Jewels in the Louvre

$15.00 AUD

Category: Art

Taschen Romanesque by Norbert Wolf

$15.00 AUD

Category: Art | Series: Taschen Basic Genre Series

Reaching its peak in the 11th and 12th centuries, the Romanesque movement was marked by a peculiar, vivid, and often monumental expressiveness in architecture and fine arts. The main centres were located in Italy, France, the German-language countries, Spain, and England, though the voices of Scandinavi a and Eastern Europe expressed themselves distinctly in the genre, which patterned itself on antique and Byzantine art. Despite untold losses, countless Romanesque masterpieces remain preserved today. Highlights include: Frescoes in Galliano near Cantu, Sant'Angelo in Formis, Saint Chef, Saint-Savin-sur Gartempe, Lambach, S. Pietro al Monte near Civate, S. Clemente in Rome, from S. Maria de Tahull, Berze-la-Ville, Tavant, Panteon de los Reyes in Leon, Castel Appiano, from Sigena; the golden Altar-Piece from Lisbjerg; the Bayeux Tapestry; stained glasses in the Cathedral of Augsburg and Le Mans, mosaics in S. Clemete, Rome, and in S. Marco, Venice; coloured panels und crosses from La Seo de Urgel, Sarzana and the panted ceiling in St. Michael, Hildesheim; sculptures in Souillac, Autun, Santiago de Compostela; and examples of metalwork, of manuscripts and enamels. Each book in TASCHEN's "Basic Genre" series features: a detailed introduction with approximately 35 photographs, plus a timeline of the most important events (political, cultural, scientific, etc.) that took place during the time period, and a selection of the most important works of the epoch; each is presented on a 2-page spread with a full-page image and, on the facing page, a description/interpretation of the work and brief biography of the artist as well as additional information such as a reference work, portrait of the artist, and/or citations. ...Show more

Classic Greek Masterpieces of Sulpture by Photini Zaphiropoulou

$30.00 AUD

Category: Art

Greek sculpture was among the first art to communicate human emotions and to offer a more realistic portrait of the individual. By working in new materials and posing the body naturally, Greek sculptors established the foundation of a whole new art form. Classic Greek Masterpieces of Sculpture features more than 60 of these magnificent and influential works that range in form, historical period and subject. Organised chronologically, these works hail from the collections of top museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Louvre. Alongside dynamic photographs of each sculpture is an essay that describes the work and offers commentary on its significance in Greek art. Thought provoking, realistic and influential, these sculptures altered the way people viewed art. ...Show more

William Morris's Flowers by Rowan Bain; Anon

$29.99 AUD

Category: Art

A passionate advocate of craftsmanship over mass-production, William Morris (1834- 1896) designed a huge variety of objects, but it is his highly original carpet, fabric and wallpaper patterns that have continued to capture the imagination and exert their influence on the decorative arts. Around 600 suc h designs are attributed to Morris, of which the vast majority are based on natural forms, including trees, plants and flowers. This beautifully designed, accessibly priced gift book offers a wealth of designs by Morris in which flowers are the principal motif, bringing together not only completed patterns but also working drawings in pen and watercolour, and examples of his pearwood, floral-pattern printing blocks. It also explores examples of the sources that inspired Morris's flower-based designs: his own gardens at the Red House in Kent, Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire and elsewhere; 16th- and 17th-century herbals; illuminated medieval manuscripts; late medieval and Renaissance tapestries; and a range of decorated objects, particularly from the Islamic world, that Morris studied at the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). Authored by Rowan Bain, curator at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, north London, and lavishly illustrated with almost 100 colour illustrations, this exquisite book will both inform and delight ...Show more

Picasso and the Art of Drawing by Christopher Lloyd

$49.99 AUD

Category: Art

In this generously illustrated and lively book, Christopher Lloyd sets out and interprets the lifelong achievement of Picasso (1881-1973) as a draftsman. Although there have been many publications about his drawings that have tended to focus on particular periods of his career, this stunning volume spec ifically examines how drawing serves as the vital thread connecting all of Picasso's art, just as it also links his private world with his public persona of which he was becoming increasingly aware in his later years. Picasso and the Art of Drawing ultimately showcases how the basis of the titular artist's style as painter, sculptor, printmaker, and designer was manifestly achieved through drawing. ...Show more

Michelangelos David

$30.00 AUD

Category: Art

Houghton Revisited: The Walpole Masterpieces from Catherine the Great's Hermitage by Thierry Morel

$55.00 AUD

Category: Art

In 1779 the family of Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister, sold his remarkable art collection to Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. More than two centuries later, these masterpieces, rarely seen outside Russia since that time, are returning to Houghton Hall, the great house built by Walpole. This handsome book illustrates these superlative works hanging once again in William Kent's magnificent interiors. Thierry Morel uncovers the wonders of Walpole's collection, which includes paintings by Van Dyck, Poussin, Rubens and Rembrandt, and traces its journey to the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, to which most of the works now belong. Other essays explore Walpole's artistic tastes and collecting habits, and his beautiful house, one of the finest Palladian buildings in England. ...Show more

What Great Paintings Say: Faces of Power by A. Taschen; Rainer Hagen; Rose-Marie Hagen

$25.00 AUD

Category: Art

Behind the Mask The intrigue, drama, and covert messages hidden in the faces of powerful men and women Byzantine empresses, French revolutionaries, and Spanish generals: history's most impressive figures stare boldly out of the canvases in this collection of formidable paintings. Each individual represe nted in these images radiates with strength and splendor; be they an aristocratic widow in mourning, a murdered politician, or a jovial group of Ukrainian rebels. Authors Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen tease out the stories and secrets of 13 masterpieces by artists including Goya, Titian, Vel zquez, and Ilya Repin. Regal, holy, and wise, the men and women in these works will inspire you with their conquests and resilience. TASCHEN reproduces these masterworks in stunning quality, working in collaboration with esteemed art collections all over the world, including in Brussels, St. Petersburg, New York, and Naples. Combining astute analysis with magnified painting details, this book is a unique historical investigation in tribute to the movers and shakers of the past. ...Show more

The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug Chronicles: Cloaks and Daggers by Weta

$30.00 AUD

Category: Art

The ultimate insider look at the filmmaking process of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, a continuation of the two of the world s biggest motion-picture franchises, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings, by one of the world s most notable directors, Peter Jackson .Richly illustrated with behind-the-scenes photographs, digital renders, and film stills, this comprehensive book explores the costumes and props, including armour, weapons and jewelry, made for the first two films. Chapters will be broken down by type and character: Dwarves, Wizards, Hobbits, Rivendell Elves, Mirkwood Elves and more.The book will lean heavily on beautiful studio and on-set photography of the finished pieces as well as film stills that provide context. Concept art, detail shots and imagery of materials samples and mock-ups will also be used to weave stories around the finished items. Behind the scenes processes will be showcased with supporting photographs of elements being created.First-hand accounts from the actors, artists, digital effects specialists, and many other crew members describe the process and how the production unfolded, while also sharing insights into the characters. The book will have a bonus feature, unique to this book.Compiled by Weta Workshop designer Daniel Falconer and featuring a wealth of stunning imagery, this book puts the reader face-to-face with all of the creatures and characters that populate the first two films in the Peter Jackson trilogy." ...Show more

Monet: Impression Sunrise by National Gallery of Australia

$49.95 AUD

Category: Art

RODIN AND EROS by BONAFOUX PASCAL

$20.00 AUD

Category: Art

The theme of the erotic is ever present in the work of August Rodin, both in his sculptures and in his many drawings. Throughout his career, he depicted sexual desire in all its facets, in every mood from delicate innocence to frank intensity, bearing witness to an endless fascination with the flesh and a love of the female form. Taking a chronological path through Rodin's career, this is an intimate approach to the many faces of sex and sensuality in his body of work and in the society within which his art was forged, from mythological portrayals of passion to the context of contemporary erotic literature. The topics featured include his relationships with women, his friendships with poets and artists, and the controversy that his sculptures caused in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when French society was marked by a hypocritical disparity between public morals and private desires. In a 1916 interview, Rodin spoke out against his critics: "They protest against the immorality of my work, they criticize me for loving women.... But they are incapable of understanding what I do." This witty and insightful book, packed with beautiful images, will shed new light on this intriguing aspect of the artist's world and his skill at capturing the fleeting nature of pleasure in timeless art. ...Show more

Leonardo Da Vinci - Self Art and Nature by François Quiviger

$39.99 AUD

Category: Art | Series: Renaissance Lives Ser.

This incisive and illuminating biography follows the three themes that shaped the life of Leonardo da Vinci and, through him, forever changed Western art and imagination: nature, art, and self-fashioning. Nature and art helped form Leonardo. He spent his first twelve years in the Tuscan countryside befo re entering the most reputed artistic workshop of Florence. There he blossomed as one of the most promising painters of his time and promptly applied his skills to explore and question the world through science and invention. Leonardo was also self-fashioned: he received only a basic education and grew up around peasants and artisans. But from the 1480s onwards, he transformed himself into a court artist and became a familiar of kings and rulers. Following the chronology of Leonardo's extraordinary life, this book examines Leonardo as artist, courtier, and thinker, and explores how these aspects found expression in his paintings, as well as in his work in sculpture, architecture, theater design, urban planning, engineering, anatomy, geology, and cartography. Fran ois Quiviger concludes with observations on Leonardo's relevance today as a model of the multidisciplinary artist who combines imagination, art, and science--the original, and ultimate, Renaissance Man. ...Show more