Published to accompany the 1994 exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, this book constitutes the most extensive survey of modern illustrated books to be offered in many years. Work by artists from Pierre Bonnard to Barbara Kruger and writers from Guillaume Apollinarie to Susan Sontag. An importnt reference for collectors and connoisseurs. Includes notable works by Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso.
No one can describe a wine like Karen MacNeil. Comprehensive, entertaining, authoritative, and endlessly interesting, The Wine Bible is a lively course from an expert teacher, grounding the reader deeply in the fundamentals—vine-yards and varietals, climate and terroir, the nine attributes of a wine’s greatness—while layering on tips, informative asides, anecdotes, definitions, photographs, maps, labels, and recommended bottles. Discover how to taste with focus and build a wine-tasting memory. The reason behind Champagne’s bubbles. Italy, the place the ancient Greeks called the land of wine. An oak barrel’s effect on flavor. Sherry, the world’s most misunderstood and underappreciated wine. How to match wine with food—and mood. Plus everything else you need to know to buy, store, serve, and enjoy the world’s most captivating beverage.
This book celebrates the most important collection of 17th-century Chinese porcelain in the world, assembled by the distinguished British diplomat Sir Michael Butler. His passion for porcelain is clearly reflected in the over eight hundred pieces he collected and lived with at his home and private museum in Dorset. The pots (as Sir Michael called them), many of extreme rarity or exquisite quality, give testimony to the incredible depth of knowledge he acquired over five decades and his outstanding contribution to research and education in this previously neglected field of study. This lavish and comprehensive collection covers most types of porcelain produced at Jingdezhen, in Jiangxi province, during the 17th century. The variety of the pieces carefully acquired by Sir Michael reflects the great innovative spirit of the highly skilled Jingdezhen potters and painters at a time when they were released from the controls of Imperial patronage, between the end of the reign of the Ming Emperor Wanli in 1620 and the re-establishment of the Imperial kilns by the Qing Emperor Kangxi in 1683. It is a study collection of porcelain unrivalled in its breath and rarity that demonstrates the stylistic and qualitative evolution which occurred in Chinese porcelain production during the 17th century. An introduction written by Katharine Butler tells the fascinating story of the circumstances that encouraged her father to acquire, collect and passionately study Chinese porcelain of the 17th century; how he found rare pieces with dates, interesting inscriptions, seal marksor narrative scenes; and how the collection and his scholarly publications came to be internationally renowned. The core of the book is composed of nine sections presenting the main categories of porcelains in the collection: Late Ming, High Transitional, Shunzhi, Early Kangxi, Mid-Late Kangxi, Monochromes and Famille Verte, as well as disputed pieces. Some of the highlights are the extremely rare High Transitional pieces painted only in overglaze enamels dating to the Chongzhen reign, c.1640-43; the first piece acquired by Sir Michael, a green enamel winepot, dating to the early Kangxi reign, c.1665-70; a group of rare dated Zhonghe Tang pieces painted in underglaze blue and red, and an early Kangxi basin finely painted in underglaze blue and red with a Master of the Rocks landscape, dating to c.1670-75. Leaping the Dragon Gate refers to the symbolic metamorphosis from a humble carp to a mighty dragon - the most powerful of the Four Divine Creatures - that a student would undergo on succeeding in the Jinshi or Imperial civil service examinations. Passing these examinations required years, sometimes decades, of enormous effort to acquire the requisite educational merit and success was very rare. It is a worthy metaphor for Sir Michael's scholarly achievement. This 384-page book with over 600 colour illustrations is a catalogue raisonné of almost his entire 17th century porcelain collection, including many previously unpublished pieces. In the spirit of keeping the family legacy of acquisition and scholarship alive, the authors have included a few important, recently purchased pieces and also have revised and expanded the list of all known dated pieces of 17th Century Chinese porcelain in the world that Sir Michael compiled in his 1992 USA exhibition catalogue.
This book is a monograph of cultural economics of a new concept, artist–enterprises. It explores various dimensions that artists embody, i.e., aesthetic, critical, messianic, and economic ones, and screens the multiple challenges faced by the artist–enterprises in terms of pricing, funding, and networking in the Digital Age. It shows how these artist–enterprises are at the core of the contemporary creative industries. Even when they are on their own, artists have to demonstrate or manage a variety of skills, sign contracts both in the early and later stages of their activities, and also maintain relationships and networks that enable them to attain their artistic and economic goals. They are no longer simply entrepreneurs managing their own skills but are the enterprises themselves. The artist–enterprises thus find themselves at the confluence of two dynamics of production—artistic and economic: artistic because they invent new expressions and meanings; and economic because these expressions must be supported by monetary values on the market. The artistic dynamic is part of a long process of artistic enhancement and only an artist can say whether it has reached the point of presentation or equilibrium. The economic dynamic is dependent on the constant endorsement of artists' works by the market to ensure their survival as artist–enterprises. The tension created by this disparity is further aggravated by another tension: the need to overcome a number of risks so that artist–enterprises can progress. This book will be of special interest to artists, managers, students, professionals, and researchers in the fields of the arts, creativity, economics, and development. The author is Emeritus Professor at the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.
The Russian Constructivist Aleksandr Rodchenko (1891-1936) cannot be categorized by any one of his remarkable activities. His prodigious career in photography, graphic design, industrial design, painting, stage set and theater design, fashion and costume design, and architecture is at last given its full recognition in this splendidly illustrated and exhaustive study of the complete range of his work. Rodchenko's artistic production is considered against the complex background of the political, social, personal, and artistic circumstances of the period, from the beginning of his studies at the Art School of Kazan to his encounter with Mayakovsky and the Futurists, from the famous Moscow Exhibitions where Rodchenko took part in the founding phase of abstract art to the arguments with Kandinksy over cultural supremacy with the Institute of Artistic Culture (INCHUK) and the definitive embracing of Constructivism. Among the book's unusual contributions is the serious consideration given to Rodchenko's architectural projects and its generous treatment of unknown documents - newspaper reports, commentaries, debates, articles, letters - of the time. These give a lively sense of what was actually happening in Moscow art circles during the crucial formative years of the avant-garde movement. The visual material is particularly stunning. Five hundred illustrations, many in full color, are taken from Russian archives or from Rodchenko's private archive now owned by his nephew. The author, Selim Omarovich Khan-Magomedov is a Soviet architectural historian and critic who has achieved an enviable record of championing the rehabilitation of modern Soviet architecture from the 1920s. He almost single-handedly launched the bold campaign in 1962 to revive the historical legacy of Soviet modernism. Magomedov's studies of modern Soviet architecture, institutions, and personalities represent an impressive body of work in the face of formidable odds and official resistance and they are highly regarded in the West.
A reference work on furniture makers active in England between 1660 and 1840. It lists makers in alphabetical order, recording biographical details, commissions, and information about signed or documented pieces, together with full supporting references.
