This essay explores the development of Salvador Dali, from the early phases of childhood, the bizarre and complex aims of his first experiments, to his absorption into high society of Paris in the 1930s, and his inclusion in the Surrealist movement from 1928 to 1939. The essay focuses on the makeup of a provocative and original personality acutely reflexive, intelligent and pathologically driven. As a creative signifier of considerable and generative impact, Dali can be identified as a unique sounding board for his own and succeeding times.

Colours of Art takes the reader on a journey through history via 80 carefully curated artworks and their palettes. For these pieces, colour is not only a tool (like a paintbrush or a canvas) but the fundamental secret to their success. Colour allows artists to express their individuality, evoke certain moods and portray positive or negative subliminal messages. And throughout history the greatest of artists have experimented with new pigments and new technologies to lead movements and deliver masterpieces. But as something so cardinal, we sometimes forget how poignant colour palettes can be, and how much they can tell us. When Vermeer painted The Milkmaid, the amount of ultramarine he could use was written in the contract. How did that affect how he used it? When Turner experimented with Indian Yellow, he captured roaring flames that brought his paintings to life. If he had used a more ordinary yellow, would he have created something so extraordinary? And how did Warhol throw away the rulebook to change what colour could achieve? Structured chronologically, Colours of Art provides a fun, intelligent and visually engaging look at the greatest artistic palettes in art history - from Rafael's use of perspective and Vermeer's ultramarine, to Andy Warhol's hot pinks and Lisa Brice's blue women. Colours of Art offers a refreshing take on the subject and acts as a primer for artists, designers and art lovers who want to look at art history from a different perspective.

Knit something special with Baby Knits Toys. With a detailed introduction to basic stitches, complete with helpful illustrations and a range of knitting patterns for sweet baby toys, this is the perfect beginners guide. Create delightful handmade gifts for babies with this adorable guide to knitting.

Most unusually among major painters, Vincent van Gogh (1853-90) was also an accomplished writer. His letters provide both a unique self-portrait and a vivid picture of the contemporary cultural scene. Van Gogh emerges as a complex but captivating personality, struggling with utter integrity to fulfil his artistic destiny. This major new edition, which is based on an entirely new translation, reinstating a large number of passages omitted from earlier editions, is expressly designed to reveal his inner journey as much as the outward facts of his life. It includes complete letters wherever possible, linked with brief passages of connecting narrative and showing all the pen-and-ink sketches that originally went with them. Despite the familiar image of Van Gogh as an antisocial madman who died a martyr to his art, his troubled life was rich in friendships and generous passions. In his letters we discover the humanitarian and religious causes he embraced, his fascination with the French Revolution, his striving for God and for ethical ideals, his desperate courtship of his cousin, Kee Vos, and his largely unsuccessful search for love. All of this, suggests De Leeuw, demolishes some of the myths surrounding Van Gogh and his career but brings hint before us as a flesh-and-blood human being, an individual of immense pathos and spiritual depth. Perhaps even more moving, these letters illuminate his constant conflicts as a painter, torn between realism, symbolism and abstraction; between landscape and portraiture; between his desire to depict peasant life and the exciting diversions of the city; between his uncanny versatility as a sketcher and his ideal of the full-scale finished tableau. SinceVan Gogh received little feedback from the public, he wrote at length to friends, fellow artists and his family, above all to his brother Theo, the Parisian art dealer, who was his confidant and mainstay. Along with his intense powers of visual imagination, Vincent brought to the

An imaginative and fairytale-inspired colouring book from the author of Garden of Fairytale Animals and Kingdom of Curious Creatures. This beautiful collection of 80 line art designs captures a magical and charming setting. Fully-coloured examples are included as inspiration and full-spread designs are mixed with stand-alone designs to offer a variety of colouring options, all printed back-to-back on high-quality paper