Perspective determines how we, as viewers, perceive painting. We can convince ourselves that a painting of a bowl of fruit or a man in a room appears to be real by the ways these objects are rendered. Likewise, the trick of perspective can prevent us from being absorbed in a scene. Connecting contemporary critical theory with close readings of seventeenth-century Dutch visual culture, "The Rhetoric of Perspective" puts forth the claim that painting is a form of thinking and that perspective functions as the language of the image.
Aided by a stunning full-color gallery, Hanneke Grootenboer proposes a new theory of perspective based on the phenomenological aspects of non-narrative still-life, trompe l'oeil, and anamorphic imagery. Drawing on playful and mesmerizing baroque images, Grootenboer characterizes what she calls their "sophisticated deceit," asserting that painting is more about visual representation than about its supposed objects. Grootenboer demonstrates how these paintings--ones that are often marginalized by art historical discourse--skillfully articulate the complexities of the visual and, consequently, gain new relevance in the context of recent interest in visual theory.
Offering an original theory of perspective's impact on pictorial representation, the act of looking, and the understanding of truth in painting, Grootenboer shows how these paintings both question the status of representation and explore the limits and credibility of perception.

Turner's sketchbooks were private things which he kept to himself. They might live for some time, rolled up in his coat pockets or travel bags, to be pulled out as need arose. In the studio, they served as memory banks for future work. The sketchbook reproduced within this unique publication includes watercolour sketches Turner made on his trip to Lucerne in Switzerland capturing the beautiful Rigi mountain, a landscape he returned to again and again. Drawn back to the mountains, Turner made these sketches after the famous The Blue Rigi, Sunrise 1842, and they reveal his masterful hand as he portrays the ever changing moods of the Swiss-Alps, tantalising depicted through rainy showers, sunbeams filtering through clouds and rainbows cast across the blue mountain peaks. This edition of the sketchbook reproduces all these beautiful watercolours in facsimile, with an illustrated introduction by Turner expert David Blayney Brown discussing their background and impact.

A lavish volume in celebration of the astonishing fossils uncovered in Abu Dhabi's deserts, a region once lush, green, and teeming with now-extinct animals This lavish volume celebrates the astonishing wealth of fossils uncovered in recent decades in Abu Dhabi's desert. These prehistoric findings, around seven million years in age, record a period when the region was lush, green, and teeming with diverse mammals, all now extinct. With more than one hundred full-color photographs, including reconstructions of extinct animals, this book is both a visual delight and a unique glimpse into Arabia's ancient past. All text in the book is presented in both English and Arabic.

This calendar features illustrations from British botanist Clarence Bicknell. Nightshade, snowdrops, wild anemone, globe daisy and many more stunning plants and flowers are featured from Bicknell's A Book of Berries, a collection from the Fitzwilliam Museum. Informative text accompanies each work in this art calendar and the datepad features previous and next months views.

Rob Kesseler works in the liminal space between fine art, design, craft and science. He moves easily between disciplines to engage fully with the art and science of the world around us. From ceramics to furniture and drawing to photography, Up Close presents his most thought-provoking and beautiful works in a creative collage, arranged thematically, mixing images and texts that have inspired him, especially the exotic forms and luscious colours of the plant world.

Robert L. McGrath surveys -- often at an exhilarating pace -- the topographic and metaphoric landscape of New Hampshire's White Mountains through the artistic and tourist life of the region as it appears in paintings and illustrations. Extending from the late eighteenth to the late twentieth century, he includes by far the most extensive collection of pictorial works relating to the White Mountains to date.

Although the scenic beauty of the White Mountains attracted many of America's most significant artists during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as Thomas Cole, Frank Stella, Winslow Homer, Fernand Leger, John Marin, and Marsden Hartley, no comprehensive account of this region's rich contribution to the history of American art has ever been published.

Written in a vital, concise prose style, full of fresh insights, comparisons and juxtapositions, this study promises to command and hold the attention of anyone with an interest in the interplay of art, nature, and American culture.

LucaPancrazziisoneoftheforemostItaliancontemporary

artistsworkingtoday.Hehashadnumeroussoloexhibitons

aroundtheworld,includingamajorpresentationatthelast

MoscowBiennale.

Thisnewworkformspartofanimportantforthcoming

exhibitonatGalerieAndreaCaratsch,Zurich.

Entitled'StillLife'theexhibitionpresentsaseriesof

monochromaticpaintings,largelyofpropsandcornersin

hisstudioandworkingenvironment,paintedusingadetailed

semi-pointillismtechniquethatfromafarrevealsthesubtle

recreationsofbrushes,skulls,jarsandworksurfaces.

LucaPancrazzi'spointofviewturnsupsidedownnormal

visions,hestimulatesourfantasyalongroutesandthoughts

aboutthepresent."Nothinginthisworldiscompletelyidentical

forthereasonthattwobodiescannottakeuponeandthesame

place.Eachbodyisidenticaltoitselfonly."Thesewordsofthe

FlorentinemathematicianCorradoBrodgicanbetakenasan

Chelsea Physic Garden was founded by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in 1673 as a resource providing plant material for the training of apothecaries. For most of its existence, the Garden has been a focus for botanists, taxonomists, students and horticulturists both for employing their skills and in training the next generation. These activities have been supported by the work of plant illustrators. It is the purpose of this book to display the work of talented late twentieth- and early twenty-first century botanical artists, members of Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society, whose explicit aim is to illustrate plants in cultivation in the Garden. In 1995 the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society was co-founded by Margaret King and Wendy Page. It is a group of artists, the first cohort of which had been studying for a Diploma in botanical illustration at the English Gardening School at Chelsea Physic Garden. Botanical Illustration from Chelsea Physic Garden includes selected works from the garden's archive, which now totals about 500 works.The seventy-eight illustrations reproduced include one in pen-and-ink and three in graphite (lead pencil), all examples of work by masters of their technique. Also included is one work in coloured pencil which is, even on close inspection, indistinguishable from the best water-colour painting. The plates are accompanied by notes about the uses of the plants, as well as the botanical name of the plant and its family.

This new book offers a single, encompassing view of the development of landscape painting, photography, and land art in Britain from the eighteenth through to the late twentieth century. It reveals the strong continuity between British landscape art of today and that of over 250 years ago, with works by J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough, John Piper, David Nash, and Richard Long, amongst many others.

Tim Barringer is Paul Mellon Professor of the History of Art, Yale University.

Oliver Fairclough is Keeper of Art, National Museum of Wales.

The artist Mark Hearld finds his inspiration in the flora and fauna of the British countryside: a blue-eyed jay perched on an oak branch; two hares enjoying the spoils of an allotment; a mute swan standing at the frozen water's edge; and a sleek red fox prowling the fields. Hearld admires such twentieth-century artists as Edward Bawden, John Piper, Eric Ravilious and Enid Marx, and, like them, he chooses to work in a range of media - paint, print, collage, textiles and ceramics. Workbook is the first collection of Hearld's beguiling art. The works are grouped into nature-related themes introduced by Hearld, who narrates the story behind some of his creations and discusses his influences. He explains his particular love of collage, which he favours for its graphic quality and potential for strong composition. Art historian Simon Martin contributes an essay on Hearld's place in the English popular-art tradition, and also meets Hearld in his museum-like home to explore the artist's passion for collecting objects, his working methods and his startling ability to view the wonders of the natural world as if through a child's eyes.

Known worldwide for his architecture and interior designs, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was also an extremely gifted painter. Towards the end of his life, he gave up his principal career as an architect and moved to the south of France where he devoted himself to painting in watercolour. Meticulously executed and brilliantly coloured, these landscape watercolours are conceived with a sense of design and an eye for pattern in nature, which owes much to his brilliance as an architect and designer. This book charts Mackintosh's time in France and explores his career as a landscape painter, placing his work in the context of the modern movement. The forty-four paintings Mackintosh is known to have completed while in France are illustrated, and are supported by documentary photographs of the places he painted as well as extracts from his letters written to his wife and friends. This new, revised edition of an enduringly popular title on one of Scotland's best-loved artists contains a new foreword by the Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland, Sir John Leighton, and will feature a new cover design, updated to feature the popular flexicover binding.

Find Your Way to Pennsylvania's Most Beautiful Waterfalls Waterfalls create a feeling of serenity, a sense of restrained power. Their grandeur takes our breath away. Their gentle sounds complement periods of meditation. Let award-winning photographer and creator of Pennsylvania's most read travel blog Jim Cheney guide you to more than 180 of the top-ranked waterfalls in the state. Your bucket list should include these gorgeous locales that decorate Pennsylvania's landscape. The waterfalls are organized geographically and ranked by beauty. Entries include all the information you need, like directions, distance, and hike difficulty, as well as details about each waterfall, such as height, width, and the best time of year to visit. Not-to-miss sights and nearby activities are also called out, so you can make the most of every outing. Plus, Jim's incomparable photography makes this guidebook worthy of any coffee table. From the towering falls of the Poconos to the scenic gems of the Laurel Highlands and everywhere in between, experience them all with this wonderful guidebook. These natural wonders prove that the Keystone State is home to some of the most picturesque sites in America!

Wide, breathtaking landscapes; crystal-clear, blue lakes; high, snow-covered mountain peaks; but also wild grizzlies, buffalos, mustangs and rare animal species: this is North America. With nearly 60 national parks, the United States is preserving a living monument to the continent's pristine nature in an effort to make it accessible to everyone. This volume presents 32 parks in Western and Southern USA and the Pacific Islands.

Get up close to the beauty and detail of nature through the artwork of award-winning UK artist, Julia Trickey. See how ordinary and sometimes overlooked subjects, such as leaves and fading flowers, can be centre stage and come to life in this beautiful showcase of some of Julia's best-loved botanical watercolours. Having been a tutor of botanical art for many years, teaching as far afield as Moscow and New York, Julia loves to help others explore the potential of watercolour and to discover the keys to a good botanical portrait. In this book she shares some of these insights as well as the motivation behind some of her favourite projects, together with the process and watercolour techniques involved. Take inspiration from these glowing, contemporary watercolours in a book that is both beautiful and useful.

Extensive journeys in Britain and continental Europe provided an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the visionary colour composi-tions of J. M. William Turner. In Switzerland he experienced the beauty and menace of the Alps, and by the sea the colourful harmonies of the diffuse light. The publication presents an incomparably original artist on his route to autonomy in art. The temporary peace on the continent from 1802 enabled the London artist to extend his search for motifs to Central Europe. In particular he travelled through the mountain world of Switzerland, constantly sketching his impressions. Back in his studio, he developed the unique imagery of his sublime landscape paintings. Through pictures which tell of the forces of nature of the sea and of the Swiss mountain landscapes, the authors examine the change in the portrayal of the "sublime", the subject of weather phenomena and Turner's role as the forerunner of Modernism, while Cees Nooteboom reflects on Turner and travel.

Overleaf is a delightful and thought provoking book dedicated to foliage. Susan Ogilvy's 74 delicate and delightful paintings are a study of that most obvious but smallest coherent part of a tree - the leaf. The paintings of both sides of the leaves of 37 trees found across the temperate regions of Europe and North America are uncluttered and beautiful portraits that will appear akin to everlasting pressing. Richard Ogilvy's thought provoking text reflects on the wonderful, detail complexity of our woodlands and forest. For each tree he has penned a concise portrait - how it relates to the environment, how big it grows, how fast it grows, where it grows, the dependent birds, insects and fungi, the mythology, and the uses we make of the timber.