Parkstone International

-- Începând cu perioada Renaşterii şi trecând prin baroc şi romantism până la suprarealism şi stilul pop, aceste lucrări canonice ale artei occidentale se întind pe opt secole şi cuprind o gamă vastă de subiecte. Găsim în ele sacrul şi scandalosul, minimalismul şi opulenţa, inovaţia şi convenţionalul. Sunt picturi care au imortalizat spiritul unei epoci sau care anunţau începutul unei epoci noi. O...

-- Johannes Vemeer, a 17th century artist, is recognised primarily for his genre scenes. Through meticulous precision in his paintings and drawings he achieves perfection and maximum impact. -- Vermeer used a camera obscura to bring even more perspective to his art in the most delicate of manners. He revolutionised the way in which we use and make paint and his colour application techniques predat...

-- As international cultural statements without words, symbols of a peoples values devotion, patriotism, power symbols of a civilisation's grandeur, these monuments still fascinate and attract an ever-growing public who is captivated by the createvity and ingenuity of these architects and stonemasons. -- This work, featuring 1000 monuments chosen from around the globe, retraces human history, the...

-- African Art invites you to explore the dynamic origins of the vast artistic expressions arising from the exotic and mystifying African continent. -- Since the discovery of African art at the end of the nineteenth century during the colonial expositions it has been a limitless source of inspiration for artists who, over time, have perpetually recreated these artworks. - Read full article here: h...

-- Art Nouveau gives a name to the decorative and architectural style developed in the 1880s and 1890s in the West. Born in reaction to the Industrial Revolution and to the creative vacuum it left behind, Art Nouveau was at the heart of a “renaissance” in the decorative arts. -- The primary objective of the movement was the creation of a new aesthetic of nature through a return to the study of nat...

-- The climax to the act of love casts an indefinable expression on the face – an expression of urgent intensity. A woman, a man, in that moment experiences an ecstasy that for an instant is visible in the eyes and on the lips. -- A wave of pleasure runs through the body, marking the transition between desire and orgasm. For this fleeting second, when just how violent the senses can be is laid bar...

-- India, with its extensive and colourful history, has produced an artistic tradition in many forms: architecture, painting, sculpture, calligraphy, mosaics, and artisan products all display the country’s cultural, religious and philosophical richness. -- From Hinduism, with its pantheon of imagery of gods, goddesses, animals and many other figures, to Islam, with its astounding architecture and...

-- The art of Siberia is a fascinating subject, and the artifacts discovered in the hidden archives of the Russian Museum of Ethnography in St. Petersburg are nothing less than extraordinary. ✨-- Artwork, day-to-day subjects and photos dating from the turn of the century all represent the testimonies of the Siberian people who refused to yield to the hegemony of a modern world. - Read full articl...

-- The English Gothic style developed somewhat later than in France, but rapidly developed its own architectural and ornamental codes. -- Several photographs of these architectural testimonies allow us to understand the whole originality of Britain during the Gothic era: in Canterbury, Wells, Lincoln, York, and Salisbury. The English Gothic architecture is a poetic one, speaking both to the senses...

-- Raphael (1483-1520), the Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance, was a genius in and ahead of his time. Together with Michelangelo and da Vinci, he formed the classical trinity of this era and elaborated a rich style of harmony and geometry. -- His surroundings and experience gave rise to his propensity to combine the ideals of humanism with those of religion, and firmly establis...

-- Turner’s pictures fascinate us and yet we think of nothing precise, nothing human, only unforgettable colours and phantoms that lay hold on our imaginations. -- Humanity really only inspires him when linked with the idea of death – a strange death, more a lyrical dissolution – like the finale of an opera. - Read full article here: https://bom.so/t0zH2c - Buy this wonderful book here: https://bo...

-- Edvard Munch (1863-1944), a Norwegian painter involved in Expressionism, was so attached to his work that he called his paintings his children, which is rather unsurprising given that they were deeply personal. Indeed, Munch expressed much of his own inner turmoil through his art, particularly in the earlier part of his career. -- He painted not what he saw, but what he felt when he saw it, all...

-- Surikov is one of the great masters of history painting, and he occupies a special place in Russian culture. Like Delacroix, he believed that history was not a pretext for nice painting but an inexorable drama with neither culprits nor innocents but rather people driven by invisible forces. -- He was very knowledgeable about Russian history, and his paintings deal with crucial moments. He sough...

-- Nicolas Poussin (1594 - 1665) was undoubtedly a highly significant master of the historical genre. He shaped its aesthetics which, regrettably, subsequently became regarded as a set of hard-and-fast rules (a trap which the Russian followers of the founder of classicism also fell into). -- We know that Poussin attributed prime significance to the actual choice of matter for depiction, giving pre...

-- When, almost twenty years ago, we founded the World of Art, we had a burning desire to liberate Russian artistic activity from the tutelage of literature, to instil in the society around us a love of the very essence of art, and that was the aim we had when we took the field. -- We considered enemies all those “who fail to respect art as such”, those who either fasten wings to an old nag or har...

-- Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer… the Devil has many names and faces, all of which have always served artists as a source of inspiration. Often commissioned by religious leaders as images of fear or veneration, depending on the society, representations of the underworld served to instruct believers and lead them along the path of righteousness... - Read full article here: https://bom.so/0qoNhG - Buy t...

-- Mexican painting did not come to be internationally recognised until the early 20th century. -- It was the muralist movement, starting in the 1920s and strongly connected to the Mexican Revolution of the previous decade, from which such great artists as José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Diego Rivera emerged. Rarely has art been more political. -- Thus, what Mexican muralists of...

-- Not only was Leonardo da Vinci (1453-1519) an astonishing painter, but also a scientist, anatomist, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, inventor, and more. -- The archetypal Renaissance man is here explored by the engaging prose of Eugène Müntz who narrates how Leonardo da Vinci mastered a diverse range of fields, from painting to engineering, making him one of the most brilliant minds in...

-- Transylvanian mystique and legendary hauntedness surround the most infamous Bram Stoker’s protagonists, forming a legacy that allows the myth to continue into modern times, maintaining a cultish following, yet broadening to a general fascination. -- Dracula became such an obsession as it embodied a taboo subject matter: the desire for blood and sex. - Read full article here: https://bom.so/wfdU...

-- It was in 1946 that the world first came to hear of a coral atoll in the Marshall Islands called Bikini. The following year, French couturier Louis Réard borrowed the name and applied it to a bathing costume for women. -- Breaking from decades of conformity, Réard dared to ‘undress’ women’s bodies in order to better emphasize what remained clothed - albeit in tiny wisps of material. - Read full...

-- Although the techniques of classical ballets were invented by French and Italian masters two hundred years ago, the Russian Ballet refined these techniques, thus enhancing its already superb performances. -- This book uncovers the Great History of Russian Ballet, its art and choreography. - Buy this wonderful book here: https://bom.so/ICjHp7 - Read full article here: https://bom.so/lRe363 -----...

-- This book is not a panegyric of homosexuality. It is a scientific study led by Professor James Smalls who teaches art story . His works examines the process of creation and allows one to comprehend the contribution of homosexuality to the evolution of emotional perception. -- In a time when all barriers have been overcome, this analysis offers a new understanding of our civilisation's masterpie...

-- "All living beings are Buddhas and have wisdom and virtue within them". (Buddha) -- Perfect for all those passionate about Asian art, from neophytes to Buddhists, this fascinating work invites the reader to discover or rediscover Buddha, his history, his codes, but also his innumerable faces through one thousand representations selected from among the most beautiful works held in the world's gr...

-- Spreading from the Arabian Peninsula, the proselyte believers conquered, in a few centuries, a territory spreading from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Multicultural and multi-ethnical, this polymorphic and highly spiritual art, in which all representation of Man and God were prohibited, developed canons and various motives of great decorative value. -- Lively and coloured, Islamic art mirror...

-- After serving for a long time as a backdrop for paintings and as a skill-practicing exercise for artists, nature came to be observed for its own sake and was incorporated into works of art as an illustration of an enlightened and scientific study of the world. -- Through continual change, it has inspired the greatest painters and has allowed some others, like Turner, to transcend the relentless...