A New York Times best art book of 2022 An A to Z exploration of the Enlightenment's quest for understanding and change, as revealed in the era's prints and drawings Are volcanoes punishment from God? What do a fly and a mulberry have in common? What utopias await in unexplored corners of the earth and beyond? During the Enlightenment, questions like these were brought to life through an astonishing array of prints and drawings, helping shape public opinion and stir political change. Dare to Know overturns common assumptions about the age, using the era's proliferation of works on paper to tell a more nuanced story. Echoing the structure and sweep of Diderot's Encyclopedie, the book contains 26 thematic essays, organized A to Z, providing an unprecedented perspective on more than 50 artists, including Henry Fuseli, Jean-Honore Fragonard, Francisco Goya, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, William Hogarth, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and Giambattista Tiepolo. With a multidisciplinary approach, the book probes developments in the natural sciences, technology, economics, and more-all through the lens of the graphic arts. Distributed for the Harvard Art Museums Exhibition Schedule: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA (September 16, 2022-January 15, 2023)

Every map tells a story. Some provide a narrative for travellers, explorers and surveyors or offer a visual account of changes to people's lives, places and spaces, while others tell imaginary tales, transporting us to fictional worlds created by writers and artists. In turn, maps generate more stories, taking users on new journeys in search of knowledge and adventure. Drawing on the Bodleian Library's outstanding map collection and covering almost a thousand years, 'Talking Maps' takes a new approach to map-making by showing how maps and stories have always been intimately entwined. Including such rare treasures as a unique map of the Mediterranean from the eleventh-century Arabic 'Book of Curiosities', al-Sharif al-Idrisi's twelfth-century world map, C.S. Lewis's map of Narnia, J.R.R. Tolkien's cosmology of Middle-earth and Grayson Perry's twenty-first-century tapestry map, this fascinating book analyses maps as objects that enable us to cross sea and land; as windows into alternative and imaginary worlds; as guides to reaching the afterlife; as tools to manage cities, nations, even empires; as images of environmental change; and as digitized visions of the global future. By telling the stories behind the artefacts and those generated by them, 'Talking Maps' reveals how each map is not just a tool for navigation but also a worldly proposal that helps us to understand who we are by describing where we are.

Computer technology has transformed modern society, yet curators wishing to reflect those changes face difficult challenges in terms of both collecting and exhibiting. Collecting and Exhibiting Computer-Based Technology examines how curators at the history and technology museums of the Smithsonian Institution have met these challenges. Focusing on the curatorial process, the book explores the ways in which curators at the institution have approached the accession and display of technological artifacts. Such collections often have comparatively few precedents, and can pose unique dilemmas. In analysing the Smithsonian's approach, Foti takes in diverse collection case studies ranging from DNA analyzers to Herbie Hancock's music synthesizers, from iPods to born-digital photographs, from the laptop used during the filming of the television program Sex and the City to "Stanley" the self-driving car. Using her proposed model of "expert curation", she synthesizes her findings into a more universal framework for undertanding the curatorial methods associated with computer technology and reflects on what it means to be a curator in a postdigital world. Collecting and Exhibiting Computer-Based Technology offers a detailed analysis of curatorial practice in a relatively new field that is set to grow exponentially. It will be useful reading for curators, scholars, and students alike.

Published to accompany the first substantial exhibition on the tradition of Spanish drawings to take place in London, this catalogue captures the importance of this rapidly developing field of study. It represents highlights from the Courtauld Gallery's collection of Spanish drawings, one of the most important in Britain. Comprising some 120 works, the collection ranges from the 16th to the 20th centuries and features examples by many of Spain's greatest artists, including Ribera, Murillo, Goya and Picasso. Also of great interest are drawings of striking quality by lesser known artists whose work is only now coming to be understood.

Contemporary artist Michael Rees is an acknowledged leader in the field of cutting-edge digital art. This volume documents a compelling group of Rees's colourful inflatable sculptures that incorporate brilliant structural elements and dynamic interventions of augmented reality. Commissioned for an exhibition at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey (open until January 2021), these objects, alongside augment works by six other contemporary artists, illuminate how digital thinking and its rich visual vocabulary are at the forefront of the future of art. Synthetic Cells features augmented reality artworks by Michael Rees, Claudia Hart, Chris Manzione, Will Pappenheimer, John Craig Freeman, Carla Gannis and Tamiko Thiel.

This guide displays the rich and varied collection of the Museum of Lisbon and its five sites. From prehistory to the end of the 20th century, the book reveals the various layers of one of Europe's oldest cities, highlighting structural themes in Lisbon's history and also emblematic pieces in the museum's collection: the Roman Theatre of Olisipo; the international character of the Franciscan Saint Anthony; the importance of Lisbon as a force behind the Discoveries; the model of the city before the earthquake of 1755; the legacy of a city which produced ceramics and azulejos (glazed wall tiles); the rationalism and illuminism of the Pombaline reconstruction of the city after 1755; and finally the Expo '98.

The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, is renowned for its encyclopedic collection of glass with more than ten thousand glass objects spanning nearly three thousand years. Distinguished in the areas of nineteenth-century American, French, and English glass, including important works by Louis C. Tiffany, the Museum has recently made noteworthy acquisitions from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Glass: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum of Art features seventy-five exceptional works from the collection and includes a history of glass at the Museum, from its founding in 1933 to the present. Lavishly illustrated, each work of art is accompanied by a detailed scholarly entry that explores the object's significance and broader historical context.

The Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust cares for five venues in Brighton and Hove, including the spectacular Royal Pavilion, a royal palace created by George IV as his summer retreat, designed in its final form by John Nash in a Moghul Indian style and set in landscaped picturesque gardens. The Trust's other venues are Brighton Museum and Art Gallery that holds important local history and archaeology, world art, and decorative art collections; Preston Manor a large house preserved in the Edwardian style with a beautiful walled garden; The Booth Museum of natural history; and Hove Museum and Art Gallery. The Trust cares for around one million objects, many of international importance and covering a wide range of subjects and types. In this enjoyable and richly illustrated guide, Hedley Swain, the Trust's CEO, shares highlights from The Trust's vast collections.

An unprecedented survey of modern lighting design foregrounding its materials, innovators, and far-reaching influence Offering the first comprehensive history of lighting design from the 20th and 21st centuries, Electrifying Design: A Century of Lighting explores how lighting has been integral to the development of modern design both in terms of aesthetics and technological advances. This fascinating book outlines the key aspects of lighting as a unique and creative artistic discipline and examines themes such as different typologies, the quality of light, and the evolution of the bulb. A series of essays by Sarah Schleuning and Cindi Strauss showcase lighting designs from different time periods and geographic locations and feature the work of significant figures, including Poul Henningsen, Ingo Maurer, and Gino Sarfatti. With over 130 illustrations of functional and sometimes fantastical designs, a historical timeline, and comprehensive artist biographies, this handsome volume expands our understanding of an understudied but influential art form and demonstrates lighting's central role as both an expression of and a catalyst for innovations in modern and contemporary design. Published in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Exhibition Schedule: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (February 21-May 16, 2021) High Museum of Art, Atlanta (July 2-September 26, 2021)

Gandhara is a name central to Buddhist heritage and iconography. It is the ancient name of a region in present-day Pakistan, bounded on the west by the Hindu Kush mountain range and to the north by the foothills of the Himalayas. 'Gandhara' is also the term given to this region's sculptural and architectural features between the first and sixth centuries CE. This book re-examines the archaeological material excavated in the region in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and traces the link between archaeological work, histories of museum collections and related interpretations by art historians. The essays in the volume underscore the diverse cultural traditions of Gandhara - from a variety of sources and perspectives on language, ethnicity and material culture (including classical accounts, Chinese writings, coins and Sanskrit epics) - as well as interrogate the grand narrative of Hellenism of which Gandhara has been a part. The book explores the making of collections of what came to be described as Gandhara art and reviews the Buddhist artistic tradition through notions of mobility and dynamic networks of transmission. Wide ranging and rigorous, this volume will appeal to scholars and researchers of early South Asian history, archaeology, religion (especially Buddhist studies), art history and museums.

The Strehlow Archive is one of Australia's most important collections of film, sound, archival records and museum objects relating to the ceremonial life of Aboriginal people. The aim of this book is to provide a significant study of the relationship of archives to contemporary forms of digital mediation. The volume introduces a specific archive, the Strehlow Collection, and tracks the ways in which its materials and research dissemination practices are influenced by media forms we now identify with the emergence of digital technology.

As a discipline, Archaeology has developed rapidly over the last half-century. The increase in so-called 'public archaeology,' with its wide range of television programming, community projects, newspaper articles, and enhanced site-based interpretation has taken archaeology from a closed academic discipline of interest to a tiny minority to a topic of increasing interest to the general public. This book explores how archaeologists share information - with specialists from other disciplines working within archaeology, other archaeologists, and a range of non-specialist groups. It emphasises that to adequately address contemporary levels of interest in their subject, archaeologists must work alongside and trust experts with an array of different skills and specializations. Drawing on case studies from eleven countries, Sharing Archaeology explores a wide range of issues raised as the result of archaeologists' communication both within and outside the discipline. Examining best practice with wider implications and uses beyond the specified case studies, the chapters in this book raise questions as well as answers, provoking a critical evaluation of how best to interact with varied audiences and enhance sharing of archaeology.

The first detailed discussion of the greatest timepieces from the exceptional collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Among the world's great technological and imaginative achievements is the invention and development of the timepiece. Examining for the first time the Metropolitan Museum's unparalleled collection of European clocks and watches created from the early middle ages through the 19th century, this fascinating book enriches our understanding of the origins and evolution of these ingenious works. It showcases 54 extraordinary clocks, watches, and other timekeeping devices, each represented with an in-depth description and new photography showing the exterior as well as the inner mechanisms. Included are an ornate celestial timepiece that accurately predicts the trajectory of the sun, moon, and stars and a longcase clock by David Roentgen that shows the time in the ten most important cities of the day. These works, created by clockmakers, scientists, and artists in England, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, have been selected for their artistic beauty and design excellence, as well as for their sophisticated and awe-inspiring mechanics. Built upon decades of expert research, this publication is a long-overdue survey of these stunning visual and technological marvels. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (10/26/15-05/22/16)

Extensively illustrated, this is the first accessible publication on the history of tapestry in over two decades. Woven with dazzling images from history, mythology and the natural world, and breath-taking in their craftsmanship, tapestries were among the most valuable and high-status works of art available in Europe from the medieval period to the end of the eighteenth century. Over 600 historic examples hang in National Trust properties in England and Wales - the largest collection in the UK. This beautifully illustrated study by tapestry expert Helen Wyld, in association with the National Trust, offers new insights into these works, from the complex themes embedded in their imagery, to long-forgotten practices of sacred significance and ritual use. The range of historical, mythological and pastoral themes that recur across the centuries is explored, while the importance of the 'revival' of tapestry from the late nineteenth century is considered in detail for the first time. Although focussed on the National Trust's collection, this book offers a fresh perspective on the history of tapestry across Europe. Both the tapestry specialist and the keen art-history enthusiast can find a wealth of information here about woven wall hangings and furnishings, including methods of production, purchase and distribution, evolving techniques and technologies, the changing trends of subject matter across time, and how tapestries have been collected, used and displayed in British country houses across the centuries.

Folk art proves that producing utilitarian objects can provide an opportunity for self-expression. From decoys to sea chests, folk art is not only rooted in the useful but in the realities of living. Some folk art makes daily chores more fun, while others, such as mourning art, help people face life's saddest occasions. This volume is an introduction for the novice and a treasure for the collector.

The stunning photos and brilliant essays in this book demonstrate why origami is now an international art movement-largely through the efforts and artistic genius of a few contemporary masters. The trailblazing efforts of Japanese artist Akira Yoshizawa elevated paper folding by showing how subtle shapes and figures could be created from a single sheet of paper through a variety of non-traditional folding techniques. Artists in other parts of the world-including the United States, France, England, China and Scandinavia-took Yoshizawa's cue and pushed these techniques further and further. The result has been the emergence of many new and surprising sculptural forms created through techniques such as wet folding, curved creasing, tessellating and the application of alternative materials besides paper. This book features the work of 25 contemporary master folders who are among the most innovative origami artists working today. They are pushing the boundaries of origami style, scale, materials, subject and scope in new directions. This elite group includes: Joel Cooper Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine Paul Jackson Beth Johnson Michael G. LaFosse and Richard L. Alexander Robert J. Lang Linda Mihara Bernie Peyton Richard Sweeney And many more!

The A. G. Leventis Gallery brings the grandeur of European art from the Renaissance to the 20th century, connecting the European continent with its south-eastern outpost by highlighting the unique relationship between art and its history. In this book, Director Loukia Hadjigavriel selects highlights from the Collection. From the outstanding paintings and objets d'art - Old Master paintings, Dutch still lifes, light-spirited Rococo pastorals, and boldly coloured pointillist and fauve canvases; through the Gold Collection, where gold coins from antiquity unfold the history of the rulers and artists who created them; and into the development of modern Greek art, as well as the first generation of Cypriot artists from the beginning of the 20th century. This wide variety of treasures all offer insight into the world of the man behind the collection, Anastasios G. Leventis - businessman, visionary, art collector and true 'citizen of the world'.