This book is an edited record of the papers given at the two-day symposium 'Italian Maiolica and Europe' held in Oxford on 22 and 23 September 2017. It is, in effect, a celebration of his long service in the Ashmolean Museum as the Keeper of Western Art. Museum collections develop their great strengths in one of two ways: through gifts of private collections and through the knowledge and enthusiasm of curators. The Ashmolean's renowned and important collection of Italian Maiolica owes its foundation to the former and the bequest of C.D.E. Fortnum. But it has grown and developed in remarkable ways over the last three decades thanks to the energy and expertise of Professor Timothy Wilson. During his 27 years as Keeper of Western Art, Tim was responsible for a truly extraordinary range and number of important acquisitions across the fine and decorative arts. As one of the world's leading scholars of Italian Maiolica, it was only natural that he would continue to build on Fortnum's legacy.

Frances Stark deftly deploys text, image and literary sources in her drawings, collages, paintings and video works that reflect on her roles as artist, mother, woman and teacher. Throughout her career she has experimented with alternative modes of expression, as in her critically acclaimed video, My Best Thing; her PowerPoint work Structures that fit my opening (and other parts considered in relation to their whole); and the performance Put a Song in Your Thing. Companion to an exhibition that documents Stark's 25-year long career, this book contains 125 works in which Stark employs words and images to create provocative and self-referential works that speak to the complexities of daily life. This book includes full-page detailed images that provide an insight into the highly tactile and complex nature of Stark's work. Also included are newly commissioned essays and a collection of brief reflections by a variety of prominent artists and writers whom Stark asked to revisit specific topics they've discussed or written about previously.Filled with high-quality reproductions and thoughtful commentary, this book is the definitive resource on Stark's accomplished, varied and affecting body of work. Published in association with Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

This volume gathers together a total of 208 images by 30 different photographers from Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Latvia, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela and the United States. The artistic fields represented range from photojournalism and portraiture to street and landscape photography.

The Many Lives of Erik Kessels presents the highly anticipated first illustrated survey of this pioneering and influential curator, editor, and artist whose varied experiments with photography and photographic archives have allowed us to reconsider the medium's vernacular and narrative possibilities in today's inundated image landscape. "People consume photographs," says Kessels, "they don't look at them anymore." This volume is a primer on how to look-and how to better understand the hybrid practice of this artist who defies categorization. Including more than twenty of the artist's series and features essays by Simon Baker, Hans Aarsman, and curator Francesco Zanot, The Many Lives of Erik Kessels is published in conjunction with a major mid- career retrospective at Camera: Italian Centre for Photography in Turin, Italy.

The Centennial decade was an era of ambivalence, the United States still unresolved about the incomprehensible damage it had wrought over four years of Civil War, and why. Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition -- a spectacular international event celebrating one hundred years of American strength, unity, and freedom -- took place in the immediate wake of this trauma of war and the failures of Reconstruction as a means to restore power and patriotism in the nation's struggle to rebuild itself. The Unfinished Exhibition, the first comprehensive examination of American art at the Centennial, explains the critical role of visual culture in negotiating memories of the nation's past that conflicted with the optimism that Exhibition officials promoted. Supporting novel iconographical interpretations with myriad primary source material, author Susanna W. Gold demonstrates how the art galleries and the audiences who visited them addressed the lingering traumas of battle, the uneasy re-unification of North and South, and the persisting racial tensions in the post-Emancipation era. This careful consideration of the visual record exposes the complexities of the war's impact on Americans and clarifies how the Centennial art exhibition affected a nation still finding its direction at a critical moment in its history.

The first in a series of four thematic volumes devoted to the world-class Kramlich Collection, the largest and most significant private collection of modern and contemporary media art. How does art respond to contemporary social questions? How, especially, does moving-image art address the themes that move us most? Drawn on works from the Kramlich Collection of time-based media art, The Human Condition comments on a range of complex political issues such as civil war, psychological isolation, human rights, gender relations, nuclear catastrophe and planetary degradation. Along the way, the featured artists innovate in their hybrid use of sound, image, performance, sculpture and screen technology. Since their first acquisition in 1987, pioneering collectors Pamela and Richard Kramlich have established one of the foremost international collections of media, video, film, slide, photography and performance art. In the first of four volumes devoted to the collection, The Human Condition presents signature works by internationally recognized artists such as Marina Abramovic, Doug Aitken, Dara Birnbaum, James Coleman, Pierre Huyghe, William Kentridge, Christian Marclay, Steve McQueen, Richard Mosse, Bruce Nauman, Shirin Neshat and Nam June Paik. The Human Condition also features newly commissioned essays from leading curators and scholars specializing in time-based media art, including Erika Balsom, Bill Brown, Adrienne Edwards, Chrissie Iles, Isaac Julien, Barbara London, Mark Nash, Catherine Wood and others. This book engages both newcomers and experts in the field with captivating imagery and rigorous reflection on some of the most influential contemporary art practices of the 20th and 21st centuries.

An insider's guide to the natural treasures of New Zealand's national museum. Since the Colonial Museum opened in 1865 and the first director, Sir James Hector, began collecting items of geological and natural history significance, the collections of New Zealand's national museum have become enormously significant - not to mention enormous. The objects housed by the Museum range from fossilised bones of the extinct Haast's Eagle and specimens collected by Joseph Banks on Cook's first voyage to deep sea-dwelling fishes and a plethora of insects. In this fascinating book Te Papa's science team of experts showcase 100 collection objects that demonstrate the breadth and depth of the collection and the museum's important ongoing research. Te Papa's expert curators and collections managers tell the fascinating stories of everything from the colossal squid to the flaming flagfins and from sea spiders to beaver fleas.

Patron Saints: Collecting Stanley Spencer is a revealing new exhibition at the renowned Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham - Spencer's spiritual home and major source of inspiration. The exhibition draws together a spectacular collection of loans, including The Centurion's Servant (Tate); Love on the Moor (Fitzwilliam); John Donne Arriving in Heaven, (Fitzwilliam) and one work not seen in the public domain in over 50 years. The exhibition and catalogue examine the often complex relationships between Spencer and his patrons and what drove them to collect his work. Spencer was a single-minded genius, but the influence of his patrons on his painting is far greater than has hitherto been realised. At the turn of the century, collecting art was no longer the preserve of the aristocracy and the upper classes, but Spencer's art appealed to a broad spectrum of art lovers, fellow artists, businessmen and politicians. Many of his patrons lived in Cookham, where he lived and found artistic inspiration, and many of his paintings were influenced by his spiritual feelings for that place. His idiosyncratic and deeply personal approach gave him a wide and enduring appeal, and he was patronised by some of the most important cultural figures and taste-makers of that time. Curator Amanda Bradley comments, "Behind Stanley Spencer, one of the greatest Modern British artists, were a group of individuals who enabled his very existence - both artistically and emotionally. They were not wildly rich, but they were powerful, cultivated, intellectual and artistic. Some bought on spec, others were true patrons, giving him the freedom to fulfil his artistic genius. Most fostered long-lived relationships with the artist, influencing his life and work more than has hitherto been realised. These were the patron saints." Patron Saints: Collecting Stanley Spencer explores the emergence of Spencer as an artistic personality, looking at those who helped him and why he - and his popularity - was a product of the zeitgeist (first half of the twentieth century) characterised by social and economic anxiety.

Exploring how artists at midcentury addressed the social issues of their day-from Jacob Lawrence to Elizabeth Catlett, Rose Piper to Charles White This timely book surveys the varied ways in which Black American artists responded to the political, social, and economic climate of the United States from the time of the Great Depression through the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision. Featuring paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by artists including Jacob Lawrence, Horace Pippin, Augusta Savage, Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Norman Lewis, Walter Augustus Simon, Lois Mailou Jones, and more, the book recognizes the contributions Black artists made to Social Realism and abstraction as they debated the role of art in society and community. Black artists played a vital part in midcentury art movements, and the inclusive policies of government programs like the Works Progress Administration brought more of these artists into mainstream circles. In three chapters, Earnestine Jenkins discusses the work of Black artists during this period; the perspective of Black women artists with a focus on the sculpture of Augusta Savage; and the pedagogy of Black American art through the art and teaching of Walter Augustus Simon. Published in association with the Dixon Gallery and Gardens Exhibition Schedule: Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis (October 17, 2021-January 2, 2022)

A timely exploration of the allusive, sculptural fiber work of an important contemporary South African artist The book presents an early career survey of the work of Cape Town-based artist Igshaan Adams (b. 1982), showcasing his multimedia practice since 2009. In addition to exploring recurring motifs in his work-Arabic calligraphy, the rose, the (self-)portrait, Sufi symbols, and pathways literal and metaphorical-the publication highlights some of Adams's material concerns, including his sculptural applications of weaving, his embrace of recycled materials related to black South African domesticity and interiority, and his use of the gallery wall and floor in installations. Hendrik Folkerts surveys the artist's recent work, addressing its engagement with presence, absence, and the trace.. Adams himself offers a visual essay enabling readers to see details they would be imperceptible in a gallery setting. In shorter essays and poetic texts, the other authors focus on the South African historical and political context, specific artworks, and particular creative strategies, materialities, and narratives. Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago Exhibition Schedule: Art Institute of Chicago (April 2-August 1, 2022)

From long lost paintings to ephemeral sculptures; from whimsical performances to iconic public murals; and from independent films to landmark design objects, the surprising and provocative contents of Moving Focus, India have been provided by a varied group of experts. A first of its kind, this book invited 54 artists, curators, historians and writers to each create a list of five works of art, made at any time since 1900, by artists living in India or identifying as part of its diaspora. With over 250 individual nominations, including artists whose works have been exhibited at venues as various as Houghton Hall (Anish Kapoor, 2020), the Asia Society Museum, New York (MF Husain, 2019) and the Piramal Museum of Art, Mumbai (SH Raza, 2018), the exercise produced thrilling and unexpected choices across many mediums. Drawing from a wide range of private and public collections, the selections reveal the diversity and inclusiveness of today's art scene: an art scene that has embraced the progressive changes evident in society at large. In addition to these lists, the book includes reflections on collecting, curating and canon-formation from a range of important voices, by way of a roundtable discussion and a series of essays. Spread over two volumes and marked by an innovative and fresh design sensibility, whether you are familiar with modern and contemporary art from the subcontinent or looking for an introduction, Moving Focus, India contains a wealth of information. Lavishly illustrated with over 1,000 archival and freshly commissioned photographs, this book is an important and timely addition to the global art discourse and a key source of reference. Nominated artists include Ramkinkar Baij, Chittaprosad, VS Gaitonde, Amrita Sher Gil, Rummana Hussain, Bhupen Khakhar, Nasreen Mohamedi, Benode Behari Mukherjee, Meera Mukherjee, Mrinalini Mukherjee, Gieve Patel, Sudhir Patwardhan, Nilima Sheikh, Jangarh Singh Shyam, KG Subramanyan, Vivan Sundaram, Zarina and many more.

Art collector Anil Relia had always admired the miniature paintings of the Nathdwara school, which grew out of the religious devotation of the Pushti Marg (Path of Grace). On one of his trips to this pilgrimage town, he encountered 'manorath' paintings, whose unusual visual elements attracted his attention immediately. Originally part of the Pushti Marg popular culture, manorath paintings were often commissioned by devout followers as an indelible record of a pilgrimage trip to Nathdwara. Manorath ("mind's vehicle") paintings are a visual representation of the pilgrim's wish to enter into mutual communication with a divine Pushti Marg icon. The popular manoraths in this collection, which employ mixed media and photo-realism techniques, illustrate worshippers in the presence of Shrinathji. These images had a deep emotional resonance for worshippers because they embodied both the corporeal pilgrimage to Nathdwara and also the inner devotional experience itself. As author Isabella Nardi demonstrates, the paintings in this collection are not merely souvenirs of a pilgrimage trip; they represent the worshipper's journey to Nathdwara for a 'darshan' with their beloved and revered deity. With pilgrims as patrons, these manoraths are truly portraits of devotion.

This book explores the relationship between collecting Chinese ceramics, interior design and display in Britain through the eyes of collectors, designers and tastemakers during the years leading to, during and following the Second World War. The Ionides Collection of European style Chinese export porcelain forms the nucleus of this study - defined by its design hybridity - offering insights into the agency of Chinese porcelain in diverse contexts, from seventeenth-century Batavia to twentieth-century Britain, raising questions about notions of Chineseness, Britishness, and identity politics across time and space. Through the biographies of the collectors, this book highlights the role of collecting Chinese art objects, particularly porcelain, in the construction of individual and group identities. Social networks linking the Ionides to agents and dealers, auctioneers, and museum specialists bring into focus the dynamics of collecting during this period, the taste of the Ionides and their self-fashioning as collectors. The book will be of interest to scholars working in the fields of art history, history of collections, interior design, Chinese studies, and material culture studies.

While Munch's pessimistic, melancholy world view crucially defines our understanding of his work, many important postwar and contemporary artists have drawn inspiration from several aspects of his oeuvre. This richly illustrated book explores how seven such artists- Georg Baselitz, Miriam Cahn, Peter Doig, Marlene Dumas, Tracey Emin, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol-engaged with Munch's work at different points in, or throughout, their careers. It features elaborate reproductions of sixty works by Munch juxtaposed with those inspired by him. Readers discover how Baselitz cunningly pays tribute to his artistic hero how Tracey Emin's practice, like Munch's, is autobiographical, both drawing from their personal torment to create their unnerving works ; how Marlene Dumas was drawn to the expressiveness of Munch's portraits; and how Peter Doig draws on Munch's radical treatment of pigments and materiality. Essays by leading scholars detail each artist's unique preoccupation with Munch and offer a focused exploration of the ways women artists in particular were inspired by his examinations of loneliness, fear, and trauma.

Sheds light on the reflections that led to the creation of EXIT, the 360° video installation created for the exhibition spaces of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris

Based on an idea by French philosopher and urbanist, Paul Virilio, the 360° video installation EXIT was created in 2008 by the New York-based studio of artists and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro for the exhibition spaces of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris. Composed of a series of animated maps generated by data, this immersive installation investigates human migrations today and their leading causes, including the impact of climate change. Through six scenarios – Population Shifts: Cities; Remittances: Sending Money Home; Political Refugees and Forced Migration; Rising Seas, Sinking Cities; Natural Disasters; and Speechless and Deforestation – it provides the rare opportunity to understand visually the complex relationships between the various economic, political and environmental factors underpinning contemporary human migrations. The work was updated entirely in 2015, reflecting the alarming evolution of the data since it was first presented in 2008. Through various texts, descriptions of the animated maps, and numerous illustrations, this book sheds light on the reflections that led to the creation of EXIT, and proposes to delve deeper into the very notions and questions that it raises and that are more relevant today than ever.

This book is a comparative legal study of the private and public art collections in various states of the world, covering the most important issues that usually arise and focusing on the differences and the similarities of the national laws in the treatment of those issues.

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)

When the European Fluxus group disbanded in 1964 after two eventful years, Tomas Schmit (1943-2006), who had participated in the group's actions as a performer, gradually withdrew from performing. From 1966 he devoted himself primarily to writing and drawing. But the idea of the stage as a place where an action is performed in front of and with an audience did not disappear from his art. From then on, Schmit staged "the performance of drawing" on paper. The close interlocking of performance and drawing practice that characterizes Schmit's entire oeuvre will be brought into focus for the first time in the exhibition of the Kupferstichkabinett, which will take place in the fall of 2021, and in the accompanying catalog. At the same time, the project reflects the manifold spectrum of Schmit's nearly 40 years of comprehensive drawing and language art.