Since taking the helm of the National Galleries of Scotland in 1984, Sir Timothy Clifford has overseen the acquisition of some of the finest, and best-loved works in the national collection. This book chronicles the development of the collection under his directorship and casts light upon the wide range of acquisitions, including the fascinating stories behind their purchase. Lavishly illustrated, highlights of the book include The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child by Botticelli, The Three Graces by Canova (purchased jointly with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), and the most recent major acquisition, Venus Anadyomene by Titian. Works from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s internationally renowned Surrealist collection are also featured, as well as paintings from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.”
Raqib Shaw is one of the most extraordinary and sought-after artists working in the world today. Born in Calcutta in 1974 and raised in Kashmir, he came to London to study in 1998 and has lived there ever since. Inspired by a broad range of influences, including the old masters, Indian miniatures, Persian carpets and the Pre-Raphaelites, his paintings are infused with memories and longing for his homeland in Kashmir. His technique constitutes a completely unique kind of enamel painting. Spending months on preparatory drawings, tracings and photographic studies, he then transfers the composition onto prepared wooden panels, establishing an intricate design with acrylic liner, which leaves a slightly raised line. He adds the enamel paint using needle-fine syringes and a porcupine quill, with which he manoeuvres the paint. The finished works are intricate, magical and breathtaking in their colour and complexity. This book accompanies an exhibition of eight paintings by Raqib Shaw at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, alongside two paintings which have long obsessed him and have influenced specific works: Sir Joseph Noel Paton’s The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1849 (National Gallery of Scotland) and Lucas Cranach’s An Allegory of Melancholy, 1528 (private collection). The book includes the first full-length biographical study of the artist.
This catalogue for an exhibition at the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht features paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Younger and his contemporaries that depict the popular religious subject “Christ Carrying the Cross,” and examines these works for covert critiques of power and politics in Flanders during the 16th and 17th centuries. The show explores how artists incorporated both direct and indirect social and political criticisms into paintings on this theme, and brings together a selection of works from Bruegel the Younger, his predecessors, contemporaries, and followers.
Artist Daphne Wright is fascinated with the collections of the Ashmolean Museum and the history of seeing they present. Her latest project grows out of a lifetime’s engagement with this theme. Much of Wright’s existing body of work is steeped in a deep understanding of the iconography and history of Western art, as represented in the Ashmolean’s extensive collection. This book establishes connections to the Ashmolean’s rich collection of 17th century Dutch Still Life paintings. These genre paintings portray a range of subjects from arrangements of flowers to fruit, fish and game. Sometimes the paintings include a symbolic reference to the transience of life, in the form of fruit that has begun to rot or flowers that are losing petals. In Fridge Still Life, the exposed body of a fridge, containing upon its shelves a raw chicken and bundle of asparagus, is topped with a vase of wilting tulips. This is a contemporary re-telling of a still life painting, with its various familiar elements, such as a brace of hanging pheasants, a bowl of fruit and a vase of blooms, with can connote status or vanitas. Wright has explored the transitory nature of life throughout her practice. In previous work, Wright has used plants and animals, with their shorter life spans, to stand in for the human. Wright’s work also resonates strongly with the Ashmolean’s extensive and celebrated cast collection. Prominent amongst the plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculptures are the gods and heroes of Homeric legend. These idealised images of men still form the basis of our ideas of masculinity today. With Sons on Couch Wright is seeking to capture the elusive moment of transition into manhood. The athletic figures in the cast court may have been updated to social media influencers, but the pressure young men face today to achieve a perceived ideal body type remain the same.
“Prepare to be inspired at National Galleries Scotland: Modern One, as Everlyn Nicodemus opens her first retrospective this Saturday” — The NEN
“Experience Everlyn’s joyful, defiant and searingly honest artworks, with over 80 drawings, collages, paintings and textiles from over 40 years of her career, from 1980 through to the present day.” — Art Daily
This is the first major publication on the artist Everlyn Nicodemus and accompanies the first ever retrospective of her 40-year career. It offers a fascinating introduction to her life, career and art.
This book introduces readers to Nicodemus’s practice – from the very first work she painted to newly commissioned oil paintings. Many of Nicodemus’s drawings, collages, paintings and textiles are published here for the first time.
Nicodemus engages with complex subject matters, unflinchingly addressing human suffering and societal responsibility. While her works convey and process traumatic experiences, they are ultimately hopeful, focusing on healing and the power of creativity. This publication will reveal the scope and ambition of this astonishing artist’s practice.
Expert contributors offer new insights into Nicodemus’s practice, including a new interview with the artist. Exhibition curator Stephanie Straine explains and contextualises the rich pages of artworks, drawing on extensive primary research with the artist and her archives.
In 1851 John Ruskin came to the defence of the young artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood by writing two letters to The Times, refuting widespread criticism of their paintings. Soon afterwards he published a pamphlet entitled Pre-Raphaelitism, beginning almost a decade of public support for the work of William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and their associates.
Already established as one of the leading writers on art, he took a personal risk in defending the Pre- Raphaelite cause, but saw a parallel in the hostile reaction to the paintings of his artistic idol J. M. W. Turner. In Millais especially, Ruskin hoped to nurture a worthy successor in landscape painting, arguing that the Pre-Raphaelites’ attention to truth and detail offered the opportunity to establish a “new and noble school” of British art.
This is the first compilation of all of Ruskin’s published writings relating to the Pre-Raphaelites, beginning with the celebrated passage in the first volume of Modern Painters (1843) exhorting young artists to “go to nature in all …. rejecting nothing, selecting nothing and scorning nothing,” later claimed by Hunt to have been an inspiration. As well as Pre- Raphaelitism (1851), rarely reprinted since, and the fourth of the 1853 Edinburgh lectures, it includes all the comments on paintings in the annual Academy Notes (1855-9) which pertain to Pre-Raphaelitism, underlining Ruskin’s significant contribution to the movement’s popular success and the widespread acceptance of its principles. From the period after 1860, when Ruskin was concentrating more on social issues, come the the little-known articles published in the Nineteenth Century magazine under the title The Three Colours of Pre-Raphaelitism (1878), and a number of lectures, including the last of his Slade Lectures, The Art of England (1883), delivered just a few years before his mental faculties failed.
Edited with a commentary and preface by Stephen Wildman, Director of the Ruskin Library and Research Centre, University of Lancaster, and with an introduction by Robert Hewison, one of Ruskin’s successors as Slade Professor of Art at the University of Oxford.
Tanz auf der Klinge. Hold Me is the first monograph by the artist Willehad Eilers aka Wayne Horse (b. 1981). This publication features works created between 2018 and 2023, presenting the many facets that make up the artist’s universe—from blind drawing to graffiti and monumental oil paintings. Eiler’s visual world, made up of grotesquely lewd scenes, reveals a generous portion of humor while exploring the darkest depths of society. Studio images and photographs from Eiler’s everyday life shed light on his creative process. This visual journey is accompanied by interviews with the artist, brief explanatory texts, and the notes that in many cases served as the starting points for the works depicted here.
Text in English and German.
Mural Art – Studies in Paintings in Asia is a collection of 10 articles by the best scholars on murals in Afghanistan, China, Tibet, Burma, Thailand and Mongolia – from the 5th to the 18th century. Covering diverse issues including preservation and digital reconstruction of lost murals, this important new book provides information with challenging perspectives based on the latest findings and research. It also reveals murals never before published, recently rediscovered and endangered. This unique publication on murals in Asia counts as a precious testimony of a fragile and inspiring heritage.
Volker Hermes: Hidden Portraits gathers the essential works by one of the most beguiling artists of the present era, in a very modern reinterpretation of historical privilege.
Using only elements of the original paintings, Volker Hermes masterfully alters photos of historical portraits to mask the faces of their subjects. With each figure concealed under their own ceremonial attire, these one-time elites quickly lose their individuality in a plume of decorations and accessories.
In this official collection, Hermes delivers his wry commentary on wealth, fame and social status with taut imagery, intense focus and a suitably shrewd sense of humour. His immaculately reproduced artworks are accompanied by the thoughts of German art historian Till-Holger Borchert and Professor Francesca Raimondi of Berlin’s Institute for Philosophy, as well as the artist himself.
A must-have revision of classical portraiture from a celebrated digital creator.
“Hermes’s meticulously described collages pay homage to their sources while gently ribbing the social pretensions and ambitions of the courtly classes.” – Christopher Alessandrini, metmuseum.org
This book, published to accompany the exhibition of the same title, explores Jean-Paul Riopelle’s interest in northern Canada and his works devoted to this theme. It highlights in particular the wonderful series of paintings he made in the 1970s, including both the works themselves and archival materials that delve into this period when Riopelle was especially energetic. It was a time when he organised a number of trips to the region to fish, hunt, and immerse himself in nature, seeking the communion that was so dear to him.
But it was not just the vegetation in northern Canada that attracted Riopelle; the indigenous peoples he encountered were also a source of great inspiration for him. In combination, these two aspects of the land filled his imagination and molded his intellectual and artistic perspective.
The reader will become acquainted with his less well known and unpublished works, and follow Riopelle’s artistic development as he ranged over the frozen landscapes of the far north and the limitless forests further south, taking stock of the way the natives adapted to their environment. The book emphasises the fact that Riopelle’s oeuvre deliberately kept its distance from works that depicted nature as the defining emblem of the Canadian nation. Rather, the artist was the bearer of a unique personal sensibility that was able to visually evoke that particular territory in a dialogue between reality and imagination.
The more than 100 works included in the book (paintings, sculptures, prints, and mixed-media works) are part of a narrative consisting of four main sections (Canadian Nordicity as Viewed from Paris; The Experience of the North; Borrowing from the North; The North and Art), whose themes are examined in essays contributed by specialists in relevant fields.
Swiss painter Robert Zünd (1827-1909), also known in Switzerland as ‘Master of the Beech Leaf’, is revered for his light-flooded paintings of bucolic landscapes. Swiss photographer Tobias Madörin, born 1965, has gained international recognition for his tableau-like images that document the interaction between the inhabitants and their surrounding environment. This new book, published to coincide with an exhibition at Kunstmuseum Luzern in summer 2017, features work by both artists. Rather than merely enjoying the beauty of the sun-lit paradise Zünd depicts in his precise manner, the book invites us to look more closely. For this purpose, Zünd’s paintings are juxtaposed with Madörin’s photographs of the same views, captured today with an analogue large format camera. Thanks to the slowness of the procedure and the wealth of detail achieved in working with such an apparatus, Madörin’s photographs boast an intensity comparable to that of Zünd’s paintings in terms of precision of the gaze. Observation, the gaze, and the aptitude to see is the real topic of this exhibition and accompanying book. Bellevue: Robert Zünd (1827 1909) – Tobias Madörin (*1965), Kunstmuseum Luzern, 1 July to 17 October 2017. Text in English and German.
Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918), as a painter equally significant and controversial, brought Swiss art to international recognition in the early 20th century. His impressive landscapes and portraits, monumental paintings of historic scenes and symbolistic and allegorical figures were exhibited all over Europe and acquired by museums and private collectors alike. Hodler’s work was discussed, praised, and criticised in contemporary publications. The new third volume of the catalogue raisonné of Hodler’s painted work is dedicated to his non-portrayal figure paintings. With around 630 works, this key section of Hodler’s oeuvre is almost as prolific as his landscapes. It comprises religious and patriotic genre paintings, symbolist figures such as The Night from 1890, and vast canvasses and murals with historic scenes. As in the earlier volumes on Hodler’s landscapes and portraits, the new book features an introductory essay, followed by the actual catalogue section listing the works in chronological order, and an appendix documenting questionable or erroneous attributions as well as confirmed forgeries. Text in German.
The Mauritshuis has ten paintings by Rembrandt.The most famous is undoubtedly The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, but just as popular are Simeon’s Song of Praise, Portrait of an Old Man and Self-Portrait, one of the last which the Master painted. In this playfully designed book the paintings and their distinctive features are conveyed in an accessible manner. A large number of detailed images capture Rembrandt’s extraordinary painting technique from close by: the quick brushstrokes, the crisscrossing in wet paint and the carefully placed dabs and jabs.The recent restoration of three Rembrandts at the Mauritshuis also receives special attention.
Internationally renowned artist Heiner Meyer (b.1953) utilises Pop Art strategies, combining visual material from a vast variety of contexts. His paintings combine comic figures, compositions by Picasso or Hockney, and advertising for modern luxury brands, condensing them into a new pictorial creation that allows for a diverse range of reflections that update the critical potential of Pop Art in the face of contemporary consumerism.
The publication Pop Art Now shows various views of the installation and paintings from the exhibition at the Kunstforum Wien, as well as recent works from the last two years. In her text, art historian Dr Renée Gadsden provides insights into the exhibition and Heiner Meyer’s oeuvre since the beginning of his artistic career.
Text in English and German.
Paintings from the Indian subcontinent bedazzle the viewer with their minute details, colours and aesthetic qualities. Relatively modest in size, they often illustrate historical events, religious texts and poetry, or document life at court. Painted with water-solved pigments on paper, they invite closer observation and allow insight into the artistic traditions of India. “A Secret Garden” is the name of an outstanding private collection of Indian paintings. It comprises works spanning seven centuries from the time of the Sultans (1206-1526) through to the nineteenth century. This new book features a selection of 105 artworks from Danielle Porret’s collection. Each entry provides a stylistic analysis of the painting as well as a discussion of the subject matter by leading experts in the field of Indian painting.
In the spring of 2023, Fondation Louis Vuitton will be holding Basquiat x Warhol… Painting 4 hands, the most important exhibition ever devoted to the collaborative work of these two artists. The exhibition will feature more than 100 jointly signed paintings, in addition to individual works by Basquiat and Warhol, and works by other major artists (Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer, Kenny Scharf, etc.) in order to recreate the New York downtown art scene of the 1980s.
From 1984 to 1985, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) and Andy Warhol (1928–1987) jointly produced about 160 paintings, some of the largest in their respective careers. A genuine artistic dialogue of style and form had developed between them that dealt equally well with crucial issues such as the integration of the African-American community into the narrative of North America, a continent where Warhol was a major manufacturer of icons.
Swiss surrealist artist HR Giger (1940–2014) achieved international fame in 1979 for designing the fantastic creatures and eerie environments that terrified moviegoers in Ridley Scott’s science fiction film Alien. Yet before these iconic creations made him a celebrity and won him an Oscar for visual effects, Giger was already highly regarded in the international art world for his unique freehand painting style and biomechanical dreamscapes.
HR Giger: The Oeuvre Before Alien 1961–1976, first published in 2007 and now becoming available again in a new edition, is the only book to date to document the artist’s lesser known, but no less impressive, early work. This lavishly illustrated volume traces Giger’s career from his education as an architect and industrial designer at the Zurich College of Art to the development of his ink drawing and oil painting technique and his eventual breakthrough as one of the foremost artists of the fantastic realism school. Featuring many unpublished or rarely available early paintings and drawings, and accompanied by an essay by noted art historian Beat Stutzer, this volume juxtaposes Giger’s paintings with works by his predecessors, including Ensor, Fuseli, Goya, and Piranesi.
HR Giger: The Oeuvre Before Alien illuminates the mind of a visual genius whose first artistic experiments were decades ahead of their time.
From the famous Lujiazui skyline to the bustling crowds, from cosy corners to vibrant streetscapes, these pages capture the Shanghai of the present. Yucheng also delves into Shanghai’s history, paying particular attention to the 1960s-1990s. Later chapters focus on Chinese culture, the contrast between megacities and remote villages, and Yucheng’s favourite animal – the horse. While this book is the perfect companion piece to Blossoms, a novel set in late-20th-century Shanghai, it will also appeal to anyone interested in Chinese culture and art.
‘That this is a legitimate question, even a necessary one, is argued by Vergara in a pleasurable manner, with the pace and attitude of a peripatetic thinker. There is something here that reminds one of Montaigne or Stendhal.’ – El País
Throughout history, human beings have excelled at creating art of the highest quality. Aristotle wrote that Homer “surpassed all others” and Pliny the Elder referred to “masterpieces that we never tire of admiring”. Velázquez distinguished between portraits “made with art” and those that were not. What did they all mean exactly? What do we mean when we say that a work of art is good, of high quality? This book is an attempt to explain this central question, which remains surprisingly unexplored.
Alejandro Vergara-Sharp argues that “a deep knowledge of the history of art provides us with the tools to approach this issue objectively”. He then invites the reader to share with him a Socratic voyage of discovery, gradually unveiling arguments that can assist us in understanding this elusive and crucial concept.
“An expansive retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, in Paris, shows why the visionary artist continues to turn heads.” — W Magazine
This illustrated catalogue is published to accompany the retrospective exhibition devoted to American artist Mark Rothko, curated by Suzanne Pagé and the artist’s son, Christopher Rothko. The show will feature over one hundred works. Born Markus Rothkowitz in Latvia in the early 20th century, the man who would soon become known as Mark Rothko began painting in the 1930s. While his early works were influenced by mythology and Surrealism, his first abstract paintings emerged in the 1940s with the Multiform series, followed by his Classic Years and the Black and Gray paintings. A key figure on the New York art scene, Rothko was an uncategorisable artist who deployed an extensive palette of colour and light with a talent that consistently triggers emotion. His great sensitivity shaped a poetic, enigmatic universe that leaves no one untouched.
Text in English and French.