But what is it that drives people to possess objects that have no conceivable use? To Have and To Hold is a captivating tour of collectors and their treasures from medieval times to the present, from a cabinet containing unicorn horns and a Tsar's collection of teeth to the macabre art of embalmer Dr. Frederick Ruysch, the fabled castle of William Randolph Hearst, and the truly preoccupied men who stockpile food wrappers and plastic cups. An engrossing story of the collector as bridegroom, deliriously, obsessively happy, wed to his possessions, till death do us part.

    This provocative book tackles some of the enduring 'sacred truths' surrounding the high cultural status of the live event.

    16 pages of photographs included.

    Discover key artworks and artists from across the globe, stretching from the prehistoric Altamira cave paintings and Chinese jade carvings to more impressionism, symbolism, cubism, and pop art.Understand the ideas that inspired masterpieces by Botticelli, Rembrandt, Klimt, Matisse, Picasso, and dozens more, with The Art Book's fascinating overview of painting, drawing, printing, sculpture, conceptual art, and performance art, from ancient history to the modern day.

    It was to be an age of post-Impressionistic color, form and wonderment that the art world discovered only after the master's death. Bouts of anxiety, mental illness and epilepsy may have tormented him and brought about his suicide at the age of 37. But they may also have been catalysts for emotionality and vibrance in his art that reveal a turbulent search for grace.The compilation of Vincent Van Gogh's 500 finest color paintings in this online volume comes to you in a digitally restored state: the eye-popping brilliance and vitality are just as on the day Van Gogh finished them. Unless noted otherwise, all of them were originally oil paintings on canvas or wood (the few exceptions are watercolors). The arrangement is by genre (see the list below) and is chronological within each genre section. There are a few duplicates, that is, some paintings from one genre are also shown within the scope of another genre in order to emphasize their "dual nature." This is especially true for the images in "Skyscapes," many of which are reprised from "Landscapes" or other relevant genres to afford you, the viewer, with a fresh perspective on a different aspect of the composition.Technical Note: All 500 images are in color -- they render beautifully in optimized gray-scale tones for black-and-white e-book readers, but exhibit even more stunningly in full color with color readers and inside Kindle apps for color-enabled computers and portable or hand-held devices.The masterpieces are organized into the following genres (with the tally of images in each):PORTRAITS (24)SELF-PORTRAITS (18)CHARACTER AND ACTION STUDIES (31)LABORERS (37)TOWNSCAPES: FROM A DISTANCE (17)TOWNSCAPES: FROM INSIDE THE TOWN (30)BUILDINGS: FROM AN EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE (35)BUILDINGS: INTERIOR DESIGN (17)BIRDS (2)ANIMALS (7)FLOWERS AND GARDENS: LIVING AND GROWING (20)FLOWERS: FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS (29)STILL LIFE (45)TREES (50)LANDSCAPES (50)WATERSCAPES: THE SEA (6)WATERSCAPES: RIVERS, CANALS AND BRIDGES (23)SKYSCAPES (38)NIGHTSCAPES: AT SUNSET (14)NIGHTSCAPES: BY MOONLIGHT (3)NIGHTSCAPES: STARRY NIGHTS (5)NIGHTSCAPES: AT SUNRISE (1)

    Oliver Jeffers is a fresh canvas for his imagination, and includes a pass through his most popular work, never-before-published illustrations and art, and a look into his more personal world of sketchbooks and doodles. Oliver's own story, infused with the whimsy and joy his work is famous for, is must-have not only for current fans of Oliver Jeffers's picture books, but also new fans, art lovers, and bibliophiles both young and old.

    Peter Biskind profiles the people who took the independent movement from obscurity to the Oscars, most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax an indie powerhouse. Candid, penetrating and controversial, DOWN AND DIRTY PICTURES is a must read for anyone interested in the film world."In DOWN AND DIRTY PICTURES, Biskind takes on the movie industry of the 1990s and again gets the story....Peter Biskind captures his era as John Dunne did that of the Zanucks." Frank Rich, The New York Times"Dishy, teeming, superbly reported and packed with lively inside anecdotes...[a] juicy and fascinating expose." - Entertainment Weekly

    A short illustrated survey of the use of photography in contemporary art since the mid-1980s.

    Conceived as a handbook and teaching aid for artists, instructors, and students, this timeless book presents Albers’s unique ideas of color experimentation in a way that is valuable to specialists as well as to a larger audience.Originally published by Yale University Press in 1963 as a limited silkscreen edition with 150 color plates, Interaction of Color first appeared in paperback in 1971, featuring ten representative color studies chosen by Albers. The paperback has remained in print ever since and is one of the most influential resources on color for countless readers.This new paperback edition presents a significantly expanded selection of more than thirty color studies alongside Albers’s original unabridged text, demonstrating such principles as color relativity, intensity, and temperature; vibrating and vanishing boundaries; and the illusions of transparency and reversed grounds. Now available in a larger format and with enhanced production values, this expanded edition celebrates the unique authority of Albers’s contribution to color theory and brings the artist’s iconic study to an eager new generation of readers.

    Rothko also wrote a number of essays and critical reviews during his lifetime, adding his thoughtful, intelligent, and opinionated voice to the debates of the contemporary art world. Although the artist never published a book of his varied and complex views, his heirs indicate that he occasionally spoke of the existence of such a manuscript to friends and colleagues. Stored in a New York City warehouse since the artist’s death more than thirty years ago, this extraordinary manuscript, titled The Artist’s Reality, is now being published for the first time. Probably written around 1940–41, this revelatory book discusses Rothko’s ideas on the modern art world, art history, myth, beauty, the challenges of being an artist in society, the true nature of “American art,” and much more. The Artist’s Reality alsoincludes an introduction by Christopher Rothko, the artist’s son, who describes the discovery of the manuscript and the complicated and fascinating process of bringing the manuscript to publication. The introduction is illustrated with a small selection of relevant examples of the artist’s own work as well as with reproductions of pages from the actual manuscript.The Artist’s Reality willbe a classic text for years to come, offering insight into both the work and the artistic philosophies of this great painter.

    Though Raphael painted many important works in his Florence period, including his famous Madonnas, it was his mature work in Rome that cemented his place in history, most notably the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican featuring his School of Athens and Triumph of Religion murals. This overview traces the life's work of this Renaissance master who achieved the height of greatness in only two decades of creation and whose influential work paved the way for the Mannerist and Baroque movements.

    Dublin-based designer Annie Atkins invites readers into the creative process behind her intricately designed, rigorously researched, and visually stunning graphic props. These objects may be given just a fleeting moment of screen time, but their authenticity is vital and their role is crucial: to nudge both the actors on set and the audience just that much further into the fictional world of the film.

    Essential reading for students and anyone interested in the great philosophers, this book opens up appreciation of Heidegger beyond the study of philosophy to the reaches of poetry and our fundamental relationship to the world. Featuring "The Origin of the Work of Art," a milestone in Heidegger's canon, this enduring volume provides potent, accessible entry to one of the most brilliant thinkers of modern times.

    Martin identified with the Abstract Expressionists but her commitment to linear geometry caused her to be associated in turn with Minimalist, feminist, and even outsider artists. She moved through some of the liveliest art communities of her time while maintaining a legendary reserve. I paint with my back to the world, she says both at the beginning and at the conclusion of a documentary filmed when she was in her late eighties. When she died at ninety-two, in Taos, New Mexico, it is said she had not read a newspaper in half a century. No substantial critical monograph exists on this acclaimed artist the recipient of two career retrospectives as well as the National Medal of the Arts who was championed by critics as diverse in their approaches as Lucy Lippard, Lawrence Alloway, and Rosalind Krauss. Furthermore, no attempt has been made to describe her extraordinary life. The whole engrossing story, told here for the first time, Agnes Martin is essential reading for anyone interested in abstract art or the history of women artists in America."

    Passionately argued, brilliantly written, and filled with Paglia’s trademark audacity, Glittering Images takes us on a tour through more than two dozen seminal images, some famous and some obscure or unknown—paintings, sculptures, architectural styles, performance pieces, and digital art that have defined and transformed our visual world. She combines close analysis with background information that situates each artist and image within its historical context—from the stone idols of the Cyclades to an elegant French rococo interior to Jackson Pollock’s abstract Green Silver to Renée Cox’s daring performance piece Chillin’ with Liberty. And in a stunning conclusion, she declares that the avant-garde tradition is dead and that digital pioneer George Lucas is the world’s greatest living artist. Written with energy, erudition, and wit, Glittering Images is destined to change the way we think about our high-tech visual environment.