Art Books

This important publication re-evaluates  the movement, recognising its complex and fluid reality, and branching  further into multimedia. As such, this book encompasses sculptors such  as David Smith and photographers such as Aaron Siskind as well as some  of the most famous painters of the twentieth century, including Jackson  Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline,  Arshile Gorky and Clyfford Still.

This book was published to coincide with a major exhibition at the National  Maritime Museum, explores and celebrates Turner’s lifelong fascination  with the sea. It also sets his work within the context of marine  painting in the 19th century. Each chapter has an introductory text  followed by discussion of specific paintings. Four of the chapters  conclude with a feature essay on a specific topic.

In a sustained exploration of the possibilities of abstraction, Sean  Scully (b. 1945) has created a rich body of work throughout his 50-year  career. Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas sets his entire output  within a detailed biographical framework, closely examining the  relationship between the artist’s paintings and his lesser-known  drawings, pastels, watercolors, and prints―areas of Scully’s production  that are rarely considered together.

The Illustrated Story of Art is an innovative approach to  understanding the history of art, from cave painting to the modern day,  with pivotal works of art examined in the context of history, culture  and the lives of their creators.   

This invaluable art reference  book reveals the creative impulse behind every major art movement, from  the Renaissance to Surrealism and abstract to pop art, with a visual  timeline to show famous paintings and key events. Turning-point  paintings that triggered movements are identified and explained as well  as the influences behind the famous artworks such as technical advances,  admired techniques of earlier artists, and changes in society. Vivid images of  artistic masterpieces from each style make this  an indispensable work of reference.

 With  blockbuster exhibitions, record-breaking auction prices, and packed  museums, Impressionism remains close contender for the world's favorite  period of painting.  The lives and oeuvres of Impressionist artists: Cezanne, Degas, Gauguin,  Manet, Monet, Renoir, Rousseau, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec, and van Gogh  are each explored in-depth in TASCHEN's Basic Art series. Now, this  volume combines all 10 monographs into one for the price of three.

Aaron Siskind (1903 1991), teacher, journalist and photographer, was an  artist of great originality, unprecedented in American photography. This  has tended to result in his work being misinterpreted, balanced as it  is between the influences of Walker Evans and Moholy Nagy. It ranges  from the early documentary realism of the 1930s to the experimental and  difficult abstract work of the 1950s. In this handsomely illustrated  book, the authors examine the artist's journey from one aesthetic to  another, situating the work of the 1930s in the context of the Great  Depression and the politicised Photo League, through to the 1940s and  Siskind's attraction to vernacular and architectural photography.