Piranesi Drawings. Visions of Antiquity Vowles Sarah Thames&Hudson

Following the critical and commercial success of Pattern and Ornament in the Arts of India, Henry Wilson has turned for this companion volume to a single theme. But what a theme: the variety of floral motifs in the exquisitely wrought details of India's architectural wonders is boundless, and one can only marvel at the way in which the basic elements of wood, stone and plaster have been transformed into masterworks of decorative art. From the illustrious Mughal Empire during it's greatest period of monument-building and artistic creativity to the time of British rule, which brought with it an unprecedented period of peace that allowed great wealth to be concentrated on the arts, the richness of India's architecture is overwhelming. Henry Wilson's fine photographs reveals the skill, patience and pictorial imagination of the many thousands of craftsmen who have turned to floral motifs and rendered them with precision and life-enriching creativity

Good homes are places where lives can unfold, families grow up, dogs jump on sofas, friends share your hospitality. They should also be places where you can find some solitude - a quiet corner to read a book, have a Saturday afternoon nap. In short, they need to be able to sustain you, inspire you and tell your story thanks to their architecture, use of materials and contents • These are the attributes that Monocle has always celebrated when covering residences in it's design and architecture pages - whether featuring a city bolthole, a modernist seaside residence or a summer outpost in a forest. Now Monocle is bringing this all together in one book that explores individual homes, housing projects old and new, communities of self-builders, even whole neighbourhoods where a simple philosophy of building well has created quality of life for many

This sweeping overview of Rembrandt's extraordinary achievement as a draughtsman fills a gap in the otherwise enormous literature on the artist. Beautifully illustrated, mostly in colour, the more than 150 drawings - culled from a corpus of some 800 - are discussed in detail. The drawings span Rembrandt's entire productive life as an artist, from early self-portraits in the 1620s to late drawings from the 1660s of the victim of an execution, a state coach, and historical and mythological images. The scope of the book allows readers to delve into the very broad range of Rembrandt's oeuvre of drawings

This elegant volume featuring silver gilded pages and an open spine binding so that it lays flat to show off the photographs to their best advantage explores Dior's long history of creativity, beauty, and success through a celebration of one of our most profound emotions. "Women, with their ever-sharp instincts, understood that I not only wanted to make them more beautiful, but happier too". Christian Dior Since 1947, through it's haute couture and fragrance collections, the House of Dior has enhanced the lives of women by bringing them moments of resplendent beauty. On the radiant faces of Dior's models and muses, and through the exuberance of its creative studios and runway shows, joy shines like a bouquet of fireworks and luminous smiles

On 31 August 1935, Alexej Stakhanov, a jackhammer operator at Central-Irmino coal mine, mined a record 102 tons of coal in five hours and forty five minutes (fourteen times his daily quota). The launch of an unprecedented state-run campaign for popularizing extraordinary labor achievements made Stakhanov a Soviet preeminent hero. Soon after, his portrait appeared on the cover of Time. For the first time a laborer had been elevated to worldwide fame for his performance at work. Since then the term Stakhanovism has defined ecstatic labor and professional over-accomplishment as a form of heroism. On the 74th anniversary of Stakhanov's achievement, Gleb Kosorukov undertook a photographic research project on the identity of modern miners as an archetype of the working class, affected by the changing value of material labor and the decline of social justice

What makes some photographs stay in the memory forever? Sometimes it's the subject matter alone, but more often it's the skill of the artists who took them. The premise of this magnificent book is quite simple: take 100 leading examples of the work of the world's greatest photographers, and a distinguished academic will describe how they achieved their effects to allow you to recreate them yourself. You can discover how to compose 'decisive moments' like Cartier-Bresson, use long exposures for landscapes like Simon Norfolk, and experiment with flash in daylight like Rineke Dijkstra. The images are arranged thematically, with engaging analysis of each image and a description of its technical make-up, along with a biography of each artist. The book showcases 100 of the greatest images in the history of the art and will provide an indispensable guide to the technicalities behind the well-known masterpieces and hidden gems in the world of photography

The mid-20th century was one of the most popular, collectable and dynamic periods of international design. Drawing on the inventive style of the era, this range of gift products features exclusive illustrations of iconic mid-century designs, from Eames chairs to Poul Henningsen lamps and George Nelson clocks, all rendered in a distinctive graphic style. Featuring over ninety pieces by sixty designers and design duos, Mid-Century Modern: Icons of Design is arranged chronologically, and includes chairs, tables, storage, lighting, and product and industrial design. Each spread includes a graphic depiction of the piece and a concise text. The models, materials and designers index offers easy reference through the book

All knowledge, the cosmos arranged on shelves, in cupboards, or hanging from the ceiling, "infinite riches in a little room" - such were the cabinets of curiosities of the 17th century. This survey, now available in a compact edition, traces the amazing history of cabinets of curiosities, from their first appearance in the inventories and engravings commissioned by Renaissance nobles such as the Medici or the Hapsburgs, via those of the Dane Ole Wurm and the Italian polymath Athanasius Kircher, to the serious 17th and 18th century scientists Elias Ashmole and Levinas Vincent

This volume is published on the occasion of the opening of the "National Museum of Qatar" in the state's capital, Doha. It explores and celebrates architect Jean Nouvel's innovative design which, inspired by the desert rose with its interlocking disks, responds to the country's desert location by the sea. The museum, built around Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al-Thani's original 19th century palace, honours Qatar's heritage while looking to it's future as a thriving cultural hub

Whales are some of the largest animals to have ever lived on our planet, but what do we really know about them? This glorious guide takes readers deep beneath the ocean's surface to explore the unseen world of whales. They will learn how to recognize the different whale species, discover how they evolved and how they eat, sleep and communicate with each other. The book follows them on their long migration journeys around the world, and finds out why they sing, how they look after their young, where in the world to watch them and why they urgently need our protection

Did you know that the Egyptians created the first synthetic colour; or that the noblest purple comes from a predatory sea snail? Throughout history, artist pigments have been made from deadly metals, poisonous minerals, urine, cow dung, and even crushed insects • From grinding down beetles and burning animal bones to alchemy and pure luck, Chromatopia reveals the origin stories behind over fifty of history's most vivid colour pigments. Spanning the ancient world to modern leaps in technology, this is the book for the artist, the history buff, the science lover and the design fanatic

Новый студийный альбом австрийских мастеров симфонического металла VISIONS OF ATLANTIS "THE DEEP AND THE DARK" • После перерыва в пять лет австрийские мастера симфонического металла Visions Of Atlantis выпускают новый альбом "The Deep & The Dark" • Вот что говорят по этому поводу музыканты • Это тот