Search results for ""V A Publishing""

Generations of children have been captivated by the exploits of Jemima Puddle-Duck, Squirrel Nutkin, Peter Rabbit and the host of other characters conjured up by Beatrix Potter. Packed with original artwork, Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature, looks at secrets to her success and celebrates her wider life and legacy - her passions and accomplishments - that stretch far beyond the pages of her storybooks. Charting her life, from her childhood in South Kensington, London to her later years in the Lake District, Annemarie Bilclough and Emma Laws show how Potter's exceptional affinity with nature from an early age ensured the success of her stories - underneath the costumes were real, believable, animals. Sara Glenn highlights Potter's entrepreneurial talents whilst Lucy Shaw takes readers on a Victorian holiday. Contributions from Richard Fortey and James Rebanks reveal her work in the field of mycology and transformation into a farmer, and Liz Hunter MacFarlane discusses her profound impact on the preservation of the Lake District landscape. Naturalist, creative pioneer, storyteller, determined entrepreneur - Potter has been described as 'a many-sided genius' and Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature allows readers a tantalising glimpse into the life of this extraordinary woman.

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At a moment of unprecedented creativity in men's fashion, and continuing reflections on gender, contemporary designers are questioning established forms, seeking to liberate wearers from traditional models of masculine dress. This book combines fashion with artistic and broader cultural histories - looking at the designers, tailors and artists who have constructed and performed masculinity from the Renaissance to the present day. It traces connections across and beyond European menswear, celebrating both rich traditions and daring individualists. Divided into three parts, Undressed reveals the role of the body and underwear in fashioning masculinities. Overdressed explores the power dynamics of sartorial bravado, while Redressed deconstructs a modern masculine uniform: the black suit. Featuring a staggering range of cultural touchstones from Hercules to Virgil Abloh, Giovanni Battista Moroni to Jawaharlal Nehru, Yves Saint Laurent to Kehinde Wiley, Marcus Rashford, Marlene Dietrich and even Captain America, Fashioning Masculinities challenges our preconceptions about menswear, revealing the fascinating historical roots beneath the power, artistry and diversity of masculine attire and appearance today.

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V&A Pattern: William Morris highlights both popular and lesser-known patterns designs by the most famous designer of the Arts and Crafts Movement. A source of inspiration for designers from William Morris to Alexander McQueen, the V&A holds over three million designs for textiles, decorations, wallpapers and prints. Now beautifully re-presented, the bestselling V&A Pattern series invites you to appreciate the work of some of the greatest names and styles in design history, highlighting interesting and imaginative works that are all too rarely seen. Each pocket-sized book features 66 carefully selected patterns, and has a concise expert introduction, making these an invaluable source of inspiration for creatives - and the perfect gift for pattern-lovers.

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William Morris (1834-96), Father of the Arts and Crafts movement, was one of the most important artistic and literary figures of the nineteenth century. His pattern designs reveal a love of wild flowers, plants and birds, and a fascination with medieval culture. Each of these 100 postcards shows a different motif by Morris and his company, offering a perfect introduction to the Victoria and Albert Museum's extensive collections. Favourites such as Willow Bough, Strawberry Thief and Acanthus are presented alongside lesser-known wallpaper, textile and tile designs making this a must-have for all design fans.

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The Great age of ocean travel has long since passed, but ocean liners remain one of the most powerful and admired symbols of modernity. No form of transport was as romantic, remarkable, or contested, and ocean liner design became a matter of national prestige as well as an arena in which the larger dynamics of global competition were played out. This beautifully illustrated book considers over a century of liner design: from the striking graphics created to promote liners to the triumphs of engineering, and from luxurious interiors to on board fashion and activities. Ocean Liners explores the design of Victorian and Art Deco 'floating palaces', sleek post-war liners as well as these ships' impact on avant-garde artists and architects such as Le Corbusier.

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This striking publication presents highlights from the V&A's outstanding collection of embroidery designs for fashion, accessories and home furnishings.

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Using radical materials and designs that range from refined to whimsical, Stephen Jones’s exquisitely crafted hats ignited a revival of British millinery in the early 1980s and today continue to attract stylish celebrities. Jones has also collaborated with legendary designers, including Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Marc Jacobs. Published to accompany a touring exhibition, Hats offers an unprecedented view of the world of millinery. Drawing on Jones’s own archive and the V&A’s extensive collection, this vividly illustrated book examines the inspiration behind hat design, the history of millinery from the process to the materials to the workshop, and the etiquette of hat-wearing.

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This attractive series reveals the V&A's spectacular and extensive pattern collections. Each title in the series includes a free CD of high resolution images. Modern British Designers traces the past 50 years of creative genius and innovation in British design, highlighting such designers as Terence Conran, Zandra Rhodes and Shirley Craven. The compact disc at the back of the book invites you to appreciate the ingenuity of the designs, and the endless possibilities for their application.

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First opened in 1873, the Victoria and Albert Museum's Cast Courts were purpose built to house copies of architecture and sculpture from around the world. They contain some of the Museum's largest objects, including casts of Trajan's Column (shown in two halves) and the twelfth century Portico de la Gloria from the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela. Among the Museum's most popular galleries, the Cast Courts are an extraordinary expression of Victorian taste, ambition and public spirit. Published to celebrate the opening of the refurbished Cast Courts at the V&A, this book presents a fresh perspective on the Museum's diverse collection of reproductions including plaster casts, electrotypes and photographs.

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Christian Dior (1905-1957) rocketed to fame with his first collection in 1947 when the "New Look" took the world by storm. This charming and modest autobiography gives a fascinating and detailed insight into the workings of a great fashion house, while revealing the private man behind the high-profile establishment. It is also a unique portrait of classic Paris haute couture of the 1950s and offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes. Dior details his childhood in Granville, the family and friends closest to him, his most difficult years and sudden success, as well as his sources of inspiration and creative processes.

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In this intriguing insight into the work and history of a museum, V&A director and historian Dr Tristram Hunt brings together ten renowned V&A curators to tell the stories behind ten of their most treasured objects. 'Tipu's Tiger' (an almost life-size wooden semi-automaton mauling a European soldier), the 'Great Bed of Ware' (an Elizabethan bed for 8 people) and a Shakespeare First Folio are among the featured highlights whose route to the V&A collections are entertainingly revealed. Through these stories, this insightful history of museum curation - a world of careful study and sometimes remarkable fortuity - shows how the priorities of a museum are shaped and change over time. Published to explore in more depth some of the stories featured in the BBC six part series Secrets of the Museum.

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This exquisite gift book explores the phenomenon of 'garnitures', or matching sets of ceramic vases. From the 1650s such sets were used in elite European interiors as an integral part of the decorative scheme; displayed on chimney-pieces, cupboards, tables or over doors, they 'garnished' the interior and so enhanced the status of the owner. The fashion began in Europe using mismatched Chinese porcelain beakers and jars. As imports of Chinese porcelain ceased between 1657 and 1683, European potters at Nevers and Delft copied the originally exotic forms, unifying the sets with matching patterns, or with metal mounts. The fashion continued throughout the 1700s, with almost every ceramic manufactory producing examples, but came to its conclusion during the Arts and Crafts period, when the singular vase became the rage and many sets were broken up and dispersed. This book brings together some of the National Trust's most important sets of garnitures, showing them in their historic context. Many have never been published before, and will be an important souvenir of a unique exhibition.

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The V&A has the world's most important collection of nineteenth-century temple hangings from South India, but only one of the smaller pieces has ever been published. For the first time these amazing objects have been documented and made public. The hangings are of two main types: large narrative pieces from Andhra Pradesh which tell stories from the Ramayana, the exploits of Krishna or tales connected with South Indian deities, and smaller pieces from Tamil Nadu. A single extraordinary Ramayana hanging from Sri Lanka is also included. All of the pieces are illustrated in their entirety, along with ample details that highlight the remarkable skill and regional styles of the narrative artists. Each piece is accompanied by a brief summary of its story, but the full 'frame-by-frame' narrative is described in a separate illustrated catalogue section. This detailed section will also provide translations of all the Telugu and Tamil inscriptions that accompany the narratives, translated especially for this project.As well as the description of the pieces themselves, there will be a general introduction about how such pieces were used and their regional stylistic variations and a chapter on technique and how they fit into the broader picture of Indian textiles, by V&A curator Rosemary Crill.

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Stina does not like the cold. In fact, she will go to any length to avoid it. Even in summer she will never go out without tights and socks that cover her knees. When winter comes she retreats inside, and invents ingenious devices to protect her from the slightest chill. The temperature drops further and Stina finally succumbs to the lure of her feather duvet and falls into a deep and dreamless sleep from which she is woken by a pounding at her door - two children tumble in blown by the icy wind and Stina learns that nothing can keep you as warm as friendship. Set in Iceland, this beautifully illustrated story is the perfect read for cosy winter nights.

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In 1925 the artists Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious moved to the Essex village of Great Bardfield, at first sharing lodgings. Over the course of several years and encouraged by Bawden and Ravilious' work, other artists came to live in the village, forming a community of artists and designers that has continued to the present. Among the first to join them were the Rowntrees, Kenneth and Diana, and Michael Rothenstein and his wife Duffy Ayers. They were followed by John Aldridge, painter and designer of wallpapers (printed, like Bawden's papers, by the Curwen Press); Walter Hoyle, printmaker and also a wallpaper designer; Marianne Straub, textile designer and weaver; illustrators and printmakers Bernard Cheese and his wife Sheila Robinson. Though the careers of Bawden and Ravilious are well-documented, many of the other artists are less well-known but equally talented, such as George Chapman, Stanley Clifford-Smith and Laurence Scarfe.This book tells the story of Great Bardfield and its artists, and their famous 'open house' exhibitions, showing how the village and neighbouring landscape nurtured a distinctive style of art, design and illustration from the 1930s to the 1970s and beyond. '..their shared artistic legacy is immediately obvious from this beautiful book.' --Country Life 16th 23rd December 2015'..Beautifully designed.' --Evening Standard 24th December 2015'..splendidly illustrated' -- The Spectator, 28th November 2015

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From the sky-high coiffures of Georgian Britain to the languid silhouette of 1920s 'flappers', Style and Satire tells the story of European fashion and its most fantastical trends from two interrelated perspectives - the lavish, celebratory fashion plate, and the gloriously irreverent satirical print. Beautifully printed, hand-coloured fashion plates depicting the latest styles and fabrics first appeared in Britain and France in the late 1700s - nestled in luxurious periodicals and available for sale as desirable objects in their own right. At the same time (and often by the same artists), satirical prints gloried in the absurdities of fashion, presenting an alternative, often grotesque, vision of the fashionable ideal. Presented here as a joint history for the first time, the two genres describe an emerging, vibrant fashion culture. They themselves also evolved as art forms, first through the pages of the mass-produced Victorian periodical, and then as vibrant, stencilled images in the luxurious publications of the 1920s and '30s. Lavishly illustrated and rigorously researched, Style and Satire presents a fresh and original history of fashion - a vital and witty addition to every fashion victim's library.

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David Bowie's career as a pioneering artist spanned nearly 50 years and brought him international acclaim. He continues to be cited as a major influence on contemporary artists and designers working across the creative arts. Published to accompany the blockbuster international exhibition launched at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, this is the only book to be granted access to Bowie's personal archive of performance costume, ephemera and original design artwork by the artist, and brings it together to present a completely new perspective on his creative work and collaborations. The book traces his career from its beginnings in London, through the breakthroughs of Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and on to his impact on the larger international tradition of twentieth-century avant-garde art. Essays by V&A curators on Bowie's London, image, and influence on the fashion world, are complemented by Howard Goodall on musicology; Camille Paglia on gender and decadence and Jon Savage on Bowie's relationship with William Burroughs and his fans. Also included is a discussion between Christopher Frayling, Philip Hoare and Mark Kermode, held at the V&A, of Bowie's cultural impact. Over 300 images include personal and performance photographs, costumes, lyric sheets giving an unique insight into Bowie's world.

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In 1957 the UK Design Centre launched the first annual Designs of the Year Awards to identify and promote the very best of British design. For the next 30 years, the awards celebrated designed objects in all forms, from the domestic - cutlery, glassware, textiles and furniture - to the communal - street lights, signage and public seating - and everything in between, including fitted kitchens, schooners, bicycles and electronics. This beautifully designed book introduces and illustrates the quirky breadth of the awards. Iconic objects by Robin and Lucienne Day, Kenneth Grange and David Mellor sit alongside such retro classics as the Barbican basin, the ZX81 personal computer and Globoot wellies.

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This catalogue of illuminated manuscripts in the V&A's National Art Library provides a history of an art form over eight centuries. It documents not only the practice of medieval and Renaissance illumination, but also the survival of medieval book-making crafts alongside printing in the post-Renaissance period -and their revival in the nineteenth-century. Its three volumes bring together for the first time works such as the St Denis Missal of 1350 and the Chambord Missal of 1844, the Sanvito Petrarch of 1463-64 and William Morris's Book of Verse of 1870. Catalogue descriptions discuss in detail each work, and pay particular attention to the changing ways in which they have been evaluated and used through the centuries.

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A who’s who of photographer and subject featuring 150 of the most striking images from Fragile Beauty: The Elton John and David Furnish Photography Collection.   Over the past three decades, Sir Elton John and David Furnish have carefully built an unrivaled collection of photography. Remarkable in its range and depth, it’s a who’s who of photographer and subject ranging across disciplines from fashion and film to landscape and reportage. Compiled by Duncan Forbes, head of photography at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, this book presents 150 of the most important photographs from 1950 to today from artists including Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Nan Goldin, David LaChapelle, Robert Mapplethorpe, Zanele Muholi, Helmut Newton, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, and Ai Weiwei.   Featuring an afterword from Sam Taylor-Johnson and an in-depth interview by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament as well as cura

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Maurice Broomfield (1916-2010) was a humanist photographer of the heroic and sublime - and sometimes surreal - qualities of industry and manufacture. His work spans the rise of post war industrial Britain in the 1950s to its slow decline into the early 1980s. Through his perfectionism, skill and sheer delight in the possibilities of photography, he produced an invaluable record of Britain's manufacturing past that is packed with artistry and high drama. 'My father always wanted to be called Maurice not Dad, so Maurice it is...' Industrial Sublime is introduced by Maurice's son, filmmaker Nick Broomfield, who this year released the documentary My Father and Me, which explores his relationship with Maurice. V&A curator Martin Barnes discusses the life and work of Maurice, whom he came to know well as he worked to transfer his archive from his Hampshire home to the Museum. He also analyses in more detail a selection of the most important images, many of which are accompanied by memories related by Maurice as he revisited his work. Together they form a monument not just to the might of British manufacturing, but to the dedication, skill and experience of those who worked in it.

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The V&A is home to 5,000 years of human ingenuity in art, design and performance. Among its treasures are notebooks, working sketches and pattern books from artists and designers of all kinds, from Leonardo da Vinci to William Morris, and Eileen Gray to Beatrix Potter. By purchasing a V&A Design Notebook, you are helping to keep our collection free and open to all, inspiring the artists and designers of the future. Ruled, grid, dot-grid and plain sections on FSC approved paper Colorplan coloured paper Pattern-printed endpapers Lay-flat binding Ribbon marker Elastic closure

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Shortlisted for the Textile Society of America's R.L. Shep Award 2020. The kimono is the ultimate symbol of Japan, revered within the country as the embodiment of national culture and regarded internationally as an exotic fascination. The iconic garment is often viewed as traditional, unchanging and timeless, but this book counters that conception, presenting the kimono as highly dynamic and fashionable dress. The cultural and sartorial significance of the kimono is explored in historical and contemporary contexts, both in Japan and the West, where its impact on clothing styles has been felt since the seventeenth century. Beautifully illustrated, the book features over 250 kimono and kimono-inspired garments from the V&A and collections around the world, revealing its sartorial influence on pop stars from David Bowie to Bjoerk and examining the ways in which fashion designers such as Issey Miyake, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen have reworked its legacy.

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This book is a precious small volume on precious small boxes. Most of them were used to hold snuff, powdered tobacco, and were meant to be looked and admired from a close-up. These miniature masterpieces were a key accessory for every stylish man and woman in the eighteenth century. They reflect the culture and fashion of the period. Gold is the defining material of the fifty masterpieces presented here. Therefore the most surprising aspect for those first encountering such pieces is not only the variety of forms and decoration, but also the materials of these boxes, from porcelain to precious stones, enamel and mother-of-pearl. Echoing the shape of a gold box the volume features some of the most beautiful boxes in the famous collection of Sir Arthur Gilbert and his first wife Rosalinde. The collector couple ran a fashion business in London before moving to Los Angeles in 1949. Their passion for elegance, colour, beauty and craftsmanship is palpable in every single box. Gold Boxes explores the culture of the snuffbox for everyone intrigued by the period, its art and fashion, or rich symbolism.

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Founded as a boutique mail-order service in 1963, Biba - the brainchild of designer Barbara Hulanicki - quickly gained cult status, and outgrew several London premises before landing at 99 - 117 Kensington High Street in 1973 as 'Big Biba', 'the most beautiful store in the world'. This book tells the story of the Biba years, from the first ensembles, through the four iconic London shops, to the eventual flourishing of a lifestyle brand that revolutionized British retail and fashion culture. Featuring a wealth of previously unpublished material, including early fashion illustrations by Hulanicki and full-colour facsimiles of the six luxurious Biba catalogues, The Biba Years investigates the innovative ethos of the company - the first retailer to bring affordable fashion to the young consumers of the 1960s and '70s. Extensive garment photography documents the unique Biba 'look', while archival images provide a glimpse into the glamorous surrounds of the hugely popular London stores. An ideal companion to A to Biba: The Autobiography of Barbara Hulanicki (V&A, 2018), this beautiful book incorporates many personal insights from the designer and her contemporaries at Biba, and includes new illustrations by Hulanicki created specially for the publication. The Biba Years provides the last word on a fashion phenomenon, whose extensive impact on the fashion industry can still be felt today.

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The V&A's collection of ivory carvings from the period 1200 to 1550 is one of the most important in the world, and this is the first catalogue of it to be published since 1929. Together with the earlier volume, Medieval Ivory Carvings: Early Christian to Romanesque (V&A, 2010), the books make available over 400 pieces of the ivory carver's art, discussing in detail many of the most celebrated ivories of the Middle Ages. Included here are masterpieces from the most important centres of ivory carving in the Gothic era. Among them are the Salting Leaf and Soissons Diptych from thirteenthcentury France; the early-fourteenth-century Salting Diptych from England; Giovanni Pisano's Crucified Christ and the Aldobrandini Crozier from Italy; and the unique Wingfield-Digby Crozier from fourteenth-century Norway. Additionally, important groups of Virgin and Child statuettes, tabernacle polyptychs, diptychs, triptychs, writing tablets, croziers, mirror backs, caskets and the products of the Florentine and Venetian Embriachi workshops are catalogued. Appendices include a small group of post- Byzantine and Russian ivories and the results of radiocarbon-dating of selected works. Each entry provides a comprehensive physical and scholarly discussion that incorporates much new research; also included are carvings of dubious authenticity, which are discussed as fully as the genuine pieces. Beautifully illustrated with new colour photography, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200 - 1550 is the authoritative guide to the V&A's collection and an accessible survey of the subject.

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V&A Pattern: Kimono showcases the staggering breadth of textile designs associated with Japan's most iconic garment A source of inspiration for designers from William Morris to Alexander McQueen, the V&A holds over three million designs for textiles, decorations, wallpapers and prints. Now beautifully re-presented, the bestselling V&A Pattern series invites you to appreciate the work of some of the greatest names and styles in design history, highlighting interesting and imaginative works that are all too rarely seen. Each pocket-sized book features 66 carefully selected patterns, and has a concise expert introduction, making these an invaluable source of inspiration for creatives - and the perfect gift for pattern-lovers.

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Pascal wakes up really, really, really hungry. There is nothing left to eat in his refrigerator and he can't figure out what he wants! Pascal visits his friends to find something yummy to put in his tummy. But, yuck! Cardigan, Fancy, Zelda and Ringo eat really strange stuff! Pascal is still very hungry and he still doesn't know what he wants! Finally, Pascal figures out what he's in the mood for. . . . What could it be? Join Pascal, Cardigan, Fancy, Zelda and Ringo in this first book in a series as they explore life's little mysteries—by means of opening the multiple flaps throughout—with imagination and humour.

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