Touch is our first sense. Through touch we make art, stake a claim to what we own and those we love, express our faith, our belief, our anger. Touch is how we leave our mark and find our place in the world; touch is how we connect. Drawing on works of art spanning four thousand years and from across the globe, this book explores the fundamental role of touch in human experience, and offers new ways of looking. In a series of lavishly illustrated essays, the authors explore anatomy and skin; the relationship between the brain, hand, and creativity; touch, desire and possession; ideological touch; reverence and iconoclasm. A final section collects a range of reflections, historic and contemporary, on touch. Objects range from anonymous ancient Egyptian limestone sculpture, to medieval manuscripts and panel paintings, to devotional and spiritual objects from across the world, to love tokens and fede rings. Drawings, paintings, prints and sculpture by Raphael, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Carracci, Hogarth, Turner, Rodin, Degas, and Kollwitz are explored, along with work by contemporary artists Judy Chicago, Frank Auerbach, Richard Long, the Chapman Brothers, and Richard Rawlins. The events of 2020 have made us newly alive to the preciousness and the dangers of touch, making this exploration of our most fundamental sense particularly timely and resonant.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1956.

What can philosophy reveal about painting and how might it deepen our understanding of this enduring art form? Philosophy of Painting investigates the complex relationship between the painted surface and the depicted subject, opening up current debates to address questions concerning the historicality of art. Embracing contemporary painting, it examines topics such as the post-medium condition and the digital divide, and the work of artists such as Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Amy Sillman and Katharina Grosse. Illustrated with 24 colour plates and highly readable throughout, Philosophy of Painting provides a philosophically rigorous defence of the relevance of painting in the 21st century, making an original contribution to the major ideas informing painting as an art. Here is a clear and coherent account of the contemporary significance of painting and the pressures and possibilities that distinguish it from other art forms.

This beautiful notebook features inspiring characters from Kiki’s Delivery Service, Studio Ghibli’s beloved fantasy film about a young witch finding her way in the world.

With a cloth-bound, foil-stamped case, lined pages, and lay-flat binding, this notebook invites you to let your creativity take flight, like Kiki! Perfect for writers, notetakers, collectors, and animation fans alike.

Pair it with other Kiki’s Delivery Service merchandise, including Kiki’s Delivery Service Journal and Sketchbook, or Studio Ghibli 100 Collectible Postcards Volumes 1 and 2, to create an extra-special present.

Entrepreneur, researcher and architect Nathan Kabinga is documenting African cities with freehand sketches. He is creating a series of books called Sketch n Cities that is segmented into volumes. Each volume illustrates an African city.

This first volume illustrates Pretoria, one of the capital cities of South Africa. Nathan unveils Pretoria’s suburbs, townships, CBD, institutional buildings, incidental architecture, and quirks.

Sketch n Cities would appeal to architects and people who appreciate hand-sketched art and is also a wonderful product for those who love illustrated short stories about cities. In addition, a volume about a particular city makes an evocative souvenir for tourists visiting the documented city.