After the first Thai comic strip was published in 1907, comics flourished in Siam and developed in uniquely Thai ways. With diverse and leading artists working in each generation there is a wealth of material to consider. Gory horror tales, anti-communist propaganda and socially-engaged graphic novels bear witness to the country’s darker years. From 1990, Thai comics struggled to compete with the sudden influx of unlicensed Japanese manga and went through a hiatus, making a comeback in the late ’90s with a new and alternative scene that deserves wider recognition. Each page of The Art of Thai Comics opens a unique window onto Thai society – a distilled vision of its hopes, fears, delights and horrors. From 20th century interpretations of Jataka tales, which replay the Buddha’s various reincarnations, to tales of modern-day millennial angst. Thai comics past and present offer an entertaining and enlightening viewpoint onto the country’s history, culture and enduring creativity.
A revelatory glimpse into the passions and obsessions of 60 visionary artists through the medium of their personal sketchbooks, treatises, storybooks, grimoires, and journals. This unprecedented gathering of handmade books from the most notable Art Brut artists has been brought together expressly for this publication from both public and private collections. Each volume is showcased in separate chapters featuring the cover and a selection of inside pages, with accompanying commentary. They cover the period from the early 20th century to the present, and include works by Horst Ademeit, Alöise, Giovanni Bosco, James Castle, Henry Darger, Charles Dellschau, Malcolm MacKesson, Dan Miller, Michel Nedjar, Jean Perdrizet, Royal Robertson, Charles Steffen, Oskar Voll, August Walla, and Adolf Wölfli, among others.
Text in English and French.
The Art of Endurance is a coffee table book about the 2024 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), which is one of the most exciting competitions in motorsport. This book is based on the very rich production of images that will be developed and embellished over the eight races that are held around the globe on internationally renowned circuits, including the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. The main goal is to capture the “spirit” that characterizes these endurance races. This beautiful publication will be a perfect promotional tool for the championship, whose considerable drawing power is due to the number of competitors and manufacturers who are taking part.
Globalization has forced us to stop thinking that art only exists in the West. The very notion of art was invented by the West and refers to the learned version of its material culture. It was then projected onto other civilizations, particularly Asian ones, and finally onto the preliterate societies of Africa and Oceania.
Whether or not these cultures possess the concept of art is of little importance, because when they honor their gods, they inevitably address what they consider to be the acme of beauty. For a long time, this openness to other aesthetics was based on the arts of the past, until it was finally accepted that there were living creators in these distant lands, and that today’s means of communication have brought them closer to us.
These “others” who appeared in the 1980s are by no means a homogenous group. Without stretching this analysis too far, they can be regarded as falling into two categories: those who have opted for modernity and submit to the demands of the market and Western based institutions, and those who concentrate on giving visual expression to their communities and beliefs, ignoring the demands of the art market. Australian Aboriginal art represents an intermediate situation, since alongside art of a sacred nature, there are works deliberately produced for sale, initially encouraged by missionaries.
Nothing Too Beautiful for the Gods aims to show the variety of works connected with the spiritual impulse, from those used in religious rites to contemporary artworks that refer to them. These hybrid works are often the result of accommodations with modernity. The exhibition and accompanying book bring together altars from Africa, the Caribbean and Asia, works by artists invested with religious responsibilities (Didi, Shiraga), works by religious artists (Ramoun) and others by artists who refer explicitly to religions and spirituality (Sooja Kim, El Anatsui, Vasquez de la Horra, Bedia, Boltanski, Viola).
Text in English and French.
Punjab, and especially Sikh art, has taken multiple forms ranging from scriptural manuscripts, floral adornments to illustrations and illuminations. This family collection showcases varied forms of jewelry, textiles, arms, coinage, along with construction of religious places and monuments. Murals and frescoes, paintings from Mughal, Punjabi and Pahari styles as well as calligraphy; all enhance the culture and add to its beauty. In addition, foreign artists such as Emily Eden, Shoefft, Soltikoff and other Europeans have left their imprint. The Khanuja Family believes encouragement of art is an essential element in enriching cultural heritage, upliftment of the human spirit, which eventually results in understanding, tolerance and interconnecting us all. This collection is a labor of love which started with an interest in listening to the history of Punjab from elders and subsequently reading about it. Over time with the help of Dr P Khanuja’s daughter, Jasleen it evolved into this expensive passion of collecting artifacts and paintings over the last 14 years.
Giovanni Morelli changed the way we look at art. Before Morelli (1816-1891), the attribution of a painting to a particular artist or school was often based on overall impression, hearsay, even gut feeling. But Morelli, having trained as a medical doctor to look closely at anatomical detail, applied scientific rigor to understanding the works of masters such as Titian, Leonardo, and Raphael, and of other Renaissance and Baroque painters. By closely scrutinising, analysing and comparing details overlooked by most other collectors, critics, and curators, his radical ‘Morellian method’ became the basis of modern art connoisseurship. A proud Italian of Swiss Protestant heritage, Morelli was also a staunch patriot. He risked his life in the Italian Wars of Independence, and was elected four times to the parliament of the newly unified nation. In 1873 he was nominated senator for life. As a statesman he fought for his homeland’s cultural patrimony: at a time when many of Italy’s great art collections were being snapped up by foreign collectors and museums, he introduced some of the world’s first legislation to prevent their loss to the nation. The Life of Giovanni Morelli in Risorgimento Italy is the first full biography of this important figure, including his romantic friendships with remarkable women such as Clementina Frizzoni, Laura Acton Minghetti (wife of the Italian prime minister), and Princess Victoria (daughter of Queen Victoria and subsequently empress of Germany). At his death he bequeathed his art collection to the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, the birthplace of his mother, a city he loved.
Stucco decorations have traditionally been studied considering their formal and artistic qualities. Although much research and numerous publications have explored the works of stucco artists and their cultural context, little attention has been paid to their professional role in relation to the other actors involved in the decorative process (architects, painters, sculptors, patrons), the technical skills of these artists, and how their know-how contributed to the great professional success they enjoyed. From the 16th to the 18th century, many of the stucco decorations in churches and palaces throughout Europe were made by masters from the border area between what is now Canton Ticino and Lombardy. This collection of essays aims to examine how these artists worked from Spain to Poland, from Denmark to Italy, via the Netherlands, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Austria, adapting to the realities of the different contexts. The authors examine these issues with an interdisciplinary approach, considering art history and social history, the history of artistic techniques, and the science of materials.
Text in English and Italian.
Addressing one of the urgent issues of climate crisis and environmental pollution, this book explores our relationship to the sea: how we live alongside it, our bodily relationship to it, its role in the creation of a connected, global society and, perhaps most critically, the threat we pose to it.
Through a broad selection of works by contemporary international artists, Can the Sea Survive Us? responds to the urgent need to resuscitate our seas. While the oceanic environment is essential to all life, its vulnerability to human action is highlighted by an ever-increasing loss of biodiversity. This book prompts the reader to imagine a future in which collective human behavior can mitigate the effects of climate change. As ocean temperatures reach record highs, it is clear that time is not on our side. This ambitious project aspires to accelerate climate awareness and deliver the critical climate action we urgently need.
The Ashcan School and The Eight are now recognized as America’s first modern art movement: rejecting their academic training and the practices of the National Academy of Design, they forged a new art that represented America’s shifting values. By focusing on urban streets scenes, the lives of immigrants, popular entertainments, and the working poor, this loosely affiliated group of artists became synonymous with ordinary, everyday subjects — in the words of one critic, “pictures of ashcans.” Yet this is only part of their story: they also experimented with complex color theory and embraced scientific studies about movement and perception, while also creating scenes of bourgeois leisure and society portraits in attempts to reconcile their high-art practices with their populist reputations.
This catalog features nearly 130 works across media, including paintings, drawings, pastels, and prints — rarely seen objects and popular favorites. Collectively these works emphasize the Ashcan School’s and The Eight’s valuable contributions to the formation of American modernism at the beginning of the 20th century.
Through various thematic perspectives and a range of media, this book will shed new light on the history of Surrealism. With the idea of the unconscious as a turning point, The Savage Eye traces the roots of Surrealism in Symbolism and shows how the two art movements both reflect each other and overlap. Some of the most significant artists in modern art meet here in the murky depths of the human mind, where logic and morality give way to dreams, disturbing impulses, and unbridled desire. In this illuminating book you will become familiar with two radical art movements that both explored the psyche with the aim of establishing a new concept of humanity. Through artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Paul Gauguin, Dora Maar, René Magritte, Lee Miller, Joan Miró, Odilon Redon, and Auguste Rodin we will take you on a journey through the limitless world of the unconscious.
“David Brafman, just like the alchemists did, mixes ingredients to make gold.” — The New Scientist
Alchemists are notorious for attempting to synthesize gold. Their goals, however, were far more ambitious: to transform and bend nature to the will of an industrious human imagination. For scientists, philosophers, and artists alike, alchemy seemed to hold the key to unlocking the secrets of creation. Alchemists’ efforts to discover the way the world is made have had an enduring impact on global artistic practice and expression.
Brafman’s book is the first to explore how the art of alchemy globally transformed human creative culture from the ancient world to the modern scientific age, and displays the ways its legacy still permeates the world we make today.
The latest instalment of the International ARC Salon Competition, featuring over a thousand original works of art.
Determined to restore the universal language of realism in the visual arts, a group of fine artists and experts formed the Art Renewal Center in 1999. Since their genesis, this non-profit educational foundation has dedicated itself to encouraging rigorous skill-based training in the methods of the Old Masters, bestowing the title of ‘ARC Approved’ on ateliers who share their core values and demonstrate technical mastery. Their annual competition is the largest and most prestigious for realist-based art in the USA, arguably the world. This year’s winners demonstrate the great breadth and originality that can be found in all facets of fine art.
Categories include: Figurative, Portraiture, Imaginative Realism, Landscape, Animals, Sculpture, Drawing, Still Life, Plein Air and the DaVinci Initiative Award for the Young Aspiring Artists.
Documenting an alternative history and social commentary by Bangkok’s graffiti and street artists, this insightful and thought-provoking book offers fresh insight into Thai subcultures. Not given a platform elsewhere, street art and graffiti gives artists the opportunity to protest the social injustices they encounter. Through their art, they speak out against dictators and the political elite, as well as the extensive gentrification sweeping Bangkok. In addition, this book is the only visual record of (what was sarcastically named) “Thailand’s Stonehenge”: standing pillars covered in graffiti along the abandoned Hopewell elevated rail line that was supposed to link the city to the airport, a $3 billion dollar project begun in 1990 and mired in corruption. The pillars – the only part of the project that was built – represent the overwhelming corruption that marks the past 20 years in Thailand. They are scheduled to be demolished this year.
Kindred Spirits showcases the remarkable flowering of Chinese style ceramics that took place in Japan after the mid-19th century. For over a thousand years, Chinese ceramics have been admired and emulated in Japan. This book discusses for the first time how this artistic relationship evolved during the Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa eras. A selection of 100 works from the acclaimed Shen Zhai Collection demonstrates the range and quality of these ceramics, from elegant celadons to sophisticated underglaze blue porcelains. Detailed descriptions, makers’ marks, and box inscriptions make this a valuable reference resource for collectors and art historians.
The essays in this lavishly illustrated volume offer a multi-faceted portrait of American financier J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) as a collector of art. A riveting exploration of Morgan’s acquisitions from antiquities to medieval manuscripts to Old Master paintings and European decorative arts, Morgan—The Collector introduces the reader to how and why he amassed his vast collection. The lively essays also serve as a tribute to Linda Roth, curator at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, who dedicated much of her forty-year career to researching Morgan and the over 1,500 works from his collection now in the museum. This much-needed publication focuses on Morgan as a collector and is directed at both a scholarly and more general audience that is interested in the history of collecting, America in the Gilded Age, Pierpont Morgan, and European art.
“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.
For more than four decades, jewelry artist and educator Laurie Hall has been making stories the subject of her work. Her playful, often whimsical jewelry made with found objects is about the places she lives, the landscapes that fill her imagination, her family history, and her ideas of what it is to be an American. As a jeweler, Hall never plays it safe, preferring to fly by the seat of her pants and push her skills and technical knowledge. Her work is part of numerous private and public collections including The Museum of Art and Design in NYC, The Tacoma Art Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She is a product of the jewelry histories that make the Pacific Northwest unique within the larger story of American contemporary jewelry. Featuring 58 images of Hall’s jewelry spanning the period from 1974 to 2019, this book explores why she is an important maker whose practice deserves to be more widely known.
A miniature painting holds wondrous powers, beyond its defined space. A single image can summon up a world of adventures, enclosed chambers, gardens, rivers, lakes, forests, flowers, and an infinite variety of trees in bloom. In Indian art, miniatures were conceived as sets of narrative illustrations based on classic texts, such as the Ramayana, Bhagavata Purana, Ragamala, etc. Miniature painting continues to hold its appeal well into the 21st century. Contemporary artists of importance have imbibed influences from the miniature traditions, in technique, theme and coloration. This book explores a relationship between Indian contemporary painting and inspiration from medieval miniatures.
The author studies the art of five significant Indian modern and contemporary artists—Abanindranath Tagore, Manjit Bawa, Waswo X. Waswo with Rakesh Vijayvargiya, and Nilima Sheikh—who have resourced and reinvented iconic traditions with different perspectives and using different techniques. Accompanied with splendid illustrations, the essays bring attention to the Indian art of today with the magical transformation of older concepts and techniques in miniature painting into contemporary practice.
Spanning a wide spectrum of creative constructs emerging from varied ideations and genres, Rini Dhumal’s art is rooted in India’s culture and myth, coupled with her international exposure and imaginative spirit. A flexibility of approach adds an organic energy and innate beauty to Rini’s art. With its focus on the inner feminine psyche, it explores the potential and challenges offered by different media, from two or three-dimensional work in clay or bronze, relief or graphic art. In a fine assimilation of abstraction, myth, landscape and conceptualization, her art is threaded with the face, form and figuration of the ‘goddess’ in various incarnations of Rini’s own design. Her work also makes imaginative use of traditional Indian iconography – birds, animals and floral motifs all reminiscent of religious art, but re-purposed to create a new vocabulary of form and meaning.
Rini’s enduring art and aesthetics, with their distinct feel and flow, speak for a unique assimilation of the personal and universal. This book is an attempt to understand and appreciate the dramatis persona, review her creative journey and take the reader through the various stages of her life and work until the present, with its focus on an exceptionally impressive and extensively varied repertoire.
Contents: Foreword; Creative Constructs; Immersed in Tradition; Catalogue; Ceramics; Rugs-Tapestry-Glass; Paintings and Drawings; Bronze; Artist Biography
“…it’s the colorful photographs (over 500!) of one-of-a-kind Hopi and Moroccan-inspired mosaic pieces featured in her memoir, out in October, that truly command attention, from ammonite fossils and ivory animal renderings to stunning lapis, coral, and turquoise designs.” — Natural Diamonds
North African-born Eveli Sabatie had a long-time fascination with Native American culture and history. As a young woman, she left her home in Paris in 1968 to move to San Francisco, hoping to learn more. A chance encounter with a Hopi traditionalist led to an invitation to Arizona, where she apprenticed with a master Native American jewelry-maker. For her, this was the beginning of a new world.
Art can never be fully divided from the artist’s voice, nor the natural world. When Eveli encountered red jasper while roaming the Arizona mountains, she knew she had to incorporate her local geology into her work. Yet raw materials are just one of many ways in which the world around Eveli shapes her art. This book is a direct and personal exploration of Eveli’s work, following her arc of growth, challenges and internal workings.
Eveli’s jewelry is entirely created by her, from gathering material to fabricating the body of the piece, doing the lapidary work and finally adding stone settings and finishings. She works in a rustic, ancient environment, often choosing to use rudimentary and home-made tools over commercial techniques. This book explores her creative process through five sections: THE JOURNEY, a biographical overview of her time at the Hopi reservation in Northern Arizona, where she apprenticed under Charles Loloma; CLOUDS AND RAIN, exploring the influence of the Hopi and the desert on her work; BEING HOME, which talks in greater detail about Eveli’s relationship with the environment; BEING HUMAN, a philosophical study of humanity through jewelry; and BRANCHING OUT, which features Eveli’s other artworks, which are sought after by collectors from around the world.
This is a profound reflection on the earth, through the medium of jewelry.
The temples of the Early Chalukyas, dating from the 6th to 8th centuries, are unrivalled in all of India for their comparatively early date and unusually complete condition, the remarkable juxtaposition of their different constructional techniques and building styles, and for the sheer beauty of their figural and decorative carvings. In spite of their appeal and outstanding historical significance, these monuments have until now lacked an adequate publication.
This volume is the first to fully describe and illustrate the architecture and art of the Early Chalukya temples in Badami, and nearby Mahakuta, Aihole and Pattadakal, all situated on or near to the Malprabha River in central Karnataka. Michell’s definitive text is complemented by forty of his measured drawings, which constitute the most thorough graphic documentation ever undertaken. These are accompanied by more than 150 splendid, newly commissioned photographs by Surendra Kumar.
Contents:
Preface; Historical Background; Architecture; Sculpture; Badami; Mahakuta; Aihole; Pattadakal; Maps; Building Chronology; Glossary of Architectural Terms; Glossary of Indian Names; Select Bibliography; Photo Credits; Index.
This fine tribal rug collection, built over many years by a Buenos Aires artist/architect, has at its heart a superb selection of ‘Bird’ designed rugs, alongside many other characteristic knotted-pile rugs woven by the nomadic tribes of the Khamseh Confederation in southwest Iran during the 19th century. In addition, smaller numbers of related weavings are featured, made by by neighbouring South Persian nomads (such as the Qashqa’i and the Afshar) as well as two highly focused groups of Shikli Kazak and ‘Keyhole’ design village rugs from the Transcaucasus region. The collector/author’s lucid bilingual texts explain his passion for these stunning woven creations. His choices of collectable pieces are informed by his perspective as a successful artist and architect working in the Argentinian capital.
Text in English and Spanish.