- 100 Details
- Kenneth Clark
- 100 Details offers Clark's personal responses to details of paintings in the National Gallery in London. The result resembles a walk through a glorious art collection with a critic of astounding eye and intellect at our side.
- Paperback 1990
- Ancient Cyprus
- Veronica Tatton-Brown
- Paperback
- Arrest and Movement
- H. A. Groenewegen Frankfort
- The beauty of Egyptian, Babylonian, and Cretan art is shot through with oddity. However much we are fascinated by the ancient works, we find ourselves wondering what precisely the artists meant when they rendered objects and indicated spatial relations the way they did. Arrest and Movement is the only book to analyze pre-Greek art in terms of issues such as space and narrative. It is a landmark book that will bring to students and museum-goers deeper understanding of this eloquent but seemingly eccentric art.
- Paperback
- Art of Ancient Egypt
- Gay Robins
- Paperback 2008
- The Art of Ancient Egypt
- Gay Robins
- What did art, and the architecture that housed it, mean to the ancient Egyptians? Why did they invest such vast wealth and effort in its production? These are the puzzles Gay Robins explores as she examines the objects of Egyptian art--the tombs and wall paintings, the sculpture and stelae, the coffins, funerary papyri, and amulets--from its first flowering in the Early Dynastic period to its final resurgence in the time of the Ptolemies.
- Hardcover 1997 / Paperback 2000
- The Art of Small Things
- John Mack
- This richly illustrated book celebrates the art of the miniature, but also looks beyond it at the many aspects of "small worlds"--in particular, their capacity to evoke responses that far exceed their physical dimensions. Mack explores the talismanic, religious, or magical properties with which miniatures are often imbued. Considering a wide range of objects, he examines the use of the miniature form in various cultural contexts.
- Hardcover 2008
- Assyrian Sculpture
- Julian Reade
- For almost three centuries, until 612 B.C., the small kingdom of Assyria dominated the Middle East. The story of those years was recorded in stone on the walls of a succession of royal palaces. These sculptures, offering eyewitness views of a long-lost civilization, were not rediscovered until the nineteenth century.and the finest collection is now preserved at the British Museum. This book is both a richly illustrated history of Assyrian sculpture in general and a guide to the outstanding collections of the British Museum.
- Paperback 1999
- Bathers, Bodies, Beauty
- Linda Nochlin
- Linda Nochlin explores the contradictions and dissonances that mark experience as well as art. Her book confronts the issues posed in representations of the body in the art of impressionists, modern masters, and contemporary realists and post-modernists. In many ways a personal book, Bathers, Bodies, Beauty brings to bear a lifetime of looking at, teaching, talking about, wrestling with, loving, and hating art to reveal and complicate the visceral experience of art.
- Hardcover 2006
- Beginning with a Bang! From Confrontation to Intimacy
- Edited by Victoria Noorthoorn
- Foreword by Susan Segal
- Beginning with a Bang! features the shift between the explosive and experimental moment in the Argentine art scene of the 1960s, and the current scene emerging after the extreme crises in Argentina during the last 40 years. The exhibition catalogue brings together a historical section as well as information of performance-based actions and sound and video works by Argentine contemporary artists.
- Paperback 2008
- The Berenson Archive
- Compiled by Nicky Mariano
- Hardcover 1965
- Charles Sheeler and Cult of the Machine
- Karen Lucic
- Charles Sheeler (1886-1965) was one of the most noted American painters and photographers to embrace the iconography of the machine. But was he high priest or heretic in the religion of mass production and technology that dominated his era? Karen Lucic considers this intriguing question while telling us Sheeler's story, and showing us how Sheeler produced images of extraordinary aesthetic power that provocatively confirmed America's technological and industrial prestige in vivid detail.
- Paperback
- Chinese Art in Detail
- Carol Michaelson
- Jane Portal
- Drawing on the British Museum's extensive collection, Chinese Art in Detail explores the traditional hierarchy of materials and techniques reaching back as far as the Han Dynasty in the third century B.C. in the history and character of the works under scrutiny, this sumptuously illustrated book conveys an understanding of Chinese art in all its great variety, its simplicities, its complexities, its splendors, and its mysteries of craft and inspiration reaching back to Neolithic times.
- Hardcover 2006
- Christian Art
- Rowena Loverance
- What makes works of art Christian? And what, as such, distinguishes them from other works? These are the questions at the center of this book, which is at once a sumptuously illustrated survey of Christian art across space and time and a probing study of what "Christian art" really means, how it functions, where it arises, and whom it serves.
- Hardcover 2007
- Classic-Period Cultural Currents in Southern and Central Veracruz
- Edited by Philip J. Arnold
- Edited by Christopher A. Pool
- This book explores the diverse traditions and dynamic interactions along the Mexican Gulf lowlands at the height of their cultural florescence. Best known for their elaborate ball game rituals and precocious inscriptions with long-count dates, these cultures served as a critical nexus between the civilizations of highland Mexico and the lowland Maya, influencing developments in both regions.
- Hardcover 2008
- The Column of Antoninus Pius
- Lise Vogel
- Hardcover 1973
- Cycladic Art
- J. Lesley Fitton
- In the light of current knowledge about early life in the islands, the author draws upon the impressive and remarkably comprehensive collection of Early Cycladic sculptures and other works in the British Museum, supplemented by striking examples from major American and Greek collections, to illustrate the development and increase our enjoyment of Early Cycladic art.
- Paperback 1989
- The Dada Painters and Poets
- Robert Motherwell, Editor
- Foreword by Jack D. Flam
- The Dada Painters and Poets offers the authentic answer to the question "What is Dada?" This incomparable collection of essays, manifestos, and illustrations was prepared by Robert Motherwell with the collaboration of some of the major Dada figures: Marcel Duchamp, Jean Arp, and Max Ernst among others. Here in their own words and art, the principals of the movement create a composite picture of Dada--its convictions, antics, and spirit.
- Paperback
- David to Delacroix
- Walter Friedlaender
- This renowned study follows the evolution of French painting from the Revolution through the Napoleonic era. Beginning with David's revolutionary classicism, Friedlaender scrutinizes the work of early-nineteenth-century artists against the background of their times.
- Paperback
- De Stijl 1917-1931
- H. L. C. Jaffé
- Here is the essential book on De Stijl, one of the longest lived and most influential of modern art movements. H. L. C. Jaffé recounts the history of this abstract movement, explains its artistic goals and practice, delineates its utopian ideology, and describes the special qualities of De Stijl painting, sculpture, architecture, and design.
- Paperback 1986
- Decorated Book Papers
- Rosamond B. Loring
- Edited by Hope Mayo
- Decorated Book Papers, first published in 1942, remains one of the standard works on its subject. Loring, a collector and maker of decorated papers, explores the extensive history and use of decorated papers in the book arts. Appendices are devoted to the art of marbling, the preparation of paste papers, and a listing of some early makers of decorated paper.
- Hardcover 2008
- Degas
- Theodore Reff
- Paperback
- Dignity and Decadence
- Richard Jenkyns
- Hardcover 1992
- Dumbarton Oaks
- Edited by Gudrun Bühl
- Dumbarton Oaks houses the extraordinary art collection begun by Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss. In this book the museum publishes the specialist collections in Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art, along with examples from the Blisses’ superb European collection, for the first time.
- Paperback 2008
- Early Celtic Art
- Ian M. Stead
- Paperback
- Egyptian Painting
- T. G. H. James
- This book surveys the whole range of Egypian painting, illustrated chiefly by the wealth of material in the British Museum. Jamesexamines the material used by the ancient painters and explains the conventions and methods which governed some great artists, whose work should be valued in its own right as well as for its incomparable record record of Egyptian life 3000 years ago.
- Paperback
- The First Emperor
- Edited by Jane Portal
- Standing guard around the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi, the ranks of a terra-cotta army bear silent witness to the power of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, who unified China in 221 BCE. Six thousand warriors and horses make up the army, while chariots, a military guard, and a command post complete the host. A new look at one of the most spectacular finds in the annals of archaeology, this book also considers its historical and archaeological context, and the extensive research carried out since its discovery in 1974.
- Hardcover 2007
- Florence
- Michael Levey
- Nestled in the Apennines, cradle of the Renaissance, home of Dante, Michelangelo, and the Medici, Florence is unlike any other city in its extraordinary mingling of great art and literature, natural splendor, and remarkable history. Intimate and grand, learned and engaging, Michael Levey's Florence renders the city in all of its madness and magnificence.
- Hardcover 1996 / Paperback 1998
- Florentine Painting and its Social Background
- Frederic Antal
- Paperback 1986
- Francis Bacon and the Loss of Self
- Ernst Van Alphen
- Paperback / Hardcover
- Greek Vases
- Dyfri Williams
- Paperback
- Hadrian
- Thorsten Opper
- Hardcover 2008
- Hindu Art
- T. Richard Blurton
- In a survey that stretches back to prehistory, Blurton discusses the religious, cultural, and historical influences that figure in Hindu art. Tracing its evolution, he shows how Hindu art has come to embrace widely varying styles, reflecting differences between regions from Nepal to Afghanistan, from Sri Lanka to Bangladesh.
- Paperback / Hardcover
- The History of Surrealism
- Maurice Nadeau
- Richard Howard, Translator
- Roger Shattuck
- The History of Surrealism, first published in French in 1944 and in English in 1965, has become a classic. It is both lucid and authoritative--by far the best overall account of this complex movement. Nadeau traces the evolution of Surrealism, bringing to life its many internal debates about politics and art. He relates the movement to its intellectual and artistic environment. And he provides the statements and manifestos of Breton, Aragon, Tzara, and others.
- Paperback
- Icons
- Robin Cormack
- Byzantine and Russian Orthodox icons are perhaps the most enduring form of religious art ever developed--and one of the most mysterious. This book provides an accessible guide to their story and power. Illustrated mostly with Cretan, Greek, and Russian examples from the British Museum, which houses Britain's most important collection, the book examines icons in the context of the history of Christianity, as well as within the perspective of art history.
- Hardcover 2007
- The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume I, From the Pharaohs to the Fall of the Roman Empire
- Ladislas Bugner, General Editor
- Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow
- Jean Vercoutter
- Jean Leclant
- Frank M. Snowden
- Jehan Desanges
- Ladislas Bugner
- Hardcover
- The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume II, Part 1, From the Demonic Threat to the Incarnation of Sainthood
- Ladislas Bugner, General Editor
- Jean Devisse
- Jean Marie Courtes
- Hardcover
- The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume II, Part 2, Africans in the Christian Ordinance of the World (Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century)
- Ladislas Bugner, General Editor
- Jean Devisse
- Michel Mollat
- Hardcover
- The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume IV, Part 1,
- Ladislas Bugner
- Hardcover
- The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume IV, Part 2,
- Ladislas Bugner
- Hardcover
- Indian Art in Detail
- A. L. Dallapiccola
- The rich and diverse cultures of India are represented in exquisite detail in this book, which begins with a simple question: what is Indian art? Each thematically organized chapter delves into such topics as religion and myth, epics, festivals, courtly and village life, and the natural world. The gorgeous close-ups of paintings, textiles, and sculptures in metal, ivory, and wood illuminate the aesthetics and workmanship, as well as recurrent motifs that are distinctly Indian.
- Hardcover 2007
- Interpreting Cézanne
- Sidney Geist
- Hardcover 1988
- Leaves from Paradise
- Edited by Jeffrey F. Hamburger
- Paperback 2008
- Manet's Silence and the Poetics of Bouquets
- James Rubin
- A sense of stillness and silence pervades Manet's painting. It is this silence that James Rubin explores in this book. Applying J. L. Austin's notion of the performative, which bridges the gap between language and action or between the painted image and its social effect, Rubin goes beyond past theorists to describe the curious ways in which Manet's paintings act upon us.
- Paperback 1995 / Hardcover
- Mannerism
- Arnold Hauser
- Paperback
- Master Drawings of the Italian Renaissance
- Claire Van Cleave
- A beautifully designed selection of the finest Italian Renaissance drawings from the British Museum, the Louvre and other French public collections, giving remarkable insight into the creative processes of some of the greatest artists in history.
- Hardcover 2007
- Mosaics as History
- G. W. Bowersock
- Over the past century, exploration and serendipity have uncovered mosaic after mosaic in the Near East--maps, historical images and religious scenes that constitute a treasure of new testimony from antiquity. In their complex language, G. W. Bowersock finds historical evidence, illustrations of literary and mythological tradition, religious icons, and monuments to civic pride. Attending to one of the most evocative languages of the ages, his work reveals a fusion of cultures and religions that speaks to us across time.
- Hardcover 2006
- Painting outside the Lines
- David W. Galenson
- In a work that brings new insights, and new dimensions, to the history of modern art, David Galenson examines the careers of more than 100 modern painters to disclose a fascinating relationship between age and artistic creativity.
- Hardcover 2002
- The Parthenon Sculptures
- Ian Jenkins
- The Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum are unrivaled examples of classical Greek art, an inspiration to artists and writers since their creation in the fifth century BCE. A superb visual introduction to these wonders of antiquity, this book offers a photographic tour of the most famous of the surviving sculptures from ancient Greece, viewed within their cultural and art-historical context.
- Hardcover 2008
- Primitivism in Modern Art
- Robert Goldwater
- This now classic study maps the profound effect of primitive art on modern, as well as the primitivizing strain in modern art itself. Robert Goldwater describes how and why works by primitive artists attracted modern painters and sculptors, and he delineates the differences between what is truly primitive or archaic and what intentionally embodies such elements.
- Paperback
- Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 47, Spring 2005
- Edited by Francesco Pellizzi
- Res is a journal of anthropology and comparative aesthetics dedicated to the study of the object, in particular cult and belief objects and objects of art. The journal presents contributions by philosophers, art historians, archaeologists, critics, linguists, architects, artists, among others.
- Paperback 2005
- Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 48, Autumn 2005
- Edited by Francesco Pellizzi
- Res is a journal of anthropology and comparative aesthetics dedicated to the study of the object, in particular cult and belief objects and objects of art. The journal presents contributions by philosophers, art historians, archaeologists, critics, linguists, architects, artists, among others.
- Paperback 2005
- Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 49/50, Spring/Autumn 2006
- Edited by Francesco Pellizzi
- Res is a journal of anthropology and comparative aesthetics dedicated to the study of the object, in particular cult and belief objects and objects of art. The journal presents contributions by philosophers, art historians, archaeologists, critics, linguists, architects, artists, among others.
- Paperback 2006
- Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 51, Spring 2007
- Edited by Francesco Pellizzi
- Res is a journal of anthropology and comparative aesthetics dedicated to the study of the object, in particular cult and belief objects and objects of art. The journal presents contributions by philosophers, art historians, archaeologists, critics, linguists, architects, artists, among others.
- Paperback
- Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 52, Fall 2007
- Edited by Francesco Pellizzi
- Res is a journal of anthropology and comparative aesthetics dedicated to the study of the object, in particular cult and belief objects and objects of art. The journal presents contributions by philosophers, art historians, archaeologists, critics, linguists, architects, artists, among others.
- Paperback 2008
- Sappho in the Making
- Dimitrios Yatromanolakis
- This book offers the first interdisciplinary and in-depth study of the cultural practices and ideological paradigms that conditioned the politics of the "reading" of Sappho's songs in the early and most pivotal stages of her reception. Yatromanolakis investigates visual representations and ancient texts in their synchronic and diachronic multilayeredness to trace the discursive nexuses that defined the making of "Sappho" in the late archaic, classical, and early Hellenistic periods.
- Paperback 2008
- The Shape of Content
- Ben Shahn
- Hardcover 1957 / Paperback 1992
- The Theory of the Avant-Garde
- Renato Poggioli
- Convinced that all aspects of modern culture have been affected by avant-garde art, Poggioli explores the relationship between the avant-garde and civilization. Historical parallels and modern examples from all the arts are used to show how the avant-garde is both symptom and cause of many major extra-aesthetic trends of our time, and that the contemporary avant-garde is the sole and authentic one.
- Hardcover 1965 / Paperback
- Thresholds of the Sacred
- Edited by Sharon E. J. Gerstel
- From the walls and curtains of first-century Judaism to the tramezzo of Renaissance Italy, screens of various shapes and sizes have been used to separate the sacred from the secular. Drawn from papers presented at a recent Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Studies symposium, this volume provides insightful new research on the history of the iconostasis.
- Hardcover 2007