographies.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Ian Jeffrey; * c.60 dutone photographs; * Brief biography of Brandt; * Bibliography, exhibitions and films.

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Book SynopsisThe first full-scale biography of one of the 20th-century's great makers, theorists and painters.Trade Review'Lively, lucid, compelling and revealing, offering fascinating insights into Albers – as artist and teacher – while convincingly reframing his place at the heart of modernism on both sides of the Atlantic' - Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern'Darwent is a highly engaging writer on the visual arts. … Albers lived through a remarkable period, mixing with some extraordinary people' - The Spectator'A revealing read, leading to a deeper understanding of Albers's life and his impact on the landscape of art' - Arts Society Magazine'Carefully researched and engagingly written … fascinating … beautifully designed' - The Art Newspaper'Darwent is a thorough chronicler of this long and complex life, and it is in the moments of critical insight that his text soars' - Crafts magazine'Charles Darwent examines not just Albers’s artwork … but how he became probably the most important art teacher of the century' - Sunday Times, Art Books of the Year'Charles Darwent’s biography gives the German-born American artist and teacher his due [and] makes a strong case for an artist who was not as recognized as fellow Bauhaus teachers … A gruff yet caring teacher, a ladies’ man and a daily Mass-going Catholic, both jealous of and generous with his peers, Albers steps convincingly from these pages' - The Washington Post'A sedulously researched and urgent guide to its subject’s art, his vexed professional life and his somewhat ummoving personality' - Literary Review'Casts new light on the man whose art wasn’t valued highly until he was in his seventies … provides a sense of Albers’ tremendous imaginative stamina: his ideas remained cutting-edge for six decades' - Financial Times'Drawing on previously untapped archival sources, in addition to five years spent at the Albers Foundation, Darwent has assembled a wealth of historical material … a lean and cohesive narrative that is a pleasure to read' - The Burlington Magazine'Brings Albers to life' - Country LifeTable of Contents1. Homages to the Square • 2. Am Anfang • 3. Berlin and Munich • 4. Weimar • 5. Dessau and Berlin • 6. Black Mountain College • 7. Yale • 8. Beginnings and Ends

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Book SynopsisSean Scully is one of today's best-loved abstract painters. His familiar signature style of lines or bands of colour, alluding to architectural elements such as portals, windows and walls, is one of the most instantly recognizable in contemporary painting. This book brings together for the first time his photographs of the dry stone walls found on the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland.Trade Review'The book is self-contained and pleasing as a piece of work in itself. It sticks to the point' - Irish Times'Successfully conveys the special magic of those far western parts and of the encounter between man and stone and the elements' - Books ireland

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"The infinite mind of Pharrell Williams has at long last been commemorated in book form."---Navi Ahluwalia, Hypebae"[Pharrell-isms] aims to capture the creative process that underpins each of [Pharrell’s] endeavors through quotes said by the larger-than-life personality. . . . Sleek."---Shawn Ghassemitari, Hypebeast"[Pharrell-isms] gives audiences a glimpse into [Williams’s] life mantras and some of the most iconic sayings he has been heard uttering in interviews and speeches from the last decade."---Joyce Li, Hypebeast"If you are a fan of Pharrell Williams or looking for some inspiration and motivation, Williams’ Pharrell-isms may be worth checking out."---Diane Pernet, A Shaded View on Fashion"Present[s] a full picture of how a musical genius and fashion trendsetter sees and interacts with the world."---Christopher Pierznik, The Passion of Christopher Pierznik

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Book SynopsisAn expert account of the post-Impressionist artist, Paul Gaughin, who defied convention to pursue his art in the South Seas; stunning illustrated throughout.

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Book SynopsisThe greatest masterpiece of bird art in the palm of your hand. ?John James Audubon's Birds of America (originally published 18271838) is one of the landmarks of American art, and of natural history illustration. This miniature book presents exquisite reproductions of all 435 hand-coloured engravings from the original Birds of America. The renowned ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson and his wife, the scientist Virginia Marie Peterson, have arranged the birds in modern taxonomic order and contributed an introduction about Audubon's life and career. The Tiny Folio edition of The Birds of America will be the perfect little gift for any bird lover.

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Book SynopsisA revelatory look at the singular artist best known for her deeply personal and poetic, visceral, and often allegorical works.

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Book SynopsisOrganized with the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation, this exhibition catalogue presents the work of the beloved West Coast painter on the theme of the American summer.This book tracks the career of the artist over six decades, revealing his retained interest in lighthearted subjects while casting them in traditional modes of painting. It celebrates the artist?s regard for the delights of the quintessentially American summer experience, from its sweet ice creams and chilled soda pops to beach games and barbecues, melting a gray winter into a fading memory. The catalogue features paintings from the 1960s through the 2000s of beach scenes, hot dogs, ice creams, beach balls, and bathing suits.Most of the works come directly from the foundation and are rarely seen in public. More than 60 paintings show the artist?s versatility, dazzling technique, and rich use of color, as well as a sense of playfulness?a longing for a sweeter and more nostalgic time.

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Book SynopsisFueled by an abiding concern with environmental crisis for more than three decades, contemporary artist Alexis Rockman (b. 1962) depicts an ominous and complex vision of ocean life affected by humankind in a monumental new series titled Oceanus.

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Book SynopsisClaude Monet's water lily paintings are among the most iconic and beloved works of art of the past century. Yet these entrancing images were created at a time of terrible private turmoil and sadness for the artist. The dramatic history behind these paintings is little known; Ross King's Mad Enchantment tells the full story for the first time and, in the process, presents a compelling and original portrait of one of our most popular and cherished artists.By the outbreak of war in 1914, Monet, then in his mid-seventies, was one of the world's most famous and successful painters, with a large house in the country, a fleet of automobiles and a colossal reputation. However, he had virtually given up painting following the death of his wife Alice in 1911 and the onset of blindness a year later. Nonetheless, it was during this period of sorrow, ill health and creative uncertainty that as the guns roared on the Western Front he began the most demanding and innovative paTrade ReviewAn altogether enchanting tale. -- Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, on Brunelleschi's Dome[King] consummately meshes biography with art history as he turns the creation of one resounding masterpiece into a portal on the artist’s life … Writing with a historical novelist’s attunement to the interplay of peace, temperament, and society, King brings readers to Giverny … King sumptuously describes the pleasures of Giverny … Never before has the full drama and significance of Monet’s magnificent Water Lilies been conveyed with such knowledge and perception, empathy and wonder’ * Booklist *Writing with a historical novelist’s attunement to the interplay of place, temperament, and society, King brings readers to Giverny [and] sumptuously describes [its] pleasures … Never before has the full drama and significance of Monet’s magnificent Water Lilies been conveyed with such knowledge and perception, empathy and wonder * Booklist *[King] turns his mind, heart, and eyes to Claude Monet … King is ever the brilliant docent murmuring the right, telling details and critical backstories in our ear as we move through space and time. He ultimately brings the man and his work into perfect focus while increasing his audience’s interest in both all the more … This work is essential. * Library Journal *Vivid … King elegantly reveals the soul of a great artist, the last Impressionist standing at the end of one of history’s most remarkable art movements * Kirkus *King is a skilled guide to Monet’s bastardy. This book, like his earlier ones, is as much about the artist’s times as his work * The Times *The closing decades of an artist’s life do not generally make the biographer’s heart beat faster, but Claude Monet is one of a handful of painters who bucks the pattern of an irrelevant old age. … A fine, fluent book … A careful unpicking of cherished art-historical narratives -- Katheryn Hughes * Guardian *Ross King has a track record when it comes to turning such art stories into gripping narratives … His method is expansive, including personal, political, social and cultural context in a way that would horrify some art purists. Never mind, it works. This latest, perfectly engrossing book is, at one level, simply the story of how the late lilies – hundreds of yards of them on a series of gigantic canvases – came to be painted. At another level, however, it is the story of art and its meanings amid the carnage of the twentieth century * Sunday Times *A homage to how the genius of Monet’s extraordinary eye came finally to be realised … King has a skill for turning over unlikely narrative stones -- Lucy Lethbridge * Literary Review *Ross King’s Monet might not be an easy man to like, but King is also very good with the wider picture, and the fascination of this lively and entertaining book lies as much in its portrait of first-world-war France as it does in its depiction of Giverny … But it is in the period detail and character portraits that Mad Enchantment really comes to life -- Honor Clerk * Spectator *Lyrical and dynamic * Catholic Herald *Ross King lyrically explores the personal paradise that Monet constructed at Giverny … King’s title sounds overexcited, but he justifies it -- Books of the Year * Observer *‘Engrossing history … This scholarly story of Monet’s greatest project is told with tremendous humour and is filled with fascinating insights’ * History Today *[A] fine account of the making of Monet’s final masterpiece -- Paperback Must Reads * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisMark Hadjipateras's remarkable range of works, including monotypes, prints, drawings, paintings, sculpture, photosculpture, and numerous installations throughout the yearsMark Hadjipateras, Homeward presents the richly varied, fifty-year-long career of an international artist who has a deep understanding of our common roots in nature and the universal human need for belonging. His work explores nature as our shared home in a transhistorical exploration of prehistoric, modern, and futuristic habitats and their inhabitants. Mark Hadjipateras revisits major 20th -century movements such as surrealism, modernism, minimalism, and pop art, honoring them through his own distinct style to produce new, thought-provoking interpretations. Rendered in a remarkable range of media such as paintings, sculptures, assemblages, and site-specific installations, his forms harmoniously blend opposite qualities: movement with static form, weightlessness with volume, abstraction with figuration.

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Book SynopsisA significant catalogue of Huma Bhaba's layered and nuanced sculptures and drawings that center on a reinvention of the figure and its expressive possibilities. Through her fusion of materials and influences, Bhaba's work bridges the ancient and the futuristic, evoking both familiarity and otherworldliness. Her formally innovative practice pulls from a wide range of references, from those that span the history of art to quotidian influences such as science fiction and horror films and the makeshift structures and detritus of urban life. Instinctive and rigorous, her work brings diverse aesthetic, cultural, and psychological touchstones into contact with matters of surface, materiality, and formal construction. Published on the occasion of her 2024 exhibition at David Zwirner in New York, this title includes a text by critic and writer Tausif Noor that explores themes of alienation and the sci-fi elements in her work. Peter Ailey situates her within an art historical context, emphasizing how Huma considers herself a formal artist who constructs her work to invite projected meanings.

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Book SynopsisAn authoritative and comprehensive survey of the life and work of the visionary and influential painter Philip Guston.Driven and consumed by art, Philip Guston painted and drew compulsively. This book takes the reader from his early social realist murals and easel paintings of the 1930s and 1940s, to the Abstract Expressionist works of the 1950s and early 1960s, and finally to the powerful new language of figurative painting, which he developed in the late 1960s and 1970s. Drawing on more than thirty years of his own research, the critic and curator, Robert Storr, maps Guston's entire career in one definitive volume, providing a substantial, accessible and revealing analysis of his work.With more than 850 images, the book illustrates Guston's key works and includes many unpublished paintings and drawings. An extensive chronology, illustrated with photographs, letters, articles, publications and other ephemera drawn from the artist's archives and other sources, contextualizes Guston's life and provides in-depth coverage of his life at home, his work in the studio, his relationship with fellow artists and his many exhibitions.Guston was able to speak about art with unrivalled passion and fluency. In celebration of this, the book features Guston's own thoughts on his drawings and his great heroes of the Italian Renaissance.

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Book SynopsisPierre-Auguste Renoir was one of the foremost Impressionist artists, known for his en plein air scenes of middle-class leisure. But Renoir''s primary interest lay indoors, in depictions of sensuous female nudes and intimate domestic scenes, painted in a warm, bright palette. This book explores the life and work of this leading light of Impressionism, showcasing his best-loved artwork alongside fascinating biographical detail. It also examines the development of his artistic practices, which began to diverge from many other Impressionist painters as he incorporated some elements of a classical style into his work. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Great Artists series by Arcturus Publishing introduces some of the most significant artists in history, looking at their lives, techniques and inspirations, as well as presenting a selection of their best work.

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Book SynopsisShowcasing his entire Star Trek career to date, this visually stunning retrospective celebrates the inventiveness of Neville Page's designs. During a career spanning over twenty years, visionary creature designer Neville Page has applied his considerable expertise to the creation and development of the aliens of the Star Trek Universe. From the movies Star Trek (2009) through to Star Trek Beyond (2016), as well as the shows Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, Page's incredibly detailed and intricate work has yielded some of the franchise's most memorable characters. Featuring captivating concept art and detailed sketches, Star Trek: The Art of Neville Page provides exclusive insight into Page's creative process. This is essential reading for Star Trek fans as it includes a vast collection of illustrations from his remarkable work, plus an exclusive foreword and insightful afterword by award-winning filmmakers, Alex Kurtzman and Michael Westmore. Covers all aliens developed by Page for the recent entries in the Star Trek franchise, including the Klingon redesign and the Kelpiens.

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Book Synopsis"After a good dinner one evening, with excellent company and a bottle of wine, I settled by my fire with a volume of paintings by the 15th century Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio. For much of my life I have been under the spell of this artist. I am no connoisseur, cultural scholar or art historian. I know nothing about painterly techniques, chromatic gradations or artistic affinities, and my infatuation with him is largely affectionate fancy. I feel I know him personally, and I often sense that I am directly in touch with him across the centuries, across the continents, as one might be in touch with a living friend..." So starts Jan Morris’s latest book, which she has said will also be her last: a genial, witty, and touching journey through the endlessly evocative art of Carpaccio. Saluting the painter whose pictures remain some of the most enchanting ever made of Venice, Jan Morris makes her own last journey to a city she has written about like no other. Richly illustrated with complete paintings and eye-catching details, this book is a fitting swansong by a great writer to her favourite painter.

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Book Synopsis The first volume exclusively devoted to J.M.W. Turner's erotic works, bringing together an outstanding selection of sensual and passionate drawings by the great master, all drawn from Tate's collection. Up until a few years ago, biographies of both J.M.W. Turner and John Ruskin had claimed that, in 1858, Ruskin burned bundles of erotic paintings and drawings by Turner in a fit of embarrassed Victorian censorship, to protect Turner's posthumous reputation. Ruskin's friend Ralph Nicholson Wornum, who was Keeper of the National Gallery, was said to have colluded in the alleged destruction. However, in 2005 these works, which form part of the Turner Bequest held at Tate Britain, were re-appraised by Turner scholar Ian Warrell, who suggested that Ruskin and Wornum did not destroy the sketches and that almost all of the allegedly destroyed drawings are in the Tate collection. This lavishly illustrated book, the first exclusively devoted to Turner's erotic work, examines in detail this little known aspect of the artist's oeuvre. In his original essay, fully reproduced here, Warrell places the work within the context of Turner's social and artistic milieu, contemporary preoccupations with art for public and 'private' consumption, and the details and intricacies of Turner's life and output. An essential addition to the canon of work on Britain's most prolific and adored artist, this beautifully produced volume will be of interest to scholars, connoisseurs, and all Turner devotees.

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Book SynopsisRachel Whiteread has single-handedly expanded the parameters of contemporary sculpture with her casts of the outer and inner spaces of familiar objects, sometimes in quiet monochrome, sometimes in vivid jewel-like colour. She won the Turner Prize in 1993, the same year as her first large-scale public project, House, a concrete cast of a nineteenth-century terraced house in London's east end. This book, by writer and editor Charlotte Mullins - the first significant survey to examine Whiteread's career to date - has been substantial updated with a new chapter containing 10 major works, including Tate's Turbine Hall installation Embankment and Cabin, Whiteread's first permanent public sculpture in America. Born in London in 1963, Rachel Whiteread is one of Britain's most exciting contemporary artists. Her work is characterised by its use of industrial materials such as plaster, concrete, resin, rubber and metal. With these she casts the surfaces and volume in and around everyday objects and architectural space, creating evocative sculptures that range from the intimate to the monumental.

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Book SynopsisThe Eric Oldham Legacy Collection showcases the remarkable works and contributions of Eric Oldham.

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Book SynopsisAlastair Gordon (b.1978, Edinburgh), is an artist based in London. This, the first major monograph of the artist’s career, includes over 160 paintings, drawings and documentational photographs, along with notes by Gordon himself. The book introduces this accomplished and engaging new voice in British painting.Gordon’s paintings bring the historic languages of genre painting and the quodlibet into a contemporary discourse that pushes the boundaries of realism, figuration and illusionism to focus on everyday moments. His work often elevates seemingly ordinary objects – feathers, matchsticks, postcards – allowing them to speak to wider concerns of beauty, truth, life and death.The documented works, produced between 2012 and 2023, include paintings made in oil or acrylic on MDF, wood, ‘found’ wood, gesso panel, paper, canvas and occasionally linen. Each is distinctive for its style and for the recurring motifs Gordon selects such as masking tape, paper ephemera and repeated, subtly different studies of the same subject. Gordon’s texts describe how objects found mud larking on the banks of the River Thames, shoes from the London City Mission and rags and papers discarded from art students’ studios have been depicted in paintings, incorporating the histories and stories of each item (and each person) into his work. The book also features recent works influenced by rural landscapes and parkland.An introduction by Julia Lucero, Associate Director of Nahmad Projects, London, emphasises the importance of nature and of meditation within Gordon’s practice. Specifically, Lucero brings out the idea of the ‘axis mundi, that metaphysical and mystical connecting point where heaven meets Earth’. She explores the significance of quodlibet, a seventeenth-century trompe-l’oeil painting technique that Gordon favours, rendering brushstrokes invisible and affording everyday objects new significance, even ‘profound value’. Humble objects such as a matchstick or paper aeroplane might be elevated to the realms of the divine.An essay by Jorella Andrews, Professor of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, describes the influence of Gordon’s time on a research residency in the former studio of Paul Cézanne at Les Lauves on the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence. His experiences there proved pivotal to the direction of his practice, in which both the ‘visual misdirection’ of quodlibet and the qualities of wood have become central. Andrews brings art historical texts and works of art into relation with Gordon’s paintings, making comparisons between subject, form and approach. Andrews’ text further details the recent synthesis of two sides of Gordon’s work: precise illusionism combined with looser observations made in the natural landscape.Edited by Alastair Gordon Studio, designed by Herman Lelie, printed by EBS Verona and published in 2023 by Anomie Publishing, London, the publication has been generously supported by Howard and Roberta Ahmanson through Fieldstead and Company.Alastair Gordon (b. 1978, Edinburgh) is an artist working with painting, drawing and installation, based in London. Gordon received his BA from Glasgow School of Art and his MA from Wimbledon School of Art, London. His work has been shown in recent solo exhibitions at Ahmanson Gallery in Irvine, California (2017), Aleph Contemporary, London (Quodlibet (2021) and Without Borders (2020)) and in the group exhibition Unpacking Gainsborough (2021) at Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London.

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Book SynopsisBritish artist Ian McKeever has been working on the international stage for more than five decades. This, his latest publication, documents Against Architecture an exhibition that had its first incarnation, curated by Robin Klassnik, at Matt's Gallery, London (5 February to 19 March 2017) before being reconceived and presented as Against Architecture, Remodelled at TheGallery, Arts University Bournemouth (3 November 2023 to 18 January 2024), curated by Violet M McClean as part of TheGallery's twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations. McKeever was made an AUB Honorary Fellow in 2002 and launched TheGallery's text + work programme in 2004.The exhibition was McKeever's first foray into installation art, seeking to explore the relationships between his photo/painted panels and the physical spaces in which they are presented. For this, along with a team of helpers and student volunteers, he built a structure with 3 x 2-inch stud walling timbers and sheets of plasterboard comprising myriad wal

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Book SynopsisAccompanies the major retrospective of Everlyn Nicodemus''s work at National Galleries Scotland: Modern One, Edinburgh, 19 October 2024 to 25 May 2025. Her extraordinary life and art is explored in a new artist interview and expert contributions."Prepare to be inspired at National Galleries Scotland: Modern One, as Everlyn Nicodemus opens her first retrospective this Saturday" — The NEN "Experience Everlyn’s joyful, defiant and searingly honest artworks, with over 80 drawings, collages, paintings and textiles from over 40 years of her career, from 1980 through to the present day." — Art Daily This is the first major publication on the artist Everlyn Nicodemus and accompanies the first ever retrospective of her 40-year career. It offers a fascinating introduction to her life, career and art. This book introduces readers to Nicodemus’s practice - from the very first work she painted to newly commissioned oil paintings. Many of Nicodemus’s drawings, collages, paintings and textiles are published here for the first time. Nicodemus engages with complex subject matters, unflinchingly addressing human suffering and societal responsibility. While her works convey and process traumatic experiences, they are ultimately hopeful, focusing on healing and the power of creativity. This publication will reveal the scope and ambition of this astonishing artist’s practice. Expert contributors offer new insights into Nicodemus’s practice, including a new interview with the artist. Exhibition curator Stephanie Straine explains and contextualizes the rich pages of artworks, drawing on extensive primary research with the artist and her archives.

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Book SynopsisAccompanying an exhibition at BASTIAN, London, this striking publication presents works by the German-born American artist Hans Hofmann (1880–1966), produced at the end of the Second World War and immediately afterwards. Hofmann’s angular abstractions (such as Fury No. 1) personify the insecurities of the period, but this was also the moment that he moved towards the soft ambiguous forms and gesture that would become the hallmark of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Renowned as both an artist and teacher, Hofmann established his first art school in Munich in 1915. Built on the contemporary ideas regarding colour and form of Cézanne, the Cubists and Kandinsky, his work laid the foundations for his reputation as a forward-thinking artist. After relocating to the United States in 1932, he then opened schools in both New York and Provincetown, immersing himself within America’s growing avantgarde art scene. His teaching had a significant influence on post-War American artists, including Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner and Joan Mitchell – artists who would later lead the Abstract Expressionism movement. The works presented here span from 1942 to 1946. Whilst demonstrating Hofmann’s development towards abstraction, the paintings still reveal an identifiably representational quality which nod to his figurative beginnings; linear paintings such as The Virgin (1946) particularly emphasise this artistic trajectory. Primarily known for his expressive use of bold, often primary colours, the palette used in these paintings consists predominantly of vivid, bright colours and contrasting dark tones, epitomizing the conflicted post-War feeling. Hofmann’s work during the 1940s also saw him garner the support of several key figures in the artistic scene, including the renowned gallerists and dealers Peggy Guggenheim, Betty Parsons, and Samuel M. Kootz. A particularly important moment in his career – aged 64 at the time – was his first solo exhibition in New York in 1944 at Peggy Guggenheim’s gallery Art of This Century, considered ‘a breakthrough in painterly versus geometric abstraction that heralded abstract expressionism’ by the influential art critic Clement Greenberg.Trade Review[this] exhibition catalogue reveals an unknown aspect of the art of Hans Hofmann... Long recognized as an avatar of the American Abstract Expressionist movement, the pictures in this show detail his powerful influence on a broad range of 20th-century artists… * The Arts Fuse 06/05/2021 *

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