Art Resources

Claude Monet, 1840-1926, Joseph Baillo ... and others. 2010
The Monet exhibition taking place in fall 2010 at the Grand Palais in Paris has caused an international sensation. In a rapturous review on the front page of The New York Times, Michael Kimmelman says that it gives us a sublime painter whose achievement places him in the company of artists who reveal the world with new vision. This catalogue offers a permanent record of this magnificent art exhibition. Claude Monet is one of the most beloved painters in the history of art. His work appeals both to the broad general public and to artists, who are moved and challenged by his achievement over a working life that spanned six decades. With more than 300 illustrations of Monet's greatest works and accessible essays by leading art historians, this lush volume offers a vivid new perspective on the artist and his work. (Amazon)

Constable , Jonathan Clarkson. 2010
This lavishly illustrated monograph of the great British landscapist John Constable (1776-1837) presents a definitive survey of the painter's life and works. Jonathan Clarkson offers a comprehensive assessment of Constable's oeuvre, from his earliest line drawings to his last masterpieces, including pencil drawings, quick outdoor oil sketches, painstakingly worked studio canvases, and less well-known portraits... In this new monograph Clarkson looks at these grand paintings with a fresh view, investigating what we can actually see in them. Set against the rapidly changing way of life in nineteenth-century Britain, Constable's paintings are both portraits of a disappearing world and reflections of his belief that 'painting is a science, and should be pursued as an inquiry into the laws of nature.' Since his death, Constable has been condemned for presenting a willfully inauthentic vision of the early nineteenth-century English countryside, which was ravaged by unemployment, crime, and intense poverty in the years following the Napoleonic wars. However, his importance for Realism and for painting as a practice in itself cannot be underestimated. Clarkson draws attention to Constable's direct influence on landscape painters as well as figurative artists from his own time to the present, citing examples such as Lucien Freud and Frank Auerbach. (Amazon)

Korean eye : contemporary Korean art, edited by Serenella Ciclitira. 2010
The most influential and significant work on Korean contemporary art and artists to date. Following the huge success of Korean Eye: Moon Generation, the first international exhibition of Korean contemporary art, Skira publishes a book featuring sixty of Korea's most renowned contemporary artists, selected by a curatorial team which consists of a mix of Korean and international art curators. The book also includes background information on the art scene in Korea and references to the major art fairs, symposia, exhibitions, galleries, museums, and events throughout the year. (Amazon)

Richard Long : a line made by walking , Dieter Roelstraete. 2010
In 1967, Richard Long, then twenty-two years old and a student at Saint Martin's School of Art in London, walked back and forth along a straight line in the grass in the English countryside, leaving a track that he then photographed in black and white. The resulting work, A Line Made by Walking, was not only the starting point for Long's career as an artist but also a landmark for a new kind of art emerging in Europe and the Americas. The formal simplicity of Long's artwork suggested a relation to minimalism, but its location outside the gallery context and its suggestion of bodily actions also connected it to a new generation of artists whose work combined the organic, the temporary, the nonmaterial, and the performative to offer a critique of the art system and its language, forms, and values. Long's work bridged the concerns of his North American and European counterparts, connecting the industrial scale of Robert Smithson to the modesty of Gilberto Zorio, the exercises in dematerialization of Robert Morris with the organic forms of Alighiero e Boetti, and the performance of Yvonne Rainer with that of Joseph Beuys. Although A Line Made by Walking is an instantly recognizable work, no detailed analysis of this foundational piece has yet been published. At a time when Richard Long's career is being celebrated and reassessed, this study by writer and curator Dieter Roelstraete could not be more timely. (Amazon)

Swanlights, artwork by Antony ; editor Tamar Brazis. 2010 (Includes CD)
Antony of Antony and the Johnsons presents his debut collection of visual art, thought-provoking dreamscapes composed of paintings, drawings, photography, collage, song lyrics, and writings. Often fragmentary images, these pieces capture liminal states and elements of the unconscious. Some images are reclaimed and reconfigured in order to transcend their previous form. The intersecting mediums inform each other and create an interesting dialogue with Antony's music, his creative muse, and personal mythology. Fans and collectors will relish this lavishly produced volume, which includes Antony's newest full-length CD Swanlights, and reveals the creative process of one of the world's most gifted artists. (Amazon)

Young Chinese artists : the next generation, edited by Christophe Noe, Cordelia Noe, Xenia Piech.2010
The artists presented in this book came of age in a time when freedom of thought and expression was possible, if not exactly permitted. Unlike their predecessors, these artists did not feel a compulsion to politicize their work. The result is a generation that accepts materialism and economic growth as a part of the Chinese experience - and this paradigm is apparent in their arresting and often shocking works of art. This book also gives voice to other representatives of this generation outside the art world, which puts the artists presented here in a broader cultural context. This volume features thirty artists, examples of their work, and short texts about their art and lives in China. (Amazon)

The art of Jaime Hernandez : the secrets of life and death, [selection and commentary by] Todd Hignite. 2010
Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez's Love and Rockets has been praised for its appealing characters, skilled storytelling, and gorgeously sleek artwork. This coffee-table tribute to Jaime showcases his illustration skills, in particular, tracing his art from early fanzine work and other juvenilia, through his first, early 1980s Locas stories depicting punk-rock chicas Maggie and Hopey, which made up in verve what they lacked in polish, to his recent work, in which his now-older heroines have gained a hard-won poignancy that his graceful visuals accentuate. Most of the selected artwork is individual pages and panels, though the inclusion of two complete stories permits full appreciation of Jaime's considerable abilities. In the incisive text, Hignite skillfully explicates Jaime's mastery of a complete arsenal of narrative devices and provides fascinating biographical details of the artist's childhood and adolescence in predominantly Hispanic Oxnard, California, which would become the Hoppers locale of the early Locas stories. The handsomely designed volume combines intelligence and eye appeal, much as do its subject's acclaimed comics. --Gordon Flagg (Booklist review, Amazon)

Asian graphics now! , edited by Julius Wiedemann. 2010
Featuring the best and the most recent advertising campaigns, posters, brand-design projects, corporate identity, package design, and editorial design, Asian Graphics Now! is the ultimate guide to creativity for the whole of Asia, from India to Japan, serving as both an inspirational and a practical guide to any professional or student working in the creative industries. With roughly 60% of the world's population, around 4 billion people, the continent covers less than 9% of the world's surface, yet still includes over 50 countries. With China and India leading in growth and Japan being the most technological place on the planet, Asian graphic design has a lot to contribute to creativity around the world. With a unique blend of tradition and a forward-looking approach to contemporary culture, the aesthetics that have developed in the region cannot be seen anywhere else. Although less well known than Japan and China, countries like Korea, Singapore, India, and Thailand also offer a very individual take on the use of graphics, typography, and many other in many related areas. (Amazon)

Graffiti Asia , Ryo Sanada, Suridh Hassan. 2010
This book is the first to examine the spread of graffiti in Asia, concentrating mainly on Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, as well as China and Hong Kong. Anecdotes and interviews with local artists provide an insight into which paints, tools and techniques are used, and the most popular graffiti locations. The book is divided up into sections covering specific artists, lettering, history, locations, crews and trains, with all material collected at first hand by the authors. (Amazon]

Lifestyle illustration of the 60s, edited by Rian Hughes. 2010
"Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s" is a stunning survey of magazine artwork from the Swinging Sixties. It not only gives a fascinating insight into the extraordinary artistic talents of the illustrators featured, but also reveals the social aspirations of this unprecedented era of political optimism and sexual freedom. Featuring over 1,000 gloriously inventive and stylistically diverse illustrations, "Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s" traces the decade's evolution from the homemaking ethos of romantic coupledom to the stylish liberation of mini-skirted Chelsea girls. In the process, it provides an intriguing and poignant glimpse into Sixties Pop Culture. The Sixties was an optimistic era of unprecedented change, and its heady zeitgeist was captured in the amazing range of artwork that adorned magazines of the time. "Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s" features page after page of stunning rediscovered artwork, much of it by the very best artists of the day. An informative introduction explores the history of this long overlooked art form and contextualises its place within a wider social context. "Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s" provides a wonderful, nostalgic escape into a world of stylishly sophisticated living, revealing just how much life has changed over the intervening decades. (Amazon)

Manga impact! : the world of Japanese animation , edited by Carlo Chatrian & Grazia Paganelli. 2010
An easily accessible A-Z guide to the world of Japanese anime and manga, Manga Impact details everything from world-famous movies to the very latest cutting-edge projects by emerging directors and animators. Thematic essays and directory-style entries on the most influential creators and characters in manga and anime are included in this book that covers acclaimed directors such as Miyazaki Hayao (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) and Otomo Katsuhiro (Akira), as well as exhaustive background information on myriad TV series, studios and artists such as Pokemon, Studio Ghibli and Tezuka Osamu. Lavishly illustrated with a wealth of iconographic images and presented in a dynamic comic book design, Manga Impact is an essential reference book that will delight newcomers, fanboys and cineastes alike. (Amazon)

New girly graphics : a new interpretation of glamorous, cute and romantic designs, 2010
"Girly" is not only lovely, sweet, glamorous and cute, but also poisonous and rock 'n' roll. Nowadays "girls" are always the main target audience for many kinds of products or services; they have the buying power. They often know exactly what they want and it's not easy to grab their attention. As the second volume of Girly Graphics, one of the successful PIE Books titles, New Girly Graphics collects "girly" images (an interpretation of lovely, sweet, glamorous, cute, etc) that tickles a girl's heart, adding some new aspects such as "poisonous" and "rock 'n' roll". The works include advertisements, catalogues, posters, shop cards, direct mails, packaging, and more. They are divided into four different "girly" tastes: "Glamorous & Poisonous," "Pure & Natural," "Cute & Rock 'n' Roll," and "Romantic & Fairy Tale." (Amazon)

December 2010

New Art Books:

Abstraction : paths to abstraction 1867-1917, editor: Terence Maloon. 2010
Surveying the art of five decades, from 1867 to 1917, this publication follows the broad and diverse ways that artists and their public, little by little, learnt to see and to judge works of art abstractly. The contributions ofWhistler, Monet, Cezanne, Maurice Denis,Vuillard, Matisse, Derain, Picasso and Braque in advancing the possibilities of abstraction are given due emphasis. Apart from Kandinsky, the first generation of abstract painters included Piet Mondrian, Kasimir Malevich, Fernand Leger, Francis Picabia, Frantiek Kupka, Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, Giacomo Balla, Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber, Paul Klee, Arthur Dove and Patrick Henry Bruce. How had these artists arrived at such a convergence? How had abstract art taken root so quickly?Why was it not singled out by critics or historians as an independent art movement? One answer is that the conventions of abstraction had evolved over such a long time and were so thoroughly embedded in the avant-garde movements of the late 19th and early 20th century, that the advent of abstract art seemed inevitable; abstraction was considered synonymous with modern art. Far from breaking links to prior avant-garde movements, as this book argues, abstraction arose directly from a tradition of speculation about the nature of art and of aesthetic experience. (Amazon)

Angels & aristocrats : early European art in New Zealand public collections, Mary Kisler. 2010
It is entirely possible to immerse oneself in the glories of European art without having to travel to the Louvre, the Uffizzi, the Tate or the Frick. That's because New Zealand's public art galleries are richly studded with works collected by benefactors over the last 150 years and generously gifted to the nation. Many are infrequently seen and the richness of the collections often goes unacknowledged. In this outstanding book, respected curator Mary Kisler delves into the storerooms and reintroduces our historic art treasures (and those generous individuals who collected them) to us. Superbly illustrated, accessibly written and meticulously researched, Angels and Aristocrats is both a long-overdue celebration of magnificent and important works and also an indispensible and expert guide to art history (Random House website)

Henri Matisse : rooms with a view, Shirley Neilsen Blum. 2010
This book brings together for the first time the rich collection of Matisses paintings of interiors and windows. The distinguished art historian Shirley Blum analyses more than fifty works, from the early painting "Studio Under the Eaves" (1901-02) to the great stained glass window at the "Chapel of the Rosary in Vence" (1947-51). With perceptive text and scores of luscious illustrations, "Rooms with a View" reveals the key role of the window in Matisses oeuvre. (Amazon)

Nancy Spero : the work, Christopher Lyon. 2010
Among the most prominent women artists of the past half century, Nancy Spero (1926-2009) created a body of work of astonishing emotional range, from fierce anger, directed against war and sexism, to joyful sexual release. Working in isolation for decades, she was a central figure in the rise of women artists that transformed international art in the 1970s and '80s before gaining international recognition in her final two decades. Each of her extended series is extensively illustrated, including the Couples and War Series of the 1960s, works based on writings of Antonin Artaud, word and image scrolls of the 1970s, and the increasingly colourful multi-panel works and installations of the second half of her career. The book explores her artistic thought and describes the innovative techniques she developed, including the creation of a 'stock company' of stamped figures of women. Sumptuously illustrated, this book showcases Spero's most magnificent works and includes gate-fold presentations of the artist's signature scrolls and a mosaic mural she created for the New York City subway station at Lincoln Center. This powerful and beautiful volume is an essential reference for one of contemporary art's most original and compelling figures. (Amazon)

Man with a blue scarf : on sitting for a portrait by Lucian Freud, Martin Gayford. 2010
Lucian Freud, perhaps the world's leading portrait painter, spent seven months painting a portrait of the art critic Martin Gayford. Gayford describes the process chronologically, from the day he arrived for the first sitting through to his meeting with the couple who bought the finished painting, and he vividly conveys what it is like to be on the inside of the process of creating a work of art. As Freud completes his portrait of Gayford, so the art critic produces his own portrait of the artist, giving a rare insight into Freud's working practice. Through their wide-ranging conversations, the reader learns not only about Freud's choice of models, lighting, setting, pose, and colors, but also about his likes and dislikes, his encounters and experiences, and the ways in which he approaches his relationship with each portrait subject. Gayford records Freud's observations on the work of Michelangelo, Vermeer, Titian, Chardin, Goya, van Gogh, Mondrian, and his great contemporary Francis Bacon. The book is full of revealing anecdotes about the people Freud has met in the course of his long career, including Max Ernst, Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, George Orwell, W. H. Auden, Greta Garbo, and his grandfather Sigmund Freud. Illustrated with photographs of Freud at work and an etching that Freud did of Gayford after the painting was completed, the book also features other paintings by Freud from the 1940s to the present, as well as images by artists discussed by Freud with Gayford. 50 color and 14 black-and-white illustrations. (Amazon)

Yoshitomo Nara : nobody's fool, [curators] Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka ; with contributions from Midori Matsui, Michael Wilson, and Hideki Toyoshima. 2010
Created in partnership with Asia Society Museum in conjunction with a major retrospective, this is the first comprehensive monograph on the work of art superstar Yoshitomo Nara. It assembles 20 years worth of paintings, sculptures, and drawings that map the evolution of one of the most influential and internationally renowned artists working today. The book and exhibition will draw connections between Nara's work and the sensibilities of youth subcultures worldwide, focusing on themes of alienation and rebellion, particularly in relation to rock and punk music, the inspiration and subject of many of Nara's works. Featuring artworks that have never before been exhibited, this is the book Nara's legion of devoted followers have been waiting for. (Amazon)

Graphic: inside the sketchbooks of the world's great graphic designers, Steven Heller. 2010
"In this new book from one of the great authorities on graphic design, some 100 of the world's leading graphic designers open up their private sketchbooks, giving the reader an unparalleled insight into their creative development, design philosophies and visual influences. Samples range from typographical explorations to fully fledged illustration ideas, from scrappy scribbles and eccentric handwriting to photographic collages." (Global Books in Print)

Torso: t-shirt graphics exposed , 2010
With their catchy messages and bold artwork, today's t-shirts are a reflection of and petri dish for current styles in graphic design, illustration, and fashion. Show me your t-shirts and I'll tell you who you are. Today's t-shirts are projection screens for styles,thoughts, and attitudes; they are wearable calling cards. Wearers and designers of t-shirts define themselves through the featured visual codes and messages and are constantly trying to outdo each other when it comes to who has the most original ideas. Torso presents t-shirts whose motifs not only function as a means of personal communication, but also reflect and increasingly influence the complete spectrum of modern graphic design. (Amazon)

The Beautiful: illustrations for fashion and style, edited by Anneke Krull. 2010
The Beautiful presents the work of today's trendiest and most promising illustrators in the areas of fashion, lifestyle, editorial design, and commercial illustration. Illustration is one of today's fastest growing creative disciplines. Its versatility has made it a key visual element in fashion, lifestyle, editorial design, and advertising. Illustrations depict and enrich content in magazines and other publications. (Amazon]

Drawing lab for mixed-media artists, Carla Sonheim. 2010
Carla Sonheim is an artist and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. Her innovative ideas are now collected and elaborated on in this unique volume. Carla offers a year's worth of assignments, projects, ideas, and techniques that will introduce more creativity and nonsense into your art and life. (Amazon)

New illustration with type , Martin Dawber. 2010
The world of design and contemporary illustration is one of the fastest-growing and exciting creative fields in the world today. Illustrative and decorative type is at the core of much of the work of both illustrators and designers. This important book showcases some of the very best illustrated typography in the world today. Over 40 of the most interesting artists and designers from around the world - from South America to Japan, Spain to Australia - are featured in this book, producing a rich resource for those working in design and anyone who loves good illustration. (Amazon)

The poster: 1000 posters from Toulouse-Lautrec to Sagmeister, Cees V. De Jong. 2010
This complete international history of poster design from the Art Nouveau to the present covers all of the significant developments in poster design, and every important type of poster, from wine and war to rock and rebellion. One thousand posters illustrate the work of virtually every significant artist and graphic designer who ever created a memorable poster,including a generous selection of contemporary work. Organized chronologically, with thematic sections devoted to design styles as well as popular history, The Poster is also a visual chronicle of world culture from the late 19th century to the present. (Amazon)

October 2010

New Art Books:

50 modern artists you should know, Christiane Weidemann & Christine Nippe. 2010
Starting with James Abbott McNeill Whistler and ending with Matthew Barney, nearly every prominent figure in Modern art is represented in vibrant double-page spreads that show how these artists continued to redefine norms and challenge tradition. Fascinating biographical and anecdotal information about each artist is provided alongside large reproductions of their most celebrated works, stunning details, and images of the artists themselves. A colour-coded timeline spans the entire volume, showing overlapping careers and important historical dates. From the impressionists to the surrealists, the cubists to the pop-artists, readers will find a wealth of information as well as hours of enjoyment learning about this popular and prolific period in art history. (Amazon)

Caravaggio : a life sacred and profane, Andrew Graham-Dixon. 2010
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio lived the darkest and most dangerous life of any of the great painters. The worlds of Milan, Rome, and, Naples through which Caravaggio moved and which Andrew Graham-Dixon describes brilliantly in this book, are those of cardinals and whores, prayer and violence. On the streets surrounding the churches and palaces, brawls and swordfights were regular occurrences. In one such fight, Caravaggio killed Ranuccio Tomassoni, a pimp, and fled to Naples and then Malta, home to the Knights of St John, where he escaped from prison following his conviction for another vicious assault. Shortly afterwards he died while returning to Rome to seek a papal pardon for his crimes. He was thirty-eight years old. In the course of this desperate life, Caravaggio created the most dramatic paintings of his age, using ordinary men and women - often prostitutes and the very poor - to model for his depictions of classic religious scenes. Andrew Graham-Dixon's exceptionally illuminating readings of Caravaggio's pictures, which are the heart of the book, show very clearly how he created their drama, immediacy and humanity, and how completely he departed from the conventions of his time. (Amazon)

Frank Auerbach, William Feaver. 2009
This is the most comprehensive publication to date, and the only book in print, on the work of Frank Auerbach, a painter who has become one of the pre-eminent artists of our age, widely admired for his vivid, impulsive depictions of the world around him. His is, ostensibly, a narrow world, a small area of north London where he has lived and worked for more than fifty years, but within it he achieves images of marvelous poignancy and feel. "I'm hoping," Auerbach has said, "to make a new thing for the world that remains in the mind like a new species of living thing." Auerbach, who was born in Berlin in 1931 and came to Britain when he was eight, repeatedly paints people he knows well and places he is familiar with. His drawings and paintings are strikingly immediate; their impact has urgency; they relate in various ways as much to certain preferred Old Masters as to the contemporary artists with whom he tends to be associated, notably Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. The book includes 200 color plates together with a separate reference section comprising around 900 images -Auerbach's complete works to date - many of them not previously reproduced. Writer and art historian William Feaver discusses Auerbach's work both in its immediate context and in relation to the great tradition of painting. Extensive conversations with the artist are also included. (Amazon)

Martin Creed : works, 2010
Martin Creed: Works presents the first comprehensive survey of the work and career of Turner Prize-winning artist Martin Creed. Renowned for his straightforward approach to making art and his deft economy of means, Creed has produced sculptures, installations, drawings, films, performances, music and text, each of which has found its inspiration in the objects and activities of everyday life. This extensive volume documents more than 700 works produced over twenty years, selected by the artist himself. Always in search of the essential nature of things, Creed uses the simplest materials to create a world in which reality appears transformed by conceptual rules, as well as by the unexpected breaking of those rules. His work is simultaneously subtle and spectacular, austere and playful whether it be a sheet of paper crumpled into a ball, a protrusion from the wall, a door opening and closing, the lights going on and off, or a soundtrack inside a moving lift. The book features a foreword by the artist and accompanying texts by Germaine Greer, Darian Leader, Colm Toibin and others, supplemented by an exhibition history, bibliography and biography. (Amazon)

Philip de Laszlo : his life and art, Duff Hart-Davis. 2010
Philip de Laszlo (1869-1937) was the pre-eminent portrait artist working in Britain between the years 1907 and 1937. He painted more than 3,000 portraits, including kings and queens, four American presidents and countless members of the European nobility. There has been no biography of him since 1939, and this new account of both his life and his work draws on much new material from the family archive consisting of over 15,000 documents. It establishes the intrinsic importance of his art and re-positions him alongside his great contemporaries John Singer Sargent, Sir John Lavery and Giovanni Boldini. Born into a humble family in Budapest in 1869 he was ennobled by the Emperor Franz Joseph and from 1912 became known as Philip de Laszlo. From an early age he was driven by an unshakable vocation to succeed as an artist. He studied in Budapest, Munich and Paris, soon turning to portraiture, and in 1894 received his first important commission from the royal family of Bulgaria, followed in 1899 by the Emperor Franz Joseph and, in 1900, Pope Leo XIII, a portrait that won him international fame. In 1907 he settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1914. Despite being interned for over a year during the First World War, his reputation held firm, and in 1930 he was elected to succeed Sickert as President of the Royal Society of British Artists, confirming his place at the head of his profession. (Amazon)

The revolutionary century : art in Asia, 1900-2000, Alison Carroll. 2010
This book, with nearly 200 colour plates, aims to introduce the major themes and practices of art in Asia over the years 1900-2000. While national art histories have been written, there has not been an overview across the whole region - exposing the major themes that affected the art of individual countries within the whole geographic context. It was a century of change, and the focus is on the developments in art and art practice, particularly those adapted from outside. Beginning with a broad overview of the nature of art in Asia in the twentieth century, it is followed by a cross-region study divided into four parts: the setting leading in from the 19th century, the decades 1900-1940 followed by the period between World War II and 1960, and finally the years from 1960-2000. The major geo-political groupings of the region are discussed within each time-period. This has not been easy give that over this century, borders have changed and countries have been renamed. But Alison Carroll, with her many years of experience and travel throughout the region as Director of Asialink's Arts Program, is in an excellent position to provide this long-awaited study. (Amazon)

September 2010

New Art Books:

Impressionist gardens, Clare A. P. Willsdon. 2010
Clare Willsdon's new book explores the rich history and striking evolution of Impressionist garden paintings. By the 1860s, gardens were highly popular in France; the introduction and cross-breeding of new plant and flower species and the opening to the public of the former royal parks had stimulated a great horticultural movement.With their delight in colour, plein-air effects and modern-life themes, the Impressionists and their followers naturally turned to gardens for artistic inspiration. This book follows the spread of the Impressionist garden in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and illustrates not only masterpieces of Impressionism by Manet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley and others, but also works by such forebears as Delacroix, Corot, Courbet and later figures like Van Gogh, Gauguin, Klimt and Sargent.With its spectacular illustrations and accessible, engaging text, it will appeal equally to the scholar, student, art lover or gardening enthusiast. (Amazon)

Leonardo's legacy : how Da Vinci reimagined the world, Stefan Klein ; translated by Shelley Frisch. 2010
Every year more than 5 million people line up to see Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa-but why? In his latest, German science writer Klein (The Secret Pulse of Time) seeks to understand why "this portrait of a Florentine housewife of no more than average beauty" is so "deeply penetrating." Klein makes a compelling case that Da Vinci's ability to trigger an empathetic physical response in the viewer lay in his scientific acumen: the asymmetry of the Mona Lisa's smile, for instance, deliberately reflects the asymmetry of the human brain. While Leonardo is remembered primarily as an artist, his accomplishments as a scientist were at least as important; among other work, he studied the motion of water, worked out the trajectory of missiles, and designed impregnable fortifications, all with just a bare-bones knowledge of arithmetic. Klein insists that "the Mona Lisa so riveting because it incorporated many of the optical rules that Leonardo discovered," such as the way proportions change in relation to distance and colors transform as light passes through the atmosphere. Including a detailed chronology of the artist's life, this makes an illuminating new look at Leonardo's unique genius. (Publishers' weekly - Amazon)

Martin Ramirez : reframing confinement, with texts by Lynne Cook ... and others. 2010
Accompanying a major museum exhibition showcasing the drawings of the acclaimed selftaught artist Martin Ramirez, this volume offers a comprehensive selection of his complex and compelling art. Martin Ramirez created nearly 450 drawings of remarkable visual clarity and expressive power while confined in a California mental institution for more than twenty-five years. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, he achieved posthumous fame with recent exhibitions of his works. Eighty important drawings, culled from public and private collections, comprehensively survey his achievement and demonstrate that he was one of the great draftsmen of the twentieth century. The richness of Ramirez's, drawings and the depth of historical and cultural influences in his work point to his deep engagement with society. The artist's unique process employing found items, homemade pigments, matchsticks, and large swaths of paper is explored, as are his personal experiences of poverty, exile, and confinement. The volume includes recent research about Ramirez's, life, family, and art, and features examples from a cache of previously unknown drawings by Ramirez, whose discovery caused a great sensation. This dazzling book displays Ramirez's skill and inventiveness and shows why his work is worthy of its own place in the annals of modern art. (Amazon)

Picasso : peace and freedom, edited by Lynda Morris and Christoph Grunenberg. 2010
"Picasso: Peace and Freedom" is the first in-depth examination of Picasso as a politically and socially engaged artist, from the 1940s, when he defiantly remained in Paris during the Nazi occupation, throughout the subsequent Cold War period. Picasso was a member of, and a huge financial donor to, the Communist Party from 1944 until his death in 1973. Rather than treating him as an isolated titan of modern art, this book considers Picasso as a 'History Painter' in the Marxist tradition and will follow the chronology of key works painted between 1944 and his death in 1973: The Charnel House, Massacre in Korea, War and Peace, The Rape of the Sabine Women and a series of still lives featuring animal and human skulls. Each of these works is precisely dated and so can be connected to world events that were unfolding at the time, from events in Franco's Spain to the Cuban missile crisis. A key image from this period is the Dove of Peace, which became the emblem of the Peace Movement. Picasso designed posters for Peace Congresses in Wroclaw, Paris, Stockholm, Sheffield and Rome, all reproduced in the book. He also made drawings on the occasion of Stalin's birthday in 1949 and his death in 1953, which were controversial statements in support of the Soviet Communist Party. Both the FBI and MI5 held substantial files on him. Picasso's political commitment and its implications for his work can be seen as the last undiscovered territory in the study of the artist and this important book will reinstate a key element in our understanding of one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century. Alongside masterworks related to the themes of war and peace from the 1940s onwards, the book will feature graphics, ceramics and extensive ephemera, as well as cuttings from contemporary letters, archive papers, period publications and newspapers. (Amazon)

60. innovators shaping our creative future, Lucas Dietrich, general director ; contributors, Julie Lasky and others. 2009
Artists, photographers, architects, fashion designers, product designers, street artists, graphic designers: all are helping to redefine our aesthetics, values and ideas about the future. Here, a group of international experts from twelve contemporary fields of creative practice from fine art and photography to graphic design, architecture and ecology have each selected five people who are making significant contributions to the way we experience everyday life and visual culture. The resulting compendium contains hundreds of the most exciting projects and concepts being produced today. (Amazon)

The art and life of Chaz Bojorquez, curated by Marco Klefisch & Alberto Scabbia. 2009
This monograph charts the life and career of Chaz Bojorquez, known as "Chaz," a Los Angeles-born Mexican-American artist who began in the "Cholo" gang graffiti tradition but quickly arrived at his own groundbreaking style. This book includes previously unreleased photographs and traces the artist's story in fascinating detail. (Amazon)

The little book of kawaii, edited by Shawn Wright. 2009
"Introducing The Little book of kawaii, dedicated to all things kawaii. This new title will explain the Japanese subculture that has found its way into the designs and hearts of artists and people all over globe. The book will cover "kawaii noir" the dark and sexy side of this existing subject, as well as food, fashion, toys, characters and pixel art. Through illustration, graphic design and photography, this book shows how this culture has made its impact on our lives." (Global Books in Print)

The new age of feminine drawing , 2010
The New age of feminine drawing demonstrates clearly how and why illustration in fashion has made an amazing comeback. Having virtually reached saturation point, photography is no longer the all-powerful medium of creativity, and has once again given way to the age old art of drawing. The drawings featured in this exciting new title represent many different styles and a broad cross section of artists. All works featured have one thing in common: they possess a uniquely feminine power of seduction. Categories covered include magazine covers, posters, cosmetic advertisements, lifestyle advertisements and entertainment products. Artists featured include Akari Inogouchi, Annika Wester, Carine Brancowitz, Cecilia Carlstedt, Cedric Rivrain, Christina K. Coco, Elisa Johns, Laura Laine, Lotie, Maren Esdar, Jarno Kettunen and more. (Amazon)

Beyond the street: with the 100 most important players in urban art, edited by Patrick Nguyen . 2010
Street art has established itself as an integral part of the art world in the last few years. The crossover from subculture to high culture is illustrated by the recent attention that this work has been given by renowned institutions such as the Tate Modern and Fondation Cartier as well as by auction houses like Sotheby's. The topic is discussed in art magazines and the cultural pages of leading newspapers and is featured in the syllabuses of art and design schools. As interest soared, the need for information about street art grew. But, until now, there was no insightful view into the thought and work processes of a reticent, heterogeneous scene whose would-be members often don t even identify with the label. Comprised of interviews with 100 key players from around the world, Beyond the Street offers a comprehensive examination of street and urban art. Insiders Patrick Nguyen and Stuart Mackenzie question each of their subjects on every conceivable aspect of the genre from the past to the future, from the artists ideals to their daily lives, from working in complete freedom to working in the art and commercial worlds. The thought-provoking range of answers make the 400-page book an incomparably extensive source of direct, unfiltered information. Beyond the Street features interviews with leading artists such as Shepard Fairey, Swoon, and Os Gemeos. The book also offers the views of representatives of the most important sales outlets for street art including Jeffrey Deitch and Jonathan LeVine Gallery... (Amazon]

Naive : modernism and folklore in contemporary graphic design, edited by Robert Klanten & Hendrik Hellige. 2009
A minimalist design vocabulary is currently being reinvented by a troop of young graphic designers who are rediscovering the stylistic elements reminiscent of classic graphic design such as silkscreen printing, classical typography, hand lettering, woodcutting and folk art and integrating them into their work. Naive documents this extraordinary renaissance of Classic Modernism, from the 1940s to 1960s, in contemporary graphic design. Inspired by 20th Century American legends such as Saul Bass, the undisputed master of film title design and iconic logos as well as modernist graphic artist Charley Harper and textile designer Alexander Girard, these burgeoning designers are creating new and striking imagery using palettes of earthy and pastel shades, reduced strokes, patterns and shapes with a strong folkloristic element. Naive illustrates this new development in graphic design, assembling a multitude of vivid and inspiring examples ranging from illustrations, poster art, editorials, book covers and record sleeves to stationary and textiles. (Amazon)

Nice to meet you too : visual greetings from business cards to identity packages , edited and produced by viction:workshop ltd. 2010
Meet the front runners in 21st century design in this must have new book appropriately titled Nice to Meet You Too. Artists and studios featured range in their specialist fields from direction and design of moving image projects to product packaging, typography, event promotion, interior design, fashion, music photography, illustration, graphics, film, exhibitions and interior and product design. (Amazon)

August 2010

New Art Books:

Alice Neel : painted truths, Jeremy Lewison and others. 2010
Widely regarded as one of the most important American painters of the 20th century, Alice Neel is internationally recognized for her contributions to Abstract Expressionism, especially her perceptive portraiture. Neel (1900-1984) was a portrait painter at a time when this was traditionally the role of a male artist. After ascending to prominence in the 1960s as the feminist movement gained momentum, she has remained an iconic figure in the history of American painting. A self-proclaimed "collector of souls", Neel often painted friends and family, as well as the celebrated artists and writers of her day, such as Andy Warhol, Frank O'Hara, and Meyer Shapiro, delving into personalities and idiosyncrasies with a rare frankness. Alice Neel: Painted Truths brings together paintings that demonstrate Neel's range and ability, along with insightful commentary from four leading art historians. Although the book focuses on her portraits, it also covers the artist's early social realist paintings and cityscapes, tracing the evolution of Neel's style and examining themes that she revisited throughout her career. (Amazon)

Barbara Kruger, by Alexander Alberro and others ; introduction by Hal Foster ; with additional essays by Barbara Kruger. 2010
Bluntly ambiguous and confrontational, Kruger's unmistakable work evokes an urgent desire to examine and get real about the complexity of human experience in the face of reductive politics and consumer culture. She is best known for images that play with the visual language of advertising: Signature red or white banners of text stamped on black-and-white photographs blast viewers with statements like "Your body is a battleground" (over the face of a woman) or "I shop therefore I am" (in a red square held like a credit card in a large hand). These and many other equally provoking works--including her early explorations pairing photographs and text, humorous sculptures, and full-room installations--make up the first comprehensive retrospective of Kruger's work, which opened last October in Los Angeles's Museum of Contemporary Art and will travel to the Whitney in New York later this summer. This book beautifully presents her work and frames a friendly investigation of its meanings and power in a group of essays that home in on the unsettling jolt her work delivers. It is an excellent and affordable overview of the work of an important contemporary artist. Highly recommended for all libraries. -Rebecca Miller, "Library Journal" (Amazon)

Chris Ofili, 2009
Chris Ofili's intricately constructed works, combining beadlike dots of paint, collaged images from popular media, and elephant dung, create a unique iconography that marries African artistic and ritual practices with Western art historical traditions and contemporary hip-hop culture. This beautifully designed book, made in close collaboration with the artist, is the first to examine Ofili's artistic development and surveys his work in watercolor, graphite drawing, and sculpture. Literary and historical parallels from a formidable list of contributors explore the ways through which the artist has grasped his times with a palpable sense of history. (Amazon)

See also: Chris Ofili. Tate. 2010
Published on the occasion of the exhibition held at Tate Britain, London, 27 Jan.-16 May 2010.

Edward Hopper, edited by Carter E. Foster. 2009
An extensive study on Hopper, which accompanies a major travelling exhibition and illuminates the life and work of one of America's most celebrated artists. Illustrated with over 150 oils, watercolors, etchings and drawings with comments on their formal and technical characteristics, this exhibition's catalog offers an updated critical interpretation of Edward Hopper's work and an alternative view to the extensive literature that already exists on this artist. Among the artworks included are Cape Cod Sunset, Second Story Sunlight, and some interesting self-portraits from the Whitney Museum of American Art; the famous Morning Sun from the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, and a number of lesser-known watercolors and oils from Hopper's journeys to Paris. Also included are essays by several noted scholars, and an extensive chronology and bibliography. Perfect for casual perusing or serious study, this lavish exploration of Edward Hopper's work is certain to find a wide audience. (Amazon)

Gabriel Orozco, Ann Temkin ; with essays by Ann Temkin and others. 2009
Gabriel Orozco emerged at the beginning of the 1990s as one of the most intriguing and original artists of his generation, one of the last to come of age during the twentieth century. His work is unique in its formal power and intellectual rigor, resisting confinement to one medium and roaming freely and fluently among drawing, photography, sculpture, installation and painting. Orozco deliberately blurs the boundary between the art object and the everyday environment, situating his work in a place that merges art and reality, whether through exquisite drawings made on airplane boarding passes or sculptures composed of recovered trash. This publication examines two decades of the artist's production year by year, from 1989 through 2009. Each section is richly illustrated and includes a short text, based on interviews with the artist, that combines biographical information with a brief and focused discussion of selected works. Critical essays by Ann Temkin, Benjamin H.D. Buchloh and Briony Fer supplement these foundational and chronological explorations, providing new insights and strategies for grounding Orozco's work in the larger landscape of contemporary art production. (Amazon)

Heat waves in a swamp : the paintings of Charles Burchfield, curated by Robert Gober ; edited by Cynthia Burlingham, Robert Gober ; with contributions by Dave Hickey, Tullis Johnson, Nancy Weekly. 2009
Offering a comprehensive overview of Charles Burchfield's work, this book presents the artist s expressive watercolors and provides a definitive account of his life and career. Working almost exclusively in watercolour, Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) focused on his immediate surroundings-his garden, the views from his windows, snow turning to slush, sudden atmospheric changes, or the forest at dusk. He often imbued these subjects with highly expressionistic light, creating at times a clear-eyed description of the world and at other times, a unique mystical and visionary experience of nature. The book includes drawings from his 1917 sketchbook, Conventions for Abstract Thoughts ; watercolors from 1916-18 that were the focus of the first one-person exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1930; camouflage designs from his tour in the army and wallpaper designs from the 1920s; watercolors from the 1940s showing the artist's unique technique of expanding and reworking earlier works by pasting large strips of paper around them to dramatically increase their size; and finally Burchfield's large, transcendental watercolours from the 1950s and 1960s. (Amazon)

Technical drawing for fashion, Basia Szkutnicka
Technical drawings, or flats, are essential for anyone working in the fashion industry. Used to convey design ideas and garment details to pattern cutters and machinists, it is essential that they are drawn accurately to avoid misunderstanding and costly mistakes in sampling and production. Technical Drawing for Fashion explains how to create a technical fashion drawing using a simple and straightforward step-by-step method accompanied by some time-saving tips. [Amazon]

Perfect paper , Adeline Loh.
In the hands of today's most progressive artists, paper has undergone a renaissance. Embodying the intimacy of the handmade aesthetic and the bold, self-renewing spirit of modernity, Perfect paper is an idea book that takes paper as its muse.(Amazon)

Chinese illustration now, edited by Ciliang Cheng. 2009
When old traditions meet modern fashion, it is often likely that something new will emerge. Thus, it is not surprising that an intense sensory and visual impact is created when 5,000 years of Chinese culture and history meets popular contemporary art. This can be seen from the works of new prominent illustrators in China, who stand out from other international illustrators because of their unique style. (Global Books in Print)

Papercraft: design and art with paper, edited by Robert Klanten. 2009
Papercraft is an extensive survey on the insatiable trend of innovative art and design work crafted from paper. It explores the astounding possibilities of paper and gathers the most extraordinary creations from small objects and figures to large-scale art installations and urban interventions as well as three-dimensional graphic sculptures from a vast spectrum of artistic disciplines ranging from character design, urban art, fine art, graphic design, illustration, fashion, animation and film. (Amazon)

Urban interventions, edited by Robert Klanten. 2010
Evolving from graffiti and street art, urban interventions are the next generation of artwork to hit public space. Using any and all of the components that make up urban and rural landscapes, these mostly spatial interventions bring art to the masses. They turn the street into a studio, laboratory, club, and gallery. (Amazon)

British Design 2010, 2009
British design 2010 is the fourth edition in a series on British design. The book is divided into five sections: graphic design and branding; packaging design; new media; interior, retail, and event design; and product design. (Amazon)