Art & Art Instruction

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China's Hidden Century: 1796-1912 - Hardcover

$81.00

by Jessica Harrison-Hall (Editor), Julia Lovell (Editor)Cultural creativity in China between 1796 and 1912 demonstrated extraordinary resilience in a time of warfare, land shortages, famine, and uprisings. Innovation can be seen in material culture (including print, painting, calligraphy, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, lacquer, arms and armor, and photography) during a century in which China's art, literature, crafts, and technology faced unprecedented exposure to global influences.Until recent...

$167.40

by Janet Catherine Berlo (Author), Ruth B. Phillips (Author)This lively introductory survey of indigenous North American arts from ancient times to the present explores both the shared themes and imagery found across the continent and the distinctive traditions of each region. Focusing on the richness of artwork created in the US and Canada, Native North American Art, Second Edition, discusses 3,000 years of architecture, wood and rock carvings, basketry, dance masks, clothing and more. The e...

The Infamy That Is War - 1914-19: World War I and Its Enduring Legacy - Paperback

$34.54

by Anthony Jones (Author)The Franco-German War of 1870-71 had far-reaching consequences. It established both the German Empire and the French Third Republic and set in train the alliances that had formed when Germany first declared war on Russia in August 1914.The monarchies of all four of the great powers, Britain, Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany, were either unprepared for leadership, too old or irrational and easily manipulated by a small coterie of military advisers. All failed to pro...

The Critique Handbook: The Art Student's Sourcebook and Survival Guide - Paperback

$143.98

by Kendall Buster (Author), Paula Crawford (Author)This unique textbook is an invaluable tool for students in any art course requiring critiques. The Critique Handbook is an excellent resource both for beginners and more experienced students. This text was written to address an existing gap in text offerings for art students. Although the critique is central to all art programs, there have been no textbooks or comprehensive guides to help students navigate the critique process. The Critique ...

The Mongols: A Very Short Introduction - Paperback

$14.02

by Morris Rossabi (Author)In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Mongols carved out the largest land-based empire in world history, stretching from Korea to Russia in the north and from China to Syria in the south, and unleashing an unprecedented level of violence. But as Morris Rossabi reveals in this Very Short Introduction, within two generations of their bloody conquests, the Mongols evolved from conquerors and predators to wise rulers who devised policies to foster the economies...

A Short Guide to Writing about Art - Paperback

$167.98

by Sylvan Barnet (Author)The best-selling guide to writing about art Sylvan Barnet's A Short Guide to Writing About Art guides students through every aspect of writing about art. Students are shown how to analyze pictures (drawings, paintings, photographs), sculptures and architecture, and are prepared with the tools they need to present their ideas through effective writing. Coverage of essential writing assignments includes formal analysis, comparison, research paper, review of an exhibitio...

The Forbidden Image: An Intellectual History of Iconoclasm - Paperback

$83.79

by Alain Besançon (Author) Philosophers and theologians have long engaged in intense debate and introspection over the representation of the deity, its possibilities and its proscriptions. The Forbidden Image traces the dual strains of "iconophilia" and iconoclasm, the privileging and prohibition of religious images, over a span of two and a half millennia in the West. Alain Besançon's work begins with a comprehensive examination of the status of the image in Greek, Judaic, Islamic, and Chri...

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The Book of Barely Imagined Beings: A 21st Century Bestiary - Paperback

$23.00

by Caspar Henderson (Author)From medieval bestiaries to Borges's Book of Imaginary Beings, we've long been enchanted by extraordinary animals, be they terrifying three-headed dogs or asps impervious to a snake charmer's song. But bestiaries are more than just zany zoology--they are artful attempts to convey broader beliefs about human beings and the natural order. Today, we no longer fear sea monsters or banshees. But from the infamous honey badger to the giant squid, animals continue to capt...

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$49.00

by Hilma Af Klint (Author), Christine Burgin (Editor), Iris Müller-Westermann (Introduction by)At the turn of the twentieth century, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) created a body of work that left visible reality behind, exploring the radical possibilities of abstraction years before Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, or Piet Mondrian. Many consider her the first trained artist to create abstract paintings. With Hilma af Klint: Notes and Methods, we get to experience the arc of af...

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Pavement Chalk Artist: The Three-Dimensional Drawings of Julian Beever - Paperback

$19.95

by Julian Beever (Author) Fascinating pavement chalk art by a master of the craft, now with new art. Beever's mastery and unbridled humor are on full display in these dazzling drawings, each accompanied by a description that details artistic techniques, discusses challenges the artist faced, and offers an inside look into his process. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review, on the previous edition) The pavement chalk artist is a master of art, perspective, creativity and performance. Julian B...

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5-Minute Watercolor: Super-Quick Techniques for Amazing Watercolor Painting - Paperback

$19.95

by Samantha Nielsen (Author) A comprehensive guide to quick sketching in watercolor and a new addition to a successful series. Praise for 5-Minute Sketching -- Architecture The techniques and supplies chapters highlight ways to work minimally and shave time from the process, which can be especially helpful when drawing outdoors. Either on its own or as a companion to its series mate, this guide will be a boon to readers who want to engage creatively with their urban environments. --Library ...

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$64.71

by Tim Palmer (Author)Gaspar Noé's Irreversible is uncompromising and visceral, an essential piece of modern cinema. Punctuated by dazzling avant-garde techniques, the film depicts, in reverse-chronological order, a woman's rape and her boyfriend and friend's subsequent hunt for vengeance through the underworld of Paris. Confrontational yet influential, Irreversible has polarized audiences since its release in 2002, making it until now almost impossible to study dispassionately. This first bo...

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Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists - Paperback

$21.00

by Anthony M. Amore (Author), Tom Mashberg (Author)Anthony M. Amore and Tom Mashberg's Stealing Rembrandts is a spellbinding journey into the high-stakes world of art theft Today, art theft is one of the most profitable criminal enterprises in the world, exceeding $6 billion in losses to galleries and art collectors annually. And the masterpieces of Rembrandt van Rijn are some of the most frequently targeted. In Stealing Rembrandts, art security expert Anthony M. Amore and award-winning inve...

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Light Revealed: Scratchboard Engravings by Scott McKowen - Hardcover

$49.95

by Scott McKowen (Illustrator), Peter Hinton (Introduction by) 285 glorious illustrations celebrate the scratchboard art of Scott McKowen. "McKowen is a scratchboard master, creating theater posters and book covers of fantastic clarity, shrewd wit and subtle mystery. McKowen's mastery of line and texture, gift for arresting juxtapositions and perspectives, and fluency in drawing the human figure make for complex and breathtaking images that are at once old-fashioned and cutting edge." --Book...

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The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art - Paperback

$20.00

by Don Thompson (Author)Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock's drip painting No. 5, 1948 sell for $140 million? Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a Freakonomics approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights rea...

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The Use and Abuse of Cinema: German Legacies from the Weimar Era to the Present - Paperback

$66.60

by Eric Rentschler (Author)Eric Rentschler's new book, The Use and Abuse of Cinema, takes readers on a series of enthralling excursions through the fraught history of German cinema, from the Weimar and Nazi eras to the postwar and postwall epochs and into the new millennium. These journeys afford rich panoramas and nuanced close-ups from a nation's production of fantasies and spectacles, traversing the different ways in which the film medium has figured in Germany, both as a site of creative ...

Under Suspicion: A Phenomenology of Media - Hardcover

$135.00

by Boris Groys (Author), Carsten Strathausen (Translator)The public generally regards the media with suspicion and distrust. Therefore, the media's primary concern is to regain that trust through the production of sincerity. Advancing the field of media studies in a truly innovative way, Boris Groys focuses on the media's affect of sincerity and its manufacture of trust to appease skeptics. Groys identifies forms of media sincerity and its effect on politics, culture, society, and conceptions...

American Culture Between the Wars: Revisionary Modernism and Postmodern Critique - Paperback

$68.40

by Walter Kalaidjian (Author)This study examines the feminist, African-American and populist avant-garde that flourished in the era of American modernism. Number of Pages: 316 Dimensions: 0.84 x 9 x 5.89 IN Publication Date: January 27, 1994

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The Field of Cultural Production - Paperback

$28.95

by Pierre Bourdieu (Author), Randal Johnson (Editor)During the last two decades, sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has become a dominant force in cultural activity ranging from taste in music and art to choices in food and lifestyles. The Field of Cultural Production brings together Bourdieu's major essays on art and literature and provides the first introduction to Bourdieu's writings and theory of a cultural field that situates artistic works within the social conditions of their production, circ...

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A Century of Arts and Letters: The History of the National Institute of Arts & Letters and the American Academy of Arts & Letters as Told, Decade by - Hardcover

$99.00

by John Updike (Editor)Although the American Academy of Arts and Letters is best known for the awards and prizes it grants artists, writers, and musicians, the organization itself remains as little-understood as its awards are acclaimed. John Updike has brought together eleven current members-including Cynthia Ozick, Norman Mailer, and Louis Auchincloss--to raid the Academy's archives. With each writer taking on a decade of the Academy's history, they have created an eye-opening documentary o...

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Refiguring the Spiritual: Beuys, Barney, Turrell, Goldsworthy - Hardcover

$68.40

by Mark C. Taylor (Author)Mark C. Taylor provocatively claims that contemporary art has lost its way. With the art market now mirroring the art of finance, many artists create works solely for the purpose of luring investors and inspiring trade among hedge funds and private equity firms. When art is commodified, corporatized, and financialized, it loses its critical edge and is transformed into a financial instrument calculated to maximize profitable returns. Joseph Beuys, Matthew Barney, Jam...

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Different Views in Hudson River School Painting - Paperback

$34.95

by Judith Hansen O'Toole (Author)Hudson River School artists shared an awe of the magnificence of nature as well as a belief that the untamed American scenery reflected the national character. In this new work, color reproductions of more than 115 paintings capture the beauty and illuminate the aesthetic and philosophical principles of the Hudson River School painters. The pieces included in this volume reflect a period (1825-1875) when American landscape painting was most thoroughly explored...

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Recovering Place: Reflections on Stone Hill - Paperback

$46.80

by Mark C. Taylor (Author)Mark C. Taylor recounts a poignant love affair not with a person but with a place that, paradoxically, cannot be easily localized. For many years, Taylor has lived in the Berkshire Mountains, where he writes and creates land art and sculpture. In a world of mobile screens and virtual realities, where speed is the measure of success and place is disappearing, his work slows down thought and brings life back to earth to give readers time to ponder the importance of pla...

After the Silents: Hollywood Film Music in the Early Sound Era, 1926-1934 - Paperback

$61.20

by Michael Slowik (Author)Many believe Max Steiner's score for King Kong (1933) was the first important attempt at integrating background music into sound film, but a closer look at the industry's early sound era (1926-1934) reveals a more extended and fascinating story. Viewing more than two hundred films from the period, Michael Slowik launches the first comprehensive study of a long-neglected phase in Hollywood's initial development, recasting the history of film sound and its relationship...

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Indie 2.0: Change and Continuity in Contemporary American Indie Film - Paperback

$57.60

by Geoff King (Author)Following the American indie cinema boom of the 1990s and the creation of "specialty" divisions by several Hollywood studios, many predicted an end to both the indie sector's viability and the making of films with ambitions beyond the commercial mainstream. Yet, as Geoff King demonstrates, plenty of distinct indie productions continue to thrive, even in the face of difficult economic circumstances. Recasting the term "indie" to denote a particular form of independent fea...

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$34.95

by Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere (Translator), Nobuo Tsuji (Author)History of Art in Japan is a fully illustrated overview of Japanese art, written by one of Japan's most distinguished art historians. This masterful account of the country's exceptional cultural heritage sheds light on how Japan has nurtured distinctive aesthetics, prominent artists, and movements that have achieved global influence and popularity. A leading authority on Japanese art history, Tsuji Nobuo discusses works ranging ...

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The Flower Fairies Coloring Book - Paperback

$14.99

by Cicely Mary Barker (Author)Return to the magical world of the Flower Fairies and discover fairies in a completely new way This beautifully illustrated coloring book features the magical world of the Flower Fairies. With stunning pages to color from Cicely Mary Barker, this enchanting coloring book is the perfect gift for any Flower Fairies fan.Author BiographyCicely Mary Barker was born in Croydon, South London, in 1895 and died in 1973. She found international acclaim as an artist with h...

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$56.99

by Martin Gayford (Author)A new biography of Michelangelo by Martin Gayford, the acclaimed author of Constable in Love and The Yellow House.There was an epic sweep to Michelangelo's life. At 31 he was considered the finest artist in Italy, perhaps the world; long before he died at almost 90 he was widely believed to be the greatest sculptor or painter who had ever lived (and, by his enemies, to be an arrogant, uncouth, swindling miser). For decade after decade, he worked near the dynamic cent...

The Beauty of Everyday Things - Paperback

$17.00

by Soetsu Yanagi (Author)The Japanese philosopher and aesthete's definitive, hugely influential exposition of his philosophy of folkcrafts, setting out the hallmarks of Japanese design as we know it today: anonymity, quality, simplicity and honesty--and, of course, wabi-sabi, the beauty of imperfection A Penguin Classic Our lives are filled with objects. Everyday things used in everyday settings, they are our constant companions. As such, writes Soetsu Yanagi, they should be made with care an...

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Art and Devotion at a Buddhist Temple in the Indian Himalaya - Hardcover

$70.20

by Melissa R. Kerin (Author)Sixteenth-century wall paintings in a Buddhist temple in the Tibetan cultural zone of northwest India are the focus of this innovative and richly illustrated study. Initially shaped by one set of religious beliefs, the paintings have since been reinterpreted and retraced by a later Buddhist community, subsumed within its religious framework and communal memory. Melissa Kerin traces the devotional, political, and artistic histories that have influenced the paintings...

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The Year's Work at the Zombie Research Center - Paperback

$15.00

by Edward P. Dallis-Comentale (Editor), Aaron Jaffe (Editor), Stephen Watt (Contribution by)They have stalked the horizons of our culture, wreaked havoc on moribund concepts of dead and not dead, threatened our sense of identity, and endangered our personal safety. Now zombies have emerged from the lurking shadows of society's fringes to wander the sacred halls of the academy, feasting on tender minds and hurling rot across our intellectual landscape. It is time to unite in common cause, to s...

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Color and Form: The Geometric Sculptures of Morton C. Bradley, Jr. - Hardcover

$30.00

by Lynn Gamwell (Author)The colorful geometric sculptures of Morton C. Bradley, Jr. (1912-2004), designed to be suspended from the ceiling, seem to float in the air like models of unknown, beautiful stars. As each sculpture slowly revolves, its intricate structure is transformed by a progression of colors that illuminate new aspects of its character. Bradley's creations embody the mathematical structure of nature and the beauty of pure mathematics. In this lavishly illustrated first publicati...