Alphonse Mucha

 

 

Patrick Bade and Victoria Charles

The Far North 2000 Years of American Eskimo and Indian Art

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From Botany To Bouquets - Flowers In Northern Art

The artists who created the flower still lifes included here conveyed the delicacy of blossoms and captured the fragile beauty of flowers and the sense of hope and joy they represent. The great appeal of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish flower still lifes, however, stems not only from their lifelike qualities but also from the fascinating philosophical issues they raise about the relationship of art to nature, to poetry, and to life itself. From Botany to Bouquets examines the origins of flower painting with a selection of botanical treatises, manuscripts, and watercolors by 16th- and 17th-century printmakers and draftsmen. It also addresses questions about flower symbolism, including religious concepts and the transitory nature of life. By introducing such spiritual ideals and moral concerns into their works, these painters placed their still lifes within a broad, humanistic context, which they achieved with great enthusiasm, dignity, and intelligence.

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Chinese Portrait Paintings, pdf

Portrait painting is the earliest division among the three divisions of traditional paintings and is considered to be the symbol of independence and maturation of Chinese painting art. Many masters, such as Gu Kaizhi, Yan Liben, and Wu Daozi left us famous works in portrait painting. “Chinese Portrait Paintings” is divided into three volumes, presenting more than 300 excellent portrait paintings in eight parts.

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Traducción Automática:
La pintura del retrato es la división más temprana entre las tres divisiones de pinturas tradicionales y se considera ser el símbolo de la independencia y de la maduración del arte chino de la pintura. Muchos maestros, como Gu Kaizhi, Yan Liben y Wu Daozi nos dejaron obras famosas en la pintura de retrato. "Pinturas de retrato chino" se divide en tres volúmenes, presentando más de 300 pinturas excelentes del retrato en ocho partes.  

 

Afiches "Salon des Cent", jpg

Entre 1889 y 1914, aparece, a instancias del escritor Léon Deschamps, una revista bautizada La Pluma (La Plume), destinada a promover la vida cultural contemporánea. Fue un vector determinante de la propagación de las ideas de finales del siglo XIX, publica poemas, noticias, críticas y defiende la vanguardia de aquel entonces. A partir de 1894, su director organiza exposiciones, en el vestíbulo del periódico, rue Bonaparte 31, en París, invitando a 100 artistas a exponer allí. Anunciadas por afiches, a veces firmados por artistas célebres, Mucha, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Grasset, Rops, Ensor, siendo estas exposiciones una demostración cabal de dinamismo creativo de la época.

 

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Automatic translation:Between 1889 and 1914, appears at the request of the writer Leon Deschamps, a magazine baptized the Plume (La Plume), destined to promote the contemporary cultural life. It was a determinant vector of the propagation of the ideas of the end of century XIX, publishes poems, news, critics and defends the vanguard of that then. From 1894, its director organizes exhibitions, in the lobby of the  newspaper, rue Bonaparte 31, in Paris, inviting 100 artists to exhibit there. Announced by posters, sometimes signed by famous artists, Mucha, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Grasset, Rops, Ensor, these exhibitions are a complete demonstration of creative dynamism of the time.

Tibetan Mural / Murales Tibetanos, pdf

Degas • Natalia Brodskaïa

Flemish Manuscript Painting in Context

A companion to the prize-winning exhibition catalogue Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe, edited by Thomas Kren and Scot McKendrick (2003), this volume contains thirteen selected papers presented at two conferences held in conjunction with the exhibition.

Chapters include Lorne Campbell's research into Rogier van der Weyden's work as an illuminator, Nancy Turner's investigation of materials and methods of painting in Flemish manuscripts, and trenchant commentary by Jonathan Alexander and James Marrow on the state of current research on Flemish illumination. Although topics are wide ranging, one recurring theme is the structure of collaboration in manuscript production. Essays uncover an important new patron of manuscript illumination and address the role of illuminated manuscripts at the Burgundian court along with the contributions of individual illuminators. A series of biographies of Burgundian scribes is also included.

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French Tapestries and Textiles in the J. Paul Getty Museum

 

This lavishly-illustrated book is a survey of the Getty Museum's seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French textiles--one of the world's finest collections. Featuring twenty-five extraordinary tapestries woven at the Gobelins and Beauvais manufacturies, the catalogue also highlights three carpets, two knotted-pile screens, and two sets of embroidered bed hangings, one of which is the only complete lit á la duchesse surviving from the period. Each entry includes complete historical and physical information on the piece and an accompanying commentary provides information on the literary, historical, and visual source of design imagery as well as the context of each textile's commission and production.

For lovers of French decorative arts and connoisseurs of textiles, this beautiful book is must reading.


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Umberto Boccioni • MET

 

 

Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916) is a model of the spirit and flavor of Futurism—militant, exuberant, actively taking part in the social and political events of the turbulent times in which he lived. His manifestos and his powerfully sensuous visualizations exemplify the nature and the pertinence of the Futurist contribution to modern art. Along with F. T. Marinetti, Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carra, Luigi Russolo, and Gino Severini, Boccioni played a leading role in the development and practice of Futurist ideas and art. During his brief life he made seminal contributions through his writings, paintings, sculptures, drawings, and engravings.

Futurism burst forth with impassioned energy in Italy during the years immediately preceding World War I. Rejecting past idealism and scorning contemporary culture and society, the proponents of this major art movement shaped a forceful and revolutionary rhetoric that became the basis for their dynamic art, which conveys the frenetic and colorful motions of urban life. Throughout the course of the twentieth century, Futurism has been largely dismissed in favor of the Cubism concurrently developed in Paris. Yet the Futurist concepts set forth as early as 1910 have been of consequence in many areas of subsequent avant-garde art, both for their championing of the anti-past, pro-technological present and for the resulting art that injects Cubist formal elements with a lively, worldly, urban content.

This publication presents an overview of Boccioni's unique accomplishments; it includes both a comprehensive survey of his art and of his writings, a number of which appear here for the first time in English. It documents the first retrospective exhibition of Boccioni's art in the United States. The American audience at last has the opportunity to assess Boccioni's place in the history of twentieth-century art. His fields of whirling action demonstrate that the period standardly termed the Cubist epoch could, with equal justice, be termed the Futurist era, in acknowledgment of the vanguard movement in Italy.

 

Japanː The Shaping of Daimyo Culture, 1185-1868

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Overshadowed by shoguns and fierce samurai, the daimyo were feudal warlords who controlled Japan's provinces for much of the medieval and early modern epochs. Daimyo culture refined and reshaped samurai traditions; the warlords, whose collective self-image called for mastery of the arts of peace, took nature painting, calligraphy, handscrolls and the tea ceremony to new heights of expressive beauty. Daimyo warriors practiced Zen meditation and wrote poetry, following the example set by General Yoritomo (1147-1199), feudal lord of Kamakura, who later assumed the title of shogun. The cult of Bushido, the "way of the warrior," was led by daimyo chieftains steeled by Confucian precepts of dedicated service. This breathtaking album catalogues an exhibit now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.the first U.S. show devoted to daimyo culture. Shimizu, a Princeton professor, provides extensive comments on the plates which depict armor, silk brocades, masks, religious sculpture, ceramics and props for the Noh theater.
Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In feudal Japan the daimyo were a class of warrior rulers who administered territories awarded to them by the shoguns. They maintained fighting abilities while cultivating the peacetime arts such as poetry, No theater, painting, and the tea ceremony. They also patronized Buddhist monasteries and temples and commissioned the production of religious art. This volume is the catalog of a fine exhibition of works from the daimyo culture that opened in fall 1988 in Washington, D.C. Calligraphy, painting, sculpture, arms and armor, lacquer, ceramics and textiles--all are included. The introductory historical survey will be confusing to those with no previous knowledge of Japanese history, but the plates are excellent and the notes on the plates are straightforward and informative for both specialist and layperson.
- Kathryn W. Finkelstein, M.Ln., Cincinnati
Reed Business Information, Inc. 


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Guercino • Mind to Paper

Called the "Rembrandt of the South," Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, il Guercino (1591-1666) was one of the most versatile and accomplished Italian draftsmen of the seventeenth century. His drawings are among the most instantly appealing of those of any artist. This book investigates the nature of this appeal and looks at what makes Guercino such an extraordinary draftsman for his period. It examines his ways of working, choices of subject matter, drawing techniques, and media--aspects of his work that have never been studied so directly before. Such an innovative approach yields scholarly insights, as well as an accessible and appealing volume. The book accompanies an exhibition of Guercino drawings from the collections of the Courtauld Institute and the J. Paul Getty Museum, on view at both venues

Encyclopedia of Film Noir

 

 

When viewers think of film noir, they often picture actors like Humphrey Bogart playing characters like Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, the film based on the book by Dashiell Hammett. Yet film noir is a genre much richer. The authors first examine the debate surrounding the parameters of the genre and the many different ways it is defined. They discuss the Noir City, its setting and backdrop, and also the cultural (WWII) and institutional (the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and the Production Code Administration) influences on the subgenres. An analysis of the low budget and series film noirs provides information on those cult classics. With over 200 entries on films, directors, and actors, the Encyclopedia of Film Noir is the most complete resource for film fans, students, and scholars.

  

Geoff Mayer (Autor),  

Brian McDonnell (Autor)  

 

Bauhaus • Michael Siebenbrodt & Lutz Schöbe

1000 Portraits of Genius

 

According to the defined canons of art technique, a portrait should be, above all, a faithful representation of its model. However, this gallery of 1000 portraits illustrates how the genre has been transformed throughout history, and has proven itself to be much more complex than a simple imitation of reality.

Beyond exhibiting the skill of the artist, the portrait must surpass the task of imitation, as just and precise as it may be, to translate both the intention of the artist as well as that of its patron, without betraying either’s wishes.Therefore, these silent witnesses, carefully selected in these pages, reveal more than faces of historic figures or anonymous subjects: they reveal a psychology more than an identity, illustrate an allegory, serve as political and religious propaganda, and embody the customs of their epochs. With its impressive number of masterpieces, biographies, and commentaries on works, this book presents and analyses different portraits, consequently exposing to the reader, and to any art lover, a reflection of the evolution of society, and above all the upheavals of a genre that, over 3 centuries of painting, has shaped the history of art.

 

 Charles Victoria , Carl H. Klaus (Authors) 

 

Kandinsky

 

Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was a Russian painter credited as being among the first to truly venture into abstract art. He persisted in expressing his internal world of abstraction despite negative criticism from his peers. He veered away from painting that could be viewed as representational in order to express his emotions, leading to his unique use of colour and form. Although his works received heavy censure at the time, in later years they would become greatly influential.

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies - A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons

 

Everything you always wanted to know about Warner Bros. cartoons but were afraid to ask, this complete and indispensable reference will delight adults, children, and audiences all over the world.

 

 Jerry Beck (Author), Will Friedwald (Author)

 

Complete Works of Diego Velazquez

 

The leading figure of the Spanish Golden Age, Diego Velázquez is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest artists. Celebrated for his naturalistic style and remarkable power of observation in depicting both the living model and still life, Velázquez produced artworks that have helped change the course of Western art. Delphi’s Masters of Art Series presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing readers to explore the works of great artists in comprehensive detail.

 

Peter Russell (Autor)  

 

Art of Islam

 

Gaston Migeon (Autor),  

Henri Saladin (Autor)