Art by
Discover the history of art movements from classical Greek art to the Italian Renaissance, the pre-raphaelites, and the masters of impressionism with this bestselling DK visual guide. Truly comprehensive in scope, this bestselling book explores masterpieces by more than 700 artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso, and Van Gogh. An invaluable art lover's reference book, it showcases everything from Italian baroque painting and African Art to contemporary art history. Each artistic movement is clearly explained, with descriptions of origins and influences, characteristic styles and techniques, and typical subjects. A visual timeline of key works gives an overview of the scope of each major movement. Bold graphics, overlays, and detailed closeups show you how to "read" composition and subject matter, and explain the techniques and methods the artists used to create their masterpieces. Created in collaboration with Bridgeman, the largest art library in the world, Art: The Definitive Visual Guide is a must-have for your bookshelf.
Fewer, Better Things by
From the former director of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, a timely and passionate case for the role of the well-designed object in the digital age. Curator and scholar Glenn Adamson opensFewer, Better Things by contrasting his beloved childhood teddy bear to the smartphones and digital tablets children have today. He laments that many children and adults are losing touch with the material objects that have nurtured human development for thousands of years. The objects are still here, but we seem to care less and know less about them. In his presentations to groups, he often asks an audience member what he or she knows about the chair the person is sitting in. Few people know much more than whether it's made of wood, plastic, or metal. If we know little about how things are made, it's hard to remain connected to the world around us. Fewer, Better Things explores the history of craft in its many forms, explaining how raw materials, tools, design, and technique come together to produce beauty and utility in handmade or manufactured items. Whether describing the implements used in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, the use of woodworking tools, or the use of new fabrication technologies, Adamson writes expertly and lovingly about the aesthetics of objects, and the care and attention that goes into producing them. Reading this wise and elegant book is a truly transformative experience.
Street Art by
A comprehensive history and interpretation of the street art movement, featuring all of the key practitioners in a colorful combination of sharp images and insightful commentary. Street art is a phenomenon and subculture movement that reaches from the darkest urban backstreets to the most glamorous international art fairs. Despite having earned a place in the canon of twentieth-century art history, its qualifications are often disputed by both the art establishment and practitioners themselves, all concerned with notions of authenticity. This book examines how street art evolved from its origins in the 1970s New York graffiti scene to embrace many new materials, styles, and techniques. The once marginal art form has graduated into art galleries and the art market, while also heavily influencing design, fashion, advertising, and visual culture. Simon Armstrong walks readers through its controversial history, taking in the movement's significant artists, artworks, and methods, and showcasing the works that have come to define it. He also discusses its close relationship to pop art and digital art, and explores possible futures for street art. Packed with detail and written in an engaging, accessible style, this latest installment in the Art Essentials series is a must-read for lovers of street art and anyone interested in the way art movements gradually join the mainstream.
Art Fundamentals by
The original textbook that set the standard for art foundations courses across the country, Art Fundamentals has guided generations of students through both the essential elements of art and the rich and varied history of their uses. We have organized Art Fundamentals to assist with "knowing" and "feeling" the fundamental concepts of refined creation. Our intent is to stimulate without locking students into a restricted mind-set or mechanical copying of ideas.
The Art of Looking by
The landscape of contemporary art has changed dramatically during the last hundred years. We have seen a painting of a single black square on a white ground, Kazimir Malevich's Black Square (1915), and a hand-signed porcelain urinal, Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917). Mid-century brought us the Abstract Expressionist "drip" paintings of Jackson Pollock. In Piero Manzoni's Artist's Shit (1961), we got a series of 90 sealed tin cans purportedly containing Manzoni's own excrement. A decade later, with Chris Burden's Shoot (1971), we saw a performance in which the artist was voluntarily shot in the arm with a rifle. More recently, Damien Hirst exhibited a shark floating in a glass tank of formaldehyde and fellow British artist Tracey Emin-in her autobiographical installation The History of Painting (1999)-displayed, among other items, her own used tampons. It is no wonder, then, that the art-viewing public is perplexed. What's going on here? Do today's renowned artists-like earlier masters such as Giotto, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Matisse-represent the highest achievements of civilization? Or something else entirely? Have viewers always felt this way; or is their confusion a sign of something new-something exclusive to the experience of today's contemporary art? In The Art of Looking, renowned art critic Lance Esplund shows that works of Modern and contemporary art are not as indecipherable as they might seem to be. Nor do they represent a dramatic break from the past. He situates more recent movements in the tradition of art and examines the threads that tie the art of the past to that of the present. For instance, Esplund elucidates the similarities between Picasso and El Greco; between the ancient Egyptian Pyramids and sculptor Richard Serra's monumental Torqued Ellipses. The Art of Looking will open the eyes of viewers who think that contemporary art is obtuse, nonsensical, and irrelevant, as well as the eyes of those who think that the art of the past has nothing to say to our present. As our expert guide, Esplund has curated a personalized selection of moving and important works, using them as examples to walk the reader through the formal, emotional, and metaphoric experience of art, illuminating how an artist builds and explores a theme. Eager to democratize a genre that can feel inaccessible, Esplund empowers viewers to trust their own eyes, guts, and common sense. With The Art of Looking, readers will have the confidence to evaluate and appreciate galleries and museums for themselves, whether they are looking at a Greco-Roman statue, a Byzantine Madonna, a Rembrandt portrait, a Marina Abramovic performance, or one of Richard Serra's monumental sculptures.
Vincent and Theo by
Printz Honor Book * YALSA Nonfiction Award Winner * Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner * SCBWI Golden Kite Winner * Cybils Senior High Nonfiction Award Winner From the author ofNational Book Award finalistCharles and Emma comes an incredible story of brotherly love. The deep and enduring friendship between Vincent and Theo Van Gogh shaped both brothers' lives. Confidant, champion, sympathizer, friend--Theo supported Vincent as he struggled to find his path in life. They shared everything, swapping stories of lovers and friends, successes and disappointments, dreams and ambitions. Meticulously researched, drawing on the 658 letters Vincent wrote to Theo during his lifetime, Deborah Heiligman weaves a tale of two lives intertwined and the extraordinary love of the Van Gogh brothers.
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