Workmanship is key to today's visual arts, when high ‘production values' are becoming increasingly commonplace. Yet craft's centrality to contemporary art has received little serious attention from critics and historians. Dispensing with clichéd arguments that craft is art, Adamson persuasively makes a case for defining craft in a more nuanced fashion. The interesting thing about craft, he argues, is that it is perceived to be 'inferior' to art. The book consists of an overview of various aspects of this second-class identity - supplementarity, sensuality, skill, the pastoral, and the amateur. It also provides historical case studies analysing craft's role in a variety of disciplines, including architecture, design, contemporary art, and the crafts themselves. Thinking Through Craft will be essential reading for anyone interested in craft or the broader visual arts.

    The reception was divided and passionate. The book and show unabashedly forced the art world to deal with color photography, a medium scarcely taken seriously at the time, and with the vernacular content of a body of photographs that could have been but definitely weren't some average American's Instamatic pictures from the family album. These photographs heralded a new mastery of the use of color as an integral element of photographic composition. Bound in a textured cover inset with a photograph of a tricycle and stamped with yearbook-style gold lettering, the Guide contained 48 images edited down from 375 shot between 1969 and 1971 and displayed a deceptively casual, actually super-refined look at the surrounding world. Here are people, landscapes and odd little moments in and around Eggleston's hometown of Memphis--an anonymous woman in a loudly patterned dress and cat's eye glasses sitting, left leg slightly raised, on an equally loud outdoor sofa; a coal-fired barbecue shooting up flames, framed by a shiny silver tricycle, the curves of a gleaming black car fender, and someone's torso; a tiny, gray-haired lady in a faded, flowered housecoat, standing expectant, and dwarfed in the huge dark doorway of a mint-green room whose only visible furniture is a shaded lamp on an end table. For this edition of William Eggleston's Guide, The Museum of Modern Art has made new color separations from the original 35 mm slides, producing a facsimile edition in which the color will be freshly responsive to the photographer's intentions.

    Not a master mason or carpenter, Filippo Brunelleschi was a goldsmith and clock maker. Over twenty-eight years, he would dedicate himself to solving puzzles of the dome's construction. In the process, he did nothing less than reinvent the field of architecture. He engineered the perfect placement of brick and stone (some among the most renowned machines of the Renaissance) to carry an estimated seventy million pounds hundreds of feet into the air, and designed the workers' platforms and routines so carefully that only one man died during the decades of construction. This drama was played out amid plagues, wars, political feuds, and the intellectual ferments of Renaissance Florence - events Ross King weaves into a story to great effect. An American Library Association Best Book of the Year Boston Globe: "An absorbing tale." Los Angeles Times: "Ross King has a knack for explaining complicated processes in a manner that is not only lucid but downright intriguing... Fascinating."

    Now, for the first time anywhere, see the homemade comics, sketches and grand plans that set this masterpiece of literary fantasy in motion. From there, take a tour through piles of promotional art, holiday cards and pivotal storytelling moments from the revolutionary self-published years, where Bone went from "the little comic that could" to an industry leader that changed the face of comics. Finally, revel in the wonder of Bone as a complete 1300-page graphic novel, a work for the ages, filled with comedy and tragedy and adventure for generations to come.

    Facing them both is a hurricane-force battle of ideas that will determine the future of Western civilization and the soul of the Christian church. The forces arrayed against the West and the church are destructive ideologies, policies, and worldviews deeply established among intellectual elites, the political class, and our schools. More menacingly, these forces have also invaded the Christian church.The perils faced by the West and the church are unprecedented:threats to religious libertyredefinitions of marriage and familyattacks on the sacredness and dignity of human life How should Christians respond to this multifaceted challenge?Addressing each dimension of this challenge, The Gathering Storm provides answers and equips Christians both to give an answer for the hope that is within them and to contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.

     Then Vee’s half-sister comes to visit. The Amelia he remembers was 9 years old, not this 23-year-old very attractive blonde. Within hours, she’s turning Henry’s life upside-down. Is Henry finally ready to live life again, or will he continue to close himself off from love? If you like stories of HOT rich alpha males, stories that pull at the heartstrings, and happy ever afters, read on… This is the first in a new series about billionaire businessmen who featured in the Double Delights series, but can be read as standalones. Look out for the stories of Elias King and Aidan Hall coming soon.

    A relative unknown at the time, Sargent won the commission to paint her; the two must have recognized in each other a like-minded hunger for fame.Unveiled at the 1884 Paris Salon, Gautreau's portrait generated the attention she craved-but it led to infamy rather than stardom. Sargent had painted one strap of Gautreau's dress dangling from her shoulder, suggesting either the prelude to or the aftermath of sex. Her reputation irreparably damaged, Gautreau retired from public life, destroying all the mirrors in her home.Drawing on documents from private collections and other previously unexamined materials, and featuring a cast of characters including Oscar Wilde and Richard Wagner, Strapless is a tale of art and celebrity, obsession and betrayal.

    city. Its buildings were monuments to its success and vitality in the first half of the twentieth century. At the start of the twenty-first century, those same monuments are now ruins: the United Artists Theater, the Whitney Building, the Farwell Building and the once ravishing Michigan Central Station (unused since 1988) today look as if a bomb had dropped on Motor City, leaving behind the ruins of a once great civilization. In a series of weekly photographic bulletins for Time magazine called "Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline," photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have been revealing to an astonished America the scale of decay in Detroit. "The state of ruin is essentially a temporary situation that happens at some point, the volatile result of change of era and the fall of empires," write Marchand and Meffre. "Photography appeared to us as a modest way to keep a little bit of this ephemeral state." As Detroit's white middle class continues to abandon the city center for its dispersed suburbs, and its downtown high-rises empty out, these astounding images, which convey both the imperious grandeur of the city's architecture and its genuinely shocking decline, preserve a moment that warns us all of the transience of great epochs.

    It begins at Anand Bhavan, the Nehru mansion in Allahabad, and FerozeGandhi’s relationship with the Nehrus – particularly Kamala and Indira. This gives the background to an understanding of Sanjay’s volatile personality as it developed through his early years and his obsession with cars that led to the establishment of the Maruti factory. Writing in a style that is both compelling and honest, Vinod Mehta sifts the facts from the rumours and gets to the core of Sanjay’s dramatic emergence after the declaration of the Emergency. His capturing of the Youth Congress and the excesses of the sterilization campaign (which he thought would ensure his place in history) are brought out in telling detail, as is the use of the media to build the cult of Sanjay.With a new introduction, The Sanjay Story allows readers to look with the benefit of hindsight on the rise and fall of one of independent India’s most controversial figures. What emerges from the text is not only an understanding of Sanjay and his times, but an understanding of India’s current political scenario. Vinod Mehta confirms the truth of history writing – that to engage intelligently with the present, you must come to terms with the past, even a past as inglorious and bewildering as the Emergency.

     It is now undergoing a renaissance as an 'eco-friendly' building material because of its amazing 'green' credentials. 'Building with Cob' shows how to apply this ancient technique in a wide variety of contemporary situations, covering everything from design and siting, mixing, building walls, fireplaces, ovens and floors, lime and other natural finishes, and gaining planning permission and building regulation approval. It also explains in detail how to sensitively restore an old cob structure. This book is a step-by-step guide, lavishly illustrated with over 300 colour photos and 85 diagrams.

    Fashion Illustration represents a designer's point of view and Anna Kiper's aim is to contribute to the revival of this unique art form. Every illustration lesson in the book presents a story with exciting design details and ideas to inspire designers to rediscover the art of hand drawing as a tool for creating vibrant and original work. 'A hand drawing creates a direct connection to the artist, expressing the individual style, energy and creativity' - from Anna Kiper's introduction. Written for both newcomers and improvers, Fashion Illustration will help you to: achieve movement and attitude in figure drawing by following a few simple steps; develop striking and energetic page compositions; explore effortless ways to illustrate print, textures and embellishments; discover an exciting variety of media and techniques to enrich your individual drawing style. This beautifully illustrated and inspirational book is written by Anna Kiper, one of the world's leading fashion designers and illustrators. Contents: Introduction, The Fashion Figure, The Figure in Detail, Faces, Arms & Hands, Legs & Feet, Dressing the Fashion figure, Fashion Dictionary, Fashion Flats, Accessories, Page Composition with Impact, Illustrating Men, Illustrating Children, Fabric Rendering Techniques, Exploring Media, Model Drawing, Inspiration, Mood, Design.

    By examining the symbols on the Nauvoo, Kirtland, and Salt Lake temples, the authors skillfully demonstrate that we begin to understand the symbolic language of the Lord which, in turn, prepares us for the symbolism that we will encounter within. Symbols in Stone on Early Temples of the Restoration is carefully documented using the scriptures as well as recorded accounts of latter-day temples seen in vision before their construction. It is essential reading for all Latter-day Saints who wat to better sunderstand the vital role of temples in the latter days.

    Originally published in 1989 and until now unavailable in any edition, Just Looking had become one of Updike's rarest and most sought-after titles. It collects the best of the novelist and critic's multifarious musings on art and artists, museums and popular culture, the lives behind the works and the ways in which these works have informed his own life. Included here are pieces on Vermeer, Erastus Field, Modigliani, the major Impressionists, New Yorker cartoonist Ralph Barton, children's book illustrations, Fairfield Porter, and Jean Ipousteguy, among others, as well as extensive reflections on John Singer Sargent and Andrew Wyeth, a critical examination of writers' art, and a long essay on his impressions of the Museum of Modern Art. Featuring a new introduction by the author, this edition of Just Looking -- the first ever in paperback -- brings back into print a key work of art criticism by one of the most respected and accomplished writers of our time and is the first in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's new reprint series.

    Today, says Francine Prose, the word has been weakened and is used almost exclusively to refer to the chic women who help fashion designers inform their latest lines. But in her scholarly account, Prose (a National Book Award finalist for her novel Blue Angel ) presents nine real women who moved men to greatness and who were not mere catalysts but worthy of note on their own, in many cases deserving a share of the credit for the work they helped create.Each chapter is a mini-biography of a woman's life and the way a male artist figured into it. We see the muse as prompter and creator in her own regard, like memoirist Hester Thrale, whose letters to Samuel Johnson helped form his later works. In Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the muse is at her most passive, asserting her independence of the child-loving author only by failing to remain seven years old forever. And with Yoko Ono, there is the muse as artist in her own right, who claimed not to have heard of the Beatles before meeting John Lennon, and whose avant-garde tendencies some blamed for his musical downfall.To hit the mystical nine, Prose stretches a bit. For every Suzanne Farrell collaborating on ballets with George Balanchine, or every Gala Dal� cosigning canvases with spouse Salvador, there are personae only a graduate student would be likely to know. We learn of "serial muse" Lou Andreas-Salom�'s involvement with Friedrich Nietzsche, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Sigmund Freud, and of how Charis Weston had to vie with a toilet for the attentions of her photographer husband, Edward. But these lesser-knowns help make the book a complete analysis of notable women who motivated men of achievement -- usually at the expense of their own -- and lived with the consequences. iKatherine Hottinger/i

    Most have never been published before. Taken to provide a unique record of whole districts of London as they were vanishing, each of the photographs is a full-plate image, a stunning work of art in its own right.