Distinguished art educator and publisher shows that violating the academic rules of perspective can be as important as adhering to them. Coverage of the picture plane, foreshortening and convergence, three-point perspective, figures in perspective, more. Also analysis of the works of over twenty leading illustrators and artists, including Pieter de Hooch and Paul Cézanne. 349 illustrations.

This book is a comprehensive study of visual humour in ancient Greece, with special emphasis on works created in Athens and Boeotia. Alexandre G. Mitchell brings an interdisciplinary approach to this topic, combining theories and methods of art history, archaeology and classics with the anthropology of humour, and thereby establishing new ways of looking at art and visual humour in particular. Understanding what visual humour was to the ancients and how it functioned as a tool of social cohesion is only one facet of this study. Mitchell also focuses on the social truths that his study of humour unveils: democracy and freedom of expression; politics and religion; Greek vases and trends in fashion; market-driven production; proper and improper behaviour; popular versus elite culture; carnival in situ; and the place of women, foreigners, workers and labourers within the Greek city. Richly illustrated with more than 140 drawings and photographs, this study amply documents the comic representations that formed an important part of ancient Greek visual language from the sixth to the fourth centuries BC.

This book addresses the little-studied area of Russian genre painting in the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century. Rosalind Gray begins by examining artistic patronage and published texts which engaged with the visual arts, in order to illustrate the context in which Russian artists were working. Five major painters - Venetsianov, Bryullov, Ivanov, Fedotov and Perov - are then discussed in detail.

One of the most creative and accessible periods of art the world has ever known, the Golden Age is brought to life in an unprecedented series of biographies of the artists active in the Netherlands during the 17th-century. Painters in the Dutch Republic specialized in portraits, domestic genre scenes, still-lives, and landscapes--metaphors of the tiny new country's immense pride and wealth. This book features biographies on all the great masters from Frans Hals to Vermeer to Rembrandt. There are entries on more than 220 artists.

This unprecedented book draws together biographies of artists who worked in one of the most exciting and dramatic political eras in France, when Paris became the artistic capital of Europe. It features in-depth studies of such well-known Neo-classical artists as Jacques-Louis David, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the artist most revered by his fellow countrymen. Also included are artists of the Romantic Movement, like Delacroix and Gericault, as well as the painters of the Barbizon School, whose plein-air landscapes anticipated those of the Impressionists.

The Grove Art series, focusing on the most important periods and areas of art history, is derived from the critically acclaimed and award-winning The Grove Dictionary of Art. First published in 1996 in 34 volumes, The Dictionary has quickly established itself as the leading reference work on the visual arts, used by schools, universities, museums, and public libraries throughout the world. With articles written by leading scholars in each field, The Dictionary has frequently been praised for its breadth of coverage, accuracy, authority, and accessibility.

In CHROMA Derek Jarman explains the use of colour in Medieval paintingthrough the Renaissance to the modernists and draws on the great colour theorists from Pliny to Leonardo. He also talks about the meaning of colours in literature, science, philosophy, psychology, religion and alchemy. The colours on Jarman's palette are mixed with memory and insight to create an evocative and highly personal work.

Chuck Close immediately liked the idea of a book without words. As a child, his severe dyslexia stood in the way of reading, making images all the more important. To this day, he remembers a visual encyclopaedia from his early years and the feeling of being overtaken by the intensity of its pictures. The idea was also compatible with Close's ongoing interest in revealing the process of his work, which he accomplishes largely through visual presentation, using very few words, if any. Scribble Book is a self-portrait that emerges step-by-step out of the printing process, one plate and one colour at a time. The viewer follows a series of 9 individual plate proofs along with a corresponding series of 9 progressive proofs. By comparing the plate proofs against the progressive proofs, the viewer may ascertain not only the effect as one colour is added to another to create the final 9-colour self-portrait, but also the compositional decisions and careful modifications made by Close at each stage of the project. A similar work was made with 12 plates and included in the exhibition Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2004. It was an immediate success. However, Close became fully aware of the effectiveness of the work only by means of an error: two of the prints were hung out of sequence, a circumstance that evaded the notice of both Close and the museum staff. It was not long before representatives of the museum received letters from two visitors who had noticed the error. "And just imagine," Close relates, "if two people took the time to write letters, how many more must have figured it out and not bothered to write in " Careful viewing was all that was needed, and the work inspired just that. Scribble Book is presented in this Steidl edition as two accordion-fold books. The first shows the series of plate proofs, and the second the series of progressive proofs, culminating with a 9-colour self-portrait. For those seeking a more detailed understanding of the printmaking process, these books are accompanied by a separate text booklet in which the artist gives a personal account of the drawing process as recorded through the soft-ground etching method.

Traditional Chinese painting was fundamentally an abstract art form. Artists did not seek to represent direct copies of the natural world; rather, traditional Chinese paintings sought to portray the harmony between the natural world and human emotion, evoking ancient Chinese philosophy. From ancient scroll paintings to Buddhist grottoes to modern art, Lin Ci explores the history, theory and development of distinctive styles of Chinese painting, illustrated throughout with full color examples of these unique, treasured works of art.

Until now, no detailed examination has been made of the twenty-four portraits known to have been painted of Coleridge during his life. Most of these are still extant, and together they constitute a kind of biography, as well as revealing the assumptions, not only of the sitter and the artists, but also of the culture to which they belong. Each in its different way seems to reveal some aspect of Coleridge's personality. This sequence of images - to which various posthumous and imaginary portraits supply an interesting postscript - are the subject of this illustrated study and catalogue by the eminent Coleridgean and Romantic scholar Morton D. Paley. There are reproductions throughout, two of them in colour.

Having been mistakenly perceived as a follower of Salvador Dali, Catalan surrealist painter and writer Angel Planells (1901-1989) has passed through the history of art practically unnoticed. Yet his work suggests an influence on a number of works by Dali, proving that a fairer way to define their relationship is as an artistic dialogue. His participation in the groundbreaking International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936 is in itself a marker of his quality as an artist, but Planells' contribution to surrealism is remarkable for his use of astronomy, fantastic scenes redolent of Edgar Allan Poe's narrative as well as ludic elements and meta-pictorial techniques that contest Fascism.

An account of the pictures and people that have played a role in the modern history of South African art. The story opens in the second half of the 19th-century and charts the course of modern South African painting, from the descriptive records of the "Africana painters", through the various experimental forms of modernism, to the revisionist perceptions of end-of-the-century South Africa.;The stylistic developments are dealt with in the context of the local circumstances and environment in which they occurred, but are also viewed against the background of world events and international artistic trends.;The sources, aims and characters of many different styles and individual works of art are clearly illustrated and explained. The reproductions of works of art have been drawn, where possible, from public collections, thereby affording the reader the opportunity to study the original works of art in conjunction with the text.

This study is an inquiry into the fortunes, in both theory and practice, of the idea of history painting during the Napoleonic period. Its main argument is that under Napoleon, French history painting, especially battle painting, encountered a series of questions as to its nature and function. These questions arose in part from the (often contradictory) demand of a propaganda-machine operating within a postrevolutionary crisis of political legitimation, but also from changes in artistic taste which both retained and re-directed an earlier notion of the civic responsibilities of the history painter. This is a resolutely interdisciplinary book: drawing on perspectives from political thought and history, military theory and practice and art history, which centres on the work of the painter, Antoine-Jean Gros, and his controversial painting, La Bataille d'Eylau. `Detailed and highly intelligent . . . this book is a significant addition to the literature on French art of the early nineteenth century.' Times Literary Supplement

This volume investigates the artistic development during the Qing Dynasty, the last of imperial Chinese dynasties, and shows the importance of opera and playwriting during this time period. Further analysis is dedicated to the development of scroll painting and the revival of calligraphy and seal carving. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.

This volume examines the progress of Chinese art during the time period of the Five Dynasties, Northern and Southern Song, Liao, Western Xia, Jin Dynasties as well as the Yuan Dynasty. A special focus lies on the analysis of cultural policies adopted during the reign of the respective dynasties and their effects on the development of dance, court music and drama. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.

Terry Frost was one of Britain's great abstract painters. His career spanned seven decades, starting with his introduction to art in a prisoner of war camp, and stretching into the twenty-first century. He drew inspiration from a wide range of sources, but most especially from poetry and from the landscapes of Cornwall, Yorkshire, the Greek islands and America. Resolutely abstract, his paintings collages and sculptures are known for their exuberance and strong colour. Joyful and celebratory, his work is also a sensitive and contemplative articulation of the way in which the artist experience the world. In this book Chris Stephens presents Frost's art within a historical context and in relation to the work of his international contemporaries.

Seeing the Inside is the first detailed study of one of the world's great visual art traditions and its role in the society that produces it. The bark painting of Aboriginal artists in western Arnhem Land is the product of a unique tradition of many thousands of years' duration. In recent years it has attracted enormous interest in the rest of Australia and beyond, with the result that the artists, who live primarily as hunters in this relatively secluded region of northern Australia, now paint for sale to the world art market.
Though the richness and power of Aboriginal arts are now, belatedly, finding wide recognition, they remain insufficiently understood. In this thoroughly illustrated book Luke Taylor examines the creative methods of the bark painters and the cultural meaning of their work. He discusses, on the one hand, the arrangements which allow the artists to project their culture onto an international stage, and on the other, the continuing social and religious roles of their paintings within their own society. The result is a remarkable and fascinating picture of artistic creativity in a changing world.

This is an illustrated exploration of the artist, his life and context, with a gallery of 300 of his greatest works. It is a lively but expert account of Edouard Manet, one of the greatest French artists, whose striking realism has led to him being called the first modern painter. It is a vivid biography explores his life and career, including his break with established institutions and his links with artistic pioneers such as Monet, Cezanne and Degas. It features an extensive gallery of all Manet's most important works, accompanied by an analysis of his aims, style and technique. It focuses on how Manet turned the focus of artistic interest back to real life and away from the conventions of academic art. It is superbly illustrated with 500 pictures covering his life and art, along with works by his main contemporaries, including Monet, Renoir and Gauguin. Born to a wealthy conservative family, Edouard Manet became one of art's greatest revolutionaries, hailed by the Impressionists as their 'king'. While such works as Olympia or Music in the Tuileries struck contemporaries as shockingly candid, he himself revered the Old Masters.Manet's was the first great painter of modern Paris, the artistic capital of the 19th century. The first half of the book details Manet's life and his role as leader of the Batignolles group that included Renoir, Cezanne and Degas. The second half is a wide-ranging gallery of his finest works. With a total of 500 illustrations, this book gives a superb overview of one of the world's greatest and most original artists.

This monograph is the first title in a new series titled Opera Maestra, specifically focused on the work and itinerary of the artists who made history, from an unprecedented perspective. The series begins with Leonardo da Vinci, captured by the expert Marco Versiero. At the core the analysis is the specific soul, among the thousands of Leonardo's, that Marco Versiero wants to underline: his mirror-soul; namely, Leonardo's eye between Human and Nature. In other words, the eye that allowed the artist to mediate between his favourite dimensions (the human and the natural one), and allowed them to communicate with each other without cancelling themselves, but rather managing to reflect one in the other's light, like in front of a mirror. An essential biographical note introduces the reader to Marco Versiero's pages, enriched with 61 detailed pictures. The pictures, proposing not only a selection of Leonardo's paintings but also of his drawings, enhanced with comprehensive captions, tell the itinerary of the genius from the years of his apprenticeship in Verrocchio's workshop till the days of his maturity.

Tracing the arc of van Gogh's career, this volume presents his portraits and self-portraits, landscapes, and haunting interiors. Readers will learn details of van Gogh's complicated personal life including his struggles with mental illness and his close but difficult relationship with his brother, Theo. Also included here are an anthology of paintings, information on the museums where they reside, a timeline of the painter's personal and artistic highlights, and bibliography. Overflowing with impeccably reproduced images, this book offers full-page spreads of masterpieces as well as highlights of smaller details - allowing the viewer to appreciate every aspect of the artist's technique and oeuvre. Chronologically arranged, the book covers important biographical and historic events that reflect the latest scholarship. Additional information includes a list of works, timeline, and suggestions for further reading.

A FLAME TREE NOTEBOOK. Beautiful and luxurious the journals combine high-quality production with magnificent art. Perfect as a gift, and an essential personal choice for writers, notetakers, travellers, students, poets and diarists. Features a wide range of well-known and modern artists, with new artworks published throughout the year. BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED. The highly crafted covers are printed on foil paper, embossed then foil stamped, complemented by the luxury binding and rose red end-papers. The covers are created by our artists and designers who spend many hours transforming original artwork into gorgeous 3d masterpieces that feel good in the hand, and look wonderful on a desk or table. PRACTICAL, EASY TO USE. Flame Tree Notebooks come with practical features too: a pocket at the back for scraps and receipts; two ribbon markers to help keep track of more than just a to-do list; robust ivory text paper, printed with lines; and when you need to collect other notes or scraps of paper the magnetic side flap keeps everything neat and tidy. THE ARTIST. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Jenny Zemanek is a lifelong lover of all things creative. What started with happy scribbles at a young age grew into a pursuit of photography and graphic design before she found a home with illustration and hand-lettering. Jenny revels in the joys of small decorative details, finding ways to add personality to her work. THE FINAL WORD. As William Morris said, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

The present volume is the second of three devoted to the many copies and adaptations that Rubens made from Italian art, and it is dominated by his interest in the work of artists active in Venice during the sixteenth century. Rubens, when a mature master, decided to make a number of full-size painted replicas of works by Titian that he saw on his travels to Madrid and London. Perhaps surprisingly, he made far fewer copies after the works of Titian's contemporaries, Tintoretto and Veronese, but, in addition, the volume examines his interest in the work of other masters active in North Italy at this time, notably Andrea Mantegna, Antonio da Correggio, and Girolamo Francesco Parmigianino. It is Rubens's interest in Titian, however, that has been seen as crucial for art in the Early Modern period, a topic that has attracted the attention of critics and art historians from the seventeenth century to the present day.

"Wylie fearlessly tackles the thorniest topics head-on, committing her thoughts and questions about politics, religion, fame, love, history, money and nature to canvas." - Charlotte Brook, Harper's Bazaar Inspired by film, pop culture, and the history of fashion as she experienced personally, Wylie harnesses a union of high and low culture with a bold technique of mark making. Her unique practice of material overlay and erasure creates fantastic compositions. Creating conceptual tensions between formal and informal aesthetics, Wylie employs the visual elements of text as formal details in her paintings. With a beautiful swiss binding, this monograph compiles the work of four exhibitions at David Zwirner offering a full breadth of Wylie's most recent work to date. Giving insight and compassion to Wylie's feminist and rebellious impulses, Judith Bernstein writes an accompanying text on how she relates to Wylie's ambitious and playful energy. With a foreword by Nicholas Serota, this publication also features new essays by Barry Schwabsky and David Salle and an enlightening interview between the artist and Hans Ulrich Obrist.

Sonia Delaunay is one of the most important artists of the early twentieth century, whose contribution to European Modernism was fundamental, if not always fully acknowledged in its own right. She is known for translating her experiments via painting into the realm of fashion, interior design and crafts and, thus, consciously transcending the boundaries between fine and applied art. The focus within mainstream art history has been her relationship with her husband Robert Delaunay. Tom Sandqvist shifts this focus on her Jewish roots and sheds a light on the influence of growing up in the typical Eastern European shtetl, which has not attracted any special attention in the analysis of Delaunay's art. Tom Sandqvist reflects on the impact of Judaism on Sonia Delaunay's oeuvre, with a special focus on her early contributions to Simultanism and Orphism within the interwar Parisian Avant-Garde.