Alexander the Great changed the face of the ancient world. During his life and after his death, his image in works of art exerted an unprecedented influence-on marbles, bronzes, ivories, frescoes, mosaics, coins, medals, even painted pottery and reliefware. Alexander's physiognomy became the most famous in history. But can we really know what meaning lies behind these images?
Andrew Stewart demonstrates that these portraits--wildly divergent in character, quality, type, provenance, date, and purpose--actually transmit not so much a "likeness" of Alexander as a set of carefully crafted cliches that mobilize the "notion" "Alexander" for diverse ends and diverse audiences. Stewart discusses the portraits as studies in power and his original interpretation of them gives unprecedented fullness and shape to the idea and image called "Alexander."

This engaging publication examines the prodigious body of work of American sculptor Manuel Neri (b. 1930) through the unique perspective of one of Neri's former students. A near-contemporary of other notable California-based artists Richard Diebenkorn and Wayne Thiebaud, Neri is best known for his large-scale figurative sculptures that combine classical figuration with the dynamic mark-making of Abstract Expressionism. The book traces the compelling yet often contradictory thematic arcs of Neri's powerful work and his greater impact on the field of sculpture. At the heart of the publication are Jock Reynolds's personal reflections on Neri and his legacy as a teacher, adding insight and intimacy to the scholarly understanding of the artist. Photographs of Neri in his studio, archival images, and installation photos of the related exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery round out the book. With its blend of art history and personal reflection, this unique book offers valuable insight into an important, understudied California artist. Distributed for the Yale University Art Gallery Exhibition Schedule: Yale University Art Gallery (03/02/18-07/08/18)

Latin Blackness in Parisian Visual Culture, 1852-1932 examines an understudied visual language used to portray Latin Americans in mid-19th to early 20th-century Parisian popular visual media. The term 'Latinize' is introduced to connect France's early 19th-century endeavors to create "Latin America," an expansion of the French empire into the Latin-language based Spanish and Portuguese Americas, to its perception of this population. Latin-American elites traveler to Paris in the 1840s from their newly independent nations were denigrated in representations rather than depicted as equals in a developing global economy. Darkened skin, etched onto images of Latin Americans of European descent mitigated their ability to claim the privileges of their ancestral heritage. Whitened skin, among other codes, imposed on turn-of-the-20th-century Black Latin Americans in Paris tempered their Blackness and rendered them relatively assimilatable compared to colonial Africans, Blacks from the Caribbean, and African Americans. After identifying mid-to-late 19th-century Latinizing codes, the study focuses on shifts in latinizing visuality between 1890-1933 in three case studies: the depictions of popular Cuban circus entertainer Chocolat; representations of Panamanian World Bantamweight Champion boxer Alfonso Teofilo Brown; and paintings of Black Uruguayans executed by Pedro Figari, a Uruguayan artist, during his residence in Paris between 1925-1933.

Perspectives on Humanity in the Fine Arts introduces students to the fine arts as expressions and reflections of the human condition. After introducing readers to the elements of each art form, the book explores specific historical periods and geographical areas and presents their arts to help readers better understand their living conditions, religion, philosophy, aspirations, failures, politics, and views on love and war. Through studying a diverse group of arts-including visual art, music, dramatic art, and dance-within a specific geographical and historical context, students experience each culture as a contemporary participant might. Areas covered include prehistory, the ancient Near East and Egypt, classical Greece and Rome, the Byzantine Empire, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, baroque, neoclassical, romantic and twentieth-century art forms, and others. The second edition features vocabulary lists at the end of each chapter, many new images, and fresh content throughout, including new material on Ancient Egyptian landscape gardening; Roman architecture; Byzantine artwork; Rococo art; neoclassic art and landscaping; romanticism in the arts; and realism. Perspectives on Humanity in the Fine Arts is intended for survey courses that cover the fine arts for non-majors.