History & Criticism
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Protest Art (Art Essentials)
An essential guide to how the power of art has been harnessed to effect political change across the modern world, from the struggle for universal suffrage to Black Lives Matter.Here is a well-researched, concise guide to protest art, exploring what happens when artists join forces with radical political movements to foster change. The works and movements discussed emerged at times of great upheaval, war, colonialism, independence and changes of government, and reveal how art and politics have been intertwined throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries.
Jessica Lack adopts an inclusive and international approach, presenting examples from nations and societies around the globe, including: Sylvia Pankhurst’s paintings depicting the harsh realities faced by women manual workers in early 1900s Britain; the revolutionary aesthetic created by Emory Douglas for the Black Panthers in the 1960s, which documented and galvanized the campaign for the rights of Black Americans; Nandalal Bose’s portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, which became the iconic symbol of the Indian non-violence movement in the 1930s; and the Chilean direct action work that contributed to the collapse of General Pinochet’s government.
Each of the nine chapters addresses different ways in which art has been used to effect political transformation, taking in humour and satire, performance and propaganda, art’s relationships to institutions, the media, conflict and the state, and its uses as a weapon, a galvanizing force and a way of refusing the status quo. Artistic acts, collectives and movements are examined in their context, revealing how they have influenced other artists and changed the wider political and artistic world.
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£14.20Protest Art (Art Essentials)
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Xia Gui: Landscape of Streams and Mountains; Collection of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting Handscrolls: Paintings
- Part of a series of 10 paintings from the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties of ancient China
- Presented in the traditional format of a handscroll
Ten more handscrolls from the series Collection of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting Handscrolls: Paintings have rich themes and diverse styles, such as vivid portraits, exquisite landscape paintings, and meticulous paintings of flowers and birds. The paintings are accompanied by texts written by experts, offering detailed analysis of the artists’ works. It is a powerful tribute to Chinese ancient paintings and provides original insight into the work itself. In this series (volumes 11-20), most of handscrolls are painted in Song Dynasty, in which painting became an art of high sophistication and reached a new level of sophistication with further development of landscape painting. The original paintings have been in the collection of the Palace Museum or the Taipei Palace Museum for many years.
The artworks are presented in the traditional format of a handscroll which can be extended indefinitely, so that the postscripts and observations of later generations can be directly followed by the end of the works.
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Salvador Dali. The Paintings (Bibliotheca Universalis)
The seminal surrealistExploring Dalí’s grandiose and grotesque oeuvre
Picasso called Dalí “an outboard motor that s always running.” Dalí thought himself a genius with a right to indulge in whatever lunacy popped into his head. Painter, sculptor, writer, and filmmaker, Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) was one of the century s greatest exhibitionists and eccentrics and was rewarded with fierce controversy wherever he went. He was one of the first to apply the insights of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis to the art of painting, approaching the subconscious with extraordinary sensitivity and imagination.
This publication presents the entire painted oeuvre of Salvador Dalí. After many years of research, Robert Descharnes and Gilles Néret finally located all the paintings of this highly prolific artist. Many of the works had been inaccessible for years in fact so many that almost half the illustrations in this book had rarely been seen.
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See What You’re Missing: 31 Ways Artists Notice the World – and How You Can Too
The internationally bestselling author on how art can help us appreciate life in all its strange and exhilarating beauty
Artists have learnt to pay attention. The rest of us spend most of our time on autopilot, rushing from place to place, our overfamiliarity blinding us to the marvellous, life-affirming phenomena of our world. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
In his typically engaging style, Will Gompertz takes us into the minds of artists – from emerging stars to old masters – to show us how to look at and experience the world with their heightened powers of perception.
In See What You’re Missing we learn, for example, how Rembrandt can help us see ourselves, how David Hockney helps us to see nature, and how Frida Kahlo can help us see through pain. Each artist has their own unique way of looking, which when applied to our own lives stimulates our senses so we might know the intoxicating feeling of being truly alive.
‘Art can amaze us into changing our minds. This remarkable book teaches us how’ Es Devlin
‘Highly engaging and thought-provoking’ Philip Hook, author of Breakfast at Sotheby’s
‘Lucid and revealing’ Michael Prodger, The Times
‘Will Gompertz is the best teacher you never had’ Guardian
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Renoir: His Life and Works in 500 Images: An Illustrated Exploration of the Artist, His Life and Context, with a Gallery of 300 of His Greatest Works
This fascinating new book looks in detail at Renoir’s influences, life and works. The first part begins examines his style; it covers Renoir’s techniques and training: painting copies at the Louvre; his time at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; meeting his muse, Lise Trehot; working with fellow impressionist artists and his struggles for recognition. The volume then investigates Renoir’s move away from Impressionism, his stay in Guernsey and also the changes to his personal life and the way in which these informed his work. It also documents his eventual success in the art world and considers the devastating series of illnesses and losses that blighted the end of Renoir’s long painting career. The second part of the book is a gallery of Renoir’s work in 300 glorious pictures, each accompanied by an in-depth analysis of its context within his life, his technique and his body of work as a whole.Read more
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A Big Important Art Book (Now with Women): Profiles of Unstoppable Female Artists–And Projects to Help You Become One
Celebrate 45 women artists, and gain inspiration for your own practice, with this beautiful exploration of contemporary creators from the founder of The Jealous Curator.
Walk into any museum, or open any art book, and you’ll probably be left wondering: where are all the women artists? A Big Important Art Book (Now with Women) offers an exciting alternative to this male-dominated art world, showcasing the work of dozens of contemporary women artists alongside creative prompts that will bring out the artist in anyone!
This beautiful book energizes and empowers women, both artists and amateurs alike, by providing them with projects and galvanizing stories to ignite their creative fires. Each chapter leads with an assignment that taps into the inner artist, pushing the reader to make exciting new work and blaze her own artistic trail. Interviews, images, and stories from contemporary women artists at the top of their game provide added inspiration, and historical spotlights on art “herstory” tie in the work of pioneering women from the past. With a stunning, gift-forward package and just the right amount of pop culture-infused feminism, this book is sure to capture the imaginations of aspiring women artists.
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Living the Artist’s Way: An Intuitive Path to Creativity
‘Without The Artist’s Way, there would be no Eat, Pray, Love’ – ELIZABETH GILBERT
WATKINS TOP 100 MOST SPIRITUALLY INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF 2023
How can we tap into the wisdom inside ourselves?
LIVING THE ARTIST’S WAY is a Six-Week Artist’s Way Program that explores the fourth essential Artist’s Way tool of guidance. Bestselling author Julia Cameron has inspired millions through creative recovery with her essential tools including Morning Pages, Artist Dates, Walks, and now, Writing for Guidance. Through the practice of morning rituals and the faith of listening, Julia takes us further and shows how we can set the stage to receive guidance in both our lives and creative art.
Writing about how she uses these tools to handle doubts in her life, Living the Artist’s Way reveals a personal side and shares Julia’s pathway toward a happier, lighter life. Grounding and reassuring, guidance can quell our doubts and fears, and lead us to our inner wisdom and authentic selves. Living the Artist’s Way is an invitation to seek the answers to navigate all areas of our lives, by tapping into our own wisdom and ultimately, guiding ourselves back to creativity.
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A-Z Great Modern Artists (A-Z Great Modern series)
A most striking, design-led reference book, A to Z Great Modern Artists features artist and graphic designer Andy Tuohy’s portraits of 52 key modern artists, rendered in each artist’s own characteristic style – including Aleksandr Rodchenko in his constructivist poster style, Andy Warhol as a classic repeat print, and Barbara Hepworth illustrated to resemble one of her distinctive bronze and rod sculptures.With expert text by art historian Christopher Masters, each artist’s entry includes a summary of the essential things you need to know about the artist; their biographical details, why they’re so significant, where you can find their works today, and a surprising fact about them plus reproductions of key works.
Whether you’re already an art expert, or looking for a helpful cheat to navigating around a gallery, you’ll love this stunning and intelligent guide to global artists of the modern age.
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£16.60£18.00A-Z Great Modern Artists (A-Z Great Modern series)
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George Little: The Ugly Lovely Landscape
No artist has been more committed to recording and interpreting such environments than George Little. Born in the east end of Swansea in 1927 he grew up next to the abandoned copper works, slag heaps and still-busy docks of Dylan Thomas’s ‘ugly, lovely town’.Read more
£16.70£19.00George Little: The Ugly Lovely Landscape
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Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was only twenty-seven when he died in 1988, his meteoric and often controversial career having lasted for just eight years. Despite his early death, Basquiat’s powerful oeuvre has ensured his continuing reputation as one of modern art’s most distinctive voices. Borrowing from graffiti and street imagery, cartoons, mythology and religious symbolism, Basquiat’s drawings and paintings explore issues of race and identity, providing social commentary that is shrewdly observed and biting. This bestselling book, now available in a compact edition, celebrates Basquiat’s achievements in the contexts of the key influences on his art. It not only re-evaluates the ar tist s principal works and their meaning, but also explains what keeps his painting relevant today.Read more
£16.70£18.00Basquiat
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Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together
An inside look at the organizers and artists on the front lines of political mobilization and social change
“Ken [Grossinger] is one of the smartest strategists I know.” —John Sweeney, AFL-CIO president, 1995–2009
An artist’s mural of George Floyd becomes an emblem of a renewed movement for racial equality. A documentary film injects fuel into a popular mobilization to oust a Central American dictator. Freedom songs course through the American civil rights movement.
When artists and organizers combine forces, new forms of political mobilization follow—which shape lasting social change. And yet few people appreciate how much deliberate strategy often propels this vital social change work. Behind the scenes, artists, organizers, political activists, and philanthropists have worked together to hone powerful strategies for achieving the world we want and the world we need.
In Art Works, noted movement leader Ken Grossinger chronicles these efforts for the first time, distilling lessons and insights from grassroots leaders and luminaries such as Ai Weiwei, Courtland Cox, Jackson Browne, Shepard Fairey, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Alexander, Bill McKibben, JR, Jose Antonio Vargas, and more. Drawing from historical and present-day examples—including Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, the Hip Hop Caucus, the Legacy Museum, and the Art for Justice Fund—Grossinger offers a rich tapestry of tactics and successes that speak directly to the challenges and needs of today’s activists and of these political times.
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Une Semaine De Bonté: A Surrealistic Novel in Collage
The great surrealist’s collage masterpiece was printed in 1934 in a limited edition of five now-priceless pamphlets. This single-volume edition contains all of the original publication’s 182 bizarre, darkly humorous scenes of violent dreams and erotic fantasies. “One of the clandestine classics of our century.”― The New York Times.Read more
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Art Hiding in Paris: An Illustrated Guide to the Secret Masterpieces of the City of Light
Paris is the city of light, the city of love, and the city of more art than you could possibly explore in a lifetime-and not just in museums. Tucked away in tree-lined parks, preserved in world class restaurants, emblazoned on Metro station walls, and hidden in the most unexpected places are masterpieces worthy of the Louvre, if you know where to look!
In this whimsically illustrated celebration of Parisian art and artists, author and curator Lori Zimmer highlights more than 100 treasures. From the gorgeous remnants of the Art Nouveau era to the homes of some of the world’s most influential artists-including Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and more-to an introduction to the modern masters of urban art, there are endless riches to be explored. Discover art that was hidden for decades inside cafes, shops and even a Belle Époque brothel! Paris will surprise you.
Illustrated by artist Maria Krasinski, this book provides curated itineraries for dreaming up your next urban exploration, and is perfect for displaying on any art lover’s shelf.
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Malcolm Root’s Pageant of Transport
In this third book of paintings, Malcolm Root’s stunning pictures have been arranged to give a chronological pageant of the development of transport down the centuries, and in particular over the last one hundred years during which the greatest changes have taken place.This pictorial survey not only gives an accurate record of the changing nature of travel by land, sea and air, but each picture is also a detailed portrait of a particular scene, with the type of transport meticulously portrayed.
Malcolm Root was born in Colchester in 1950 and still lives in nearby Halstead. From an early age he combined his love of art with a fascination for all kinds of transport. On leaving school he entered the printing industry and in 1981 took the decision to become a full- time professional artist. Commissions followed, particularly for railway scenes and in 1983 he was elected a full member of the Guild of Railway Artists. Malcolm’s paintings have encompassed almost every form of transport from horse and cart and tram to Concorde and `le Shuttle’. They have also appeared in many forms including fine art prints, collectors’ plates, jigsaws, calendars and books.
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£17.90£19.00Malcolm Root’s Pageant of Transport
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Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister
‘How wonderful that one of those exciting and innovative women artists of the 60s should be recovered and celebrated in this way.’– JULIE CHRISTIE‘Brings the British pop artist, Pauline Boty, into vivid focus’ – VANITY FAIR
Pauline Boty (1938 –1966) was a founding member of the British Pop Art movement and one of its very few women. She attended London’s Royal College of Art at a watershed moment when its students included David Hockney,Peter Blake, R.B. Kitaj and Allen Jones. Dying tragically young at the age of 28, she is now seen as central to British Pop Art and an icon of Sixties culture.
As well as her work as an artist, she appeared on the stage, TV and in film (including alongside Michael Caine in Alfie) and was a regular contributor on BBC radio. She was photographed by David Bailey and other society photographers and became a key player in 1960s London’s golden age.
Outspoken, provocative and charismatic, she refused to accept the oppositions between sexual woman and serious artist, between celebration and critique, between high and low culture. Observer and participant, feminist and hedonist, subject and object, Boty’s ‘double vision’ was decades ahead of its time, and prefigured a diversity of artists—everyone from Cindy Sherman to Madonna.
Having been largely forgotten after her death, her reputation has been growing steadily since the rediscovery and exhibition of her works in the early 1990s. As well as cropping up regularly in various books, documentaries and newspaper articles since then, she features as a central character in Ali Smith’s novel Autumn (2016) and one of her works sold for $1.4m at auction in June 2022.
After seeing her work at an auction in 2013, author Marc Kristal has spent almost ten years researching her life, interviewing the people who knew her and delving into archives and libraries. This is the definitive biography of her life and work, appealing to both those interested in art but in this creative period of British culture.
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£18.20£23.80Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister
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Zawa-Zawa: The Treasured Art Works of Ashley Wood
The only book to showcase Ashley’s key works from his past exhibition catalogues- which were previously available only as single limited edition publications. Features English and Japanese text.This comprehensive collection of the best of Ashley Wood’s work covers nearly 400 “treasured” art works in a range of media, from his oil paintings, sketches and drawings, to his package and figurine designs. These works have either been unpublished or have only been available in previous exhibition catalogues. Inspired by Osamu Tezuka (the legendary Japanese manga artist) and Nobuyoshi Araki (the Japanese photographer), Wood is in constant motion developing new epic stories and expanding universes populated with his designs and creations for toy lines, comics, videogames, film, and music. He continues to evolve and inspire many new artists. This is a must-have book for hardcore Ashley Wood fans around the world.
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£18.70£23.70Zawa-Zawa: The Treasured Art Works of Ashley Wood
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David Hockney. A Chronology. 40th Ed.
Pop artist, painter of modern life, landscape painter, master of color, explorer of image and perception―for six decades, David Hockney has been known as an artist who always finds new ways of exploring the world and its representational possibilities. He has consistently created unforgettable images: works with graphic lines and integrated text in the Swinging Sixties in London; the famous swimming pool series as a representation of the 1970s California lifestyle; closely observed portraits and brightly colored, oversized landscapes after his eventual return to his native Yorkshire. In addition to drawings in which he transfers what he sees directly onto paper, there are multiperspective Polaroid collages that open up the space into a myriad of detailed views, and iPad drawings in which he captures light using a most modern medium―testaments to Hockney’s enduring delight in experimentation.
This special edition has been newly assembled from the two volumes of the David Hockney: A Bigger Book monograph to celebrate TASCHEN’s 40th anniversary. Hockney’s life and work is presented year by year as a dialogue between his works and voices from the time period, alongside reviews and reflections by the artist in a chronological text, supplemented by portrait photographs and exhibition views. Together they open up new perspectives, page after page, revealing how Hockney undertakes his artistic research, how his painting develops, and where he finds inspiration for his multifaceted work.
About the series
TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program―now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.
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One Hundred Great Paintings (National Gallery London Publications)
This beautiful book presents one hundred great works from the National Gallery Collection, each by a different artist. Arranged in chronological order and accompanied by Louise Goviers lively text, full-page reproductions of these selected highlights introduce you to some of the most inspiring paintings ever made. From the earliest Italian altarpiece of around 1265, to the most recent – Paul Cézannes great Bathers, of about 18941905 – each painting has been chosen for its unique significance; whether representing a particular artist, a place or a time, or simply for its beauty and the pleasure it provides.Read more
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Kyffin in Venice: An Illustrated Conversation
A series of interviews between Kyffin Williams and David Meredith, in which Meredith takes Kyffin on a return visit to his beloved Venice, the inspiration for so many of his best-loved paintings. Includes over 15 full colour reproductions of Kyffin’s paintings, together with photographs of the artist, and fascinating insights into his experiences.Read more
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Basquiat. 40th Anniversary Edition: And the Art of Storytelling (40th Edition)
The legend of Jean-Michel Basquiat is as strong as ever. Synonymous with 1980s New York, the artist first appeared in the late 1970s under the tag SAMO, spraying caustic comments and fragmented poems on the walls of the city. He appeared as part of a thriving underground scene of visual arts and graffiti, hip hop, post-punk, and DIY filmmaking, which met in a booming art world. As a painter with a strong personal voice, Basquiat soon broke into the established milieu, exhibiting in galleries around the world. Basquiat’s expressive style was based on raw figures and integrated words and phrases. His work is inspired by a pantheon of luminaries from jazz, boxing, and basketball, with references to arcane history and the politics of street life-so when asked about his subject matter, Basquiat answered “royalty, heroism and the streets.” In 1983 he started collaborating with the most famous of art stars, Andy Warhol, and in 1985 was on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. When Basquiat died at the age of 27, he had become one of the most successful artists of his time. First published in an XXL edition, this unprecedented insight into Basquiat’s art is now available in a compact, accessible volume in celebration of TASCHEN’s 40th anniversary. With pristine reproductions of his most seminal paintings, drawings, and notebook sketches, it offers vivid proximity to Basquiat’s intricate marks and scribbled words, further illuminated by an introduction to the artist from editor Hans Werner Holzwarth, as well as an essay on his themes and artistic development from curator and art historian Eleanor Nairne. Richly illustrated year-by-year chapter breaks follow the artist’s life and quote from his own statements and contemporary reviews to provide both personal background and historical context. About the series TASCHEN turns 40 this year! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. In 2020, we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program-now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.Read more
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Kathrin Böhm: Art on the Scale of Life
A comprehensive overview of artist Kathrin Böhm’s multifaceted, deeply collaborative, and durational practice and networks.This volume critically profiles, contextualizes, and theoretically elaborates the unique practice of the UK-based German artist Kathrin Böhm. Combining visual and textual material, it offers an overview of Böhm’s exceptional modus operandi that is rooted in a highly original artistic synthesis of a range of practices. Over the last three decades, Böhm has expanded the terms of socially engaged ways of working to an unprecedented scale and breadth by producing complex organizational, spatial, visual, and economic forms. These often entail the production of complex infrastructures, manifested via projects such as Culture is a Verb (2018-21), The Centre for Plausible Economies (2018-ongoing), Company: Movements, Deals and Drinks (2014-ongoing) and the Eco-Nomadic School (2010-ongoing). The book follows a major mid-career exhibition at The Showroom, London, in 2021.
Offering a significant addition to debates on contemporary art and architecture, social action, and public culture, Kathrin Böhm: Art on the Scale of Life brings together critical reflections by internationally acclaimed contributors. Spanning a wide range of critical positions and disciplines, these include Dave Beech, Céline Condorelli, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Wapke Feenstra, Katherine Gibson, Joon-Lynn Goh, Lily Hall, Yolande Zola Zoli van der Heide, Grace Ndiritu, Gerrie van Noord, Paul O’Neill, Doina Petrescu, Gregory Sholette and THEMM!!, Kuba Szreder, Gavin Wade, Mick Wilson, Stephen Wright, and Franciska Zólyom. In addition, material derived from Böhm’s international networks and projects provides an in-depth impression of the deeply ingrained collaborative and durational nature of her way of working.
Photographic, diagrammatic, and typographical imagery runs through the book, demonstrating the rich visual and spatial languages embedded in Böhm’s work. This visual register of the book is therefore much more than a series of illustrations and acts as a counterpoint to, and extension of, the ideas elaborated in the texts.
Copublished by HDK-Valand; PUBLICS; The Showroom
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Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman
‘The Tomb of an Unknown Craftsman is of a treasure hoard from a distinct civilisation. The difference is that it is a civilisation of one. The territory it springs from is my imagination. … The relationship between my personal themes and obsessions and the vastness of world culture as represented in the British Museum is like a narrow pilgrimage trail across an infinite plain.’ Grayson Perry Grayson Perry’s centrepiece to this fascinating journey is a major artwork: a metal tomb in the form of a ship, encrusted with reliefs and artistic cargo based on, or actually cast from, objects in the collection of the British Museum. The occupant sails into the afterlife surrounded by the talismans of many faiths and peoples. This is a memorial to all the anonymous craftsmen that over the centuries have fashioned the man-made wonders of the world, many of which are on display in the Museum. Around the tomb, the other artworks – ceramics, tiles, cast metal sculpture, textiles and prints – are laid out in ritualistic symmetry as if they once belonged somewhere else. Alongside his own works, Grayson Perry presents a personal selection of objects from the British Museum that are the inspiration for his pieces or connected strongly with them thematically or aesthetically. Including an introduction by Grayson Perry and lavishly illustrated, this book takes us to the fantasy world of a contemporary artist who never fails to challenge and unsettle his audience. “Grayson Perry is winner of the 2012 South Bank Sky Arts Award for visual arts, for the British Museum exhibition, The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman.”Read more
£19.30£23.80Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman
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Hockney’s Pictures
This much acclaimed book, newly available in paperback, is the definitive retrospective of the most popular serious artist in the world today. Covering all media over almost fifty years, and presented thematically to show the evolution and diversity of Hockney’s prolific paintings, drawings, watercolours, prints and photography, it also features quotes from the artist himself that illuminate the passionate thinking behind his work. Its huge international success confirms and reinforces Hockney’s position as the world’s most popular living artist.Read more
£19.30£23.80Hockney’s Pictures
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Street Art Africa
This visually rich survey – the first of its kind – showcases the work of over 200 artists and celebrates the explosion of street art in Africa over the last decade. Including twelve in-depth interviews with street artists active in Africa today as well as coverage of the continent’s major street art projects, collectives and festivals, it takes the reader on an introductory tour of the many African street art scenes, with a deeper focus on the most prominent players in Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.Topics and projects covered include the monumental project Murais da Leba in Angola, which saw 6,000 square metres of wall covered by local graffiti and visual artists in the Serra da Leba mountain range; the cultural influences and idiosyncrasies of individual street art scenes, and how they mesh with local communities; and eL Seed’s project ‘Perception’, a huge multi-part mural stretching across more than fifty buildings in Cairo’s Zaraeeb neighbourhood, revealing a message of hope to its marginalized community in the artist’s distinctive ‘calligraffiti’ style.
Text commentaries elaborating on styles and processes, and social and cultural context, are peppered throughout the book, giving the reader further insight into a wealth of striking contemporary visual cultures – and helping make this a must-have for street art fans and practitioners.
Table of Contents
Introduction • Eastern Africa • Central Africa • North Africa • West Africa • Southern Africa
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£19.30£23.80Street Art Africa
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Artists making books: poetry to politics
A collection of outstanding and fascinating artists’ books revealing the inspirations and concerns of a group of remarkable contemporary artists.‘More than a simple reflection of the British Museum’s artist-book holdings, this is an important index of artists’ responses to the issues and circumstances that have shaped the Arab world in recent times.’ – ArtReview
In the hands of artists and poets, books have been taking a radically different form since the advent of the artist’s book in Paris in the early 20th century. Appearing in a variety of shapes and sizes, as one-offs or small print editions, books offer artists and poets a novel form of expression. In the words of Indian artist Nalini Malani (b. 1946), the book is ‘a carrier of experience’, in which whole worlds are encapsulated.
In this beautifully produced book, works made by artists from Beirut to Tunis and beyond highlight the relationship between artists and writers and the influences that inform their work, from family to politics and everything in between. Lebanese artist Abed Al Kadiri (b. 1984) conceived his book during the first month of the pandemic to explore his family history, while through the eyes of Iraqi artist Kareem Risan (b. 1960) we see the shocking aftermath of a deadly explosion on the streets of Baghdad in 2005.
These artists also find inspiration in classical poetry and literature. Some of their works respond to and are informed by the medieval Persian poetry of Rumi and Hafez, as well as the tales of The Thousand and One Nights.
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£19.30£23.80Artists making books: poetry to politics
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Art History For Dummies
Ready to discover the fascinating world of art history? Let’s (Van) Gogh!
Fine art might seem intimidating at first. But with the right guide, anyone can learn to appreciate and understand the stimulating and beautiful work of history’s greatest painters, sculptors, and architects. In Art History For Dummies, we’ll take you on a journey through fine art from all eras, from Cave Art to the Colosseum, and from Michelangelo to Picasso and the modern masters. Along the way, you’ll learn about how history has influenced art, and vice versa.
This updated edition includes:
- Brand new material on a wider array of renowned female artists
- Explorations of the Harlem Renaissance, American Impressionism, and the Precisionists
- Discussions of art in the 20th and 21st centuries, including Dadaism, Constructivism, Surrealism, and today’s eclectic art scene
Is there an exhibition in your town you want to see? Prep before going with Art History For Dummies and show your friends what an Art Smartie you are.
An unbeatable reference for anyone looking to build a foundational understanding of art in a historical context, Art History For Dummies is your personal companion that makes fine art even finer!
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£19.30£23.70Art History For Dummies
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The Secret Lives of Men and Women: A Postsecret Book
New York Times Bestseller
Postsecret.com founder Frank Warren is back with an irresistible addition to his bestselling PostSecret series. For The Secret Lives of Men and Women, Warren has selected a never-before-seen collection of postcards bearing the explosive confessions and captivating revelations of men and women everywhere. Created using photographs, collages, illustrations, and more, the handmade cards offer a compelling dialogue on some of today’s most provocative topics–from marriage and infidelity, to parenting, office politics, repressed fantasies, and even abortion–daring us to consider how well we really know our friends, family, even ourselves.
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DAZEWORLD: The Artwork of Chris Daze Ellis
This is the illustrated story of New York artist Chris Daze Ellis’s successful transition from the subways to international studios and galleries. Follow his 30 year career from his teen years as a graffiti writer to his current life as a professional painter, mentor, and family man. This book, with more than 250 photographs, is a journey that tracks seminal moments in Daze’s life that shaped his art. View his aesthetic evolution, from Graffiti High (New York’s High School of Art and Design) and an unsanctioned street art phase to exhibitions with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Train photos from the 1970s and ’80s, a broad representation of Daze’s studio and mural works, and personal photos guide the reader through an artistic portfolio spanning five decades. Contributions by graffiti writer Jay J.SON Edlin and essayist Claire Schwartz, and a foreword by graffiti historian and chronicler Sacha Jenkins complete this volume.Read more
£19.90£32.30DAZEWORLD: The Artwork of Chris Daze Ellis
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British Murals & Decorative Painting 1910-1970
The murals that were produced in this country in the twentieth century remain as one of the great inventive achievements in modern British art. Highly original in their approach to design, balancing varying degrees of modernity or tradition, they demonstrate the creative drive of their makers and contain singular expressions of the aesthetic, personal and social concerns that typify the ages from which they come. Some are celebrations of simple human pleasures, perhaps to decorate a refreshment room, an ocean liner or a dining room.Others are intended to be the highest expressions of their art, ambitious allegorical or decorative compositions that like the frescoes of the
Renaissance would speak through the ages to later generations. The individuals and committees who commissioned them similarly believed they would both represent the best that Britain had to offer and mark the high accomplishment of contemporary society, elevating the public and private spaces they occupied and inspiring moral purpose.This catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition ‘British Murals & Decorative Painting 1910-1970’ which took place at the Fine Art Society – London (13 February – 9 March 2013) in association with Liss Llewellyn Fine Art. It coincided with the Sansom & Co publication British Murals & Decorative Painting 1920-1960.
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£20.10£23.80British Murals & Decorative Painting 1910-1970
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Impressionists on Paper: Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec
- Some 70 masterworks on paper by leading Impressionists and Post-Impressionists
- Published to accompany an exhibition at the Royal Academy from 25 November 2023 to 10 March 2024
Best known for their superlative oils on canvas, Degas, Cézanne, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and numerous other Impressionists and Post-Impressionists also regularly used paper as a support for works in watercolour, gouache, pencil, tempera and that most elusive of media, pastel. Their practice transformed the status of these works from preparatory studies, to be left in the studio and not shown in public, to works of art in their own right.
With insightful texts by acknowledged experts in the field, this sumptuous book brings together some 70 masterworks on paper by leading Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists. Their bold innovations challenged traditional attitudes, radically transformed the future direction of art and ultimately paved the way for later movements such as Abstract Expressionism.
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£20.70£23.80Impressionists on Paper: Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec
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Grayson Perry: Smash Hits
- Including new pieces and illuminating texts by Perry himself
- 76 works from the exhibition form the centrepiece of this vibrant and insightful retrospective of his life and work
- Published to accompany the Grayson Perry: Smash Hits exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland, July to November 2023
Grayson Perry is one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary artists and cultural figures. This book, which includes first sight of new and previously unpublished works, is published to accompany the largest-ever retrospective of Perry’s art. It offers a vibrant insight into his life and work, from his youth in rural Essex to sell-out stage shows at the Royal Albert Hall.
Grayson Perry vividly reflects on his art, life and career, remembering the sources of inspiration and influences along the way. Victoria Coren Mitchell’s thought-provoking contribution considers the role of humour in Perry’s art, highlighting the often-underestimated effort involved in being at once a serious artist and a lovable character. Patrick Elliott provides an illuminating biographical essay of the artist. The reader is also given a fascinating glimpse into the technique and process behind Perry’s prints, pots and tapestries.
Showcasing 75 exhibited works, the book covers the full range and breadth of his astonishing career.
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£20.70£23.70Grayson Perry: Smash Hits
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Printed in North Korea: The Art of Everyday Life in the DPRK
Never-before-seen North Korea – a rare glimpse into the country behind the politics and the creativity behind the propaganda
This incredible collection of prints dating from the 1950s to the twenty-first century is the only one of its kind in or outside North Korea. Depicting the everyday lives of the country’s train conductors, steelworkers, weavers, farmers, scientists, and fishermen, these unique lino-cut and woodblock prints are a fascinating way to explore the culture of this still virtually unknown country. Together, they are an unparalleled testament to the talent of North Korea’s artists and the unique social, cultural, and political conditions in which they work.
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The Universal Penman. Engrav’d by George Bickham
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
The eighteenth-century fascination with Greek and Roman antiquity followed the systematic excavation of the ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum in southern Italy; and after 1750 a neoclassical style dominated all artistic fields. The titles here trace developments in mostly English-language works on painting, sculpture, architecture, music, theater, and other disciplines. Instructional works on musical instruments, catalogs of art objects, comic operas, and more are also included.
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The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
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British LibraryT086160
Engraved throughout and printed on recto only. Plates bear various dates 1733-41. Additional titlepage dated 1741: ‘The universal penman; or, the art of writing .. Exemplified in all the useful and ornamental branches of modern penmanship; .. Written wi
London : printed for the author, and sold by John Bickham, engraver, 1733-41. 52 parts ; 2°
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£20.90£24.70The Universal Penman. Engrav’d by George Bickham
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Banksy
The largest presentation of works by Banksy, the world’s most enigmatic yet highly sought-after artist, including iconic works, installation objects, ephemera, and memorabilia all in one volume.Banksy is the world’s most discussed artist of recent decades, and this seminal collection features hundreds of works including Girl with Balloon, Pulp Fiction, Love Is in the Air, Barcode, and Monkey Queen. It also includes scores of paintings, serigraphs, stencils, and installation objects as well as a selection of memorabilia―many of which have never been published previously. Created with the cooperation of Pest Control, the group that manages all things Banksy, this is as official and authorized as any Banksy publication could be.
Banksy is the world’s greatest practitioner of street art. His work has always been political, involving pointed critiques of inequality, injustice, consumerism, and the establishment, yet no one knows his identity. He is an exemplary case of fame and notoriety built upon absence and anonymity. His relationship with the art market is also complex: marked by mocking hostility while being one of the most marketable and most collected contemporary artists.Read more
£21.80£28.50Banksy
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The Story of Contemporary Art
What does it mean?
Is it really art?
Why does it cost so much?
While these questions are perpetually asked about contemporary art, they are not the questions that E. H. Gombrich set out to answer in his seminal book The Story of Art. Contemporary art is very different from what came before. From the 1960s, where Gombrich’s account concludes, artists began to abandon traditional forms of art and started to make work that questioned art’s very definition. This is where Godfrey picks up the story.Developments in contemporary art have followed no straightforward line of progress or sequence of movements. Recognizing this, Tony Godfrey creates a narrative from a series of often dramatic creative conflicts and arguments around what art is or should be. From object versus sculpture and painting versus conceptual to local versus global, gallery versus wider world, The Story of Contemporary Art traces a history in terms of drastic changes in social and political life over the last sixty years.
How do we experience being human in a world that seems to change so quickly? In exploring art’s relationship to this question, Godfrey asserts that multiple voices must be heard: critics, theorists, curators and collectors, but also audiences and artists themselves. Key to the book is the story of how a perception that art was made almost exclusively by white men from North America and Western Europe has been radically overturned. Compelling and intelligent, but never academic, this book tells us how.
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£21.80£28.50The Story of Contemporary Art
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Rubens & Women
- The first book (and exhibition) ever to present a focused study on Rubens’ depictions of women, with an exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery that will run from October 2023 to January 2024
- This will challenge the popular assumption that Rubens only painted one type of woman
- Instead, it will show the varied and essential role that women played in the artist’s life and work
- A chance for readers to get to know the real man behind some of his most famous works – we meet not only Rubens the artist, but Rubens the father, husband, lover, diplomat, friend
- Includes the latest scholarly developments in subjects such as the identities of Rubens’ sitters, 17th century artistic theory and practice, and Rubens’ treatment of the human body
- Featuring beautiful illustrations of artworks from international and private collections, many of which will be appearing in the UK for the first time in 2023
- Provides a complete catalogue for works in this groundbreaking accompanying exhibition, as well as contextual essays that raise current debates around sexuality, power and feminism
The art of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) is synonymous with the female nude, with the term ‘Rubenesque’ first coined in the 19th century to describe a voluptuous female body. Yet remarkably, there has never been a focused study of Rubens’ depictions of women, making this book, and the exhibition that it will accompany, a first.
Bringing together a diverse range of paintings and drawings from throughout the artist’s career and from a range of international lenders, the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery (October 2023 – January 2024) will challenge the popular assumption that Rubens only painted one type of woman. Instead, it will present a more nuanced view of the varied and essential role that women played in the artist’s life and work, uniting and contributing to recent scholarly developments in subjects such as the identities of Rubens’ sitters, 17th century artistic theory and practice, and Rubens’ treatment of the human body.
Rubens evidently enjoyed painting the female figure, especially in its sensual and unclothed form. But his women are never mere bodies trapped by the male gaze, on the contrary; they are proud and complex heroines, full of character and gravitas. No other male artist has created such potent images of female power, assurance, determination, commitment, and beauty. Providing a catalogue for the works in the exhibition and featuring three introductory essays that contextualise Rubens’ work, this publication will both contribute to the existing corpus of scholarly literature on Rubens and introduce his masterpieces to new audiences, discussing them in the context of current debates around sexuality, power and feminism.
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£22.40£26.60Rubens & Women
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Grayson Perry
In this major monograph on Grayson Perry, now updated and expanded, writer and art historian Jacky Klein explores the artist’s work through a discussion of his major themes and subjects. Klein’s text is complemented by intimate and perceptive commentaries by Perry on individual pieces, giving unique access to his imaginative world and creative processes. This third edition not only has updates throughout, but also includes two new chapters, on the ‘House for Essex’, designed and built in 2015 with Living Architecture (a UK not-for-profit holiday rental company founded by philosopher and writer Alain de Botton, which aims to promote, educate and enhance appreciation of modern architecture), and on ‘Identity Politics’, covering new work made since the previous edition of this book was published in 2013.Read more
£23.70£28.50Grayson Perry
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The Rossettis
A visually stunning book devoted to the radical Rossetti generation.The Rossettis’ approach to art, love and lifestyles are considered revolutionary. This is explored by a range of short thematic essays containing fresh, and surprising research, accompanied by beautiful and iconic Pre-Raphaelite illustrations. Featuring artworks and writings by Dante Gabriel, Christina and Elizabeth (née Siddal), the book distinguishes the Rossettis from Victorian culture and foregrounds their countercultural roles.
The publication accompanies the first retrospective of Dante Gabriel Rossetti at Tate and the largest exhibition of his iconic pictures in two decades, and what will also be the most comprehensive exhibition of Elizabeth Siddal’s work for 30 years, featuring rare surviving watercolours and important drawings.
The Rossettis will take a fresh look at the fascinating myths surrounding the unconventional relationships between Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, Fanny Cornforth and Jane Morris.
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£23.70£28.50The Rossettis
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Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art
Now available for the first time in paperback, this book remains the definitive survey of the life and work of Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington (1917-2011). Carrington burst onto the Surrealist scene in 1936, when, as a precocious nineteen-year-old debutante, she escaped the stultifying demands of her wealthy English family by running away to Paris with her lover Max Ernst. She was immediately championed by Andre Breton, who responded enthusiastically to her fantastical, dark and satirical writing style and her interest in fairy tales and the occult. Her stories were included in Surrealist publications, and her paintings in the Surrealists’ exhibitions. After the dramas and tragic separations of the Second World War, Carrington ended up in the 1940s as part of the circle of Surrealist European emigres living in Mexico City. Close friends with Luis Bunuel, Benjamin Peret, Octavio Paz and a host of both expatriate Surrealists and Mexican modernists, Carrington was at the centre of Mexican cultural life, while still maintaining her European connections. Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art provides a fascinating overview of this intriguing artist’s rich body of work. The author considers Carrington’s preoccupation with alchemy and the occult, and explores the influence of indigenous Mexican culture and beliefs on her production.Read more
£23.80£28.50Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art
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The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History HC
Twenty-five years ago, Namco released Tekken and redefined the fighting game genre in three dimensions. Known for its deep gameplay, cutting edge graphics, and operatic lore, Tekken has become synonymous with the PlayStation brand while remaining one of the last vestiges of the arcade. The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History follows the series history through a visual feast of iconic games and characters, as well as in-depth interviews with the Bandai Namco developers who made it a reality and the players who made it a phenomenon on its way to becoming one of the best-selling fighting game series in history. It’s a complete visual retrospective of one of the most indispensable parts of gaming history, over a quarter century in the making, including art from all seven games of the franchise and more.Read more
£23.80£34.20The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History HC
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