For Rene Magritte, painting was a form of thinking. Through paintings of ordinary objects rendered with illusionism, Magritte probed the limits of our perception-what we see and cannot see, the nature of representation-as a philosophical system for presenting ideas, and explored perspective as a method of visual argumentation. This book makes the claim that Magritte's painting is about vision and the act of viewing, of perception itself, and the process of how we see and experience things in the world, including paintings as things.

Many people crave a creative outlet, but more often than not, don't know where to start. In Blue, Valentina Zucchi and Viola Niccolai invite you to nurture your creativity and build your confidence by taking inspiration from modern works of art that celebrate blue, perhaps the best-loved colour of all. Discover the most important blues, ones that the all-time greatest painters have used in order to paint velvet, mountains, Madonnas, angels, skies and storms. Throughout the book, Valentina and Viola provide creative and fun prompts - many based on famous works of art - which will encourage you to draw or paint on the pages using various techniques. Packed with inspiration from the world's most celebrated artists, including the ancient Egyptians, John Constable, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Yves Klein and more, you will discover the many meanings of blue and just some of the innumerable stories that bring it to life. Blue is a short course in unlocking your creative self - perfect for budding artists of all ages who are keen to try out different artistic techniques and materials, and begin their artistic journey.

Painting, Politics and the Struggle for the Ecole de Paris, 1944-1964 is the first book dedicated to the postwar or 'nouvelle' Ecole de Paris. It challenges the customary relegation of the Ecole de Paris to the footnotes, not by arguing for some hitherto 'hidden' merit for the art and ideas associated with this school, but by establishing how and why the Ecole de Paris was a highly significant vehicle for artistic and political debate. The book presents a sustained historical study of how this 'school' was constituted by the paintings of a diverse group of artists, by the combative field of art criticism, and by the curatorial policies of galleries and state exhibitions. By thoroughly mining the extensive resources of the newspaper and art journal press, gallery and government archives, artists' writings and interviews with surviving artists and art critics, the book traces the artists, exhibitions, and art critical debates that made the Ecole de Paris a zone of aesthetic and political conflict. Through setting the Ecole de Paris into its artistic, social, and political context, Natalie Adamson demonstrates how it functioned as the defining force in French postwar art in its defence of the tradition of easel painting, as well as an international point of reference for the expansion of modernism. In doing so, she presents a wholly new perspective on the vexed relationships between painting, politics, and national identity in France during the two decades following World War II.

What makes the Book of Kells such an extraordinary example of illuminated manuscript? Why is Durer's self-portrait so iconic? How did Turner's Rain, Steam, Speed turn the art world on its head? What's so great about Jasper John's Flag? And who was Whistler's mother, anyway? Art history is filled with paintings that shocked, intrigued, enraged and mystified their audiences - paintings that exemplified the period in which they were created and forever changed the way we think. Here, one hundred examples of these icons of art are presented in beautiful, high-quality reproductions. Each double-page spread features lavish illustrations and details as well as engaging texts that explain why the painting belongs in the pantheon of world-changing art. Published in association with the Stadel Museum, Frankfurt.

For artists interested in using color in a new way, this two-part book offers a fresh, comprehensive approach to understanding color in painting. Part one starts with the basics and teaches, rung by rung, many concepts including color, value, and the use of red, yellow, and blue to build three-dimensional form. Tools given in part one form the foundation for part two's lessons in "temperature painting," an original method created by the author using warm and cool colors. The instructions are easy to follow, step by step, and fully illustrated with beautiful finished pieces by various artists and the author, an accomplished artist who teaches workshops nationally and whose commissioned portraits and paintings are in many private collections.

This title was first published in 2002: Draw ing on extensive primary research, Greg Smith describes the shifting cultural identities of the English watercolour, and the English watercolourist, at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. His convincing narrative of the conflicts and alliances that marked the history of the medium and its practitioners during this period includes careful detail about the broader artistic context within which watercolours were produced, acquired and discussed. Smith calls into question many of the received assumptions about the history of watercolour painting. His account exposes the unsatisfactory nature of the traditional narrative of watercolour painting's development into a 'high' art form, which has tended to offer a celebratory focus on the innovations and genius of individual practitioners such as Turner and Girtin, rather than detailing the anxieties and aspirations that characterized the ambivalent status of the watercolourist. The Emergence of the Professional Watercolourist is published with the assistance of the Paul Mellon Foundation.

As a great master of the early Renaissance, Piero della Francesca created paintings for ecclesiastics, confaternities, and illustrious nobles throughout the Italian peninsula. Since the early twentieth century, the rational space, abstract designs, lucid illumination and naturalistic details of his pictures have attracted wide audiences. Piero's treatises on mathematics and perspective fascinate scholars in a wide range of disciplines. This Companion brings together new essays that offer a synthesis and overview of Piero's life and accomplishments as a painter and theoretician.

Conservation of Easel Paintings, Second Edition provides a much-anticipated update to the previous edition, which has come to be known internationally as an invaluable and comprehensive text on the history, philosophy and methods of the treatment of easel paintings. Including 49 chapters written by more than 90 respected authors from around the world, this volume offers the necessary background knowledge in technical art history, artists' materials and scientific methods of examination and documentation. Later sections of the book provide information about the varying approaches and methods for treatment and issues of preventive conservation, as well as valuable reflections on storage, shipping, and exhibition. Including exciting developments that have taken place since the last edition was published, the book also covers new techniques of examination, especially MacroXRF scanning and Reflectance Transmission Imagery. Drawing on research presented at recent professional conferences, information about innovative methods for cleaning modern and contemporary paintings and insights into modern oil paints is also included. Incorporating the latest regulations and understanding of health and safety practices and integrating theory with practice throughout, Conservation of Easel Paintings, Second Edition will continue to be an indispensable reference for practicing conservators. It will also be an essential resource for students taking conservation courses around the world.

Take your plein air artwork to the next level through easy-to-understand workshop-style lessons and skill-building exercises. In Plein Air Techniques for Artists, award-winning artist and respected workshop instructor Aimee Erickson demystifies how to capture a variety of light effects and guides you in strengthening your plein air skills through practice. This accessible book covers: Materials and gear. Gain a basic knowledge of the possibilities so you can keep your options open and your plein air process fresh. Composition and value. Explore the impact of proportion, color, value, line, edges, shape, and texture. Color. Consider how knowledge and intention, your color palette, and what you see-your perspective-take turns being in charge of the color game, inventing rules and finding solutions. Light effects. Learn how conditions of the day-how much light there is, and whether it's soft, diffuse, golden, harsh, pale, or dusky-affect everything we see and how we paint. Design and the visual idea. Discover strategies for developing a visual idea, from creating serial studies to working with a camera to improvisation. Featuring exceptional still lifes, figures, and landscapes by other noted artists working in a range of mediums, Plein Air Techniques for Artists gives artists at all levels of experience the guidance they need to grow as a plein air artist. The For Artists series expertly guides and instructs artists at all skill levels who want to develop their classical drawing and painting skills and create realistic and representational art.

Artists who wish to explore the world of painting with oils en plein air will love the freshness and vibrancy of the work in this book - as well as the expert, down-to-earth advice of its author. Award-winning artist Haidee-Jo explores the appeal of working outside with oils and the enormous benefits it can bring in terms of personal well-being. She also shares her techniques to allow the reader to invest their oil artwork with light, motion and life. With dozens of Haidee-Jo's artworks to provide inspiration to the reader, and clear, step-by-step demonstrations throughout, this book provides both an expert guide to the challenges, opportunities and fun of painting outdoors; and provides an insight into the working methods of this dynamic artist.

This book examines the portrayal of themes of boundary crossing, itinerancy, relocation, and displacement in US genre paintings during the second half of the long nineteenth century (c. 1860-1910). Through four diachronic case studies, the book reveals how the high-stakes politics of mobility and identity during this period informed the production and reception of works of art by Eastman Johnson (1824-1906), Enoch Wood Perry, Jr. (1831-1915), Thomas Hovenden (1840-95), and John Sloan (1871-1951). It also complicates art history's canonical understandings of genre painting as a category that seeks to reinforce social hierarchies and emphasize more rooted connections to place by, instead, privileging portrayals of social flux and geographic instability. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, literature, American studies, and cultural geography.

Drawing on recent research by established and emerging scholars of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century art, this volume reconsiders the art and architecture produced after 1563 across the conventional geographic borders. Rather than considering this period a degraded afterword to Renaissance classicism or an inchoate proto-Baroque, the book seeks to understand the art on its own terms. By considering artists such as Federico Barocci and Stefano Maderno in Italy, Hendrick Goltzius in the Netherlands, Antoine Caron in France, Francisco Ribalta in Spain, and Bartolomeo Bitti in Peru, the contributors highlight lesser known "reforms" of art from outside the conventional centers. As the first text to cover this formative period from an international perspective, this volume casts new light on the aftermath of the Renaissance and the beginnings of "Baroque."

Learn how to create beautiful loose and expressive florals, still lifes, motifs, animals, modes of transport, and fruits and vegetables in vibrant watercolor with touches of pen and ink. In Go with the Flow Painting, author Ohn Mar Win (Instagram: @ohn_mar_win) offers beginner-friendly techniques, tips, and step-by-step lessons that show how to get the most out of these mediums and paint confidently in this captivating style. Discover a new visual language that renders subjects with soft edges and luminous color. Capture just enough detail to suggest familiar flowers, animals, and objects and allow your unique expression and style to flourish. Begin with essential supplies and learn the key characteristics of loose watercolor. Practice basic techniques that lay the foundation for this style, such as working wet-on-wet, creating color gradients, layering, and creating shapes. Learn the best way to use brushes, and explore easy methods of working with pen and ink to add striking linework and details. Step-by-step lessons show how to capture the essence of a subject without worrying about perfectly executing every detail. Learn how to paint captivating hot air balloons, tiger lilies, French macarons, a colorful chameleon, and more. Embracing this flowing approach to watercolor allows you to develop a freer style and create artwork that's alive and exciting, instead of overworked. Go with the Flow Painting also features: How to mix colors directly on paper to get unique and beautiful effects Warm-up exercises to help get into a flow state of mind Information on colors and color values, and how best to use them Ideas and inspiration for creating cards, invitations, and more Explore watercolor in a new way that will open up a new world of creativity.

This richly illustrated books tells the story of the different ways in which women were represented in Italian Renaissance painting. It is clearly arranged into four distinct areas that relate to the function of the art work: marriage furniture, portraiture, the nude and depictions of female saints. Uncovering the many layers of meaning hidden in the iconography of these paintings, the book reintroduces us to the cultural context in which the artists operated, providing interesting new readings of well-known works by Raphael, Leonardo and Titian, among others. -- .

Susan Herbert's feline versions of famous paintings have delighted cat and art-lovers everywhere. In this book, now available in paperback, she turns her eye to the works of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, whose popularity is reaching new heights today. The epitome of their style and period, these wonderful paintings can be viewed in a new and entrancing way when their protagonists are endearing cats. The Beggar Maid, `more beautiful than day' in Tennyson's poem, takes on a particularly touching relationship with King Cophetua, while Medea gives new meaning to the word enchantress as she prepares the ingredients for a spell. And were ever two creatures so frightened and so abandoned as the poor cat princes wickedly imprisoned in the Tower, or two lovers so sad and so stoical as the young officer cat and his fiancee on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo? A special feature of this book is its inclusion of small black-and-white reproductions of all the original paintings that have inspired Susan Herbert. Once again she has risen to the challenge of endowing the world's best- loved works of art with a certain feline charm.

This timely follow-up to Conway's highly successful Marine Art of Geoff Hunt (2004) presents the considerable artistic output of Britain's leading marine painter since 2003. This new volume is heavily illustrated with images ranging from large paintings to sketchbook drawings with text written by the artist himself. The new book reflects Hunt's developing career during a time in which he served a five-year term as President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists, worked on large-scale paintings such as the definitive Mary Rose,and also completed numerous outdoor sketches and paintings. The book is divided into six sections: 1. The Sea Painter's World, an introduction to the artist's studio work at Merton Place, London and his plein air work on the River Thames; 2. Home Waters; 3. The Mediterranean; 4. In the Wake of Nelson; 5. North America and 6. The West Indies and Beyond. This concept sets Geoff's work in a broadly geographical context, showcasing the artist's freer plein air style alongside the exhaustively researched maritime history paintings to which he owes his standing as Britain's leading marine artist.

As one of the first books to treat portraits of early modern women as a discrete subject, this volume considers the possibilities and limits of agency and identity for women in history and, with particular attention to gender, as categories of analysis for women's images. Its nine original essays on Italy, the Low Countries, Germany, France, and England deepen the usefulness of these analytical tools for portraiture. Among the book's broad contributions: it dispels false assumptions about agency's possibilities and limits, showing how agency can be located outside of conventional understanding, and, conversely, how it can be stretched too far. It demonstrates that agency is compatible with relational gender analysis, especially when alternative agencies such as spectatorship are taken into account. It also makes evident the importance of aesthetics for the study of identity and agency. The individual essays reveal, among other things, how portraits broadened the traditional parameters of portraiture, explored transvestism and same-sex eroticism, appropriated aspects of male portraiture to claim those values for their sitters, and, as sites for gender negotiation, resistance, and debate, invoked considerable relational anxiety. Richly layered in method, the book offers an array of provocative insights into its subject.

Originally published in 1998, The Handbook of Modern British Painting and Printmaking 1900-1990 has been designed for people who enjoy, study and buy British art. The only portable dictionary-style guide to the life and work of modern British painters and printmakers, the book provides information on some 2,000 artists, as well as entries on schools of art, on museums, galleries and collections, on societies and groups, and critics and patrons who have influenced the development of modern art in Britain. Compiled by scholars, the entries are cross-referenced and each concise biographical outline provides the relevant facts about the artist's life, a brief characterisation of the artist's work, and major bibliographic references. Wherever possible, one or two suggestions for further reading are cited.

Make incredible art with ink! * Discover the vibrant world of alcohol ink, the creative craze that's the hottest new art trend since paint pouring. * Learn everything you need to know about working with this expressive medium and how to create striking ink art. * Follow over 20 step-by-step tutorials and benefit from expert tips plus a wealth of colourful DIY inspiration. Alcohol inks have exploded onto the art scene with the rise of fluid art techniques such as paint pouring. These accessible inks can be used to create stunning abstract art, even if you're a total beginner. Through step-by-step tutorials and exercises, you'll learn everything you need to know to get started with alcohol ink and how to combine techniques into incredible, bold and colourful, abstract art. As well as paintings on paper, you'll discover inspiration and advice on using the techniques to decorate a wide range of surfaces, including ceramics, plastic, glass, wood and more to make fashion and home accessories and striking handmade gifts.

A lavishly illustrated look at the sources behind the paintings of Francis Bacon. Francis Bacon famously found inspiration in photographs, film-stills and mass-media imagery. In this new, updated edition of In Camera, Martin Harrison reveals how these sources informed some of Bacon's most important paintings and triggered decisive turning points in the artist's stylistic development. Key influences, including the masters Velazquez, Poussin and Rodin, the photographer Eadweard Muybridge and the film director Sergei Eisenstein, are given close consideration. Bacon's work is examined in relation to the precedents set by other artists working in the tradition of making use of mechanical reproductions, including Pablo Picasso and Walter Sickert, and in the context of his contemporaries Lucian Freud, Mark Rothko, Graham Sutherland and Patrick Heron. With the aid of over 270 illustrations, including valuable source images and documents, In Camera is a bravura accomplishment of original research, addressing important questions about Bacon's painting practice and shedding fresh light on his life and work.

This book provides a panoramic overview of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio's, a Baroque Genius, appropriation by popular culture. It addresses the theme of the shadow of art by drawing readers' attention to the gap between the work of art and the place it occupies.

Painting Light and Color in the Modern Landscape is a guidebook to help artists of all skill levels to create watercolors that are imbued with light and mood by working with value and color. For beginners, the basic materials and techniques are covered in detail, based largely on questions the author had when he was learning and the questions that his students ask him today. The remainder of the book is filled with practical lessons intended to advance the overall knowledge and confidence of the reader. One aspect that will be unique to this book is that the author will share personal, disastrous learning experiences with readers as a means of both encouragement and entertainment and to illustrate the point that anyone can learn, anyone can improve and anyone can master this particular subject matter. In addition to 12 individual step-by-step demonstrations , approximately 27 gallery pieces with detailed explanations of the painting techniques and concepts used to create the painting.

Detailed step-by-step lessons make it easy to create beautiful watercolor portraits! Japanese Style Watercolor Portraits takes you through each step of the watercolor portrait process, from sketching your subject to layering in the colors and rendering the fine details. Author Hiroko Shibasaki provides expert guidance on the best materials to use along with many insightful tips that every artist should know. The portraits presented in the 12 comprehensive painting tutorials express a distinctively Japanese aesthetic. The subjects in the foreground are rendered in exquisite detail, while the backgrounds are only subtly suggested. This technique places the emphasis on the masterful portraits, leaving it to the viewer's imagination to fill in the peripheral details. The lessons in this book cover all the key topics, including: Working with a model Completing the sketch Preparing and mixing paints Blocking in skin tones Rendering details such as facial features, hairstyles and clothing Blending and shading the colors And much more!

Canaletto's time in Mid-Georgian Britain has received much scholarly attention in the past. But this book places his work in a broader political and social context, linking his paintings and drawings with a growing sense of assurance and mission which the British nation was beginning to display - perhaps best represented by the works of William Hogarth.