Search results for ""thames hudson ltd""

Genius. Anti-artist. Charlatan. Impostor! Since 1914 Marcel Duchamp has been called all of these. No artist of the 20th century has aroused more passion and controversy, nor exerted a greater influence on art, the very nature of which Duchamp challenged and redefined as concept rather than product by questioning its traditionally privileged optical nature. At the same time, he never ceased to be engaged, openly or secretly, in provocative activities and works that transformed traditional artmaking procedures. Written with the enthusiastic support of Duchamp’s widow, this is one of the most original and important books ever written on this enigmatic artist, and challenges received ideas, misunderstanding and misinformation.With 172 illustrations in colour

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This standard introduction to visual art since 1945 has been revised, updated and redesigned for the first time since 2001. Movements, trends and individual artists from abstract expressionism to the present day are summarized, with detailed coverage of major developments such as pop art, conceptual and performance work, minimal art, neo-expressionist and figurative painting, the YBAs and the globalized art scene of the twenty-first century. A new chapter on art since 2000 includes discussion of work by Banksy and Ai Weiwei, as well as recent trends in art from Russia and Eastern Europe. Writing with exceptional clarity and a strong sense of narrative, Edward Lucie-Smith demystifies the work of dozens of artists, revealing how the art world has interacted with social, political and environmental concerns. Nearly 300 images of key artworks range from the paintings of Jackson Pollock via graffiti from 1980s New York and land art of the 1970s to contemporary painting from China and video from Japan. The book is as global in its reach as art has become in the 21st century.

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Expanded and revised in its sixth edition, The Art of Mesoamerica surveys the artistic achievements of the high prehispanic civilizations of Central America – Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec and Aztec – as well as those of their lesser-known contemporaries. Providing an in-depth examination of central works, this book guides readers through the most iconic palaces, pyramids, sculptures and paintings. From the Olmec Colossal Head 5 recovered from San Lorenzo to the Aztec Calendar Stone found in Mexico City’s Zócalo in 1790, this book reveals the complexity and innovation behind the art and architecture produced in prehispanic civilizations. This new edition incorporates new lavish colour images and extensive updates based on the latest research and dozens of recent discoveries, particularly in Maya art, where excavations at Teotihuacan, the largest city of Mesoamerica, and Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs, have yielded new sculptures.

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Since the early years of the 20th century, Western abstract art has fascinated, outraged and bewildered audiences. Its path to acceptance within the artistic mainstream was slow. Anna Moszynska traces the origins and evolution of abstract art, placing it in broad cultural context. She examines the pioneering work of Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian alongside the Russian Constructivists, the De Stijl group and the Bauhaus artists, contrasting European geometric abstraction in the 1930s and 40s with the emphasis on personal expression after the Second World War. Op, Kinetic and Minimal art of the postwar period is discussed and illustrated in detail, and new chapters bring the account up to date, exploring the crisis in abstraction of the 1980s and its revival – in paint, fabric, sculpture and installation – in recent decades. The first edition of this book, published in 1990, was acclaimed by reviewers; now in full colour and comprehensively revised, it will serve as the best introduction to abstract art for a new generation.

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Born in Yorkshire in 1903, of the heroic generation in twentieth-century British Art which included Henry Moore (with whom she studied in Leeds) and Ben Nicholson (whom she married), she explored in her sculpture the forms of life – especially human life – as well as those of mathematics. Professor Hammacher knew Hepworth for many years, and has written an intimate and highly readable account of her life and work.

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‘For millions of children, Dick Bruna’s books are the first they will encounter. They don’t know how lucky they are’ Michael Bond This latest instalment in The Illustrators on Dutch artist Dick Bruna (1927–2017) takes readers behind the scenes of the creation of some of the world’s most endearing children’s characters. Offering a deeper appreciation of the artistry and skills behind the international icon Miffy, fellow illustrator Bruce Ingman also reveals Bruna’s lesser-known work, including his striking book and poster designs. A glimpse into his studio in Utrecht reveals a man of many media, including drawing, painting, collage and photography. All the elements of Bruna’s extensive body of work, spanning book covers, posters, stamps and merchandise, are given due significance in this illuminating study of his reputation and success. By the time of Bruna’s retirement, Miffy had become an industry in her own right and Bruna an international star far beyond the sphere of children’s books. Ingman shows us how the simple complexity of Bruna’s work appeals to children, artists and designers alike, capturing the imagination across ages and artistic disciplines.

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An updated authorized edition of Isabelle Fiemeyer’s literary biography of Coco Chanel, which demystifies the legendary designer’s life. Coco Chanel was an emancipated fashion revolutionary. Raised by nuns in an orphanage, she rose to become a star of the world of couture and a byword for stylish elegance. But now, a fascinating new light can be shed on her life and career. During the Second World War, Chanel closed her couture house, but accepted the enemy’s help in rescuing her beloved nephew from a prison camp. However, as newly declassified information reveals, she did not supply any information in exchange for this favour. Moreover, it now seems that she was unknowingly listed as an agent because of her British connections and friendship with Winston Churchill. Featuring unpublished and exclusive content based on first-hand interviews with Chanel’s great-niece and confidante, this evocative portrait is based on years of painstaking archive research and tells the true story of the twentieth century’s most celebrated yet enigmatic fashion icon.

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Five years in the making, Pentagram: Living by Design is an in-depth survey of the group from its beginnings in 1970s London to its current status as one of the powerhouses of international design. Pentagram: Living by Design (two volumes) is the definitive statement on 50 years of Pentagram. This is an in-depth survey of the group from its beginnings in 1970s London to its current status as one of the powerhouses of international design. Book one, The Biography, offers a comprehensive analysis of the group, its partners, its achievements, its multidisciplinary approach, and its unique business model. This is accompanied by a plethora of images (some never published), a visual essay of Pentagram’s work across four main sectors, a selection of partners writings, a Pentagram family tree, and much more.Book two, The Directory, has profiles of 50 partners, past and present, accompanied by extensive coverage of their work. It’s a stellar roll call: from the five famous founders to some of the most celebrated names in contemporary design. It also includes a list of everyone who worked in the firm’s various offices. Both books are designed by Tony Brook and the Spin design team and use a range of paper stocks and special colours.

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A thrilling photographic adventure around an offbeat selection of the world's abandoned buildings, captured by one of the videogame industry's most beloved creatives. Urban exploration is a way of life for those who choose it as their passion. The secrets and mysteries that disused places incite can be intoxicating and inspiring. As Nakamura has said herself, I love breaking boundaries and making people say WOW. As artists, we use our imagination to see the INVISIBLE. Project UrbEx documents a multitude of abandoned spaces, placing them into thematic sections from lost hotels and ex-military sites to factories, laboratories and hospitals. A bright Pantone orange ink is used throughout for the text and chapter openers popping on the page to reflect Nakamura's sense of fun, vibrance and imagination. With a foreword by videogame-designer-turned-photographer Liam Wong, the book also features sections of Nakamura's personal travel diary, printed on pages with a narrower width,

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Bestselling author Philip Matyszak explores how the Greeks and Romans used magic, who performed it – and why. Magic was everywhere in the ancient world. The supernatural abounded, turning flowers into fruit and caterpillars into butterflies. Magic packed a cloud of water vapour with energy enough to destroy a house with one well-aimed thunderbolt. It was everyday magic, but it was still magical. Philip Matyszak takes readers into that world. He shows us how to make a love potion or cast a curse, how to talk to the dead and how to identify and protect oneself from evil spirits. He takes us to a world where gods, like humans, were creatures of space and time; where people could not just talk to spirits and deities, but could even themselves become divine; and where divine beings could fall from – or be promoted to – full godhood. Ancient Magic offers us a new way of understanding the role of magic, looking at its history in all of its classical forms. Drawing on a wide array of sources, from Greek dramas to curse tablets, lavishly illustrated throughout, and packed with information, surprises, lore and learning, this book offers an engaging and accessible way into the supernatural for all.

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Timeless, evocative and hauntingly beautiful: a retrospective monograph by a truly innovative image maker whose female gaze transformed fashion photography. American photographer Deborah Turbeville defies classification. She belongs to no school or movement. Her unique visual signature has been recognizable since her emergence as a major talent in the 1970s. Her images are evocative, difficult to date at first glance, and seem dreamlike to our 21st-century eyes. Turbeville stands apart from her male contemporaries, whose hard-edged, highly sexualized photographs of women now seem to be of their time in comparison with Turbeville’s very different representation of beauty. This book focuses on the area of Turbeville’s practice where her genius as an artist can be found: photocollage. In contrast to her contemporaries in fashion photography, she was deliberately playful with her images: xeroxing, cutting, scraping and pinning prints together, writing in the margins and creating narrative sequences. Her work is located far from single, glossy images. It inhabits a liminal zone between art and commerce. Built upon extensive research in the Deborah Turbeville archive, the work shown spans commercial and personal projects, with many images published for the first time. With texts by Vince Aletti, Anna Tellgren and Felix Hoffmann, this book brings into the spotlight the ways in which Turbeville redefined fashion photography, moving away from the sexual provocation and stereotypes assigned by male photographers to an idea of femininity on her terms. Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage will be an essential publication with modern relevance for all with a passion for fashion photography.

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A stylish collection of legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent’s maxims on fashion, craft, women and inspiration, presented in an attractive gift format. Founded by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1962, shortly after the young couturier left his post at the helm of Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent would soon become one of the most successful and influential haute couture houses in Paris. Introducing Le Smoking, the first tuxedo suit for women, in 1966, Saint Laurent also presented iconic art-inspired creations, from Mondrian dresses to precious Van Gogh embroidery and the famous Ballets Russes collection. The designer put the women who wore his clothes first (‘What’s most important in couture is the body we dress, the woman we dress, more so than the ideas we might have’) and was determined to change attitudes of the era (‘Fashion’s purpose was not only to make a woman look beautiful, but also to reassure them and to give them confidence’). He could be critical of the fashion industry (‘I adore clothes but I hate fashion’) and saw himself as a craftsman who perfectly understood his customer (‘I think there are three kinds of designers. The big ones, the real ones, and those who know how to strike a chord with a woman just by making a very simple dress, or a very simple suit’). Presented in a beautiful package and accessible format, The World According to Yves Saint Laurent is the perfect gift for fashion fans, capturing the essence of a true visionary.

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An illustrated biography of the remarkable and pioneering artist Leonora Carrington, told through the houses and locations that had meaning for her and are fundamental to an understanding of her work. An evocative visual chronicle on the life of Leonora Carrington as seen through interiors, international locations and vintage photographs, this book leads the reader on a personal journey through the many spaces she inhabited and which infused and haunted her art and the people she knew. Long underrated, Carrington is now considered as one of the vanguard, not only in histories of women artists but also Surrealism; her interests – feminism, ecology and life-enhancing art – are now shared by many. Challenging the conventions of her time, Carrington abandoned family, society and England to embrace new experiences and mix with artists in Europe and America, and to forge her own unique artistic style. From Lancashire to London, Cornwall to France and Spain, then to Mexico, New York and finally back to Mexico, each place and interior became etched in her memory – whether her grandmother’s kitchen with its giant stove, Parisian cafés, a rural French hideaway, the sanatorium in Santander or her Mexican sanctuary – only to be echoed, sometimes decades later, in her paintings and writings. ‘Houses are really bodies,’ she wrote in her novella The Hearing Trumpet (1974), ‘We connect ourselves with walls, roofs, and objects just as we hang on to our livers, skeletons, flesh and blood streams.’

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A Sunday Times Art Book of the Year: the first critical illustrated biography of this much-loved artist, locating her firmly in the art worlds of late 19th- and early 20th-century London and Paris. One of the most significant British artists of the twentieth century, Gwen John (1867-1939) made her life and work within the heady art worlds of London and Paris. This critical biography demolishes the myth of Gwen John as a recluse and situates her, brilliant, singular and assured, amid a rich cultural milieu that included James McNeill Whistler, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paula Modersohn-Becker and Maude Gonne. Art historian, curator and novelist Alicia Foster draws on previously unpublished archival sources to explore John’s many relationships with artists and writers, including her affair with Auguste Rodin, passionate friendships with Jeanne Robert Foster and Véra Oumançoff, and correspondence with, among others, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke and her Slade compatriot and fellow painter Ursula Tyrwhitt. John’s library, ranging from writing by her friends Rilke and Arthur Symonds to French philosophy and religious thought, is considered, as is her part in the increasing presence and visibility of women artists in the early-twentieth-century art world. From the life rooms of the Slade to the Paris salons, this is the story of an artist both devoted to her craft and deeply involved in the life and creativity of her era. With over 120 illustrations, Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris offers a lively, meticulously researched portrait of Gwen John as a vital and utterly compelling figure in twentieth-century art history.

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The definitive, full-career retrospective of the life and work of Chris Killip (1946-2020), one of the UK’s most important and influential post-war documentary photographers. ‘I didn’t set out to be the photographer of the English de-Industrial Revolution. It happened all around me during the time I was photographing’ Chris Killip, 2019 Grounded in sustained immersion and participation in the communities he photographed, Chris Killip’s keenly observed work chronicled ordinary people’s lives in stark, yet sympathetic, detail. His photographs are recognized as some of the most important visual records of 1980s Britain; as editor of this book Ken Grant reflects, they tell the story of those who ‘had history “done to them”, who felt its malicious disregard and yet, like the photographer with whom they shared so much of their lives, refused to yield or look away.’ Published to coincide with the first full retrospective of Killip’s life and work at the Photographers’ Gallery, London, this book, designed by Niall Sweeney & Nigel Truswell at Pony Ltd, presents photographs from each of his major series alongside lesser-known works. It includes a foreword by Brett Rogers, in-depth essays by Ken Grant tracing Killip’s life and career, and texts by Gregory Halpern, Amanda Maddox and Lynsey Hanley.

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A journey through the great mass-extinction events that have shaped our Earth. In this vast sweep of our Earth’s history, Michael Benton brings the deep past to life as never before. Deploying the cutting-edge tools in biology, chemistry, physics and geology that are transforming our understanding of previous environmental cataclysms – including the incredible new discovery of a hitherto unknown extinction event – he uncovers not only their lethal effects but also the processes that brought about such large-scale destruction. Beginning with the oldest extinction, Benton investigates the Late Ordovician, which set the evolution of the first animals on an entirely new course; the late Devonian, brought on by global warming; the cataclysmic End-Permian, which wiped out over 90 per cent of all life on Earth; and, book-ending the age of the dinosaurs, the newly discovered Carnian Pluvial Event and the End-Cretaceous asteroid. He examines how global warming, acid rain, ocean acidification, erupting volcanoes and meteorite impact have affected conditions on Earth, the drastic consequences for global ecology, and how life in turn survived, adapted and evolved. This expert retelling of scientific breakthroughs allows us to link long-ago upheavals to our modern crises. As today’s climate scientists and political leaders grapple to understand these processes and our planet enters the sixth great extinction, these insights from the past may hold the key to survival.

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Brimming with upbeat guidance, this accessible handbook shows how anyone can use art to enlighten, uplift, calm and ease stress and anxieties. Visual art is enlightening, challenging, informative and arresting; but it can also be therapeutic, reducing anxiety and stress levels, and offering perspective on the challenges that we all face in our lives. This guide introduces readers to new ways of looking at a wide range of art. Through careful examination and explanation, it investigates how engaging with art and drawing upon its ideas can help everyone feel connected and inspired. From Frida Kahlo confronting her anxieties to Henri Matisse embracing happiness, from Louise Bourgeois conquering fear to Auguste Rodin finding hope, it shows how you too can use art to work through difficult emotions and improve your mental wellbeing. Even art that unsettles can help us to think and feel differently. Artists have been conveying aspirations, emotions, ideas and stories for thousands of years; this book will help everyone to ‘read’ these messages, and thereby to enrich their own emotional life through art.

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A Pulitzer-nominated author and one of the great public intellectuals of Slavic culture bring to life the unfamiliar myths and legends of the Slavic world. Slavic cultures are far-ranging, comprising of East Slavs (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus), West Slavs (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland) and South Slavs (the countries of former Yugoslavia plus Bulgaria), yet they are connected by tales of adventure and magic with deep roots in a common lore. In this first collection of Slavic myths for an international readership, Noah Charney and Svetlana Slapšak expertly weave together a retelling of the ancient stories with nuanced analysis that illuminates their place at the heart of Slavic tradition. Though less familiar to us than the legends of ancient Egypt, Greece and Scandinavia, in the world of Slavic mythology we find much that we can recognize: petulant deities, demons and faeries; witches, the sinister vestica, whose magic may harm or heal; a supreme god who can summon storms and hurl thunderbolts. Gods gather under the World Tree, reminiscent of Norse mythology’s Yggdrasill; or, after the coming of Christianity, congregate among the clouds. The vampire – usually the only Serbo-Croatian word in any foreign-language dictionary – and the werewolf emerge from the shallow graves of Slavic belief. In their careful analysis and sensitive reconstructions of the origin stories, Charney and Slapsak unearth the Slavic beliefs before their distortion first by Christian chroniclers and then by 19th-century scholars seeking origin stories for their new-born nation states. They reveal links not only to the neighbouring pantheons of Greece, Rome, Egypt and Scandinavia but also the belief systems of indigenous peoples of Australia, the Americas, Africa and Asia. In so doing, they draw out the universalities that cut across cultures in the stories we tell ourselves.

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The definitive story of Amy Winehouse’s life and career told through key photographs, memorabilia and recollections by those who knew her best. Curated by Amy’s stylist and close friend Naomi Parry.Amy Winehouse left an indelible mark on both the music industry and pop culture with her soulful voice and bold 60s-inspired aesthetic. Featuring stories and anecdotes from a wide range of characters connected to Amy, specially commissioned photography of memorabilia, styled and dressed themed sets incorporating Amy’s clothing, possessions and lyrics, and previously unseen archival images, this volume presents an intimate portrait that celebrates Amy's creative legacy. Interspersed throughout are personal reflections on Amy’s life and work, provided by her friends, colleagues and fans. These include Ronnie Spector, Vivienne Westwood, Bryan Adams, Little Simz, Carl Barât, close friend Catriona Gourlay, Douglas Charles-Ridler (owner of the Hawley Arms), tattooist Henry Hate, goddaughter Dionne Broomfield and DJ Bioux. Each one has a personal story to share and together their anecdotes and reflections build into a complex picture of a much admired but troubled star. Vice Culture Editor Emma Garland puts these insights into context with an introduction that highlights the principal events and achievements in Amy’s life and work, and the key characters that played a part in it.Organized broadly chronologically, the book features newly shot lyric sheets, sketches and ephemera together with contextual photographs and video stills, including album, single and promotional artworks and outtakes. Punctuating the story are photographs of dressed room sets each created, designed and styled especially for the book by Naomi Parry to evoke a period or aspect of Amy’s life or personality, incorporating Amy’s clothing, possessions, lyrics and other memorabilia.With kind support from the Winehouse family.With 300 illustrations in colour

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Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, London, this is an expressive exploration of Black popular culture at its most wildly imaginative, artistically ambitious and politically urgent. In the Black Fantastic assembles art and imagery from across the African diaspora that embraces ideas of the mythic and the speculative. Neither Afrofuturism nor Magic Realism, but inhabiting its own universe, In the Black Fantastic brings to life a cultural movement that conjures otherworldly visions out of the everyday Black experience – and beyond – looking at how speculative fictions in Black art and culture are boldly reimagining perspectives on race, gender, identity and the body in the 21st century. Transcending time, space and genre to span art, design, fashion architecture, film, literature and popular culture from African myth to future fantasies and beyond, this vital, timely and compelling publication is an expressive exploration of Black popular culture at its most wildly imaginative, artistically ambitious and politically urgent.

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‘Beautiful and poignant' The Art Newspaper ‘Absorbing... a magnificent book' Mail on Sunday The first illustrated book on mudlarking that tells the captivating stories of forgotten people through objects recovered from the river Thames. Combining insights from 200 eclectic objects discovered on the Thames foreshore, meticulous historical research and contextual illustrations, Mudlark’d uncovers the hidden histories of forgotten people from all over the world. Beginning in each case with a particular find, Malcolm Russell tells the stories of the people who owned, made or used such objects, revealing the habits, customs and crafts not only of those living in London but also of those passing through, from continental Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia. In the 18th and 19th centuries London was the busiest port in the world, exchanging goods, ideas, people and power with every continent. The Thames long acted as London’s water source, shipyard, thoroughfare and rubbish dump. Its banks have been densely packed with taverns, brothels, markets and workplaces, and scavengers – known as mudlarks - have scoured them since at least the 18th century. Consequently, the Thames today offers a repository of intriguing objects that evoke ways of life long forgotten. A delicate bone hair pin uncovers the story of Roman ornatrices - enslaved hairdressers. A counterfeit coin reveals the heritage of millions of Australians. Glass beads expose the brutal dynamics of the transatlantic slave trade. Clay tobacco pipes uncover the lives of Edwardian women parachutists and Victorian magicians. A scrap of Tudor cloth illuminates the stories of Dutch and French religious refugees. The book also includes a primer, giving step-by-step advice on how to mudlark on tidal rivers and how to identify commonly made finds.

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One of Fortune's 'Best Books of 2021'When Ralph Waldo Emerson published his seminal essay on self-reliance in 1841, the United States was still reeling from the effects of a calamitous financial collapse four years earlier. His positive vision for the power of individualism and personal responsibility was issued in a climate of panic and uncertainty, at a time when the values of society and humanity were shifting. Emerson’s text is widely available to read online, but this new edition, produced with Design Observer, elevates his wisdom through the printed word. The global pandemic of 2020 has reshaped our world as well as our thinking, but Emerson’s call to independence remains as relevant and energizing as ever. Written as the first waves of the virus surged, Jessica Helfand's twelve accompanying essays address various aspects of artistic engagement — writing, drawing, thinking, making — expanding on the spirit of Emerson’s essay to reimagine the process and practice of what it means to be truly creative. Presented in a covetable pocket-book format intended to be read, carried, consulted and to inspire throughout our new daily lives, and featuring two marker ribbons for easy reference, this is a timeless book for all places and all seasons.

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The ultimate inspirational guide for anyone dreaming of living on a boat of their own, featuring practical tips on everything from clever storage solutions to finding moorings and living off-grid. Every boat has a story. For thousands of years, water-borne vessels have provided livelihoods and catered to our spirit of adventure – as well as retreats from the pressures of modern life. It is little wonder that life on the water calls out to the creative and the curious – the mavericks, artists, architects, crafters and designers who have made their homes on barges, clippers and houseboats. Featuring an international range of vessels, Making Waves celebrates those outliers seeking a different way of life, exploring how living on a boat offers the chance to achieve a more satisfying life/work balance while holding much of the paraphernalia and constrictions of the modern world at bay. With stunning photography and packed with practical advice and inspiration, the book reveals how anyone can transform one-time working crafts into beautiful and unique places to live and work. Each home featured affords its dwellers a retreat. Some glide through extraordinary countryside; others bob companionably in city wharfs. Their interiors reflect the residents’ imaginations, styles, families and working lives, demonstrating how even seemingly challenging spaces can be transformed into unique and intriguing living quarters. The compelling personal stories behind each boat will encourage and inspire readers to consider a shift in their own lifestyles and embrace a life on the water.

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An instructive book that examines the practice of drawing for illustration through case studies and sketchbooks, written by one of the world’s foremost experts and teachers on the subject. This essential handbook explores the subject of drawing for illustration in-depth, with an emphasis on drawing as a skill and fundamental language that every illustrator should master. It aims to encourage students through examples and case studies, by showcasing the often-unseen world of draughtsmanship that underpins the finished graphic. From book illustration to graphic novels, caricatures to commercial design, it draws on contemporary sketchbooks, projects and historical examples to make the connection between the practice of drawing from observation and drawing from imagination. Martin Salisbury sets out by explaining the fundamentals of this exciting discipline, before outlining the basic principles of line, tone, composition and colour through inspiring examples. Different approaches to drawing including anecdotal, sequential and reportage are examined, to enable students to acquire their own personal visual language. Interviews with illustrators also provide invaluable insight into the creative process, as they outline their challenges and motivations, and what drawing personally means for them. Packed with visual inspiration, this book features detailed analysis of works by key illustrators from past and present including George Cruikshank, Egon Schiele, Ronald Searle and Sheila Robinson through to Laura Carlin, Alexis Deacon and Isabelle Arsenault, looking at the differing roles drawing plays in their particular illustrative languages and how styles have changed over time.

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Arguably the most famous perfume in the world – most memorably endorsed by Marilyn Monroe – Chanel No 5 continues to fascinate and claims millions of devotees around the world. Created in 1921 by Coco Chanel, the perfume was one of the first to use synthetics. To complement her pioneering fashion, Chanel wanted to give the modern woman ‘a perfume, but an artificial perfume...not rose or lily of the valley...a perfume that is compound’, presented in a distinctively pared-back glass bottle that would become an icon in its own right (inspiring a series of works by Andy Warhol decades later). Presented in two volumes (one on the early years of Chanel No 5 from 1921 to 1945, the other on the period in which Chanel No. 5 went truly global, from the postwar years to today), Chanel No 5 explores the evolution of the perfume’s packaging, composition, manufacture and marketing, with unprecedented access to the Chanel archives and those tasked with creating the fragrance today. The world’s leading creatives have lent their talents to the perfume’s advertising campaigns, which are given pride of place in the book, from photographers such as Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton, to film directors including Ridley Scott and Baz Luhrmann, and stylish muses – Coco Chanel herself, of course, as well as Suzy Parker, Catherine Deneuve, Nicole Kidman, Gisele Bündchen and Lily-Rose Depp.With over 750 illustrations

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All knowledge, the cosmos arranged on shelves, in cupboards, or hanging from the ceiling, ‘infinite riches in a little room’ – such were the cabinets of curiosities of the 17th century. This survey, now available in a compact edition, traces the amazing history of cabinets of curiosities, from their first appearance in the inventories and engravings commissioned by Renaissance nobles such as the Medici or the Hapsburgs, via those of the Dane Ole Wurm and the Italian polymath Athanasius Kircher, to the serious 17th- and 18th-century scientists Elias Ashmole and Levinas Vincent.

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‘A photographic encyclopaedia of one of the 20th century’s greatest creators’ The Business of FashionFounded by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1961, shortly after the young couturier left his post at the helm of Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent would soon become one of the most successful and influential haute couture houses in Paris. Introducing Le Smoking, the first tuxedo suit for women, in 1966, Saint Laurent also presented iconic art-inspired creations, from Mondrian dresses to precious Van Gogh embroidery and the famous Ballets Russes collection. This definitive publication opens with a concise history of the house, followed by a brief biographical profile of Yves Saint Laurent, before exploring the collections themselves, organized chronologically. Each collection is introduced by a short text unveiling its influences and highlights, and illustrated with a gallery of carefully curated catwalk images. These showcase hundreds of spectacular clothes, details, accessories, beauty looks and set designs – and, of course, the top fashion models who wore them on the runway. A rich reference section concludes the book.

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A splendid – and necessary – publication…a great resource Iain SinclairCharles Booth’s landmark survey of life in late-19th-century London, published for the first time in one volume. In the late nineteenth century, Charles Booth's landmark social and economic survey found that 35 percent of Londoners were living in abject poverty. Booth's team of social investigators interviewed Londoners from all walks of life, recording their comments, together with their own unrestrained remarks and statistical information, in 450 notebooks. Their findings formed the basis of Booth's colour-coded social mapping (from vicious and semi-criminal to wealthy) and his seventeen-volume survey Inquiry into the Life and Labour of the People of London, 1886-1903.Organized into six geographical sections, Charles Booth's London Poverty Maps presents the hand-colored preparatory and printed social mapping of London. Accompanying the maps are reproductions of pages from the original notebooks, containing anecdotes and observations too judgmental for Booth to include in his final published survey. An introduction by professor Mary S. Morgan clarifies the aims and methodology of Booth's survey and six themed essays contextualize the the survey's findings, accompanied by evocative period photographs. Providing insights into the minutia of everyday life viewed through the lens of inhabitants of every trade, class, creed, and nationality, Charles Booth's London Poverty Maps brings to life the diversity and dynamism of late nineteenth-century London.

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The mid-20th century was one of the most popular, collectable and dynamic periods of international design. Drawing on the inventive style of the era, this range of gift products features exclusive illustrations of iconic mid-century designs, from Eames chairs to Poul Henningsen lamps and George Nelson clocks, all rendered in a distinctive graphic style. Featuring over ninety pieces by sixty designers and design duos, Mid-Century Modern: Icons of Design is arranged chronologically, and includes chairs, tables, storage, lighting, and product and industrial design. Each spread includes a graphic depiction of the piece and a concise text. The models, materials and designers index offers easy reference through the book.

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Anyone can create a beautiful home by foraging, and salvaging what they find. Whether a box of rusty nails or a disused armchair missing a leg, discarded objects can be restored, recycled or repurposed to fill the home with personal style. Artful interiors are born from curiosity, creativity and imagination, yet many of us fail to see a potential curtain rail in a bamboo stick or a hidden kitchen worktop in an old carpenter’s bench – let alone knowing where to find such objects. Presenting the techniques and philosophies of a wide spectrum of experienced foraging homeowners, this book showcases unexpected and inspiring interiors from all over the world, from an upturned boat in France to an Australian beach house. Such diverse locations each demand a different approach to foraging and, as a result, each home has a distinct sense of style. In an era when self-sufficiency, living off grid and saving our planet have never been more important or appealing, The Foraged Home will provide guidance and inspiration for all those looking to go beyond the world of mass-produced flat-packs.

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In a climate that ranges from cold, dark and unforgiving to endless sun and crystalline skies, the homes of the Nordic countries are lifted by ever-changing and dramatic natural light balanced by an intrinsic sense of warmth. Nordic architects today are as much informed by vernacular traditions and natural materials as their forebears, but the most recent generation of practitioners reflects a new appetite for spatial exploration and changing lifestyles. Divided into four chapters – rural cabins, coastal retreats, town houses and country homes – this survey of over forty of Scandinavia’s finest and most innovative houses features work by a broad spectrum of leading architects, such as Jon Danielsen Aarhus, Tham & Videgård, Snorre Stinessen, Reiulf Ramstad and Todd Saunders. Structured by terrain to reveal the full diversity of the landscape and its architectural challenges, the book is full of fresh thinking about living spaces that are at once universal and distinctively Nordic. From country houses complete with traditional Nordic fireplaces, saunas, window seats and verandas, to remote cabin hideaways and artist’s studios, there are details and grand ideas that can be applied to residential design anywhere. A reference section includes an appendix of architectural plans.

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You Are an Artist is for everyone who wants to be an artist, but has been too afraid to take the plunge. It combines a thought-provoking meditation on art practice with a series of practical exercises and creative provocations that encourage everyone to fulfil their potential as an artist. The book is itself a kind of art school, helping the reader to work out what kind of artist they are, and what they can achieve. Drawing on the author’s experience as an art school teacher, it playfully adapts the methods of art education, mixing these with the sideways approach to creativity popularized by the author’s activist campaigns. Smith provides an array of ideas, tips and practical examples, illustrated with documentary photographs of his own specially made work. His riotous paintings and installations are set alongside discussions of time, place, looking, thinking, stealing and becoming, with enlightening forays into the history of art and creativity. A collection of hilarious, at times startling and often moving narratives bring to life a series of lessons about the nature of art and inspiration. Each lesson comes with a series of prompts to harness the reader's own artistic capabilities. Whether we like it or not, says Bob and Roberta Smith, we have been enrolled in the world, and the world is an art school. You are an artist, because every human being who has ever lived was once an artist.

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Why are trees so important? How many types are there? How do they benefit the environment and wildlife? This book, by the award-winning author Piotr Socha, answers these questions and more, tracking the history of trees from the time of the dinosaurs to the current day.

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At first glance, all you can see on the page are simple outlines of body parts or seemingly abstract shapes. But look closely through the three coloured glasses and the amazing intricacy of the human body becomes apparent – as if by magic, the secrets of life are revealed! Following the award-winning What’s Hidden in the Woods?, this book includes a removable poster, which can be unfolded for even more fun!

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How do bees communicate? What does a beekeeper do? Did you know that Napoleon loved bees? Who survived being stung by 2,443 bees? This book answers all these questions and many more, tracking the history of bees from the time of the dinosaurs to their current plight.

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Each book in the Moments of Mindfulness series pairs the wise words of a great writer, master, philosopher or poet with Olivier Föllmi’s beautiful and moving photographs. Föllmi travelled far and wide to witness the celebrations, landscapes, rituals and traditions of cultures all over the world, discovering new ways of seeing as he sought to understand and capture through photography the connections linking the people to their ancestral lands. The effect is transcendental and transformative, awakening our senses and preparing our souls to receive these simple yet profound teachings.

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Shakespeare's potent use of garden imagery has captivated successive generations of readers and inspired the making of gardens across the globe. Laced with quotations and abounding with illustrations drawn from sources including Elizabethan gardening books, embroidered fabrics and hand-coloured herbals, The Quest for Shakespeare's Garden tells the story of the Bard's own garden at New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon, revealing its place in garden history.

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The fifth instalment in this popular and highly successful series, Viking follows on from Legionary, Gladiator, Knight and Samurai, your guide to the Norse world of the tenth century ad. Discover everything you will need to become a successful Viking warrior: how to join a war band; what to look for in a good leader; how to behave at a feast; what weapons and armour to choose; how to fight in a shield wall; where to go raiding; how to plunder a monastery and ransom a monk; how to navigate at sea; and what to expect if you die gloriously in battle. Modern reconstructions and ancient artefacts, including 16 pages of brilliant colour images, will immerse the reader visually in the Viking world. The humorous text peppered with quotes from sagas and chronicles will take you on an engrossing journey from joining a raiding party to how to die gloriously.

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A landmark publication that captures the beautiful richness of every aspect of trees and their importance for science, culture and the future of humankind. Trees feed us, shelter us, inspire us and heal us. In a world facing the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and a pressing climate emergency, the importance of these primeval beings in shaping our future is hard to understate. Generously illustrated and organized according to tree lifecycle – from seeds, leaves and form to wood, flowers and fruit – this book celebrates the great diversity and beauty of the 60,000 tree species that inhabit our planet. Exquisite details are rendered by surprising photography and infographics: intricate bark and leaf patterns, intertwined ecosystems, colourful flower displays, archaic wooden wheels and timber houses. Integral to science, art and culture, fundamental and fragile, dependent and depended on, the vitality of trees is revealed like never before.

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Containing poetry, drawings, pressed flowers, photographs, excerpts from scripts and notes, this biography and part social history is an intimate pictorial record of the relationship between Derek Jarman's personal and professional life, revealing the detailed planning and research, and creative and emotional engagement, behind each of his films.

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The Book of Kells, dating from about 800, is a brilliantly decorated manuscript of the four Gospels. This new official guide (French 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.

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A fascinating overview of how contemporary artists incorporate text and language into work that speaks to some of the most pressing issues of the 21st century.

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What makes great art great? Why do some works pulse in the imagination generation after generation, century after century? From Botticelli’s Birth of Venus to Picasso’s Guernica, some paintings and sculptures have become so famous, so much a part of who we are, we no longer really look at them. We take their greatness for granted; our eyes have become near-obsolete. We need a new way of seeing. Unsatisfied with traditional, hand-me-down interpretations of these masterpieces interested only in learning about art, and not from it, Kelly Grovier combed the surface of revered works from the Terracotta Army of the First Qin Emperor to Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits. What did he find? The key to their enduring power to move and delight us. He discovered that every truly great work is hardwired with an underappreciated detail, a flourish of strangeness, that ignites it from deep inside. From a carved mammoth tusk (c. 40,000 bce) to Duchamp’s Fountain (1917), and Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights (1505–10) to Louise Bourgeois’s Maman (1999), a remarkable lexicon of astonishing imagery has imprinted itself onto cultural consciousness over the past 40,000 years – a resilient visual vocabulary whose meaning has proved elastic and endlessly renewable from era to era. It is to these works that Kelly Grovier devotes himself in this radical new art history. Stepping away from biography, style and the chronology of ‘isms’ that preoccupies most art history to focus on the artworks themselves, Grovier tells a new story in which we learn from the artworks, not just about them. Looking closely at each work, he identifies an ‘eye-hook’ – the part of the artwork that ‘bridges the divide between art and life, giving it palpable purpose and elevating its value beyond the visual to the vital’ – and encourages us to squint through this narrow aperture to perceive the work’s truest meanings. This book is unique in emphasizing the durability of what is made over the ephemerality of its making and serves as a rejoinder to a growing sensibility that conceives of artists as brands and the works they create as nothing more than material commodities to hoard, hide, and flip for profit. Lavishly illustrated with many of the most breathtaking and enduring artworks ever created, as well as many that inspired or took inspiration from them, this refreshing book will spark a debate about how it is that artworks articulate who we are and what it means to be alive in the world.

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The mass of available data about World War II has never been as large as it is now, yet it has become increasingly complicated to interpret it in a meaningful way. Packed with cleverly designed graphics, charts and diagrams, World War II: Infographics offers a new approach by telling the story of the conflict visually. Encompassing the conflict from its roots to its aftermath, more than 50 themes are treated in great detail, ranging from the rise of the Far Right in pre-war Europe and mass mobilization, to evolving military tactics and technology and the financial and human cost of the conflict. Throughout, the shifting balance of power between the Axis and the Allies and the global nature of the war and its devastation are made strikingly clear. Original, accessible and fascinating, World War II: Infographics will delight history buffs, graphic design aficionados, and everyone seeking an overview of the war that shaped the world as we know it.

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No other art movement in history has contained two artists as different as Magritte and Miró. This is because Surrealism was not in origin an art movement, but a philosophical strategy. It was a way of life – a rebellion against the establishment that had given the world the hideous slaughter of the First World War. Instead of trying to analyse the work of the Surrealists, bestselling author and Surrealist artist Desmond Morris concentrates on them as people – as remarkable individuals. What were their personalities, their predilections, their character strengths and flaws? Did they enjoy a social life or were they loners? Were they bold eccentrics or timid recluses? Drawing on the author’s personal knowledge of the Surrealists, this book captures their life histories, idiosyncrasies and often-complex love lives, vividly illustrated with images of the artists and their works. The arts of Surrealism were both spectacular and international, shaped by the darkest, most irrational workings of the unconscious. Shocking, witty and always entertaining, Morris’ tales illuminate the striking variation in approaches to the Surrealist philosophy, both in the artist’s work and in their lives.

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An upmarket puzzle celebrating Darwin’s epochal voyage—one of the most important in human history—in Maria Rivans’s signature style In the same style as her successful Orient Express puzzle, Maria Rivans celebrates one of history’s greatest ever journeys: Charles Darwin’s voyage around the world on HMS Beagle. Between 1831 and 1835, he called on the Canary Islands, Brazil, Argentina, the Falklands, Chile, Australia—and, of course, the Galapagos archipelago, where giant tortoises and tiny finches perfectly illustrated his momentous discoveries. Vintage maps and a host of charming imagery bring Darwin’s story to life; and, as in Maria’s other puzzles, the intricate and colorful art gives the puzzler a particularly satisfying experience. The distinctive box format and design are conceived to merchandise next to the puzzle’s two precursors, encouraging customers to move from one to the next and col

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