Jenny Saville


Gagosian Gallery - 2005
    In 1992, the year she completed her studies at Glasgow School of Art, her graduation exhibition sold out. Most notably, one painting was bought by Charles Saatchi and, since then, her international reputation has grown at a rapid and steady pace.Jenny Saville is described as a "New Old Master" for the technical proficiency of her oversize nudes that have earned her comparisons to Rubens and Lucian Freud and universal praise from critics and art historians alike. For the conceptual underpinnings of her work, she has been hailed as one of the most interesting artists of the last decade. Her work has been shown alongside that of Damien Hirst and the other Young British Artists in the acclaimed and seminal survey of new British art Sensation at the Royal Academy (London, 1997) and the Brooklyn Museum of Art (New York, 2000).This is the only monograph devoted to the critically acclaimed young artist and features all of Jenny Saville's paintings to date-including many previously unpublished. This volume is being published in association with the Gagosian Gallery in London. The power of her brilliant and relentless embodiment of our worst anxieties about our own corporeality and gender is what distinguishes Saville from other paint-obsessed representers of the naked human body. To my eye, no other artist in recent memory has combined empathy and distance with such visual and emotional impact. -Linda Nochlin, Art in America, March 2000

The Life and Works of Vincent Van Gogh


Janice Anderson - 1994
    The quick brushstrokes of the Impressionists suited his temperament, as did his heavy use of impasto. This helpful volume shows many of van Gogh's best loved works, including the famous self-portrait with a Bandaged Ear, painted after he had cut off part of his ear in a fit of madness, Sunflowers, which were to him a symbol of power and beneficence, and The Starry Night, a painting which clearly expresses intensity and mental turbulence.

Crowded House: Something So Strong


Chris Bourke - 1997
    When "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong" exploded in the US charts, worldwide success looked inevitable. Critics compared them musically to the Beatles and fans adored them for their warmth and humour on stage. Four brilliant albums later, their roller-coaster ride of achievements and disappointments came to an end on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, in front of one of the largest audiences in Australian history. The dream was over, the band broken up, their enormous promise only partly fulfilled. In this definitive account, New Zealand journalist Chris Bourke has written the true story of Crowded House. With unparalleled access to all band members, their families, friends, musical collaborators, managers, and record company personanel, he has captured their essence. It is a unique tale of musical chemistry, family bonds and the personal costs of pursuing an artistic vision. From the manic energy of the recording studio to the machinations of the record industry, this riveting account is a book for every Crowded House fan.

99 Problems: Superstars Have Bad Days, Too


Ali Graham - 2015
    All the money and fame in the world won’t prevent him from having a bad hair day. Or stepping in gum. Or not being able to fit into skinny jeans, or watching helplessly as a scoop of ice cream falls from its cone. Or so an unnamed Superstar’s life is ingeniously imagined in this very funny book. Inspired by but not based on Jay Z’s monster hit “99 Problems,” illustrator Ali Graham riffs on what might be the real problems afflicting a world-famous music mogul who also happens to be married to the foremost diva of our time. Begun as a Tumblr, which went viral almost instantly, 99 Problems is a highly conceptual gift book showcasing 99 full-color illustrations of a cartoon character who looks just like a certain legendary rapper, and the often ordinary and sometimes fantastical things that happen to him. And that’s where the book finds its hilarious, compulsive hook—in an age that worships celebrity and assumes, somewhat enviously, that fame and fortune can protect one from life’s travails, what if that just weren’t true? There’s a surprising, underlying warmth here. Even when the author dips into flights of pop culture fantasy—Superstar on the bow of the Titanic; Superstar whipping up a bad batch alongside Walter White from Breaking Bad—the recognition of shared kinship is strong. It’s a cartoon version of celebrity, but like the best cartoons, it’s edgy and knowing, yet sweet, too.

Roadie: My Life on the Road with Coldplay


Matt McGinn - 2010
    Behind-the-scenes touring and recording stories are featured, as well as humorous and engaging anecdotes about Matt's relationship with Coldplay as they travel the globe and become one of the biggest bands in the world.

This is Pollock


Catherine Ingram - 2014
    His iconic paintings stretch out with the generosity and scale of America's Western landscape where the artist grew up. Pollock said that he painted "out of his conscious": the cathartic dribbled paint reflected his troubled mind.This book traces Pollock's career and discusses how his loose, individual style was used as a political weapon in the Cold War, representing America as the free, democratic nation. Illustrations simplify the theory and reveal the hidden meaning behind the mesh of painted lines.This title is appropriate for ages 14 and up

Zentangle


Jane Marbaix - 2015
    Accredited Zentangle teacher Jane Marbaix demonstrates a range of patterns one step at a time and offers a sourcebook of her own designs to inspire tanglers to try something different. Proven to reduce stress and enhance creativity in people of all ages, Zentangle does not require a background in practical art or expensive materials to produce pleasing results.

The Mad Art of Caricature!: A Serious Guide to Drawing Funny Faces


Tom Richmond - 2011
    He examines what really makes a caricature successful, what to look for in a face, and how to draw it. Readers also learn how to apply this skill, whether it's drawing live, theme-park-style caricatures, or creating caricature for publication work. Loaded with everything from basic theories and drawing instruction to professional tips and tricks, this book contains something for novices and experts alike. The Mad Art of Caricature! is the most comprehensive and complete how-to guide on the art of caricature ever published. With over 500 illustrations, it's the definitive guide to the art of caricature.

John F. Kennedy’s Women: The Story of a Sexual Obsession


Michael O'Brien - 2011
    Kennedy has been more carefully scrutinized. Michael O’Brien, who knows as much about Kennedy as any historian now writing, here takes a comprehensive look at the feature of Camelot that remained largely under the radar during the White House years: Kennedy’s womanizing. Indeed, O’Brien writes, Kennedy’s approach to women and sex was near pathological, beyond the farthest reaches of the media’s imagination at the time. The record makes for an astonishing piece of presidential history.---Michael O’Brien was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and studied at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he received a Ph.D. in history. He is the author of the widely praised John F. Kennedy: A Biography, a full-scale study based on eleven years’ research into letters, diaries, financial papers, medical records, manuscripts, and oral histories; and a concise analytical life of the president, Rethinking Kennedy. He is now emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Fox Valley, and lives in Door County, Wisconsin.

The Art Forger's Handbook


Eric Hebborn - 1997
    Packed with wonderfully entertaining and often outrageous speculations about the nature of art, truth, and value, the world-renowned art forger--who died mysteriously before this book was published--details secrets of his techniques.

Making Art a Practice: How to Be the Artist You Are


Cat Bennett - 2013
    Rather than focus on art techniques that build skills or overcome creative blocks through playful activities or writing, this guide walks the artist through exercises designed to develop the personal qualities critical to being an artist in the world, such as courage, the ability to look and see, and connection to the true creative self. This is a hands-on, experiential action book designed to get the reader creating art and exploring a variety of possibilities for being an artist. According to the teachings of this handbook, engagement with art is less about end results or products and more about the self-awareness and competence that frees the artist to seek out and create work that is vital. This is a rigorous programme that allows artists of any skill level to deepen their creative habits and be the best artists possible.

Big Alma: San Francisco's Alma Spreckels


Bernice Scharlach - 1990
    Born with an unshakeable belief that she was destined for greatness, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (1881-1968) rose from poverty to become one of San Francisco's most powerful women. Alma's humble beginnings and scandalous lifestyle would alienate her from the cream of San Francisco society: she became an artists' model, befriended European royalty, married sugar magnate Adolph Spreckels, lived in the grandest mansion in San Francisco, and at age fifty-seven chartered a plane and eloped with a cowboy. But that same larger-than-life personality was a fruitful asset in the many pursuits that claimed her passions, the most notable of which still stands high on the Golden Gate headlands. Big Alma celebrates the woman who brought Rodin's works to America and built the Palace of the Legion of Honor to hold them.

Hi-Fructose: Collected Edition, Vol. 1


Annie Owens - 2008
    For the first time, this critically acclaimed arts magazine is collected in an expanded hardcover edition, compiling the best of the sought-after, long-sold-out first four volumes. Features the art of Mark Ryden, Tim Biskup, Junko Mizuno, Dave Cooper, Greg "Craola" Simkins, Gary Baseman, Alex Pardee, Gary Taxali, Scott Musgrove, Jeff Soto, Ray Ceasar, JennyBird, Joe Ledbetter, Longo Land, Michael Salter, Fawn Gehweiler Kurt Halsey, Invader, Ron English, Wilfrid Wood, Jim Woodring, Seen, Leslie Reppetaux, Brian McCarty, Attaboy, Saur Kids, Chris Uphues, Kaiju Big Battel, Chris Uphues, PShaw!, Ragnar, Cat Chow, and more.

Acrylic Painting for Dummies


Colette Pitcher - 2009
    Following a simple step-by-step approach, Acrylic Painting For Dummies provides hands-on instruction and easy-to-follow exercises in acrylic painting techniques and styles, making the medium accessible to would-be artists at all levels. Featuring large-scale projects at the end of most chapters and ample additional opportunities for readers to paint along, this friendly guide will help anyone discover the artist within.

Haley's Hints


Graham Haley - 1999
    Now in paperback--the extraordinary New York Times bestselling guide packed with 2,000 time and money saving tips on everything from laundry to gardening, pet care to pest control, painting to plumbing--topped off with the unique Easy-Find index for finding answers fast.