Search results for ""Thames Hudson Ltd""

A revised and updated edition of Sir John Summerson's classic book. Derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture in antiquity, the classical style has long dominated the history of western architecture from the Renaissance to the present. Sir John Summerson’s timeless text, as relevant today as it was when first published, distils the visual language of architecture into its core classical elements, and illustrates that building throughout the ages express an awareness of the ‘grammar’ of style and its rules even if they vary, break or poetically contradict them. From the original edifices of Greece and Rome to the recapitulations and innovations of the Renaissance; the explosive rhetoric of the Baroque to the grave statements of Neo-classicism; and finally, the exuberant eclecticism of the Victorians and Edwardians to the 'stripped Neo-classicism' of some of the moderns; Summerson explains how every period has employed classical language to make their statement. With a new introduction by academic and architectural historian Alan Powers, this introduction continues to be one of the defining texts on the subject and is essential reading for all students of architecture.

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The most ambitious and comprehensive book on women’s vintage fashion ever published, featuring over 1,000 garments dating from the 1920s to the 1980s. This is not just another history of fashion: it is a survey of how fashion past continues to inspire fashion present. It features over 1,000 stand-out pieces, together with over 300 contextual illustrations, dating from the 1920s to the 1980s, including many icons of vintage fashion, from Marilyn Monroe’s bra to the Ossie Clark dress made so famous by David Hockney’s painting. Each garment is explored from the viewpoint of the contemporary fashionista looking to build a vintage wardrobe. The book is organized into three main sections. 'Decades' explores the shapes and fabrics that define the look of each period. 'Elements' explores the individual components of a vintage look, everything from hat to shoes. 'Hallmarks' explores fashion’s perennial themes, from florals to the ever-popular Little Black Dress. Finally, a reference section includes invaluable practical advice for fans and collectors of vintage.

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Discover the lives of the ancient Romans, pieced together from inscriptions, discarded letters, biographies and myth over two thousand years of history. The Roman empire witnessed a huge diversity of human experience over its history. At its pinnacle, it exerted its rule across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, from Britannia to the Black Sea. In this collection of 100 lives, Philip Matyszak and Joanne Berry give voice not only to famed rulers and generals whose names and deeds have been enshrined in classical texts but also to the ordinary citizens – centurions, scholars, Christian martyrs and civil servants – who made up the fabric of Roman society. The biographies of these individuals, whose stories range from the happy and uneventful to the tragic and dramatic, are pieced together from ancient art, artefacts and myths. Matyszak and Berry illuminate the sometimes surprising exploits of Rome’s women, such as Amazonia, a sword-swinging gladiator, and Metila, a priestess of the cult of Cymbele. Romans of every class and creed are represented, from Faustulus, a shepherd said to have adopted the infant Romulus and Remus, to the poet Virgil, whose words still echo down the ages. Each of these lives forms part of a larger picture, together making up a rich mosaic that gives us a glimpse of what it meant to be a Roman.

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A lavishly illustrated look at the sources behind the paintings of Francis Bacon. Francis Bacon famously found inspiration in photographs, film-stills and mass-media imagery. In this new, updated edition of In Camera, Martin Harrison reveals how these sources informed some of Bacon’s most important paintings and triggered decisive turning points in the artist’s stylistic development. Key influences, including the masters Velázquez, Poussin and Rodin, the photographer Eadweard Muybridge and the film director Sergei Eisenstein, are given close consideration. Bacon’s work is examined in relation to the precedents set by other artists working in the tradition of making use of mechanical reproductions, including Pablo Picasso and Walter Sickert, and in the context of his contemporaries Lucian Freud, Mark Rothko, Graham Sutherland and Patrick Heron. With the aid of over 270 illustrations, including valuable source images and documents, In Camera is a bravura accomplishment of original research, addressing important questions about Bacon’s painting practice and shedding fresh light on his life and work.

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In a brand-new approach, this book presents photography in all its principal forms of experience, to portray the unique characteristics of this accessible and universally appealing medium. Arranged chronologically, legendary photographs are discussed alongside photobooks that represent a significant contribution towards photography, as well as important exhibitions that marked a shift in outlook, values and approach. In art history, particular works are usually cited as examples of specific styles; here photographs are given as indicative of art movements, which often developed precisely because of these examples. Among the works included are many that have had a profound impact across the globe, so circumventing or at least weakening the usual European-American emphasis. This guide is an inclusive and diverse account of the contributions of photographers from around the world from the birth of photography to the present day. Featuring stunning reproductions throughout with short essays and key references on each work by the widely respected photography academic and specialist David Bate, this title is set to become one of the definitive references on the subject and will appeal not only to readers seeking an introduction, but also to those more familiar with the medium.With 110 illustrations in colour

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A collection of intimate and revelatory first-hand accounts of pandemics through the ages. Humanity has always been struck by pestilence and pandemics, from the plagues of ancient Egypt to the pox that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages, to Covid-19. People living through the crises have always recorded what they saw, what they felt, and what they did. Some presented sober facts laced with anecdote, while others produced emotional outpourings; moralists speculated on the origins of the horror, poets distilled the suffering. Doctors described how they were able to advance their understanding of disease and scientists how to cure it, while survivors and the families of victims gave the inside story of the nightmare that develops when a long-feared disease enters your home or your body. There was a time when to read accounts of the Plague in Wittenburg by Martin Luther or the Great Plague of 1665 by Samuel Pepys – scenes of anguish and woe, empty streets, quarantined houses, closed businesses, overflowing graveyards, heroic doctors and nurses, quack remedies and charlatans – was to enter a disturbing and unfamiliar world. Today, to read the same words is to be hit by a jolt of recognition and understanding. As well as causing a huge loss of life, the Covid pandemic has taught us a great deal about ourselves and the way we live, illuminating tensions at the heart of society. This collection of intimate and revelatory first-hand accounts of pandemics through the ages bears witness to despair, rage, the blackest of humour, heartbreak and hope. These voices hold up a mirror to our own experiences of, and responses to, the crisis today.

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What is contemporary art? What makes it ‘contemporary’? What is it for? And why is it so expensive? The contemporary art world can be a baffling place, but Kyung An and Jessica Cerasi are on hand to bring you up to speed. From museums and the art market to biennales and the next big thing, Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? offers concise and pointed insights into today’s art scene, decoding ‘artspeak’, explaining what curators do, demystifying conceptual art, exploring emerging art markets and much, much more. The authors’ playful explanations draw on key artworks, artists and events from around the globe, including Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s ‘Candy Spills’, extreme Chinese performances, Damien Hirst and Kanye West. Packed with behind-the-scenes information and completely free of ‘artspeak’, Who’s Afraid of Contemporary Art? is the perfect gallery companion and the go-to guide for when the next big thing leaves you stumped.

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Available for the first time in an updated, compact paperback format, this book offers a stunning photographic survey of Ireland over the last seven decades, from the 1950s to the present day. Organized decade by decade, the images show the lingering influence of rural life in the 1950s; the hidden story of ordinary Irish men and women, living in a divided society during the troubled years of the sectarian conflict; the South’s huge economic growth at the end of 1990s, baptised the ‘Celtic Tiger’, and Ireland’s perpetual quest for identity, from the 1950s to the present day. Each decade is commented on by a notable contemporary Irish literary figure: Anthony Cronin, Nuala O’Faolain, Eamonn McCann, Fintan O’Toole, Colm Tóibín and Anne Enright invite the reader to dive into the social and political context of each period, providing a textual backdrop to the photographers’ work.

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Manifesting in a broad range of media, from massive land and environmental works and extensive sculpture parks to giant public murals, ‘destination art’ demands to be found and met in its own space and on its own terms. Some works require a committed pilgrimage to find – in deserts, forests, and quarries, on farmland and in mountains, in ghost towns and nature reserves. Others might be hidden gems in urban environments. What unites them in every instance is an artistic symbiosis between the installation and its setting. Through the eyes of renowned art historian Amy Dempsey, the magic of public art comes alive – and while the art is undoubtedly important, the journey there is often equally so. Perfect both for armchair adventurers and keen globetrotters, Destination Art offers a clear way in to a vast subject. From the vibrant Rainbow Village in Taiwan and the Rock Garden of Chandigarh, to Antony Gormley’s Inside Australia at Lake Ballard, Dempsey expertly guides readers through the most exciting and significant destination artworks in the world. Each featured installation is accompanied by a short essay, stunning photographs and useful information on key works and where to find them.With 104 illustrations in colour

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The idea of heaven on earth haunts the human imagination. The day will come, say believers, when the pain and confusion of mortal life will give way to a transfigured community. Such a vision of the world seems indelible. Even politics, some reckon, has not escaped from the realm of the sacred: its dreams of the future still borrow their imagery from the prophets. In Heaven on Earth, T.J. Clark sets out to investigate the very different ways painting has given form to the dream of God’s kingdom come. He goes back to the late Middle Ages and Renaissance – to Giotto in Padua, Bruegel facing the horrors of religious war, Poussin painting the Sacraments, Veronese unfolding the human comedy. Was it to painting’s advantage, is Clark’s question, that in an age of enforced orthodoxy (threats of hellfire, burnings at the stake) artists could reflect on the powers and limitations of religion without putting their thoughts into words? At the heart of the book stands Bruegel’s ironic but tender picture of The Land of Cockaigne, and also Veronese’s inscrutable Allegory of Love. The story ends with Picasso’s Fall of Icarus, made for UNESCO in 1958, which already seems to signal – perhaps to prescribe – an age when all futures are dead.

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How did our universe come to exist? Why do stars shine? Is there life beyond the Earth? For millennia, humans have looked to the celestial sphere to explain the cosmos, first recording the movements of the Moon 25,000 years ago. Since the Enlightenment and the dawn of the space age, scientists have been unravelling cosmic mysteries, and raising astonishing new questions for future generations to answer. Today we live in an age of unprecedented astronomical revelation, from the discovery of water on Marsto the detection of gravitational waves and the first photograph of a black hole. World-renowned astronomer Paul Murdin explains the science behind these discoveries, along with the passions, struggles and quirks of fate that made them some of the most intriguing dramas of their times, demonstrating how human ingenuity and technological innovation have expanded our knowledge of the Universe beyond anything our ancestors – even as recently as a generation ago – could ever have imagined.

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Bohemian style is characterized by free-flowing fabrics, bright colours and a multitude of clashing patterns. Heavily inspired by the 1960s and 1970s free-spirited way of life, it is one of the most versatile styles of decoration. Sometimes rule-breaking and always personal, it could be best described as a an effort to live in complete harmony with your surroundings. Forget about famous designers and carefully planned decorating schemes – boho is a style often built up over time and is the antithesis of trend-following. This handbook shows how to create a tailor-made Bohemian home. Working through the house one room at a time, it highlights classic items of furniture and signature accessories, from chandeliers and kilims to plants and lanterns. In-depth case studies demonstrate the essential elements and provide inspiration, while colour combinations are explored to help personalize this iconic style for the home. Anyone who hankers after the Bohemian look and is eager to bring it to their own home will find this book a valuable resource.

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In a world in which many photographers seek to avoid definition, Roger Ballen’s photographs define themselves in their defiance of classification and genre: his world stands out as one of a kind. The black-and-white images featured in Asylum of the Birds were created exclusively within the confines of a house in a Johannesburg suburb, the location of which remains a guarded secret. The inhabitants of the house, both human and animal – including, most notably, the ever-present birds – are the cast of Ballen’s world, performers amidst the theatrical interiors that they create and he orchestrates. The resulting images exist in a space between painting, drawing, installation and photography. They are timeless, psychologically powerful and masterfully composed.

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Women – as warriors, workers, mothers, sensual women,even absent women – haunt 19th- and 20th-century Western painting: their representation is one of its most common subjects. Representing Women brings together Linda Nochlin’s most important writings on the subject, as she considers work by Miller, Delacroix, Courbet, Degas, Seurat, Cassatt and Kollwitz, among many others. In her riveting, partly autobiographical, extended introduction, Nochlin documents her own pioneering approach to art history; throughout the seven essays in this book, she argues for the honest virtues of an art history that rejects methodological assumptions, and for art historians who investigate the work before their eyes while focusing on its subject matter, informed by a sensitivity to its feminist spirit.

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One of the most compelling and controversial figures in history, Akhenaten has captured the imagination like no other Egyptian pharaoh. Known today as a heretic, Akhenaten sought to impose upon Egypt and its people the worship of a single god – the sun – and in so doing changed the country in every way. In this immensely readable re-evaluation, Nicholas Reeves takes issue with the existing view of Akhenaten, presenting an entirely new perspective on the turbulent events of his seventeen-year reign. Reeves argues that, far from being the idealistic founder of a new faith, Akhenaten cynically used religion for purely political ends in a calculated attempt to reassert the authority of the king. Backed up by abundant archaeological and documentary evidence, Reeves’s closely written narrative also provides many new insights into questions that have baffled scholars for generations – the puzzle of the body in Tomb 55 in the Valley of the Kings; the fate of Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s beautiful wife, and the identity of the mysterious successor, Smenkhkare; and the theory that Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s son and true heir, was murdered.

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In 1814, Hokusai’s sketches were published in a handbook of over 4,000 images: Hokusai Manga. It surpassed expectations as a student reference book, and became a bestseller. Here, in an elegant, three-volume package, an expansive selection of these works are revealed, presenting all of the themes, motifs and drawing techniques found in his art. The caricatures, satirical drawings, multi-panel illustrations and narrative depictions found in the book can clearly be seen as the basis for manga as it is understood today. One volume explores The Life and Manners of the Day (studying habits and objects of the everyday, from architectural features to wrestling moves and facial expressions); the second The Whole Earth Catalogue (largely concerned with nature, from animals to rock faces and fish); and the third presents the Fanciful, Mythical and Supernatural (with images narrating myths and displaying fantastical creatures).

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The Big Idea shortlisted for series design in the British Design and Production AwardsModern medicine is exceptionally powerful, and has achieved unprecedented successes. But it comes at a price; individuals suffer from medicine’s failures, and the economic costs of medicine are now stratospheric. Have we got the balance wrong? Is Medicine Still Good For Us? sets out the facts about our medical establishments in a clear, engaging style, interrogating the ethics of modern practices and the impact they have on all our lives.

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Asian empires led the world economically, scientifically and culturally for hundreds of years, and posed a constant challenge to the countries of Europe. How and why did those empires gain such power, and lose it? What legacies did they leave? This book brings together a team of distinguished historians to survey seven great Asian empires that rose and fell between 800 ce and the mid-20th century: the Mongol Empire, Ming Dynasty of China, Khmer Empire, Ottoman Empire, Safavid Empire of Persia, Mughal Empire of India and the Meiji Restoration in Japan. Compellingly written, The Great Empires of Asia shows how those seven empires played a key role in forming today’s global civilization – and how, with the renewed ascendancy of Asia, their legacies will help shape the continent’s future.

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Throughout history, intrepid men and women have related their experiences and perceptions of the world’s great cities to bring them alive to those at home. The thirty-eight cities covered in this entertaining anthology of travellers’ tales are spread over six continents, ranging from Beijing to Berlin, Cairo to Chicago, Lhasa to London, St Petersburg to Sydney and Rio to Rome. This volume features commentators across the millennia, including the great travellers of ancient times, such as Strabo and Pausanias; those who undertook extensive journeys in the medieval world, not least Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta; courageous women such as Isabella Bird and Freya Stark; and enterprising writers and journalists including Mark Twain and Norman Lewis. We see the world’s great cities through the eyes of traders, explorers, soldiers, diplomats, pilgrims and tourists; the experiences of emperors and monarchs sit alongside those of revolutionaries and artists, but also those of ordinary people who found themselves in remarkable situations, like the medieval Chinese abbot who was shown round the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris by the King of France himself. Some of the writers seek to provide a straightforward, accurate description of all they have seen, while others concentrate on their subjective experiences of the city and encounters with the inhabitants. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling historian Peter Furtado, each account provides both a vivid portrait of a distant place and time and an insight into those who journeyed there. The result is a book that delves into the splendours and stories that exist beyond conventional guidebooks and websites.

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It is the year 1415, the epic battle of Agincourt has just been fought, and never has it been a more glorious time to be a knight. But as any warrior will tell you, the path to chivalry is not an easy ride. This entertaining manual will tell you all you need to know about the ups and downs of knightly life in the Middle Ages, from how to look your best on the battlefield to the going rates for ransoming a duke, as well as the best places to go on crusade and how to deal with the amorous attentions of courtly ladies. Expertly researched and written by a leading medieval historian, Knight is packed with fascinating detail, amusing anecdotes and quotes from those who were there at the time, truly bringing the medieval world to life.

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A selection of key essays by one of the most influential voices in art history, including seven previously unpublished pieces. This illustrated, edited collection of essays brings together for the first time some of the pioneering art historian Linda Nochlin’s most important writings on modernism and modernity from across her six-decade career. Before the publication of her seminal tract on feminism in art, ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?’, Nochlin had already firmly established herself as a major practitioner of a politically sophisticated and class-conscious social art history, with her writings on modernism being transformative to the discipline. Nochlin embraced Charles Baudelaire’s conviction that modernity meant to be of one’s time - and that the role of an art historian was to understand the art of the past not only in its own historical context, but according to the urgencies of the contemporary world. From academic debates about the nude in the 18th century to the work of Robert Gober in the 21st, whatever she turned her analytic eye to was very much conceived as the art of the now - the art we need to look at to navigate the complexities and contradictions of the present.

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Contemporary African art has grown out of the diverse histories and cultural heritage of the African continent and its diaspora. It is not characterized by any particular style, technique or theme, but by a bricolage-like attitude towards art-making, incorporating and building upon the structures from which older, precolonial and colonial genres were made. In this revised and updated edition of Contemporary African Art, Sidney Littlefield Kasfir examines the major themes, developments and accomplishments in African art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Organized thematically, the book includes new chapters on the history of African photography and the growth of the global art market, alongside significant discussions of patronage and mediation, artistic training and national and diaspora identities.

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With its bold colours, flashy imagery and ironic spirit, Pop Art trespasses the traditional boundaries separating high from low culture. Flavia Frigeri introduces us to a movement that focuses on everyday objects, from its beginnings in the post-war consumerism of America and Britain to its fascinating rise on a global scale in the 1960s. The work of well-known artists, such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton and Peter Blake, is set in dialogue with that of Japanese Ushio Shinohara, Venezuelan Marisol and Argentinian Marta Minujín, among others. Organized around key themes common to all Pop Art, including advertising, politics, the domestic realm, consumer goods, art history, celebrity culture, war and the space race, this is an essential introduction to the movement that transformed the ‘popular’ into art. A reference section includes a useful timeline, glossary of Pop terms and suggestions for further reading.

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Looking at pictures can be a delightful, exciting or moving experience, but some pictures – and these are often the most rewarding – require some explanation before they can be fully understood. Delving into the origins, designs and themes of over 100 pictures from different periods and places, this book illuminates the art of looking at – and talking about – pictures. Woodford shows how you can read a picture by examining the formal and stylistic devices used by an artist, and explores popular themes and subject matters, and the relationship of pictures to the societies that produced them. The book is supplemented by a glossary of key terms, ranging from art movements and technical terms to religious and classical terminology, to give readers all the information they need at their fingertips.

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This stylish publication celebrates the impact Scandinavian culture has had internationally on art, design, fashion, food and interiors, and seeks out those creatives and tastemakers who are currently making their mark on the world stage. Following an introduction by the author providing an overview of hygge (and its antithesis, uhygge) and its place in the Nordic mindset, the book is divided into five themed chapters featuring interviews with designers, artisans, restaurateurs and bloggers, who share their insider knowledge on the hippest Scandinavian products, brands, trends and locations. Finally, a third section presents the best sources and locations of where to fully experience the hygge phenomenon.

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Curated by Ryan Doyle and Mark Edwards, who work together under the name of DR.ME, Cut That Out focuses on the compositions of 50 leading designers and studios from 15 different countries for whom collage has been the key to creating vibrant, effective work – among them Hort, Paul Sahre and atelier bingo. As well as the diverse, cutting-edge work featured throughout, each profile includes a Q&A with the artist that serves to both put the work in context and highlight the visual differences between each designer by exploring their varying methods and attitudes towards to Cut That Out is a rich seam of inspiration to be mimed by all students and graphic designers who wish to explore the creative possibilities of collage in their work.

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Make your Mark is divided into three: 'Draw', 'Paint', 'Make'. It celebrates and discusses the work of forty-five urban artists, extraordinarily diverse but united by one basic principle: their work is completely fresh, original and the epitome of creativity - the perfect antidote to the jaded imagery that fills our streets and our media. The names - 44 Flavours from Germany, Bault from France, Morcky from Italy, Ricardo Cavolo from Spain, Zio Ziegler from the USA, Fuco Ueda from Japan, Raymond Lemstra from the Netherlands, Joao Ruas from Brazil and many others - will be unfamiliar to most; the talent they display, indisputable, courageous, always distinctive, is a joy.

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Myths in every culture explain our origins, the earth’s creation, gods and monsters, demons, the afterlife and the underworld. This compelling account, newly available in paperback, gathers together themes and stories from every culture, showing how myths share many common patterns, and how the human imagination is expressed in all its diversity. It asks the question: what do myths tell us about the human condition? Compiled by Christopher Dell, the bestselling author of books on monsters and on masterpieces of world art, Mythology is packed with authoritative text and an inspired selection of images, chosen from unusual and hidden sources while also including some of the best-known representations of myths from around the world.

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This ambitious volume, newly available in paperback, explores the rich history of the book, one of the most efficient, influential and enduring technologies ever invented. For more than 2,500 years, the book, in a wide range of forms, has been used to document, to educate and to entertain. The eminent authority Martyn Lyons charts its worldwide evolution through the centuries, from the cuneiform tablets of ancient Sumer through the development of moveable type and the emergence of the modern information revolution. Among the carefully selected illustrations are Maya codices, Egyptian papyrus scrolls, medieval illuminated manuscripts, masterpieces of early printing from Gutenberg and Aldus Manutius, atlases from the great age of travel and exploration, primers and children’s books, dime novels and Japanese manga, and works of fiction ranging from Don Quixote to Level 26 , the world’s first ‘digi-novel’, and beyond.

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This authoritative survey of Viking history and culture, now available in paperback, tells the complete story of the Vikings from their origins in Scandinavia during the first millennium ad, through the incredible period of raiding, trading and settling known as the Viking Age, to their last surviving settlements in 15th-century Greenland. Drawing on the very latest discoveries and augmenting textual evidence with fine archaeological detail, this sweeping narrative, written by a leading authority, creates a vivid picture of the Vikings at home and abroad in an era that laid many of the foundations of the modern world.

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Cecil Beaton (1904–1980) was a man of dazzling charm and style, and his talents were many. In his twenties he recorded London and New York society in needle-sharp words and drawings, and then, at Condé Nast’s insistence, in photographs. The resulting work earned him a place among the great chroniclers of fashion. In this classic book, now in a sumptuous paperback edition after many years out of print, Josephine Ross selects and introduces articles, drawings and photographs by Beaton dating from the 1920s to the 1970s. It includes Beaton’s essays and vignettes on high society and its denizens, as well as such stars of the arts as Greta Garbo, Ralph Richardson, Pablo Picasso and David Hockney. It also reproduces Beaton’s war photographs, drawings and writings, from bombed London to China and the North Africa Desert. Beaton loved Vogue, and his contributions testify to the wit, imagination and professionalism that the man and the magazine always had in common.

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Art + Science Now is a groundbreaking overview of the art being made at the cutting edge of scientific research. The first illustrated book in its field, it shows how some of the world’s most dynamic art is being produced not in museums, galleries and studios but in the laboratory, where artists probe cultural, philosophical and social questions connected with scientific and technological advances. Featuring the work of around 250 artists from the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the USA, Japan and elsewhere, it presents a broad range of projects, from body art to bioengineering of plants and insects, from music, dance and computer-controlled video performances to large-scale visual and sound installations. This comprehensive guide to contemporary art inspired or driven by scientific innovation points to intriguing new directions for the visual arts and traces a key strand in 21st-century aesthetics.

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A 528-page monograph -- conceived as a reschuffled alphabetical dictionary that starts with the letter 'M' on page 311 -- that presents for the first time twenty years of works by M/M (Paris), one of the most emblematic and influential design practices and art partnerships of the twenty-first century. Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak originally established M/M (Paris) as a graphic design studio in 1992. Their close associations with the music, fashion and art worldshave led to their becoming one of the most distinctive and acclaimed creative voices of their generation, within graphic design and beyond. Published to mark their twentieth anniversary, this is the definitive monograph. It records hundreds of their mind-blowing projects, each represented in illustrations and photographs and arranged alphabetically from ‘M’ to ‘M’. While print, drawing, photography and an unconventional approach to typography lie at the heart of M/M’s work, they have also produced films, objects or interiors. ‘Our work is about expressing the idea of a dialogue. We transfer elements from fashion to music to art and back again, and keep using different mediums,’ they explain. Each work they produce is unique, but certain elements recur and reverberate — leitmotifs that draw their output, despite its range, into a unified whole. The monograph features collaborations with the finest from a spectrum of creative worlds, including fashion works with the likes of Balenciaga, Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Yohji Yamamoto; music works with Benjamin Biolay, Björk, Kanye West and Madonna; magazines such as Vogue Paris, Arena Homme+ or Interview; art projects and exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou, Tate Modern and Guggenheim Museum. Interviews with some of their closest collaborators — such as Björk, Nicolas Ghesquière, Pierre Huyghe, Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin, Sarah Morris or Glenn O’Brien, as well as Amzalag and Augustyniak themselves, tell M/M’s story. These texts reveal their areas of interest, define their position both within graphic design and beyond and shed new light on the duo’s creative process. Internationally renowned art curator Hans Ulrich Obrist contributes a preface, while contemporary artist Philippe Parreno offers an essay about their joint projects. These multiple conversations and recollections of shared experiences paint an overview of the evolution of the creative world since the early 90s. This ambitious monograph is a rare document and unparalleled insight into the work and minds of Europe’s most thoughtful and influential image-makers.

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Now available in paperback, this Chronicle documents the lives of tsars famous and infamous in a lively series of biographical portraits stretching from the late 15th to the early 20th centuries. With its comprehensive timelines, datafiles, quotations and stunning illustrations, Chronicle of the Russian Tsars is at once an absorbing narrative history and an essential work of reference that brings to life a powerful empire and distinctive civilization whose impact on the history of Europe and the world is immeasurable.

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This bumper edition of Aidan Meehan’s practical guides to the art and design of the Celts brings together three of his bestselling titles, A Beginner’s Manual, Knotwork and Illuminated Letters. This practical, step-by-step manual provides an invaluable, comprehensive source of instruction and inspiration for artists, designers and craftspeople of all kinds.

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Abundantly illustrated with frames and sequences, Video Art offers a history of the medium seen through the perspectives of its early practitioners, through the vast array of conceptual, political, personal and lyrical installations of the 80s and 90s to the present digital revolution. This book remains the most complete and up-to-date overview of an art form born less than forty years ago and now ubiquitous worldwide.

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How do we see art? How is it displayed? One hundred years ago, art was shown in a way intended to educate. Galleries reflected the curator’s view of history at the expense of differing opinions. Today, not only do museums and galleries celebrate these differences of expression, they also welcome the collaboration of living artists, promoting an active dialogue between the present and the past. Galleries and museums are no longer just repositories. They are sites of experience where the mind is often engaged as much as the eye. Here, Nicholas Serota presents a coherent historical account of changing attitudes to the way art is presented in the modern museum, examining the relationship between the artist, the public and the curator. He takes us into the artist's studio - itself a paradigm of display - and then on a knowledgeable and wide-ranging international tour of museums, galleries and installations, offering authoritative insights into the ways in which the display of art is likely to develop in the 21st century.

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Is colour just a physiological phenomenon? Does it have an effect on feelings? This vividly written book, the sequel to the award-winning Colour and Culture, is ultimately informed by the conviction that the meaning of colour lies in the particular historical context in which it is experienced and interpreted. John Gage explores the mysteries of themes as diverse as the optical mixing techniques implicit in mosaic, colour-languages in Latin America at the time of the Spanish Conquest and the ideas of Goethe and Runge, Blake and Turner. For students and lecturers in the history of art and culture, for artists and designers, and for psychologists and scientists with a special interest in the subject, John Gage has produced a compelling study of the meaning of colour through the ages.

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'Exquisitely written and lavishly illustrated, this delightful book brings five centuries of Ottoman culture to life. Diana Darke constantly amazes the reader with fascinating facts and points of relevance between the Ottoman past and the present day' - Eugene Rogan, author of The Fall of the Ottomans A richly illustrated guide to the Ottoman Empire, 100 years since its dissolution, unravelling its complex cultural legacy and profound impact on Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spread from Yemen to the gates of Vienna. Western perceptions of the Ottomans have often been distorted by Orientalism, characterizing their rule as oppressive and destructive, while seeing their culture as exotic and incomprehensible. Based on a lifetime’s experience of living and working across its former provinces, Diana Darke offers a unique overview of the Ottoman Empire’s cultural legacy one century after its dissolution. She uncovers a vibrant, sophisticated civilization that embraced both arts and sciences, whilst welcoming refugees from all ethnicities and religions, notably Christians and Jews. Darke celebrates the culture of the Ottoman Empire, from its aesthetics and architecture to its scientific and medical innovations, including the first vaccinations. She investigates the crucial role that commerce and trade played in supporting the empire and increasing its cultural reach, highlighting the significant role of women, as well as the diverse religious values, literary and musical traditions that proliferated through the empire. Beautifully illustrated with manuscripts, miniatures, paintings and photographs, The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy presents the magnificent achievements of an empire that lasted over 600 years and encompassed Asian, European and African cultures, shedding new light on its complex legacy.

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A clear, concise and detailed analysis of the eclectic and beautiful visual and material culture of Catholicism. Focusing on a carefully curated selection of Catholic art and artefacts, this book explains the meaning of the iconography and the mystic power of the faith's ritual objects. A wealth of often hidden symbols are identified and examined close up, building into a catalogue of key visual symbols for readers to use to interpret all Catholic visual and material culture. The book is organized into three parts - Tenet, Locus and Spiritus - each containing three themed chapters. The first part introduces the centrepieces of the faith, explaining the symbolism in the artistic representation of the holy family, apostles and saints, and in stories from scripture. The second part examines places of worship, identifying the constituent parts of the cathedral and presenting evocative images of roadside shrines. The third part explores celebrations and traditions, including personal devotional tools and jewelry. For each of the nine themed chapters, illustrated introductory text is followed by a spread-by-spread presentation of the key figures, the key stories and the key iconography relevant to each theme. Paintings and artefacts are examined in detail, identifying and explaining the symbolism and the stories depicted in each. As the book progresses, readers will build up knowledge of the entire Catholic visual code - the symbols that define Catholic practice, the attributes of the saints, the parts of the cathedral - allowing them to interpret Catholic imagery and objects wherever they find them and to understand the tenets, sites and rituals of the faith.

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The history of selling sex is a hidden one, its practitioners a ‘damnable crew’ pushed to the margins of history. Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts redresses the balance, revealing the history of sex for sale, from medieval back street to Wild West saloon, and from the brothel to state bedroom. This enthralling history is brought to life by Kate Lister’s witty and authoritative text, and illuminated by a rich archive of photographs, artworks and objects. Structured thematically in broadly chronological order, the book introduces a lively cast of complex and entertaining characters operating in an array of different periods and settings. The Mesopotamian harlot Shamhat was powerful and respected, able to civilize the wild man Enkidu through her charms. In medieval London Elizabeth Moryng serviced clergy under the guise of an embroidery business, though was eventually jailed for being a prolific procuress and bawd. In Renaissance Venice the courtesan Veronica Franco published her poetry, rubbed shoulders with royalty and founded a charity for other courtesans. In the hedonistic floating world of Edo, Japan, kabuki actresses and then geishas entertained and pleasured their patrons. Three men were hanged in 18th-century London for buggery after being found in the Molly House of Margaret Clap. And at the turn of the century, in New Orleans, Lulu White ran Mahogany Hall, a four-storey building that housed up to forty sex workers. Lister’s illuminating tales invite readers to look, listen and reconsider everything they thought they knew about the world’s oldest profession.With 450 illustrations in colour

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Lose yourself in the vast sewer networks that lie beneath the world’s great cities – past and present. Let detailed archival plans, maps and photographs guide you through these subterranean labyrinths – previously accessible only to their builders, engineers and, perhaps, the odd rogue explorer. This execrable exploration traces the evolution of waste management from the ingenious infra-structures of the ancient world to the seeping cesspits and festering open sewers of the medieval period. It investigates and celebrates the work of the civil engineers whose pioneering integrated sewer systems brought to a close the devastating cholera epidemics of the mid-19th century and continue to serve a vastly increased population today. And let’s not forget those giant fatbergs clogging our underground arteries, or the storm-surge super-structures of tomorrow.

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This book, by Britain’s most distinguished historian of ancient Greek art, recounts the influence of Greek communities and their culture through Central Asia, India and Western China, from the Bronze Age through to the rise of Islam. Boardman examines a wealth of art and artifacts as well as literary sources to reveal the remarkable influence of Greek culture upon peoples – Anatolians, Levantines, Persians, Asiatics, Indians, Chinese – whose settled civilizations were far older, with their own strong traditions in life, government and the arts. The Greeks were not empire-builders. They did not seek to conquer or rule. However, they were highly literate and adept at trade; they spread a monetary economy through Eurasia; their religion was easily adapted to that of others; their art developed a form of narrative that was to be dominant for centuries to come; and their poets and philosophers were widely respected outside their homeland. As Boardman notes, ‘They are an odd phenomenon in world history. Through their travels they came to leave a very distinctive imprint on the lives and arts of many distant peoples, and over centuries, some to the present day'.

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In this tour de force of original cultural history, Paul Koudounaris takes the reader on an unprecedented international tour of macabre and devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. This is the first book to bring together the world’s most important charnel sites, ranging from the crypts of the Capuchin monasteries in Italy and the skull-encrusted columns of the ossuary in Évora in Portugal, to the strange tomb of a 1960s wealthy Peruvian nobleman decorated with the exhumed skeletons of his Spanish ancestors. Illustrated with specially taken photographs of sites rarely open to the public and forgotten archive images of others long destroyed, this mesmerising, shocking and deeply moving book is an essential memento mori for our modern age.

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From the origins of urbanization in Mesopotamia to the global metropolises of today, great cities have marked the development of human civilization. The Great Cities in History tells their stories, from Uruk and Memphis to Tokyo and São Paulo. A galaxy of distinguished contributors evoke the character of each place – its people, its art and architecture, its government – and explain the reasons for its success. Richly illustrated with photographs, paintings, maps and plans, this volume is nothing less that a portrait of world civilization.

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What is a true 1950s look, as opposed to a 1930s or 1940s look? This book aims to address that question by thoroughly surveying the development of graphic design over the course of the 20th century. Timelines for each decade highlight key moments, styles and movements, while profiles of thirty influential graphic designers – three per decade – are interspersed throughout the book.

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The joy that permeates Renoir’s paintings was created by a complicated person. Even close friends and family members were often baffled by the multi-faceted and contradictory artist. Having known Renoir for over twenty years, Camille Pissarro complained in a letter to his son Lucien: ‘Nor can I understand Renoir’s mind – but who can fathom the most changeable of men?’ Here, the world’s leading authority on the life and work of Auguste Renoir presents an intimate biography of this great Impressionist artist. Her narrative is interspersed with over a thousand extracts from letters by, to, and about Renoir, of which 452 come from unpublished letters. Through these words, the reader gains direct contact with Renoir, as an artist, friend and father. Renoir became hugely popular despite great obstacles: thirty years of poverty followed by thirty years of progressive paralysis of his fingers. Close friendships with scores of people who helped him with money, contacts and companionship enabled him to overcome these challenges to create more than 4,000 optimistic, life-affirming paintings. Barbara Ehrlich White brings a lifetime of research to bear in her biography to provide an unparalleled and intimate portrait of this complex artist.

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This delighful children’s book is a wonderful introduction to Picasso. It tells the true story of Antony Penrose – son of the photographer Lee Miller and the painter and writer Roland Penrose – and his childhood friendship with the great artist. Some sixty-five enchanting illustrations accompany the text, including Picasso’s most appealing artworks, plus evocative archive photography by Lee Miller. An inspiring look at the creative practices of an artist, this is an illustrated book to enthral and inspire young art fans of four and over.

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