Museums

Sir Percival David made one of the finest collections of Chinese ceramics outside Asia. It includes many items of imperial quality, with beautiful examples of extremely rare Ru and guan wares as well as the famous David vases. Their inscriptions date to 1351, making them an internationally acknowledged yardstick for the dating of Chinese blue and white porcelain. Here are 50 selected highlights, all illustrated with colour photographs taken especially for this publication. The accompanying text provides details and draws out the important features of each piece. The range and scope of the collection provide the material for a stunning overview and accessible introduction to Chinese ceramic art.

Read more

This is a highly readable history and a unique work of reference. Focusing on the succession of the rulers of imperial Rome, it uses timelines with at-a-glance visual guides to each reign and its main events. Biographical portraits of the 56 principal emperors from Augustus to Constantine, together with a concluding section on the later emperors, build into a highly readable single-volume history of imperial Rome. Biographical information is illustrated with busts of each emperor, coin portraits, battle plans and cutaway diagrams of imperial monuments. Supporting datafiles for every emperor list key information such as name at birth, wives and children, full imperial titles and place and manner of death. Genealogical trees and over 90 sidebars and special features on subjects ranging from Nero’s Golden House to Diocletian’s Palace allow the reader to delve even deeper. Colourful contemporary judgments by such writers as Suetonius and Tacitus are balanced by judicious character assessments made in the light of modern research. The famous and the infamous – Caligula and Claudius, Trajan and Caracalla – receive their due, while lesser names emerge clearly from the shadows for the first time. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors is at once a book to be enjoyed as popular history, an essential work of reference, and a source of visual inspiration, bringing to life one of the most powerful and influential empires the world has ever known. ‘A valuable volume providing a nice blend of information and entertainment’ – Teaching History ‘Marvellous’ – New Scientist

Read more

Between 1978 and 1992, Factory was one of the most important record labels in Britain. It launched the careers of Joy Division, New Order and the Happy Mondays, to name but a few; it opened the legendary Haçienda club and Dry bar; and it introduced to music the concept of high-quality, cutting-edge design. The visual languages developed alongside the music, by designers such as Peter Saville, Central Station Design and 8vo, are still widely recognized and imitated today.

Factory Records documents the label’s entire visual legacy and its role in bringing design into the mainstream. Every item with a famous Factory inventory number is illustrated or listed, including album sleeves, singles, special editions, flyers, posters, stationery and architectural projects. With a foreword by Tony Wilson, Factory’s charismatic record label owner and nightclub manager, this book amply conveys the energy, creativity and enthusiasm of one of the most dynamic (and chaotic) record labels ever.

Read more

An exceptional introduction to European paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century through one of the greatest collections in the world.

This richly illustrated and beautifully designed book offers an ideal introduction to European painting from the 13th to the early 20th century. The National Gallery, London, houses one of the finest collections of Western European art in the world. Its extraordinary range includes exceptional paintings from medieval Europe through the early Renaissance and on to Post-Impressionism, including masterpieces by Leonardo, Hans Holbein, Titian, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Turner, Monet, and Van Gogh.

This volume showcases more than 250 of the Gallery’s most treasured pictures, providing an opportunity to make connections across this uniquely representative collection. Paintings are accompanied by numerous details, as well as brief and illuminating texts, providing an informative and visually rich survey of hundreds of years of European painting.

Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press

Read more

Here is the ultimate, one-volume story of Turner’s life and work. Superb colour plates illuminate Turner’s range – dramatic views of the sea or mountains, sweeping landscapes, architecture, imaginary scenes from history and legend, panoramas of contemporary towns – while the fruits of his travels, not just over Britain but also in France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy, are presented in the context of his life. In the most attractive work for a wide audience ever published, the text reveals the man, the illustrations his genius.

Table of Contents

Introduction • 1. 1775–1800: Seeking Reputation • 2. 1801–1810: Royal Academician • 3. 1811–1820: Theory and Practice • 4. 1821–1830: What You Will! • 5. 1831–1840: Transformation Scenes • 6. 1841–1851: The Angel of the Apocalypse • Chronology, Turner’s Library, Inventory of the Late Residence of JMW Turner, List of Illustrations, Index

Read more