Search results for ""Thames Hudson Ltd""

'Classic and Modern Fabrics' is the definitive reference guide to all the major types of fabric in circulation today. In clear and succinct language, the author describes over 600 examples, from classic tweeds to state-of-the-art nano fabrics. Ease of recognition is the book’s primary aim: each entry is written in an easy-to-follow format, including a definition, notes on structure, and a list of the fabric’s principal applications – and almost all examples are accompanied by a photograph and/or diagram designed to show defining characteristics at a glance. In addition, the text contains a wealth of detail covering patterns, history, and obsolete terms that the reader might still encounter. Combined with a comprehensive reference section, this unique work will prove itself invaluable to a whole range of users, from design students, teachers, designers and historians to manufacturers, buyers and merchandisers worldwide.

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Silk has long captured the imagination of peoples round the globe, inspiring creativity in the making of luxurious textiles. This major new survey draws on the exceptional collections of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and explores tradition and innovation across the history and geography of silk production, celebrating the ingenuity and skill of designers and makers. Structured by technique, from weaving and knitting to dyeing, printing and embroidery, this compendium showcases a rich variety of artworks, furnishings and clothing, including fashions from recent designer catwalk shows in North America, Asia and Europe. Silk will inform every student, connoisseur and admirer of beautiful textiles.With 620 illustrations in colour

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Troy is familiar to us from the timeless and epic tales of Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid. These have been retold over the centuries by writers from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Madeline Miller and Rick Riordan, and enacted by stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Brad Pitt. But how much do we really know about the city of Troy; its storytellers, myth, actual location or legacy? In this richly illustrated book, the story of Troy is told through a new lens. Published to accompany an exhibition at the British Museum, it introduces the storytellers and Classical artists inspired by the myths of Troy, then examines the tales themselves – from the Judgment of Paris to the return of Odysseus – through the Classical objects for which the museum is internationally known. The third section focuses on Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations at Hissarlik, introducing the nineteenth-century search for the location of Troy that convinced the world that this city did once exist. Also explored is the possible Bronze Age background for the myth of the Trojan War, the historicity of which remains unresolved today. The final section delves into the legacy of Troy, and the different ways in which its story has been retold, both in literature and art, from Homer to the present day. Focusing on the major characters – Helen of Troy, Achilles and Hector, Aeneas and Odysseus – it illustrates how artists from Cranach and Rubens to Romare Bearden and Cy Twombly have been inspired by this archetypal tale to reflect on contemporary themes of war and heroism, love and beauty.

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Even in the digital age, the printed poster retains an important, much-loved role in connecting with audiences in a way that both entertains and informs. The V&A was one of the first museums to start collecting posters and to recognize the importance of doing so. Far from ephemeral, posters are both a representation of the time in which they were produced and distributed and, in many instances, have shaped the societies in which they were seen. The story of the poster is both one of changing styles and new innovations in design, illustration and printing, and a visually compelling social history. The Poster brings together over 300 examples that tell a comprehensive visual history of poster design and the various ways the poster has been used to tell, to sell, to charm and to spur on change. Organized into seven thematic chapters that tell the story of the poster as a medium, each poster is accompanied by a concise commentary that explains the work in terms of its design, printing, content, message and the commercial, social or political impact it may have had. Featuring works by the masters of poster design that have become popular and highly collectible classics, charting the ebb and flow of styles such as Art Nouveau, Modernism, Art Deco, Psychedelia and Punk and featuring the nostalgic glow of muchloved brands as well as posters that shook and changed the world, The Poster will be an essential visual resource for graphic designers and illustrators – a reference for anyone with an interest in collecting posters and an engaging design and social history for all who appreciate this most popular of art forms.

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Reshuffle art history with Queen of Arts, a beautifully illustrated deck of playing cards and book spotlighting the lives, work and legacies of fifty-four remarkable women. Did you know that the four suits of a modern-day deck of playing cards once represented the four classes of society in medieval France? Hearts represented the clergy, Spades the nobility, Diamonds the merchants and Clubs the peasants. Author Lydia Miller has reimagined these suits as Seers, Warriors, Influencers and Dissenters, curating the fifty-four women artists featured based on these categories. Laura Callaghan's stunning, detail-packed illustrations will make you want to flip open the accompanying guide to learn about each artist.

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From his early work for Vogue to his portraits of the rich and famous, Helmut Newton (1920–2004) conveyed a unique vision of a wealthy and glamorous world that often shocks but never ceases to fascinate. This book, available again in the Photofile series, presents about sixty of his instantly recognizable shots of haute couture and the beau monde.

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Many ‘model’ cities, both imagined and physical, have existed throughout history; from the ideal cities of the Renaissance, Urbino, Pienza and Ferrara, to modernist utopias, such as Brasília or Chandigarh. North Korea’s Pyongyang, however, is arguably unique. Entirely rebuilt following the Korean War (1950–53), the city was planned and fully implemented to model a single ideological vision – a guide for an entire state. As a result, the urban fabric of Pyongyang displays an extraordinary architectural cohesion and narrative, artfully captured in the pages of this book. In recent years, many of Pyongyang’s buildings have been redeveloped to remove interior features or to render façades unrecognizable. From the city’s monumental axes to its symbolic sports halls and experimental housing concepts, this timely book offers comprehensive visual access to Pyongyang’s restricted buildings, which still preserve the DPRK’s original vision for a city designed ‘for the people’. Often kitsch, colourful and dramatic, Pyongyang’s architecture can be reminiscent of the aesthetic of a Wes Anderson film, where it is difficult to distinguish between reality and theatre. Reflecting a culture that has carefully crafted its own narrative, the backdrop of each photograph has been replaced with a colour gradient, evoking the idealized pastel skies of the country’s propaganda posters.

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During a career spanning over three decades, award-winning architect Mok Wei Wei has designed numerous large- and small-scale projects in Singapore with his practice W Architects. From apartment complexes and museums to houses and community centres, each project reveals the architect’s key inspirations and ingenious solutions to the challenges of building in the tropical city-stage. The works are presented in three themed chapters – Refract, Respond, Reflect – and move through Mok Wei Wei’s career from the early 1980s to the present. In our increasingly urban world, W Architects illustrates a unique approach to designing buildings for a dense city environment, working in the context of a diverse multicultural society facing up to the challenges of climate, heritage preservation, globalism and national identity.With 594 illustrations, 296 in colour

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Tents, bandstands, displays, places for sitting, listening, seeing and being seen... Pavilions have myriad forms and as many functions. For architects and designers, they offer unique opportunities to experiment with form, construction, material, structure, surface and texture, often as prototypes for larger buildings or as purely artistic pursuits. A pavilion’s particular location also offers rich possibilities for interaction with the landscapes, streetscapes and peoplescapes around it. Pavilions can be temples to digital interaction or provide oases of surreal calm and isolation. This is a selection of the best examples produced in recent years. From the cutting- edge forms of Sou Fujimoto to Zaha Hadid’s Chanel pavilion, from small structures created entirely out of farm waste to a mirrored carapace conceived by Olafur Eliasson, each pavilion featured provides a lesson in the extreme possibilities of built form and demonstrates that many of the biggest ideas in architecture start small.

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For many young architects, houses or domestic buildings are among the first projects they design. For David Adjaye, such early commissions were connected to a rising generation of creatives, with whom he shared a range of sensibilities. His artistry, clever use of space and inexpensive, unexpected materials resulted in many innovative and widely published houses, mainly built in London. After twenty years of practice and a raft of high-profile projects around the world – not least the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, which opened in the autumn of 2016 – houses represent a smaller portion of Adjaye’s work, but are more potent as a result. Selecting projects that are challenging for their sites, complexity or architectural possibility, Adjaye has both expanded and sharpened his domestic design, taking it in new directions. This monograph presents in vivid detail the nine finest and most recent examples, from Ghana to Brooklyn, from desolate farmlands to urban jungles. The results, presented through lucid texts alongside detailed and photographically rich visual documentation, testify to the importance of Adjaye’s growing inventiveness and provide powerful new design ideas for residential architecture.

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Winner of the DAM Architectural Book Award 2017 This book – an astonishing achievement following five years of detailed and original research – presents the first systematic survey of the fifty most important medieval parish church towers and spires in England, covering a period of some five hundred years. The introduction provides an overview of the technological and aesthetic development of towers and spires, and examines the evolution of their major architectural elements. The process of medieval steeple construction is also explored. The main part of the book is devoted to a richly illustrated survey of the fifty most important medieval steeples in England, from renowned Saxon churches such as Earls Barton, Northamptonshire, to those of almost cathedral-like proportions such as Salle in Norfolk or Chipping Campden in the heart of the Cotswolds. With over 250 high-quality photographs and around 175 immaculate explanatory line drawings, this book will appeal to the many thousands who visit England’s parish churches and who find in them some of the greatest pleasures that buildings can offer.

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It was perhaps no surprise that Jacques Ferrier was personally selected by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to design the country’s pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. It was to become, along with Thomas Heatherwick’s ‘Seed Cathedral’, one of the most lauded and visited pavilions of the fair, and embodied the key characteristics of Ferrier’s work: a deep interest in technology; the encouragement of social interaction through the use of courtyards, walkways and loggias; and the use of a perforated outer skin that not only responds to the need for internal climatic control but also provides an additional space for informal social gathering while softening the transition from the building’s internal space to the outside world. Influenced by the critic Rayner Banham, by the work of French architect–engineer Jean Prouvé, and by his early experience of working with Norman Foster, Jacques Ferrier has developed a highly individual approach to architecture that seeks to harness technology in order to create buildings and urban environments that fully engage with the practical and emotional needs of people. Central to Ferrier’s philosophy is the idea of the ‘Sensual City’, which aims to create buildings and cities that engage with the five senses – sound, smell, sight, touch and taste – that are central to human experience. Ferrier is the antithesis of the celebrity ‘starchitect’, but his work stands out precisely because of its calm thoughtfulness, sensitivity and precision.

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In 1801, at the age of 26, Joseph Mallord William Turner became the youngest ever member of the Royal Academy. His early paintings combined great historical themes with inspired visions of nature, but subsequent experiments with the effects of light led him swiftly towards a evolutionary dissolution of forms. In this profusely illustrated book, Olivier Meslay invites us to follow the development of Turner's incandescent art, a bridge between Romanticism and Impressionism and one of Britains' most remarkable contributions to art.

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The definitive illustrated retrospective on the Oscar-winning director of some of the most resonant and enduring films of all time. For more than five decades, Steven Spielberg has created inspiring, exciting and unforgettable movie magic. Jaws, E.T., the Indiana Jones series, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and West Side Story are among the many favourites that have thrilled cinema audiences all over the world. They are some of the highest-grossing, most captivating and enduring films of all time contemporary classics that indelibly remain part of our lives. This timely retrospective celebrates more than fifty years of Steven Spielberg's boundless energy and his unwavering commitment to excellence in all areas of his work. Drawing on his many first-person interviews, distinguished writer and critic Richard Schickel provides unique insight on every one of Spielberg's thirty-four major movies. John H. Foote, one of Canada's best known f

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An essential guide for the discerning time-traveller: take a trip to ancient Egypt at the height of its power and prosperity in the reign of Ramesses II. More reliable than Herodotus and more upbeat than The Book of the Dead, this popular book in Thames & Hudson's successful Time Travel series takes the reader to Ancient Egypt in the time of Ramesses II (1250BC). Egyptologist Donald Ryan guides the time-travelling tourist on a journey up the Nile, and en route he offers useful advice on everything from deciphering hieroglyphics to mummifying household pets. So leave the protective amulets at home and banish all fear of being sold as a galley slave this imaginative guide is all you need to survive and enjoy your visit to Egypt in its golden age.

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An in-depth overview of Ukrainian art from the dawn of Modernism in the late nineteenth century to the start of the Russian invasion in Spring 2022. Ukraine is at a historic crossroads, with the nation's complex cultural identity at stake. Curator Alisa Lozhkina provides an authoritative overview of the country's art, artists and movements from the dawn of Modernism to the Soviet period, to post-Soviet times and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She discusses Ukrainian art and artists within historical and political contexts as well as showing how they have contributed to, and interacted with, Ukrainian culture and identity as the nation transformed from provincial status on the periphery of the Russian Empire, to a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, through to independence and the challenges of its most recent history. Arranged broadly chronologically and fully illustrated throughout, The Art of Ukraine offers a powerful opportunity to explore the rich and complex U

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The definitive visual record of the groundbreaking graphic designer and Pentagram partner, Paula Scher. Paula Scher is one of the most influential graphic designers in the world. Described as the master conjurer of the instantly familiar', Scher straddles the line between pop culture and fine art in her work. Iconic, smart and accessible, her images have entered the American vernacular. Paula Scher: Works is the definitive visual record of the groundbreaking graphic designer and Pentagram partner. Published by Unit Editions, the 522-page book presents the most extensive monograph of Scher's career to date, featuring over 300 projects from from her early days in the music industry as an art director with CBS and Atlantic Records, through the launch of her first studio, Koppel & Scher, to her 25-year engagement with Pentagram. Co-edited by Tony Brook and Adrian Shaughnessy, the book organizes Scher's work chronologically into several thematic sections. It opens with a long in

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A compact sourcebook of ideas for innovative furnishing, interior environments and small-scale architectural interventions. As the definition of designer' expands and architects today create everything from jewelry to urban masterplans, a new wave of objects is transforming our interior spaces. They include bookshelves that can dynamically divide and reshape a room, chairs that create intimate room-like enclosures, home-office spaces-within-spaces, and self-contained kitchen cubes that can be expanded to reveal every conceivable cooking and eating function. Furnitecture presents some 200 examples of this new design typology. From Danish studio KiBiSi's design for a reconfigurable bookshelf system and Japanese architect Shigeru Ban's moving boxes within rooms, to Dutch designers Makkink & Bey's conversational Ear Chairs and the French atelier 37.2's series of self-standing cubes, there is an interior world of innovation in these pages. And a personal space just for you.

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An updated edition of this acclaimed book, now with a new preface and published to tie in with the bicentenary of Champollion’s breakthrough in 1822. Cracking the Egyptian Code is the first biography in English of Jean-François Champollion, the impoverished, arrogant and brilliant child of the French Revolution who made the vital breakthrough in deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs. This account charts Champollion’s dramatic life and achievements: by turns a teenage professor, a supporter of Napoleon, an exile, a fanatical decipherer and a curator at the Louvre, he lived life to the full but drove himself into an early grave. Andrew Robinson’s full-blooded account brings the man, his setbacks and his ultimate triumphs vividly to life.

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A beautiful collaboration between Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch and illustrator Pamela Tait: a unique visual reinterpretation of Murdoch’s favourite Belle and Sebastian songs. From the imagined lives of the passengers riding Glasgow buses in the early 1990s to questions raised about the status quo and musings on the meaning of religion, Stuart Murdoch, frontman of Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian, has written some of the most captivating lyrics of the past two decades. Belle and Sebastian recorded their first critically acclaimed album Tigermilk in three days, played a sold-out show at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic, and famously forgot their drummer, dressed in his pyjamas, outside a Walmart. Their songs have animated many film soundtracks, developing a cult following that has helped to define the sound of indie music as we know it today. The first book in the 'Illustrated Lyrics' series combines the words selected from over twenty-four years of Belle and Sebastian songs with specially commissioned illustrations from Scottish artist Pamela Tait, whose intricate and whimsical character illustrations Stuart Murdoch stumbled upon and fell in love with when he rediscovered old fan mail Pamela had sent to him over a decade ago. Set with expressive typography, this is an exceptional publication that will seduce even the most devoted fans to ‘see’ these wonderful songs afresh.

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An essential guide to how the power of art has been harnessed to effect political change across the modern world, from the struggle for universal suffrage to Black Lives Matter. Here is a well-researched, concise guide to protest art, exploring what happens when artists join forces with radical political movements to foster change. The works and movements discussed emerged at times of great upheaval, war, colonialism, independence and changes of government, and reveal how art and politics have been intertwined throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. Jessica Lack adopts an inclusive and international approach, presenting examples from nations and societies around the globe, including: Sylvia Pankhurst's paintings depicting the harsh realities faced by women manual workers in early 1900s Britain; the revolutionary aesthetic created by Emory Douglas for the Black Panthers in the 1960s, which documented and galvanized the campaign for the rights of Black Americans; Nandalal B

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A timely re-examination of European engagements with indigenous art and the presence of indigenous art in the contemporary art world. The arts of Africa, Oceania and native America famously inspired twentieth-century modernist artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Ernst. The politics of such stimulus, however, have long been highly contentious: was this a cross-cultural discovery to be celebrated, or just one more example of Western colonial appropriation? This revelatory book explores cross-cultural art through the lens of settler societies such as Australia and New Zealand, where Europeans made new nations, displacing and outnumbering but never eclipsing native peoples. In this dynamic of dispossession and resistance, visual art has loomed large. Settler artists and designers drew upon Indigenous motifs and styles in their search for distinctive identities. Yet powerful Indigenous art traditions have asserted the presence of First Nations peoples and their claims to place, history and sovereignty. Cultural exchange has been a two-way process, and an unpredictable one: contemporary Indigenous art draws on global contemporary practice, but moves beyond a bland affirmation of hybrid identities to insist on the enduring values and attachment to place of Indigenous peoples.

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When long-term cat owner and Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen moved to Hong Kong, he was delighted to find that many of his neighbours were of the feline variety. It was only natural for him to make friends with the local shop cats and their owners, taking photos as he went. And this book is the charming result. Against a background of Hong Kong’s bustling dried goods trade, dusty shelves groaning with traditional products, the beloved cats either stand out as shop mascots or magically melt away behind boxes and jars. Meanwhile, their innermost thoughts, delivered deadpan, are revealed through Ian Row’s intuitive haiku and stories.With 90 illustrations in colour

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Biomimetics – imitating life’s natural processes – is one of the hottest areas of design research and inspiration. The natural world contains infinite examples of how to achieve complex behaviours and applications by using simple materials in a clever way, as all organisms make use of limited raw materials to survive. In the popular imagination, the best-known example is the microscopic ‘hook’ on burrs that led to the development of Velcro, but there are many more applications, from kingfisher beaks inspiring the shape of bullet trains to shark skin being used as a model for advanced swimsuits. This book presents many examples, showing each natural phenomenon alongside its application, with an accessible explanation of the biology and the story of the design. While most are concrete examples that have already been developed, others point the way to what might be possible for an enterprising designer, providing a starting point for creativity. This timely overview is the perfect introduction for designers of all disciplines, and a reminder that inspiration may be just down the garden path.With 439 illustrations

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This pioneering book stands as the most comprehensive treatment of the lives, ideas and art works of the remarkable group of women who were an essential part of the Surrealist movement. Frida Kahlo, Meret Oppenheim and Dorothea Tanning, among many others, became an embodiment of their age as they struggled towards artistic maturity and their own 'liberation of the spirit' in the context of the Surrealist revolution. Their stories and their achievements are presented here against the background of the turbulent decades of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, and the war that forced Surrealism into exile in New York and Mexico.With 145 illustrations in colour

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Did you know that: • Deserts provide food for fish? • 70% of all birds on the planet are chickens? • Climate change was the reason why humans began to talk? • Cows emit harmful methane when they burp or fart? Filled to the brim with 123 astonishing facts about the environment and climate, this accessible book explores the history of climate change and offers suggestions on how we can keep our planet liveable.

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Created in collaboration with Dronestegram, the world-leading drone photography website, and Ayperi Karabuda Ecer, a highly renowned photography editor, Dronescapes is the first book to bring together the very best photographs taken by quadcopters around the globe. It grants us the thrilling opportunity to see our planet from entirely new vantage points, whether this is a bird’s-eye view of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, a photograph taken inches away from an eagle in mid-flight, or a vertiginous shot taken above Mexico’s Tamul Waterfalls. There are extended commentaries on how individual images were created, profiles on notable photographers and a separate user guide containing key advice on how to use your drone. An introduction also discusses how the arrival of drone photography signals a major shift in the history of aerial photography. Dronescapes is a landmark publication at the cutting edge of contemporary photography, taking the medium – for once, literally – to newfound, dizzying heights.

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Francis Bacon was one of most elusive and enigmatic creative geniuses of the twentieth century. However much his avowed aim was to simplify both himself and his art, he remained a deeply complex person. Bacon was keenly aware of this underlying contradiction, and whether talking or painting, strove consciously towards absolute clarity and simplicity, calling himself ‘simply complicated’. Until now, this complexity has rarely come across in the large number of studies on Bacon’s life and work. Francis Bacon: Studies for a Portrait shows a variety of Bacon’s many facets, and questions the accepted views on an artist who was adept at defying categorization. The essays and interviews brought together here span more than half a century. Opening with an interview by the author in 1963, the year that he met Bacon, there are also essays written for exhibitions, memoirs and reflections on Bacon’s late work, some published here for the first time. Included are recorded conversations with Bacon in Paris that lasted long into the night, and an overall account of the artist’s sources and techniques in his extraordinary London studio. This is an updated edition of Francis Bacon: Studies for a Portrait (2008), published for the first time in a paperback reading book format. It brings this fascinating artist into closer view, revealing the core of his talent: his skill for marrying extreme contradictions and translating them into immediately recognizable images, whose characteristic tension derives from a life lived constantly on the edge.With 14 illustrations, 7 in colour

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Self-portraiture shows no sign of losing its ability to capture the public imagination. Given our current proclivity to snap and share ‘selfies’ in seconds, it is unsurprising to find a renewed interest in the genre among general audiences and students. Self-portraits have the power to illuminate a range of universal concerns, from identity, purpose and authenticity, to frailty, futility and mortality. In this volume, curator Natalie Rudd expertly casts fresh light on the self-portrait and its international appeal, exploring the historical contexts within which self-portraits have proliferated and considering the meanings they hold today. With commentaries on works by artists ranging from Jan van Eyck and Artemisia Gentileschi to Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Jenny Saville, the book explores the emotive and expressive potential of self-portraiture, and its capacities to distance or to demystify. Can self-portraits offer windows into artistic process? Is there ever a singular identity to be captured? Is it necessary for a self-portrait to depict the human form? In her vibrant and timely discussion, Rudd dissects these and other important questions, revealing the shifting faces of individuality and selfhood in an age where we are interrogating notions of personal identity more than ever before.With 97 illustrations in colour

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A timely re-examination of the pros and cons of legalizing drug use. Combining a unique visual approach with carefully constructed narrative text, this book provides a survey of the history of drug use, a review of the impact of the war on drugs, an appraisal of the effects of legal vs illegal drugs and an evaluation of the impact of the decriminalization of drugs. According to archaeological and historical records, ethanol in the form of beer in Sumeria and wine in Egypt has been used recreationally for 13,000 years, while psychotropic drugs have been used for thousands of years, mainly for religious purposes. This book sets out the history of the use of drugs since the Neolithic age, and explores the evolution of recreational drug use from the mid-18th century on. It considers the lethal and social impact of heavy use of legal alcohol or nicotine vs the hazards to health and society associated with illegal drugs. It evaluates the effects of the 50-year failed global war on drugs on the criminal production and trafficking of drugs on the black market and on the abuse, health and imprisonment of end users. Finally, it argues for the decriminalization of all drugs and the state regulation of the drug market, with suitable controls and regulation for each drug type.

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The best account of Angkor available in English takes the reader on a panoramic tour of Cambodian history from earliest times to the latest finds' Ben Kiernan, author of The Pol Pot Regime The ancient city of Angkor in Cambodia has fascinated scholars and visitors alike since its rediscovery in the mid-19th century. A great deal was already known about the history of Angkor and the brilliant Khmer civilization that built it thanks to pioneering work by archaeologists and scholars, but our knowledge has now been completely revolutionized by cutting-edge technology. Airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) has revealed entire cities that were previously unknown and a complex urban landscape with highways and waterways, profoundly transforming our interpretations of the development and supposed decline of Angkor. In this comprehensive edition of Angkor and the Khmer Civilization, respected archaeologist Michael Coe is joined by Damian Evans, who led this remarkable programme of scientific e

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Empires evoke potent images: Stanley, Livingstone and the colonial gallery of great explorers; the Spanish Conquistador’s quest for gold and silver; and the Dutch heritage of trade in the East Indies. For over 500 years empires have been a feature of the political landscape and – a generation or more after the final collapse of most of the European Empires – the subject is still a major issue for historians. For some countries – Germany and Italy – overseas dreams were short-lived; for others – the United States and the Soviet Union – imperialist activity existed but was never accepted as an official state policy; and the disappearance of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires has obscured some of the imperial dimensions of these states. This book shows how the maps of explorations, the chronologies of conquests, the records of settlers and administrators, the balance sheets of commerce and all else that made up the Age of Empires play a key role in explaining the global civilization of today.

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Antony Gormley occupies an unusual position as a highly popular sculptor – known chiefly for his Angel of the North (1998), a national landmark in the UK – who is also widely regarded as one of the most intellectually challenging artists working internationally. He is grounded in archaeology and anthropology, and looks to Asian and Buddhist traditions as much as to Western sculptural history, which he believes reached a punctuation point with Rodin. This is the first book to focus on Gormley’s thoughts on sculpture, positioning his career and artistic philosophy in relation to its history. The book is structured thematically over four chapters: the first explores Gormley’s thoughts on the body, time and space in relation to major works including European Field (1993) and ‘Still Standing’ (2011), Gormley’s rehang of the classical rooms at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The second chapter, ‘Sculptors’, was first delivered as a series of five lectures for the BBC; in each, Gormley discusses a sculpture he considers to be of huge creative importance: Epstein’s The Rock Drill (1913–15), Brancusi’s The Endless Column (1935–38), Giacometti’s La Place (1948–49), Joseph Beuys’s Plight (1985) and Richard Serra’s The Matter of Time (2005). In the third chapter, Gormley outlines the influence of Buddhist and Jain sculpture on his work and ideas, and the fourth showcases the artist’s most recent sculptures.

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In this innovative approach to Impressionism and its methods, Jonathan Stephenson’s instruction enables amateurs the world over to paint like the Impressionists. Vibrantly illustrated in colour throughout, both with well-known works of art and step-by-step examples, the book shows how the masters achieved their diverse effects and how their ideas and styles can be adapted to today’s tastes. Sections on the artists provide fascinating insights into individual techniques: learn how Monet produced his oil colour sketches, or how Sisley created his atmospheric landscapes. With an introduction providing the historical background to Impressionism, and a comprehensive section on artists’ materials, this is a highly practical book that will appeal both to beginners and more experienced artists, as well as to the many thousands of of people inspired by the brilliance and beauty of Impressionist painting.

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Described by an admirer as ‘the High Druidess of fashion, the Supreme Pontiff, Perpetual Curate and Archpresbyter of elegance, the Vicaress of Style’, Diana Vreeland is the cloth from which 21st-century fashion editors are cut. Diana joined Harper’s Bazaar in 1936, where her pizzazz and singular point of view quickly made her a major creative force in fashion. During her time at Harper’s Bazaar and later as the editor-in-chief of Vogue, the self-styled ‘Empress of fashion’ launched Twiggy’s career, advised Jackie Kennedy, and enjoyed the full swing of sixties’ London. In Diana’s Vogue, women were encouraged to resist fashion orders from on high, and to use their own imaginations in re-creating themselves – much as Vreeland spent her own life doing. In this book, Amanda Mackenzie Stuart portrays a visionary: a fearless innovator who inspired designers, models, photographers and artists. Diana Vreeland reinvented the way we think about style and where we go to find it. As an editor, curator and wit, she made a lasting mark and remains an icon for generations of fashion lovers.

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The Big Idea shortlisted for series design in the British Design and Production AwardsThe past sixty years have witnessed astonishing bursts of growth in the field of Artificial Intelligence – the science and computational technologies that teach machines to sense, learn, reason and take action. AI is already changing our lives, in ways that benefit health, productivity and entertainment. Are we on the threshold of an AI-dominated world, in which humans will no longer be necessary?

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One of only seven editors-in-chief in American Vogue’s history, Jessica Daves has remained one of fashion’s most enigmatic figures—until now. Diana Vreeland’s direct predecessor in the role, it is Daves who first catapulted the magazine into modernity. A testament to a changing America on every level, Daves’s Vogue was the first to embrace a ‘high/low’ blend of fashion in its pages and also introduced world-renowned artists, literary greats, and cultural icons into every issue, offering the reader a complete vision of how fashion, interiors, art, architecture, entertaining, literature, and culture were all connected and all contributed to refining and defining personal style. Profiling icons of American style from John and Jackie Kennedy to Charles and Ray Eames, Daves’s Vogue also featured the couture creations of Dior, Chanel, Givenchy, and Balenciaga. Organized in multifaceted, thematic chapters, 1950s in Vogue features carefully curated photographs, illustrations and page spreads from the Vogue archives (with both iconic and less-familiar images from photographers including William Klein, Irving Penn, Karen Radkai and Erwin Blumenfeld), as well as reproductions of fascinating archival materials and correspondence.

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Street Art is a phenomenon and subcultural movement that reaches from the darkest urban backstreets to the most glamorous international art fairs. Simon Armstrong examines how it evolved from its origins in the 1970s New York graffiti scene to embrace many new materials, styles and techniques along the way, tracing how this marginal art form graduated into art galleries and the art market, while also heavily influencing design, fashion, advertising and visual culture. Despite having earned a place in the canon of 20th-century art history, Street Art’s qualifications are often disputed both by the art establishment and practitioners themselves, all concerned with notions of authenticity. Examining Street Art’s controversial history in detail, this book provides a full-colour worldwide journey, taking in all of the movement’s significant artists and artworks, styles, materials and methods, and showcasing the works that have come to define it more than any other. It also examines its close relationship to Pop Art and Digital Art, and explores possible futures for Street Art.

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Aimed at anyone wanting to learn more about the increasingly popular art of calligraphy and lettering, this practical introduction showcases many fine examples in the V&A’s collection, and will give readers a new understanding and appreciation of letterforms. Fifteen beautiful step-by-step projects each take their cue from a different technique or tradition. Detailed instructions lead readers through the essentials of classic calligraphy styles such as Gothic and Italic lettering, on to vintage-inspired signwriting and chalkboard design and even into the elegant, image-led worlds of illuminated capitals and zoomorphic calligraphy. Designed by leading calligraphy teachers and practitioners, the projects include a handmade booklet, banner, menu, gift tags, a monogram stamp, greetings cards and more. Each project offers tips on how to take steps towards developing one’s own designs. This book is packed with inspiration and practical advice to enable anyone to find new creative direction through the timeless arts of calligraphy and hand-lettering.

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This remarkable and beautiful book brings together a collection of decorated papers dating from the 16th to the 20th century. They were produced for a wide variety of uses: as wrappers and endpapers for books, as the backing for playing cards, and even as linings for chests and cases. Some decorated papers were used as humble pictures for display in churches and the home; some were sold as souvenirs to pilgrims; and others were used merely as wrappings for foodstuffs such as gingerbread and chocolate. What unites all the papers in the book is the richness of their ornamentation and the thin, flexible characteristics of the original sheets. They are all further united by having been collected by Olga Hirsch (1889–1968), a trained bookbinder who left her collection of some 3,500 papers to the British Library, where they remain one of the largest and most diverse collections of decorated papers in the world. This anthology brings together some of the most exquisite examples. It will delight and inspire designers, bibliophiles and anyone with a love of pattern and decoration.

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The religious thinkers, political leaders, law-makers, writers and philosophers of the early Muslim world helped to shape the 1,400-year-long development of today’s secondlargest world religion. But who were these people? What do we know of their lives, and the ways in which they influenced their societies? Chase F. Robinson draws on the long tradition in Muslim scholarship of commemorating in writing the biographies of notable figures, but weaves these ambitious lives together to create a rich narrative of early Islamic civilization, from the Prophet Muhammad to fearsome Tamerlane. Beginning in Islam’s heartland, Mecca, we move across Arabia to follow Islam’s journey across North Africa, as far as Spain in the West, and eastwards through Central and East Asia; we see the rise and fall of Islamic states through the political and military leaders working to secure peace or expand their power, and, within this political climate, the development of Islamic law, scientific thought and literature through the words of the scholars who devoted themselves to these pursuits. Alongside the famous characters who coloured this landscape, including Muhammad’s controversial cousin, ’Ali; the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin; and the poet Rumi, the reader will also meet less wellknown figures, such as Shajar al-Durr, slave-turned-Sultana of Egypt, and Ibn Fadlan, whose travels in Eurasia brought first-hand accounts of the Volka Vikings to the Abbasid Caliph.

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John Julius Norwich presents a sweeping tour of forty great cities that shaped the ancient world and its civilizations - and which in turn have shaped our own. The cities of the ancient world built the foundations for modern urban life, their innovations in architecture and politics essential to cities as we know them today. But what was it like to live in Babylon, Carthage or Teotihuacan? From the first cities in Mesopotamia to the spectacular urban monuments of the Maya in Central America, the cities explored here represent almost three millennia of human history. Not only do they illustrate the highest achievement of the cultures that built them, but they also help us understand the rise and fall of these ancient peoples. Eminent historians and archaeologists with first-hand knowledge of each site give voices to these silent ruins, bringing them to life as the teeming, state-of-the-art metropolises they once were.

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Embroidery: A Maker’s Guide contains 15 beautiful step-by-step projects for crafters at all levels. Each one takes its cue from a different historical tradition – from English goldwork to Indian beetle-wing embellishment, from Japanese kogin to Irish whitework. Projects include a bargello purse; blackwork moth and dragonfly motifs on napkins; a William Morris artichoke motif on a small cushion; Chinese-inspired motifs for adorning a denim jacket; Mountmellick whitework on a decorative necklace-collar; Indian shisha mirrorwork on a clutch bag; and machine-embroidered lilies on lingerie. Designed by teachers and practitioners at the leading edge of today’s craft revival, the projects are both functional and fashionable, and include tips on how to take next steps towards developing your own designs. This modern maker’s guide will inspire all readers with the confidence to express their creativity through the age-old craft of decorative stitching.

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Japanese houses today have to contend with unique factors that condition their design, from tiny plots in crowded urban contexts to ever-present seismic threats. These challenges encourage their architects to explore alternating ideas of stability and ephemerality in various ways, resulting in spaces that are as fascinating as they are idiosyncratic. Their formal innovation and attention to materials, technology and measures to coax in light and air while maintaining domestic privacy make them cutting-edge residences that suggest new ways of being at home. Contemporary Japanese architecture has emerged as a substantial force on the international scene ever since Kenzo Tange won the Pritzker Prize in 1987. This overview of 50 recent houses powerfully demonstrates Japan’s enduring commitment to design innovation.

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From the eminent historian Norman Stone, who has lived and worked in the country since 1997, comes this concise survey of Turkey’s relations with its immediate neighbours and the wider world from the 11th century to the present day. Stone deftly conducts the reader through this story, from the arrival of the Seljuks in Anatolia in the eleventh century to today’s thriving republic. It is an historical account of epic proportions, featuring rapacious leaders such as Genghis Khan and Tamerlane through the glories of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent to Kemal Atatürk, the reforming genius and founder of modern Turkey. At its height, the Ottoman Empire was a superpower that brought Islam to the gates of Vienna. Stone examines the reasons for the empire’s long decline and shows how it gave birth to the modern Turkish republic, where east and west, religion and secularism, tradition and modernity still form vibrant elements of national identity. Norman Stone brilliantly draws out the larger themes of Turkey’s history, resulting in a book that is a masterly exposition of the historian’s craft.

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It was 1953 when, not long after arriving in New York City, a young artist named Andy Warhol had begun to make his way in the world of commercial illustration. As Arthur Edelman, his former employer, relates in his introductory note, ‘In a hallway of the Empire State Building, outside a shoe manufacturer’s office, stood a young man with Jackson Pollock shoes, a rumpled black suit, a portfolio and a shock of white hair.’ Over the next decade, Warhol created scores of whimsical advertisements for the Edelmans, including a colouring book that could only have come from the mind of Warhol, created especially for clients’ children for Christmas in 1961, and somewhat of a cause célèbre when it was published in 1990. The original edition was only 24pp, but Warhol actually created many more drawings through the mid/late 1950s and early 1960s; this revised edition is extended with many more of these images. A Coloring Book: Drawings by Andy Warhol will amuse a new audience with its delightfully carefree menagerie and mid-century charm.

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