In this mesmerizing book of photography, acclaimed photographer David Liittschwager reveals the unnerving beauty of three notoriously mysterious sea creatures--the jellyfish, octopus, and seahorse--and how they perceive the world. The jellyfish, the octopus, and the seahorse are among the most wondrous species on Earth--as well as some of the most difficult to document using traditional photography methods. Enter celebrated photographer David Liittschwager, who has spent decades developing specialized portraiture techniques to capture these creatures' pulsating bioluminescence, translucent bodies, and ethereal movements. This luminous collection showcases 200 of Liittschwager's most revealing photographs, paired with penetrating essays that explain how a creature without a brain or without bones perceives the world. Bestselling science writers Elizabeth Kolbert, Jennifer Holland, and Olivia Judson explain the biology and advanced cognitive abilities of these spineless denizens of the deep, exquisitely evoking their unnerving yet undeniable charisma. In these pages, you'll glimpse a seahorse only half an inch tall, a moon jelly spinning off a snowflake-shaped clone, and the blinking comb jelly, which may be the most ancient living animal on Earth. Both enlightening and profound, this enchanting book documents the expanding frontiers of marine science, creating a powerful testament to the value and beauty of these little-seen--and endangered--species.

Fern Fever (or Pteridomania, to give it its official name), hit Britain between 1837 and 1914 and peaked between 1840 and 1890. Although in previous centuries ferns played an important role in customs and folklore, it was only in this period that they were coveted for aesthetic reasons and that man's passion for them reached its zenith.
The craze for collecting ferns reached such epidemic proportions that it affected the very existence of some species. The fern craze started to gather momentum in the 1840s; books and magazines maintained that fern growing was a hobby that anyone could enjoy as ferns would grow in the glazed fernery, garden, shady yard, window box or even indoors in Wardian Cases. The mania also spread from the living plant to depicting it in architecture and the decorative arts. Even roads, villas and terraced houses were named after the fern.
This book, the first to deal exclusively with the subject for nearly forty years, looks at the how the craze developed, the ways in which ferns were incorporated into garden and home, and the spread of the fern through Victorian material and visual culture.

The End of Landscape in Nineteenth-Century America examines the dissolution of landscape painting in the late nineteenth-century United States. Maggie M. Cao explores the pictorial practices that challenged, mourned, or revised the conventions of landscape painting, a major cultural project for nineteenth-century Americans. Through rich analysis of artworks at the genre's unsettling limits-landscapes that self-destruct, masquerade as currency, or even take flight-Cao shows that experiments in landscape played a crucial role in the American encounter with modernity. Landscape is the genre through which American art most urgently sought to come to terms with the modern world.

Ambiguity Revisited is concerned with the manner in which pictures communicate with the spectator. Its focus lies in those fluid, indeterminate spaces where our reading of images, in art and photography, exercises and draws upon our imagination, memory, and experience. Sir William Empsons seminal (1930) text: Seven Types of Ambiguity is used as a springboard to discussion, towards a fresh way of exploring ambiguity beyond English literature, and in a broader framework to that contained in John Bergers (1989) Another Way of Telling. The use of ambiguity in art and photography, as in literature, is both a conscious and an unconscious act; and ambiguity influences the way in which we respond to work, from Leonardo da Vincis portraits to the photographer William Egglestons engaging and idiosyncratic reflections on Americas Deep South. This ambiguity is a force for good, or at least one to be reckoned with, due to its participatory nature in actively engaging with, or masking itself from, the viewer. Ambiguity is infrequently discussed but is highly relevant as an expressive device. It holds a position at the core of communication within the visual arts. As society becomes influenced increasingly by communications delivered in a visual form, so we, the consumers, require tools, more than ever, to engage with the work.

In recent years, there has been intense debate about the reality behind the depiction of maritime cityscapes, especially harbours. Visualizing Harbours in the Classical World argues that the available textual and iconographic evidence supports the argument that these representations have a symbolic, rather than literal, meaning and message, and moreover that the traditional view, that all these media represent the reality of the contemporary cityscapes, is often unrealistic. Bridging the gap between archaeological sciences and the humanities, it ably integrates iconographic materials, epigraphic sources, history and archaeology, along with visual culture. Focusing on three main ancient ports - Alexandria, Rome and Leptis Magna - Federico Ugolini considers a range of issues around harbour iconography, from the triumphal imagery of monumental harbours and the symbolism of harbour images, their identification across the Mediterranean, and their symbolic, ideological and propagandistic messages, to the ways in which aspects of Imperial authority and control over the seas were expressed in the iconography of the Julio-Claudian, Trajan and Severii periods, how they reflected the repute, growth and power of the mercantile class during the Imperial era, and how the use of imagery reflected euergetism and paideia, which would inform the Roman audience about who had power over the sea.

This book highlights a century of landscape art inspired by the Mount Assiniboine area of the Canadian Rockies from 1899 to 2006. The book includes a preface by Robert Sandford and an introduction discussing the history of exploration of the region, early ascents of Mount Assiniboine, the development of tourism, and the significant art this majestic peak has inspired. Illustrations in the introduction include four black-and-white archival photos, along with five colour reproductions of Mary Vaux Walcott's stunning watercolours of wildflowers sketched in the area. The main text presents 42 colour plates illustrating a wide variety of styles and media from 23 artists including A P Coleman, Carl Rungius, James Simpson, Belmore Browne, Barbara and A C Leighton, Catharine and Peter Whyte, W J Phillips and A Y Jackson.Of these, only seven have been previously published. The colour plates are organised into three sections: approaching Assiniboine from the northwest; east of Assiniboine; and Mount Assiniboine itself. Each section is introduced with a black-and-white archival photograph and a quotation. The book concludes with a list of artists, endnotes, a full bibliography and an index.

'This is, I think, the best book on drawing animals I've seen. The sheer breadth of the coverage and the amount of detail that Tim goes into is breathtaking.' Henry Malt, Artbookreview.net 'Tim is a genius in every respect and this really could be the only book on animal drawing you'll ever need.' Paint Magazine Artist Tim Pond's lively and engaging book fuses science with art, providing you with the skills, techniques and knowledge you need to create sketches of animals filled with life and movement. Tim shows you how to observe and draw animals in zoos, farms, wildlife parks and aquariums, teaching you some fascinating facts about the animals along the way and ultimately bringing you closer to nature. One of the challenges with sketching wildlife is that animals are constantly moving. However, having some basic understanding of biology can help you capture the form, movement and ultimately the spirit of the animal in question. This combination of scientific knowledge and practical guidance is key to creating lively drawings and Tim's ability to convey this in an accessible and engaging way makes this a unique and inspiring guide.

Take your colouring to the next level by doing it with stickers instead of pencils! Each one of the 12 designs in this book has spaces for mosaic shapes that you fill in using the pages of different coloured stickers in the back, allowing you to create one-of-a-kind mosaic designs. Colour-by-sticker is a fun new way to express creativity and explore colour, and this series gives readers the freedom to create their own unique designs, no artistic ability required. Sticker Mosaics: Exotic Animals features 12 different beautiful ocean images to colour with the included 25 sheets of stickers. Whether you choose the brightly coloured macaws, a curious chameleon, or a friendly alpaca, you'll be creating a truly unique work of art that any animal lover will adore.

Choreographies of the Living explores the implications of shifting from viewing art as an exclusively human undertaking to recognizing it as an activity that all living creatures enact. Carrie Rohman reveals the aesthetic impulse itself to be profoundly trans-species, and in doing so she revises our received wisdom about the value and functions of artistic capacities. Countering the long history of aesthetic theory in the West-beginning with Plato and Aristotle, and moving up through the recent claims of "neuroaesthetics"-Rohman challenges the likening of aesthetic experience to an exclusively human form of judgment. Turning toward the animal in new frameworks for understanding aesthetic impulses, Rohman emphasizes a deep coincidence of humans' and animals' elaborations of fundamental life forces. Examining a range of literary, visual, dance, and performance works and processes by modernist and contemporary figures such as Isadora Duncan, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, and Merce Cunningham, Rohman reconceives the aesthetic itself not as a distinction separating humans from other animals, but rather as a framework connecting embodied beings. Her view challenges our species to acknowledge the shared status of art-making, one of our most hallowed and formerly exceptional activities.

Landscapes of Extraction explores the art of mining, the transformative industry of the American West, competing in sublimity and striking color with the natural scenic landscape on its own terms. These landscapes of enterprise altered the natural environment on a spectacular scale, with open pit mines, coal tipples, and oil rigs. How artists portrayed the mining industry in the American West is explored in the book with four scholarly essays. Artworks were inspired by the multiple landscapes created by large-scale mining, specifically the mines themselves, the towns that grew up around them, and the miners and their families who lived and worked there. The industry shaped communities and landscapes throughout the West: Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. Landscapes of Extraction explores a powerful regional narrative that is a fundamental element of national identity played out on a vast geographical scale.

This book debates the concept of landscape and explores particular periods and national traditions over the past 500 years of Western Landscape Art in painting, photography, garden design, Land Art, and other forms of expression. It aims to stimulate a rethinking of assumptions about landscape and art; it is partly a stock-taking, in reviewing and discussing recent theorization about landscape, and it highlights the extent to which landscape aesthetics involve a wide range of non art-historical disciplines.

Now available in a new, large single volume with an appendix also listing the modern plant names, this classic collection by "the Audubon of botany" features more than 250 exquisite reproductions of Walcott's celebrated watercolors of wildflower life in the United States of America and Canada. Published in association with the Smithsonian Institution What does it take to paint a wildflower that blooms for a single day in a deep forest? For Mary Vaux Walcott, it involved spending up to seventeen hours a day out of doors with her paintbox to capture the shape, movement, and colors of delicate petals and leaves. Originally published in 1925 to enormous acclaim in five, oversized volumes, Walcott's sketches introduced the diversity and beauty of North American plants to the general public. A selection of some of the most stunning illustrations are now available in a single volume, these illustrations have lost none of their beauty or realism. Walcott's technique involved precise attention to detail, color, light, and perspective. Her art can also be appreciated as the work of a woman scientist battling the prejudices against her sex of the day. She was an intrepid explorer, skilled geologist, and generous benefactor to the Smithsonian Institution at a time when women's accomplishments were often overlooked or misattributed. As inspirational and informative as they are a pleasure for the eyes, this bouquet of nature's fleeting gifts is a lasting treasure of botanic and scientific artistry.

An exquisitely illustrated volume in celebration of the world's foremost library of botanical works The renowned LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden counts among its holdings many of the most beautiful and pioneering botanical and horticultural works ever created. More than eight centuries of knowledge, from the twelfth century to the present, are represented in the library's collection of over one million items. In this sumptuously illustrated volume, international experts introduce us to some of the library's most fascinating works-exceedingly rare books, stunning botanical artworks, handwritten manuscripts, Renaissance herbals, nursery catalogs, explorers' notebooks, and more. The contributors hold these treasures up for close inspection and offer surprising insights into their histories and importance. The diverse materials showcased in the volume reflect the creative efforts of eminent explorers, scientists, artists, publishers, and print makers. From the rare, illuminated pages of Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia (1483), to the earliest book ever published on American insects (1797), to lovely etchings of the water gardens at Villa Pratolino in Florence (1600s), the Mertz Library holdings will inspire in readers a new appreciation for the extraordinary history of botany and its far-reaching connections to the worlds of science, books, art, and culture. A co-publication with The New York Botanical Garden

Images of working cowhands and their horses loom large in the mind's eye of many who love the American West. Those same images form the heart and soul of this lavishly illustrated book, which captures the viewpoints, values, and observations of twenty-four respected contemporary artists. The artists' own words illuminate the painting, sculpture, photography, and drawings of these award-winning, supremely creative individuals, allowing readers a glimpse into their creative processes. As Heidi Brady and Scott White demonstrate, these Western artists came to their work in a wide variety of ways. Some are studio-trained and learned to portray horses through formal classes; others simply began creating art on their own, learning through visual and tactile study of the horses they worked with each day. The two dozen artists profiled here include ranch owners, working hands, professional photographers, rodeo cowboys, art instructors, graphic designers, a saddle maker, and a former predator hunter. Readers will delight in these remarkable paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures depicting the freedom and spirit of the American West.

Elegant and beautiful, rich in history and supremely useful, birches have played an extraordinary yet largely unrecognized part in shaping both our natural environment and the material culture and beliefs of millions of people around the world. For thousands of years they have given people of the northern forests and beyond raw materials in the form of leaves, twigs, branches and bark, as well as wood and sap, not simply to survive but to flourish and express their identity in practical and spiritual ways. Tough, waterproof and flexible, birch bark has been used for everything from basketry and clothing to housing and transport, musical instruments and medicines, as well as a means to communicate and record sacred beliefs: some of our most ancient Buddhist texts and other historic documents are written on birch bark. Birches have not only shaped regional cultures - creating, for example, the Native American wigwam and the birch bark canoe - but continue to supply raw materials of global economic importance today. Birch explores the multiple uses of these versatile trees as well as the ancient beliefs and folklore with which they are associated. Richly illustrated, this book presents a fascinating overview of their cultural and ecological significance, from botany to literature and art, as Anna Lewington looks both at the history of birches and what the future may hold in store for them.