Christopher Frayling

Ever since the dawn of the sound era, Hollywood has made a series of elaborate feature films about the lives of the great visual artists: including (among many others) Charles Laughton as Rembrandt; George Sanders as Gauguin; Jose Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec; Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh; Charlton Heston as Michelangelo-and, more recently on a smaller scale, Jeffrey Wright as Jean-Michel Basquiat; Derek Jacobi as Francis Bacon; Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock; Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo (at last a female artist!); and many others, pitched at more niche audiences. These films have represented the lives of artists in ways that ''chime'' with public expectations and public attitudes-with stories that take audiences on a journey from garret to gallery to glamour to gutter to grave. So, although they are often dismissed out of hand by art historians and curators, the films can tell us a great deal about how art and artists have entered the cultural bloodstream of modern Western societies. What can they reveal about the changing public image of the visual artist? What assumptions did Hollywood screenwriters and filmmakers make about awareness of the history of art in society at large? And what assumptions did they reflect/ promote about the artists'' private lives-as well as their gender and ethnicity? What was the background to the making of these films? And what impact have they had on the real art world - its exhibitions, auctions, collections, and artists? There has never before been a full-length book devoted to the fascinating story of THE HOLLYWOOD HISTORY OF ART, in all its glory. This generously illustrated volume will fill this surprising gap. It is based on many years of archive research, as well as on interviews with participants and the author''s long experience of teaching art history. It will appeal to museum and gallery-goers, readers interested in the history of art and of film, film buffs, collectors, viewers of TV miniseries and films about artists-and of course those with fond memories of Jose Ferrer wandering the streets of Montmartre on his knees, Kirk Douglas gritting his teeth and being attacked by crows, Charlton Heston swallowing a mouthful of paint as he frescoes the ceiling of a 70mm Sistine Chapel, Ed Harris in a T-shirt dripping brushfuls of paint onto a huge canvas and Salma Hayek being transported at speed in a four-poster bed to a contemporary art gallery in Mexico City...

A century of classic vampire cinema--in posters, stills and artwork--from Murnau to True Blood and beyond This visual feast celebrates classic vampire cinema--mainstream and niche--through the many colorful ways in which the key films have been marketed and consumed. F.W. Murnau's haunting film Nosferatu had its premiere in Berlin in March 1922. Bram Stoker's widow, Florence, tried hard to sue the production company for breach of copyright but had to settle in the end for a court order to destroy all prints and negatives. The film kept resurrecting, though, and is now considered the first, and one of the greatest, of all vampire movies--the founder of a dynasty of prints of darkness. The bloodline has spread from Nosferatu to Hollywood's Dracula and progeny (1931-48); from Hammer's Dracula/Horror of Dracula and sequels (1958-74) to versions of Sheridan Le Fanu's story "Carmilla" and other lesbian vampires (1970-2020); from the bestselling novels 'Salem's Lot and Interview with the Vampire to vampires who have shed their capes, hereditary titles and period trappings to become assorted smalltown oddballs, addicts, delinquents, psychopaths, rednecks, fashionistas, gay icons, comedians and even comic-book heroes (1975-2022). This book is dripping with stills, posters, artworks, press books--many of which have not seen the light of day for a very long time--and is authored by cultural historian and connoisseur of the Gothic Christopher Frayling, who has been called "the Van Helsing de nos jours." Christopher Frayling (born 1946) is a recognized authority on Gothic fiction and horror movies. His study Vampyres (1978, 1990, 2016) and his classic four-part television series Nightmare: The Birth of Horror (1996) have helped to move Gothic horror from margin to mainstream. He is the author of Frankenstein and Once upon a Time in the West.

A comprehensive anthology of vampires in literature, from Dracula to Twilight. Christopher Frayling has spent 50 years exploring the history of one of the most enduring figures in the history of mass culture - the vampire. Vampyres is a comprehensive illustrated history of vampires in literature, from the folklore of Eastern Europe to the Romantics and beyond. Frayling recounts the most significant moments in Gothic history, while extracts from a huge range of sources - including Bram Stoker's detailed research notes for Dracula, penny-dreadfuls and Angela Carter's The Lady of the House of Love, are contextualized and analysed. This revised and expanded edition brings Vampyres up to date with 21st-century vampire literature, including new text extracts, commentary and a revised introduction. Christopher Frayling also explores the development of the vampire in the visual arts, with illustrations ranging from 17th-century prints to 21st-century film stills, demonstrating the enduring appeal of the vampire from popular press to fine art and, finally, to film.

Cinema: The Whole Story takes a close look at the key time periods, genres and key works in world cinema. It places the burgeoning world of cinema in the context of social and cultural developments that have taken place since its beginnings. Organized chronologically, the book traces the evolution of cinematic development, from the earliest days of film projection to the multiscreen cinemas and super-technology of today. Illustrated, in-depth text charts every genre of cinema, from the first silent films to epic blockbusters, CGI graphics and groundbreaking effects of the 21st century. Cinema: The Whole Story is an indispensable book for all those who love watching and reading about films and who want to understand more about the world of cinema.

Christopher Frayling has spent 45 years exploring the history of one of the most enduring figures in the history of mass culture - the vampire. Vampyres is a comprehensive and generously illustrated history and anthology of vampires in literature, from the folklore of Eastern Europe to the Romantics and beyond. Frayling recounts the most significant moments in gothic history, while extracts from a huge range of sources - including Bram Stoker's detailed research notes for Dracula, penny dreadfuls and Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber , new to this edition - are contextualized and analysed. This revised and expanded edition brings Vampyres up to date with 21st-century vampire literature, including new text extracts, commentary and a revised introduction. For the first time, Christopher Frayling also explores the development of the vampire in the visual arts in four colour-plate sections, with illustrations ranging from 18th-century prints to 21st-century film stills, demonstrating the enduring appeal of the vampire from popular press to fine art and, finally, to film.