As this collection of essays makes clear, the paths to grasping the complexity of Caravaggio's art are multiple and variable. Art historians from the UK and North America offer new or recently updated interpretations of the works of seventeenth-century Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and of his many followers known as the Caravaggisti. The volume deals with all the major aspects of Caravaggio's paintings: technique, creative process, religious context, innovations in pictorial genre and narrative, market strategies, biography, patronage, reception, and new hermeneutical trends. The concluding section tackles the essential question of Caravaggio's legacy and the production of his followers-not only in terms of style but from some highly innovative strategies: concettismo; art marketing and the price of pictures; self-fashioning and biography; and the concept of emulation.

What were Montmartre and Montparnasse really like in their hey-day, roughly between 1904, when the youthful Picasso had just arrived on the Hill of Martyrs, and 1920, when Amedeo Modigliani, justly called `the prince of Bohemians', died of consumption and dissipation in Montparnasse? This book, written by an Englishman who lived in Montmartre for 30 years and knew its famous habitue intimately, gives a vivid description. It reveals the truth behind the many legends, is packed with authentic stories about writers and painters whose name are now household words, and contains much hitherto unpublished information about the life and career of Modigliani obtained from his family and friends. Much of the text was written in Montmartre amid the scenes described, and after personal consultation with survivors of the great days when Frede presided over the Lapin Agile and Libion, patron of the Cafe de la Rotonde, was beginning to rival him in Montparnasse. It is the most complete account which has yet been written in English of the birth of Cubism and other contemporary movements in modern painting, and of the lives and loves who started them.

No other artist, apart from J. M. W. Turner, tried as hard as Claude Monet (1840-1926) to capture light itself on canvas. Of all the Impressionists, it was the man Cezanne called "only an eye, but my God what an eye!" who stayed true to the principle of absolute fidelity to the visual sensation, painting directly from the object. It could be said that Monet reinvented the possibilities of color. Whether it was through his early interest in Japanese prints, his time as a conscript in the dazzling light of Algeria, or his personal acquaintance with the major painters of the late 19th century, the work Monet produced throughout his long life would change forever the way we perceive both the natural world and its attendant phenomena. The high point of his explorations was the late series of water lilies, painted in his own garden at Giverny, which, in their approach towards almost total formlessness, are really the origin of abstract art. This biography does full justice to this most remarkable and profoundly influential artist, and offers numerous reproductions and archive photos alongside a detailed and insightful commentary.

The blind mendicant in Ukrainian folk tradition is a little-known social order, but an important one. The singers of Ukrainian epics, these minstrels were organized into professional guilds that set standards for training and performance. Repressed during the Stalin era, this is their story.

The blind mendicant in Ukrainian folk tradition is a little-known social order, but an important one. The singers of Ukrainian epics, these minstrels were organized into professional guilds that set standards for training and performance. Repressed during the Stalin era, this is their story.

Intertwining art history, aesthetic theory, and Latin American studies, Aarnoud Rommens challenges contemporary Eurocentric revisions of the history of abstraction through this study of the Uruguayan artist Joaquin Torres-Garcia. After studying and painting (for decades) in Europe, Torres-Garcia returned in 1934 to his native home, Montevideo, with the dream of reawakening and revitalizing what he considered the true indigenous essence of Latin American art: "Abstract Spirit." Rommens rigorously analyses the paradoxes of the painter's aesthetic-philosophical doctrine of Constructive Universalism as it sought to adapt European geometric abstraction to the Americas. Whereas previous scholarship has dismissed Torres-Garcia's theories as self-contradictory, Rommens seeks to recover their creative potential as well as their role in tracing the transatlantic routes of the avant-garde. Through the highly original method of reading Torres-Garcia's artworks as a critique on the artist's own writings, Rommens reveals how Torres-Garcia appropriates the colonial language of primitivism to construct the artificial image of "pure" pre-Columbian abstraction. Torres-Garcia thereby inverts the history of art: this book teases out the important lessons of this gesture and the implications for our understanding of abstraction today.

Adrian Stokes was one of the twentieth century's finest and most discriminating writers on art. Of over twenty works of art criticism, Michelangelo was considered by Lawrence Gowing to be the most complete he ever wrote, presenting an understanding of the great artist that no one subsequently could afford to ignore. Stokes brings to bear in this work not only twenty-five years' study and appreciation of Italian Renaissance art and of aesthetics, but also a unique psychological perspective, as he explains in his introduction, which enables him to uncover the depths of the artist's personality. The subtlety of feeling and profound knowledge of sculpture which Sir Herbert Read admired in Stokes's work is also combined with a literary style perfected through his own poetry and criticism. Presenting a unique survey of his subject's literary as well as his artistic legacy, Stokes succeeds, as no other has before or since, in his aim of bringing Michelangelo's greatness into nearer view.

A prolifically creative artistic polymath, American artist Amy Sillman (b.1955) works in drawing, zines, iPhone videos, installation, collaboration, teaching and curating, but painting has remained always at the very heart of her practice. This comprehensive monograph covers two decades of production, from the late-1990s to the present. Valerie Smith's text reveals Sillman's uniquely time-based approach to painting, influenced and inflected as much by filmmakers and musicians and the processes of her other chosen disciplines as by strictly art-historical forebears. Sillman's works perform an intensive cognitive and gestural interrogation of her chosen materials: discovering, undoing and reforming trains of painterly thought, often over long periods of time and across large numbers of linked works. Sillman's painting emerges as a radically expressive force; a pointedly self-reflexive practice that reformulates contemporary painting as an ever-evolving continuum and never simply a finished work.

Sigmund Freud was already internationally acclaimed as the principal founder of psychoanalysis when he turned his attention to the life of Leonardo da Vinci. It remained Freud's favourite composition. Compressing many of his insights into a few pages, the result is a fascinating picture of some of Freud's fundamental ideas, including human sexuality, dreams, and repression. It is an equally compelling - and controversial - portrait of Leonardo and the creative forces that according to Freud lie behind some of his great works, including the Mona Lisa. With a new foreword by Maria Walsh.

The political and social turmoil of the twentieth century took Magda Nachman from a privileged childhood in St. Petersburg at the close of the nineteenth century, artistic studies with Leon Bakst and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin at the Zvantseva Art Academy, and participation in the dynamic symbolist/modernist artistic ferment in pre-Revolutionary Russia to a refugee existence in the Russian countryside during the Russian Civil War followed by marriage to a prominent Indian nationalist, then with her husband to the hardships of emigre Berlin in the 1920s and 1930s, and finally to Bombay, where she established herself as an important artist and a mentor to a new generation of modern Indian artists.

By uniquely treating Gerhard Richter's entire oeuvre as a single subject, Darryn Ansted combines research into Richter's first art career as a socialist realist with study of his subsequent decisions as a significant contemporary artist. Analysis of Richter's East German murals, early work, lesser known paintings, and destroyed and unfinished pieces buttress this major re-evaluation of Richter's other well known but little understood paintings. By placing the reader in the artist's studio and examining not only the paintings but the fraught and surprising decisions behind their production, Richter's methodology is deftly revealed here as one of profound yet troubled reflection on the shifting identity, culture and ideology of his period. This rethinking of Richter's oeuvre is informed by salient analyses of influential theorists, ranging from Theodor Adorno to Slavoj Zizek, as throughout, meticulous visual analysis of Richter's changing aesthetic strategies shows how he persistently attempts to retrace the border between an objective reality structured by ideology and his subjective experience as a contemporary painter in the studio. Its innovative combination of historical accuracy, philosophical depth and astute visual analysis will make this an indispensible guide for both new audiences and established scholars of Richter's painting.

Arts & Crafts is a celebration of the design movement that started in Britain and spread around the world at the end of the nineteenth century. Depicting both well-known and unusual art and artifacts from this most fascinating of eras, this book provides a wealth of information about the lives and times of the designers, architects and artists who created them.

Equal under the Sky is the first historical study of Georgia O'Keeffe's complex involvement with, and influence on, US feminism from the 1910s to the 1970s. Utilizing understudied sources such as fan letters, archives of women's organizations, transcripts of women's radio shows, and programs from women's colleges, Linda M. Grasso shows how and why feminism and O'Keeffe are inextricably connected in popular culture and scholarship. The women's movements that impacted the creation and reception of O'Keeffe's art, Grasso argues, explain why she is a national icon who is valued for more than her artistic practice.

Winifred Knights (1899-1947) is one of the outstanding, but until recently neglected, British women painters of the first half of the 20th century. Copiously illustrated in colour throughout, this book provides the first full account of her life and work, examining Knights' art in the context of interwar Modernism and assessing her contribution to the revival in this period of both Decorative Painting and religious imagery.Author Sacha Llewellyn traces the artist's career from her years at the Slade School of Art and her First World War evacuation to rural Worcestershire through to the time she spent at the British School at Rome in the early 1920s and the many commissions she completed between 1926 and 1939. Presenting the artist as the central protagonist, and with models selected from her inner circle, Knights' paintings were deeply autobiographical. She consistently re-wrote fairy-tale and legend, Biblical narrative and Pagan mythology to explore women's relationship to war, the natural world, working communities, marriage, motherhood and death. Drawing on previously unpublished documentary material, including letters, diaries, sketchbooks and photographs, Sacha Llewellyn makes a strong case for recognising Knights as one of the most talented artists of her generation. The book reproduces all of Knights' major works, including her masterpiece, The Deluge, which is among the most remarked upon works at Tate Britain, having been on almost permanent display there since 1995.

Bringing together established and emerging specialists in seventeenth-century Italian sculpture, Material Bernini is the first sustained examination of the conspicuous materiality of Bernini's work in sculpture, architecture, and paint. The various essays demonstrate that material Bernini has always been tied (whether theologically, geologically, politically, or in terms of art theory) to his immaterial twin. Here immaterial Bernini and the historiography that sustains him is finally confronted by material Bernini. Central to the volume are Bernini's works in clay, a fragmentary record of a large body of preparatory works by a sculptor who denied any direct relation between sketches of any kind and final works. Read together, the essays call into question why those works in which Bernini's bodily relation to the material of his art is most evident, his clay studies, have been configured as a point of unmediated access to the artist's mind, to his immaterial ideas. This insight reveals a set of values and assumptions that have profoundly shaped Bernini studies from their inception, and opens up new and compelling avenues of inquiry within a field that has long remained remarkably self-enclosed.

* American artist Chris Johanson has built a loyal following with his vibrant and sometimes hilarious take on the universe and our place in it. This monograph offers a panoramic view of Johanson's practice from his roots as a street artist in San Francisco to his celebrated exhibitions.

The first book to concentrate on the early ceramic work of 'Transvestite Potter', bestselling author, broadcaster and social commentator Grayson Perry. Grayson Perry is now a household name as a result of his widely viewed television documentaries, numerous publications - including his critically acclaimed book about masculinity, The Descent of Man - and dazzling appearances dressed as his alter ego, Claire. However, Perry first came to public attention in 2003 when he won the Turner Prize, the first ceramicist to do so, and rapidly established a unique brand as 'the transvestite potter'. Ceramics are still central to Perry's work as an artist, and this book examines the plates, pots and statues from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s that laid the foundations of his career. It traces his artistic development, examining the iconography and meaning behind the work, as well as placing his art in the context not only of his own psychological make-up in the period before he underwent therapy but also of the various subcultures of the London art scene. With essays by Grayson Perry, Andrew Wilson and Catrin Jones.

"I always thought I would get into painting, but I got waylaid by rock 'n' roll. Finally, I thought, 'Now's the time.' As soon as I could be alone and paint without any interruptions, I just couldn't stop." – Chrissie Hynde

"These paintings wake me up, show me life, make me want to get up and do something." – Brian Eno

"The fact that Chrissie is a great musician doesn’t undermine her painting; it underpins it…" – Tim Marlow

In 2015, Chrissie Hynde, the singer, songwriter and leader of The Pretenders, produced an oil painting of a ceramic vase. It proved to be the starting point for Chrissie Hynde’s first body of work, nearly 200 canvases in all. These paintings are now shared for the very first time in Adding The Blue.

Beginning with still life studies and culminating in vibrant abstract compositions, Adding The Blue is a beautiful book of paintings that reveals Chrissie Hynde as an artist as passionate about her painting as her music.

With forewords by visionary musician and artist, Brian Eno, and The Royal Academy’s Artistic Director, Tim Marlow, Adding The Blue is captioned throughout with Chrissie Hynde’s thoughts, anecdotes and reflections.

Published in hardback the front cover features the work,'Tuesday Self-Portrait'

Even during the artist's lifetime, contemporary art lovers considered Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) to be an exceptional artist. In this revelatory sequel to the acclaimed Rembrandt: The Painter at Work, renowned Rembrandt authority Ernst van de Wetering investigates the painter's considerations that determined the striking changes in his development from an early age onwards. This gorgeously illustrated book explores how Rembrandt achieved mastery by systematic exploration of the 'foundations of the art of painting'. According to written sources from the seventeenth century, which were largely misinterpreted until now, these 'foundations' were considered essential at that time. From his first endeavours in painting, Rembrandt embarked on a journey past these foundations, thus becoming the 'pittore famoso', whom Count Cosimo the Medici visited at the end of his life. Rembrandt never stopped searching for solutions to the pictorial problems that confronted him; this led over time to radical changes that cannot simply be attributed to stylistic evolution or natural development. In a quest as rigorous and novel as the artist's, Van de Wetering reveals how Rembrandt became the revolutionary painter that would continue to fascinate the art world. This ground breaking exploration reconstructs Rembrandt's theories and methods, shedding new light both on the artist's exceptional accomplishments and on the theory and practice of painting in the Dutch Golden Age.

Even during the artist's lifetime, contemporary art lovers considered Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) to be an exceptional artist. In this revelatory sequel to the acclaimed Rembrandt: The Painter at Work, renowned Rembrandt authority Ernst van de Wetering investigates the painter's considerations that determined the striking changes in his development from an early age onwards. This gorgeously illustrated book explores how Rembrandt achieved mastery by systematic exploration of the 'foundations of the art of painting'. According to written sources from the seventeenth century, which were largely misinterpreted until now, these 'foundations' were considered essential at that time. From his first endeavours in painting, Rembrandt embarked on a journey past these foundations, thus becoming the 'pittore famoso', whom Count Cosimo the Medici visited at the end of his life. Rembrandt never stopped searching for solutions to the pictorial problems that confronted him; this led over time to radical changes that cannot simply be attributed to stylistic evolution or natural development. In a quest as rigorous and novel as the artist's, Van de Wetering reveals how Rembrandt became the revolutionary painter that would continue to fascinate the art world. This ground breaking exploration reconstructs Rembrandt's theories and methods, shedding new light both on the artist's exceptional accomplishments and on the theory and practice of painting in the Dutch Golden Age. Everyone who is interested in the art of painting should read this phenomenal book, because it was written with incredible knowledge and experience on the subject. It shows in a clear and simple way how Rembrandt worked and the things he had to take into account. At the same time it offers a fantastic sample of Rembrandt's life's work, thanks to the well-chosen selection of illustrations. David Rijser, NRC Handelsblad

* One of the best-known American sculptors of the modern period, David Smith was a pioneer of abstract sculpture. He revolutionized the possibilities of metal sculpture by introducing the industrial process of welding, enabling him to create the most extraordinarily balanced compositions - using metal 'draw in space'. Predominantly known as a sculptor, the book also sheds light on his prolific practice of drawing, sketching, writing and photographing his sculptures.

Vincent van Gogh's story is one of the most ironic in art history. Today, he is celebrated the world over as one of the most important painters of all time, recognized with sell-out shows, feted museums, and record prices of tens of millions of dollars at auction. Yet as he was painting the canvases that would subsequently become these sell-out modern masterpieces, van Gogh was battling not only the disinterest of his contemporary audiences but also devastating bouts of mental illness, with episodes of depression and paralyzing anxiety which would eventually claim his life in 1890, when he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday. This comprehensive study of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) pairs a detailed monograph on his life and art with a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings. About the series Bibliotheca Universalis - Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!