While acknowledging the legacy of Herbert Read’s classic 1959 study A Concise History of Modern Painting in the World of Art series, academic and artist Simon Morley places the foundation of modern art much earlier than Read, at the emergence of Romanticism and the dawn of the industrial age. Structured loosely chronologically by period, the focus is as much on individual artists as well as movements, with works discussed within a broader context - stylistic, historical, geographical, and gender and ethnic frames - themes that recur throughout the chapters. Generously illustrated, the global and diverse range of artists featured include William Blake, Edouard Manet, Hilma af Klint, Kazimir Malevich, Willem de Kooning, Amrita Sher-Gil, Faith Ringgold and Kehinde Wiley.
This guide also includes an Appendix in the form of questions the reader might like to ask in relation to the artists and the ideas discussed - in order to reconsider the works from a contemporary perspective.
While acknowledging the legacy of Herbert Read’s classic 1959 study A Concise History of Modern Painting in the World of Art series, academic and artist Simon Morley places the…
A visually stunning and surprisingly accessible book that brings out subtle facets of Proust's masterpiece, as well as the artworks he cites. ?Art in America
A la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust is one of the most profoundly visual works in Western literature. Eric Karpeles has identified and located the many paintings to which Proust makes reference and sets them alongside the relevant text from the novel; in other cases, where only a painter's name is mentioned to indicate a certain style or appearance, Karpeles has chosen a representative work to illustrate the impression that Proust sought to evoke.
With some 200 paintings beautifully reproduced in full color and texts drawn from the Moncrieff/Kilmartin/Enright translation, as well as concise commentaries on the evolving narrative, this book is an essential addition to the libraries of Proustians everywhere. The book also includes an authoritative introduction and a comprehensive index of artists and paintings mentioned in the novel.
200 color illustrations
A visually stunning and surprisingly accessible book that brings out subtle facets of Proust's masterpiece, as well as the artworks he cites. ?Art in America
A la recherche du…
Plants are truly remarkable: even with all our modern technological prowess they still feed, clothe and shelter us, help transport us and cure us. Helen and William Bynum are expert guides to the rich histories, significance and uses of over 80 key species from around the world, exploring our relationship with them, both utilitarian and aesthetic, and their myriad benefits and cultural resonances.
In portraits that combine vivid cultural and historical narrative with a firm scientific basis – starting with the crops that were fundamental to the development of cultures and civilizations, and those that enliven our diet, such as saffron and chilli peppers – the authors reveal plants that have helped to create our material world, as well as those that are used medicinally or are revered for symbolic reasons, including the tulip, the rose and the lotus. For anyone interested in the natural world and the extraordinary diversity of flora around us, this elegantly illustrated book, published in association with the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, will be an inspiration and a delight.
Plants are truly remarkable: even with all our modern technological prowess they still feed, clothe and shelter us, help transport us and cure us. Helen and William Bynum are…
In this lavish collection Jйrфme Gautier collects the outstanding elements of Diors style for every generation since 1947, pairing classic and contemporary photographs together with some exquisite rarities. Christian Diors New Look amazed the world as it emerged after wartime austerity, and reset the boundaries of modern elegance. Diors search for the perfect line and the ideal silhouette continues with couturiers of the first rank: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferrй, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri have all made their distinctive contribution. In these pages, the most beautiful fashion plates from Diors own time sit beside examples of the houses creations from each decade. This beautiful volume honors and celebrates Dior past and present with undisputed elegance and panache.
In this lavish collection Jйrфme Gautier collects the outstanding elements of Diors style for every generation since 1947, pairing classic and contemporary photographs together…
William Helburn, a quintessential figure of the ‘Mad Men’ era, was one of the most prolific and dynamic photographers of the New York school that dominated fashion and advertising from the late 1940s to the 1960s. And then he seemed to disappear. This handsome volume brings to light his magnificent career and restores him to the pantheon of postwar photographers.
William Helburn was the go-to photographer for many of the top advertising agencies in New York in the 1950s and 1960s. Doyle Dane Bernbach’s Helmut Krone considered Helburn a hero for fighting ‘the limits and style of the studio and the slowness of Kodachrome’, achieving ‘a revolution in visual methods’. As Helburnhimself said, ‘I always tried to do something different. Shock value was a term that was used. And I meant to shock people as much as I could.’ Shock value and an unrelenting hunger for success helped Helburn to a pioneer’s share in the revolutionary era of advertising. His work would also appear on the editorial pages and covers of major magazines. For Helburn, working for the top agencies was as good for a photographer as working for Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar. However, his advertising work was largely uncredited, and so he remained relatively anonymous except to those in the know at the magazines and agencies. He was the consummate insider. As he said, ‘The only way to make more money in photography was to do competitive, conflicting accounts. If you do Cadillac, Chrysler doesn’t want you. But I did both. And I did Revlon and Max Factor. But I kept it to myself.’
In addition to cars and cosmetics, Helburn shot for Coca-Cola and Canada Dry, clothing lines and airlines, cigars and cigarettes and any number of other products. He worked with the top models of the day, from Dovima and Dorian Leigh, to Jean Patchett and Barbara Mullen to Jean Shrimpton and Lauren Hutton.
Away from the camera, Helburn lived the high life: he raced his Ferrari at Sebring, Watkins Glen, Nassau and Havana; he threw annual parties where jazz greats like Count Basie and Art Blakey would perform; he cultivated his reputation as a charming rake and socialized across New York’s creative worlds at the Stork Club, P. J. Clarke’s, Gino’s, Le Cirque and Birdland; and he photographed wave after wave of the world’s most beautiful women.
William Helburn: Seventh and Madison is the first book to survey the photographic work of William Helburn. Almost all of these images have not been seen since they were first published decades ago. In addition to the photographs, Robert Lilly contributes a biographical account of Helburn’s life and work, and former colleagues – photographer Jerry Schatzberg, art director George Lois, and models Sunny Griffin and Ali MacGraw – offer insights into the creative spirit of William Helburn.
William Helburn, a quintessential figure of the ‘Mad Men’ era, was one of the most prolific and dynamic photographers of the New York school that dominated fashion and advertising…
In this color-saturated volume, creative consultant Carlos Mota celebrates the manifestations of beauty, creativity, and individuality all over the world. Beige is Not a Color is the antithesis of bland and as aspirational as it is inspirational. The perfect addition to your home decor library.
Bland is anathema to Carlos Mota. As he travels the world—from Lisbon to Tangier, India to Santo Domingo, New York to Paris—producing feature stories and ad campaigns for major companies and brands including Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bloomingdale’s, Estee Lauder, and Max Mara, Nautica and Pottery Barn, he exults in every spark of originality and creativity he sees. Fortunately for us, he not only documents his sightings with his camera but also collects images by a Who’s Who of interiors and architectural photographers.
In this volume, peppered with quotes about color and beauty by a host of designers, he has culled some 280 of his favorite images, all wholly different but all sharing one quality: the beauty of color, both literally and figuratively. There are interiors, table settings, fabric swatches, tiles, floral arrangements, sculptures, architectural ornamentation—whatever captures his discriminating eye.
In this color-saturated volume, creative consultant Carlos Mota celebrates the manifestations of beauty, creativity, and individuality all over the world. Beige is Not a Color is…
A gorgeously illustrated survey of chinoiserie from the 18th century to today
Chinoiserie is a term for Western art and design inspired by a largely invented vision of China. Marco Polo’s sensational account of his visit to the exotic East in the 13th century sparked a fascination with China that reached a fever pitch in the 18th century and continues to this day. Art historian and artist Aldous Bertram has long been captivated by chinoiserie. He organizes Dragons & Pagodas by theme, including porcelain, color and pattern, flora, fauna, people, architecture and tropical exoticism. Each chapter is bursting with images of everything from grand European summer palaces and whimsical pagoda follies to charming details of screens, porcelain figurines and ornate plasterwork, from modern rooms swathed in floral wallpaper to paintings, tapestries and palm-topped columns. Complete with Bertram’s own chinoiserie–inspired watercolors and collages, Dragons & Pagodas is an irresistible confection and an example of chinoiserie in its own right.
A gorgeously illustrated survey of chinoiserie from the 18th century to today
Chinoiserie is a term for Western art and design inspired by a largely invented vision of China.…
Written by the Moscow Design Museum’s Alexandra Sankova and Olga Druzhinina, this book tells the previously untold story of the VNIITE – the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Technical Aesthetics. Formed in Soviet Russia in 1962, by the design visionary Yuri Soloviev, this vast network contained Moscow’s most progressive designers. The ‘Vniitians’, as they were called, designed for the future and developed new theories and approaches to design in the USSR. But more than ?fty years later, the organisation is all but forgotten. It’s hard to fathom how such an institution, dedicated to the promotion of utopian design, in theory and in practice, and the improvement of design standards within the Soviet Union, could have faded so far from view. After the disintegration of the USSR, the VNIITE and its library of images and prototypes were presumed lost. Until now, that is. Thanks to the efforts of the Moscow Design Museum – and the discovery of the personal archives of some of the VNIITE designers – the story of this remarkable organisation is being pieced back together. Alongside images of sketches, models and prototypes, the book also includes a selection of covers of one of the USSR’s hidden gems of graphic design – the VNIITE’s monthly journal, Technical Aesthetics. Showcased together for the first time, these covers chart Soviet graphic trends from the 1960s to the early 1990s. In the USSR there was a unique design system headed by the All-Union Research Institute of Technical Aesthetics (VNIITE). In the early 1960s Soviet leadership started to pay attention to design development. In 1962 VNIITE was founded, headed by Yuri Soloviev. The Institute was engaged in developing and implementing design practices, setting standards for product designs, conducting scientific research, and establishing international professional relations.
Written by the Moscow Design Museum’s Alexandra Sankova and Olga Druzhinina, this book tells the previously untold story of the VNIITE – the All-Union Scientific Research…
The influence of anime, one of Japan’s most successful cultural exports, has been felt across cinema, literature, comic books and videogames for decades, yet the artwork behind the genre remains somewhat enigmatic, particularly in the pre-digital period before the early 2000s. A genuine behind-the-scenes journey into the original background paintings, storyboards and early drafts of the industry’s most revered directors and illustrators, Anime Architecture presents the otherworldly buildings and megacities of these visionaries as celebrations of – and lessons for – the near future.
Includes exclusive material from:
AKIRA, 1988
Patlabor: The Movie, 1989
Patlabor 2: The Movie, 1993
Ghost in the Shell, 1995
Metropolis, 2001
Innocence, 2004
Tekkonkinkreet, 2006
Rebuild of Evangelion, 2007, 2009
The influence of anime, one of Japan’s most successful cultural exports, has been felt across cinema, literature, comic books and videogames for decades, yet the artwork behind…
Loaded with hundreds of photographs of high-end homes and interiors, these gorgeous books is a treat for lovers of residential architecture and a resource for people planning to build their own house.
Featuring some of the world's most aesthetically creative and environmentally conscious residential design and construction, this gorgeous collection reflects homes with a deep reverence for their natural and cultural contexts, from coastal dwellings to contemporary urban dwellings and mountain cottages With 30 leading pioneers of the green movement, this informed overview spotlights architects from such firms as Christopher Wright, Coates Design Architects, Nathan Good or Robert Hutchison.
Loaded with hundreds of photographs of high-end homes and interiors, these gorgeous books is a treat for lovers of residential architecture and a resource for people planning to…
Since the release of his first monograph, Vincent Van Duysen has consolidated his reputation for buildings of exceptional spatial mastery and highly refined detailing, and built a growing international following. This beautiful companion volume presents thirty of the Belgian architect’s most recent works produced over the past decade, much of which has been exquisitely captured by renowned photographers Helene Binet and Francois Halard. The buildings featured from this latest period include an array of elegant residences in Europe, New York, Paris and The Hamptons, as well as larger-scale commercial and public projects. Product and furniture designs, microcosms of the architect’s rigorous attention to detail, are also featured, including yacht interiors and objets decoratifs.
With a foreword by close friend and Academy Award-winning actor Julianne Moore, the broader context of Van Duysen’s contribution to contemporary architecture is provided by architect Nicola di Battista and architecture critic Marc Dubois. An illustrated chronology provides a complete overview of the architect’s recent projects.
Van Duysen has established a reputation as one of the world’s most refined and artful architects. This major new publication will further cement his uncompromising commitment to creating timeless places and spaces.
Since the release of his first monograph, Vincent Van Duysen has consolidated his reputation for buildings of exceptional spatial mastery and highly refined detailing, and built a…
Founded by Egyptian-born Gaby Aghion in 1952, Chloe pioneered luxury ready-to-wear that was all about ease and femininity, offering an elegant haute bohemian style for the modern, liberated Parisienne. Resolutely contemporary, the house spotted and hired a young Karl Lagerfeld as early as the 1960s: he stayed for over two decades, achieving fame and recognition worldwide through his Chloe work, before Stella McCartney (and her then assistant Phoebe Philo) succeeded him straight out of fashion school.
This definitive publication opens with a concise history of the house of Chloe before exploring the collections themselves, which are organized chronologically. Each new era in Chloe’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, and 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 and Versace, Chloe is the eighth in a series of high-end, cloth-bound books that offer an unrivalled overview of the collections of the world’s top fashion houses through original catwalk photography.
Founded by Egyptian-born Gaby Aghion in 1952, Chloe pioneered luxury ready-to-wear that was all about ease and femininity, offering an elegant haute bohemian style for the modern,…
The art and architecture of Egypt during the age of the pharaohs capture the imagination of the modern world. Vivid, graceful forms decorating monuments that emanated ambition and authority spark our wonder about this distant culture. Ever youthful and elegant men and women encounter odd, animal-headed gods and monsters amid scenes of work and leisure, in a paradise of plain, bright colours, where hieroglyphic texts hint at grand ideas.
The tombs and temples of ancient Egypt reveal how art and monumental building first flowered at the heart of civilization. Among the great creative achievements of ancient Egypt we discover a set of constant forms: archetypes in art and architecture that state clearly and concisely the contemporary view of authority, divinity, beauty and meaning. Whether adapted to fine, delicate jewelery or colossal statues, these forms maintain a human face – with human ideas and emotions as their explicit inspiration.
These artistic templates, and the ideas they articulated, were refined and reinvented through dozens of centuries, until scenes first created for the earliest kings, around 3000 bc, were used to represent Roman emperors and the last officials of pre-Christian Egypt. Bill Manley’s account of the art of draws on the finest works of a uniquely successful and enduringly compelling civilization through more than 3,000 years, including celebrated masterpieces, from the Narmer palette to Tutankhamun’s gold mask, as well as their contexts of origin in the tombs, temples and palaces of the pharaohs and their citizens.
The art and architecture of Egypt during the age of the pharaohs capture the imagination of the modern world. Vivid, graceful forms decorating monuments that emanated ambition and…
Retro Cameras is a stylish, design-led guide to classic and retro cameras aimed at those who want to discover the world of analogue photography. It includes more than 100 camera models, from the easily affordable to the highly collectible, in 13 formats: 35 mm SLRs; 35 mm Rangefinders; 35 mm Viewfinder Cameras; Roll Film SLRs; Sheet and Roll Film Folding Cameras; Twin Lens Reflexes; Instamatics; Stereo Cameras; Panoramic and Wide-angle Cameras; Miniature Cameras and Instant Cameras. Supplementing an already comprehensive resource are quick reference shooting guides for each format, as well as a section on retro camera accessories.
With over 400 specially commissioned photographs, practical advice on how to use and get the most out of each camera, buyers’ tips and a dedicated glossary, Retro Cameras is a perfect reference for young photographers who want to get creative with analogue photography, while also offering authoritative guidance for more experienced collectors and enthusiasts.
Retro Cameras is a stylish, design-led guide to classic and retro cameras aimed at those who want to discover the world of analogue photography. It includes more than 100 camera…
The joy that permeates Auguste Renoir’s paintings was created by a complicated person, whom even close friends and family members struggled to understand. The world’s leading authority on Renoir’s life and work here presents an intimate biography of this most intriguing of Impressionist artists in a narrative interspersed with over a thousand extracts from letters by, to and about Renoir. Drawing on a wealth of unpublished material, Barbara Ehrlich White brings us into direct contact with Renoir as an artist, friend and father, and enables us to appreciate more fully his great paintings.
It was in the face of great obstacles that Renoir became hugely popular: thirty years of poverty followed by thirty years of progressive paralysis of his fingers. Close friendship with scores of people who helped him with money, contacts and companionship enabled him to overcome these challenges to create more than 4,000 optimistic, life-affirming paintings. The author brings a lifetime of research to bear in her biography to challenge misconceptions around Renoir’s reputation, providing an unparalleled portrait of this multi-faceted and contradictory artist through his own words and those of his friends.
The joy that permeates Auguste Renoir’s paintings was created by a complicated person, whom even close friends and family members struggled to understand. The world’s leading…
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, that 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 interpretations of masterpieces, which are so often interested only in learning about art, and not from it, Kelly Grovier combed the surface of revered works from the Terracotta Army to Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits, in a quest to find the key to their lasting power to move and delight us. He discovered that every truly great work is hardwired with an underappreciated detail that ignites it from deep within.
Stepping away from biography, style and the chronology of ‘isms’ that preoccupies most art history, Grovier tells a new story in which we learn from the artworks, not just about them.
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,…
Discover the mysteries of the human body in this magnificent book. Cleverly designed, annotated lift-up flaps allow you to explore the wonders hidden beneath our skin as never before. Four large-scale figures unfold to illustrate the muscles, nerves, circulatory system and skeleton in meticulous detail. You will also see inside our organs, digestive system, limbs, head and brain, and follow the development of a baby from foetus to birth.
Full of facts and fun, this is an exceptional overview of the amazing human body.
Discover the mysteries of the human body in this magnificent book. Cleverly designed, annotated lift-up flaps allow you to explore the wonders hidden beneath our skin as never…
In the ancient world the magicians of Egypt were considered the best. But was magic harmless fun, heartfelt hope, or something darker? Whether you needed a love charm, a chat with your dead wife, or the ability to fly like a bird, an Egyptian magician had just the thing. Christina Riggs explores how the Egyptians thought about magic, who performed it and why, and also helps readers understand why we’ve come to think of ancient Egypt in such a mystical, magical way in the first place.
This book takes Egyptian magic seriously, using ancient texts and images to tackle the blurry distinctions between magic, religion and medicine. Along the way, readers will learn how to cure scorpion bites, why you might want to break the legs off your stuffed hippopotamus toy, and whether mummies really can come back to life. Readers will also (if so inclined) be able to save a fortune on pregnancy tests by simply urinating on barley seeds, and learn how to use the next street parade to predict the future – or ensure that annoying neighbour gets his comeuppance.
In the ancient world the magicians of Egypt were considered the best. But was magic harmless fun, heartfelt hope, or something darker? Whether you needed a love charm, a chat with…
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.
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,…
In 1954, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL was unveiled at the International Motor Sports Show in New York - the start of an unparalleled success story. Victories in the 24-hour race at Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana made it world-famous. It also possessed groundbreaking technology, including the first series-production fuel-injected engine. Its elegant shape and futuristic gullwing doors made it a coveted prize, symbolising exclusivity and freedom.
This volume has everything that is important about the legendary sports car: wonderfully aesthetic automotive photography by Rene Staud and archive pictures rich in patina, snapshots of racing successes and famous owners, and interesting facts from the model's history to the colours of the paintwork.
In 1954, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL was unveiled at the International Motor Sports Show in New York - the start of an unparalleled success story. Victories in the 24-hour race at Le…
