Showing titles in History & Criticism

Brought to you by Penguin. A GUARDIAN 'BOOKS OF 2021' PICK So often deployed as a jingoistic, even menacing rallying cry, or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation, the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels. Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is...

The perception of the muse is that of a passive, powerless model, at the mercy of an influential and older artist. But is this trope a romanticised myth? Far from posing silently, muses have brought emotional support, intellectual energy, career-changing creativity and practical help to artists. Muse tells the true stories of the incredible muses who have inspired art history's masterpieces. From Leonardo da Vinci's studio to the covers of Vogue, Ruth Millington uncovers the remarkable role of muses in some of art history's most well-known and significant works.

Art history encompasses the study of the history and development of painting, sculpture, and the other visual arts. In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Dana Arnold presents an introduction to the issues, debates, and artifacts that make up art history. Beginning with a consideration of what art history is, she explains what makes the subject distinctive from other fields of study and also explores the emergence of social histories of art (such as feminist art history and queer art history). 

In this revolutionary book, Joan Breton Connelly challenges our most basic assumptions about the Parthenon and the ancient Athenians. Beginning with the natural environment and its rich mythic associations, she re-creates the development of the Acropolis - the Sacred Rock at the heart of the city-state - from its prehistoric origins to its Periklean glory days as a constellation of temples among which the Parthenon stood supreme.

Historically, major women artists have been excluded from the mainstream art canon. Aligned with the resurgence of feminism in pop culture, Broad Strokes offers an entertaining corrective to that omission. Art historian Bridget Quinn delves into the lives and careers of 15 brilliant female artists in this smart, feisty, educational, and enjoyable book.

When he retired as the chief security officer of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, John Barelli had spent the better part of 40 years responsible not only for one of the richest treasure troves on the planet, but the museum's staff, the millions of visitors, as well as American presidents, royalty, and heads of state from around the world. For the first time, John Barelli shares his experiences of the crimes that occurred on his watch, the investigations that captured thieves and recovered artwork....

Virtually everyone would agree that Leonardo da Vinci was the most important artist of the High Renaissance. It was Leonardo who singlehandedly created the defining features of Western art: a realism based on subtle shading; depth using atmospheric effects; and dramatic contrasts between light and dark.

With outrageous anecdotes about everyone from Leonardo Da Vinci to Caravaggio to Edward Hopper, Secret Lives of Great Artists recounts the seamy, steamy, and gritty history behind the great masters of international art. You'll learn that Michelangelo's body odor was so bad, his assistants couldn't stand working for him; that Vincent van Gogh sometimes ate paint directly from the tube; and Georgia O'Keeffe loved to paint in the nude. This is one art history lesson you'll never forget!

A National Book Critics Circle finalist One of Vogue's Best Books of the Year A dazzling biography of one of the twentieth century's most respected painters, Helen Frankenthaler, as she came of age as an artist in postwar New York “The magic of Alexander Nemerov's portrait of Helen...

Brought to you by Penguin. Artists have learnt to pay attention. The rest of us spend most of our time on auto-pilot, rushing from place to place, our overfamiliarity blinding us to the marvellous, life-affirming phenomena of our world. But that doesn't have to be the case. In his typical...

The meteoric rise of the largest unregulated financial market in the world -- for contemporary art -- is driven by a few passionate, guileful, and very hard-nosed dealers. They can make and break careers and fortunes “Shnayerson tackles his subject with gusto, parading a cast of colorful...

Der Essay analysiert Goethes gleichnamigen Roman aus philosophischer und ästhetischer Perspektive – ein Werk, das sowohl das Verhältnis von Naturgesetzen als auch das der Menschen zueinander auf eine neue Ebene hebt. Benjamin legt die verborgenen Spannungen in Goethes Werk offen: zwischen Gefühl und Gesetz, Liebe und Ordnung, Natur und Moral. Seine Interpretation gilt bis heute als bahnbrechender Beitrag zur literaturwissenschaftlichen Moderne und als früher Beleg seines kritischen Denkens.

'A rare and wonderful book... I could not be more enthusiastic.' Simon Winchester 'A treasure trove of human history and obsession...the breadth of research and insight is dazzling.' Glasgow Herald 'A highly companionable guide, adventurous and romantic' Independent on Sunday On a journey that...

A beekeeper herself, she gives insight into the activity in the hive and describes the bees' natural order and habits. She explores the myths of the past and how and when they were replaced by fact. For example, the heated discussions that broke out in the 18th century when it was discovered that the hive was ruled by a queen, not a king as had been the belief since Aristotle. 

Straightened. Stigmatised. 'Tamed'. Celebrated. Erased. Managed. Appropriated. Forever misunderstood. Black hair is never 'just hair'. This book is about why black hair matters and how it can be viewed as a blueprint for decolonisation. Emma Dabiri takes us from pre-colonial Africa, through the...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Feel Free by Zadie Smith, read by Nikki Amuka-Bird. From the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Changing My Mind and Swing Time - discover a second unmissable collection of essays from Zadie Smith 'Generous, courageous, and...

In Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik – Versuch einer Selbstkritik und philosophisches Weltbild verbindet Friedrich Nietzsche seine philosophischen Überlegungen mit der Kunsttheorie und der griechischen Tragödie. Er entwickelt die berühmten Konzepte des Apollinischen und Dionysischen als grundlegende Prinzipien der Kunst und Kultur. In seinem später verfassten „Versuch einer Selbstkritik" reflektiert Nietzsche seine frühen Gedanken kritisch und zeigt die Entwicklung seines Denkens.

Poor Artists follows aspiring artist Quest Talukdar as she embarks on a surreal journey into the creative industry, where she must decide whether she cares more about success or staying true to herself. Featuring dialogue from anonymous interviews with real people who have all had to ask themselves the same question – including a Turner Prize winner or two, a recluse, a Venice Biennale fraudster, a communist messiah, a ghost, and a literal knight – The White Pube tell the story of art like never before.

Em um momento no qual conceitos como “Colonialidade”, “Descolonialidade”, “Decoloniedade” e “Contracolonialidade” estão na ordem do dia, Olivier Marboeuf, em Fugas Decoloniais, foge de explicações estereotipadas e lugares-comuns acadêmicos. Com uma análise arguta e inteligente, pautada em sólidas referências, o autor apresenta, através de “lições” e “conversas”, como as estratégias da cultura e da economia neoliberal se esforçam por manter as estruturas das esferas coloniais.

Brought to you by Puffin. A beautiful journey through the untold stories of art, adapted from the global sensation The Story of Art Without Men, by expert art historian and bestselling author Katy Hessel. Step into the incredible lives of the women artists who have gone uncelebrated for too long...