History

As world powers realign their cultural, economic and political outlooks, there is no better time to consider how Afro-Eurasia's complex network of ancient trade routes - which spanned the vastness of the steppe, vertiginous mountain ranges, fertile river...

'Inspired, innovative, remarkable' Independent 'Spurling has done better than anyone else at uncovering intimate information about Matisse' GuardianThe abridged, one-volume edition of Hilary Spurling's critically acclaimed biography of Henri Matisse, one...

Postmodernism has been a buzzword in contemporary society for the last decade. But how can it be defined? In this Very Short Introduction Christopher Butler challenges and explores the key ideas of postmodernists, and their engagement with theory,...

'Compelling... fascinating' Spectator'Abounding with excellent little stories' Financial TimesThis is the story of one of the most magnificent achievements of the Italian Renaissance, and the architect behind it.Even in an age of soaring skyscrapers and...

Why Your 5 Year Old Could Not Have Done That is Susie Hodge's passionate and persuasive argument against the most common disparaging remark levelled at modern art. In this enjoyable and thought-provoking book, she examines 100 works of modern art that...

Rozsika Parker's re-evaluation of the reciprocal relationship between women and embroidery has brought stitchery out from the private world of female domesticity into the fine arts, created a major breakthrough in art history and criticism, and fostered...

An overview of the work of 20th-century graphic design icon Tom Eckersley - packed with hundreds of his instantly recognisable designs. From iconic posters for the Post Office and London Transport to designs for brands such as Guinness, this richly...

Taking a radically new approach to the history of abstract painting, Pepe Karmel applies a scholarly yet fresh vision to reconsider the history of abstraction from a global perspective and to demonstrate that abstraction is embedded in the real world...

With a career spanning seven decades, Catalan-born Joan Miro (1893-1983) was a polymath giant of modern art, producing masterworks across painting, sculpture, art books, tapestry, and ceramics, and embracing ideologies as varied as Fauvism, Surrealism,...

When it was first released in 1962, The Shape of Time presented a radically new approach to the study of art history. Drawing upon new insights in fields such as anthropology and linguistics, George Kubler replaced the notion of style as the basis for...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781590301005Author Robert BeerFormat PaperbackPage Count 288Imprint Shambhala Publications IncPublisher Shambhala Publications IncWeight(grams)...

An exploration of echoes and resonances across two millennia of visual culture, celebrating ten years of The Public Domain Review. Gathering a remarkable collection of over 500 public domain images, Affinities is a carefully curated visual journey...

A comprehensive reference book on the life and works of Edgar Degas, acknowledged as one of the greatest masters of all time. It offers a fascinating account of the artist's life, education, artistic influences and legacy, set in context of the turbulent...

In a Reformation kingdom ill-used to queens, Elizabeth I needed a very particular image to hold her divided country together. The 'Cult of Gloriana' would elevate the queen to the status of a virgin goddess, aided by authors, musicians, and artists such...

No period has been more discussed, dissected and argued over than the Renaissance, and every age has reconstructed it in its own image. Today's emphasis is on its complexity - the way ideas, politics, religion, society, art and science depended upon and...

'The kind of history deserving of a cinematic blockbuster' Julia Lovell, Literary Review'[A] gripping and meticulously researched account of an epic effort to transport delicate scrolls, paintings and carvings thousands of miles under the threat of...

From the author of the bestselling phenomenon The Hare with Amber EyesAs you may have guessed by now, I am not in your house by accident. I know your street rather well. The Camondos lived just a few doors away from Edmund de Waal's forebears. Like de...

A thrilling journey through 100,000 years of art, from the first artworks ever made to art's central role in culture today "This lively volume is ideal for the precocious high-schooler, the lazy collegian . . . and any adult who wishes for greater...

One of the art world's most recognizable and popular styles, Impressionism is also one of the most complex. In this sumptuous overview Norbert Wolf lends his attention to all aspects of Impressionism: its historical precursors, contemporary rivals,...

Peter Paul Rubens was one of the most productive and exciting painters of his time, noted for his expressive, emotive and sensual paintings which are now instantly recognizable. Indeed, his voluptuous female figures have given rise to the word...

From the bestselling author of SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, the fascinating story of how images of Roman autocrats have influenced art, culture, and the representation of power for more than 2,000 yearsWhat does the face of power look like? Who gets...

'Heady, lively, engaging...brings Montmartre's heyday back to life' Sunday Times'Brilliant' GuardianThe real revolution in the arts first took place not, as is commonly supposed, in the 1920s to the accompaniment of the Charleston, black jazz and mint...

A beautiful, one-of-a-kind collection of more than 150 of Van Gogh's letters, paired with more than 250 works of art.Vincent Van Gogh wrote hundreds of letters to his brother Theo, as well as to family members and fellow artists including Paul Gauguin...

'A joy to read.' Sunday Times'Outstanding.' Daily Telegraph'Excellent.' The Spectator'Superb.' Literary Review'Scintillating . . . A gripping, mysterious love story which also sheds light on British culture between the wars.' Financial TimesIn 1922,...

The Three Philosophers by Giorgione (Italian, 1477 1510) in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and St. Francis in the Desert by Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1424/35 1516) in The Frick Collection, New York, are two of the most celebrated paintings of the...

HIGHLT COMMENDED for THE WEEK JUNIOR BOOK AWARDS 2023: CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR - STEM JOINT SILVER WINNER in the JUNIOR DESIGN AWARD 2023: BEST DESIGNED/ILLUSTRATED BOOK FOR CHILDREN A one-of-a-kind project book that turns into 30 incredible...

A spellbinding portrait of the Hampstead Modernists, threading together the lives, loves, rivalries and ambitions of a group of artists at the heart of an international avant-garde. Hampstead in the 1930s. In this peaceful, verdant London suburb,...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781940625263Author Miklos SzentkuthyFormat PaperbackPage Count 350Imprint Contra Mundum PressPublisher Contra Mundum PressWeight(grams) 381gDimensions(mm)...

This first-person account of a legendary necropolis will delight Francophiles, tourists and armchair travelers, while enriching the experience of taphophiles (cemetery lovers) and aficionados of art and architecture, mystery and romance. Carolyn...

In the 21st century photography has come of age as a contemporary art form. Almost two centuries after photographic technology was first invented, the art world has fully embraced it as a legitimate medium, equal in status to painting and sculpture. This...

The autobiography of an American icon'I never think that people die. They just go to department stores'Andy Warhol - American painter, filmmaker, publisher, actor and major figure in the Pop Art movement - was in many ways a reluctant celebrity. Here, in...

Its dry climate means that Egypt boasts an exceptionally rich heritage of preserved ancient textiles. Since 1996, the international research group Textiles from the Nile Valley has been studying these Roman, Byzantine and early-Islamic textile artefacts,...

Griselda Pollock provides concrete historical analyses of key moments in the formation of modern culture to reveal the sexual politics at the heart of modernist art. Crucially, she not only explores a feminist re-reading of the works of canonical male...

In recent years Eric Ravilious has become recognized as one of the most important British artists of the 20th century, whose watercolours and wood engravings capture an essential sense of place and the spirit of mid-century England. What is less...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781739645717Author Jonathan BergFormat HardbackPage Count 180Imprint Birmingham Picture LibraryPublisher Birmingham Picture LibraryWeight(grams) 1000g

Mark Rothko's iconic paintings are some of the most profound works of twentieth-century Abstract Expressionism. This collection presents fifty large-scale artworks from the American master's color field period (1949-1970) alongside essays by Rothko's...

A Study of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia UniversityKingdom of Beauty shows that the discovery of mingei (folk art) by Japanese intellectuals in the 1920s and 1930s was central to the complex process by which Japan became both a modern...

Tracing the final 30 years of Michelangelo's career, this book examines how the great master used art and faith to explore the common human experience of ageing in a rapidly changing world. 'This fascinating and beautifully illustrated catalogue...

From an obscure, misty archipelago on the fringes of the Roman world to history's largest empire and originator of the world's mongrel, magpie language - this is Britain's past. But, today, Britain is experiencing an acute trauma of identity, pulled...

The first edition of Sound Art Revisited (published as Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories) served as a groundbreaking work toward defining this emerging field, and this fully updated volume significantly expands the story to include current...