Thames & Hudson strana 64 z 126

The development of painting in London from the Second World War to the 1970s is the story of interlinking friendships, shared experiences and artistic concerns among a number of acclaimed artists, including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Gillian Ayres, Frank Bowling and Howard Hodgkin. Drawing on extensive first-hand interviews, many previously unpublished, with important witnesses and participants, the art critic Martin Gayford teases out the thread connecting these individual lives, and demonstrates how painting thrived in London against the backdrop of Soho bohemia in the 1940s and 1950s and `Swinging London' in the 1960s. He shows how, influenced by such different teachers as David Bomberg and William Coldstream, and aware of the work of contemporaries such as Jackson Pollock as well as the traditions of Western art from Piero della Francesca to Picasso and Matisse, the postwar painters were allied in their confidence that this ancient medium, in opposition to photography and other media, could do fresh and marvellous things. They asked the question `what can painting do?' and explored in their diverse ways, but with equal passion, the possibilities of paint.

Alex Prager is one of the truly original image makers of our time. Working fluidly between photography and film, she creates large-scale projects that combine elaborately built sets, highly staged, complex performances and a ‘Hollywood’ aesthetic to produce still and moving images that are familiar yet strange, utterly compelling and unerringly memorable. In her career she has won both popular acclaim and the recognition of the art establishment – her work can be found in the collections of MoMA and the Whitney Museum in New York as well as institutions worldwide. This book is the first career retrospective of this rising star. In 120 carefully curated photographs, it summarizes Prager’s creative trajectory and offers an ideal introduction for the popular ‘breakout’ audience who may have only recently encountered her work. Structured around her project-orientated approach, Silver Lake Drive presents the very best images from her career to date: from the early Film Stills through her collaborations with the actor Bryce Dallas Howard on Week-end and Despair to the tour de force of The Face in the Crowd – shot on a Hollywood sound stage with over 150 performers – and her 2015 commission for the Paris opera La Grande Sortie. Supported by an international exhibition schedule, and including an in-depth interview with Alex Prager by Nathalie Herschdorfer and supplementary essays by the curators of renowned museums and galleries, this book will be an essential addition to the collection of anyone who has followed Prager’s career and all with an interest in and appreciation of contemporary art.

Looking at pictures can be a delightful, exciting or moving experience, but some pictures - and these are often the most rewarding - require some explanation before they can be fully understood. Delving into the origins, designs and themes of over 100 pictures from different periods and places, this book illuminates the art of looking at - and talking about - pictures. Woodford shows how you can read a picture by examining the formal and stylistic devices used by an artist, and explores popular themes and subject matters, and the relationship of pictures to the societies that produced them. The book is supplemented by a glossary of key terms, ranging from art movements and technical terms to religious and classical terminology, to give readers all the information they need at their fingertips.

No other art movement in history has contained two artists as different as Magritte and Miro. This is because Surrealism was not in origin an art movement, but a philosophical strategy. It was a way of life - a rebellion against the establishment that had given the world the hideous slaughter of the First World War. Instead of trying to analyse the work of the Surrealists, bestselling author and Surrealist artist Desmond Morris concentrates on them as people - as remarkable individuals. What were their personalities, their predilections, their character strengths and flaws? Did they enjoy a social life or were they loners? Were they bold eccentrics or timid recluses? Drawing on the author's personal knowledge of the Surrealists, this book captures their life histories, idiosyncrasies and often-complex love lives, vividly illustrated with images of the artists and their works. The arts of Surrealism were both spectacular and international, shaped by the darkest, most irrational workings of the unconscious. Shocking, witty and always entertaining, Morris' tales illuminate the striking variation in approaches to the Surrealist philosophy, both in the artist's work and in their lives.

Modern Art takes the reader through individual movements from Impressionism to Conceptual Art, situating these within five broader chronological themes. Starting with Impressionism in 1860, Dempsey proceeds through the essentials of Modernism, the post-war New Disorder and beyond. The material is arranged with great care to lead the reader through over seventy essential topics of modern art in a practical and easy-to-navigate structure. Each boldly designed feature includes a clear definition of the theme, a list of key artists, features, media and collections, and expertly curated illustrations with explanatory captions. A reference section includes a useful glossary of modern art terms, an easy-to-navigate timeline and suggestions for further reading.

The geometric foundations, forms and patterns in today's architecture, design and decorative arts have been deeply influenced by past cultures. From humankind's first path-like doodles on cave walls through to the higher abstractions developed to make accurate measurements and predictions, the three-dimensional forms we design and build are dependent upon available materials, human needs and the limitations of our imaginations. This unique sourcebook presents a history of the intimate relationship between geometry, mathematics and manmade design throughout human history, from the Neolithic period through the Indian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese, Greek, Celtic, Islamic and Renaissance cultures, to the present and the possible future. Presenting key principles that can be applied across all design disciplines, Roger Burrows reveals fresh insights and ideas about how geometry as a visual language has evolved to meet our needs, initiated new technologies and changed the way we think about the world around us. With a wealth of original artworks by the author to explain his ideas, this book will be an essential reference resource for inspiration and information for students and design professionals.

Why do octopuses have eight arms? Why do crabs run sideways? Are jellyfish made of jelly? Yuval Zommer’s beautiful new book provides the answers to these and many more fishy questions. His wonderfully quirky illustrations show off all kinds of slippery, shimmery and surprising sea creatures, including sea turtles, whales, sharks, rays and seahorses. Chatty, funny and full of amazing facts, it will be devoured by children eager to find out about the most exciting creatures from the deep blue.

At the age of twenty-nine, photographer Thomas Sweertvaegher spends most of his life on the road with friends, indulging his dual passions of photography and skating. Years of traveling the world together--always on the move and often carrying nothing more than a skateboard--have yielded the poignant photographs collected in this volume, where the skateboard remains a constant symbol of freedom, an extension of their identities, and the mark of their strong friendship. Rolling on the margins of society, exploring the limits of life and his own young adulthood, Sweertvaegher captures whatever is happening around him during his travels. His shots take the reader on a journey, showing the highs and lows, bruises, and stitches of skating and street life, and ultimately celebrating the beauty such a life can bring. While it captures Sweertvaegher's odyssey from a highly personal perspective, The Journal of a Skateboarder is at the same time a visual documentary of the skating world, and features key figures such as Axel Cruysberghs, Arto Saari, Dylan Rieder, and Rodney Mullen.

A lively introduction for children to written Chinese, Chineasy(TM) for Children makes learning Chinese fun and simple. The book features playful illustrations by Noma Bar that relate each character's shape to its meaning, alongside games and activities to make learning interactive. Introductory spreads explain how Chinese is written in pictograms--characters form building blocks for other words and sentences. Subsequent spreads feature lively scenes that help children to recognize over 100 Chinese characters. The book is organized by themes such as numbers, family, animals, and food, each section covering vocabulary within that topic. Stories about the development of characters and customs provide the perfect introduction to Chinese culture, while games and activities allow children to put into practice what they have learned. The book also features a picture library of characters for avid linguists to memorize as well as guidance on Mandarin pronunciation.

One trophy to win, two whistle blows, three hurdles. . . . With fresh, eye- popping illustrations, children will learn to count by following the antics of athletic animals in this charming picture book. The playful illustrations capture the motion and exuberance of the animal athletics as young readers sprint through the book to twenty and back again to win the cup, encountering along the way a bear weightlifting, fast felines, hippos in leotards, and fencing zebras.

The religious thinkers, political leaders, law-makers, writers and philosophers of the early Muslim world helped to shape the 1,400-year-long development of today's secondlargest world religion. But who were these people? What do we know of their lives, and the ways in which they influenced their societies? Chase F. Robinson draws on the long tradition in Muslim scholarship of commemorating in writing the biographies of notable figures, but weaves these ambitious lives together to create a rich narrative of early Islamic civilization, from the Prophet Muhammad to fearsome Tamerlane. Beginning in Islam's heartland, Mecca, we move across Arabia to follow Islam's journey across North Africa, as far as Spain in the West, and eastwards through Central and East Asia; we see the rise and fall of Islamic states through the political and military leaders working to secure peace or expand their power, and, within this political climate, the development of Islamic law, scientific thought and literature through the words of the scholars who devoted themselves to these pursuits. Alongside the famous characters who coloured this landscape, including Muhammad's controversial cousin, 'Ali; the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin; and the poet Rumi, the reader will also meet less wellknown figures, such as Shajar al-Durr, slave-turned-Sultana of Egypt, and Ibn Fadlan, whose travels in Eurasia brought first-hand accounts of the Volka Vikings to the Abbasid Caliph.

From wilderness treks to weekends spent following local coastal paths, adventure cycling combines cycle touring, mountain biking, and camping to open up new and exciting possibilities for adventure on two wheels. Cycling writer and photographer Joshua Cunningham spent eleven months cycling from London to Hong Kong, a journey that spanned twenty- six countries and 13,670 miles. During his journey, he captured thousands of photographs of the landscapes--many barely touched by humans-- and acquired a wealth of invaluable experience, from arranging travel and selecting the best bike to what to pack for each climate and terrain, and how to choose and navigate your route. Part travelogue, part practical guide, this exhilarating account divides the stages of Cunningham's tour into five chapters, each focusing on a geographical environment: forest, desert, mountain, tropical, and urban. Packaged in a travel-friendly format, this combination of practical text and inspiring photography will appeal to every bike adventurer.

Picture books are such good fun and so is making them-- but who knew there were so many things that could go wrong? This is the story of a picture book doomed from the very start. Allan has a good idea for a book about a crocodile, but every time he sits down to write, he's interrupted. The manuscript gets soaked in coffee, nibbled by snails, and when Bruce gets started on the pictures, he gets overexcited and draws a hippo, not a crocodile, at which point the publishers get overexcited too--they want a dinosaur and experiment with all kinds of different fonts. Allan and Bruce finally think they've straightened things out, when the book goes off to the printer and--you guessed it--the trouble really starts. My Worst Book Ever is a clever and amusing introduction to the process of writing books for children, and they--along with their parents--will be delighted to see how hilariously wrong Allan and Bruce's book turns out.

Lighthouses have always unsettled and attracted in equal measure, highlighting the triumphs and failures in humanity's battle with the forces of nature. Taking as its heroes the lighthouses themselves, Sentinels of the Sea describes the engineering genius that allowed their construction on even the smallest of rock outcrops and the innovations that made the lights so powerful and reliable. Intricate, elegant architectural plans and elevations, and evocative period drawings and photographs showcase the innovative designs and technologies behind fifty historic lighthouses built around the world from the 17th to the 20th century. R.G. Grant's engaging and authoritative text chronicles the incredible feats of engineering and endurance that brought these iconic, isolated towers into being, the advances in lens technology that made the lights so effective, and the everyday routines of the lighthouse keepers and the heroic rescues that some performed. Packed with extraordinary stories of human endeavour, desperate shipwrecks, builders defying the elements and heroic sea rescues, the book also reveals the isolation and vulnerability of the dedicated lighthouse keepers. show less

Victor Horta (1861–1947) is well known as the creator of Art Nouveau architecture. Following the design of the Hôtel Tassel, Brussels, in 1893, Horta produced more than 40 buildings during the following decade. This new book discusses the many influences on his designs, and his legacy. Detailed descriptions of 19 projects, including Edicule Lambeaux, Hôtel Autrique, Hôtel Max Hallet and the Brugmann Hospital, are illustrated with Horta’s original drawings and specially commissioned photographs by award-winning architectural photographer Alastair Carew-Cox. Included in this book are extensive photographs of Hôtel Solvay, one of Horta’s most important works; access to photographers had been denied for 20 years, but special access was granted to Alastair Carew-Cox in the summer of 2016 in recognition of his and Professor David Dernie’s significant contribution to the study of Horta. Victor Horta: The Architect of Art Nouveau has been prepared in close collaboration with the Horta Museum, Brussels, ensuring that it is both accurate and up to date. It will appeal to anyone interested in Art Nouveau, one of the great aesthetic movements of the early 20th century. Its richly ornamental style of fluid lines based on natural forms expressed a desire to abandon the historical styles of the 19th century and to develop a language that was beautifully crafted and thoroughly contemporary, laying the foundations for the development of modernism in architecture and interior design.

A Journey Through Art is a global history of art with a time- travel twist, taking young readers on a expedition from the Paleolithic period to the present day, voyaging to thirty locations around the world. As readers travel from one incredible destination to the next, they discover the amazing network of caves carved into the rock in AD 500 at Ajanta, India; Cambodia's Angkor Wat as it stood in AD 1200; the glories of Renaissance Florence in AD 1500; and the remarkable energy of New York in the 1950s. At every location readers encounter stories of artworks and the cultures that surrounded them. The journey is chronological with three sections: prehistoric and ancient; medieval and early modern; and modern and contemporary. Two beautifully illustrated spreads showcase each destination, allowing children to engage with the art, artifacts, and culture of a unique place in time as Aaron Rosen tells the story of how art developed across the world.