Art > Art - History

This book takes a dramatically original approach to the history of humanity, using objects which previous civilisations have left behind them, often accidentally, as prisms through which we can explore past worlds and the lives of the men and women who lived in them. The book's range is enormous. It begins with one of the earliest surviving objects made by human hands, a chopping tool from the Olduvai gorge in Africa, and ends with an object from the 21st century which represents the world we live in today. Neil MacGregor's aim is ... read more

Maus is widely renowned as one of the greatest pieces of art and literature ever written about the Holocaust. It is adored by readers and studied in colleges and universities all over the world. But what led Art Spiegelman to tell his father's story in the first place? Why did he choose to depict the Jews as mice? How could a comic book confront the terror and brutality of the worst atrocity of the twentieth century? To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the book's first publication, MetaMaus, prepared by the author, is a vital co... read more

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This is a clear and lucid account of Nietzsche's philosophy of art, combining exegesis, interpretation and criticism in a judicious balance. Julian Young argues that Nietzsche's thought about art can only be understood in the context of his wider philosophy. In particular, he discusses the dramatic changes in Nietzschean aesthetics against the background of the celebrated themes of the death of God, eternal recurrence, and the idea of the Ubermensch. Young then divides Nietzsche's career and his philosophy of art into four distinct... read more

Believed to be one of the earliest textiles, felt has been made by the nomadic people of Central Asia for over 2,500 years and the craft still thrives as an integral part of their culture. This book looks at the Turkic and Mongol traditions, which include felt from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Xinjiang.

The history of ceramic art is ingrained in the history of mankind. Clay is one of the very first materials 'invented' by man. An essential part of our lives it has been moulded, thrown, glazed, decorated and fired for over 30,000 years in order to preserve and transport food and water. And it was on the surface of these early jugs, vases, dishes, plates, beakers and amphorae that man placed some of his first decorative markings. In more recent times clay has been used not just by artisans and potters, but also by artists, designers... read more

The Vision Splendid features the sketchbooks of 22 nineteenth-century artists, ranging from well-known professionals like Eugene von Gurard and John Glover to amateurs about whom little is known. These artists, engineers, surveyors, military men, solicitors, public servants and pastoralists all delighted in recording what they saw and then sharing it with family, friends and the wider public. The sketches reveal what colonial life in Australia was like at that time, both in the country and in the city, and the challenges the artist... read more

Time, always a crucial element in the work of Andy Goldsworthy both as a medium and as a metaphor is celebrated in this book, newly available in paperback. An introduction by the artist conveys the importance to him of time, change and place. A sequence of works made around his home in Scotland often shown in series recording their gradual disappearance or transformation is followed by Goldsworthy's diaries of visits to five locations in North America and Europe, vividly evoking, in text and pictures, the process of exploration and... read more

This title is a Taschen 25 - Special edition! It deals with the topic of the innocence of the eye. As a blind person might see the world if the gift of sight were suddenly returned - this is how we might describe the effect of William Turner's paintings on the observer. John Ruskin, Turner's uncompromising 19th-century defender, alluded to this idea when he spoke of an 'innocence of the eye' which perceived the world's colours and forms before it could recognize their significance. But to develop such a style, William Turner (1775-... read more

Abstract expressionism refers to the non-representational use of form and color as a means of expression that emerged in America in the 1940s. These artists had striven to express pure emotion directly on canvas, via color and texture. This title is a Taschen 25 - Special edition! The language of paint, Abstract Expressionism refers to the non-representational use of form and color as a means of expression that emerged in America in the 1940s, largely thanks to the innovative work of Arshile Gorky. Interestingly, abstract expressio... read more

Whether you're an art fan, aficionado, or collector, this completely unique book should be on your required reading list. Like a textbook for a class given by all of the world's leading experts, "Collecting Contemporary Art" is the one and only book to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about the contemporary art market. The introduction explains the ABCs of buying art on the primary and secondary markets, at auction, and at art fairs and gives an overview of the world art scene and its social circles. The main body of th... read more

Perfect for artists, hipsters and grafitti art aficionados.
This action-packed graffiti book, from best-selling book author Aye Jay Morano, features 30 images from some of the hottest street artists working today. The book renders real works of grafitti into black-and-white coloring book style drawings.

In the East, writing is revered as a gift from the gods, as a representation of mystical revelation and also as a tool for enlightenment. The mystical significance of this calligraphy is visible in the intensity and simplicity of the brushwork flowing from a clear mind and calm heart, rather than solely from artistic ability. The unique handstitched format seems the right place to find such timeless, powerful symbols of the mystical experience.

Since his work is categorized as illustration and was most famously featured on the cover of the "Saturday Evening Post", fine art critics were slow to acknowledge the importance of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) as true artist, though his work was enormously popular during his lifetime and has endured as a crucial element in America's perception of itself in the 20th century. Through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II, the 1950s and 60s, Rockwell illustrations were a part of daily life, showing, as he once said,... read more

The second book in an ongoing series from the West Coast art and culture magazine, "Juxtapoz Tattoo" focuses on a subject very dear to the inked hearts of it's readers. Most of the features artists came up at the beginning of "Tattoo's" modern renaissance in the mid 1990's, hungry for a new approach, but steeped none-the-less in the traditions of their craft. Whether these gifted tattooists are creating a modern twist on a classic archetype, or pushing the boundaries of the future primitives aesthetic, innovation is the common goal... read more

"I paint what I see and not what it pleases others to see."What other words than these of Edouard Manet, seemingly so different from the sentiments of Monet or Renoir, could best define the movement of Impressionism? Without a doubt this singularity was explained when, shortly before his death, Claude Monet wrote: "I remain sorry to have been the cause of the name given to a group the majority of which did not have anything Impressionist." In this work, Nathalia Brodskaia examines the contradictions of this late 19th century moveme... read more

Across the great breadth of the Pacific, artists have always employed a wide variety of materials and techniques to create objects for specific purposes, from the domestic to the sacred, from the elegantly simple to the sumptuously ornate, and from the historic to the contemporary. In this book, the author draws on striking and colourful examples from the Pacific's major cultural regions: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, beginning with an introduction asking 'What is Pacific art?' Every artwork is reproduced in close detail wit... read more

'If artists betray the social conscience and the basic principles of being human, where does art stand then?' Ai Weiwei - artist, architect, curator, publisher, poet and urbanist - extended the notion of art and is one of the world's most significant creative and cultural figures. In this series of interviews, conducted over several years with the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, he discusses the many dimensions of his artistic life, ranging over subjects including ceramics, blogging, nature, philosophy and the myriad influences that ... read more

Naples is always a shock, flaunting beauty and squalor like nowhere else. Naples is the only city in Europe whose ancient past still lives in its irrepressible people. Their ancestors came from all over the early Mediterranean to the wide bay and its islands, shadowed by a dormant volcano. Not all of them found what they were looking for, but they made a great and terribly human city. Peter Robb's Street Fight in Naples ranges across nearly three thousand years of Neapolitan life and art, from the first Greek landings in Italy to h... read more

This volume presents 74 important Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings that were almost completely unknown before their exhibition in March 1995, at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.