|
Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles
This title presents a civilization that never ceases to amaze
scholars, enthusiasts and the general public by providing us with
exceptional treasures. The magnificent monuments built in ancient
Egypt are world famous, just as the general public knows the names
of the most famous pharaohs in the long history of Egyptian
civilization. Publications, documentaries, magazines and films
continue to dwell on the theme of ancient Egypt, a sign of
continuing interest in the story of this great culture. But it was
only in 1822, when the ingenious intuition of the French scholar
Jean-Francois Champollion paved the way for the first decipherment
of hieroglyphs, that the thousands of inscriptions on the ancient
Egyptian monuments, steles, statues and tombs could once again bear
witness to the life, beliefs and political and economic events of
this ancient population that had lived along the banks of the Nile
and had created the most long-lived civilization in the history of
humanity. Since the late 19th century there has been an
uninterrupted series of archaeological discoveries that have
greatly increased our knowledge of the history and customs of this
great civilization. There is no doubt that the most famous and
sensational event in this regard was the tomb of the pharaoh
Tutankhamun, which Howard Carter found almost intact in 1922. This
exceptional discovery triggered a new wave of enthusiasm about
Egypt that spread in Europe and United States. Many 20th-century
and contemporary artists were inspired and continue to be inspired
by the iconographic motifs of Egyptian art. Archaeological research
is still underway and, thanks to state-of-the-art techniques and
technology, Egyptologists can clarify new aspects of the history of
this great civilization.
How to Read Bridges is a practical introduction to looking at the
structure and purpose of bridges. It is a guide to reading the
structural clues embedded in every bridge that allows their variety
and ingenuity to be better appreciated. Small enough to carry in
your pocket and serious enough to provide real answers, this
comprehensive guide analyses and explores all types of bridges from
around the world from the first millennium to the present day. The
book also explores fundamental concepts of bridge design, key
materials and engineering techniques whilst providing an accessible
visual guide with intelligent text, using detailed illustrations
and cross-sections of technical features.
Drawing from interviews conducted before Marvin Gaye's death,
acclaimed music writer David Ritz has created a full-scale portrait
of the brilliant but tormented artist. With a cast of characters
that includes Diana Ross, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie
Wonder, this intimate biography is a definitive and enduring look
at the man who embodied the very essence of the word soul.
Intermittently in and out of fashion, the persistence of the Rococo
from the eighteenth century to the twenty-first is clear. From
painting, print and photography, to furniture, fashion and film,
the Rococo's diverse manifestations appear to defy temporal and
geographic definition. In Rococo echo, a team of international
contributors adopts a wide lens to explore the relationship of the
Rococo with time. Through chapters organised around broad temporal
moments - the French Revolution, the First World War and the turn
of the twenty-first century - contributors show that the Rococo has
been viewed variously as modern, late, ruined, revived, preserved
and anticipated. Taking into account the temporality of the Rococo
as form, some contributors consider its function as both a visual
language and a cultural marker engaged in different ways with the
politics of nationalism, gender and race. The Rococo is examined,
too, as a mode of expression that encompassed and assimilated
styles, and which functioned as a surprisingly effective means of
resisting both authority - whether political, religious or artistic
- and cultural norms of gender and class. Contributors also show
how the Rococo, from its birth in France, reverberated through
England, Germany, Italy, Portugal and the South American colonies
to become a pan-European, even global movement. The Rococo emerges
from these contributions as a discourse defined but not confined by
its original historical moment, and whose adaptability to the
styles and preoccupations of later periods gives it a value and
significance that take it beyond the vagaries of fashion.
From faithful apostle and seductress to feminist icon, Mary
Magdalene's many complex roles in Christian history have fascinated
us for 2000 years. Illustrated in full colour, this visual history
reveals how images and presentations have created a Mary who is
often far different from the real woman, the first witness of the
Resurrection in the gospels, or even from her appearances in the
works of the Church Fathers. Beginning with the earliest sources,
uncover who the real Mary was, and what she meant in her own time,
before embarking on a fast-paced tour of Magdalene's depictions in
great works of art, forgotten masterpieces and contemporary visual
culture. Considering relics, statuary, paintings, sculpture and
recent works for stage and screen, discover how Mary Magdalene has
been seen across time as a witness, a sinner, a penitent, a
contemplative, a preacher and a patroness. Above all her complex
roles, Mary has emerged as a powerful feminist icon, the closest
person to Jesus himself, with a visual history as rich and varied
as the roles she has fulfilled in numerous contexts of faith and
worship for two millennia.
|
Artifice
(Paperback)
Lavinia Singer
|
R361
R293
Discovery Miles 2 930
Save R68 (19%)
|
Ships in 9 - 15 working days
|
|
Gain an understanding of and appreciation for historically
significant works of art from around the world with GARDNER'S ART
THROUGH THE AGES: A CONCISE GLOBAL HISTORY, 5E. This beautifully
illustrated tour of the world's great artistic contributions by
award-winning author Fred Kleiner is now revised and expanded to
provide all of the learning features and online study tools you
need to excel in your art history course. Easy-to-read, captivating
explanations blend with richly illustrated photographs and
architectural drawings that present the historical and cultural
context of significant images and monuments. This edition features
more illustrations and discussions of works by women and minority
artists than any other art survey text. In addition, updated and
new essays underscore how art and architecture history changes as
scholars rethink interpretations of paintings, sculptures and
buildings. More than 200 online bonus images and essays further
enrich your learning. Infuse digital resources are also available
to help keep you organized and on track.
With How to Draw Manga Furries, you'll follow the lead of five
professional Japanese artists as they show you how to bring dynamic
fantasy characters to life--on the page or on screen! Furries are
anthropomorphic characters--animals who have human traits (not to
be confused with kemonomimi, or humans with some animal features!).
They're widely popular in manga, anime and cosplay--from fan
favorites like Wolf's Rain and Lackadaisy to the newer Beastars and
BNA: Brand New Animal. The genre allows creators to be more
imaginative, freeing artists from traditional human personality
traits, actions and physical appearance. With the help of the
expert authors, you'll learn to draw: Anatomically correct furry
manga bodies, skulls, faces, appendages and tails with human
proportions Characters based on cats, dogs, wolves, foxes, goats,
birds, whales, sharks, crocodiles, dragons--and more! Furries seen
from their most powerful perspective--from muzzle to rump to
flipper tip Illustrations shown from many various angles with
different poses, positions and movements And so much more! With
this book as your guide, your imagination will run wild as you
create memorable heroes, wicked villains and compelling sidekicks
with your pen or on screen. *Recommended for artists 10 & up*
As fascinating as a real visit to the world's famous museums and
architectural sites, GARDNER'S ART THROUGH THE AGES: THE WESTERN
PERSPECTIVE gives you a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated tour
of the world's great artistic traditions--plus all the study tools
you need to excel in your art history course Easy to read and
understand, this 13th Edition of the most widely read history of
art book in the English language is the only textbook that includes
a unique "scale" feature (accompanying the book's photographs of
paintings and other artworks) that will help you better visualize
the actual size of the artworks shown in the book. Three levels of
review including extended image captions, "The Big Picture"
overviews at the end of every chapter, and a special global
timeline will help you study for your exams. You'll also find
materials that will help you master the key topics quickly in the
ArtStudy Online (a free interactive study guide that includes flash
cards of images and quizzes).
A powerful portrait of the greatest humanitarian emergency of our
time, from the director of Human Flow In the course of making Human
Flow, his epic feature documentary about the global refugee crisis,
the artist Ai Weiwei and his collaborators interviewed more than
600 refugees, aid workers, politicians, activists, doctors, and
local authorities in twenty-three countries around the world. A
handful of those interviews were included in the film. This book
presents one hundred of these conversations in their entirety,
providing compelling first-person stories of the lives of those
affected by the crisis and those on the front lines of working to
address its immense challenges. Speaking in their own words,
refugees give voice to their experiences of migrating across
borders, living in refugee camps, and struggling to rebuild their
lives in unfamiliar and uncertain surroundings. They talk about the
dire circumstances that drove them to migrate, whether war, famine,
or persecution; and their hopes and fears for the future. A wide
range of related voices provides context for the historical
evolution of this crisis, the challenges for regions and states,
and the options for moving forward. Complete with photographs taken
by Ai Weiwei while filming Human Flow, this book provides a
powerful, personal, and moving account of the most urgent
humanitarian crisis of our time.
Hominids have always been obsessed with representing their own
bodies. The first "selfies" were prehistoric negative hand images
and human stick figures, followed by stone and ceramic
representations of the human figure. Thousands of years later,
moving via historic art and literature to contemporary social
media, the contemporary term "selfie" was self-generated. The book
illuminates some "selfies". This collection of critical essays
about the fixation on the human self addresses a multi-faceted
geographic set of cultures -- the Iberian Peninsula to
pre-Columbian America and Hispanic America -- analysing such
representations from medical, literal and metaphorical perspectives
over centuries. Chapter contributions address the representation of
the body itself as subject, in both visual and textual manners, and
illuminate attempts at control of the environment, of perception,
of behaviour and of actions, by artists and authors. Other chapters
address the body as subjected to circumstance, representing the
body as affected by factors such as illness, injury, treatment and
death. These myriad effects on the body are interpreted through the
brushes of painters and the pens of authors for social and/or
personal control purposes. The essays reveal critics' insights when
"selfies" are examined through a focused "lens" over a breadth of
cultures. The result, complex and unique, is that what is viewed --
the visual art and literature under discussion -- becomes a mirror
image, indistinguishable from the component viewing apparatus, the
"lens".
|
Lives of Rubens
(Paperback)
Giovanni Baglione, Joachim Sandrart, Roger Piles; Edited by Jeremy Wood
|
R230
Discovery Miles 2 300
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
|
The brilliance of Peter Paul Rubens' career changed forever the
perceptions of painting and painters. Here was a man whose
astonishing gifts were allied to a personality so cosmopolitan,
engaging, and virtuous that he could mingle as easily with kings as
with fellow painters. Rubens' character and achievements fascinated
his contemporaries, and these three biographies of the artist show
the impact of his life and art on three very different observers.
Baglione, an Italian painter and art historian, records the
remarkable success of Rubens visits to Rome; Sandrart, a German
painter, writes on the later years of his career; and de Piles, one
of the greatest early art critics, offers an evaluation of Rubens
style that remains one of the most influential ever written.
In 1752 Charles-Joseph Natoire, then a highly successful painter,
assumed the directorship of the prestigious Academie de France in
Rome. Twenty-three years later he was removed from office,
criticised as being singularly inept. What was the basis for this
condemnation that has been perpetuated by historians ever since?
Reed Benhamou's re-evaluation of Natoire's life and work at the
Academie is the first to weigh the prevailing opinion against the
historical record. The accusations made against Charles-Joseph
Natoire were many and varied: that his artistic work was
increasingly unworthy of serious study; that he demeaned his
students; that he was a religious bigot; that he was a fraudulent
book-keeper. Benhamou evaluates these and other charges in the
light of contemporary correspondences, critics' assessment of his
work, legal briefs, royal accounts and the parallel experiences of
his precursors and successors at the Academie. The director's role
is shown to be multifaceted and no director succeeded in every
area. What is arresting is why Natoire was singled out as being
uniquely weak, uniquely bigoted, uniquely incompetent. The
Charles-Joseph Natoire who emerges from this book differs in nearly
every respect from the unflattering portrait promulgated by
historians and popular media. His increasingly iconoclastic
students rebelled against the traditional qualities valued by the
French artistic elite; the Academie went underfunded because of the
effects of war and a profligate king, and he was caught between two
competing institutional regimes. In this book Reed Benhamou not
only unravels the myth and reality surrounding Natoire, but also
also sheds light on the workings of the institution he served for
nearly a quarter of a century.
Built between 1855 and 1860, Oxford University Museum of Natural
History is the extraordinary result of close collaboration between
artists and scientists. Inspired by John Ruskin, the architect
Benjamin Woodward and the Oxford scientists worked with leading
Pre-Raphaelite artists on the design and decoration of the
building. The decorative art was modelled on the Pre-Raphaelite
principle of meticulous observation of nature, itself indebted to
science, while individual artists designed architectural details
and carved portrait statues of influential scientists. The entire
structure was an experiment in using architecture and art to
communicate natural history, modern science and natural theology.
'Temple of Science' sets out the history of the campaign to build
the museum before taking the reader on a tour of art in the museum
itself. It looks at the facade and the central court, with their
beautiful natural history carvings and marble columns illustrating
different geological strata, and at the pantheon of scientists.
Together they form the world's finest collection of Pre-Raphaelite
sculpture. The story of one of the most remarkable collaborations
between scientists and artists in European art is told here with
lavish illustrations.
Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980, Fifth Edition,
offers students and readers an introduction to recent art. The
primary focus is an examination of themes that are widespread in
contemporary artistic practice. Individual chapters analyze
thematic content in eight groupings: Identity, The Body, Time,
Memory, Place, Language, Science, and Spirituality. These eight
thematic categories provide a significant sample from which readers
can grasp influential concepts that stretch across much of the art
of our time. Profiles of key artists and works enhance student
understanding of these major themes and the individual approaches
and key movements in the world of contemporary art.
|
I Hope So: Sane Wadu
(Hardcover)
Mukami Kuria; Interview of Sane Wadu, Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo; Contributions by Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI)
|
R554
Discovery Miles 5 540
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
|
I Hope So: Sane Wadu follows the expansion and development of
Wadu’s conceptual preoccupations, beginning with an early
interest in bucolic scenes of pastoral life which has evolved into
incisive social commentary, a complex exploration of the
intersection of faith and politics, and an ongoing critique of
societal contradictions. An illuminating essay by Mukami Kuria and
an interview with Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo offer readers multiple
entry points into Wadu’s penetrating vision. This catalogue is
published on the occasion of Sane Wadu’s first retrospective
exhibition at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute in 2022.
A moment in history when verbal satire, caricature, and comic
performance exerted unprecedented influence on society, the
Enlightenment sustained a complex, though now practically
invisible, culture of visual humor. In Seeing satire in the
eighteenth century contributors recapture the unique energy of
comic images in the works of key artists and authors whose
satirical intentions have been obscured by time. From a decoding of
Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin's Livre de caricatures as a
titillating jibe at royal and courtly figures, a reinterpretation
of the man's muff as an emblem of foreignness, foppishness and
impotence, a reappraisal of F. X. Messerschmidt's sculpted heads as
comic critiques of Lavater's theories of physiognomy, to the press
denigration of William Wilberforce's abolitionist efforts, visual
satire is shown to extend to all areas of society and culture
across Europe and North America. By analysing the hidden meaning of
these key works, contributors reveal how visual comedy both
mediates and intensifies more serious social critique. The power of
satire's appeal to the eye was as clearly understood, and as widely
exploited in the Enlightenment as it is today. Includes over 80
illustrations.
This fascinating, absorbing, and beautifully illustrated work tells
the story of one small London street which played host to some of
the greatest artistic and intellectual minds of the Victorian era.
Quiet and unassuming on first glance, Tite Street in Chelsea, West
London was nevertheless one of the most influential and important
streets in the cultural life of the capital during the 19th and
20th centuries. Playing host to the likes of Oscar Wilde,John
Singer Sargent, James Whistler and Radclyffe Hall, the rich
cultural history of this street is explored in characterful and
captivating detail by acclaimed art historian Devon Cox. This
brilliant and lively biography gets inside the lives of those who
lived here, creating a vivid image of one small street which became
the beating heart of London's artistic life. Throughout its
turbulent existence, Tite Street mirrored the world around it. From
the Aesthetic movement and its challenge to Victorian values,
through the Edwardian struggle for women's suffrage, to the bombs
of the Blitz in the 1940s, it remained home to innumerable artists
and writers, socialites and suffragettes, musicians and madmen.
With beautiful and insightful writing, Cox paints a vibrant picture
of a street where artists and intellectuals flocked, exploring the
connections, rivalries and competing artistic visions of the great
minds who lived and thrived here. The Street of Wonderful
Possibilitiesreveals this complex history, tying together private
and professional lives to form a colourful tapestry of art and
intrigue, illuminating their relationships to each other, to Tite
Street and to a rapidly modernising London at the fin de siecle.
|
|