No other artist, apart from J. M. W. Turner, tried as hard as Claude Monet (1840-1926) to capture light itself on canvas. Of all the Impressionists, it was the man Cezanne called "only an eye, but my God what an eye!" who stayed true to the principle of absolute fidelity to the visual sensation, painting directly from the object. It could be said that Monet reinvented the possibilities of color. Whether it was through his early interest in Japanese prints, his time as a conscript in the dazzling light of Algeria, or his personal acquaintance with the major painters of the late 19th century, the work Monet produced throughout his long life would change forever the way we perceive both the natural world and its attendant phenomena. The high point of his explorations was the late series of water lilies, painted in his own garden at Giverny, which, in their approach toward almost total formlessness, are really the origin of abstract art. This biography does full justice to this most remarkable and profoundly influential artist, and offers numerous reproductions and archive photos alongside a detailed and insightful commentary. About the series Bibliotheca Universalis - Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!

'The best novel I have read for ages. My heart was constantly in my throat as I read . . . There is so much to enjoy, to contemplate, to wonder at, and to be lost in' Stephen Fry 'Meticulous and atmospheric . . . delicious unease and pervasive threat give this assured first novel great singularity and a kind of gothic edge' Michael Donkor, Guardian Cambridge, 1994. Professor Don Lamb is a revered art historian at the height of his powers, consumed by the book he is writing about the skies of the Venetian master Tiepolo. However, his academic brilliance belies a deep inexperience of life and love. When an explosive piece of contemporary art is installed on the lawn of his college, it sets in motion Don's abrupt departure from Cambridge to take up a role at a south London museum. There he befriends Ben, a young artist who draws him into the anarchic 1990s British art scene and the nightlife of Soho. Over the course of one long, hot summer, Don glimpses a liberating new existence. But his epiphany is also a moment of self-reckoning, as his oldest friendship - and his own unexamined past - are revealed to him in a devastating new light. As Don's life unravels, he suffers a fall from grace that that shatters his world into pieces. 'A novel that combines formal elegance with gripping storytelling . . . wildly enjoyable' Financial Times 'Tiepolo Blue really has blown me away . . . The last debut novel I read that had this much talent buzzing around inside it was Alan Hollinghurst's The Swimming-Pool Library.' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

First published in 1935, this book was intended to provide westerners with a more definite and comprehensive understanding of Chinese Art and its achievements. Newly available opportunities to study authentic examples, such as the Royal Academy exhibition that provided the impetus for this volume, allowed for greater opportunities to conduct in-depth examination than had previously been possible. Following an introduction giving an overview of Chinese art and its history in the west, six chapters cover painting and calligraphy, sculpture and lacquer, 'the potter's art', bronzes and cloisonne enamel, jades, and textiles - supplemented by a chronology of Chinese epochs, a selected bibliography and 25 images.

Before Modernism, narrative painting was one of the most acclaimed and challenging modes of picture-making in Western art, yet by the early twentieth century storytelling had all but disappeared from ambitious art. France was a key player in both the dramatic rise and the controversial demise of narrative art. This is the first book to analyse French painting in relation to narrative, from Poussin in the early seventeenth to Gauguin in the late nineteenth century. Thirteen original essays shed light on key moments and aspects of narrative and French painting through the study of artists such as Nicolas Poussin, Charles Le Brun, Jacques-Louis David, Paul Delaroche, Gustave Moreau, and Paul Gauguin. Using a range of theoretical perspectives, the authors study key issues such as temporality, theatricality, word-and-image relations, the narrative function of inanimate objects, the role played by viewers, and the ways in which visual narrative has been bound up with history painting. The book offers a fresh look at familiar material, as well as studying some little-known works of art, and reveals the centrality and complexity of narrative in French painting over the course of three centuries.

This beautifully illustrated book explores the opinions of artists, critics and others involved with arts or crafts, arguing for a theory that considers the different discursive formations and related strategic practices of an art world. Focusing on Orissan patta paintings in India the author examines the local, regional and national discourses involved. In so doing, the text demonstrates that, while painters' local discourses are characterised by pragmatism, the discourses of regional and especially national elites are concerned with the exegesis of local paintings and their association with the great Sanskrit tradition A central theme of the study focuses on the awards given for skill in craft making and their changing significance as they pass from national and regional elites to local painters. It is shown how certain key actions by local painters result from a clash between local discourses on the one hand and regional and national discourses on the other.

By uniquely treating Gerhard Richter's entire oeuvre as a single subject, Darryn Ansted combines research into Richter's first art career as a socialist realist with study of his subsequent decisions as a significant contemporary artist. Analysis of Richter's East German murals, early work, lesser known paintings, and destroyed and unfinished pieces buttress this major re-evaluation of Richter's other well known but little understood paintings. By placing the reader in the artist's studio and examining not only the paintings but the fraught and surprising decisions behind their production, Richter's methodology is deftly revealed here as one of profound yet troubled reflection on the shifting identity, culture and ideology of his period. This rethinking of Richter's oeuvre is informed by salient analyses of influential theorists, ranging from Theodor Adorno to Slavoj Zizek, as throughout, meticulous visual analysis of Richter's changing aesthetic strategies shows how he persistently attempts to retrace the border between an objective reality structured by ideology and his subjective experience as a contemporary painter in the studio. Its innovative combination of historical accuracy, philosophical depth and astute visual analysis will make this an indispensible guide for both new audiences and established scholars of Richter's painting.

"I always thought I would get into painting, but I got waylaid by rock 'n' roll. Finally, I thought, 'Now's the time.' As soon as I could be alone and paint without any interruptions, I just couldn't stop." – Chrissie Hynde

"These paintings wake me up, show me life, make me want to get up and do something." – Brian Eno

"The fact that Chrissie is a great musician doesn’t undermine her painting; it underpins it…" – Tim Marlow

In 2015, Chrissie Hynde, the singer, songwriter and leader of The Pretenders, produced an oil painting of a ceramic vase. It proved to be the starting point for Chrissie Hynde’s first body of work, nearly 200 canvases in all. These paintings are now shared for the very first time in Adding The Blue.

Beginning with still life studies and culminating in vibrant abstract compositions, Adding The Blue is a beautiful book of paintings that reveals Chrissie Hynde as an artist as passionate about her painting as her music.

With forewords by visionary musician and artist, Brian Eno, and The Royal Academy’s Artistic Director, Tim Marlow, Adding The Blue is captioned throughout with Chrissie Hynde’s thoughts, anecdotes and reflections.

Published in hardback the front cover features the work,'Tuesday Self-Portrait'

Exploring the rich variety of pictorial rhetoric in early modern northern European genre images, this volume deepens our understanding of genre's place in early modern visual culture. From 1500 to 1700, artists in northern Europe pioneered the category of pictures now known as genre, portrayals of people in ostensibly quotidian situations. Critical approaches to genre images have moved past the antiquated notion that they portray uncomplicated 'slices of life,' describing them instead as heavily encoded pictorial essays, laden with symbols that only the most erudite contemporary viewers and modern iconographers could fully comprehend. These essays challenge that limiting binary, revealing a more expansive array of accessible meanings in genre's deft grafting of everyday scenarios with a rich complex of experiential, cultural, political, and religious references. Authors deploy a variety of approaches to detail genre's multivalent relations to older, more established pictorial and literary categories, the interplay between the meaning of the everyday and its translation into images, and the multifaceted concerns genre addressed for its rapidly expanding, unprecedentedly diverse audience.

Jim Cromartie first came to Nantucket as a college student, but for the past 35 years he has called the island home. As a young artist, his major patron was the late Nelson Rockefeller, who introduced him to the world of art and started him on the path to becoming a major realistic painter at a time when abstract art was the norm. Other patrons have included Tom Brokaw of NBC News, the late Roger Firestone of Firestone Tires, and the late Princess Diana of Great Britain.His work introduced the style of Hard-Edge Realism that is created in acrylic paint on wood panel and which depicts all objects in the composition in exquisite detail. The resulting work is both dynamic and serene in a style reminiscent of those of Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth, whose work Jim admired immensely. As a lone-wolf realistic painter in a world gone wild over abstract art, Jim often felt overwhelmed but never quit his crusade to bring realism back to the forefront of art.The perfection of realism led him to a parallel career as a painter of historical buildings. Principal among his historical works are "The U.S. Capitol," the "White House," and the "Supreme Court." This new book tells his story in the first person, tracing the trials and joys of an artist struggling to find his style and acceptance in the world. It is a story told with wit and humor, and is sure to entertain, at the same time as it provides insight into the development of a significant contemporary artist. It is heavily illustrated with 73 color reproductions of Jim's work, representing both finished works and some of Jim's preparatory watercolor sketches.

David Hockney's continuing belief in the importance of the portrait and his virtuoso skill in creating a sense of close communication between artist, sitter and viewer has resulted in some of the best-loved works of the postwar era. From the 1950s on, Hockney's most persistent subject matter, in paintings, drawings, collages and photoworks, has been of people usually very close to him, as well as of himself. These works are narratives of autobiographical relationships: they reflect the intimate and often intense stories of this artist's life. They also explore different formal ways of representing the passage of time and at the same time the unavoidable but marvellous stillness of portraits. The works include fascinating sequences as he paints his mother or Henry Geldzahler or Celia Birtwell on and off for decades; the special qualities attached to depictions of lovers; and the range of celebrities, writers and artists - Billy Wilder, Armistead Maupin, W.H. Auden, Henry Moore, Christopher Isherwood - who have been part of a very full life. The text by a distinguished European critic and curator reinforces the point that this hugely popular English-born artist, who made America his second home, has become a figure of worldwide appeal.

A companion volume to Lessons in Classical Drawing that breaks down the foundational skills and techniques of painting in a format that is accessible and manageable for all readers. With the same direct, easy-to-follow approach of Juliette Aristides's previous books, Lessons in Classical Painting presents aspiring artists with the fundamental skills and tools needed to master painting in the atelier style. With more than 15 years of experience in ateliers and as an art instructor, Aristides pairs personal examples and insights with theory, assignments and demonstrations for readers, discussions of technical issues and inspirational quotes. After taking a bird's eye look at painting as a whole, Aristides breaks down painting into big-picture topics like grisaille, temperature, colour and composition, demonstrating how these key subjects can be applied by all painters.

This is a detailed study of the illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah, in which twenty discourses are followed by a brief parable, and four romances. Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) lived the greater part of adventurous life in Delhi; he composed in Persian, and also in Hindi. From the point of view of manuscript illustration, his most important work is his Khamsah (Quintet'). Khusrau's position as a link between cultures of Persia and India means that the early illustrated copies of the Khamsah have a particular interest. The first extant exemplar is from the Persian area in the late 14th century, but a case can be made that work was probably illustrated earlier in India.

Vincent van Gogh's story is one of the most ironic in art history. Today, he is celebrated the world over as one of the most important painters of all time, recognized with sell-out shows, feted museums, and record prices of tens of millions of dollars at auction. Yet as he was painting the canvases that would subsequently become these sell-out modern masterpieces, van Gogh was battling not only the disinterest of his contemporary audiences but also devastating bouts of mental illness, with episodes of depression and paralyzing anxiety which would eventually claim his life in 1890, when he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday. This comprehensive study of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) pairs a detailed monograph on his life and art with a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings. About the series Bibliotheca Universalis - Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!

Chinese brush painting is a traditional style of painting that has evolved over many centuries. Artists use ink and colour pigments to paint onto rice paper or silk. An important characteristic of this kind of painting is holding and directing the brush in the right way to produce strokes that are delicate and refined. The four co-authors of this book - Sun Chenggang, Ning Xiangying, Ning Jialu and Miao Hongbo - are particularly gifted proponents of this style, which has connections with traditional calligraphy. Chinese brush painting typically includes themes such as birds, plants and flowers, landscapes, fruit and vegetables and fish. This book explores these themes through the four seasons, with the peony depicted in spring, the lotus flower in summer, the vegetable harvest in autumn and the bamboo bud in winter. Many of the subjects are symbolic and have connotations of good fortune, auspiciousness, good health, a long life, a good harvest, a flourishing family, wealth - even immortality! Explained in the introduction to each project, the symbolism is followed by clear, step-by-step instructions and illustrations. There is a short section at the beginning of the book describing tools, materials and techniques to help readers achieve the almost ethereal beauty and delicacy of this style of painting.

Artists & Illustrators magazine's Book of the Month Taking inspiration from iconic paintings in the Tate collection, discover the techniques of the masters and improve your own painting skills with 30 guided projects. As you work through the exercises, you'll learn how to work 'wet into wet' with Maggi Hambling, master colour temperature with John Singer Sargent and create rhythm and unity in your paintings with John Nash. Whether you are looking to reinvigorate your watercolour practice with new techniques, try your hand at a wide variety of painting styles, or discover a new, inspiring master of the art, this book offers something new for every watercolourist.

Acrylic painting with the pros! Get the basics and expand on your skillset with 24 projects featuring various techniques, modern motifs, and abstract image ideas.

From its establishment in 1648 until its disbanding in 1793 after the French Revolution, the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture was the centre of the Parisian art world. Taking the reader behind the scenes of this elite bastion of French art theory, education, and practice, this engaging study uncovers the fascinating histories - official and unofficial - of that artistic community. Through an innovative approach to portraits - their values, functions, and lives as objects - this book explores two faces of the Academie. Official portraits grant us insider access to institutional hierarchies, ideologies, rituals, customs, and everyday experiences in the Academie's Louvre apartments. Unofficial portraits in turn reveal hidden histories of artists' personal relationships: family networks, intimate friendships, and bitter rivalries. Drawing on both art-historical and anthropological frames of analysis, this book offers insightful interpretations of portraits read through and against documentary evidence from the archives to create a rich story of people, places, and objects. Theoretically informed, rigorously researched, and historically grounded, this book sheds new light on the inner workings of the Academie. Its discoveries and compelling narrative make an invaluable and accessible contribution to our understanding of this pre-eminent European institution and the social lives of artists in early modern Paris.

Cities provide endless exciting scenes for the artist, from sun-baked cafes, rain-soaked streets, illuminated nightscapes and busy squares to quiet, atmospheric corners. This practical book explains how to paint these scenes using water-based painting materials and new techniques. With invaluable tips and advice throughout, it encourages a looser, more colourful approach to painting and shares a range of ideas for style and interpretation.

This absorbing introduction to the story of Rembrandt's rampant fame and influence in Britain is filled with beautiful images. The story of 'Rembrandt mania' began in 18th-century Britain with passionate, and often eccentric, collectors acquiring artworks by any and every means. As the craze for Rembrandt ebbed and flowed, each new wave of enthusiasm brought him ever-greater fame and influence, and collectors became increasingly ingenious. This master's impact not only on collectors and the public but also on British artists over the last four centuries is explored, with lavish paintings, drawings and prints from artists such as Henry Raeburn, Joshua Reynolds and James Abbott McNeill Whistler shown alongside some of Rembrandt's most famous masterpieces.

Mwili, Akili Na Roho: Ten Figurative Painters from East Africa features the work of ten artists from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, including Sam Ntiro, Elimo Njau, Asaph Ng’ethe Macua, Jak Katarikawe, Theresa Musoke, Sane Wadu, Peter Mulindwa, Chelenge van Rampelberg, John Njenga, and Meek Gichugu. The personal histories, thematic concerns, and formal strategies of this multigenerational group of artists present an opportunity to engage more deeply in the genealogies of artistic creation in the region, while considering the enduring influence of certain ideas and institutions in the creation, dissemination, and reception of art in and from East Africa. This catalogue is published to coincide with an expanded version of Mwili, Akili Na Roho at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute in 2022, following earlier iterations at Haus Der Kunst in Munich (2020) and the Royal Academy of Arts in London (2021).

The role of the visual arts in the assertion of European colonial power has been the subject of much recent investigation and redefinition. This book takes as a ground for discussion the representation of Indian scenery and architecture by British artists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It includes the work of a diversity of artists from the Daniells to Edward Lear, but central to the study is a particular focus on William Hodges, a pioneer in the field who enjoyed a close association with Britain's first Governor General in India, Warren Hastings, and whose impressive body of work as draughtsman, painter and writer formed a crucial legacy for later artists. The book includes many of his paintings and drawings rarely or never previously published, and analyses his art and writing in relation to the intellectual and aesthetic ideas of his time. The paintings and drawings discussed here are shown to be complex objects, standing in a necessarily complex relationship with historical events and ideas. This relationship is explored and defined fully, to present a new intervention in post-colonial cultural theory.

This unique book presents an integrated approach to the chemistry of art materials, exploring the many chemical processes involved. The Chemistry and Mechanism of Art Materials: Unsuspected Properties and Outcomes engages readers with historical vignettes detailing examples of unexpected outcomes due to materials used by known artists. The book discusses artists' materials focusing on relevant chemical mechanisms which underlie the synthesis and deterioration of inorganic pigments in paintings, the ageing of the binder in oil paintings, and sulfation of wall paintings as well as the toxicology of these pigments and solvents used by artists. Mechanisms illustrate the stepwise structural transformation of a variety of art materials. Based on the author's years of experience teaching college chemistry, the approach is descriptive and non-mathematical throughout. An introductory section includes a review of basic concepts and provides concise descriptions of analytical methods used in contemporary art conservation. Additional features include: Illustrations of chemical reactivity associated with art materials Includes a review of chemical bonding principles, redox and mechanism writing Covers analytical techniques used by art conservation scientists Accessible for readers with a limited science background Provides numerous references for readers seeking additional information

The first fully illustrated account of the life and work of English painter Christopher Wood (1901-30), this authoritative work, which includes over 150 images, provides extensive visual analysis of individual paintings, set designs and drawings created by Wood in both Britain and France so bringing fresh perspective to his unique artistic development on both sides of the Channel.Wood's short career drew on a multitude of influences, all of which contributed to the development of his faux-naive style. His oscillation between diverse artistic reference points is borne out in Katy Norris' fascinating narrative that analyses Wood's engagement with the Parisian avant-garde on the one hand, and the attraction of the simpler life he encountered in Cornwall, Cumbria and Brittany on the other. The emotional turmoil of his final years underlines the tensions between the two worlds that Wood inhabited and which he was ultimately was unable to reconcile.Filling a surprising gap in the published literature about this early 20th-century painter, Christopher Wood will appeal to readers who are yet to encounter Wood's work, as well as collectors and enthusiasts.

Mati & The Music is a book about the 52 paintings by Mati Klarwan that appeared on album covers, this body of work started in the mid 1950s and continued for half a century. Klarwein was heavily involved in the New York art scene of the 1960s and 1970s. He was mainly commissioned to paint covers by the musicians themselves the most famous being Miles Davis 'Bitches Brew' and 'Live Evil', Carlos Santana's 'Abraxas', Earth Wind & Fire, Buddy Miles, Gregg Allman. He was also employed by major records labels including Blue Note for Jackie McLean, Reuben Wilson and Douglas records for the Last Poets, Howard Walkes and Jerry Garcia. This book is an introduction to a painter's work through his passion for music.

The rebirth of realistic representation in Italy around 1300 led to the materialization of a pictorial language, which dominated Western art until 1900, and it dominates global visual culture even today. Paralleling the development of mimesis, self-reflexive pictorial tendencies emerged as well. Images-within-images, visual commentaries of representations by representations, were essential to this trend. They facilitated the development of a critical pictorial attitude towards representation. This book offers the first comprehensive study of Italian meta-painting in the age of Giotto and sheds new light on the early modern and modern history of the phenomenon. By combining visual hermeneutics and iconography, it traces reflexivity in Italian mural and panel painting at the dawn of the Renaissance, and presents novel interpretations of several key works of Giotto di Bondone and the Lorenzetti brothers. The potential influence of the contemporary religious and social context on the program design is also examined situating the visual innovations within a broader historical horizon. The analysis of pictorial illusionism and reality effect together with the liturgical, narrative and typological role of images-within-images makes this work a pioneering contribution to visual studies and premodern Italian culture.