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

Established following the 125th anniversary of the Chair of Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh and named after the painter Sir John Watson Gordon, the Watson Gordon Lectures typify the long-standing positive collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and the National Galleries of Scotland: two partners in the Visual Arts Research Institute in Edinburgh. The fifth lecture was given by Hal Foster of Princeton University. Professor Foster is an acknowledged expert on modernist art and architecture, and has a particular fascination with Pop art. His wide-ranging lecture on Roy Lichtenstein is a gripping engagement with the multiple aspects of the artist’s work: the conjunctions of art and technology, the satirical playing with previous modernist styles, and the sinister background of the military-industrial complex. Also available in the series:
Roger Fry’s Journal: From the Primitives to the Post-Impressionists: Watson Gordon Lecture 2006 9781906270117 Sound, Silence, and Modernity in Dutch Pictures of Manners: Watson Gordon Lecture 2007 9781906270254 Picasso’s ‘Toys for Adults’: Cubism as Surrealism: Watson Gordon Lecture 2008 9781906270261

The Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873) is one of the most celebrated paintings of the nineteenth century. It was acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland in 2017. In this new book, the first to focus in detail on this iconic picture, Christopher Baker explores its complex and fascinating history. He places Landseer’s work in the context of the artist’s meteoric career, considers the circumstances of its high-profile commission and its extraordinary subsequent reputation. When so much Victorian art fell out of fashion, Landseer’s Monarch took on a new role as marketing image, bringing it global recognition. It also inspired the work of many other artists, ranging from Sir Bernard Partridge and Ronald Searle to Sir Peter Blake and Peter Saville. Today the picture has an intriguing status, being seen by some as a splendid celebration of Scotland’s natural wonders and by others as an archaic trophy. This publication will make a significant contribution to the debates that it continues to stimulate.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, part of the National Galleries of Scotland, provides a unique visual history of Scotland, told through portraits of the figures who shaped it: royals and rebels, poets and philosophers, heroes and villains. The Gallery is home to Scotland’s collection of portrait miniatures which date from the mid-sixteenth century to the present day.
This book illustrates a selection of works by key miniaturists and features portraits of many important Scottish historical figures such as James Hepburn 4th Earl of Bothwell, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, James VI and I and Robert Burns who was depicted in the last year of his life. A complete list of all the works in the collection is also included.

A Shepherd’s Life centres on Jenny Armstrong, born in 1903 at the farm of Fairliehope, who spent her life working as a shepherdess in the Pentland Hills. In a series of remarkable paintings made over twenty years and based on close observation, Victoria Crowe, one of Scotland’s foremost painters, pays tribute to the life and work of this exceptional woman. In spite of their different ages and backgrounds, the two women came to value each other’s company and it was through the shepherdess that the artist learned how to interpret the surrounding landscape. At the same time the paintings depict an ancient way of living that has been long in the decline and which, at the start of a new millennium, may be finally disappearing.

Unfinished paintings can be seen in many of the world’s great collections, including that of the National Gallery of Scotland: they fascinate the viewer and raise intriguing questions. What circumstances left them incomplete? What do they tell us about the ways that painters worked? How do we define ‘finish’, and when did an artist consider a work to be finished? These and other questions will be considered by David Bomford, in an exploration of the non-finito from the Renaissance to the 20th century. The Watson Gordon Lecture Series: The Watson Gordon Lectures, established in 2006, typify the long-standing collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and the National Galleries of Scotland. Each lecture is by a leading scholar and reveals new research on a focused topic. The lectures are delivered and published annually, and now number eight titles in the series. Also available: ‘The Hardest Kind of Archetype’: Reflections on Roy Lichtenstein ISBN 9781906270384 Picasso’s ‘Toys for Adults’, Cubism as Surrealism ISBN 9781906270261 Roger Fry’s Journey: From Primitives to the Post-Impressionists ISBN 9781906270117 Sound, Silence, and Modernity in Dutch Pictures of Manners ISBN 9781906270254

Commissioned by the Water Colour Society of Ireland, this book is the first to chronicle in depth the history of this distinguished Society, established in Lismore, County Waterford in November, 1870 and recognised today as being one of the oldest and most outstanding art societies in these islands. Members have included such prominent participants as Sir William N.M. Orpen, R.A., R.I., H.R.H.A., Sarah H. Purser, R.H.A., Walter F. Osborne, R.H.A., Mildred A. Butler, R.W.S., H.B.A.S., Mainie Jellett, Paul Henry, R.H.A., Evie Hone, H.R.H.A., Tom Carr, H.R.H.A., R.U.A., R.W.S., O.B.E and many others who succeeded in achieving recognition for their work not only in Ireland but on the international stage. The author sets out to trace the historical development of watercolor painting in Ireland, the difficulties encountered by artists in relation to exhibiting watercolors in eighteenth and nineteenth century Ireland. Brief accounts of the establishment of the Royal Dublin Society’s Drawing Schools are included together with the influence of the nineteenth century English watercolor tradition in relation to Irish students, the foundation of the N.G.I, the role of the governess and drawing master, together with the influences which the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art exerted on countless future members of the Society.   The difficulties encountered by women in establishing themselves as either professional or amateur artists in nineteenth century Ireland, the opportunities for training not only in the field of art but in crafts such as wood-carving and lace and the availability to pursue an art academic training abroad all form part of this book. The vital role of Sketching Clubs and Drawing Societies which led to the birth of the Amateur Drawing Society (later to become known as  the Water Colour Society of Ireland) are included. Founded by six enterprising ‘Lady Artists’, their largely unknown biographical information is provided here for the first time.   Descriptions of early exhibitions, the aristocratic glamor attached to openings, conversaziones, the day to day running of the Society and the need by many artists, particularly women to transform themselves into professional painters form part of the early development of this remarkable Society. The birth of the nineteenth century exhibition watercolor and the requirement by members to market and sell their work throughout Ireland and the U.K. is described.   The author provides concise biographies of over one hundred W.C.S.I artists from the relatively unknown to the widely acclaimed together with illutrations of works from  both public and private collections, the latter, due to the generosity of their owners being illustrated here for the first time.

When Ziggy played The Marquee Club in Soho, London, in October 1973, most of those invited to the small venue did not realize that this would be the last performance David Bowie would ever give as Ziggy Stardust. Terry O’Neill, celebrated photographer, was given unprecedented access to document the event.

O’Neill captured Bowie and his crew backstage as they went through costume changes, and Bowie transformed into the character he’d soon put to rest. On stage, dodging television cameras and lights, O’Neill snapped the incredible stage presence for which Bowie and his crew had become renowned. O’Neill remembers of Bowie: “He became a character on stage. As much as a person takes a role in a play for the West End or on Broadway, learning the lines, putting on the costumes – this was, I think, the way Bowie treated his stage. This night at the Marquee, I witnessed a modern-day Hamlet – and it was Ziggy Stardust”.

Award-winning music writer Daniel Rachel interviews key contributors of the day, including O Neill, Ava Cherry, Amanda Lear and Geoff MacCormack along with new insights and memories from fans who were in the audience who played witness to this incredible moment.

A ‘vessel for living’ – such were the words Glenn Adamson used to describe this remarkable residence. Richard Meier designed the Grotta home to house Sandra and Louis Grotta’s collection of contemporary studio jewelry and significant works in wood, ceramic and fibre. The building was conceived around the collection, framing the objects within the open architecture, which comprises an equal blend of glass and concrete. Nature, visible from many vantage points, plays an essential supporting role. The Grotta Home by Richard Meier: A Marriage of Architecture and Craft is rich in photographs of the collection and provides impressive insights into this exceptionally personal project. The accompanying essays afford the reader a greater sense of how the Grottas have not simply acquired art, but have immersed themselves in it.

The Miller Ceramic Art Collection features masterpieces highlighting the artistic ideals of numerous luminaries of mid-twentieth century to early twenty-first century American ceramic art. In addition, the collection includes important examples of European and Japanese ceramic artworks of the same period. Marlin Miller’s profound understanding of materials began with ceramic engineering. His interest in brick and its role in architecture informs a keen eye for surface texture, dimension and materiality.

The publication is a comprehensive presentation of one of the world’s most distinguished private collections of contemporary studio ceramics, and an observation on the correlation between ceramics and architecture. With contributions by Meghen Jones, Sequoia Miller, Michael McKinnell and Wayne Higby.

The Swiss artist Otto Künzli has revolutionized modern art jewelry. In the 45-odd years in which he has been addressing the topic of jewelry, Künzli has carved out for himself a unique position of far-reaching international influence, not only as an artist and a pioneer but also as an author and mentor. Otto Künzli’s works are based on complex reflection, conceptual and visual imagination. The result: objects with a clear, minimalist appearance, captivatingly crafted to perfection and highly visible – jewelry that adorns and at the same time possesses an autonomous aesthetic status of its own. The publication presents for the first time Otto Künzli’s highly diverse oeuvre. It includes hundreds of jewelry objects as well as interdisciplinary conceptual works from the artist’s various creative phases. An extraordinary artist’s book designed in close collaboration with Otto Künzli and Die Neue Sammlung – The International Design Museum Munich.

Otto Künzli was born in 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland. Since 1991 Künzli has held the Chair of Art Jewelry at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich – as the successor of Prof. Hermann Jünger. Otto Künzli’s work is represented in numerous international museums and collections. Alongside numerous awards, in 2010 Otto Künzli was awarded the Swiss Grand Prix Design, and in 2011 the Goldener Ehrenring der Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst, the golden ring of honor conferred by the German Association for Goldsmiths’ Art.

The Padua School originated from the Istituto Pietro Selvatico in Padua. The distinctive features of this jewelry are the use of gold reminiscent of the goldsmith’s art in antiquity and a modern and abstract formal expression within the group. Mario Pinton, who brought the goldsmith movement international recognition and acclaim in the 1950s and ’60s, is credited with founding the experimental goldsmith movement in Padua. Francesco Pavan has enlarged the scope of the Padua School with his kinetic and geometric formal idiom.

The breakthrough on the international jewelry scene took place in the late 1960s with Giampaolo Babetto, under whose support the geometric and Minimalist tendency was most pronounced. Other distinguished artists in jewelry such as Graziano Visintin, Renzo Pasquale, Annamaria Zanella, Stefano Marchetti and Giovanni Corvaya continued along these lines or went their own highly individual ways by experimenting with the use of new materials including plastic. The work of these creative artists is beautifully displayed through color photographs, which serve to highlight their great talent.

The unique cultural landscape of southern Africa (Nambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa) is a highly dynamic and complex area where old traditions are confronted by explosive social and political upheavals. The resulting contradictions and conflicts stimulate a directions as well as ancient roots. The collection of highly varied essays by knowledgeable experts on Africa ranges from historical and political problems to questions of artistic production and of how to deal with culture and nature in the face of industrialisation and globalisation. Art is one of the major subjects, and the contemporary artistic activities, including photography. The publication presents a picture of a vigorously alive southern Africa, contradicting common western Cliches which regard the region as having no art and solely being riddled with problems of post-apartheid, crime and AIDS.

The representation of mysterious and fantastical figures, magical inscriptions and mythical beings that are half man and half beast are characteristic of the jewelry works and art objects created by Ulo Florack. With artistic mastery and an exuberant imagination, he tells stories using gold, silver, platinum and enamel. Ulo Florack is a multi-talented artist. It is almost impossible to categorize him. The question of whether he is more a painter or a jewelry artist cannot be answered definitively: both aspects cross-pollinate each other. His jewelry objects incorporate sculptural elements, whilst the choice and application of colors reveal the artist. His style is very distinctive and his objects use surprising ideological and intelligent imagery, which consciously hovers in the grey area between fantasy and reality.

Text in English & German.

The largest surviving portion of the first major collection of Classical antiquities in Britain – the sculptures and inscriptions collected in the early 17th century by Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel for his London house and garden – is in the Antiquities Department of the Ashmolean Museum. This handbook tracks their eventful history.

The collection of British silver at the Ashmolean Museum has all, with one notable exception (a tankard of 1574 given in 1790), been acquired since shortly after World War II. In relation to other major museum collections, therefore, it is young. Yet amounting to over 550 objects, many of which are of spectacular quality and rarity, it is one of the most important collections of its kind in the world, equaled only for the ‘golden age’ of English silver by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The collection has never been fully catalogued and this will be the first time a complete catalogue has been published.

The Jewish Journey tells the history of the Jewish people from antiquity to modern times through 22 objects from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, brought together here for the first time. Many of the objects are little-known treasures and all 22 have remarkable stories. Spanning 4000 years of history and covering 14 different countries, the objects trace the evolution of Jewish life and culture from its earliest beginnings in Ancient Mesopotamia through time and space to the modern day.

In Let the Kids Play, Drago’s 36 Chambers series exalts the beauty and exuberance of youth as embodied by the renowned street artist, Pax Poloscia. The book is a reaction to the cynicism and monotony of the adult world and a celebration of youthful creativity.

Tossed into a melting pot of calligraphy and graffiti writing from around the world, ZenTwO and Native’s work leans towards the raw and finds expression in the uneven in an attempt to access, engage, and integrate vivid emotions in a destabilising aesthetic. Drago’s 36 Chambers joins an international and multi-cultural tour of street art with this fresh addition to the series.

Drago’s impressive library already includes the works of many internationally celebrated and influential photographers such as Boogie, Estevan Oriol, Ed Templeton and JR. The Street is Watching encapsulates the talent of these artists together with over 100 contributing photographers in a single and revolutionary anthology. These featured photographers include Larry Clark, Glen E. Friedman, Martha Cooper, Jamel Shabazz, Bruce Davidson, Jim Goldberg, Mary Ellen Mark, Bruce Gilden, Ryan McGinley, Hugh Holland, Jill Freedman, C.R. Stecyk, Dash Snow, Bruce LaBruce, Ivory Serra, Olivia Bee and many more. The book also features insightful contributions from the curator, Paulo Luca von Vacano; Miss Rosen, a New York-based photo editor and photography book specialist and Ethel Seno, a project manager and curatorial coordinator at MOCA, Los Angeles.