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Thames and Hudson
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Rubens is undoubtedly the most influential Flemish painter. Through reproductions in print, his compositions had an immense impact, even during his lifetime. Himself indebted to Titian, Rubens became a role model to Van Dyck, Rembrandt and Velazquez, and influenced artists well beyond his time, including figures such as Cezanne, Picasso, Bacon and Freud. This stunning new volume explores Rubens' legacy thematically, through a series of sections devoted to Violence, Power, Lust, Compassion, Elegance and Poetry. Illustrating some of the artists most famous paintings alongside great works that bear his influence, each section will link artists across the centuries in their references to Rubens, from Van Dyck and Watteau to Manet, Daumier, Renoir and Van Gogh, as well as Gainsborough, Constable and Turner. |
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Death is universal, but the human response to death varies widely. In Western society, death is usually medicalized and taboo, and kept apart from the world of the living, while in much of the rest of the world, and for much of human history, death has commonly been far more integrated into peoples daily existence, and human remains are as much a reminder of life, memento vitae, as of death, memento mori. Through photos taken at more than 250 sites in thirty countries over a decade, Paul Koudounaris has captured death around the world. From Bolivia s festival of the little pug-nosed ones, where skulls are festooned with flowers and given cigarettes to smoke and beanie hats to protect them from the weather to Indonesian families who dress mummies and include them in their household routines; from naturally preserved Buddhist monks and memorials to genocide in Rwanda and Cambodia to the dramatic climax of Europe s great ossuaries, Memento Mori defies taboo to demonstrate how the dead continue to be present in the lives of people everywhere. |
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This superbly illustrated book provides a fascinating insight into the costumes and fabrics of the Tudor and Stuart age. Detailing both the leading fashions of the day and the appeal to painters of timeless classical dress, this book considers both those who led taste and the influence of international fashions of the period. Drawing not only on portraits, but also on contemporary accounts, literary references and examples of garments — which are considered both in terms of their visual qualities and their technical construction — this publication provides a new and valuable examination of Tudor and Stuart costume and the ways in which artists have represented fabrics in paint. |
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'The Great Wave' is a colour woodblock print designed by Japanese artist Hokusai in around 1830. The print, of which numerous multiples were made, shows a monster of a wave rearing up and about to come crashing down on three fishing boats and their crews. One of a monumental series known as 'Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji', Hokusai's Great Wave — with the graceful snow-clad Mount Fuji on the horizon, unperturbed but wittily dwarfed by the towering strength of the wave that threatens to engulf the struggling boats — has become an iconic image of the power of nature and the relative smallness of man. One of the most famous pieces of Japanese art, this extraordinary artwork has had a huge impact worldwide and has served as a source of inspiration to artists, both past and present. This beautifully illustrated book explores the meaning behind Hokusai's Great Wave, in the context of the Mount Fuji series and Japanese art as a whole. Taking an intimate look at the Wave's artistic and historical significance and its influence on popular culture, this concise introduction explains why Hokusai's modern masterpiece had such an impact after its creation in 1830 and why it continues to fascinate, inspire and challenge today. |
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This book, by Britains most distinguished historian of ancient Greek art, recounts the influence of Greek communities and their culture through Central Asia, India and Western China, from the Bronze Age through to the rise of Islam. Boardman examines a wealth of art and artifacts as well as literary sources to reveal the remarkable influence of Greek culture upon peoples Anatolians, Levantines, Persians, Asiatics, Indians, Chinese whose settled civilizations were far older, with their own strong traditions in life, government and the arts. The Greeks were not empire-builders. They did not seek to conquer or rule. However, they were highly literate and adept at trade; they spread a monetary economy through Eurasia; their religion was easily adapted to that of others; their art developed a form of narrative that was to be dominant for centuries to come; and their poets and philosophers were widely respected outside their homeland. As Boardman notes, They are an odd phenomenon in world history. Through their travels they came to leave a very distinctive imprint on the lives and arts of many distant peoples, and over centuries, some to the present day. |
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The first typewriter artist to find fame was Flora F. F. Stacey, with her butterfly drawing of 1898; but since the very beginning of the typewriter's existence, artists, designers, poets and writers have used this rigorous medium to produce an astounding range of creative work. This beautiful book brings together some of the best examples by typewriter artists around the world. As well as key historical work from the Bauhaus, H. N. Werkman and the concrete poets, there is art by contemporary practitioners, both typewriter artists who use the keyboard as a 'palette' to create artworks, and artists/typographers using the form as a compositional device. The book will appeal to graphic designers, typographers, artists and illustrators, and anyone fascinated by predigital technology. |
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Exclusive cocktails at a bar, excessive partying at a club, or relaxed chilling at a lounge people need to occasionally escape from their everyday life into another world. This is made possible by the individual character and the very own atmosphere of each special location, which are strongly defined by architectural and design visions. Apart from the drinks, the music and the people, lighting and space, form and furnishing are decisive success factors for all good concepts. Nowhere else can a designed space have such a strong effect and impact. While the range of styles has grown enormously recently, this field has become one of the most exciting tasks for interior designers. This volume takes the reader on a tour of very unique bars, clubs and lounges from around the world. |
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This advanced exploration of trompe l'oeil art and technique provides a treasury of designs suitable for interior designers and their clients, artists seeking inspiration or for those simply wishing to copy the images themselves. A CD-ROM is included for easy transfer and re-sizing of the designs. Step-by-step sketches and details of the finished pieces provide a demonstration tool, allowing artists to refine their skills and acquire new techniques. In compositions encompassing classical and fantasy landscape and architecture as well as flora, fauna and the human figure, Guegan demonstrates the successful execution of elegant wood, marble drapery, and natural and figurative motifs, for decorative panels and panoramic murals. Using the integration of fine French methods and traditions with contemporary style and innovation, this book provides both an introduction manual and useful reference for anyone working in interior design and decoration. |
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Based on 5 years of insights from blogging, 'The Pop-Up City' blog presents this book on creative ideas for cities in a fluid world. The authors Jeroen Beekmans and Joop de Boer are the brains and hearts of the Amsterdam-based blog that showcases eye-opening ideas, concepts and trends that make a change in the city of today and tomorrow. On a daily basis, the authors have written stories about individuals, enterprises, and cities all around the world that come up with refreshing ideas and solutions to deal with a permanent stage of change, ranging from urban hacks, modular hotels, and parasite cinemas to pop-up retail concepts, rooftop farms, and houses on wheels. |
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Attention all hipsters! In November 2012, the worlds coolest camera brand celebrates its 20th anniversary with the publication of this official two-volume slipcased title. Book I features specially commissioned photography showing off all cameras in the vast Lomography range, including every limited edition and the best one-offs ever made. Book II traces the story of the last 20 years of Lomography, as seen through the wonderful and varied world of Lomo lenses. Anecdotes and recollections relate the stuff of Lomo legend. Chronologically organized and featuring the very best photographic material from the 1.5 million-strong Lomography community, this volume is a snapshot of every corner of the lomographic world. This is an absolute must-have package for designers, photographers and hipsters the world over. The future is analogue! |
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The love of fast cars has moved into top gear. From its beginnings as a rebellious underground pasttime, it has become a huge cult, spawning its own exciting subcultures in music, art and fashion. Speedseekers is the ultimate book on the world of Hot Rods and Custom Culture. Alexandra Lier spent a decade at the epicentre of the scene revving engines and burning rubber with the world's foremost mechanics, racers and adrenaline junkies. With hundreds of full colour photographs and graphics throughout, this book more exciting than a nitro-burning supercharged Hemi is the ultimate cult guide to the greatest human obsession of all going fast! |
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Liotard's fine portraits of Westerners in Turkish dress, Carpaccio's turbanned figures and the coveted 'Turkey' carpets that appear in paintings by Lotto and Holbein bear witness to a deep Western fascination with all things Ottoman. It is this cultural influence, spanning five hundred years — from the fall of Constantinople through to the twentieth century — that unites the wealth of paintings, drawing, photographs and decorative objects in this sumptuously illustrated book. The result is a visual feast of Turkish delights, from the exotic allure of the harem and Turkish baths to Ottoman-inspired Western interiors and pavilions; from paintings of Europeans in gorgeous Turkish costume to carpets, silks, tulips, turbans, Iznik tiles, coffee, tobacco, croissants... The delightfully informative text explains how Turkey, the gateway to the East, became a fountain of inspiration for so many artistic and cultural fields — painting, ceramics, textiles, interiors, fashion — in the West. Today the many fruits of this cultural meeting, enticingly displayed in this book, will engage a fresh audience with the decorative possibilities of the ravishing colours, motifs and furnishings of traditional Turkey. |
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The ancient Greeks perceived the human body as an object of sensory delight and its depiction as the expression of an intelligent mind. This sumptuous photographic book explores ancient Greek sculptures of the body from every angle. With an introduction outlining the use of the body in Greek art from the prehistoric simplicity of Cycladic figurines to the realism of the Hellenistic age, seven thematic sections then feature stunning photographs of close ups taken from the British Museum's outstanding collection of marble, bronze and terracotta sculpture. The gods and heroes of Greek religion and mythology are conceived in the image of mankind, as supermen and superwomen, while other supernatural beings such as centaurs and satyrs combine human with animal parts as symbols of their otherworldliness. Human shape is also given to the inanimate phenomena of nature, such as wind and moon, as well as intangible human experiences such as sleep and death. A salient feature of Greek art is human nudity, which was celebrated rather than considered shameful. The great majority of female nudes that have come down to us are representations of Aphrodite, goddess of erotic love. In the Hellenistic age, Alexander's conquest and Hellenisation of the people formerly included in the Persian empire created a new and cosmopolitan world. Greek artists were made more aware than ever before of the ethnic diversity of humanity and delighted in representing and classifying humankind in all its variety young and old, fat and thin, beautiful and ugly, freeborn and slave, pauper and wealthy, able and disabled, moral and immoral. The Hellenistic period, more than any previous, was also truly an age of portraiture, reflected love in compelling and unusual images. |
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French painter Alexandre Cabanel is famous for his entrancingly beautiful The Birth of Venus. Since its purchase by Napoleon III in 1863, it remains among the foremost attractions at Paris's Musee d'Orsay. Yet as familiar as The Birth of Venus has become — gracing countless posters, art prints, and collectibles — it is but one of the many stunning images Cabanel created in the course of his remarkable career. Produced in conjunction with an exhibition at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne and the Musee Fabre in Montpellier, Alexandre Cabanel: The Tradition of Beauty is the first retrospective to deal comprehensively with the breadth of Cabanel's oeuvre. As a successor to the classical tradition embodied by the likes of Nicolas Poussin and Jacques-Louis David, Cabanel was a frequent participant at the Paris Salons and forged a highly successful career with his skilled portraiture as well as his many historical and mythological paintings, many of which feature the artist's trademark abundance of pale, naked flesh. A remarkable retrospective of one of the leading French painters of the nineteenth century, this beautifully printed volume — designed by renowned fashion designer Christian Lacroix — presents sixty stunning works from Cabanel's brilliant career. |
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Fresh from Bunka, the Japanese publisher of Pattern Magic and Drape Drape, comes this stylish book for home sewers. With instructions showing how to make 23 different garments and simple step by step diagrams, this book includes 2 actual size patterns. The step by step instructions are clear and straight forward and there are photographs of all the garments. It's a must for all those who want to make their own versions of cool Japanese designs. |
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Can't decide what to wear in the morning? Why not mix a punk hairdo with a period dress? The pages of this interactive book (split into four parts) will take you from fashion faux-pas to fabulous in one flip. From grunge and pirate to disco queen and street style, create over 100,000 of your own fashion fantasies (and nightmares) with this colorfully illustrated and carefully researched flipbook. With magazine-style captions for each outfit there are words to play with too. |
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This unashamed visual feast celebrates the best designed and illustrated picturebooks from around the world over the past one hundred years. Each book is a creation of genius and inventiveness, and their design and illustration represent such diverse trends as the Russian Constructivists, Italian Futurists, and Postwar Neo-romantics. They are also mirrors of their times reflecting social concerns from a child's and family's perspectives throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. Fearlessly confronting the frontiers between a child's picturebook and art, this is a collection of books that anyone with an interest in design, illustration, or simply children's literature should know about. |
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What is a true 1950s look, as opposed to a 1930s or 1940s look? This book aims to address that question by thoroughly surveying the development of graphic design over the course of the 20th century. Timelines for each decade highlight key moments, styles and movements, while profiles of thirty influential graphic designers three per decade are interspersed throughout the book. |
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A ground-breaking, beautifully illustrated book exploring the early Ming period in the years 1400–1450, a time when China was the largest (and one of the most prosperous) states in the world, ruled by a single family through a network of imperial and regional courts. |
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This is the first book, painstakingly researched from many scattered sources, to identify the key elements of what in our own time has become a popular and collectable area of the fine art and decorative arts: turquerie. With the arrival of Ottoman embassies and their elaborate entourages at the courts of Europe in the early eighteenth century, a fascination with all things Turkish took hold among royalty and aristocracy that lasted until the French Revolution. Turbaned figures appeared in paintings, as ceramic figures, and on the stage; tented boudoirs became the rage; and crossed crescents, palm trees, and camels featured on wall panels, furniture, and enamel boxes. Here Haydn Williams, an expert on the decorative arts, shows how it was a theme that sparked varied responses in different places. Its most intense and long-lasting expression was in France, but its reach was broad from a pavilion built by Catherine II in Russia to the Turkish tents erected along the Elbe to celebrate a royal marriage in Dresden in 1719; from an ivory statuette of a janissary created for King Augustus II of Poland to the costumes worn for a carnival celebration in Rome in 1748. The book is organized into eight thematic and chronological chapters that concentrate on particular subjects, such as painting, tents, interiors, and costumes and settings for the stage. In all, this splendid volume enables the reader to indulge in the whimsies and fancies of the European elite of the eighteenth century. |
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