Thames&Hudson Modern Painting Morley Simon

Neutral hues, an ill-fitting man's suit and wiggling locks of cut hair supplant Frida Kahlo's (1907-54) usual lively color palette, indigenous Mexican dress and long plaits in Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair (1940). Nevertheless, the painting remains unmistakably Kahlo's. In the wake of a divorce from artist Diego Rivera, Kahlo turns to her favorite genre, self-portraiture, to express her deepest emotional and psychological urges. Inscribed with the lyrics of a popular song that translate as "Look, if I loved you it was for your hair. Now that you're without it I no longer love you", the work oscillates between evocations of a popular culture shared by many and unflinching forays into the private sphere. Curator Jodi Roberts essay, too, moves between the public and the private as it situates Kahlo's painting in the context of the Mexican Revolution's legacy, the Surrealist tradition and the artist's own life to explore the ways in which Kahlo constructed and reconstructed her own identity

Fulfilling a need for an accessible, affordable introduction to a subject of sustained and growing significance in contemporary culture, this volume in the World of Art series redefines contemporary Chinese art in the last forty years since the end of China's Cultural Revolution, placing it in the context of unprecedented cultural, political and urban transformation • This book offers neither an art historian's chronological review of Chinese art in post-Mao China, nor does it join the debate of previous terminologies coined by art critics; instead, it provides the most up to date understanding of contemporary Chinese art through original research and informed curatorial perspectives on the selected representative work, including painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, installation, video, performance and participatory art

Mid-Century Modern Furniture — маст-хэв для коллекционеров мебели. В издании собрано несколько сотен ключевых дизайнов, созданных с 1940-е по 1970-е • Английский язык

A new translation of Giorgio Vasari's Life of Raphael, fully illustrated, that presents Vasari's appealing narrative with new precision • Giorgio Vasari's The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, written in 1550 and 1568, is a classic text of cultural history. This monumental assembly of artists' lives from Giotto to Michelangelo paints a vivid picture of the progression of art in the hands of individual masters • This illustrated stand-alone edition of Vasari's Life of Raphael offers a new translation of this rich and remarkable life, elegantly rendering Vasari's literary text in modern terms. A work of authoritative skill and precision, this new translation preserves Vasari's exciting narrative, alongside beautifully reproduced color illustrations

In Japanese life and culture, there has never been a clear distinction between art, craft and design. Generations of artisans have for centuries forged and refined their crafts, which have become the envy of the modern world. Regions of Japan are renowned for specific traditions, many of which are born of local materials and the natural settings in which they are produced • Visitors and craft and design enthusiasts have long known about the high quality of craftsmanship and the unique quality of these makers and the objects they create, though few are taken outside the country. Spurred by an awareness of the unseen treasures produced by these craftspeople, designer-authors Uwe Roettgen and Katharina Zettl set out across the country to find the finest examples, to document the makers and their workshops and the rural landscapes that surround them

The art and architecture of Egypt during the age of the pharaohs capture the imagination of the modern world. Vivid, graceful forms decorating monuments that emanated ambition and authority spark our wonder about this distant culture. Ever youthful and elegant men and women encounter odd, animal-headed gods and monsters amid scenes of work and leisure, in a paradise of plain, bright colours, where hieroglyphic texts hint at grand ideas • The tombs and temples of ancient Egypt reveal how art and monumental building first flowered at the heart of civilization. Among the great creative achievements of ancient Egypt we discover a set of constant forms: archetypes in art and architecture that state clearly and concisely the contemporary view of authority, divinity, beauty and meaning

A gorgeously illustrated survey of chinoiserie from the 18th century to today • Chinoiserie is a term for Western art and design inspired by a largely invented vision of China. Marco Polo’s sensational account of his visit to the exotic East in the 13th century sparked a fascination with China that reached a fever pitch in the 18th century and continues to this day. Art historian and artist Aldous Bertram has long been captivated by chinoiserie. He organizes Dragons & Pagodas by theme, including porcelain, color and pattern, flora, fauna, people, architecture and tropical exoticism. Each chapter is bursting with images of everything from grand European summer palaces and whimsical pagoda follies to charming details of screens, porcelain figurines and ornate plasterwork, from modern rooms swathed in floral wallpaper to paintings, tapestries and palm-topped columns

Leonardo da Vinci may be best known to us as the artist in such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa and The Virgin on the Rocks • However, Leonardo was also endlessly curious about the physical world. His amazing notebooks reveal the breadth of his research into areas as diverse as anatomy, architecture, botany, geometry, mathematics, physics and engineering, including many anticipations of modern technology • As with all the titles in this amazing pocket-sized series, hundreds of illustrations of paintings, sketches and designs are closely integrated with detailed, fascinating texts and contemporary documents

This is a smart and succinct guide to the rich tradition of Japanese mythology, from the earliest recorded legends of Izanagi and Izanami, their divine offspring and the creation of Japan, to medieval tales of vengeful ghosts, through to the modern-day reincarnation of ancient deities as the heroes of mecha anime. While many around the world love Japan’s cultural exports, few are familiar with Japan’s unique mythology - enriched by Shinto, Buddhism and regional folklore • Mythology remains a living, evolving part of Japanese society, and the ways in which the people of Japan understand their myths are very different today even from a century ago, let alone over a millennium into the past. Offering much more than any competing overview of Japanese mythology, The Japanese Myths not only retells the ancient stories but also considers their place within the patterns of Japanese religions, culture and history, helping readers to understand the deep links between past and present in Japan, and the ways these myths live and grow

Chaumet Tiaras: Divine Jewels — фотособрание тиар Chaumet. Драгоценный головной убор стал визитной карточкой парижского ювелирного дома: более 250 лет его мастера создают поразительные тиары для королевских особ, знаменитостей и женщин, которые хотят прик

This book traces the extraordinary life of an artist whose unforgettable imagery combined cruelty and wit, honesty and insolence, pain and empowerment • Admired by the Surrealists and photographed by the greatest, Frida was most renowned for her self-portraits and unusual still lifes. She learned about suffering at an early age. She contracted polio when she was six and was seriously maimed in a bus accident at the age of eighteen, which led to injuries that affected her for the rest of her life. She had a legendarily turbulent marriage to the great mural painter Diego Rivera, with whom she formed a strong attachment to indigenous Mexican folk art and a deep commitment to Communism

Rasem Badran's influence is rapidly spreading throughout the developing world. Covering the full spectrum from urban planning to individual residences, his work is human-scaled, responsive to it's environment and meets the social and cultural requirements of the people who use it. He is often seen as the natural successor to the seminal Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy • This volume provides a thorough overview of Badran's work, bringing together the architect's own dramatic collection of drawings, plans and photographs, many seen here for the first time • A comprehensive chronology of Badran's work completes this fascinating survey of one of the most influential and revolutionary architects of our time