“…packed with superb colour photographs… This book is a wonderful companion to cathedral-crawling, not least in helping the crawlers work out what is, and what isn’t, worth seeing” – Simon Heffer, Telegraph“
A beautifully illustrated guide” — Premier Christianity
“[The] thrilling tale of the medium’s continuity… is set forth by Janet Gough, the erstwhile director of Cathedrals and Church buildings at the C of E, in her latest book, Divine Light” — World of Interiors
“I would recommend that you visit some of these cathedrals, book in hand.” — The Methodist Recorder
The stained-glass windows of England’s cathedrals illuminate interior spaces, communicate religious and other messages, and – perhaps – offer us a glimpse of heaven. This book tells the remarkable story of these much-loved works of art.
Divine Light features glass from every Church of England cathedral. It spans 900 years, beginning with the windows installed at Canterbury Cathedral following the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and representing every subsequent century in the history of English stained glass. Divine Light encompasses the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the hugely productive ‘long 19th century’, the Pre-Raphaelites, the Arts and Crafts movement, the creative commissions of the 20th century, and the innovative glass being commissioned by cathedrals today.
The book establishes the connections between the artistic beauty of stained glass, its effectiveness as a narrative medium, and the various technical developments that have shaped the work of practitioners over the centuries. The refraction of light through colored glass emerges as an early form of mass communications that retains its power to move and inspire today.
Handpicked: Painting Flowers From 1900 to Today celebrates the beauty and vitality of flower paintings of the 20th and 21st centuries. Beautifully illustrated, this anthology features essays on paintings by significant figures of the 20th century, as well as contemporary artists working with the genre of flower painting in new and often experimental ways today.
Artists: Hurvin Anderson, Vanessa Bell, David Bomberg, Louise Bourgeois, Jai Chuhan, Andrew Cranston, Kaye Donachie, Gigi Ettedgui, Anna Freeman Bentley, Marjory Garnett, Tirzah Garwood, Gluck, Lubaina Himid, Howard Hodgkin, Isak of Igdlorpait, Nerys Johnson, David Jones, Poppy Jones, Joy Labinjo, Doron Langberg, Aubrey Levinthal, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Rory McEwen, Cedric Morris, Cassi Namoda, Mary Newcomb, William Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson, Chris Ofili, Jennifer Packer, Celia Paul, Bryan Pearce, Emma Prempeh, Bianca Raffaella, Eric Ravilious, Anne Redpath, Henri Rousseau, William Scott, Judith Tucker, Euan Uglow, Charlotte Verity, Édouard Vuillard, Caroline Walker, Alison Watt, Christopher Wood, Clare Woods.
Few, if any, cities have a literary history as rich as that of London. Writers have written about it; and lived, loved, stayed and died there. Here are 111 stories to be revealed. Among them are the lives of writers and their characters, and the plots and venue. Where can you see the first printed book in the western world, or visit the library with no books? Where did two poets marry secretly and then flee to Italy; and what happened when Sigmund Freud met Salvador Dalí? What is the mystery of the signed copy of Mein Kampf?
This is a guide to the capital unlike any other – not only enlightening to residents who may have thought that they knew their city (and their books), but the visitor, too. These are sights you shouldn’t miss – but which you’re unlikely to find without this book.
Published to coincide with the exhibition at Kettle’s Yard, Christopher Wood: In Love offers an intimate and revelatory encounter with one of Britain’s most compelling modern artists. Drawing on new research and previously unpublished works from private collections, the book traces Wood’s brief yet incandescent career through the relationships, places and creative exchanges that shaped his art. Structured in a series of thematic ‘acts’, it moves from London and Paris to the Mediterranean and Brittany, weaving together painting, drawing, stage design and archival material to illuminate Wood’s passionate devotion to both art and life. Six newly commissioned essays explore questions of love, performance and sexuality in the early twentieth century, situating Wood within an international avant‑garde network that included Jean Cocteau, Serge Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Beautifully designed and richly illustrated, this publication is an essential contribution to Christopher Wood scholarship and a vital companion to a vibrant moment in British modernism.
One of the leading social documentary photographers of the 1960s, Steve Schapiro’s images stand among the most important of the 20th century, covering Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Baldwin and many others. These largely unknown jazz photos – shot just before his career breakthrough – showcase his early mastery and his empathy for his subjects, making Jazz: Best of the Apollo, Village Vanguard, and Riverside Sessions an essential archive.
In the early ’60s, when Schapiro arrived on the scene, New York jazz was enjoying a golden age. A young freelance photographer who had grown up in the Bronx and somehow snagged a gig with Riverside Records, he began voraciously documenting shows, players, venues, recording sessions and gatherings both in his native New York and later in Chicago. Whether it’s Sonny Rollins lifting weights backstage, or Bobby Timmons lost in an instant of discovery at the piano, Schapiro was on their wavelength.
Written by US jazz journalist Richard Scheinin Jazz: Best of the Apollo, Village Vanguard, and Riverside Sessions features dozens of never-before-seen photos of jazz legends like Cannonball Adderley, Melba Liston, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins, Count Basie and more.
Sharing this story was not something that Christopher Capozziello ever set out to do, but, over the years, one picture has led to another and a story has emerged. Capozziello says, “The time I have spent with my brother, looking through my camera, has forced me to ask questions about suffering and faith and why anyone is born with disability. Nick has cerebral palsy. Taking pictures has been a way for me to deal with the reality of having a twin brother who struggles through life in ways that I do not.” Capozziello’s photographs take us on a journey through his worries and inquiries, ending his debut book with a different sort of question: what comes next? Part two of the book is a journey he and his brother take across the United States. The work has been shown throughout the United States and has won 33 national and international awards. “The collection, titled The Distance Between Us, is both a brother’s touching tribute and Capozziello’s attempt to come to terms with the reality his brother lives and one from which he happened to be spared”. The Mail
Sharing this story was not something that Christopher Capozziello ever set out to do, but, over the years, one picture has led to another and a story has emerged. Capozziello says, “The time I have spent with my brother, looking through my camera, has forced me to ask questions about suffering and faith and why anyone is born with disability. Nick has cerebral palsy. Taking pictures has been a way for me to deal with the reality of having a twin brother who struggles through life in ways that I do not.” Capozziello’s photographs take us on a journey through his worries and inquiries, ending his debut book with a different sort of question: what comes next? Part two of the book is a journey he and his brother take across the United States. The work has been shown throughout the United States and has won 33 national and international awards. “The collection, titled The Distance Between Us, is both a brother’s touching tribute and Capozziello’s attempt to come to terms with the reality his brother lives and one from which he happened to be spared”. The Mail
Custodians brings together for the first time, in this beautifully compiled collection, images of many of Oxford’s most prestigious buildings along with some rarely seen, but wonderful venues and their ‘Custodians’. Photographer Joanna Vestey set out to explore the extraordinary colleges and buildings of Oxford, behind the closed doors, often beyond the reach of the 9.5 million visitors a year who come here, and to meet the ‘Custodians’ playing a pivotal role in perpetuating these world renowned institutions. Rarely do we get to catch a glimpse behind the closed facades of these iconic structures and to see the spaces that lie within. All the images have been captured in the University City of Oxford, known as the “City of Dreaming Spires” and show its extraordinary breadth of architecture since the arrival of the Saxons. It includes venues such as the 17th Century Divinity School, the mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera continuing through to the most recent award winning RIBA nominated chapel at Ripon College completed last year. Venues such as the Sheldonian Theatre and Christchurch College sit alongside perhaps lesser known venues such as The Real Tennis Courts or the John Martyr Pawsons cricket pavilion portraying the breadth and diversity constituting the city. The ‘Custodians’ and their surroundings enjoy equal status in Joanna’s formal compositions; they seem to belong together, yet do not fuse into one, thereby asking us to question how we are all largely shaped and influenced by the structures around us – how defined we are by them and how much they form us. Full of unexpected venues beautifully photographed, this book will appeal to the his-torian, city visitor, people interested in architecture and interiors as well as to the extensive alumni network of the colleges themselves. It will also appeal to an audience interested in contemporary photography.
Toronto, from its humble beginning as Muddy York, has emerged as an exemplary, world-class city. As the 4th largest urban area in North America, it is a treasure trove of obscure, trend-setting Canadian places. Ranked as one of the world’s leading places to live, it represents home to almost 20% of Canada’s population. Toronto has become the nation’s capital of business, culture, sports and entertainment. A place where you can take in the best of all sports, especially hockey, live music, art, and an award-winning culinary scene, all in a weekend. The city’s strength and roots come from its diverse population. Toronto takes from its indigenous and British past, a welcoming and collaborative twist on this dynamic multicultural city. Toronto has been described as a city within a green space. Hike inner city trails along the many ravines. Ride in a canoe or skate along the water’s edges. Take the longest streetcar ride in North America through flourishing neighborhoods, full of hidden gems to discover. Find the small artisanal ice creameries, wander the graffiti alleys, or make music at a karaoke cocktail lounge. Explore the allure of the 6ix, with 111 Places in Toronto That You Must Not Miss.
Working from his Urbana practice in Bangladesh, Kashef Chowdhury designs architecture that is rooted in the history and nature of its location – whereby the latter also relates to a spiritual and cultural level. This explains his fascination for Kahn’s parliamentary building in Dhaka, which inspired this volume of photo essays.
Kahn’s design is characterized by an innovative architectural language that combines western and eastern traditions, forms and materials. For instance, in view of the great importance of water in Bengali tradition, he placed the building complex by an artificial lake. Furthermore, although it is defined by strict geometrical forms, the parliamentary building reflects the transcendental nature of the National Assembly, defining the hopeful founding years of the independent state of Bangladesh.
The idea of a ‘healing garden’ is well established in many developed countries as a specific form of landscape design method; it meets the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of the people using the garden, as well as their caregivers, family members and friends. Shown through detailed theory and illustrations, the first part of this book focuses on the concept, types, and design considerations. The second part of the book provides insightful design descriptions, detailed plan drawings and photos showing the final, built projects on a wide range of types of healing gardens. This book is a unique and informative text and a useful reference for all landscape architects and designers.
Food is more than just nutrition – it is culture, identity and history. The new Nordic cuisine movement has challenged our ideas about Nordic food culture and forged a new understanding of what it means to eat in harmony with nature. With its ideals of sustainability, seasonal ingredients and modern culinary innovation, the movement has had a deep impact on both the restaurant sector and the world of everyday food. This book has been compiled on the occasion of the exhibition New Nordic. Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place at The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, which explores the interaction between the evolution of new Nordic cuisine and trends in other forms of contemporary culture. Architecture, contemporary art, design and studio crafts are woven together to provide a broader understanding of the movement’s aesthetic characteristics. How did materials, people and landscape interact to produce a distinctly Nordic culinary identity?
Text in English and Norwegian.
“Wow! Just wow! … It’s a really stunning thing. A love letter that is itself a work of art about a work of art that is Grayson. Both playful and deadly serious … these photos are not simply about ‘serving looks’ but about restlessness and identity and transience. That world is full of possibilities because Grayson has given himself the freedom to be whoever he wants to be, to look how he wants. His gift is that he passes that freedom to us. Ansett’s work is mind-blowing … not cosy at all. Just brilliant photography.” – Suzanne Moore
Grayson Perry is an award-winning artist best known in the art world for his ceramic works. To the wider public, he is perhaps equally famous for his cross-dressing alter ego. This book reveals a unique relationship between Perry and renowned portrait photographer Richard Ansett through a previously unseen archive from photoshoots spanning over 10 years.
Ansett astutely captures the wit, style and irreverence of Perry’s many complex personas. Beyond the snazzy outfits and cheeky poses, these thematic portrait collections offer wry social commentaries on current and popular phenomena, including the EU referendum, American pop culture and the existential questions of life and death.
At once glossy, fabulous and cutting-edge, Muse: A Portrait of Grayson Perry offers a complex, fascinating and ultimately affectionate insight into our recently knighted national treasure with anecdotes and narration from Ansett himself, this is a masterpiece of rhetorical observations and quick-thinking camerawork. Perfect for art geeks, style freaks and Perry’s long-devoted following.
This scholarly catalogue provides a rich survey of the outstanding English drawings and watercolors in the National Gallery of Scotland’s collection. It ranges from the art of the Stuart court to the late Victorian period – from Isaac Oliver to Lord Leighton. Highlights include important works by artists such as William Blake, John Sell Cotman, John Robert Cozens, John Flaxman, Thomas Gainsborough, Thomas Girtin, Edward Lear, John Frederick Lewis, Paul Sandby and J.M.W. Turner. Key works are illustrated in colour and the text provides an authoritative commentary on issues such as their function, history, date and technique. The catalogue will be a valuable resource for students, art historians, collectors, dealers, picture researchers and all serious enthusiasts for British art.
With vivid memories of his first visit to the Scottish National Gallery in the 1970s and his initial encounter with Hugo van der Goes’ The Trinity Altarpiece, Rembrandt’s A Woman in Bed, Velázquez’s An Old Woman Cooking Eggs and Degas’ Diego Martelli, Robert Storr discusses the shifting balance of museum collections from historically ‘certified’ classics to art whose status and significance remains in active contention and from singular ‘treasures’ to ensembles that speak to the larger scope of an artist’s endeavor.
Also available: Unfinished Paintings: Narratives of the Non-Finito Watson Gordon Lecture 2014 ISBN 9781906270919 ‘The Hardest Kind of Archetype’: Reflections on Roy Lichtenstein The Watson Gordon Lecture 2010 ISBN 9781906270384 Picasso’s ‘Toys for Adults’ Cubism as Surrealism: The Watson Gordon Lecture 2008 ISBN 9781906270261 Sound, Silence, and Modernity in Dutch Pictures of Manners The Watson Gordon Lecture 2007 ISBN 9781906270254 Roger Fry’s Journey From the Primitives to the Post-Impressionists: Watson Gordon Lecture 2006 ISBN 9781906270117
Uncover the stories of 45 female painters and sculptors and their influence on Scottish modern art history.
In 1885 Sir William Fettes Douglas, President of the Royal Scottish Academy, declared that the work of a woman artist was ‘like a man’s only weaker and poorer’. Yet between 1885, when Fra Newbery was appointed Director of Glasgow School of Art and did much in terms of gender equality amongst his staff and students, and 1965, when Anne Redpath, the doyenne of post-Second World War Scottish painting, died, an unprecedented number of Scottish women trained and worked as artists.
This book focuses on 45 Scottish female painters and sculptors and explores the conditions that they negotiated as students and practitioners due to their gender. Many of the artists featured are not widely known and so will be a revelation to readers, while others with established reputations are evaluated afresh.
An essay by Alice Strang and artist entries by twenty-one authors uncover and celebrate women’s contribution to this chapter of Scottish modern art history.
Pioneering Edinburgh photographers David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848) together formed one of the most famous partnerships in the history of photography.
Producing highly skilled photographs just four years after the new medium was announced to the world in 1839, their images of people, buildings and scenes in and around Edinburgh offer a fascinating glimpse into 1840s Scotland. Their much-loved prints of the Newhaven fisherfolk are among the first images of social documentary photography.
In the space of four and a half years Hill and Adamson produced several thousand prints encompassing landscapes, architectural views, tableaux vivants from Scottish literature and an impressive suite of portraits featuring key members of Edinburgh society.
Anne M. Lyden, International Photography Curator at the National Galleries of Scotland, discusses the dynamic dispute that brought these two men together and reveals their perfect chemistry as the first professional partnership in Scottish photography.
Illustrated with around 100 masterpieces from the Galleries’ unique, vast collection of the duo’s ground-breaking work.
This absorbing introduction to the story of Rembrandt s rampant fame and influence in Britain is filled with beautiful images. The story of ‘Rembrandt mania’ began in 18th-century Britain with passionate, and often eccentric, collectors acquiring artworks by any and every means. As the craze for Rembrandt ebbed and flowed, each new wave of enthusiasm brought him ever-greater fame and influence, and collectors became increasingly ingenious. This master’s impact not only on collectors and the public but also on British artists over the last four centuries is explored, with lavish paintings, drawings and prints from artists such as Henry Raeburn, Joshua Reynolds and James Abbott McNeill Whistler shown alongside some of Rembrandt’s most famous masterpieces.
Tells the very personal story of the man who changed the face of modern cinema
Special-effects superstar Ray Harryhausen elevated stop-motion animation to an art during the 1950s to 1980s. With material drawn from his incredible archive, his daughter, Vanessa, selects 100 creatures and objects, in chronological order, that meant the most to her as she watched her father make world-famous films that changed the course of cinema.
Ray Harryhausen’s work included the Sinbad films of the 50s and 70s, One Million Years B.C. and Mighty Joe Young, as well as a wider portfolio including children’s fairy tales and commercials. He inspired a generation of film-makers such as Peter Jackson, Aardman Animation, Tim Burton, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and his influence on blockbuster cinema can be felt to this day. Some of the objects featured in the book, such as Talos from Jason and the Argonauts, are world famous, while others are less well known but hold special personal significance to Vanessa. Many newly restored works that have never previously been seen are included.
This book is published in collaboration with the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation and it will receive a great deal of international publicity. It celebrates the legacy of a filmmaker who changed the face of modern cinema and it is certain to delight and fascinate those who appreciate film, art, science fiction and fantasy.
Shortlisted for Saltire Society Scotland’s National Book Awards, First Book Award 2021. Scotland’s National Book Awards recognise work across Scotland’s literary and publishing community. [The Saltire Society] is delighted to highlight Scotland’s outstanding talent, raise the profile of writers and introduce audiences to exceptional new works.
Founded in 1921 and the first of its kind in the country, the National Gallery of Canada’s Department of Prints and Drawings boasts a world-class collection of historical drawings dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries. These works, rendered in a wide range of mediums – graphite, ink, pastel, watercolor – reflect the diversity of techniques used over the ages.
Incorporating the latest research and a displaying wealth of scholarship, this richly illustrated book celebrates the recent centenary of this outstanding collection. It brings together a spectacular array of drawings, including newly acquired additions and little-known but historically significant works. The wide selection of plates showcases preparatory studies for paintings, depictions of historical and mythological themes, portraits, landscapes, forays into abstraction, and poignant explorations of the human condition. Featured artists include Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Théodore Géricault, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch and Wassily Kandinsky, among many others.
A vibrant, colorful and beautiful book that introduces readers to Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. It explains the difference between the two movements and the main artists associated with each. Illustrations are drawn from the renowned and outstanding collection of French art held by the National Galleries of Scotland and they include a number of rarely seen works.
This book tells the fascinating stories of how key paintings and drawings found their way into the collection.
Artists include Monet, Millet, Gauguin, Bastien-Lepage, Charles Jacque, Troyon, Corot, Degas, Seurat, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Vuillard, Bonnard, Derain, Matisse, Legros and Rodin.
“Wow! Just wow! … It’s a really stunning thing. A love letter that is itself a work of art about a work of art that is Grayson. Both playful and deadly serious … these photos are not simply about ‘serving looks’ but about restlessness and identity and transience…. Ansett’s work is mind-blowing … not cosy at all. Just brilliant photography.” – Suzanne Moore
“Great to see Grayson in his various guises. He must have more women’s clothes than the average woman!” — Martin Parr
“Some are artists, some are muses — Sir Grayson Perry is both, according to a new coffee table book.” — The Standard
“Muse documents Perry’s Bowie-like range of personae, from his alter-ego Claire, to Madonna and child, to a Dolly Parton-style American country girl.” — Yahoo News UK
Grayson Perry is an award-winning artist best known in the art world for his ceramic works. To the wider public, he is perhaps equally famous for his cross-dressing alter ego. This book reveals a unique relationship between Perry and renowned portrait photographer Richard Ansett through a previously unseen archive from photoshoots spanning over 10 years.
Ansett astutely captures the wit, style and irreverence of Perry’s many complex personas. Beyond the snazzy outfits and cheeky poses, these thematic portrait collections offer wry social commentaries on current and popular phenomena, including the EU referendum, American pop culture and the existential questions of life and death.
At once glossy, fabulous and cutting-edge, Muse: A Portrait of Grayson Perry offers a complex, fascinating and ultimately affectionate insight into our recently knighted national treasure with anecdotes and narration from Ansett himself, this is a masterpiece of rhetorical observations and quick-thinking camerawork. Perfect for art geeks, style freaks and Perry’s long-devoted following.
Over five decades, the painter Humphrey Ocean RA’s work has filtered into our national culture. This includes his series of portraits entitled A handbook of modern life displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in 2013; his portrait of Christopher Le Brun, President of the Royal Academy of Arts; and the cover of Sir Paul McCartney’s 2007 album Memory Almost Full, which featured one of the Chair series. Ocean’s practice encompasses painting, printmaking, sculpture, book-making and drawing. Of the last, he has said: ‘Paper is lovely, immediate and personal. I draw as an end in itself.’ In 2019 his exhibition ‘Birds, Cars and Chairs’ was on display at the Royal Academy of Arts. Of these subjects, he says: ‘Birds, cars and chairs are, in that order, ancient, modern and intimate. Without them life would be a lot less bearable.’ These works are reproduced alongside others in the book to provide a fascinating overview of Ocean’s career, with an essay by Ben Thomas, which sets out to discover exactly what it is that makes Ocean’s art so appealing and universal.
Buried in deep valleys, there are citadels of ochre earth. Near the sea there are white chalked casbahs and vast tranquil palm-gardens and deserts of coloured sands run into soot black mountains. Pungent and bustling souks offer spices and potions to ward off malevolent spirits. Slender arched doorways open out into darkened alleys. Scented mint tea is served in pattern-draped tents. The sky is as clear as ever over the Sahara. This is the Moroccan South – a legendary land, sumptuous and austere. This series presents a fascinating chronology of the spread of Islamic art in the form of 12 Exhibition Trails in 11 countries. The programme is based on the unique idea of visitors viewing exhibitions without the works of art being transported- discovering artefacts in their natural environments and within their cultural and historical context. Each trail is presented and written by experts who live in the specified areas and are accompanied by beautiful illustrations.
Text in French.
Also AvailableParis Plaisir ISBN:9782867701139 £55.00Lebanon: The Phoenician Pearl ISBN:9782867701443 £55.00