Search results for ""thames hudson ltd""

Surrealism was launched as a literary and artistic movement by French poet André Breton in 1924, and by the time of his death in 1966 had become one of the most popular art movements of the 20th century. Its very name has entered everyday usage as a synonym for bizarre. Taking the reader on a narrative journey through the history of Surrealism, this book is a digestible introduction to the movement’s key figures, their works and where to find them. Complete with a glossary of key terms and chronology, this new addition to the Art Essentials series provides an indispensable resource for anyone interested in learning about this most influential of art phenomena.

Read more less

The Book of Kells, dating from about 800, is a brilliantly decorated manuscript of the four Gospels. This new official guide (Spanish language edition), by the former Keeper of Manuscripts at Trinity College Library, Dublin, provides fascinating insights into the Book of Kells, revealing the astounding detail and richness of one of the greatest works of medieval art. The illustrations in the guide include reproductions of complete pages, and details that allow one to marvel at the intricacy of the decoration. The Book of Kells is explored through its historical background; its structure; its decorative elements, including the richness of its symbols and themes; the scribes and artists who worked on the manuscript; and the tools and pigments used in its creation.

Read more less

When and how did the brains of our hominin ancestors become human minds? When and why did our capacity for language or art, music and dance evolve? It is the contention of this pathbreaking and provocative book that it was the need for early humans to live in ever-larger social groups, and to maintain social relations over ever-greater distances – the ability to ‘think big’ – that drove the enlargement of the human brain and the development of the human mind. This ‘social brain hypothesis’, put forward by evolutionary psychologists such as Robin Dunbar, one of the authors of this book, can be tested against archaeological and fossil evidence, as archaeologists Clive Gamble and John Gowlett show in the second part of Thinking Big. Along the way, the three authors touch on subjects as diverse and diverting as the switch from finger-tip grooming to vocal grooming or the crucial importance of making fire for the lengthening of the social day. As this remarkable book shows, it seems we still inhabit social worlds that originated deep in our evolutionary past – by the fireside, in the hunt and on the grasslands of Africa.

Read more less

Like every era, the Renaissance brims with stories. In this book, Robert Davis and Beth Lindsmith highlight dozens of notable lives from between 1400 and 1600. They bring to life wily politicians, eccentric scientists, fiery rebels and stolid reactionaries, as well as a pornographer, an acrobat, an actress, a poetic prostitute, a star comedian and a least one very fretful mother. Some names – Leonardo, Luther, Medici and Machiavelli – are famous, but many others will be new to general readers. Their stories, ninety-four in all, remind us that history is more than dates and abstract concepts: it also arises from the lives of countless individual men and women.

Read more less

Richard Tames, the well-known popularizer of English history, offers an entertaining exploration of the bits of English history that have been sidelined, lost or somehow overlooked. Written in an engaging, easy-to-read and often humorous style, Tames brings to life the various colourful characters, famous in their day, who have now sunk into obscurity, from St Cuthbert and Nicholas Breakspear (the only English pope) to Octavia Hill and the Marquis of Granby. Tames also covers such diverse areas as sports, lost villages, forgotten war heroes and inventors. Did you know, for example, that Barking was once home to the largest fishing fleet in the world? Or that coffee houses were once known as ‘penny universities’? Peppered with quotes and anecdotes, and arranged into concise sections, this book is ideal for dipping into or reading from cover to cover.

Read more less

The Big Idea shortlisted for series design in the British Design and Production AwardsOnly four countries around the world do not currently define themselves as democracies. But many more do not fulfil the four basic requirements of democracy: free and fair elections, active participation of citizens in politics, protection of human rights, and the rule of law. Since 2015, far-right and populist politicians have been on the rise throughout the West. Is populism the new face of democracy? Is democracy simply the will of the people? Can any existing government claim to be truly democratic? This captivating, articulate volume explores and interrogates each form of democracy and questions whether they remain fit for purpose today.

Read more less

Principles of Archaeology provides the building blocks for students to learn how archaeologists think. Retaining its focus on teaching the major methods of thought and analysis and the importance of scientific techniques, this new edition has been thoroughly redesigned and revised to include the most recent technologies and ethical issues involved in studying the past. A new co-author specializing in archaeological chemistry means the book leads the way with coverage of the most pioneering scientific approaches in archaeology, while up-to-date examples show students the complexity of practising archaeology, and how archaeological sites and finds impact how we understand our present and future. Principles of Archaeology remains the most accessible and engaging entry point for those wanting to learn more about this fascinating field of study.

Read more less

Today’s discerning traveller is looking not merely for luxury but for a unique experience. But in this age of low-cost flights and easy travel, how do you avoid the crowds and find the hidden gems? Not via sponsored search results or thousands of indistinguishable reviews, that’s for sure. What you need is on-the-ground, in-person, tried-and-trusted knowledge. In this new guide to Italy, Herbert Ypma surprises and delights with his unequalled eye for detail and his unerring ability to judge what makes the difference between a good experience and a truly memorable one. The eighty-five experiences and tips that he maps out across the length and breadth of Italy fall into four key categories. ‘Staying in Character’ features thirty-five places to stay, from the grand to the eccentric, all embodying the soul and character of their setting – whether it’s sleeping next to a sloshing canal in Venice, dozing under the plume of Etna’s active volcano or experiencing monastic silence over dinner in Umbria. ‘Eclectic Experiences’ surveys twenty stand-out experiences, from jumping off the cliffs near Otranto to swimming the walls of Dionysius in Ortigia, and from exploring the forgotten farmland of Sicily’s interior to finding the best gelati in Rome. ‘Legend for Lunch’ points you in the direction of the most authentic places to eat, and ‘Convincing Context’ surveys twenty experiences enhanced by nuggets of history. Together they amount to a new map of authentic Italian experiences, making this the must-have 21st-century guide for the world’s most exacting traveller.

Read more less

Global in perspective and covering over four million years of history, this accessible volume provides a chronological account of both the development of the human race and the order in which modern societies have made discoveries about their ancient past. Beginning deep in prehistory, it takes in all the great archaeological sites of the world as it advances to the present day. A masterful combination of succinct analysis and driving narrative, Archaeology: The Whole Story also addresses the questions that inevitably arise as we gradually learn more about the history of our species: what are we? Where did we come from? What inspired us to start building, writing and all the other activities that we traditionally regard as exclusively human? A concluding section explains how we know what we know: for example, how seventeen prehistoric shrines were discovered around Stonehenge using magnetometers, ground-penetrating radars, and 3D laser scanners; and how DNA analysis enabled us to identify some bones discovered beneath a car park in Leicester as the remains of a fifteenth-century king of England. Written by an international team of archaeological experts and richly illustrated throughout, Archaeology: The Whole Story offers an unparalleled insight into the origins of humankind.

Read more less

This beautiful and engaging volume charts the evolution of manga from its roots in late 19th-century Japan through the many and varied forms of comics, cartoons and animation created throughout Asia for more than 100 years. World authority on comic art Paul Gravett details the evolving meanings of the myths and legends told and retold by manga artists of every decade and reveals the development and cross pollination of cultural and aesthetic ideas between manga artists throughout Asia. He explores the explosion of creativity in manga after the Second World War with the emergence of such artists as Osamu Tezuka, whose pioneering Astro Boy spawned a new and much imitated visual dynamic. He highlights how creators have responded to political events since 1950 in the form of propaganda, criticism and commentary in manga magazines, comics and books. There have been many remarkably powerful and sophisticated graphic novels, although some sexually explicit and emotionally dark adult manga has also attracted criticism, raising questions about taste and acceptability. Gravett discusses the influence of censorship on manga and concludes with a survey of current multi- platform offerings of manga in Asia and the transition from cut-price rental libraries to the booming specialist emporia and comic conventions that champion the kaleidoscope of creativity apparent in the digital age.

Read more less

Who are the Europeans? Where did they come from? In recent years scientific advances have yielded a mass of new data, turning cherished ideas upside down. The idea of migration in prehistory, so long out of favour, is back on the agenda. Visions of continuity now have to give way to a more dynamic view of Europe’s past, with one wave of migration followed by another, from the first human arrivals to the Vikings. This pioneering book brings together for the first time the latest genetic evidence and combines it with archaeology and linguistics to produce a new history of Europe.

Read more less

The third volume in this series is on packaging design and features carefully selected products that showcase the innovative use of a particular material. The book focuses on specific categories of packaging – sustainable packaging, functional forms, dispensing systems, advanced protection, interactive and mass craft. Seven specially commissioned ‘visual narratives’ are included. The extensive illustrated materials directory contains detailed information on over 100 materials.

Read more less

In Why You Can Build It Like That, John Zukowsky examines buildings from the past half century or so that pushed the boundaries of what was architecturally acceptable when they were built. 100 striking international examples of modern architecture are categorized into thematic chapters that reflect form as well as society. Zukowsky explores the history of these buildings and their makers, presenting relevant biographical factors and socio-cultural influences that impacted on the distinctive designs. The book includes the works of heroic early modernist architects such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright, alongside long-established architectural firms such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It also features mavericks of the past and present – Bruce Goff, Shin Takamatsu and Shigeru Ban – and singular architectural wonders that reflect their own times. Readers will find out why all the featured buildings look the way they do, and why they were created when and where they were. Zukowsky’s original text unravels the rich and complex stories that exist behind the design of some of the world’s more unconventional monuments, revealing exactly why each building is one of a kind.

Read more less

Typeface combinations don’t always work together naturally. For an experienced designer, the process becomes largely intuitive after years of practice, but even seasoned professionals sometimes struggle to come up with the perfect typeface pairing. It’s often obvious what not to use, but it’s less obvious what you should use when a range of good typefaces can differ in very subtle ways. Developed with typographers, graphic designers and font geeks in mind, Type Team is the ultimate guide for anyone wishing to get to grips with the best techniques for combining individual typefaces from all classifications and styles for any category of creative project. It explores 150 typeface combinations grouped into 25 contrasting categories, ranging from Classical and Scholarly to Edgy and Vibrant, and with a full page devoted to each entry. In addition, 50 typographic principles are paired with selected combinations and illustrated using the typefaces from the spread. Within the pages of this unique reference for font spotters, designers, and users, the perfect typeface combination for any creative project can be found.

Read more less

This new and completely redesigned edition surveys the myriad holy men, mystics and ascetics of India: their prehistoric origins; beliefs, gods and sects; initiation, training and daily lives; appearance, practices and belongings; sacred places and festivals; austerities, the inner fire and the quest for a higher plane of being. It is a vibrant, arresting and carefully curated gallery, taking in long-haired sages, devotees of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahman, naked wanderers, silent hermits, holy warriors, painted showmen, mantra-chanting yogis, ash-clad madmen, and seekers after and pathways to Enlightenment. Dolf Hartsuiker’s expert explanations, wry comments and striking, revealing photos bring to life the mysterious and varied lives of the Sadhus.

Read more less

Why take a self-portrait but obscure your face with a lightbulb (Lee Friedlander, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts (1968)? Or deliberately underexpose an image (Vera Lutter, Battersea Power Station, XI: July 13 , 2004)? And why photograph a ceiling (William Eggleston, Red Ceiling , 1973)? In Why It Does Not Have To Be In Focus , Jackie Higgins offers a lively, informed defence of modern photography. Choosing 100 key photographs – with particular emphasis on the last twenty years – she examines what inspired each photographer in the first place, and traces how the piece was executed. In doing so, she brings to light the layers of meaning and artifice behind these singular works, some of which were initially dismissed out of hand for being blurred, overexposed or ‘badly’ composed. The often controversial works discussed in this book play with our expectations of a photograph, our ingrained tendency to believe that it is telling us the unadorned truth. Jackie Higgins’s book proves once and for all that there’s much more to the art of photography than just pointing and clicking.

Read more less

The definitive photography textbook for the digital age, The New Basics is packed with technical tips, practical exercises, contemporary images and step-by-step guidance for all aspiring photographers. Introducing technical and creative aspects of commercial as well as fine art photography, it is the first book to assume from the outset that students are most interested in digital imaging - not just digital capture, but also postproduction and screen-based output. It includes step-by-step guidance on the use of image-manipulation software to improve digital imagery, including colour correction and the use of Photoshop as a tool in experimental photography. Reflecting contemporary teaching techniques in further education, it compels the reader to dive in to develop practical skills from the outset. Equal weight is given to creative as well as technical matters, with chapters on genres (portraiture, landscape etc) introducing skills needed to compose exciting photos and develop a personal style of image-making. Full of practical and money-saving tips on how to use your camera in challenging conditions, how to persuade people to pose for street photographs and how to secure sponsorship and exhibition spaces, this book is sure to supplant other basic photography books. ‘Clearly structured and very accessible’ – Paul Winch-Furness, University of Westminster

Read more less

The Incas built one of the largest empires of the ancient world. The sheer scale makes their achievement truly remarkable. At its zenith it extended northwards from the Inca capital Cusco along the Andes to embrace parts of modern Peru and Ecuador, and southwards into Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Uniquely, the authors look in detail at Cusco and at the four parts of the empire, following the vast road system to explore not just famous sites such as Machu Picchu, but all the major regional settlements. This vivid portrait shows how the Incas ruled some peoples directly but allowed others to maintain their traditional leaders with little interference. The concluding chapter is devoted to the end of the empire: the arrival of the Spaniards, the assassination of the Inca ruler Atawallpa, and the final years of the rebellious, neo-Inca state in the tropical forest of Vilcabamba.

Read more less

The latest instalment in the Manufacturing Guides series, this book is targeted at students and professionals who create graphics or packaging for mass production. With some 400 specially commissioned photographs and technical illustrations, it describes more than 35 manufacturing processes, from the traditional and long-established to cutting-edge technologies.

Read more less

At just over forty, David Adjaye is one of the world’s most exciting and accomplished architects, and has built many highly acclaimed houses and public buildings in the UK and USA. Over a ten-year period, the Tanzanian born, London-based architect has visited 53 major African cities and photographed thousands of buildings, sites and places that few of us will ever be able to visit. This 7-volume slipcased edition documents Adjaye’s tribute to African metropolitan architecture. The individual volumes present cities according to the terrain in which they are situated – the Maghreb, Desert, The Sahel, Savannah and Grassland, Mountain and Highveld, and Forest. Each city is shown in a concise urban history, fact file, maps and satellite imagery, along with Adjaye’s personal travel notes and dozens of photographs of the city’s civic, commercial and residential architecture. All six ‘terrain’ volumes feature an introductory essay by Adjaye, and a separate volume is dedicated to essays by leading academics and commentators on Africa.

Read more less

Published to accompany the exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this catalogue examines the impact of Futurism and Cubism on British modernist printmaking from the beginning of World War I to the beginning of World War II. Imagery ranges from powerful artistic impressions of the first fully mechanized war, to radical geometric abstractions, to the colourful, streamlined jazz age images of speed, sport and diversion which the Grosvenor School artists created in order to introduce a broader public to modern art and design. Interest in this era is peaking among collectors, curators and art historians and this is an ideal moment to introduce these innovative British printmakers to a wider public.

Read more less

From ‘cabinets of curiosities’ to assemblages of found objects and imitations of museum displays, artists have often turned their attention to the ideas and systems traditionally embodied in the museum – display, archiving, classification, storage, curatorship – which they have then appropriated, mimicked and reinterpreted in their own work. Citing a huge range of examples, James Putnam shows not only the ways in which artists have been influenced by museum systems and made their works into simulations of the museum, but also how they have questioned the role of museums, observed their practices, intervened in them and helped to redefine them.

Read more less

From the startingly distinctive achievements of the internationally renowned twin-brother painters Os Gemeos to the visual powers of the ubiquitous daredevil pichadores, Brazil's graffiti captivates with entirely fresh ideas, techniques and messages. Whether one’s taste is for the extraordinary creative extremes generated amid urban deprivation or for crafted murals at their most elaborate, Graffiti Brasil offers both stunning photography and in-depth history and insight. With graffiti worldwide becoming more homogenized, this book is a reminder of the strengths of creative independence and the rich fruits of cultural diversity.

Read more less

No period has been more discussed, dissected and argued over than the Renaissance, and every age has reconstructed it in its own image. Today’s emphasis is on its complexity – the way ideas, politics, religion, society, art and science depended upon and affected one another. The Renaissance Complete does away with watertight divisions by means of a lucid, innovatory system of cross-references and brings the image to centre stage. The fascinating range of topics covered includes the revival of classical learning, the printing press, the rise of the nation-state, philosophy and the role of women. The scope is all-embracing: Italy, France, Spain, Britain, Germany and the northern countries; courts and patrons, painters and sculptors, churchmen and traders, men, women and children. Over 1,000 illustrations are carefully focused on over 100 key topics, subject-matter taking precedence over art history. An impressive information resource provides biographies, timelines, bibliography, a gazetteer of museums and galleries and an illustrated glossary.

Read more less

'The Medieval World Complete' re-creates one of the great ages of European civilization through a sequence of spectacular images accompanied by a lively, informed commentary. Ingeniously organized by topic and thoroughly cross-referenced, this all-embracing book enables the reader to explore and understand every facet of the Middle Ages, an era of breathtaking artistic achievement and of religious faith in a world where life was often coarse and cruel, cut short by war, famine and disease. Framed by chapters that outline the way the Middle Ages began and ended, the book consists of six sections encompassing religion and the Church, nations and law, daily life, art and architecture, scholarship and philosophy, and the world beyond Christendom. The book is completed by biographies of key personalities, from Charlemagne to Wycliffe, and timelines, maps, a glossary, gazetteer and bibliography.

Read more less

The book presents 170 images, mainly shop window displays, shot by artist David Hlynsky during the final years of the collapsing Soviet empire in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, East Germany and Moscow, using a Hasselblad camera to capture the slow, undramatic moments of daily life on the streets. The photographs are accompanied by essays by art historian Martha Langford and cultural studies specialist Jody Berland, as well as Hlynsky’s own account of his time as a flâneur in the shopping plazas behind the Iron Curtain.

Read more less

Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors and Architects (1550 and 1569) is a classic of cultural history. A monumental assembly of artists’ lives from Giotto to Michelangelo, it paints a vivid picture of the progress of art in the hands of individual masters. No Life is more vivid than that of Leonardo, a near-contemporary of Vasari – not even Vasari’s account of Michelangelo, whom he knew and idolized. This beautiful edition offers a literary translation that respects the 16th-century Italian, transposing Vasari’s vocabulary into its modern equivalent. Martin Kemp is an eminent scholar, who has written on the vocabulary of Renaissance writings on art, and has co-translated Leonardo on Painting and Leonardo’s Codex Leicester. Translated in partnership with Lucy Russell, the text will be the first to cover both the 1550 edition and the expanded version of 1568, and the first to integrate the texts of the two editions on the page. Discreet endnotes will provide succinct comments in the light of modern knowledge of Leonardo’s career. Illustrated with all the works of art discussed by Vasari and a selection of Leonardo’s studies of science and technology, this will be the perfect accompaniment to Leonardo’s 500th anniversary celebrations.

Read more less

In the winter of 1886–87, during his stay in Paris, Vincent van Gogh bought 660 Japanese prints at the art gallery of Siegfried Bing. His aim was to start dealing in them, but the exhibition he organized in the café-restaurant Le Tambourin was a total failure. However, he was now able to study his collection at ease and in close-up, and he gradually became captivated by their colourful, cheerful and unusual imagery. When he left for Arles, he took some prints with him, but the core remained in Paris with his brother Theo. Although some prints were later given away, the collection did not disperse. This book reveals new analyses of the collection, now held in the Van Gogh Museum, given as a long-term loan from the Vincent van Gogh Foundation. The authors delve into its history, and the role the prints played in Van Gogh’s creative output. The book is illustrated with over 100 striking highlights from the collection.

Read more less

This book showcases and puts into historical context a host of sculpted works created in the 1920s and 1930s in the decorative vernacular defined loosely today as ‘Art Deco’. Whether designed as free-standing statuary for the domestic market or commissioned for some form of architectural placement, as a frieze on a building’s façade or as a public monument or pool fountain, the works shown demonstrate a sometimes bewilderingly broad range of styles and stylistic influences: from the chevrons, sunbursts, maidens, fountains, floral abstractions and ubiquitous biche (doe) of the Parisian geometric style to the crisp, angular patterns of the zig-zag, jazz-age, streamlined aesthetic of the 1930s. Alastair Duncan organizes his subject into three main categories: the first features work by avant-garde sculptors (Csaky, Janniot, Pompon, etc), often as pièces uniques or small editions; the second shows commercial sculpture, comprising mainly large-edition statuary, commissioned as decorative works for the burgeoning 1920s domestic market; while a final, third category covers architectural and monumental sculpture from West and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, North America, Brazil and beyond. With artists’ biographies and details of manufacturers, a full glossary and a thematic index, this volume is the essential and authoritative guide for all those interested in the Art Deco style, from the amateur collector of animalier sculpture to professional historians of the period.

Read more less

A revised edition of this classic survey that presents a thorough overview of Georgia O’Keeffe’s life and work. Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) was a major figure in American art for seven decades. Throughout that long and prolific career she remained true to her unique artistic vision, creating a highly individual style that synthesized the formal language of modern European abstraction and the themes of traditional American pictorialism. The main subjects to which she returned again and again were the flowers, animal bones and the landscapes around her studios in Lake George, New York, and finally New Mexico, with which she has been ultimately identified. This comprehensive and illuminating book by a noted scholar on O’Keeffe and her work, surveys the complete oeuvre – drawings, watercolours and paintings from all periods – and explains her life in the context of her artistic output. Now revised with updated bibliography, this edition features colour reproductions of artworks throughout.

Read more less

An updated edition of this classic survey, a thorough overview of Paul Cézanne’s life and work. For Picasso he was ‘like our father’; for Matisse, ‘a god of painting’. Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) is widely regarded as the father of modern art. In this authoritative and accessible study, Richard Verdi traces the evolution of Cézanne’s landscape, still-life and figure compositions, from the turbulently romantic creations of his youth to the visionary masterpieces of his final years. The painter’s biography – his fluctuating reputation and strained relations with his parents, wife and close friend Emile Zola – is vividly evoked using excerpts from his own letters and from contemporary accounts of the artist. Cézanne was torn between the desires to create art and to seek inspiration – to master the themes of the past, through his copying sessions in the Louvre, and to explore the eternal qualities of nature in the countryside of his native Provence. In this way the artist sought ‘to make of Impressionism something solid and durable, like the art of the museums’. In this richly illustrated overview Verdi explores the strength, vitality and magnitude of Cézanne’s achievement.

Read more less

Judy Chicago is America’s most dynamic living artist. Her works comprise a dizzying array of media from performance and installation to the glittering table laid for thirty- nine iconic women in The Dinner Party (now permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum), the groundbreaking Birth Project, and the meticulously researched Holocaust Project. She designed the monumental installation for Dior’s 2020 Paris couture show and, in 2019, established the Judy Chicago Portal, which will help to accomplish her lifelong goal of overcoming the erasure that has eclipsed the achievements of so many women. The Flowering is her vivid and revealing autobiography, fully illustrated with photographs of her work, as well as never-before-published personal images and a foreword by Gloria Steinem. Chicago has revised and updated her earlier, classic works with previously untold stories, fresh insights, and an extensive afterword covering the last twenty years. This powerful narrative weaves together the stories behind some of Chicago’s most significant artworks and her journey as a woman artist with the chronicles of her personal relationships and her understanding, from decades of experience and extensive research, of how misogyny, racism and other prejudices intersect to erase the legacies of artists who are not white and male while dismissing the suffering of millions of creatures who share the planet. With the first career retrospective of her work forthcoming at the de Young Museum in 2021, Chicago reinforces her message of resilience for a new generation of artists and activists. The Flowering is an essential read for anyone interested in making change.With 90 illustrations in colour

Read more less

A unique insight into the life and art of Sean Scully, an internationally celebrated artist and creative practitioner at the height of his powers. Sean Scully’s paintings of brushy stripes and blocks of sumptuous colour are critically acclaimed and widely admired. Less well known is what a gifted storyteller and profound commentator on the history of art he is. In this fascinating book, the record of countless hours of conversations with Scully’s friend, the art critic Kelly Grovier, the painter reflects on his extraordinary journey – from homelessness on the streets of Dublin in the mid-1940s to his current position as one of the most important abstract artists working today. In these revealing conversations, Scully recalls with poignancy and wit his rough-and-tumble childhood in London (where his family moved when he was a toddler), his tenacity in the face of rejection from nearly every art school in England, and his rise to prominence in New York in the 1980s. Illustrated throughout with images that capture both the artist and his work, this volume explores Scully’s relationship with past masters, from Rembrandt to Rothko, and delves deep into his eventual rejection in the late 1970s of minimalism – the dominant force in abstract art at the time. Punctuated throughout by passionately recounted stories of struggle and loss, perseverance and triumph, the portrait that emerges from these pages is at once intimate and surprising. The book reflects the scope of Scully’s broad interests and opinions, with segments devoted not only to his attitudes towards the art world and his most significant works, but also culture, politics and philosophy. Scully communicates with a raw pugnacity that is every bit as hard-hitting as his big brushstrokes.With 146 illustrations in colour

Read more less

The first substantial book on the French Neo-Romantics, a cosmopolitan group working in 1920s Paris who turned against modernist abstraction in favour of a new form of figurative painting. In 1926, the Galerie Druet in Paris made waves presenting a group of young painters who had spurned modernist abstraction and returned to a form of figurative painting. For most of them this was the first time they had exhibited, but their impact was considerable. Art critic Waldemar George baptized them the ‘Neo-Romantics’ or the ‘Neo-Humanists’. They were influenced by Picasso, in particular his Blue and Rose periods, but went beyond him to forge new ways of painting. These were artists who liked to play with forgotten references and obsolete visual devices such as trompe l’oeil. They produced work for secondary art forms including the theatre, set design and ballet. In some ways they were the first post-modernists in the history of art, yet until now there has only ever been one book about them, After Picasso, published ten years after their exhibition. Only more recently has their influence on contemporary artists and thinkers including Max Jacob, George Hugnet and Gertrude Stein been recognized. Though friends, these painters never formed a formal group or movement. The Second World War sent them on different paths, with the Berman brothers and Tchelitchev moving to the United States. Before their departure, however, their activities attracted the attention and admiration of a cosmopolitan group of characters, including Gertrude Stein, Alfred Barr, Lincoln Kirstein, George Balanchine and many others including leading fashion figures of the day, Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaparelli.

Read more less

A groundbreaking, award-winning analysis of colour in Western culture, from the ancient Greeks to the late twentieth century by one of the most foremost authors on the subject. What does the language of colour tell us? Where does one colour begin and another end? Is it a radiant visual stimulus, an intangible function of light, or a material substance to be moulded and arrayed? Colour is fundamental to art, yet so diverse that it has hardly ever been studied in a comprehensive way. Art historian John Gage considers every conceivable aspect of the subject in this groundbreaking analysis of colour in Western culture, from the ancient Greeks to the late twentieth century. Gage describes the first theories of colour, articulated by Greek philosophers, and subsequent attempts by the Romans and their Renaissance disciples to organize it systematically or endow it with symbolic power. He unfolds its religious significance and its use in heraldry, as well as how Renaissance artists app

Read more less

Immerse yourself in the wit and wisdom of Coco and Karl: two elegant collections of the legendary designers’ maxims on style, creativity and life. Chic, sharp and always on point, Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld continue to captivate young generations of fashion fans. Chanel was fierce and uncompromising in her opinions on fashion, women and life, while Lagerfeld’s famously controversial pronouncements were seized upon by fashionistas, acolytes and sages around the world. Cultivated, surprising and sometimes shocking, their ‘bons mots’ are always impossible to ignore. This elegant box set contains two slim volumes of their pithiest, wittiest and most provocative quotations, and will be required reading for us all today as we negotiate the trickiest curves of modern life. ‘Fashion changes, but style endures’ Coco Chanel ‘People who tell all appal me’ Karl Lagerfeld ‘The best things in life are free. The second-best are very expensive’ Coco Chanel ‘You must never be afraid of progress. Otherwise you are damned’ Karl Lagerfeld

Read more less

An interpretation of the history of mural painting from ancient Egypt to the twentieth century by one of most eminent art historians of all time, who wielded huge influence over both his professional peers and a vast popular readership. Surprising, questioning, challenging, enriching: the Pocket Perspectives series celebrates writers and thinkers who have helped shape the conversation across the arts. Mixing classic and contemporary texts, reissues and abridgements, these are bite-sized, fully illustrated reads in an attractive, affordable and highly collectable package.

Read more less

Excerpts from art critic, historian, lecturer and broadcaster James Hall's lively and comprehensive cultural history of self-portraiture, including such artists as Dürer, Gentileschi, Van Gogh and Kahlo. Surprising, questioning, challenging, enriching: the Pocket Perspectives series celebrates writers and thinkers who have helped shape the conversation across the arts. Mixing classic and contemporary texts, reissues and abridgements, these are bite-sized, fully illustrated reads in an attractive, affordable and highly collectable package.

Read more less

The first major monograph on sculptor Ronald Moody, exploring his legacy and impact through his key artistic relationships, networks and influences, and his relationship with nature, humanity and spirituality. Ronald Moody (19001984) was a leading modernist sculptor and yet, until now, there has been no comprehensive overview of his work. This biography explores the development of his sculpture, re-establishing his place within the story of 20th-century art. Contributions by those who knew him Paul Dash, David A. Bailey, Cynthia Moody, Errol Lloyd and Val Wilmer punctuate Ego Ahaiwe Sowinski's biographical account. Their personal reflections and photographs, and transcripts of Moody's BBC radio broadcasts, offer insights into his cultural influences and studio life, with his brother Harold, a campaigner for racial equality, and the Caribbean Artist Movement, at the core. Born in Jamaica, Moody arrived in Britain in 1923 and initially trained as a dentist, before switching p

Read more less

A chronicle of post-9/11 America, at war and at home, as seen through the lens of one of Magnum Photos' leading photographers: a compelling and ground-shaking meditation on war and society. Through reportage and memoir, in photographs and words, Look at the U.S.A. documents the major fault lines that have defined post-9/11 America at home and abroad, beginning with the war in Iraq and ending with the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Fuelled by ideology, insecurity, ambition and a deep fascination with war, Peter van Agtmael began documenting America's war in Iraq in 2006. So began a photographic odyssey that would span nearly two decades, generating work that grew from a deep need to understand and peel back the layers of his troubled society. Confronting the mythologizing of war and seductive nature of conflict on the American psyche, Look at the U.S.A. explores the disconnect between the intergenerational wars and the home front, juxtaposing American troops in combat with

Read more less

A lush visual celebration of Pulp’s sixth album, This Is Hardcore, featuring unseen photography, behind-the-scenes interviews and revealing visuals. From the mid- to late 1990s, Paul Burgess was invited by Jarvis Cocker to document the British band Pulp, taking photographs during video shoots, live gigs and other events for what has become one of the landmark albums of the period, This Is Hardcore. Written and designed by Burgess and Louise Colbourne, Hardcore contains a candid selection of previously unseen images of the band, behind the scenes and on set, of the four main video shoots made to promote the album. Twenty-five years have passed since Pulp released this extraordinary album, and this book holds up a mirror to the ingenious creative processes and characters behind the seminal record. With carefully curated images from Burgess’s archive, Hardcore also includes quotations and interviews from then and now by the video directors, band members and other artists involved with the album. The book contains contributions from Doug Nichol, John Currin, Stephen Mallinder, Sergei Sviatchenko, John Stezaker and Florian Habicht, all of whom have a connection to the album, the band or the era. There are also visual responses from a selection of younger artists and designers, such as Alexa Vieira, who have been inspired by Burgess’s photographs and the band’s legacy.

Read more less

'A global guide to the myths, legends and science of twins ... spans sacred west African sculptures, mythology and 1920s flappers to present a community defined by both similarity and uniqueness' Financial Times 'Beautiful and definitive' Chris van Tulleken The first illustrated global exploration of the cultural significance of twins. The birth of twins is unusual. Throughout history they have been revered as gods and reviled as monsters; they have been adored as amusing music hall double acts and feared as duplicitous criminals; and they have been studied by anthropologists and scientists engaged in the nature vs nurture debate and genetic experiments. Their existence challenges the norm; they are seen by singletons as ‘other’ and regarded with an equal measure of wonder and distrust. Do twins have special powers? Does a twin birth present a good or bad omen? Are they telepathic? Should we fear the appearance of the ghostly doppelganger? From the Aztec creation twins Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca to the divine opposites of Greek myth, Apollo and Artemis, and from criminal gang leaders the Kray twins to the disconcerting Grady twins in The Shining, this visually arresting and often disturbing book explores and interrogates twindom in all its facets in a wide range of cultures and media from ancient times to today. The visual presentation of twins, cultural attitudes to twins and scientific uses of twins are examined within three broad themes: twins of myth and legend and the instruction their stories provide; the anatomical, sociological and scientific studies of twins from Galton to genetic engineering; and twins as entertainers, sources of spectacle and community. Punctuating the cabinets of thematic imagery are nine thought-provoking essays that provide considered analysis and intriguing investigation of the myriad meanings, responses to and uses of twinkind.

Read more less

A major new study of Black figurative art from Africa and the African diaspora, covering 100 years from the early 20th century to now. Published to accompany a major exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, this book presents a comprehensive exploration of Black self representation through portraiture and figuration, celebrating Black subjectivity and Black consciousness from Pan-African and Pan-Diasporic perspectives. With a primary focus on representational painting, When We See Us celebrates how artists from Africa and the African diaspora have imagined, positioned, memorialized and asserted African and African diasporic experiences during a 100-year period spanning from the early 20th century to the present. The publication demonstrates how generations of artists throughout the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st have critically engaged with multiple notions of Blackness and Africanity. Figurative painting by Black artists has risen to a new prominence in the field of contemporary art over the last decade. This timely and revelatory publication and exhibition will highlight the many ways in which artists have contributed to the critical discourse on topics such as Pan-Africanism, the Civil Rights Movement, African Liberation and Independence movements, the Anti-Apartheid and Black Consciousness mobilisations, Decoloniality and Black Lives Matter.

Read more less

A major career survey of Yayoi Kusama, one of the most widely admired and popular artists of our time, published in collaboration with M+, Hong Kong, to accompany M+’s first Special Exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now, from 12 November 2022 to 14 May 2023. Yayoi Kusama is that rare thing: an artist who has achieved truly global acclaim. In a wide-ranging career spanning seven decades and multiple media, she has established profound connections with audiences around the world. Emerging at the forefront of artistic experimentation in Asia in the mid-20th century, Kusama soon became a central figure in the New York art scene of the 1960s. Today, Kusama continues to communicate her highly personal and spiritual world view through her art. Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now is the most comprehensive survey of her work to date. Structured around six thematic sections, ‘Infinity’, ‘Accumulation’, ‘The Biocosmic’, ‘Radical Connectivity’, ‘Death’ and ‘Force of Life’, the volume elucidates the aesthetic and philosophical concerns at the heart of the artist’s oeuvre. In addition to a selection of Kusama’s writings, some of which have never been published before, the book features correspondence with Georgia O’Keeffe, an interview with critic and curator Yoshie Yoshida, and a roundtable discussion among leading authorities in the field. Also included are curatorial essays exploring different aspects of Kusama’s practice, and a detailed visual chronology of her life. Appealing not only to those already familiar with Kusama and her work, but also to anyone discovering it for the first time, this monograph reveals an artist who, while shaped by international artistic currents, remains deeply connected to the traditions and culture of her native Japan.

Read more less

A fascinating tour of cities that have been lost to history, from the Neolithic period up to the late Roman Empire, that offers a fresh new perspective on the roots of urban life. The ruins of ancient Athens, Luxor and Rome are familiar cornerstones of world history, visited by travellers from across the globe. But what about the cities that have dropped off the map – that have been submerged under water, or swallowed up by the sands of time? Where are they, and what can they tell us about our past? In this compendium of forgotten cities, Philip Matyszak explores the trials, tribulations and triumphs they faced, revealing how people have embarked on the shared endeavour of living together since we first settled down 12,000 years ago. Illustrated throughout with important artefacts, ruins and maps, Lost Cities of the Ancient World brings to life the sites and settlements across Europe, the Middle East and beyond that time forgot, from the sunken city of Ropotamo in the Black Sea to the deep cave dwellings of Derinkuyu in Turkey. Some have survived only in ancient literature, such as the lost city of Zoar by the Dead Sea, known from the Bible but not yet found. Others have been located, allowing archaeologists to trace their changing fortunes through centuries of occupation. Matyszak reveals a dynamic network of peoples and cultures who fought and traded between themselves, exchanging inventions, ideas and philosophies, with the result that peoples as far apart as Çatalhöyük in Turkey and Skara Brae in the Orkney islands in Scotland shared much of a common heritage. By examining the motivations that first drew people to gather and settle together, as well as the challenges that led to their cities’ abandonment, this visually striking and often surprising book offers us a fresh perspective on our urban origins.

Read more less

The Year That Changed Our World is the definitive, visual history of the Covid-19 Pandemic. With more than 400 photographs, this ambitious publication traces the arc of the Pandemic from China in early 2020 through to the vaccine breakthroughs of Spring 2021. Behind the relentless nature of the daily news since the events on Wuhan in early 2020 first broke, and the sense of fear and trepidation that the rapidly developing events provoked, what have we seen of the real stories of the world during the Pandemic? What can be told of how we lived through the pandemic and of the resilience, resourcefulness and sense of purpose with which we coped and adapted to the challenges we faced? How can we make sense of what we went through? The photographers of Agence France Presse are uniquely placed to be able to document the deeper, human stories of the Pandemic. Active in more than 150 countries, they have been able to capture all angles of the Covid-19 story. Organized into six chronological parts interleaved with thematic sections, including sport, animals and leisure, The Year That Changed Our World presents a comprehensive view, showing the extraordinary efforts to understand, control and cope with a previously unknown virus alongside the human stories of our lives at home: playing, caring, watching and sharing, both together and at a distance. Edited by Marielle Eudes, Director of Photography at Agence France Presse, and with an introduction by Eudes and further texts, quotes and insights from a range of contributors and public figures, The Year That Changed Our World is the definitive visual document of humankind's resilience in the face of the pandemic and the perfect way of understanding and showing to future generations the world during the time of Covid-19.With 500 illustrations in colour

Read more less

The first and only comprehensive overview of Givenchy’s collections, presented through catwalk photography and published in collaboration with the celebrated fashion house. Founded by the dashing Hubert de Givenchy in 1952, the house would go on to symbolize the height of effortless elegance, as embodied by Givenchy’s muse (and close friend) Audrey Hepburn. After its founder’s retirement in 1995, John Galliano first took the reins of the house, before being succeeded by a young Alexander McQueen, who created his first (and only) haute couture collections for Givenchy. More recently, Italian designer Riccardo Tisci took the brand into a resolutely contemporary direction following his appointment in 2005 (dressing icons such as Beyoncé), followed by Clare Waight Keller and American designer Matthew M. Williams. This definitive publication – the only monograph in print on the house of Givenchy – opens with a concise history of the fashion house before exploring the collections themselves, which are organized chronologically. Each new era in Givenchy’s history opens with a brief overview and biography of the new designer, while individual collections are introduced by a short text unveiling their influences and highlights, illustrated with carefully curated catwalk images. A rich reference section, including an extensive index, concludes the book. After Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, Prada, Vivienne Westwood, Versace and Chloé, Givenchy is the ninth in a series of high-end, clothbound books that offer an unrivalled overview of the collections of the world’s top fashion houses through original catwalk photography.

Read more less

A journey through M+’s collection and Hong Kong’s cultural spaces, telling the story of the city’s past and present through its works of art and key landmarks. Key to the M+ collections are objects made in or associated with Hong Kong, from neon signs and advertising ephemera to architectural plans, photographs and artworks, all of which offer new perspectives on contemporary life in the city. Hong Kong Visual Culture: The M+ Guide takes the reader on a journey through the city’s modern and contemporary visual culture. The book is arranged into three main sections, with the first focusing on artworks and objects that reflect daily life in Hong Kong; the second documenting the urban environment; and the final section concentrating on artistic perspectives and approaches that demonstrate the city’s unique outlook. Also included is a fold-out map by artist Don Mak and a specially commissioned cover. From Cantopop and Zaha Hadid’s man-made polished granite mountain to masterpieces of vernacular culture by the calligraphic artist the ‘King of Kowloon’ and the photographs of Michael Wolf, this richly illustrated book celebrates Hong Kong’s significant contribution to global material culture.With 245 illustrations

Read more less