Search results for ""Metropolitan Museum of Art""

A fresh exploration of Native American art that positions the work within the broader context of North American art history This landmark publication presents Native American art within the broader context of American art history, through an examination of notable works from a major private collection. The insightful texts provide a new evaluation of the art, culture, and daily life of numerous North American tribes, including Acoma, Apache, Cheyenne, Creek, Crow, Hopi-Twea, Kiowa, Lakota, Pomo, Seneca, Seminole, Tlingit, and Zuni, among others. The works featured in this lavish volume span centuries, from the period prior to contact with European settlers through the early 20th century, and represent the extensive artistic achievements of culturally distinct indigenous peoples. Both known and unrecorded makers’ innovative visions are manifest in a wide variety of aesthetic forms and media—from painting, sculpture, and drawing to costume, ceramics, and baskets. Challenging traditional presentations of American Indian art, this publication situates and analyzes them alongside other North American artistic practices. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (10/01/18–10/06/19)

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The first comprehensive look at the origins and diffusion across Europe of the etched print during the late 15th and early 16th centuries The etching of images on metal, originally used as a method for decorating armor, was first employed as a printmaking technique at the end of the 15th century. This in-depth study explores the origins of the etched print, its evolution from decorative technique to fine art, and its spread across Europe in the early Renaissance, leading to the professionalization of the field in the Netherlands in the 1550s. Beautifully illustrated, this book features the work of familiar Renaissance artists, including Albrecht Dürer, Jan Gossart, Pieter Breughel the Elder, and Parmigianino, as well as lesser known practitioners, such as Daniel Hopfer and Lucas van Leyden, whose pioneering work paved the way for later printmakers like Rembrandt and Goya. The book also includes a clear and fascinating description of the etching process, as well as an investigation of how the medium allowed artists to create highly detailed prints that were more durable than engravings and more delicate than woodblocks.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (October 23, 2019–January 19, 2020)

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A primer on contemporary artist Lauren Halsey’s latest site-specific installation, outlining her process, past work, and influences drawn from Afrofuturism, ancient Egyptian iconography, and Los Angeles Lauren Halsey is known for her sculptures, mixed media works, and site-specific installations that remix (or, as Halsey says, “funkify”) history by combining signs, symbols, and architecture from the past, present, and future. In her new installation for The Met’s Roof Garden Commission series, she brings together ancient Egyptian–inspired iconography and sculpture with signage and texts drawn from the artist’s local community in South Central Los Angeles. Accompanied by new photography and unpublished sketches from Halsey’s studio, this compact volume contains an insightful essay by curator Abraham Thomas that examines Halsey’s artistic process and considers this installation in the context of her past work. In a revealing interview with poet Douglas Kearney, the artist discusses her diverse influences—which include ancient Egyptian relief carving, funk music, Afrofuturism, and the architecture of L.A.— and elaborates on the importance of community building and engagement in the spaces she creates. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (April 18–October 22, 2023)

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Portraits, an inherently personal subject, provide an engaging entry point to an exploration of the politics, patronage, and power in Renaissance Florence The Medici family ruled Florence without interruption between 1434 and 1494, but following their return to power in 1512, Cosimo I de’ Medici demonstrated an unprecedented ability to wield culture as a political tool. His rule transformed Florence into a dynastic duchy and give Florentine art the central position it has held ever since. As Florence underwent these dramatic political transformations in the sixteenth century, portraits became an essential means of recording a likeness and conveying a sitter’s character, social position, and cultural ambitions. This fascinating book explores the ways that painters (including Jacopo Pontormo, Agnolo Bronzino, and Francesco Salviati), sculptors (such as Benvenuto Cellini), and artists in other media endowed their works with an erudite and self-consciously stylish character that distinguished Florentine portraiture. Featuring more than ninety remarkable paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and medals, this volume is written by a team of leading international authors and presents a sweeping, penetrating exploration of a crucial and vibrant period in Italian art. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (June 26–October 11, 2021)

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A comprehensive exploration, spanning 1,300 years, of the art and culture of the Sahel region of Africa This groundbreaking volume examines the extraordinary artistic and cultural traditions of the African region known as the Sahel (“shore” in Arabic), a vast area on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert that includes present-day Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad. This is the first book to present a comprehensive overview of the diverse cultural achievements and traditions of the region, spanning more than 1,300 years from the pre-Islamic period through the 19th century. It features some of the earliest extant art from Africa as well as such iconic works as sculptures by the Dogon and Bamana peoples of Mali. Essays by leading international scholars discuss the art, architecture, archaeology, literature, philosophy, religion, and history of the Sahel, exploring the unique cultural landscape in which these ancient communities flourished. Richly illustrated and brilliantly argued, Sahel brings to life the enduring creativity of the different peoples who lived, traded, and traveled through this crossroads of the world.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (January 29–May 10, 2020)

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This illustrated history highlights the diversity and innovation of American ceramics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as artists responded to historical precedents and emerging modernist styles around the world Between the early 1880s and the early 1950s, pioneering American artists drew upon the rich traditions and recent innovations of European and Asian ceramics to develop new designs, decorations, and techniques. With splendid new photography, this book showcases these American interpretations of international trends, from the Arts and Crafts and Art Deco movements, through the modernism of Matisse and the Wiener Werkstätte, to abstracted, minimalist styles. Illustrations of more than 180 exemplary works—some of these never before published—accompany engaging essays by two of the foremost experts on American art pottery. The featured makers include Rookwood, Grueby, and Van Briggle potteries, as well as artists including Maija Grotell, George E. Ohr, Frederick Hurten Rhead, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Rockwell Kent, Adelaide Alsop Robineau, and Leza McVey. A vivid and accessible overview of American ceramics and ceramists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this publication reveals how diverse and global sources inspired works of astonishing ingenuity and variety by artists working in the United States. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (October 2021–October 2022)

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A pioneering study of how Picasso, Braque, and Gris engaged with the pictorial tradition of illusion and deception in their influential Cubist works The age-old tradition of pictorial illusionism, known as trompe l’oeil (“deceive the eye”), employs visual tricks that confound the viewer’s perception of reality and fiction, truth and falsehood. This radically new take on Cubism shows how Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris both parodied and paid homage to classic trompe l’oeil themes and motifs with wit and invention. More than one hundred illustrated works juxtapose Cubist paintings, drawings, and collages with related compositions by the old masters. Essays based on new research explore connections between the Cubists and the trompe l’oeil specialists of earlier centuries and their games of creative one-upmanship. The informed and engaging texts trace the changing status of trompe l’oeil over the centuries, reveal Braque’s training in artisanal trompe l’oeil techniques as an integral part of his Cubist practice, examine the materials used in Gris’s collages, and discuss the previously unstudied trompe l’oeil iconography within Cubist still lifes—including newspapers, word puns, pictures-within-pictures, imitation wood grain, and tools of the trade.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (October 20, 2022–January 22, 2023)

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The first publication on the personal and professional relationship between Manet and Degas, two giants of nineteenth-century French art Friends, rivals, and at times antagonists, Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas maintained a pictorial dialogue throughout their lives as they both worked to define the painting of modern urban life. Manet/Degas, the first book to consider their careers in parallel, investigates how their objectives overlapped, diverged, and shaped each other’s artistic choices. Enlivened by archival correspondence and records of firsthand accounts, essays by American and French scholars take a fresh look at the artists’ family relationships, literary friendships, and interconnected social and intellectual circles in Paris; explore their complex depictions of race and class; discuss their political views in the context of wars in France and the United States; compare their artistic practices; and examine how Degas built his personal collection of works by Manet after his friend’s premature death. An illustrated biographical chronology charts their intersecting lives and careers. This lavishly illustrated, in-depth study offers an opportunity to reevaluate some of the most canonical French artworks of the nineteenth century, including Manet’s Olympia, Degas’s The Absinthe Drinker, and other masterworks. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: Musée d’Orsay, Paris (March 27–July 23, 2023) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (September 24, 2023–January 7, 2024)

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The first book to study Vincent van Gogh’s fascination with cypresses, the “tall and dark trees” that feature in some of his most iconic pictures Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) immortalized the cypress tree in signature images that have become synonymous with his fiercely original power of expression. This richly illustrated publication illuminates the backstory of his invention for the first time, from his initial investigations of the motif in benchmark drawings from Arles to his realization of their full evocative potential in such iconic canvases as The Starry Night and Wheat Field with Cypresses, painted at the asylum in Saint-Rémy. Susan Alyson Stein retraces the Dutch artist’s inspired response to the flamelike evergreens as they gained ground in his works and artistic thinking over the course of his sojourn in the South of France. The volume provides further insight into Van Gogh’s creative process through a technical study focused on two celebrated works from the artist’s epic painting campaign of June 1889. The visual and literary heritage of the cypresses is featured in a compilation of images and excerpts from nineteenth-century poetry, novels, and travel writing—many translated into English for the first time. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (May 22–August 27, 2023)

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Nineteenth-century stoneware by enslaved and free potters living in Edgefield, South Carolina, highlights the central role of Black artists in the region’s long-standing pottery traditions Recentering the development of industrially scaled Southern pottery traditions around enslaved and free Black potters working in the mid-nineteenth century, this catalogue presents groundbreaking scholarship and new perspectives on stoneware made in and around Edgefield, South Carolina. Among the remarkable works included are a selection of regional face vessels as well as masterpieces by enslaved potter and poet David Drake, who signed, dated, and incised verses on many of his jars, even though literacy among enslaved people was criminalized at the time. Essays on the production, collection, dispersal, and reception of stoneware from Edgefield offer a critical look at what it means to collect, exhibit, and interpret objects made by enslaved artisans. Several featured contemporary works inspired by or related to Edgefield stoneware attest to the cultural and historical significance of this body of work, and an interview with acclaimed contemporary artist Simone Leigh illuminates its continued relevance.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (September 9, 2022–February 5, 2023) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (March 6–July 9, 2023) University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor (August 26, 2023–January 7, 2024) High Museum of Art, Atlanta (February 16–May 12, 2024)

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A comprehensive and breathtakingly illustrated presentation of the genius of Michelangelo by the world’s leading expert on the artist The Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) was especially celebrated for his disegno, a term that embraces both drawing and conceptual design. Featuring more than 200 drawings as well as paintings, sculpture, and architectural plans and views, this authoritative examines Michelangelo as “the divine draftsman and designer” whose work, according to Giorgio Vasari, embodied the unity of the arts. Carmen C. Bambach delivers a thorough and engaging narrative of the artist’s long career, beginning with his training under Ghirlandaio and Bertoldo and ending with his 17-year appointment as chief architect of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. In each thematic chapter, related drawings and other works are illustrated and discussed together, many for the first time, to provide new insights into Michelangelo’s creative process. In addition to St. Peter’s, other featured projects include the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Tomb of Pope Julius II, and the architecture of the Campidoglio in Rome. Michelangelo’s theories of art are also explored, and new consideration is given to his personal life and affections and their effect on his creative output. Magnificent in every way, this book will be the foremost publication about this remarkable artist for many years.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art (11/13/17–02/12/18)

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The first major exhibition catalogue to focus on Jacques Louis David’s drawings and their crucial role in his iconic history paintings made before, during, and after the French Revolution “A superb survey . . . a first-rate catalog . . . [a] cornucopia of masterworks.”—Colin B. Bailey, New York Review of Books Jacques Louis David’s (1748–1825) paintings are among the most iconic in the history of Western art, but comparatively little is known about the artist’s nearly 2,000 drawings—from quick chalk sketches scribbled in notebooks to exquisite ink compositions enlivened with oil paint—that formed the basis of beloved masterpieces such as The Oath of the Horatii and The Death of Socrates. Jacques Louis David: Radical Draftsman is the first major publication to focus on the often years-long process of trial and experimentation that progressed from initial idea to finished canvas. Including several recently discovered drawings published here for the first time, this book provides a new perspective on the celebrated master. Essays by international experts on the artist explore how David’s preparatory works on paper reveal the development of his creative process, while also bearing witness to the tumultuous years before, during, and after the French Revolution. As both a participant and an observer, David helped establish the new French society while documenting the drama, violence, and triumphs of modern history-in-the-making. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (February 17–May 15, 2022)

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An unprecedented look at the little-known paintings from Louise Bourgeois’s early years in New York that laid the groundwork for her sculptural practice “The catalog Louise Bourgeois: Paintings, and the revelatory exhibition, . . . were overseen by Clare Davies, who has commissioned an insightful essay from the art historian Briony Fer. But there’s another bonus: Beyond the paintings in the show, the catalog reproduces around 25 more, meaning that three-quarters of Bourgeois’s contribution to modern painting can now be seen in one place.”—Roberta Smith, New York Times, “Best Art Books of 2022” Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) is celebrated today for her sculptures. Less known are the paintings she produced between her arrival in New York in 1938 and her turn to three-dimensional media in 1949. Crucial to her artistic practice, these early works—the focus of this groundbreaking publication—show how Bourgeois evolved her deeply personal artistic lexicon, and how the themes and motifs she explored in her paintings coalesced into symbols of her sculptural practice. Informed by new archival research and the artist’s extensive diaries, Louise Bourgeois: Paintings explores Bourgeois’s relationship to the New York art world of the 1940s and her development of a unique pictorial language, adding a key element to our understanding of this crucial artist’s career. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (April 11–August 7, 2022) New Orleans Museum of Art (September 8, 2022–January 8, 2023)

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A completely new way of looking at and understanding Surrealism, with a focus on the worldwide sweep of the movement“The variety of discoveries, detailed with exceptional scholarship in a ravishing keeper of a catalogue, defeat generalization.”—Peter Schjeldahl, New Yorker This groundbreaking book challenges conventional narratives of Surrealism, tracing its impact and legacy from the 1920s to the late 1970s in places as diverse as Colombia, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania, Syria, Thailand, and Turkey. In doing so, it presents a more inclusive and accurate understanding of the fundamentally international character and lasting significance of the revolutionary artistic, literary, and philosophical movement. Vibrantly illustrated with more than 300 works of art by both well-known figures—including Dalí, Ernst, Kahlo, Magritte, and Miró—and numerous underrepresented artists, this expansive book pushes beyond the borders of history, geography, and nationality to provocatively redraw the map of the Surrealist movement, investigating how its visual languages, ideals, theories, and practices were framed or reframed in contexts far from its Parisian origins. Contributions from more than 40 distinguished international scholars explore themes such as the channels used to transmit ideas; artists’ responses to the challenges of political oppression, social unrest, and the effects of colonialism; and experiences of displacement and exile in the twentieth century. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (October 4, 2021–January 30, 2022)Tate Modern, London (February 25–August 29, 2022)

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Illuminating three centuries of European artistry and ingenuity, this volume in The Met’s acclaimed How to Read series provides a wide-ranging exploration of decorative arts from British writing tables to Russian snuffboxes Spanning three centuries of creativity, from the High Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution, this volume in The Met’s How to Read series provides a peek into daily lives across Europe—from England, Spain, and France to Germany, Denmark, and Russia. Featuring 40 exemplary objects, including furniture, tableware, utilitarian items, articles of personal adornment, devotional objects, and display pieces, this publication covers many aspects of European society and lifestyles, from the modest to the fabulously wealthy. The book considers the contributions of renowned masters, such as the Dutch cabinetmaker Jan van Mekeren and the Italian goldsmith Andrea Boucheron, as well as talented amateurs, among them the anonymous young Englishwoman who embroidered an enchanting chest with scenes from the Story of Esther. The works selected include both masterpieces and less familiar examples, some of them previously unpublished, and are discussed not only in light of their art-historical importance but also with regard to the social issues relevant to each, such as the impact of colonial slavery or the changing status of women artists. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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This comprehensive catalogue of ancient terracotta oil lamps found in Cyprus situates the objects within larger cultural and social contexts and elucidates their varied decoration The fourth catalogue in a series that documents the renowned Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art, this book focuses on the collection’s 453 terracotta oil lamps dating from the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Early Byzantine periods. The rich iconography on many of these common, everyday objects offers a rare look into daily life on Cyprus in antiquity and highlights the island’s participation in Roman artistic and cultural production. Each lamp is illustrated, and the accompanying text addresses the objects’ typology, decoration, and makers’ marks while providing new insights into art, craft, and trade in the ancient Mediterranean.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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A groundbreaking volume resituating the Harlem Renaissance as integral to the development of twentieth-century modernism

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A lavishly illustrated monograph that spans the entire career of Gerhard Richter, one of the most celebrated contemporary artists "Spans the contemporary German artist's six-decade career. . . . [A] stirring exhibition in [its] own right."—New York Times"[A] weighty catalogue... illuminat[es] some less-visited corners of Richter's oeuvre."—New York Review of Books Over the course of his acclaimed 60-year career, Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) has employed both representation and abstraction as a means of reckoning with the legacy, collective memory, and national sensibility of post–Second World War Germany, in both broad and very personal terms. This handsomely designed book features approximately 100 of his key canvases, from photo paintings created in the early 1960s to portraits and later large-scale abstract series, as well as select works in glass. New essays by eminent scholars address a variety of themes: Sheena Wagstaff evaluates the conceptual import of the artist’s technique; Benjamin H. D. Buchloh discusses the poignant Birkenau paintings (2014); Peter Geimer explores the artist’s enduring interest in photographic imagery; Briony Fer looks at Richter’s family pictures against traditional painting genres and conventions; Brinda Kumar investigates the artist’s engagement with landscape as a site of memory; André Rottmann considers the impact of randomization and chance on Richter’s abstract works; and Hal Foster examines the glass and mirror works. As this book demonstrates, Richter’s rich and varied oeuvre is a testament to the continued relevance of painting in contemporary art.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Met Breuer, New York (March 4–July 5, 2020)Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (August 14, 2020–January 19, 2021)

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This exploration of Francisco Goya’s graphic output reveals his technical virtuosity and boundless imagination This book presents the first focused investigation of Francisco Goya’s (1746–1828) graphic output. Spanning six decades, Goya’s works on paper reflect the transformation and turmoil of the Enlightenment, the Inquisition, and Spain’s years of constitutional government. Two essays, a detailed chronology, and more than 100 featured artworks illuminate the remarkable breadth and power of Goya’s drawings and prints, situating the artist within his historical moment. The selected pieces document the various phases and qualities of Goya’s graphic work—from his early etchings after Velázquez through print series such as the Caprichos and The Disasters of War to his late lithographs, The Bulls of Bordeaux, and including albums of drawings that reveal the artist’s nightmares, dreams, and visions.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (February 8–May 2, 2021)

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Lisht, twenty miles south of Cairo, has been the site of excavations since its discovery in 1906, and since that time scholars at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art have published a series of volumes about this Middle Kingdom site. This new book in the series “Egyptian Expedition Publications of The Metropolitan Museum of Art” focuses on the architecture of the pyramid complex of King Amenemhat I, which was built on a foundation using Old Kingdom blocks. The publication brings together new information obtained from numerous expeditions and many years of research and analysis. It includes photographs from the original finding in the early 20th century as well as new, unpublished drawings of wall reliefs and inscriptions. Documenting an area of excavation in Egypt that has suffered recent damage and continues to be threatened, this book provides indispensable insight to students and scholars of Egyptian archaeology and architecture. This sumptuously produced large-format volume contains 99 plates, 41 of them in colour.

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A penetrating reevaluation of the period in which the German Expressionist George Grosz created his best-known, most searing satirical works This overdue investigation of George Grosz’s (1893–1959) most compelling paintings, drawings, prints, and collages offers a reassessment of the celebrated German Expressionist during his years in Berlin—from his earliest artistic endeavors to the trenchant satirical images and searing depictions of moral decay between the World Wars for which he is known today. Menacing street scenes, rowdy cabarets, corrupt politicians, wounded soldiers, greedy war profiteers, and other symbols of Berlin’s interwar decline all met with the artist’s relentless gaze, which exposed the core social issues that eventually led to Germany’s extreme nationalist politics. Featuring masterpieces as well as rarely published works, this book provides further insight into the artist’s creative pinnacle, reached during this critical and ominous period in German history. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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In this important and timely publication, top international scholars present current research and developments about the art, archaeology, and history of the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Syria. Palmyra became tragic headline news in 2015, when it was overtaken by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which destroyed many of its monuments and artifacts. The essays in this book include new scholarship on Palmyra’s origins and evolution as well as developments from both before and after its damage by ISIS, providing new information that will be relevant to current and future generations of art historians and archaeologists. The book also includes a moving tribute by Waleed Khaled al-Asa’ad to his father, Khaled al-Asa’ad, the Syrian archaeologist and head of antiquities at Palmyra, who was brutally murdered by ISIS in 2015 for defending the site. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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This engaging exploration of the Maya pantheon introduces readers to the complex stories of Mesoamerican divinity through the stunning carvings, ceramics, and metalwork of the Classic period Focusing on the period between A.D. 250 and 900, Lives of the Gods reveals that ancient Maya artists evoked a pantheon as rich and complex as the more familiar Greco-Roman, Hindu-Buddhist, and Egyptian deities. The authors show how this powerful cosmology informed some of the greatest creative achievements of Maya civilization, represented here from the monumental to the miniature through more than 140 works in jade, stone, and clay. Thematic chapters supported by new scholarship on recent archaeological discoveries detail the different types of gods and their domains, the role of the divine in the lives of the ancient Maya, and the continuation of these traditions from the colonial period through the present day. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (November 21, 2022–April 2, 2023) Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (May 7–September 3, 2023)

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The first comprehensive, posthumous monograph and retrospective on Bernd and Hilla Becher, best known for their photographs of industrial structures in Europe and North America For more than five decades, Bernd (1931–2007) and Hilla (1934–2015) Becher collaborated on photographs of industrial architecture in Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, and the United States. This sweeping monograph features the Bechers’ quintessential pictures, which present water towers, gas tanks, blast furnaces, and more as sculptural objects. Beyond the Bechers’ iconic Typologies, the book includes Bernd’s early drawings, Hilla’s independent photographs, and excerpts from their notes, sketchbooks, and journals. The book’s authors offer new insights into the development of the artists’ process, their work’s conceptual underpinnings, the photographers’ relationship to deindustrialization, and the artists’ legacy. An essay by award-winning cultural historian Lucy Sante and an interview with Max Becher, the artists’ son, make this volume an unrivaled look into the Bechers’ art, life, and career. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (July 11–October 30, 2022)San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (December 17, 2022–April 2, 2023)

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An accessibly written and superbly illustrated introduction to armor used for battle, tournament, and ceremony This engaging book offers an introduction to and overview of armor in Europe from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, focusing in particular on the 16th century when plate armor reached its peak of stylistic beauty and functional perfection. Created by highly skilled armorers, often in cooperation with noted artists and commissioned by wealthy patrons, armor was worn for centuries on the battlefield, in festive tournaments, and for ceremonial events. Through informative discussions of representative works from the Metropolitan Museum’s world-renowned collection, this new addition to the popular How to Read series shows what to look for when examining armor, the pieces that make up a typical suit of armor, how the parts work, the various methods used to decorate armor, and how armor became an important part of so many museum collections today. The book features a wealth of new photography of historically important armor and other works of art from the Metropolitan Museum and select pieces from other institutions.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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A critical reexamination of Carpeaux’s bust Why Born Enslaved! and other nineteenth-century antislavery images—this book interrogates the treatment of the Black figure as a malleable political symbol and locus of exoticized beauty This critical reexamination of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s iconic bust Why Born Enslaved! unpacks the sculpture’s complex and sometimes contradictory engagement with an antislavery discourse. Noted art historians and writers discuss how categories of racial difference grew in popularity in the nineteenth century alongside a crescendo in cultural production in France during the Second Empire. By focusing on Why Born Enslaved! and comparing it to works by Carpeaux’s contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as to objects by twenty-first-century artists Kara Walker and Kehinde Wiley, this volume explores such key themes as the portrayal of Black enslavement and emancipation; the commodification of images of Black figures; the role of sculpture in generating the sympathies of its audiences; and the relevance of Carpeaux’s sculpture to legacies of empire. The book also provides a chronology of events central to the histories of transatlantic slavery, abolition, colonialism, and empire.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (March 10, 2022–March 5, 2023)

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An indispensable introduction to the evolution of Buddhist imagery from its origins in India through its spread to China, Japan, and South Asia For more than 2,000 years, sublime works of art have been created to embody essential aspects of Buddhist thought, which developed and evolved as its practice spread from India to East Asia and beyond. How to Read Buddhist Art introduces this complex visual tradition to a general audience by examining sixty seminal works. Beginning with the origins of representations of the Buddha in India, and moving on to address the development of Buddhist art as the religion spread across Asia, this book conveys how Buddhist philosophy affected artistic works and practice across cultural boundaries. Reliquaries, sculptures, and paintings produced in China, the Himalayas, Japan, Korea, and South and Southeast Asia provide insight into the rich iconography of Buddhism, the technical virtuosity of their makers, and the social and political climate in which they were created. Beautiful photographs of the artworks, maps, and a glossary of the major Buddhist deities offer an engaging and informative setting in which readers—regardless of their familiarity with Buddhism—can better understand the art related to the religion’s practices and representations.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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A look at the artistic and technical innovation of British printmaking from World War I to the eve of World War II, as artists from the Grosvenor School and beyond harnessed an emerging modernist style Throughout the tumultuous decades of the early twentieth century, the graphic arts flourished in Great Britain as artists sought to portray everyday life during the machine age. This richly illustrated volume reintroduces rare print works from the collection of Leslie and Johanna Garfield into the narrative of modernism, demonstrating their relationship to other movements such as Cubism, Futurism, and Constructivism. Essays explore how artists turned to printmaking to alleviate trauma, memorialize their wartime experiences, and capture the aspirations and fears of the twenties and thirties. Special attention is given to the linocut technique revolutionized by Claude Flight and his students at London’s Grosvenor School of Modern Art. Highlighted as well are the pioneering works of artists such as C. R. W. Nevinson, Sybil Andrews, Cyril E. Power, Paul Nash, Edward Wadsworth, Edith Lawrence, Ursula Fookes, and Lill Tschudi. In their quest to promote a more democratic art, these artists created innovative graphics that portrayed in subject, form, material, and technique the dynamic era in which they lived.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (October 21, 2021–January 17, 2022)

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Innovation, technology, and spectacle combine in wondrous works of decorative art and furniture that embody the splendor and luxury of the royal courts of Europe At once beautiful works of art and technological wonders, the objects featured in Making Marvels demonstrate how European royalty from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment signaled their status through their collections of ingeniously crafted inventions. Featuring 150 exemplary objects ranging from mechanical toys to scientific instruments, timepieces to automata, this groundbreaking study brings to life a glorious period when luxury, a quest for knowledge, scientific invention, and political power combined to produce remarkable works of art. More than frivolous playthings, these works inspired technical innovations that influenced a broad spectrum of activities, including astronomy, engineering, and artisanal craftsmanship. This remarkable volume explores works in a wide range of materials, including precious metals, gemstones, pietra dura, marble, ivory, wood, bone, shell, glass, and paper. The book’s compelling essays address the layered historical context in which these objects were fashioned and gathered into cabinets of wonder at courts throughout Europe; elucidate their complex blending of art and science; and provide fascinating details about the patrons who commissioned them and the specialists who made them.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (November 25, 2019–March 1, 2020)

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In the summer of 1905, the French painters Henri Matisse and André Derain changed the course of art history with their radical color experiments During the summer of 1905, Henri Matisse and André Derain went on holiday in Collioure, a modest French fishing village fifteen miles from the Spanish border. This groundbreaking book examines how two artists, entranced by the shifting light and stunning imagery of the eastern Mediterranean, laid the groundwork for the movement known as Fauvism (from the French fauve, or “wild beast”). Featuring more than 70 paintings, watercolors, and drawings produced by Matisse and Derain during their stay, the book also brings to life their personal and artistic revelations with 21 of their letters, published here for the first time in English. Vivid and engaging texts detail their daring experiments with color, form, structure, and perspective; the scandal their paintings caused when they were exhibited several months later; and how, despite the jeering remarks from critics, these works changed the course of French painting. Emphasizing as never before the legacy of that summer, this publication shows how the two artists’ radical investigations galvanized their contemporaries, and how this strain of modernism, created almost by accident, resonates even into the present day. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition ScheduleThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (October 13, 2023–January 21, 2024)The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (February 25–May 27, 2024)

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An enlightening, accessible guide to understanding and appreciating European art from the Middle AgesHow to Read Medieval Art introduces the art of the European Middle Ages through 50 notable examples from the Metropolitan Museum’s collection, which is one of the most comprehensive in the world. This handsomely illustrated volume includes multi-panel altarpieces, stained glass windows, wooden sculpture, as well as manuscript illuminations, and features iconic masterworks such as the Merode Altarpiece, Unicorn Tapestries, and The Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry. Formal explorations of individual works, chosen to exemplify key ideas crucial to understanding medieval art, are accompanied by relevant information about the context in which they were created, conveying the works’ visual nuances but also their broader symbolic meaning. Superb color illustrations further reveal the visual and conceptual richness of medieval art, providing the reader with a deeper understanding of the history and iconography of this pivotal era.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Distributed by Yale University Press

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Featuring texts by leading scholars of the history and culture of medieval Armenia, this book offers an in-depth look at its art, trade, and religious traditions The papers in this volume, first presented at an international symposium celebrating The Met’s blockbuster 2018 exhibition, Armenia!, explore the art and culture of a civilization that served as a pivotal crossroads on the border between East and West. Contributors address Armenia’s roles in facilitating exchange with the Mongol, Ottoman, and Persian empires to the East and with Byzantium and European Crusader states to the West. Essays also explore the ways in which elements of these cultures commingled in Armenian art and religion—Armenian artists and craftspeople produced an astonishing range of religious objects that drew upon influences from both Europe and Asia but ultimately created a uniquely Armenian visual identity. The authors explore the effects of this dualistic tension in the history of Armenian art and how it persists into the present, as this land situated at a crossroads of civilization continues to grapple with the legacy of genocide and counters new threats to its sovereignty, integrity, and cultural language. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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Explores how artists from the European Renaissance to the global present have used sculpture and color to evoke the presence of the living body Since the earliest myths of the sculptor Pygmalion bringing a statue to life through desire, artists have explored the boundaries between sculpture and the physical materiality of the body. This groundbreaking volume examines key sculptural works from 13th-century Europe to the global present, revealing new insights into the strategies artists deploy to blur the distinction between art and life. Sculpture, which has historically taken the human figure as its subject, is presented here in myriad manifestations created by artists ranging from Donatello and Degas to Picasso, Kiki Smith, and Jeff Koons. Featuring works created in traditional media such as wood and marble as well as the unexpected such as wax, metal, and blood, Like Life presents sculpture both conventional and shocking, including effigies, dolls, mannequins, automata, waxworks, and anatomical models. Containing texts by art and cultural historians as well as interviews with contemporary artists, this is a provocative exploration of three-dimensional representations of the human body.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Met Breuer (03/21/18–07/22/18)

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A compelling look at the aesthetic and historical significance of Lagerfeld’s work—from his elegantly tailored pieces for Chanel to the witty, playful ensembles that came to define the Lagerfeld brand “The Met’s latest tome expertly narrates the journey that earned Lagerfeld his seat at the hallowed throne of modern high fashion.”—V Magazine Unparalleled in its luxurious presentation, this publication celebrates the virtuoso artistry of Karl Lagerfeld (1933–2019). Designed to evoke an elegant parchment-and-cloth artist’s portfolio, it boasts a pageant of stunning fashion photography alongside Lagerfeld’s original sketches, offering a behind-the-scenes window into his process as well as his sartorial brilliance. Silver inks and select gold pages punctuate the book’s stylish packaging and recall the designer’s signature accessories. An illustrated timeline, unfurling from the back of the volume, chronicles the designer’s long and illustrious career. Lagerfeld produced over 10,000 pieces of clothing across his extraordinary 65 years as a powerhouse fashion designer, from his time at Chloé and Fendi in the 1960s and 1970s to his celebrated leadership in the 1980s and beyond at Chanel and with his own label. His voracious curiosity and boundless imagination yielded beautiful, evocative garments, more than 200 of which are showcased here. These are accompanied by personal reflections from Lagerfeld’s premières d’ateliers—the seamstresses behind his extraordinary creations—as well as by Anna Wintour, Patrick Hourcade, Amanda Harlech, and Tadao Ando. A lavish work of art in its own right, this book is also an essential resource on Lagerfeld and how his designs transformed the entire fashion industry. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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An exploration of late nineteenth-century American literary postersa vibrant genre at the vanguard of modern commercial art and graphic design

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This informative publication is a continuation of the series documenting The Metropolitan Museum of Arts excavations at the Middle Kingdom Egyptian site at Lisht. This volume covers the relief decoration from three different locations or structures. These reliefs furnish a welcome addition to the little-known relief decoration of pyramid temples of the Middle Kingdom. Presenting previously unpublished materials and including informative, high quality photographs of the relief blocks, this essential resource preserves the decoration at this endangered historic site and makes substantial contributions to the study of Middle Kingdom Egypt. This sunptuously produced large-format volume includes 154 plates, some in colour.

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This vibrant publication brings to life four centuries of extraordinary garments and accessories inspired by the natural world

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A fresh and unconventional approach to exploring 6,000 years of art history through 800 masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Featuring more than 800 artworks from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, this groundbreaking book — organized by thematic keywords — draws upon The Met's online Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History — offering fresh, unconventional ways of engaging with visual culture. Discover how artists see the world and inspire each other with common themes and sensibilities, materials and techniques. Flowers, for example, have been seen in art for millennia — from Tutankhamun to the Dutch Golden Age, from Van Gogh's still lifes to Georgia O'Keeffe's monumental close-ups. Seen side by side, Art = reveals new connections between artists of different times and places, offering a fresh perspective on beloved works. Beyond the wealth of 1,000 illustrations arranged by theme, dive deeper into art history with 160 engaging and enlightening essays written by experts at the museum, to create your own personal tour through this unsurpassed collection. A foldout, detachable timeline offering further perspective is also included.

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From landscapes and seascapes to still lifes and portraits, this 12-month calendar highlights 13 vibrant paintings by renowned Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, including Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, Camille Pissarro, and Auguste Renoir. Throughout the year, journey from Paris to Provence and take pleasure in these breathtaking masterpieces. All of the works of art featured are from the world-famous collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Features include: 12 x 12 (12 x 24 open) Printed on FSC-certified paper with soy-based ink Planning spread for SeptemberDecember 2024 Spans JanuaryDecember 2025 Generous grid space for notes, appointments, and reminders Official major world holidays and observances Moon phases, based on Universal Time Information about each work of art shown

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New York City and all its splendor is showcased in this weekly engagement calendar featuring 56 works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art by artists who lived and worked in Gotham, including Jacob Lawrence, Florine Stettheimer, Currier and Ives, and William James Glackens. From the tip of Liberty’s torch to the top of the Empire State Building, from the crowds at Coney Island to the lawns of Central Park, every week offers a new sight to enjoy as you keep track of appointments and occasions. Features include: Cover painting by Dong Kingman (American, 1911–2000) 7" x 9" (14" x 9" open) Spiralbound paperback Printed on FSC-certified paper with soy-based ink Packaged in a sturdy, full-color gift box Spans 12 months from January–December 2024 Sunday–Saturday weeks Pages alternate between glossy for images and matte for calendar pages for ease of writing Generous grid space for notes, appointments, and reminders Official major world holidays and observances Moon phases, based on Universal Time Year-at-a-glance pages for 2024 and 2025 Extra lined pages at back for notes An identifying caption and a brief descriptive historical text accompany each work of art

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Celebrated for his captivating colors and lively brushwork, Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) pursued various vocations before becoming an artist at the age of twenty-seven, creating thousands of pieces in a short span. This weekly engagement calendar showcases 56 of his renowned still lifes, portraits, and landscapes, from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as other museums throughout the world. Features include: Cover painting by Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) 7" x 9" (14" x 9" open) Spiralbound paperback Printed on FSC-certified paper with soy-based ink Packaged in a sturdy, full-color gift box Spans 12 months from January–December 2024 Sunday–Saturday weeks Pages alternate between glossy for images and matte for calendar pages for ease of writing Generous grid space for notes, appointments, and reminders Official major world holidays and observances Moon phases, based on Universal Time Year-at-a-glance pages for 2024 and 2025 Extra lined pages at back for notes, goals, and more An identifying caption and a brief descriptive historical text accompany each work of art

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Suitable for children aged 8 to 12 years old, this title includes a pre-printed mosaic backing card, six sheets of different-coloured foam tiles with adhesive backing and a museum label, and a 16-page brochure of detailed, step-by-step instructions, photographs and cultural and artistic information about the design.

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Suitable for children aged 8 to 12 years old, this title includes a plastic mould, two sheets of gold-coloured metal, a rubbing tool, a stylus and a museum label, and a brochure of instructions, photographs and information about the griffin design.

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