Cimabue
Creator of brilliant devotional paintings and mosaics, Cimabue (c. 1240-1302) represented the transition from medieval to early Renaissance art; his legacy is revealed in this authoritative volume, the first new monograph in 30 years. Cimabue is credited with bringing a naturalistic style to the stiff Byzantine forms of 13th-century art. The appeal of his work is undeniable: his trademark elements -- gilt thrones for the Madonna and angels with great multicolored wings -- were echoed by generations of artists, and even today his pieces speak with immediacy and power.In the absence of surviving documentation, many elegant, classical works are convincingly attributed to Cimabue, works in the collections of the Uffizi, the Louvre, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Other of his saints and Madonnas still decorate the churches for which they were created: paintings in Arezzo, Bologna, Florence, and Pisa, as well as the frescoes in the church of St. Francis in Assisi that were severely damaged in the earthquakes of 1997 (the frescoes are reproduced here as they looked just before the tremors). Luciano Bellosi's text examines the written and painted documentary evidence -- not only of Cimabue's work but that of the artists he influenced -- to create a vivid portrait of the artist in the historical, political, and cultural context of Tuscany and central Italy.
True Colors
The last quarter century has been an extraordinary and turbulent period in the art world. It was a time of creative intensity during which a handful of artists, like Julian Schnabel, Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, managed, in their different ways, to cross over from the rarefied world of high art into popular culture. It was also a time when other promising careers and even whole movements, like Graffiti, spurted to life and then just as suddenly disappeared. During the astonishing boom years of the 1980s, the newly vigorous art market transformed the role of dealers and collectors to give them unprecedented power as tastemakers and the dangerous glamour of Hollywood power agents. And then came the bust. Writer Anthony Haden-Guest has moved within the art world, known the players, and reported on the scene for this entire span of time. True Colors draws on two decades of reporting to deliver an authoritative and deliciously inside account of the contemporary art world that will be the most talked-about book on art since The Shock of the New. Haden-Guest gives vivid portraits of the art world's key players and dramatizes the pivotal moments in the always evolving scene. Skillfully conveying a sense of the intricate geography of the art world, he tells of its clashes of ambition, its intrigues, its power plays. This is how artists survive, or don't survive. True Colors is filled with telling anecdotes and expertly told stories that cohere to give a sense of how the art world works, its current state, and where it may be going.
California Impressionism
In recent years, the richly colored, exuberantly painted canvases by artists such as Franz Bischoff, Alson Clark, Joseph Raphael, Guy Rose, and William Wendt have attracted an expanding circle of admirers all across the country. In addition to the work of these established West Coast masters, many less-known California Impressionists are presented here, including John Frost, Evelyn McCormick, Bruce Nelson, and others whose work has not yet been widely discovered.In his far-ranging introductory essay, Dr. Gerdts explores the context of California Impressionism, surveying the movement's sources abroad, the most influential exhibitions in America, and the critical responses to the art and the artists. He introduces the work of an almost entirely forgotten foursome--Helena Dunlap, Detlef Sammann, Ernest Browning Smith, and Jack Gage Stark--who were the first local painters to be identified as Impressionists in Los Angeles and who contributed to an important but long-overlooked moment in the city's cultural history.Will South supplies an enlightening chronological narrative of the California Impressionists, starting with their often-ignored roots in the Hudson River school and other American realist art. Tracing the trajectory of their work from the innovations of the late 1800s to the style's final days in the 1920s and '30s, he offers vital new information and insight about their training and careers, as well as their ideas about art, nature, and the Golden State. Dr. South also provides detailed artists' biographies and an extensive bibliography.At a time when interest in all aspects of regional Impressionism continues to flourish, California Impressionism commands the greatest interest of all. This book will be an invaluable resource and source of pleasure for the innumerable collectors, scholars, and art lovers who find this work--with its wind-swept coasts, majestic mountains, and poppy-strewn fields--irresistibly appealing.
Indian Art (World of Art)
This engaging book tells the story clearly and vividly from the first, still mysterious, beginnings in the Indus valley, through the great masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu art to the coming of Islam, the eclectic culture of the Mughal court, and the golden age of miniature painting. Much of Indian art is immediately accessible to the outsider, but much is also enigmatic, needing interpretation and guidance before it can be enjoyed in depth: the strange pantheon of the Hindu gods, the subtle insights of Buddhist mysticism, or the complex symbolism of the miniatures. For this edition, the late Professor Craven thoroughly revised the text and incorporated works by contemporary artists, linking their achievements to the traditions of Indian art. A new glossary and time line are also included.
The Ransom of Russian Art
John McPhee's The Ransom of Russian Art is a suspenseful, chilling, and fascinating report on a covert operation like no other. It offers unprecedented insight into Soviet culture at the brink of the Union's collapse.In the 1960s and 1970s, an American professor of Soviet economics forayed on his own in the Soviet Union, bought the work of underground "unofficial" artists, and brought it out himself or arranged to have it illegally shipped to the United States. Norton Dodge visited the apartments of unofficial artists in at least a dozen geographically scattered cities. By 1977, he had a thousand works of art. His ultimate window of interest involved the years from 1956 to 1986, and through his established contacts he eventually acquired another eight thousand works--by far the largest collection of its kind. McPhee investigates Dodge's clandestine activities in the service of dissident Soviet art, his motives for his work, and the fates of several of the artists whose lives he touched.
Picturing Women in Late Medieval and Renaissance Art
This extensively illustrated book discusses the representation of women in the art of the late Middle Ages in Northern Europe. Drawing on a wide range of different media, but making particular use of the rich plethora of woodcuts, the author charts how the images of women changed during the period and proposes two basic categories - the Virgin and Eve, good and evil. Within these, however, we discover attitudes to sinful, foolish, married and unmarried women and the style and use of these images exposes the full extent of the misogyny entrenched in medieval society.
Etruscan Art
The Etruscans are one of the enigmas of history. A cultured, artistic, socially adept, economically prosperous and pleasure-loving people, they dominated Central Italy for 800 years until, eclipsed by the burgeoning power of Rome in the fourth and third centuries BC, their civilization was absorbed and their identity obliterated. But gradually during the last four hundred years their art has come to be appreciated and enjoyed, with the emergence of richly frescoed tombs, exquisite jewelry and sculpture, metalwork and painted vases at sites such as Cerveteri, Tarquinia and Vulci. Nigel Spivey's incisive book is the first critical survey of this elusive people for more than twenty years, bringing the Etruscan world to life in the light of the most recent discoveries and the latest scholarship. 223 black and white illus..
Chinese Art (World of Art)
At a time when interest in China has never been greater, this revised edition of Mary Tregear's authoritative survey of the Chinese visual arts will be welcomed by art lovers, travelers, and students alike. Generously illustrated and eminently readable, it covers not only bronzes, jades, calligraphy, and painting, but also Buddhist sculpture, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, lacquer, garden design, and architecture. For the revised edition, Chinese names, places, and terms have been romanized to current international usage. Throughout, information has been updated in view of new finds; there is a new introduction, and the final chapter on twentieth-century art has been completely rewritten. Includes a chronology of Chinese historical periods and six maps.
Early Christian & Byzantine Art
John Lowden provides an authoritative account of early Christian and Byzantine art from the third century AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. From the grandest public buildings to the smallest personal items, it was - and still is - an art of extraordinary directness, but also of mystery and transcendence. Lowden explains how and why early Christian and Byzantine art was made and used, and situates it within the controversies of its time.
Story of Art
The Story of Art, one of the most famous and popular books on art ever written, has been a world bestseller for over four decades. Attracted by the simplicity and clarity of his writing, readers of all ages and backgrounds have found in Professor Gombrich a true master, and one who combines knowledge and wisdom with a unique gift for communicating his deep love of the subject.For the first time in many years the book has been completely redesigned. The illustrations, now in colour throughout, have all been improved and reoriginated, and include six fold-outs. The text has been revised and updated where appropriate, and a number of significant new artists have been incorporated. The bibliographies have been expanded and updated, and the maps and charts redrawn.The Story of Art has always been admired for two key qualities: it is a pleasure to read and a pleasure to handle. In these respects the new edition is true to its much-loved predecessors: the text runs as smoothly as ever and the improved illustrations are always on the page where the reader needs them. In its new edition, this classic work continues its triumphant progress tirelessly for yet another generation, to remain the title of first choice for any newcomer to art or the connoisseur.
Romanticism and Art
In the age of revolutions, at the end of the eighteenth century, the mental and spiritual life of North America and Europe began to undergo a historic and irreversible change. The ideas of spontaneity, direct expression and natural feeling transformed the arts, encouraging artists to explore the extremes in human nature, from heroism to insanity and despair. Widely praised on its previous appearance as Romantic Art and now revised, William Vaughan's classic study analyzes the achievement of the leading artists of the age - masters such as Goya, Blake, Gericault, Turner and Delacroix - and sets in context a host of fascinating figures in painting, sculpture and architecture: Palmer, Runge, Soane, Gros, Overbeck, Schinkel, Flaxman, Pugin, Bingham and many more. The result is an invaluable account of a dramatic and contradictory artistic epoch.
Mexican Painters
From the monumental public frescoes of Diego Rivera, Jos矇 Clemente Orozco, and David ?lfaro Siqueiros, to the canvasses and drawings of younger artists like Galv獺n, Cant繳, Meza, Tamayo, and Orozco Romero, Mexican painting since the First World War has developed into a strong, influential artistic tradition.This book explores this Mexican tradition -- the artists, their works, the social and political background, and the relationship of the modern painters to European and Mexican historical tradition. Helm, an important collector who knew most of the artists, writes informally yet with deep understanding about the major figures -- Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros -- as well as over 40 others little known outside their native Mexico.He ably ties together such diverse influences as the Revolution and the regime of Obreg籀n, the Siqueiros Syndicate and its power in getting artists to pool resources and works for a powerful national style, Rivera's strong political beliefs and their effect on his work, Orozco's deep empathy, the development of the young artists, the effects of low wages and bohemian existence on artistic production, links to Indian art, the rediscovery of fresco technique, important patrons, the religious and anti-religious forces in the early works, and much more. In addition, 95 works by 37 artists are reproduced, showing the range and best works of modern Mexican painting.MacKinley Helm was in a uniquely favorable position to write about these artists, and his book is now considered the best introduction to the art and artists of Mexico during the great artistic movements of the '20s and '30s. Collectors, artists, and others who have felt the lack of solid information about this important Western tradition will find this book gives clear insight into the conflicts, personalities, and important works that have developed into modern Mexican art.
Oriental Floral Designs and Motifs for Artists Needleworkers and Craftspeople
This book provides artists, needleworkers, and craftspeople with floral illustrations usable in a variety of ways. The full-page unified designs are complete patterns in themselves; the smaller motifs are individual spots that can be used directly or repeated and combined to create larger patterns; and there are also border elements. These designs and motifs encompass not only the strictly floral -- a variety of representative Oriental flowers such as peony, wisteria, and lotus; cherry and plum trees in full bloom; and many kinds of herbaceous plants including bamboo -- but also the associated animal life, such as grasshoppers climbing plant stalks, and birds, bees, and butterflies active amid the blossoms. All of these natural forms are rendered with the combination of elegance and precision characteristic of Far Eastern art.
Baroque and Rococo
Baroque and Rococo art and architecture have become popular once more, after a century and a half of neglect, misunderstanding and scorn. This radical shift in taste has led to a rapid growth of detailed knowledge about the artists who created these exhilarating styles. The famous masters have been reassessed and whole areas of achievement--Italian Baroque painting, German Rococo architecture--have been brought to a new, enthusiastic public. Germain Bazin's engaging survey of this rich subject ranges over all Europe and traces the origins and effects of these two periods of art--from the Counter-Reformation to Neoclassicism, Exoticism and even Art Nouveau. 218 illus.
Persian Designs and Motifs for Artists and Craftsmen
Outstanding collection of 400 motifs of rich Persian tradition, ready to use in many areas of design. The motifs include floral designs, geometrics, arabesques, mythical creatures, rosettes, paisley patterns, palmettes, medallions, border and marginal decorations, scrolls, curves, and hunting scenes.
Japanese Optical and Geometrical Art
The 746 designs contained in this volume represent some of the most ingenious and attractive applications of geometrical and optical motifs to be found today. Taken from an authentic, modern Japanese work, they are an intriguing new source of unique design elements for artists, designers, and illustrators.The designs employ circles, dots, squares, ellipses, curves, lines, angles, complete alphabets, and numbers in a seeming infinitude of balance, asymmetry, repetition, harmony, swirl, and mathematical exactitude. Some seem to recede, advance, shimmer, and dazzle in the manner of Op Art; others fool the eye with wholly unexpected shifts in focus; still others start with a basic theme and either develop remarkable variations or repeat the same element almost endlessly. But all, from the smallest design to those that take a full page, fascinate and delight.This book is an inexhaustible source of novel, appealing, and striking design elements for advertising campaigns, packaging, display, industrial use, crafts, textiles, and similar fields. These designs may be used as they are, or cropped, enlarged, reduced, repeated, rearranged, combined, screened, superimposed, cut apart, overlaid, or otherwise employed. All illustrators, designers, crafters, and commercial and graphic artists will find this collection immensely usable and the individual designs extremely effective.
Japanese Design Motifs
This collection presents more than 4,000 individual designs in the 900-year-old tradition of Japanese family crests. Through constant variation and invention over the centuries, this has become one of the richest graphic art traditions in the world.Most of these motifs are circular, and they can all be fitted into a square. Within those limitations is a seemingly endless range of designs, beginning with the dozens and dozens of root motifs -- rice plant, gingko, scallop, lightning, anchor, spool, raft, candle, scissors, fern, saki bottle, lotus blossom, mountain arrow, pine, wisteria, ship, rabbit, and scores of others. Practically every kind of plant, bird, animal, natural phenomenon, and manufactured object of Japanese culture was at one time or another included in a family crest. In addition, each of the root designs was treated to dozens of imaginative variations -- they were reproduced bilaterally, in triangles, diamonds, five- and six-pointed stars, in spirals, were built up in series, made to overlap, combined with each other, and so on. Some of these are classic and recognizable designs, like the yin-yang, linked rings, and treasure knot. Many of the others have rarely been seen in the West.Graphic artists, textile designers, pattern-makers, advertisers, and other commercial artists looking for an untapped source of novel, appealing designs will find a wealth of material here. Some of these motifs can be used to suggest an exotic flavor, and others are universal and can be used almost anywhere.
The Dance of Death,
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543), remembered today for his insightful portraits, was better known in his own time for his varied and extensive graphic works, the most celebrated of which was The Dance of Death. This work, from the woodblocks of collaborator Hans L羹tzelburger, was first published in book form in 1538.The theme of the dance of death was a popular one of the sixteenth century. Holbein captured the feeling of death, the leveler, in its attack on all classes, both sexes, and all ages. A stylized skeleton seizes the child from his mother's breast. The skeleton snatches, plays, tugs, and cavorts throughout the rest of the book. The king, emperor, pope, and cardinal must cease from their functions. The skull is thrust into the face of the astrologer. The hourglass runs out onto the floor. Countess, nun, sailor, peddler, senator are all stopped by the common force. Forty-one finely cut, highly detailed woodcuts capture the single motif, Memento mori: "Remember, you will die." Although the theme is common, the variety of expressions, social groups, backgrounds, styles of dress and architecture, and calls to death are so varied that each one is unique in its power.This edition, reprinting the unabridged 1538 edition, is the first in a series reprinting great rare books from the Rosenwald Collection. Besides the woodcuts, the book contains a prefatory letter by Jean de Vauz矇le and various quotations, depictions, and meditations on death, deaths of men, and the necessity of death. A repeated series of the 41 woodblocks follows the reprinted work and contains English translations of the quotations and verses. Art historians and social historians will find this to be one of the best depictions of class life caught at its fateful moment. The collector will find this to be the finest reproduction of one of Holbein's major works.
The Master of Mary of Burgundy
Near the end of the fifteenth century, a Flemish artist known only as The Master of Mary of Burgundy painted one of the last illuminated manuscripts for ENgelbert of Nassau, a member of the courts of rulers of the Netherlands from Charles the Bold to Philip the Fair. This edition reproduces this magnificent book, now in the Bodlein Library, Oxford, as closely as possible to the original.
Disasters of War
The strikingly original characterizations and sharply drawn scenes that came to be known posthumously as Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War) are among Francisco Goya's most powerful works and one of the masterpieces of Western civilization. Goya's model for his visual indictment of war and its horrors was the Spanish insurrection of 1808 and the resulting Peninsular War with Napoleonic France. The bloody conflict and the horrible famine of Madrid were witnessed by Goya himself, or were revealed to him from the accounts of friends and contemporaries. From 1810 to 1820, he worked to immortalize them in a series of etchings.The artist himself never saw the results. The etchings were not published until 1863, some 35 years after his death. By then, the passions of the Napoleonic era had subsided and the satirical implications in Goya's work were less likely to offend. The Dover edition reproduces in its original size the second state of this first edition, which contained 80 prints. Three additional prints not in the 1863 edition are also included here, making this the most complete collection possible of the etchings Goya intended for this series. The bitter, biting captions are reprinted, along with the new English translations, as are the original title page and preface.
