Search results for ""Thames Hudson""

Photography has always been about experimentation, and anyone who thinks the advent of digital imaging might have stopped photographers from inventing new ways to impress their film is in for a big surprise. Experimental Photography presents the most interesting and creative modifications for low-cost film cameras, manual printing techniques and unconventional use of the medium. The book accompanies the reader through the world of photography special effects and manipulations documenting techniques, approaches, experimenters, camera makers and their extraordinary creations. One picture at a time, Experimental Photography compiles a manifesto against visual homogenization.

Read more less

Here is an exciting new survey of more than 30 young photographers from 14 countries who will have a pivotal role in shaping the fashion of the future. From Axel Hoedt’s bold graphic experimentation and fascination with traditional costume, to the colour-saturated, hyperreal images by Daniel Jackson, or the cool, neutral aesthetic of Hanna Putz’s photographs, the work is diverse, striking, sometimes shocking, but, like all great photography, utterly memorable. Unlike recent books on fashion photography, which inevitably bring together the established ‘names’ whose work already appears widely in international fashion magazines, this book embraces the fashion world’s obsession with freshness and youth: it looks beyond what is ‘now’ and showcases what comes ‘next’. An introduction by the author and texts on each photographer are also featured.

Read more less

While almost everybody knows Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline, the fact that the illustrator published over forty other titles remains a well-kept secret. The first title in Thames & Hudson’s brand-new series, this book offers a visually rich insight into the life and work of this important artist and writer. Ludwig Bemelmans grew up under the Austro-Hungarian empire and emigrated to the United States in his late teens, just escaping the outbreak of the First World War. His illustrations for the Madeline books offer a classic vision of Paris that has created a lasting impression on millions of readers. And every illustrator would love to know how he conveyed all the emotions of a spirited little girl drawn with just a few lines and dots; how did he achieve such clarity in simplicity? Laurie Britton Newell’s illustrated essay gathers material from Bemelmans’ diverse oeuvre, from novels, autobiographical stories, humorous articles and comic strips to murals and menus for hotels and restaurants. The book makes accessible this mesmerizing material, which is otherwise lost to the public, and connects it to the artist’s intriguing life. An icon of a fascinating era, Bemelmans through his magical work gives us glimpses of a life that embodied both hard work and glamour, in Paris and New York.

Read more less

Despite his posthumous fame as a painter of flowers, still-lifes, gardens, landscapes and city scenes, during his lifetime Vincent van Gogh believed that his portraits constituted his most important works. Although as an artist he was ‘touched by so many different things’, he was nevertheless committed to the art of portraiture – a quality that distinguished him from his contemporaries. Van Gogh was passionate in his avoidance of bland, photographic resemblances, in the hope of capturing the essential character of his models by means of expressive colour and brushwork. Showcasing a dramatic set of portraits created during Van Gogh’s ten-year career, this book reflects the strong visual impact with which the artist captured the diversity of contemporary life. In his many portraits, we can discern the artist’s desire to record expressively a number of themes, from the plight of the agricultural workers in his native Brabant and the destitution of prostitutes and their children in urban Europe, to the lives of his cosmopolitan acquaintances in Paris, including café owners and art dealers. It was here that he began his remarkable sequence of self-portraits. With reference to Van Gogh’s extensive correspondence, Skea elaborates how the artist perceived his chosen subjects as would a writer, and how he felt that his portraits should somehow evoke what he considered to be the spiritual underpinning of human existence

Read more less

A sophisticated look into the eight Greek myths that remain the most relevant to us today, exploring their powerful cultural impact from their ancient origins to the present. The Greek myths have been retold countless times, first by the conquering Romans, then through the medieval and Renaissance eras of Europe, and finally finding new expression in masterworks of art, literature and cinema on the global stage. Classical scholar Richard Buxton explores the stories at the heart of this ancient mythology and how they have come to influence our society today. The Greek legends seem to speak to us universally, their deities tantalizingly human - often indulging in behaviours morally ambiguous at best and obscene at worst - and their heroes dealing with dilemmas and destinies that echo, if exaggeratedly, conflicts in our own lives. The dramatic choices that such figures as Prometheus, Medea and Oedipus face have resonated with audiences over thousands of years. Each chapter focuses on a mythical character and the powerful stories and interpretations that surround them. Yet the myths’ relevance has not been uniform; they shift with the cultural tide. They have endured moments of censure, criticism, and even ridicule, but now their influence can be recognized almost everywhere, from opera to psychology, from fashion to contemporary art. How is it that these tales have retained their power to connect with our own fascinations, fears and desires, though they came from a world very different from our own? Here Buxton charts their cultural impact through a rich variety of re-imaginings, examining the many guises they have taken through the ages and the profound truths that they continue to illuminate.

Read more less

The Sick Rose is a beautifully gruesome and strangely fascinating visual tour through disease in an age before colour photography. This stunning volume, combining detailed illustrations of afflicted patients from some of the world’s rarest medical books, forms an unforgettable and profoundly human reminder of mankind’s struggle with disease. Incorporating historic maps, pioneering charts and contemporary case notes, Richard Barnett’s evocative overview reveals the fears and obsessions of an era gripped by epidemics.

Read more less

A true original: this lavishly photographed book captures the style of American fashion maverick Iris Apfel, who, over the past forty years, has cultivated a personal chic that is exuberantly idiosyncratic. Combining genres, colours, textures and patterns without regard to period, provenance or, ultimately, aesthetic convention, she is one of the few style icons of our time. Here, in over ninety sumptuous colour plates, Eric Boman shows off a selection of her extraordinary outfits on wittily posed mannequins.

Read more less

A magnificent catalogue of the V&A's collection of twentieth-century and contemporary British ceramics. Contemporary ceramicists working in Britain, including Rachel Kneebone, Grayson Perry and Edmund de Waal, are part of a broader international group of artists experimenting with clay, considering how it intersects and works in dialogue with other art forms and with culture at large. Recent experimentation with the medium owes much to the rapid evolution of ceramics into an expanded field, and to the work of mid- to late 20th-century potters and their reinvention of ceramics as a radical and contemporary art practice. The pioneering methods and rethinking of form in the work of exponents such as Bernard Leach, Michael Cardew, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper and Alan Caiger-Smith – whose reference points were drawn from East Asia, Africa, the ancient Mediterranean and the Middle East as much as from their own heritage – continue to influence and inspire contemporary makers. In his introductory essay, Alun Graves, Senior Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, provides all lovers of ceramics – collectors, practitioners, historians and those interested in modern and contemporary art and crafts – with the historical context, documenting the medium’s shift into an expressive, and sometimes interventionist, art form. An extensive visual catalogue, Studio Ceramics is the primary reference for 20th-century and contemporary British studio ceramics, and a record of the national collection of British ceramics held at the V&A.

Read more less

A contemporary look at Cecil Beaton’s portraits of the Royal Family and how they helped create the public face of the House of Windsor. Cecil Beaton: The Royal Portraits looks back in time to tell a very modern tale: the creation of a public image. Offering a fresh appraisal of Beaton’s portraits of the British royal family, the book explores not only the finished images but also the sittings in which they were created, revealing Beaton’s central role in shaping the public face of the House of Windsor and the ways in which he collaborated with his subjects. Organised chronologically, from the 1930s to the 1970s, each of the book's four chapters comprises an introductory essay, plates with extended captions, and one or two in-depth analyses of a particular sitting. Throughout, a variety of contextual material – contact sheets, test shots, out-takes, sketches, letters, journals, tear-sheets – helps build a detailed picture of Beaton's working methods, the relationships he developed with his sitters, and how the eventual portraits were received. Drawing on the Victoria and Albert Museum’s unparalleled collection of Beaton’s photographs, Cecil Beaton: The Royal Portraits will appeal not only to those interested in the photographer and his work, but also to anyone for whom the distinction between the private world and the public face of the royal family remains a source of fascination.

Read more less

John Constable is one of the greatest painters of the English weather. His depictions of the sky are essential components of all his landscape paintings, from famous works such as The Hay Wain and Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows to his numerous cloud studies painted on Hampstead Heath, culminating in paintings in which the landscape beneath the ever-changing sky is completely absent. Constable kept a weather diary and was endlessly fascinated by the sky. In a letter written in 1821 to friend John Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury, Constable commented, ‘That landscape painter who does not make his skies a very material part of his composition, neglects to avail himself of one of his greatest aids ... It will be difficult to name a class of landscape in which the sky is not the key note, the standard of scale, and the chief organ of sentiment.’ Written by Mark Evans, a leading authority on the work of John Constable, Constable’s Skies captures the artist’s fascination with the sky and brings together his depictions of the English weather from throughout his career. It will appeal to a broad readership of museum visitors and art lovers, as well as practising landscape painters keen to learn new skills by studying the work of one of the most enduringly popular English artists of all time.

Read more less

The variety of patterns in the exquisitely wrought details of India’s architecture and interiors is boundless, and one can only marvel at the ways in which materials such as wood, stone and plaster have been transformed into masterworks of decorative art. Photographer and illustrator Henry Wilson has spent decades recording the pictorial imagination of the many thousands of craftsmen who have rendered abstract and representative patterns with such extraordinary patience and skill. This beautiful new colouring book presents a range of patterns and decorative motifs from across India, allowing you to explore designs from one of the world’s greatest and most creative cultures while rendering them in colourways that are entirely your own.

Read more less

This addition to the affordable Photofile series brings together the best work of Ernst Haas, one of the world's greatest photographers. One of the early pioneers of colour photography, Haas began his photographic career in the 1940s in Vienna, rising to fame following the publication of his photo essay on returning prisoners of war from Russia. In 1951, Haas decided to make his home in NewYork, and became renowned for his work with motion photography and advertising campaigns for companies such as Marlboro, Chrysler and Volkswagen. With a selection of his most representative images and a bibliography for further reading, this is an ideal introduction to the photographer.

Read more less

Gordon Parks (1912–2006) was a pioneering figure in 20th-century photography. As well as being the first African-American photographer to join the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and to become a staff photographer for Life magazine, he was also a writer, film director and composer. Although best known for documenting issues such as poverty, race relations and civil rights, he was remarkably versatile, turning his gift for visual narrative to subjects as diverse as news coverage, fashion, art and sport. He also captured prominent figures of his era, from Malcolm X to Marilyn Monroe, in a series of memorable portraits. Working in the US and around the world, he was driven by a commitment to social justice: ‘The common search for a better life and a better world is deeper than colour or blood.'

Read more less

Daido Moriyama is one of two new books this season in Thames & Hudson’s acclaimed ‘Photofile’ series. Each book brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive format and at an easily affordable price. Hailed by The Times as ‘finely produced’, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains some sixty full-page reproductions, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.

Read more less

Santiago Calatrava first made a name for himself in the late 1980s with delicately designed structures in Zürich that seem to grow out of the earth. He went on to create a series of highly innovative, iconic bridges across Europe, and in recent years he has drawn attention for such large-scale projects as the City of Arts and Sciences in his birth town, Valencia; the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro; and the World Transportation Hub at Ground Zero in New York. Originally trained as an engineer, Calatrava has, at heart, always leaned more towards artistic endeavours than purely structural ones: an entire floor of his residence in Zürich is devoted to creating paintings and sculpture, which he has pursued throughout his career. His influences range from art history and natural philosophy to antiquity, and he manages to combine these in buildings that are structurally highly stylized yet somehow timeless. While many books have documented Calatrava’s output over the years, this is the first to offer his own thoughts, in his own words, in a reading format. In this heartfelt memoir of an architect of singular conviction, Calatrava’s inspirations, lessons and achievements will touch every reader, whether aspiring architect or lover of art and nature.

Read more less

An inspirational sourcebook of innovative and unexpected green design solutions for our homes that address the environmental and social issues facing our world today. Featuring nineteen home-building and design strategies that are direct, original and often surprisingly simple, this inspirational sourcebook presents a mix of new technology and time-tested vernacular methods that will change the way we think about ‘home’. With strategies and houses that span the globe, including developing regions in Asia, Africa and South America, the book shines a spotlight on everything from wholly new techniques to creative reuse of existing buildings and materials. Nothing short of a design revolution is underway as we confront climate change, polluting plastics, global migration, rapidly expanding cities and an ageing population. Part handbook, part manifesto, Houses that Can Save the World shows how architects, designers, engineers, self-builders, artists and others are embracing the new challenges the human race is facing. Whether you are planning a self-build or are simply looking for ways to make your home more environmentally friendly and efficient, this book is packed with innovative ideas that can help us to make our homes and the world a better place to be.

Read more less

Founded in 2004 by partners Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, Neri&Hu Design and Research Office is an inter-disciplinary architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. Neri&Hu works internationally providing architecture, interior, master planning, graphic, and product design services. Currently working on projects in many countries, Neri&Hu is composed of multi-cultural staff who speak over thirty different languages. The diversity of the team reinforces a core vision for the practice: to respond to a global worldview incorporating overlapping design disciplines for a new paradigm in architecture. This is the most comprehensive monograph of the studio’s work, featuring around thirty projects at all scales.With 404 illustrations

Read more less

A new edition of this collection of Saul Leiter's distinctive work, featuring twelve new photographs. Saul Leiter was one of those photographers who sought neither fame nor commercial success, despite his talent for imagemaking. Born in Pittsburgh, he spent his entire adult life in New York City's East Village, in an intensely creative environment where ideas from Europe and America came together and intermingled. There he encountered Rothko and the Abstract Expressionists, and discovered street photography and the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. His mastery of colour is displayed in unconventional cityscapes in which reflections, transparency, complex framing and mirroring effects are married to a very personal printing style, creating a unique kind of urban view.

Read more less

Traces a key turning point in the history of photography: the young Joel Meyerowitz's early experiments in colour photography. An early advocate of colour photography, Joel Meyerowitz has impacted and influenced generations of artists. For fifty-eight years, the master photographer has documented the US’s ever-changing social landscape. For a while, during the late 1960s, Meyerowitz carried two cameras: one loaded with monochrome stock, the other with colour. Just how, when and why US fine-art photographers switched from black-and-white image-making, which was prized within the gallery system, to colour photography, once seen as the preserve of the holiday snapper, has been the cause of much debate. In this book, Meyerowitz tells the story of his early days as a photographer when he was told that serious photographers took black & white pictures. 'But why?' he asked, 'when the world is in colour?' He proceed to buy a colour camera and various rolls of films and to read manuals and experiment with colour techniques: a passion he continued to pursue all his life...

Read more less

A raucous yet reflective look back at the evolution of the music press and the passionate rock and pop journalists who defined the music of the 20th century. Totally Wired is the definitive story of the music press on both sides of the Atlantic, tracing its rise and fall from humble beginnings nearly 100 years ago. Along the way, this potent creative breeding ground for scores of writers, publishers, photographers, designers and music-makers tested the very limits of journalistic endeavour and influenced the wider worlds of film, media and pop. Focusing on developments from the 1950s to the 2000s, a period that witnessed rock ’n’ roll, mod, the Summer of Love, glam, punk, pop, reggae, dance music, R&B and hip-hop, Paul Gorman chronicles the stories of individual magazines from their Tin Pan Alley beginnings and the countercultural foundation of Rolling Stone and the underground press. He explores the 1970s heyday of NME, Melody Maker and Sounds plus such punk-rock publications as Sniffin’ Glue and Temporary Hoarding; tracks the emergence of dedicated monthlies Q, The Face and Mojo as well as dance-culture independents like Boy’s Own and Jockey Slut; and spotlights feminist and Riot Grrrl ’zines Ben Is Dead and Girlfrenzy along with the rise of media by and for people of colour, from Black Music and Black Echoes in the 1970s to The Source, Vibe and XXL in the 1990s. Evoking the music press’s kaleidoscopic visual identities, Totally Wired is illustrated with rare and legendary magazine artwork throughout. Painting a complete picture of the scene, Gorman discusses the role played by such writers as Lester Bangs, Charles Shaar Murray and Nick Kent in the development of the careers of, among others, David Bowie, the Clash and Led Zeppelin. He also tackles the entrenched sexism and racism faced by women and those from marginalized communities by highlighting publications and individuals whose contributions have been unfairly overlooked. The resulting narrative, containing stories of unbound talent, blind ambition and sometimes bitter rivalry, makes Totally Wired a riveting and roller-coaster read.

Read more less

The perfect primer on the surrealist writer and photographer Claude Cahun. Claude Cahun (1894–1954), the chosen name of the artist born Lucy Schwob, was best known in her lifetime as a writer but built up a remarkable body of photographic work that only came to prominence after her death. Politically active and involved with a wide circle of artists and intellectuals, including the Surrealists, Cahun followed her own rules in both life and art. She is best known for her strikingly staged self-portraits, in which she used costumes, makeup and technical effects to tackle themes of identity and self-representation. Her love of symmetry, mirroring, repurposing and retouching was also reflected in her approach to other styles of photography, including portraiture, photomontage and still-life tableaux. Whether working alone or in collaboration with her life partner Marcel Moore (born Suzanne Malherbe), Claude Cahun was a pioneering figure in the aesthetics of modernity who never stopped crossing boundaries of gender and genre.

Read more less

The gripping stories of the most colourful and formidable characters to challenge the might of Rome. Until recently, it was assumed that Rome carried the torch of civilization into the barbarian darkness, bringing law, architecture, and literature to conquered peoples. The alternative view now suggests that many of Rome's enemies - the Celts, Hebrews, and Phoenicians, for example - were developing civilizations in their own right before obliteration at the Roman sword. Indeed, as Philip Matyszak argues, had Rome not crushed rivals so completely, the drop into the Dark Ages might not have occurred; at Rome's collapse, no other powerful civilizations remained to absorb the impact. This engrossing book looks at the growth and eventual demise of Rome from the viewpoint of those vanquished by Rome. They varied from the highly cultivated Greeks and Egyptians to wild and rebellious Britons and Germans, to the Asiatic empires of the Persians and Parthians. Their leaders were driven by ambition, vindictive hatred, fear, political calculation, or naked greed. Some fought to preserve their heritage, some for personal survival, and others from a warrior's love of battle. Defying the might of Rome was a dangerous business, and few of the men and women described here died in their beds. Some, like Vercingetorix and Jugurtha, were captured, exhibited in triumph, and then, while their conquerors sat down to a festive dinner, killed in the dungeons below. Rather than face such an end, some of Rome's greatest adversaries, including Hannibal, Boudicca, and Cleopatra, killed themselves. Here is the reality behind legends such as Spartacus the gladiator, and the stories of Shapur the conqueror and Mithridates the connoisseur of poisons. Some enemies of Rome were noble heroes, others were murdering villains, but each has a unique and fascinating story.

Read more less

A fascinating portrait of gay men and women throughout time whose lives have influenced society at large, as well as what we recognize as today’s varied gay culture. This book gives a voice to more than eighty people from every major continent and from all walks of life. It includes poets and philosophers, rulers and spies, activists and artists. Alongside such celebrated figures as Michelangelo, Frederick the Great and Harvey Milk are lesser-known but no less surprising individuals: Dong Xian and the Chinese emperor Ai, whose passion flourished in the 1st century BC; the unfortunate Robert De Péronne, first to be burned at the stake for sodomy; Katharine Philips, writing proto-lesbian poetry in seventeenth-century England; and 'Aimee' and 'Jaguar', whose love defied the death camps of wartime Germany. With many striking illustrations, Gay Life Stories will entertain, give pause for thought, and ultimately celebrate the diversity of human history.

Read more less

A comprehensive design resource that reveals how the iconic chairs of the 20th and 21st centuries have been designed for mass production. Chair Anatomy reveals in photos and illustrations the form and the construction details – the anatomy – of a selection of nearly sixty chairs chosen from the last 160 years of modern chair design. It also introduces the designers behind these chairs, their backgrounds and their routes to creating the chairs. In reducing chairs to their constituent parts, the book gets to the heart of each design: how pieces are designed and produced to fit together; why a certain material imparts a certain quality; functional advance or comfort level; and how the chair’s structure can withstand stress while being elegant and economical to produce. In short, a chair is architecture in miniature. This revised and expanded edition features five new chairs, including the Hemp Chair by Werner Aisslinger (2011), Bruto by Konrad Lohöfener (2018) and Chubby by Dirk van der Kooij (2012). Each represents new technological, constructional and aesthetic solutions.

Read more less

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A burst of springtime joy' Daily Telegraph 'A springboard for ideas about art, space, time and light' The Times 'Lavishly illustrated' Guardian David Hockney reflects upon life and art as he experiences lockdown in rural Normandy On turning eighty, David Hockney sought out rustic tranquility for the first time: a place to watch the sunset and the change of the seasons; a place to keep the madness of the world at bay. So when Covid-19 and lockdown struck, it made little difference to life at La Grande Cour, the centuries-old Normandy farmhouse where Hockney set up a studio a year before, in time to paint the arrival of spring. In fact, he relished the enforced isolation as an opportunity for even greater devotion to his art. Spring Cannot be Cancelled is an uplifting manifesto that affirms art’s capacity to divert and inspire. It is based on a wealth of new conversations and correspondence between Hockney and the art critic Martin Gayford, his long-time friend and collaborator. Their exchanges are illustrated by a selection of Hockney’s new, unpublished Normandy iPad drawings and paintings alongside works by van Gogh, Monet, Bruegel, and others. We see how Hockney is propelled ever forward by his infectious enthusiasms and sense of wonder. A lifelong contrarian, he has been in the public eye for sixty years yet remains entirely unconcerned by the view of critics or even history. He is utterly absorbed by his four acres of northern France and by the themes that have fascinated him for decades: light, colour, space, perception, water, trees. He has much to teach us, not only about how to see... but about how to live.

Read more less

The practice of ceramics is steeped in history and tradition. For thousands of years humans have exploited the versatile qualities of clay as a material to produce items ranging from humble utilitarian vessels integral to family living, right through to exquisite works of art. Ceramics Masterclass explores this diverse discipline by showcasing 100 of the most innovative and inspiring artists past and present, analysing the techniques and methods used to create the works, and the concepts which underpin their creative process. It shows how to recreate intricate still-life dioramas like 15th-century artist Bernard Palissy, explore narrative like Grayson Perry and convey sensitivity to material like Phoebe Cummings. Arranged thematically, Ceramics Masterclass includes chapters on vessels, batch production, sculptures, figurative works, installation and expanded field. Perfect for students, amateur ceramicists and professionals, this book represents a global perspective of historical and contemporary approaches to clay and be a catalyst for discovery and intrigue.

Read more less

The visual arts enrich our lives in many ways: bringing innovative ideas and the pleasures of beauty and emotion, but they can also confound. How To Understand Art sets out to enhance the viewer’s experience by breaking down the elements of art and sculpture to provide a firm basis for simple enjoyment as well as further investigation. With 100 visual examples drawn from across the globe, the stress is on how to assess art objectively – a key skill for any art student, museum visitor or cultural enthusiast. Janetta Rebold Benton guides the reader to re-evaluate their experiences of looking at art by learning to move beyond ‘I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like,’ and shift towards an understanding of ‘why I like it’. Materials and techniques are discussed – drawing, painting, printing, photography, sculpture and decorative art – making it possible to assess what can (and cannot) be done in certain media. The book also features a section devoted to six key artists who have had a particularly notable and innovative influence on the history of art: Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn, Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. Perfectly aimed at students and the general reader, this indispensable guide to the subject is well-placed to encourage questions and discussion, especially in the light of current debates surrounding class, ethnicity, gender and race.With 111 illustrations in colour

Read more less

This lively introduction tells the ever-evolving story of abstract art, tracing its history from the early 1900s right up to the present day. Emerging out of western movements such as Cubism and Expressionism, abstract art quickly became a global phenomenon, changing the face of modern and contemporary art. Stephanie Straine weaves accounts of well-known pioneers with fascinating insights into lesser-known ground-breakers from across the world. Although abstraction in art is often associated with vagueness or the forbiddingly theoretical, for many artists the abstract represents pure simplicity. Straine’s vivid discussion demystifies the work of over seventy innovative artists – from Wassily Kandinsky to Emma Kunz and Rana Begum – and develops our appreciation of their conceptual approach. A reference section includes a timeline of key exhibitions of abstract art, suggestions for further reading and a glossary of art terms.

Read more less

Cats playing a quiet game of cards, cats at the ballet, cats having a leisurely lunch on the grass, cats boating on the river… Here are the quintessential Impressionist cats, painted with vivid, joyous colours in their favourite haunts, at their ease in various ordinary activities. With their pensive, brooding expressions, cats lend themselves perfectly to reimagining the great works of the Impressionist masters, whether strolling among Monet’s wild poppies, sitting in Mary Cassatt’s loge at the opera, or even enjoying a Sunday dance at Renoir’s Bougival. They can be charming or steeped in mute despair, vulgar or lovingly maternal, bourgeois or intellectual – but they are always Impressionist cats, caught as if by the camera, spontaneous and unprepared.

Read more less

In Japanese life and culture, there has never been a clear distinction between art, craft and design. Generations of artisans have for centuries forged and refined their crafts, which have become the envy of the modern world. Regions of Japan are renowned for specific traditions, many of which are born of local materials and the natural settings in which they are produced. Visitors and craft and design enthusiasts have long known about the high quality of craftsmanship and the unique quality of these makers and the objects they create, though few are taken outside the country. Spurred by an awareness of the unseen treasures produced by these craftspeople, designer-authors Uwe Röttgen and Katharina Zettl set out across the country to find the finest examples, to document the makers and their workshops and the rural landscapes that surround them. The result is a breathtaking odyssey into the heart of Japanese culture. The authors portray twentyfive artisans, who work with natural materials to produce objects that are intended for everyday life but are worthy of museum display. Photographs and texts, drawn from close collaboration with each maker or studio, depict ancient techniques that continue to flourish, however much the world around them has changed. Craftland Japan is not merely a book about Japanese crafts: it is a glimpse into centuries of tradition and wisdom through the prism of contemporary makers. It celebrates the union of craft, design, materiality and landscape in a manner that most cultures can only hope to emulate.

Read more less

The long-awaited third monograph on the work of the most important British designer of his generation, showcasing projects from the last thirty years of his career. Neville Brody’s work sits at the intersections between graphic design, communication design and graphic art, pushing boundaries and blurring lines between them as he fuses influences from art, design, fashion, music, low and high cultures. Brody has been one of the most consistently innovative and shapeshifting graphic designers of the past fifty years. He has produced a body of commercial work covering editorial, brand identity, typography, systems, information and interface design of unparalleled boldness and sophistication for global clients that include Shiseido, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Nikon, LVMH, Nike and Dom Perignon, and UK clients such as the BBC, Channel 4, Tate Modern and The Times. The Graphic Language of Neville Brody 3 also captures a body of one-off creative works and site-specific collaborations that are motivated by creativity, political and cultural viewpoints, provocation, and expression. The Graphic Language of Neville Brody 3 brings almost thirty years of work together in thematic sections that address the key fields of his vibrant design projects, including typographic experimentation, cultural subversion, and design systems. Richly illustrated, each project is explored in detail, revealing the work that has defined Brody’s recent practise across six chapters, from major brands to magazine editorials and features, revealing how Brody’s design language has been informed, evolved and remarkably stayed true to key themes and ideas throughout his career to date. Brody has produced a rich, dynamic and surprising body of new work that will attract a new generation of designers and art directors. This inspirational volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution of graphic design over the past three decades.

Read more less

Written by a group of highly respected art historians, the fifth edition of this classic book now features full-colour artworks throughout, new chapter introductions, examinations of key ideas, and other helpful pedagogical support. Emphasizing the vitality of 19th-century art, the authors demonstrate how paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings by David, Géricault, Turner, Homer, Cassatt, Rodin, Van Gogh and many others remain relevant today. Using evocative and lucid prose, the authors reveal how concerns about class and gender, race and ethnicity, modernity and tradition, and popular and elite culture – ideas that arose in the course of the 19th century – motivated artists and propelled the movements under review.

Read more less

In this major monograph on Grayson Perry, now updated and expanded, writer and art historian Jacky Klein explores the artist’s work through a discussion of his major themes and subjects. Klein’s text is complemented by intimate and perceptive commentaries by Perry on individual pieces, giving unique access to his imaginative world and creative processes. This third edition not only has updates throughout, but also includes two new chapters, on the ‘House for Essex’, designed and built in 2015 with Living Architecture (a UK not-for-profit holiday rental company founded by philosopher and writer Alain de Botton, which aims to promote, educate and enhance appreciation of modern architecture), and on ‘Identity Politics’, covering new work made since the previous edition of this book was published in 2013.

Read more less

A richly illustrated, up-to-the-minute overview of new approaches in drawing, set in the context of recent developments of other forms of contemporary art. This book explores the variety of ways in which contemporary artists from around the world have come to approach drawing as the primary, sometimes the sole, element of their practice, and one which is autonomous: an end in itself rather than a means to an end in another, more substantial medium. In an era of advanced technologies where image production has accelerated – potentially beyond the capacity of human attention – what values can be attributed to the slow, deliberate process of drawing by hand? The artworks featured in this volume are not confined to traditional tools – one can also draw on a computer, tablet or smartphone, and examples of digital drawing are incorporated into the narrative not as a separate category but as one medium among many. Grouped thematically by specific approaches, including abstraction and figuration, nature and artifice, social observation and critique, with essays and feature spreads for each section, this selection of international artists of diverse backgrounds and experience includes not only recognizable names such as Michael Armitage, Camille Henrot, Robert Longo, Amy Sillman and Kara Walker, but also a host of emerging talents. Beautifully presented in a visually appealing and tactile format with the feel of an artist’s portfolio, this is an inspiring overview of the best drawing practice today.

Read more less

A spectacular global survey of the new buildings merging architecture and nature to transform our cities for a sustainable future. Concrete horizons, urban sprawl, high-density living: never have our cities and their buildings been in greater need of greening. Yet what’s required is more than an occasional vertical garden or living roof. Featuring seventy projects from around the world – some built, some ongoing, some from the future – Garden City looks at the increasingly inventive ways in which architects and designers are incorporating nature into the built environment, transforming the city for the benefit of all. From office buildings that incorporate urban farms and exchange the CO2 produced by humans for food and oxygen produced by plants, to lightweight systems for growing gardens on vertical surfaces; from ‘tree houses’ the size of city blocks to civic buildings that are ‘plugged into’ existing water-management systems – there are rich and often unexpected ideas for every inquiring designer. The future of our urban architecture is biologically alert, naturally self-sustaining and alive. Garden City is this future’s first manifesto.

Read more less

Whether you are keen to develop your interest in interior design and build your skills, or to pursue a career and begin a portfolio, then this book is for you. Specifically designed to cover all aspects of interior design, this intensive course introduces the practice of basic design principles through set projects. Inspiration and imagination are the first key steps to starting your study. Whatever your background, this course will encourage your individual creativity and help you to explore and further your own design ideas.

Read more less

Abandoned unfinished and left to rot on Venice’s Grand Canal, ‘il palazzo non finito’ was once an unloved guest among the aristocrats of Venetian architecture. Yet in the 20th century it played host to three passionate and unconventional women who would take the city by storm. The staggeringly wealthy Marchesa Luisa Casati made her new home a belle epoque aesthete’s fantasy and herself a living work of art; notorious British socialite Doris Castlerosse (née Delevingne) welcomed film stars and royalty to glittering parties between the wars; and American heiress Peggy Guggenheim amassed an exquisite collection of modern art, which today draws visitors from around the world. Each in turn used the Unfinished Palazzo as a stage on which to re-fashion her life, with a dazzling supporting cast ranging from D’Annunzio and Nijinsky, through Noël Coward, Winston Churchill and Cecil Beaton, to Yoko Ono. Individually sensational and collectively remarkable, these stories of modern Venice tell us much about the ways women chose to live in the 20th century.

Read more less

Classic graffiti lettering and experimental typographical forms lie at the heart of street culture and have long inspired designers in many different fields. But graffiti artists, who tend to paint the same letters of their tag again and again, rarely design complete alphabets. Claudia Walde has spent over two years collecting alphabets by 154 artists from 30 countries with a view to showing the many different styles and approaches to lettering within the graffiti and street art cultures. All of the artists have roots in graffiti. Some are world renowned such as 123 Klan (Canada), Faith47 (South Africa) and Hera (Germany); others are lesser known or only now starting to emerge. Each artist received the same brief: to design all 26 letters of the Latin alphabet within the limits of a single page of the book. How they approached this task and selected the media with which to express their ideas was entirely up to them. The results are a fascinating insight into the creative process.

Read more less

Revealing the elaborate embroidery, intricate pleats and daring cuts that make up some of the 20th century’s most beautiful garments, this book explores the specific techniques used by couturiers as tastes and textile technologies evolved. Work by designers such as Mariano Fortuny, Madeleine Vionnet, Paul Poiret, Hubert de Givenchy, Mary Quant, Yves Saint Laurent and Vivienne Westwood is rediscovered, and exquisite haute-couture pieces, from sequinned Chanel trouser suits and richly embroidered Schiaparelli jackets to striking Balenciaga creations and Dior evening gowns, are examined. Part of the ‘Fashion in Detail’ series, this updated edition features a revised introduction and list of designers followed by chapters dedicated to a particular technique. Each garment is illustrated through detailed photography and line drawings and is accompanied by a commentary by leading experts in textiles and fashion. An extraordinary exploration of the techniques used by couturiers in the construction of these exceptional garments, 20th-Century Fashion in Detail will delight all followers of fashion.

Read more less

Every sky’s an inspiration, Every cloud floats free, Unlock your imagination, Draw what you see! Hirameki – ‘brainwave’ or ‘flash of inspiration’ in Japanese – is where doodling and imagination come together. Simply put, it’s the art of turning a random blot into something amazing, just by adding a few dots and lines. If it’s true that you can find happiness in little things, this book should keep your eyes, hand and brain entertained for hours.

Read more less

From wilderness treks to weekends following local coastal paths, adventure cycling combines cycle touring, mountain biking and camping to open up new and exciting possibilities for the two-wheeled explorer. Thanks to advances in bike technology and the ease of international travel, cycling adventures on any scale are more accessible than ever before. Cycling writer and photographer Joshua Cunningham spent eleven months cycling from London to Hong Kong, a journey that spanned twenty-six countries and 22,000 kilometres (13,670 miles). During his journey, he captured thousands of photographs of the landscapes, many barely touched by humans, and acquired a wealth of invaluable experience, from arranging travel and selecting the best bike to what to pack for each climate and terrain, and how to choose and navigate your route. Equal parts travelogue and practical guide, this exhilarating account divides the stages of his tour into five chapters, each focusing on a geographical environment: forest, desert, mountain, tropical and urban. Each chapter presents a text section on uncoated paper, featuring specially commissioned illustrations by Chris McNally, followed by a photographic album printed on art stock.

Read more less

‘Kemp is a natural storyteller… This book leads you on a journey through the life, work and legacy of one of history’s most intriguing figures.’ The TimesIn an engaging personal narrative interwoven with historical research, Martin Kemp discusses a life spent immersed in the world of Leonardo, and his encounters with great and lesser academics, collectors and curators, devious dealers and unctuous auctioneers, major scholars and authors, pseudo-historians and fantasists. He shares how he has grappled with swelling legions of ‘Leonardo loonies’, walked on the eggshells of vested interests in academia and museums, and fended off fusillades of non-Leonardos, sometimes more than one a week. Examining the greatest masterpieces, from the Last Supper to Salvator Mundi, through the expert’s eye, we learn first-hand of the thorny questions that surround attribution, the scientific analyses that support the experts’ interpretations, and the continuing importance of connoisseurship. Throughout, from the most scholarly interpretations to the popularity of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, we are reminded of Leonardo’s unique genius and wonder at how an artist from 500 years ago continues to make such compelling posthumous demands on all those who engage with him.

Read more less

This sumptuously illustrated book reveals the decorative seams, refined stitching, voluptuous drapery, strict corseting and slashing and stamping that make up some of the garments in the V&A’s superlative 19th-century fashion collection. With an authoritative text, exquisite colour photography of garment details and line drawings showing the complete construction of each piece, it gives the reader a unique opportunity to examine historical clothing that is often too fragile to be on display. It is an inspirational resource for students, collectors, designers and anyone who is fascinated by fashion and clothing.

Read more less

This beautifully illustrated book reveals the sharp pleats, high collars, gleaming pastes, colourful beads, elaborate buttons and intricate lacework that make up some of the garments in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s extensive fashion collection. With an expertly written text by one of the museum’s fashion curators and exquisite colour photography of garment details, complemented by line drawings and photographs, the reader has the unique opportunity to examine up close historical clothing that is often too fragile to be on display. It is an inspirational resource for students, collectors, designers and anyone who is fascinated by fashion and costume. This new edition features an updated design, fresh content and new research, and an introduction that focuses on the makers and processes involved in producing 18th-century fashion.

Read more less

ShaoLan Hsueh, a Taiwanese entrepreneur based in London, couldn't find an effective way of teaching her children Chinese, so she developed a groundbreaking visual method to make reading characters fun and easy. By learning the most commonly occurring characters ­ the building blocks of the entire language ­ readers of all ages can swiftly grasp basic concepts and words. Chineasy™ Everyday teaches over 400 of the most used and useful Chinese characters, phrases and sentences. Organized into eleven themes that reflect our daily lives, it brings the stories and myths behind the characters to life, providing a unique perspective into Chinese history and culture. 'Learning Mandarin just got Chineasy™... May revolutionize the teaching of Chinese around the world' The Sunday Times

Read more less

Stencils are ubiquitous in the fields of industry, military, traffic and transportation, as well as in the home, often applied as ornamental patterns on cabinets, walls and floors. And because they are an affordable means of mass communication, stencils are even employed by populist, rebellious and street-art movements. This follow-up to the cult typography volumes Scripts and Shadow Type, perennial favourites among designers looking for fresh and unexpected ideas, presents hundreds of examples from the 19th through the 20th centuries, artfully selected by Steven Heller and Louise Fili, preceded by a historical introduction and arranged by country of origin.

Read more less

In this broad cultural survey, James Hall brilliantly maps the history of self-portraiture, from the earliest myths of Narcissus and the Christian tradition of ‘bearing witness’ to the prolific self-image-making of today’s contemporary artists. Along the way he reveals the importance of the medieval ‘mirror craze’; the confessional self-portraits of Titian and Michelangelo; the role of biography for serial self-portraitists such as Courbet and van Gogh; themes of sex and genius in works by Munch and Bonnard; and the latest developments in our globalized age. Hall covers the full range of self-portraits, from comic and caricature self-portraits to ‘invented’ or imaginary ones, and looks deeply into the worlds and mindsets of the artists who have created them. Offering a rich and lively history, this is an essential read for all those interested in this most enduringly popular and humane of art forms.

Read more less

Calligraphy can be a very personal pathway to expore a multiplicity of design concepts. In this striking and original book, now available in paperback, images of the natural world are turned into a rich source of inspiration for a variety of calligraphy projects. Renowned calligrapher Denise Lach invites us to look closely at details and textures, expanding our powers of observation and finding creative ideas in the world around us. Using a range of writing tools and techniques, she takes a playful approach to written script, encouraging readers to look beyond legibility and use letterforms as building blocks, freely interpreting natural motifs to create beautiful calligraphic images. This is an invaluable sourcebook for both enthusiastic beginners and experienced calligraphers.

Read more less