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Books > Arts & Architecture > Art forms, treatments & subjects > Art treatments & subjects > Individual artists
'The day after my 35th birthday, I had a near death experience,
caused by a sudden brain haemorrhage. Ironically, this brush with
death became the conduit for the most powerful healing in my life.
I connected to an eternal light which, I came to realise, is
available to us all should we choose it. My wish for you in reading
this book is to feel this loving light, peace and joy in your life
now. The question is: how brightly do you wish to shine?' Roisin
Fitzpatrick In this ground-breaking book, Roisin Fitzpatrick takes
the reader on the remarkable journey of her near death experience,
and shares how we can all integrate the light and love of the
afterlife into our daily existence. In doing so, she lends fresh
insight into our ancient Irish myths and stone monuments,
connecting our past, present and future to this powerful eternal
light. Taking Heaven Lightly is a book to be cherished by all those
who wish to embrace and enjoy a meaningful life. 'A brilliant book
with an unforgettable message' Dr Chrisine Ranck, co-author of the
bestselling Ignite the Genius Within
Sue Clyne is emerging as the UK's leading fantasy artist. She grew
up in the Norfolk countryside of rolling hills and woodlands. Her
school books were littered with doodles and sketches in margins and
on pages. She remains an intuitive artist. She has taken her lead
from a varied selection of great artists including Josephine Wall,
the late Susan Seddon Boulet and Salavador Dali.
Jonathan Richardson (1667-1745) was one of 18th-century England's
most significant cultural figures. A leading portrait painter and
influential art theorist, he also amassed one of the period's
greatest collections of drawings. But there was another, highly
unusual dimension to his pursuits. In 1728, at the age of 61 and
shortly before his retirement from professional life, Richardson
began to create a remarkable series of self-portrait drawings. Not
intended for public display, these works were unguarded
explorations of his own character. In one of the most astonishing
projects of self-examination ever undertaken by an artist, for over
a decade Richardson repeatedly drew his own face. His self-portrait
drawings are usually dated precisely, and they document, from month
to month, his changing state of mind as much as his appearance.
Many were drawn in chalks on large sheets of blue paper, from his
reflection in the mirror. Some of these are bold and
psychologically penetrating, while others, in which he regards his
ageing features with gentle but unflinching scrutiny, are deeply
touching. A further group of self-portraits is drawn with graphite
on small sheets of fine vellum, and in these Richardson often
presents himself in inventive and humorous ways, such as in
profile, all'antica, as though on the face of a coin or medal; or
crowned with bays, like a celebrated poet. Sometimes, too, he
copies his image from oil paintings made decades earlier, in order
to recall his appearance as a younger man. In this extraordinary
series of self-portraits, Richardson offers a candid insight into
his mind and personality. Together, these drawings create nothing
less than a unique and compelling visual autobiography. This
publication - which accompanies the first ever exhibition devoted
to Richardson's self-portrait drawings, held in the new Gilbert and
Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery at the Courtauld - tells the story
of these remarkable works Jonathan Richardson (1667-1745) was one
of 18th-century England's most significant cultural figures. A
leading portrait painter and influential art theorist, he also
amassed one of the period's greatest collections of drawings. But
there was another, highly unusual dimension to his pursuits. In
1728, at the age of 61 and shortly before his retirement from
professional life, Richardson began to create a remarkable series
of self-portrait drawings. Not intended for public display, these
works were unguarded explorations of his own character. In one of
the most astonishing projects of self-examination ever undertaken
by an artist, for over a decade Richardson repeatedly drew his own
face. His self-portrait drawings are usually dated precisely, and
they document, from month to month, his changing state of mind as
much as his appearance. Many were drawn in chalks on large sheets
of blue paper, from his reflection in the mirror. Some of these are
bold and psychologically penetrating, while others, in which he
regards his ageing features with gentle but unflinching scrutiny,
are deeply touching. A further group of self-portraits is drawn
with graphite on small sheets of fine vellum, and in these
Richardson often presents himself in inventive and humorous ways,
such as in profile, all'antica, as though on the face of a coin or
medal; or crowned with bays, like a celebrated poet. Sometimes,
too, he copies his image from oil paintings made decades earlier,
in order to recall his appearance as a younger man. In this
extraordinary series of self-portraits, Richardson offers a candid
insight into his mind and personality. Together, these drawings
create nothing less than a unique and compelling visual
autobiography. This publication - which accompanies the first ever
exhibition devoted to Richardson's self-portrait drawings, held in
the new Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery at the Courtauld
- tells the story of these remarkable works and puts them into the
context of his other activities at this period of his life - in
particular the self-searching poems he wrote during the same years
and often on the same days as he made the drawings. An introductory
essay is followed by focused discussions of each work in the
exhibition. This part of the book explores the materials and
techniques Richardson used, whether working in chalks on a large
scale or creating exquisitely refined drawings on vellum. It will
also reveal how Richardson modeled some of his portraits on old
master prints and drawings, including works in his own collection
by Rembrandt and Bernini. The publication brings together the
Courtauld Gallery's fine collection of Richardson's drawings with
key works in the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and
the Fitzwilliam Museum.
The paintings are grouped under various headings to take the reader
through specific visual experiences beginning with some of the
artist's tools, colour palettes and showing the development of
texture. Seascapes and shorelines are the first stop, going through
to the moors,hills and beyond.
The work of counterculture artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster, whose
art is a complex punk-rock take on modern consumer culture.
Enormous neon signs, intricate silhouette portraits constructed of
trash heaps, and a work titled Instant Gratification: British
artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster thrive on the thrills of
illumination, love, language, shadows, garbage, and cash. "British
Rubbish" showcases their work in all its splashy glory. Their art
evokes both gaudy Vegas culture and down-and-dirty punk rock: a
combination of cynical extravagance and a defiant, rebellious
sensibility. Extravagant, irreverent, sometimes coarse, and always
sharply clever, "British Rubbish" is both a paean to and sly
denunciation of conspicuous consumption.
An illustrated biography, this book is the life story of Rachel
Cassels Brown, children's illustrator and etcher.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A burst of springtime joy' Daily
Telegraph 'A springboard for ideas about art, space, time and
light' The Times 'Lavishly illustrated' Guardian David Hockney
reflects upon life and art as he experiences lockdown in rural
Normandy On turning eighty, David Hockney sought out rustic
tranquility for the first time: a place to watch the sunset and the
change of the seasons; a place to keep the madness of the world at
bay. So when Covid-19 and lockdown struck, it made little
difference to life at La Grande Cour, the centuries-old Normandy
farmhouse where Hockney set up a studio a year before, in time to
paint the arrival of spring. In fact, he relished the enforced
isolation as an opportunity for even greater devotion to his art.
Spring Cannot be Cancelled is an uplifting manifesto that affirms
art's capacity to divert and inspire. It is based on a wealth of
new conversations and correspondence between Hockney and the art
critic Martin Gayford, his long-time friend and collaborator. Their
exchanges are illustrated by a selection of Hockney's new,
unpublished Normandy iPad drawings and paintings alongside works by
van Gogh, Monet, Bruegel, and others. We see how Hockney is
propelled ever forward by his infectious enthusiasms and sense of
wonder. A lifelong contrarian, he has been in the public eye for
sixty years yet remains entirely unconcerned by the view of critics
or even history. He is utterly absorbed by his four acres of
northern France and by the themes that have fascinated him for
decades: light, colour, space, perception, water, trees. He has
much to teach us, not only about how to see... but about how to
live.
This catalogue accompanies the first exhibition devoted to a
fascinating group of drawings by the Anglo-Swiss Henry Fuseli
(1741-1825), one of eighteenth-century Europe's most idiosyncratic,
original and controversial artists. Best known for his notoriously
provocative painting The Nightmare, Fuseli energetically cultivated
a reputation for eccentricity, with vividly stylised images of
supernatural creatures, muscle-bound heroes, and damsels in
distress. While these convinced some viewers of the greatness of
his genius, others dismissed him as a charlatan, or as completely
mad. Fuseli's contemporaries might have thought him even crazier
had they been aware that in private he harboured an obsessive
preoccupation with the figure of the modern woman, which he pursued
almost exclusively in his drawings. Where one might have expected
idealised bodies with the grace and proportions of classical
statues, here instead we encounter figures whose anatomies have
been shaped by stiff bodices, waistbands, puff ed sleeves, and
pointed shoes, and whose heads are crowned by coiffures of the most
bizarre and complicated sort. Often based on the artist's wife
Sophia Rawlins, the women who populate Fuseli's graphic work tend
to adopt brazenly aggressive attitudes, either fixing their gaze
directly on the viewer or ignoring our presence altogether. Usually
they appear on their own, in isolation on the page; sometimes they
are grouped together to form disturbing narratives, erotic
fantasies that may be mysterious, vaguely menacing, or overtly
transgressive, but where women always play a dominant role. Among
the many intriguing questions raised by these works is the extent
to which his wife Sophia was actively involved in fashioning her
appearance for her own pleasure, as well as for the benefit of her
husband. By bringing together more than fi fty of these studies
(roughly a third of the known total), The Courtauld Gallery will
give audiences an unprecedented opportunity to see one of the
finest Romantic-period draughtsmen at his most innovative and
exciting. Visitors to the show and readers of the lavishly
illustrated catalogue will further be invited to consider how
Fuseli's drawings of women, as products of the turbulent aftermath
of the American and French Revolutions, speak to concerns about
gender and sexuality that have never been more relevant than they
are today. The exhibition showcases drawings brought together from
international collections, including the Kunsthaus in Zurich, the
Auckland Art Gallery in New Zealand, and from other European and
North American institutions.
Enter the fantastic fantasy world of epic doodler Kerby Rosanes in
his creepiest collection yet. From skulls that morph into
butterflies to clockwork dragons and vine-entangled pumpkins -
there's plenty of gothic-inspired scenes and creatures to bring to
life in colour. As an extra challenge, seek out the search items at
the back of the book - there's more to discover within these pages
than you ever dreamed possible. On top of the success of
Animorphia, Imagimorphia and Mythomorphia, Kerby's detailed doodle
skills have already earned him a solid fan base. His Sketchy
Stories Facebook page has more than 1,000,000 likes, he has had
275,000 project views on Behance and his incredible website
(www.kerbyrosanes.com) is getting more hits by the day. Other books
in the colouring series include: 9781910552070 Animorphia
9781910552148 Imagimorphia 9781910552261 Mythomorphia 9781910552926
Geomorphia
Brett Charles Seiler lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa,
where he also graduated from the Ruth Prowse School of Art in 2015.
Seiler's work has elements of painting, installation, and object
art, with a strong emphasis on the use of text and language.
Sometimes poetic, nostalgic, or romantic, it is an integral part of
his art or stands on its own as a piece as well. In his paintings,
the space is indeterminate, the figures are not located and
sketchily fleeting, the writing elements seem spontaneous like
statements from street art. The colour scheme moves in a narrow
spectrum between black, grey, white and brown tones, often using
wood. His themes are sexual interaction, oppression, homosexuality,
gender, men. Originally from Zimbabwe, a state where human rights
violations are commonplace, his work also makes a mark in the
struggle for equal sexual orientation in education, media, and
institutions. "[My work] is a deep longing for understanding. It is
from the point of view of something that I've missed, something
that I cannot go back to. It's a process of research." Text in
English and German.
This monograph brings together the work of artist David Medalla.
Born in Manila, in the Philippines in 1942, and based since 1960
mainly in London, Medalla has distinguished himself internationally
as an innovator of the avant-garde. His work has embraced a
multitude of enquiries and enthusiasms, forms and formats, to
express a singular yet deeply coherent vision of the world.
The first substantial overview of Newling's mysterious, intriguing,
and often beautiful works.
Known for his grand public murals, Diego Rivera (1886-1957) is one
of Mexico's most revered artists. His paintings are marked by a
unique fusion of European sophistication, revolutionary political
turmoil, and the heritage and personality of his native country.
Based on extensive interviews with the artist, his four wives
(including Frida Kahlo), and his friends, colleagues, and
opponents, The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera captures Rivera's
complex personality--sometimes delightful, frequently infuriating
and always fascinating--as well as his development into one of the
twentieth century's greatest artist.
Life of Newlyn/St Ives artist famed for his paintings of animals
and birds.
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