Portraits and self-portraiture in the arts Books
University of Delaware Press The Celebrity Monarch: Empress Elisabeth and the
Book SynopsisEmpress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), wife of Habsburg Emperor Francis Joseph I, was celebrated as the most beautiful woman in Europe. Glamorous painted portraits by Franz Xaver Winterhalter and widely collected photographs spread news of her beauty, and the twentieth-century German-language film trilogy Sissi (1955-57) cemented this legacy. Despite the enduring fascination with the empress, art historians have never considered Elisabeth’s role in producing her public portraiture or the influence of her creation. The Celebrity Monarch reveals how portraits of Elisabeth transformed monarchs from divinely appointed sovereigns to public personalities whose daily lives were consumed by spectators. With resources ranging from the paintings of Gustav Klimt and Elisabeth’s private collection of celebrity photography to twenty-first century collages and films by T. J. Wilcox, this book positions Elisabeth herself as the primary engineer of her public image and argues for the widespread influence of her construction on both modern art and the emerging phenomenon of celebrity. Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter One: Staging the State Portrait Chapter Two: Styling Authenticity: The Boundless Hair of the Celebrity Monarch Chapter Three: The Imaginary Empress: Photomontage and the Simulation of Intimacy Chapter Four: Elisabeth and the Modernist Imagination of Anton Romako Chapter Five: Sissi in New York: T. J. Wilcox and Elisabeth’s Descendants in the United States Endnotes Bibliography Index
£97.20
Time Inc. Books 100 Best Celebrity Photos
Book SynopsisSince its first issue debuted with a Great Gatsby portrait of Mia Farrow, People magazine has delivered not only outstanding celebrity journalism, but also the best in personality photography. Now, the Editors of People present The 100 Best Celebrity Photos. From a Marilyn Monroe pin-up to an internet-breaking Kim Kardashian Instagram, from Harry Benson's exuberant snaps of The Beatles' first visit to America to Bradley Cooper's star-packed Oscar selfie, these are the images that influenced how we understand fame and glamor. Included with each picture is the story behind it: A-list photographers tell how they created the images that turned stars into icons, or made legends seem as relatable as family. Here also are People exclusives from the magazine's history of unparalleled access into celebrity homes and off-duty lives that show us the real side of the stars who most captivate and intrigue us.
£22.50
Time Inc. Books Firsts: Women Who Are Changing the World
Book SynopsisWomen Who Are Changing the World
£18.00
Fantagraphics Drew Friedman's Chosen People
Book SynopsisAmerica's greatest living portrait artist presents his favourite subjects.
£16.99
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS Brothers and Mothers
Book Synopsis
£24.00
Turner Publishing Company Historic Photos of Pensacola
Book SynopsisPensacola is a city of firsts, from the first documented European settlement in North America to the first Naval Aviation training station. From its earliest incarnation as a town of unpaved streets, through the devastating fire of 1880 to the modern city it would become, this Florida city thrives on challenges.Historic Photos of Pensacola captures the history of Pensacola from the Civil War through the 1960s in nearly 200 black-and-white archival photographs. Author Jacquelyn Tracy Wilson, a fifth-generation Pensacola native, captures the spirit of Pensacola—from the commonplace to the quintessential—in a century-long journey through this beautiful town.
£24.29
Marta Sytniewski How to Draw Portraits and Caricatures of Babies:
Book Synopsis
£8.98
National Maritime Museum The Art of Naval Portraiture
Book SynopsisCharting the changing relationship between art and war this book includes likenesses of famous - and infamous - commanders, such as Francis Drake, James Cook and Horatio Nelson, but also considers the representation of men and women whose stories are often overlooked or marginalised.
£25.50
Thames & Hudson Australia About Face
Book SynopsisAmber Creswell Bell is a Sydney-based arts, design and lifestyle writer and curator. She is currently the Director for Emerging Art for Michael Reid galleries. About Face is Amber's sixth book with Thames & Hudson.
£28.00
Thames & Hudson About Face
£35.45
ECW Press,Canada Celine: Beyond the Image
Book Synopsis
£37.52
Nimbus Publishing Ltd Niniskamijinaqik - Ancestral Images
Book SynopsisNiniskamijinaqik - Ancestral Images provides a glimpse into the lives of the Mi'kmaq of Atlantic Canada. The opening images in this collection were created by the Mi'kmaq themselves: portrayals of human beings carved into the rock formations of Nova Scotia. Then there are the earliest surviving European depictions of Mi'kmaq, decorations on the maps of Samuel de Champlain. These people, too, are faceless, as anonymous to the artist as were the people of whom he had so little knowledge. This book includes 94 of the finest pieces of art or photography, chosen from more than a thousand extant portraits in different media, that show the Mi'kmaq people. The images in this collection date from the earliest petroglyphs to contemporary photographs, and are accompanied by explanatory notes about the individuals represented.
£26.96
Goose Lane Editions Donald Andrus: The Shape of Desire
Book SynopsisThe art of Donald Andrus defies categorization. Although principally known for his abstract paintings, Andrus has, throughout his career, combined his first love — drawing — with a deep engagement with colour, a desire for experimentation, a keen interest in the physical qualities of his materials, and the sensory experience of the viewer. Donald Andrus: The Shape of Desire brings together four major essays, including one by the artist, and more than eighty full-colour reproductions to assess a body of work that extends from abstract paintings to portraits. Roslyn Rosenfeld writes about Andrus’s early abstract work, Ihor Holubizky considers Andrus’s portraits, and Pan Wendt revisits Andrus’s contemporary abstract paintings. Taken together, the essays and images take full measure of the entirety of Andrus’s career and influences — from the landscapes of Greece and the poetry of George Seferis to the cinematic works of Andrei Tarkovsky and the pioneering work of contemporary German artists Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer. Donald Andrus has been painting for over thirty-five years. His work has been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout Canada and may be found in both private and public collections. He has previously worked as a curator at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, as a lecturer at the University of New Brunswick, and as a professor of art history at Concordia University. Andrus now lives and works in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
£29.74
Goose Lane Editions The Kingston Prize Le Prix Kingston
Book Synopsis
£31.19
Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd Frans Hals: The Male Portrait
Book SynopsisThis is the first book to concentrate on Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals’s highly innovative approach to male portraiture. Frans Hals is one of the greatest portrait painters of all time and, together with Rembrandt, is one of the most eminent seventeenth-century Dutch artists. Published to coincide with the Wallace Collection’s exhibition of the same name, Frans Hals: The Male Portrait explores the artist’s highly innovative approach to male portraiture, from the beginning of his career in the 1610s until the end of his life in 1666. Through pose, expression and virtuosic painterly technique, Hals revolutionised the male portrait into something entirely new and fresh, capturing and revealing his sitters’ characters like no one else before him. This book includes the first in-depth study of Hals’s great masterpiece, The Laughing Cavalier, from 1624. The extravagantly dressed young man, confidently posed with his left arm akimbo in the extreme foreground of the picture and seemingly penetrating into the viewer’s space, has been charming audiences for over a century. Richly illustrated, Frans Hals: The Male Portrait situates The Laughing Cavalier within the artist’s larger oeuvre and demonstrates how, at a relatively early point in his career, Hals was able to achieve this great masterpiece.Trade Reviewbeautifully presented and lavishly illustrated catalogue [...] as accessible and exciting for the general reader as for specialist conservators. -- James Innes-Mulrainethis lavishly illustrated paperback shows how Hals was able to achieve a masterpiece at a relatively early stage in his career. * Arts & Collections *This book you can treasure forever. * Historical Association *The catalogue, by Lelia Packer and Ashok Roy, is a brilliant book that’s concise, detailed, and informed. Its treatment of iconography is, to me, a feast. -- Brian T. Allen * National Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Director's Foreword Sponsor's Foreword Frans Hals: A Short Biography 1. Frans Hals and the Male Portrait 2. Hals's Masterpiece: The Laughing Cavalier 3. The Laughing Cavalier and the Revival of Frans Hals 4. The Making of The Laughing Cavalier 5. Frans Hals and Portraiture: Style and Painting Techniques Interwoven Appendix: Provenance of The Laughing Cavalier Bibliography Endnotes Index Picture Credits
£19.00
Search Press Ltd Painting Portraits in Oils: Capturing Character
Book SynopsisRob Wareing has built a formidable international reputation as a portrait artist. This is his first book, and here he draws on over 40 years' experience to provide a complete guide to painting portraits in oils. In Rob's view, the most effective way to capture character is by working from life rather than photographs, and to follow the alla prima method to create a painting in one sitting. Starting with a fascinating overview of the subject, Rob then guides the reader through the materials he uses, explains how to pose and light the sitter, and how to prepare the work area before starting to paint. This is followed by detailed coverage of design and composition, the importance of proportions, and the painting process itself – from colour mixing through to finishing a painting without over-working. With clear, step-by-step demonstrations and numerous examples of the author's work throughout, this book provides both an expert guide to portrait painting and a unique insight into the working methods of one of the world's leading portrait painters.Trade ReviewSought-after tutor, and The Artist contributor, Rob Wareing, draws on 40 years of experience for his first book, Painting Portraits in Oils. Working from life, Rob encourages students to complete their painting in one sitting. His alla prima method is explained here in great detail, from the initial overview of the subject and preparing your work area to how to post and light the sitter. Every stage of the process is covered – composition, proportions, colour mixing and skin tones, to finishing touches – with clear step-by-step demonstrations and plenty of the artist's work included throughout. * The Artist *Acclaimed portrait artist Rob Wareing shares more than 40 years of experience in his first book, Painting Portraits in Oils. If you're ready for a new challenge, discover how to paint a subject from life, beginning with the materials needed, how to light and pose your sitter, to the painting process itself. * Crafts Beautiful *Portraiture in Oils. Difficult, messy, best left to the professionals. And, you know what, I wouldn't disagree. Until now, right up to the moment I discovered this amazing guide. Rob is a portrait painter with an international reputation and some four decades' of experience. What impressed me most about this book is how Rob breaks what is indeed a complex subject, down into easily-understood parts. You can (and should) get the sense of a book by flicking quickly through its pages. This one is not just phenomenally unintimidating, but actually welcoming. So how is this sleight of hand achieved? Simple lessons – one thing at a time, carefully graded stages. Let's look at the first few: Materials (of course), Planning, Preparation, Composition, Lighting, Studies. There are plenty of examples and illustrations, but this is about getting to know them. This not only puts both of you at ease, but also helps you understand character and expressions. Groundwork, you see. The rest of the book proceeds in the same way. Rob teaches specific painting skills – facial features, hard and soft edges (even how to keep the sitting the right length) through examples and simple exercises. Rob is nothing if not a patient teacher and we're some 100 pages in before a full sitting appears and, by now, you'll be ready for the heavy lifting. Even here, Rob takes things slowly (you can with oils), taking time over drawing, initial paint layers, construction of features and the final refining. This is a careful and believable book; perhaps its greatest trick is to convince you that you really can do what you thought wasn't possible. -- Henry Malt * Paint Magazine *This beautifully produced book takes us through the stages of painting oil portraits from life. From materials and equipment, choosing a model, composition, lighting, achieving a likeness, values, edges, and colour, to step-by-step demonstrations of the whole process, the book is packed with great tips and advice. The sections showing how to avoid common mistakes, like making the nose too long, are particularly useful. Everything is well illustrated with photos, and explained clearly. Anyone wanting to learn to paint portraits from life, or to improve their skills, would find lots of advice and inspiration here. Although the book is primarily concerned with painting 'alla prima', (in one sitting), there's plenty of information which would equally apply to other types of portrait, and to other subjects and mediums. It's a book that I'm sure will become a well used friend in future. -- Sarah Ledger * Amazon *Oil portraits are often regarded as the highest form of art, certainly one to be taken with the utmost seriousness. Capturing a likeness as well as the character of yout subject requires planning, preparation and persistence and is not for the faint-hearted. Rob's four decades of experience have imbued him with a deep understanding not merely of the subject, but of the processes involved. This is a thoroughly researched and presented course that teaches you everything you need to know progressively. Explanations are succeeded by exercises until the final sitting, so that you understand what you're trying to do and how to work before getting to grips with real people. Such a solid grounding can only lead to confidence and success. Rob makes light of learning and his thorough approach is never hard work, but rather a journey of discovery. If you've ever wanted to try your hand at portraiture, there's no better place to get started. -- SAA * SAA *Painting portraits in oils is generally regarded as one of the highest art forms, something refined, complex and generally best left to the specialist. That’s hardly surprising as oils do require a fair amount of equipment. Finding suitable sitters, as well as the little matter of getting a worthwhile likeness, are considerable obstacles for the amateur. So how do you set about getting started? Until now, that’s been the conundrum. There have been few books and those that exist have been, well, rather so-so. This is different. Rob is a portrait artist with considerable experience, but he also has a YouTube channel where he posts demonstrations, and this experience shows. This is a book aimed at the needs of the learner rather than at the subject of portraiture itself. It’s a subtle but important difference. Open the pages at random and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a complete project. Look further and you’ll struggle to find the smaller lessons and exercises you’d be expecting. This is, in part at least, an extension of his online method. However, the idea of not having to wade through pages of eyes, ears, mouths and hands has an appeal, as long as it works. Portraiture is a language and has a grammar – there are technicalities you need to know as part of the foundations and to short-circuit those can be dangerous. Rob, however, is a patient and thorough explainer and all these foundations are here, but he manages to make them interesting. All those details come up both in the projects and also discussions of various approaches – mixing colours, preparing canvases, getting to know your subject. There are examples on every page that precisely illustrate each point that’s being made. The whole process is intensely practical and Rob manages to make what is genuinely a complex subject seem, if not easy (that would be sleight of hand), at least manageable. Knowing the limits of what you can teach is perhaps Rob’s greatest skill and this is a truly remarkable piece of work. -- Henry Malt * Artbookreview.net *Painting portraits in oils is often regarded as the highest form of art, and also not to be tackled by any other than the specialist. In this book, Rob - who has some four decades of experience - takes on a massive and daunting subject and, without trivialising, succeeds in making it manageable. This is an achievement that should be celebrated in itself. There are no sleights of hand, quick fixes or shortcuts. Rather, from a deep understanding of approaches and working processes, he adopts a methodical path that breaks everything down into a series of comprehensible steps. From getting to know your sitter to mental and technical preparation, basic skills, colour and values, everything works up to a final study and sitting. Each stage is packed with examples and exercises and, by taking a visual approach, Rob leads from the front, allowing the build-up to appear before your very eyes. -- Henry Malt * The Artist *I am quite new to oil painting and have only ever attempted landscapes. This book is well written and contains just about everything you need to know about painting portraits. I can’t wait to get started. Illustrated with lovely coloured photos the author gives step-by-step instruction on how to construct your painting with whole chapters on composition, materials, mixing your colours, using light and dark values, capturing light, angles, edges, proportions and common mistakes. The only other thing that I felt could have been included is a section on the painting's background, how and when to paint it without distracting from the main portrait etc -- Lyla Horley * Amazon Customer Review *Table of ContentsForeword 6 Introduction 8 Working from life 10 What makes a portrait? 12 Materials 22 Composing your paintings 34 Preparation 36 Drawing and painting 56 Drawing skills 58 Painting alla prima 70 Values 82 Colour 92 Skin tone 106 The sitting 116 The Portrait 118 Going further 134 Other types of portrait 136 Settings and background 156 Index 160
£18.99
Anthem Press The Reading Figure in Irish Art in the Long
Book SynopsisThe reading figure has been a recurrent theme in Western art but especially from the nineteenth century. This book examines Irish portraits during the long nineteenth century in which people are shown reading or holding a book. It explores different values ascribed to reading and contemporary constructions of the reader. The selected pictures are by artists born, trained, or practising in Ireland. 'Irish art' is, therefore, used broadly to include work framed in some way by experience of Ireland and its history, culture, and politics. This was a time of large social and cultural shifts for Ireland, and a period when books and other reading, including Irish novels, were often published in London. Many of the artists and sitters discussed were Anglo-Irish Protestants. Both Imperial and nationalist ideologues tended to devalue reading, especially fiction, as an unmanly occupation. Nonetheless, some men are depicted reading and failing to embody a manly attitude. The spread of the novel, and the introduction of ‘silent reading’ allowed women of the middle and upper classes, often Anglo-Irish, to engage with a range of imaginative reading materials, secure from patriarchal surveillance. Visual images of women as serious readers drew on and contributed to the emergence of the ‘New Woman’ in Ireland.Trade Review‘Cusack’s book draws the reader into an imaginary world of readers, contextualizing representations of mostly women readers through larger concepts of class, cultural, and gender identities in modern Ireland. With a prevalence of women artists representing female sitters, Cusack probes aesthetic and iconographic strategies for representing interiorized thought while deflecting penetrability in the era of the New Woman.’ — Dr. Emily Burns, Auburn University, US‘In this highly original study, Tricia Cusack argues that the reading figure in art offers a lens through which to apprehend politics at a variety of levels, from the micro-politics of gender to public suffrage agitation, and offers vivid evidence of the emergence of the “New Woman” in sections of Irish society. Reading evidence with creativity and care, and developing valuable typologies of reading figures in Irish art, Cusack argues persuasively for the emergence of a distinctive Irish portraiture tradition over the long nineteenth century, and for treating it as both an index and builder of important gendered identities in the Irish context.’ — Kevin James, University of Guelph, CanadaThis engaging and erudite volume fizzes with ideas and originality and elsewhere: Cusack's engaging style makes light work of dense material, while never compromising on erudition, in a cohesive overview that integrates histories of literature and visual art by Emer McGarry, in Irish Arts Review, Summer (June-August 2022), pp. 116-117.
£72.00
Orion Publishing Co Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of
Book SynopsisA new generation of women is taking the art world – online and offline – by storm. In an image-obsessed culture saturated with social media, these 40 artists are using photography and the female gaze to redefine the fields of fashion, art, advertising and photojournalism, making a profound impact on our visual world.Trade Review"A startling and stunning book that offers a rich, varied alternative to the idea of the selfie as the contemporary feminist art form."-ELLE "As Girl on Girl makes clear, the female gaze offers a powerful lens through which to view, and better understand, the world."-Artsy "Jansen has curated a compelling group of photographers, asked difficult questions, and produced a beautifully illustrated book . . . [Girl on Girl] manages to be of interest to photographers and historians of photography while staying accessible to readers who are interested in learning about contemporary photography. It's definitely worth a read."-Jezebel "Striking in its breadth."-The Huffington Post "What Jansen's book smartly makes clear is that there is no singular female gaze."-ArtSlant "Women like those in Jansen's book are challenging female representation in visual culture, and perhaps with their ideas in mind, we can begin to challenge the current standards of female visual representation ourselves"-Creator's Project at VICE
£15.29
Bonnier Books Ltd Drawn Testimony
Book SynopsisEDITOR'S PICK ON AMAZON.COM'As captivating and nuanced as the drawings themselves' - The New York Times'Against the odds, her prose keeps pace with her pastels' - Patrick Bringley, author of All the Beauty in the World'Readers will be hard-pressed to put this down' - Publisher's WeeklyA penetrating, compulsively readable memoir about the four-decade career of a top courtroom sketch artist.Jane Rosenberg is America's pre-eminent courtroom sketch artist. For over forty years, she's been at the heart of the story, covering almost every major trial that has passed through the New York justice system. From mob bosses to fallen titans of finance, terrorists and sex abusers, corrupt cops and warring entertainment icons, she has drawn them all.In Drawn Testimony, Rosenberg brings us into the high-stakes, dramatic world of her craft, where art, psycho
£17.60
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC AIDS and Representation: Queering Portraiture
Book SynopsisAIDS & Representation explores portraits and self-portraits made in response to the AIDS epidemic in America in the 1980s and 1990s. Addressing the work of artists including Mark Morrisroe, Robert Blanchon and Felix Gonzalez-Torres through the interrelated themes of sickness and mortality, desire and sexual identity, love and loss, Fiona Johnstone shows how the self-representational practices of artists with HIV and AIDS offered a richly imaginative response to the limitations of early AIDS imagery. Johnstone argues that the AIDS epidemic changed the very nature of visual representation and artistic practice, necessitating a radical new approach to conceptualising and visualising the human form. An extended epilogue considers the ongoing art historicization of the epidemic, re-contextualising the book’s themes in relation to contemporary photographic works. More than just a historical discussion of the art of the AIDS crisis, AIDS and Representation contributes to an emergent body of scholarship on the visual representation of illness. Expanding the established genre of the autopathography or illness narrative beyond the predominantly textual, this important contribution to art history and health humanities sensitively unpicks the entanglements between aesthetic form and the expression of lived experiences of critical and chronic ill health.Trade ReviewJohnstone’s book provides excellent context for the emergence of visual art in the time of crisis – and during the emergency years of the AIDS crisis in particular. AIDS changed art, this book argues, showing us how to develop a complex appreciation and understanding of these crucial portraits. * Monica Pearl, Senior Lecturer, Twentieth Century American Literature and Film, University of Manchester, UK *Arguing for a more expansive understanding of self-portraiture in its revisiting and queering of AIDS portraiture in the 1980s and 1990s, this book offers a critical reappraisal of the significance of portraiture as an aesthetic and activist response to crisis. * Lisa Diedrich. Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Stony Brook University, USA *Enjoyable and accessible, this book bears witness to Mark Morrisroe, Robert Blanchon, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ queer tactics of portraiture, meanwhile locating their work within well researched and fascinating contexts that illuminate a kinship of ideas, connections, and tensions across disciplines and timelines. * Theodore (ted) Kerr, co-author of We Are Having This Conversation Now: The Times of AIDS Cultural Production (2022) *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction 1. A Crisis of Representation: constructing an epidemic 2. Putting a face to AIDS: critiquing documentary portrait photography 3. Mark Morrisroe: a grandiose aesthetic encounter 4. Robert Blanchon: abjection, ‘absence’ and autobiography 5. Felix Gonzalez-Torres: falling out of time Epilogue: In/visible: picturing HIV in ‘endemic time' Endnotes Bibliography Index
£80.75
Reaktion Books Facing China: Truth and Memory in Portraiture
Book SynopsisFacing China is an exploration of the portrait arts in China from the dynastic to the modern and contemporary, in painting, sculpture, photography and video. The book focuses on truth and memory in the portraiture process, from encounters between subject, portrait and artist, to broader familial, social and political arenas. It also examines the influence of location on portrait production, reception and display, from tombs, ancestral shrines, temples, gardens, and palace halls to public and private spaces. Featuring 150 fine illustrations, with 100 in colour, Facing China has much to say to specialists in the field as well as general readers interested in Chinese art.
£38.00
Chronicle Books Style Legends, Rebels, and Visionaries
Book SynopsisStyle Legends, Rebels, and Visionaries is an inclusive and eclectic collection of 50 illustrated portraits by the immensely talented artist Bijou Karman. This curated collection of portraits features vintage and contemporary style legends such as Cher, Harry Styles, Grace Jones, Tilda Swinton, Diana Ross, Timothee Chalamet, and many more. Featuring a range of style luminaries-drawn from the heights of Hollywood glamour, the shining stars of the music industry, and the elite of fame and fashion-this collection is sure to delight a broad audience of fashion lovers. Each colorful and detailed portrait evokes the distinct sensibility of the unique and influential icon featured and includes an illuminating bio focusing on the sartorial choices of that legend, rebel, or visionary. Additionally, fashion insider Booth Moore provides an insightful introduction to this curated list of one-of-a-kind style icons. A FASHION BOOK WITH A UNIQUE VIEWPOINT: Bijou Karman's colorful and visually stunning illustrations and her distinct aesthetic bring a fresh perspective to viewing these celebrated individuals and their contributions to modern fashion. ARTUL FASHION ILLUSTRATION BOOK: A dazzling departure from fashion photography books or designer retrospectives, this gender- and age-inclusive collection is a curated take of iconoclasts known for their distinctive style. Includes Harry Styles, Tilda Swinton, Timothee Chalamet, Rihanna, Iris Apfel, David Bowie, Yayoi Kusama, and many more, celebrating the distinct fashion sensibility of each of these unique and beloved icons from the fields of music, fashion, art, cinema, and more. THE ULTIMATE GIFT FOR STYLE LOVERS: An introduction by a noted fashion industry insider gives additional insight into the style preferences and influences of each of the featured individuals. This text, paired with a sophisticated design package, makes this a beautiful gift or self-purchase to feature on a coffee table or shelve alongside favorite fashion design books. Perfect for: • Fashionistas • Art book lovers • Design enthusiastsl
£15.19
Flame Tree Publishing Gustav Klimt: The Kiss Artisan Art Notebook
Book SynopsisArtisan Art Notebooks, the new Journals from Flame Tree in a range of hues to suit the moment and featuring magnificent art. They’re hand crafted with decorated edges overflowing with petals, teasing vines and patterns. A unique blend of the practical and beautiful, with two ribbons and lined pages, the Artisan Art Notebooks are perfect for notes, creative writing, poetry, doodles and lists. And, with robust flexi covers, they’re easy to slip into your bag, a pleasure to use. Simply, they feel good! Renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt is well known for his richly decorative commissioned portraits and murals. The Kiss is a prime example of Klimt's 'Golden Phase', in which he began to feature especially sumptuous ornamentation on a regular basis in his paintings. The couple in this artwork represent the mystical union of spiritual and erotic love, and the connection of life and the universe.
£11.21
Verso Books Portraits: John Berger on Artists
Book SynopsisJohn Berger, one of the world's most celebrated storytellers and writers on art, tells a personal history of art from the prehistoric paintings of the Chauvet caves to 21st century conceptual artists. Berger presents entirely new ways of thinking about artists both canonized and obscure, from Rembrandt to Henry Moore, Jackson Pollock to Picasso. Throughout, Berger maintains the essential connection between politics, art and the wider study of culture. The result is an illuminating walk through many centuries of visual culture, from one of the contemporary world's most incisive critical voices.Trade ReviewJohn Berger's "Portraits" is among the greatest books on art I've ever read. -- Zadie Smith * New York Times *A volume whose breadth and depth bring it close to a definitive self-portrait of one of Britain's most original thinkers -- Financial TimesPerhaps the greatest living writer on art . reminds us just how insufficient most art commentary is these days . an indispensible guide to understanding art from cave painting to today's experimenters. -- Spectator [Books of the Year]In this extraordinary new book, John Berger embarks on a process of re-discovery and re-figuring of history through the visual narratives given to us by portraiture. Berger's ability for storytelling is both incisive and intriguing. He is one of the greatest writers of our time. -- Hans Ulrich Obrist, author of 'Ways of Curating'Berger's art criticism transcends its genre to become a very rare thing-literature * The Nation *Berger is a writer one demands to know more about ... an intriguing and powerful mind and talent. * New York Times *Much of his best critical prose appears in [this] chunky volume * Economist *
£9.49
Anthem Press The Reading Figure in Irish Art in the Long
Book SynopsisThe reading figure has been a recurrent theme in Western art but especially from the nineteenth century. This book examines Irish portraits during the long nineteenth century in which people are shown reading or holding a book. It explores different values ascribed to reading and contemporary constructions of the reader. The selected pictures are by artists born, trained, or practising in Ireland. 'Irish art' is, therefore, used broadly to include work framed in some way by experience of Ireland and its history, culture, and politics. This was a time of large social and cultural shifts for Ireland, and a period when books and other reading, including Irish novels, were often published in London. Many of the artists and sitters discussed were Anglo-Irish Protestants. Both Imperial and nationalist ideologues tended to devalue reading, especially fiction, as an unmanly occupation. Nonetheless, some men are depicted reading and failing to embody a manly attitude. The spread of the novel, and the introduction of ‘silent reading’ allowed women of the middle and upper classes, often Anglo-Irish, to engage with a range of imaginative reading materials, secure from patriarchal surveillance. Visual images of women as serious readers drew on and contributed to the emergence of the ‘New Woman’ in Ireland.Trade Review‘Cusack’s book draws the reader into an imaginary world of readers, contextualizing representations of mostly women readers through larger concepts of class, cultural, and gender identities in modern Ireland. With a prevalence of women artists representing female sitters, Cusack probes aesthetic and iconographic strategies for representing interiorized thought while deflecting penetrability in the era of the New Woman.’ — Dr. Emily Burns, Auburn University, US‘In this highly original study, Tricia Cusack argues that the reading figure in art offers a lens through which to apprehend politics at a variety of levels, from the micro-politics of gender to public suffrage agitation, and offers vivid evidence of the emergence of the “New Woman” in sections of Irish society. Reading evidence with creativity and care, and developing valuable typologies of reading figures in Irish art, Cusack argues persuasively for the emergence of a distinctive Irish portraiture tradition over the long nineteenth century, and for treating it as both an index and builder of important gendered identities in the Irish context.’ — Kevin James, University of Guelph, CanadaThis engaging and erudite volume fizzes with ideas and originality and elsewhere: Cusack's engaging style makes light work of dense material, while never compromising on erudition, in a cohesive overview that integrates histories of literature and visual art by Emer McGarry, in Irish Arts Review, Summer (June-August 2022), pp. 116-117.
£23.75
Search Press Ltd Portrait of a Woodland
Book SynopsisA comprehensive survey of eleven different woods, this book is a vivid account of the flora and fauna that comprise the various habitats of our large and small woods. More than a survey though, this book looks beyond the individual stories of the trees, plants, animals and insects and constitutes a readable account of the inter-dependence of species so vital for the preservation of biodiversity. In her lively and candid style, this timely publication taps immediately into one of the major challenges faced by the environment today. Stunning photography and absorbing text combine with authoritative surveys to make this book both informative and enchanting. Invaluable reference and a visual treat.Trade ReviewMay 09 Gardeners who enjoy walks in the woods will love Charlotte de la Bedoyere's account of the flora and fauna that make up their natural biodiversity. Portrait of a Woodland looks at a mix of animals, insects, trees and other plants. It also contains some amazing photography of all four in their natural settings. * Grow Your Own *Table of Contents* Timely publication/topical subject - coincides with the Biodiversity Action Plan being implemented by Government and non-Government organisations * Profusely illustrated with stunning photography mainly taken by the author * Ideal gift
£22.50
Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd Danish-British Consort Portraiture, c.1600-1900
Book SynopsisThis is the first book to address the long art history of dynastic marriage exchange between Denmark and Britain between 1600 and 1900. It explores an intersection of three themes trending in early modern studies: portraiture, gender and the court as a centre of cultural exchange. This work re-evaluates the construction and staging of gender in Northern consort portraiture over a span of three hundred years, examining the development of the scientific and social paradigms inflecting consort portraiture and representation, with a view to excavating portrait images' agency at the early modern moment of their conception and making. The consort's liminal position between royal houses, territories, languages and sometimes religion, has often been equated with political weakness, but this new work argues that this position endowed the consort with a unique space for innovation in the representation of elite identity. As such, consort imagery drew upon gender as a generative resource of motifs and ideas. Each chapter is informed by new archival research and introduces the reader to little known, yet astonishing works of art. Collectively, they seek to trace a shift in practices of identity formation over time; the transition from an emphasis on rank to an increasingly binary emphasis on gender.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; Figure List; Introduction; 1 Anna of Denmark (1574—1619); 2 Prince George of Denmark (1653—1708); 3 Louisa of Great Britain (1724—1751); 4 Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751—1775); 5 Alexandra of Denmark (1844—1925); Bibliography; Endnotes
£54.00
Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd Women Artists in the Reign of Catherine the Great
Book SynopsisCatherine the Great’s audacious power grab in 1762 marked a watershed in imperial Russian history. During a momentous 34-year reign, her rapacious vision and intellectual curiosity led to vast territorial expansion, cultural advancement, and civic, educational and social reform. In this pioneering book, Rosalind Blakesley reveals the remarkable role women artists played in her pursuit of these ambitions. With challenging commissions for an elite cast of Russian patrons, their work underscores the extent to which cultural enrichment co-existed with the empress’s imperial designs. Catherine’s acquisitions propelled renowned artists to new heights. The history paintings that she purchased from Angelica Kauffman brought the Swiss artist to the attention of keen new patrons, while Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun found in Russia safe refuge from the horrors of revolutionary France. Just as important were Catherine’s relationships with lesser-known artists. The young sculptor Marie-Anne Collot made the arduous journey from Paris to St Petersburg to assist on the equestrian monument to Peter the Great and enthralled Russian society with her portrait busts, while Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna, wife of Catherine’s troubled son Paul, sculpted cameos which the empress sent to distinguished correspondents abroad. With stories of extraordinary artistic endeavour intertwined with the intrigue of Catherine’s personal life, Women Artists in the Reign of Catherine the Great uncovers the impact of these and other artists at one of Europe’s most elaborate courts. Trade Review'In her dynamic account of the cultural energies of Catherine the Great's court, Blakesley traces how women artists negotiated the complex dynamics of patronage and privilege, to make their presence felt against cultural odds. This is a lively and necessary re-gendering of Russia's imperial past.' – Dr Maria Balshaw CBE, Director of Tate‘This engaging, accessible and beautifully illustrated book provides a welcome and stimulating contribution to scholarship on 18th-century art and patronage, particularly on the relationships (and rivalries) fostered by Catherine and members of the Russian elite with their contemporaries in the rest of Enlightenment Europe.’ – Paul Keenan, The Art Newspaper'In the organization of the book, Catherine’s reign serves as backdrop against which we discover the talent and initiative of ambitious women who (mostly circumstantially) entered Catherine’s orbit, and tangentially remained there for temporary spells. Blakesley gives them their own space, bringing to light female painters who, once at court, became impressive figures with rich personalities and attested talent. Despite, or because of, their complicated lives, they were perhaps destined of their own accord and natural gifts to make their mark in art history—with, or without, Catherine the Great.' – Myroslava Mudrak, H-SHERA'Buttressed by the author’s rare gift for storytelling, Blakesley’s book reimagines Catherine’s reign as one dependent on the seen and unseen artistic work of women, women who navigated the geographic distances of Enlightenment Europe and who helped turn Russia into a powerhouse of the modern art scene.' {...} 'In the face of often profound harassment and discrimination, Blakesley’s subjects seized opportunities for professional advancement and artistic expression. They built lives and, indeed, empires. … In this book, a unique and invaluable contribution to Russian art history and gender studies, Blakesley shows us that, while Catherine may not have promoted a “sisterhood,” a sisterhood of women artists were nevertheless behind the creation of Russia as a center of art and empire.' – Molly Brunson, The Russian Review'Blakesley’s study distinguishes itself by its original character… It is a precious tool for those interested in artistic production during the period of Catherine II. The term which best describes this work is erudition with accessibility.' – Hugo Tardy, Revue d'histoire culturelleTable of ContentsConventions and Abbreviations; Introduction; Chapter 1: Inscribing a Future Empress; Chapter 2: Catherine Enthroned; Chapter 3: The Academy and the Hermitage; Chapter 4: A Parisian Find; Chapter 5: The Chisel and the Mallet; Chapter 6: Unexpected Treasures; Chapter 7: The Doyenne of Rome; Chapter 8: An Artist in the Family; Chapter 9: The Triumphant Refugee; Epilogue; Acknowledgements; List of Illustrations; Bibliography; Index
£42.75
National Portrait Gallery London National Portrait Gallery A Portrait of Britain
Book Synopsis
£30.97
National Portrait Gallery Publications Russia and the Arts: The Age of Tolstoy and
Book SynopsisRussian portraiture enjoyed a golden age between the late 1860s and the First World War. While Tolstoy and Dostoevsky were publishing masterpieces such as Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov and Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov were taking Russian music to new heights, Russian art was developing a new self-confidence. The penetrating Realism of the 1870s and 1880s was later complemented by the brighter hues of Russian Impressionism and the bold, faceted forms of Symbolist painting. In providing a context, author Rosalind P. Blakesley looks in the first and second chapters at the portrait tradition in Russia: the rise of secular portrait painting following the founding of the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg in 1757; the shifting tastes of patrons and publics; the reception of portraits in exhibitions and collections (including those of the tsars); and the role of portraiture in the cultural politics of imperial Russia. Starting with the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867, at which a distinct Russian school of painting was recognised for the first time, the third chapter examines developments in theatre and music, the rising Realist aesthetic and the powerful voices of wealthy patrons from the worlds of industry and commerce, such as Pavel Tretyakov. Chapter Four looks at the rise of novel forms of visual expression through experimentation, from Impressionism to Symbolism, and the World of Art Movement, with its conscious reconnection with artistic developments in the West. The last chapter charts creative responses to political turmoil and social unrest in the early twentieth century, the new artistic societies and manifestos of the avant-garde and the dialogue between figurative painting and abstraction in the twilight of imperial rule.
£31.12
National Portrait Gallery Publications Reframing the Black Figure: An Introduction to
Book Synopsis'What happens when Black artists depict Black figures? What art does this produce, and what worlds of possibility does this reveal?' - Ekow Eshun Reframing the Black Figure showcases more than 20 of the most important Black figurative artists working in the UK and US today. This visual giftbook introduces readers to the field of Black figuration by highlighting a selection of key works from the National Portrait Gallery exhibition, The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure. Readers will encounter contemporary Black artists producing beautiful, urgent artworks that presents the Black form with nuance and depth. Richly illustrated with artworks and visual details, alongside short biographies for all featured artists, this accessible publication offers an opportunity for readers to experience some of the most exciting artworks depicting the Black form. Within this context, they take on a dual role, as the accomplished work of individual artists on the one hand, and as a collective assertion of Black presence on the other. Featured artists include Hurvin Anderson, Michael Armitage, Jordan Casteel, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Noah Davis, Godfried Donkor, Kimathi Donkor, Denzil Forrester, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Chris Ofili, Jennifer Packer, Thomas J. Price, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Lorna Simpson, Amy Sherald, Henry Taylor and Barbara Walker.
£13.46
National Portrait Gallery Publications The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black
Book SynopsisThe Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure edited by Ekow Eshun celebrates flourishing Black artists whose work illuminates the richness, beauty and complexity of Black life. "There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now." - James Baldwin 'Angry, elegiac, critical and celebratory, The Time Is Always Now brings together 22 leading black artists working in the UK and US.' - The best art and architecture shows to visit in 2024, The Guardian The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure assembles contemporary African diasporic artists working in the UK and US whose practice foregrounds the Black figure. Edited and with texts by Ekow Eshun, and original essays by Bernardine Evaristo, Esi Edugyan and Dorothy Price. Published to coincide with the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, this publication explores and celebrates contemporary Black artists internationally who work within Black figuration. This visual and beautifully produced book examines contemporary figurative artworks against a backdrop of heightened cultural visibility. Within this context, its collected paintings, drawings and sculptures take on a dual role as the accomplished work of individual artists and as a collective assertion of Black presence. Through a three-part structure containing detailed artist profiles and stunningly reproduced artworks, the publication examines Black figuration as a means to address the absence and distortion of Black presence within Western art history. Profiled artists include Hurvin Anderson, Michael Armitage, Jordan Casteel, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Noah Davis, Godfried Donkor, Kimathi Donkor, Denzil Forrester, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Chris Ofili, Jennifer Packer, Thomas J. Price, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Lorna Simpson, Amy Sherald, Henry Taylor and Barbara Walker.
£28.00
National Portrait Gallery Publications Edvard Munch Portraits
Book SynopsisEdvard Munch Portraits brings together 80 of Munch's most significant portraits, showcasing the wide array of styles, techniques and mediums that he employed. Edvard Munch (1863 1944) is widely regarded as one of the great artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Although he was lesser known for portraiture, his portraits were central to his art and vision. During the course of his long life he made hundreds of portraits of friends, patrons, models and above all himself, in a range of media that encompassed painting, drawing and print. Edvard Munch Portraits explores the range of portraits Munch created during his lifetime, and by placing his work in the cultural and historical background of his period, provides readers with a greater understanding of the time in which his works were produced. This publication gives deep insight into the artist's family and bohemian social circles, along with his German and Norwegian patrons and the friends who helped establish his reputation.
£28.00
National Portrait Gallery Publications Women at Work: 1900 to Now
Book SynopsisWomen at Work: 1900 to Now reveals the sometimes overlooked stories of women from 1900 to the present day who have shaped history and culture in Britain and beyond. Women at Work: 1900 to Now celebrates over 100 influential and inspiring women and their achievements in fields including science, activism, photography and design. Their fascinating and sometimes untold stories are illustrated with artworks from the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection, new acquisitions and commissions supported by the CHANEL Culture Fund, and rare archival images. Sitters include Bernardine Evaristo, Margot Fonteyn, Mo Mowlam, Beatrix Potter, Zadie Smith, Amy Winehouse, Virginia Woolf and Malala Yousafzai.
£23.96
National Portrait Gallery Publications National Portrait Gallery: The Collection
Book SynopsisNational Portrait Gallery: The Collection introduces the key people who have shaped the history of Britain, its culture and identity, by exploring essential highlights from the National Portrait Gallery’s unrivalled Collection. National Portrait Gallery: The Collection is published to celebrate the reopening of the Gallery after a three-year redevelopment project. Designed by Daniela Rocha, this engaging and inviting book takes the reader on a chronological journey through Britain’s history in portraiture, from the Tudors to Now, featuring the country’s most impactful and famous individuals, from Queen Elizabeth I to Mary Seacole, and Virginia Woolf to David Bowie. The book is richly illustrated with beautiful paintings, photographs, sculptures, drawings and digital works. Readers will enjoy a selection of the most popular and recognisable portraits from the Collection, accompanied by short chapter introductions that introduce key historical periods, their most exciting figures, and their most important historical, political, social and cultural moments. This accessible structure allows the reader to dip into any of the beautiful portraits and their stories, and understand their place in British history. An Introduction by Director Dr. Nicholas Cullinan will highlight why portraiture has been fundamental to people and society historically, but also to contemporary audiences, by exploring themes of culture, identity and the representation of diversity. This will also introduce readers to the nation’s newly-reopened National Portrait Gallery, explaining how it came to be the nation’s home of portraits and the world’s most significant Collection of people.Table of ContentsIntroduction15001600170018001900–19501950–20002000Index of sitters and artistsPicture Credits
£11.66
National Portrait Gallery Publications Stanislaw Wyspianski Portraits
Book SynopsisStanislaw Wyspianski is widely regarded as Poland's greatest artist and as the founder of modern Polish drama. Stanislaw Wyspianski (18691907), is widely regarded as Poland's greatest artist whose work is just beginning to be appreciated outside of Central Europe. Best known as the founder of modern Polish drama, he was also an artist and applied arts designer. During his short career he made a number of striking portraits in pastel of his family and and contemporary Cracovians which collectively provide a fascinating insight into the cultural life of a nation under partition and striving for independence. This illustrated publication showcases 70 of Wyspianski's portraits. Full of colour and vitality, his works draw on indigenous folk traditions, but are executed in a progressive expressive style influenced by the years Wyspianski spent in Paris, and epitomise the ideals and aspirations of the Young Poland movement with which he is closely associated.
£16.96
National Portrait Gallery Publications The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics
Book Synopsis‘Excellent, full of tiny details that expand our knowledge of even the best-known Tudors’ – Lucy Davies, The Telegraph Situating the Tudor dynasty, their court, and the country, in an international context, this book will be highly illustrated and feature contemporary research in an accessible way. It will provide an overview of the ways in which the Tudors engaged with the world and were impacted by broader currents: the internationalism of court culture, religious shifts, trade, naval conflict and the expansion in the Americas. The introductory text will consider the legacies of the Tudors, as the monarchs who reigned during the tumultuous years of the Reformation and the emergence of the transatlantic slave trade and English colonialism. Taking a thematic and biographical approach, the book will feature some of the most famous royal and court figures from the sixteenth century, from Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell, to Elizabeth I and Walter Ralegh. The works shown will be explored from a multitude of perspectives, looking at the sitters’ impact at home and abroad in Europe and the Americas. The international impact of the Tudors will be very evident the portraits featured, the artists of which came from Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy. Artworks will be arranged by the key themes of: court culture, religion, queenship, conflict, empire, piracy and trade, and translation. Each theme will feature an opening text from a range of voices exploring the historical contexts of the works and new research on the topics. It will include biographical sketches of individuals whose role in Tudor history has often been overlooked, such as the trumpeter John Blanke.Table of ContentsForeword Introduction: The Tudors by Charlotte Bolland A New Dynasty Insights into John Blanke’s image from The John Blanke Project by Michael I. Ohajuru The King’s Court Walter Hungerford and the 1533 Buggery Act by Kate O’Donoghue The Reformation in England Reginald Pole, Catholic Reform and Religious Reconciliation by Frederick E. Smith Queenship 'We Princes Who Be Women’: Catherine de’ Medici in France by Susan Doran Holding the Throne Anthony Babington and the Memorialisation of a Catholic Conspiracy by Charlotte Bolland Piracy, Privateering and Trade Diego, Drake and Piracy in Panama by Cassander Smith The Spanish and English Armadas ‘Follow Me Upon Your Honour!’: María Pita and the Siege of A Coruña by Monserrat Pis Marcos Empire Fighting for Survival: Gráinne O Malley as Tudor Friend and Foe by Gillian Kenny Translation The Literary Legacy of Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke by Catharine MacLeod Timeline Notes and Further Reading Acknowledgements Picture Credits
£16.11
National Portrait Gallery Publications Love Stories: Art, Passion & Tragedy
Book SynopsisThe National Portrait Gallery’s collections hold numerous portraits of creative partnerships. This book looks at the extensive collection of the Gallery and explores the role of love and the people featured both as sitters and artists. Drawing on recent scholarship, the exhibition will explore changing ideas of love, and give readers the opportunity to discover love stories both tragic and transcendent. The stories cover a variety of topics, including: the role of the muse, featuring stories such as George Romney, Lady Emma Hamilton and Nelson, and the Bloomsbury group; scandal and tragedy, exploring the relationships of Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono; literary love, highlighting the tales of Mary and Percy Shelley, and Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes; a shared studio, featuring the stories of artists Lee Miller and Man Ray, and Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson; and love and the lens, which explores the stories of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, and Mick and Bianca Jagger.Love Stories will be brought to life through the perspective of various authors, using material from the sitter’s own letters, diaries and poetry, while highlighting their connection and influence on some of the greatest masterpieces of art.
£25.46
National Portrait Gallery Publications Icons and Identities: Famous Faces from the
Book SynopsisThe National Portrait Gallery holds the world’s most extensive collection of portraits: a museum of people, a gallery of stories and ideas, and a home of artistic masterpieces. It celebrates the power and creativity of individuals – artists as well as their sitters. Icons and Identities draws upon the outstanding collections of the National Portrait Gallery to investigate and celebrate the variety and complexity of the genre. It draws together ‘icons’ – the most famous faces from British history from Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Isaac Newton to Audrey Hepburn and The Beatles – alongside less well-known sitters that provide a fascinating insight into the representation of identity in portraits. It also includes some intriguing surprises to reflect the diversity of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection and to introduce audiences around the world to exceptional portraits of many kinds. This publication will show how artists, working across a range of media including painting, photography and multimedia, have revealed the visually stimulating and intellectually vibrant tradition of portrait making. It is structured around a series of key timeless themes and each section will include a selection of works from a range of periods, allowing audiences to consider how artists and sitters have engaged with themes of power, fame, the self, innovation, identity, memory and loss.
£21.21
National Portrait Gallery London 100 Fashion Icons National Portrait Gallery 100
Book Synopsis
£11.01
National Portrait Gallery Publications Hold Still: A Portrait of our Nation in 2020:
Book SynopsisA unique collective portrait of the United Kingdom during the national lockdown of 2020. Introduction by The Duchess of Cambridge. Text by Lemn Sissay MBE. Sunday Times Bestseller. ‘Every bookcase should have this book’ ‘Beautifully heart-warming’ and ‘a keepsake for years to come’. Focused on three key themes – Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness, this book presents a unique portrait of the UK during the 2020 lockdown, through 100 community photographs. The net proceeds from the sale of the book will be equally split to support the work of the National Portrait Gallery and Mind, the mental health charity (registered 219830) Spearheaded by The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of the National Portrait Gallery, Hold Still was an ambitious community project to create a unique collective portrait of the UK during lockdown. People of all ages were invited to submit a photographic portrait, taken in a six-week period during May and June 2020, focussed on three core themes – Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness. From these, a panel of judges selected 100 portraits, assessing the images on the emotions and experiences they conveyed. Featured here in this publication, the final 100 images present a unique and highly personal record of this extraordinary period in our history of people of all ages from across the nation. From virtual birthday parties, handmade rainbows and community clapping to brave NHS staff, resilient keyworkers and people dealing with illness, isolation and loss. The images convey humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope – expressing and exploring both our shared and individual experiences. Presenting a true portrait of our nation in 2020, this publication includes a foreword by The Duchess of Cambridge, each image is accompanied by the story behind the picture told through the words of the entrants, and further works show the nationwide outdoor exhibition of Hold Still.
£21.21
National Portrait Gallery Publications 100 Writers
Book SynopsisThe National Portrait Gallery, London, holds a large collection of portraits featuring sitters who have played an important role in British history and culture across the periods, many of which have also made significant contributions as writers. 100 Writers will be the first Gallery publication to bring together portraits of writers from varied disciplines and periods into one publication. An illustrated introductory text will explore the range of writers' portraits held in the Gallery and the important role they have played in British culture. It will also look at the relationship between the written word and visual arts, encompassing the variety of writers and themes. This new title will include earlier sixteenth-century works through to contemporary portraits, with a focus on writers who have made an important contribution to a number of areas such as literature, history, philosophy and politics. Select works will also be accompanied by quotations taken from interviews, essays and
£12.95
National Portrait Gallery Publications Elizabeth II: Princess, Queen, Icon
Book SynopsisWith just under a thousand portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, the National Portrait Gallery boasts some of the most treasured and famous official portraits of the Queen captured at key historic moments, as well as day-to-day images of the monarch at home and with family, following her journey from childhood, to princess and Queen, mother and grandmother. This publication highlights the most important portraits of Elizabeth II from the Gallery’s Collection. Paintings and photographs from the birth of Elizabeth II to the present will take readers on a visual journey through the life of Britain’s foremost icon. The book will reflect on the Queen’s life, presenting family photographs alongside important formal portraits to explore how, as her reign became record-breaking, she became an iconic figure in modern British culture and history. The publication features works by key artists depicting the Queen from 1926 to the present day, including Baron, Cecil Beaton, Dorothy Wilding, Patrick Lichfield, Andy Warhol, Annie Leibovitz and David Bailey. This book features an introductory essay by Alexandra Shulman, exploring how the collected portraits depict the Queen throughout her life and reign, and a timeline of key historical events and moments from Elizabeth II’s life.
£13.46
National Portrait Gallery Publications Gainsborough’s Family Album
Book SynopsisDespite this famous protestation in a letter to his friend William Jackson, Gainsborough was clearly prepared to make an exception when it came to making portraits of his own family and himself. This book, and the major exhibition it accompanies, features a dozen portraits of his daughters Mary and Margaret, the same number of himself and his wife Margaret (though, perhaps tellingly, only one of the couple together), as well as works depicting four of his five siblings, his handsome nephew Gainsborough Dupont (who became his studio assistant) , an aunt and uncle, several in - laws and – last, but not least – his beloved dogs, Tristram and Fox. Spanning more than four decades, Gainsborough’s family portraits chart the period from the mid - 1740s, when he plied his trade in his native Suffolk , through his time in Bath ( 1758 – 74 ), when he established hi mself with a rich and fashionable clientele , to his most successful latter years at his luxuriously appointed studio in London’s We st End. Alongside this story of a provincial 18th - century artist’s rise to fame and fortune runs a more private narrative, ab out the role of portraiture in the promotion of family values, at a time when these were assuming a recogni s ably modern form. In the first of three introductory essays, David H. Solkin writes on Gainsborough himself, placing his family portraits in the context of earlier practice – including that of the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens and British portraitists from Mary Beale to Joseph Highmore . Ann Bermingham explores Gainsborough’s portraits of his daughters, with particular reference to two finished double portraits painted seven years apart and the tragic story arising from them. Susan Sloman discusses Margaret’s role as her husband’s business manager, its effect on the family dynamic and hence the visual representation of its members.
£37.73
National Gallery Company Ltd Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna 1900
Book SynopsisAn engaging look at how the middle classes of fin-de-siècleVienna used innovative portraiture to define their identity During the great flourishing of modern art in fin-de-siècleVienna, artists of that city focused on images of individuals. Their portraits depict artists, patrons, families, friends, intellectual allies, and society celebrities from the upwardly mobile middle classes. Viewed as a whole, the images allow us to reconstruct the subjects’ shifting identities as the Austro-Hungarian Empire underwent dramatic political changes, from the 1867 Ausgleich (Compromise) to the end of World War I. This is viewed as a time when the avant-garde overthrew the academy, yet Facing the Modern tells a more complex story of the time through thought-provoking texts by numerous leading art historians. Their writings examine paintings by innovative artists such as Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele alongside earlier works, blurring the conventionally-held distinctions between 19th-century and early-20th-century art, and revealing surprising continuities in the production and consumption of portraits. This compelling book features works not only by famous names but also by lesser-known female and Jewish artists, giving a more complete picture of the time.Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The National Gallery, London(10/09/13–01/12/14)
£33.25
National Gallery Company Ltd Gainsborough's Blue Boy
Book SynopsisThis richly illustrated publication explores the lasting influence of Gainsborough’s Blue Boy on British art and culture Marking the return of Gainsborough’s Blue Boy to the UK exactly 100 years since it left for the United States, this richly illustrated publication will explore the lasting influence of this iconic painting on British art and culture. During the nineteenth century, the painting’s fame grew and full-length portraits by Gainsborough and his contemporaries became much sought after by wealthy American collectors. The sale of The Blue Boy to the American railroad magnate and collector Henry E. Huntington in 1921 was unsurprisingly viewed as a national tragedy—emblematic of a shift in economic and cultural power. However, its afterlife, as a permanent ambassador for British art, has undoubtedly fed into ideas of Britain and Britishness—its history, society, culture and character—that still resonate today. Including a select group of paintings that demonstrate the profound influence of Sir Anthony van Dyck and the old master tradition on Gainsborough’s practice and identity, Gainsborough’s Blue Boy will examine this masterpiece within the context of the National Gallery’s collection. Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press
£16.14
National Gallery Company Ltd Lucian Freud: New Perspectives
Book SynopsisA significant publication of original writing on Lucian Freud, including interviews with leading contemporary artists, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth Lucian Freud (1922–2011) was one of the greatest figurative painters of the twentieth century. With an unflinching eye and an uncompromising commitment to his work, he created masterpieces that continue to inspire contemporary artists to the present day. Spanning nearly 70 years, Freud’s career has often been overshadowed by his biography and celebrity. This book re-examines his paintings through a broad series of original approaches. Texts by a variety of rising and established international writers explore topics ranging from the compositional echoes of old master paintings in Freud’s works, to the contextualization of his practice within the class struggles of 1980s Britain. Throughout the book, leading contemporary painters such as Tracey Emin and Chantal Joffe give insightful testimony to the relevance of Freud today. Marking the 100th anniversary of Freud’s birth, this publication accompanies the first major exhibition of his work in 10 years. Presenting fresh perspectives on his paintings, it introduces Freud to a new generation of scholars and enthusiasts – demonstrating his lasting international importance. Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press
£23.75
Merrell Publishers Ltd Women Artists in Their Own Words
Book SynopsisQuotations from leading women artists paired with iconic artworks, offering powerful insights into their creative journeys and the challenges they've faced over 150 years.
£22.46
