Gothic monuments bear witness to a dynamic age, when old values were being redefined, often with great drama and debate. Here is a richly-illustrated overview of the period's architecture, sculpture, painting, stained glass, and jewelry, from its 12th-century French origins to its early 16th-century conclusion.

    Yet this enormous reputation was based on only a handful of masterpieces, all built during the last fifteen years of his life.Perfectly complementing Nathaniel Kahn’s award-winning documentary, My Architect, Wendy Lesser’s You Say to Brick is a major exploration of the architect’s life and work. Kahn, perhaps more than any other twentieth-century American architect, was a “public” architect. Eschewing the usual corporate skyscrapers, hotels, and condominiums, he focused on medical and educational research facilities, government centers, museums, libraries, parks, religious buildings, and other structures that would serve the public good. Yet this warm, captivating person, beloved by students and admired by colleagues, was also a secretive and mysterious character hiding behind a series of masks.Drawing on extensive original research; lengthy interviews with his children, his colleagues, and his students; and travel to the far-flung sites of his career-defining buildings, Lesser has written a landmark biography of this elusive man, which reveals the mind behind some of the twentieth century's most celebrated architecture.

    This gorgeously photographed lifestyle guide gives readers an insider's tour of the City by the Bay through Victoria Smith's unique lens. Organized by neighborhood, each chapter features enchanting photos of hidden corners, local color, landmarks, and hotspots, revealing why so many people—Victoria included—are falling head over heels for this amazing city. Brimming with original, dreamy photography and packaged as a gorgeous jacketed hardcover, this lovely book makes a perfect gift for photography fans, San Francisco dwellers, visitors to the city, or anyone who has left their heart in San Francisco.

    Based on the 1999 Walter Neurath Memorial Lecture, this book uses the work of the Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers to argue that the specifity of mediums, even modernist ones, can never be simply collapsed into the physicality of their support.

    His writings had a potency that was irresistible to the intellectual scene that swept post-war Europe, and have left a vital inheritance to contemporary thought. The central tenet of the Existentialist movement which he helped to found, whereby God is replaced by an ethical self, proved hugely attractive to a generation that had seen the horrors of Nazism, and provoked a revolution in post-war thought and literature. In What is Literature? Sartre the novelist and Sartre the philosopher combine to address the phenomenon of literature, exploring why we read, and why we write.

     Sasha Ozerovsky is a young expert in Russian art at Leighton's, an exclusive Manhattan auction house. When a dealer arrives from Moscow with an exquisite 1913 Fabergé figurine, Sasha immediately recognizes a rare masterpiece. But in the high stakes art world, the price of an object is tied to its history. If Sasha can determine for whom the bejeweled piece was made and where it has been hiding for the past century, its value -- and Sasha's career -- will soar. But as Sasha moves between New York's high society and Russia's new rich, he discovers that the piece once belonged to his family, and he must face questions about their past that he never dared to ask. Superbly plotted and evoking the elegance of Russia's gilded age, Object of Virtue is an enthralling tale that explores what happens to a family torn between vanity and virtue.

    The personal restlessness and the continuous search of why the Lord chose twelve men to disciple revealed to Pastor Cesar Castellanos the model of the Government of twelve, which in this book is explained in detail. Also, this publication will be of great help in breaking schemes and will place your church, the leadership and all its ministry in a new dimension of power.

    As Goldin writes: "Real memory, which these pictures trigger, is an invocation of the color, smell, sound, and physical presence, the density and flavor of life."

    This full-length, exhaustively researched account of the thrash kings' career recaps and reevaluates the years guitar hero Jeff Hanneman and drum legend Dave Lombardo were in the group. Over the course of 59 chapters, 400 footnotes and three appendices, it profiles the members and presents dramatic scenes from 32 years in the Abyss: A fresh look at the group's early days. Reign in Blood tours. A European invasion. The Palladium riot. The seat cushion chaos concert. Newly unearthed details from Lombardo's turbulent history with the band. Historical artwork and photos never seen in public before. The entire diabolical discography. Hanneman’s hard times. The Big Four’s big year. Lombardo’s final exit. The top 11 Hanneman tributes. The mosh memorial service. Untold stories. Updates. And relevant digressions, including a contrasting look at other contemporaries and cutting-edge extreme bands. Over decades, Slayer experience triumph and loss, but never defeat, whether it's at the hands of rivals, peers, America's most infamous church, or the United States government itself. In addition to extensive archival material, this book features original content from the band, key affiliates, and firsthand witnesses, including Metal Blade CEO Brian Slagel, former tour manager Doug Goodman, engineer Bill Metoyer, former Metal Blade exec William "DJ Will" Howell, and cover artist Albert Cuellar (who went on to work with Tim Burton, Sublime, and Sir Mix-A-Lot). It also includes Jeff Hanneman's original diagram for the Live Undead picture disc (spoiler: it's a stick-figure sketch). Slayer fans will never see — or hear — the thrash metal champions the same way. 33 photos and 11 illustrations include lost artwork by Hell Awaits artist Albert Cuellar and stunning exclusive pictures by Harald Oimoen (of Murder in the Front Row renown). Written by D.X. Ferris, an Ohio Society of Professional Journalists Reporter of the Year and author of "Slayer's Reign in Blood," which is book no. 57 in Bloomsbury Academic's prestigious 33 1/3 series. The bargain-priced e-book edition features extensive interactive content, and can be read on any smart phone, tablet, computer, or portable communications device (with free Kindle software).

    Belt was one of the first female photographers hired at the National Geographic Society. When her children were born, she kept right on going—and this book is a loving compendium of the wisdom she gained. It chronicles three decades of international travel, a moveable family, and the art she created along the way. Belt shares intimate moments, lessons learned from other women and men she met, and all the fun and heartache of the experience. Her quirky sense of humor and many touching stories will delight and excite readers who are making and maintaining career decisions for themselves and their families. In addition to its value as a collection of emotionally rich photographs, A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel will find wide appeal as a unique and meaningful gift for Mother’s Day, birthdays, and many other occasions.

    Cream, published by Phaidon in 1998, was a sensational cultural event. Fresh Cream consolidates the biennial status of Cream as a frame of reference and an essential source of new art for art professionals and newcomers alike. Pursuing the theme of its predecessor, with 10 new world-class contemporary curators each choosing ten emerging artists, the book presents in its entirety the works of 100 artists and an up-to-the-minute global overview of the contemporary art world, not only for now but also for the future. These artists have risen to intense international acclaim since the 1990s or, in the opinion of the curators who have selected them, are about to emerge internationally in the near future. Fresh Cream contains the enormous breadth of ideas and forms that exist in contemporary art. The artists' spreads are arranged in an A-Z order, featuring numerous examples of each artist's work alongside a concise text from the selecting curator and vital biographical information about the artist. A conversation between the 10 curators and the commissioning editor gives a penetrative insight into their selections and of the key issues in contemporary art. The cultural context in which the artists work - from philosophy to fiction - is presented through recent texts from 10 contemporary writers, one selected by each curator. Itself embodying the creative originality and innovation of its content, Fresh Cream is packaged in an incredible, inflated, clear plastic pillow.

    Altered forms and transfigured ideas. Power and vulnerability. Parallel universes of the heart and mind. Space and time. In a few brief years, the stunning visual oeuvre of Tara McPherson has grown and evolved at thrilling speed. Expanding beyond the limits of rock poster art into the worlds of commercial illustration and fine art, her paintings, drawings, toys, sculptures, and installations have pushed her influence and authority across the breadth of creative expression and helped redefine the boundaries of pop surrealism. Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson Volume 2 is the compelling road map to the artist's most recent and ambitious journeys in paint, pencil, and vinyl.

    The book explores the influences that have affected the photo story, such as key twentieth century events and the life of photographic magazines such as Newsweek, Time, and Paris Match, all of which have helped to define the genre.

    Early in his career, Hoving was introduced to the "curator's game." Each week, he and his contemporaries met to examine details of larger museum masterpieces. Whoever correctly identified the detail in context won free coffee: the losers paid. In an imaginative adaptation of this exercise, Hoving introduces us to the challenge and the fun of identifying art, and to the rewards of familiarity with the great works. A section of paintings accompanied by brief essays introduces a range of artists, themes, techniques, and styles, while progressively demanding "clues" are provided to help identify visual details in context. No experience is necessary to play this game. Readers at all levels will discover the fun of identifying and remembering great art.

    With imagination and insight, the author brings Impressionism into focus by showing it through the eyes of the artists and their contemporaries, using letters, critical reviews and reminiscences of the people who were part of the story. As we see in Bernard Denvir's compelling survey, the Impressionists had new ways of painting, but they also had a new world to paint: a world of stream tricycles, emergent photography, and modern ideas about perception. 195 illus., 17 in color.