Искусство

Abstract Action. The splattered oeuvre of a cultural icon

The rebel hero of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock careened through his life like a firework across the American art landscape, with his urgent, splattered drip paintings his most explosive legacy. This essential introduction traces Pollock’s work and his fame to understand his masterpieces in the greater modernist story and explore his making as a cultural icon.

The rebel hero of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) careened through his life like a firework across the American art landscape. Channeling ideas from sources as diverse as Picasso and Mexican surrealism, he rejected convention to develop his own way of seeing, interpreting, and expressing.

Pollock’s most famous works are his drip paintings, where he dripped and poured household enamel paint over the canvas with a variety of instruments, from sticks to syringes, hardened brushes to broken bits of glass. The splattered results pulsate with energy, replacing the refinement of easel and brush with something altogether more immediate, vivid, and physical. To evade the viewer’s search for figurative elements in his paintings, Pollock abandoned titles and identified each work with a neutral number only.

Notoriously reclusive and volatile, struggling with alcoholism, married to fellow Abstract Expressionist Lee Krasner, and killed in a car crash aged just 44, Pollock is as much a compelling celebrity icon as an artistic pioneer. This essential artist introduction explores both his work and his fame to shed light on masterpieces of the modernist story, and the making of a cultural icon.

The author

Leonhard Emmerling received his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg for a thesis titled “Jean Dubuffet’s Art Theory.” He is the Director of South Asia Programmes at the Goethe-Institute’s office in New Delhi and was previously active as a curator at various art institutions in Germany. His publications include TASCHEN’s Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jackson Pollock.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

Less a distinct style than the concrete expression of being in a particular era, Pop Art began as a revolt against mainstream approaches to art and culture and evolved into a wholesale interrogation of modern society, consumer culture, and the role of the artist and artwork.

The movement’s primary provocation was to defy ideas of the artistic canon or “originality” by integrating mass market imagery into their works. Whether advertising slogans, famed Hollywood faces, comic-strip-style characters, or the packaging of consumer products, the likes of Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein knowingly reproduced mundane, everyday images from popular culture.

At the same time, Pop Art reduced the role of the individual and challenged the notion of originality by deploying mass production techniques such as screen printing. Like a hall of mirrors, the resulting works came to interrogate both the ideas and desires of contemporary culture, and its state of simulacra, whereby images, substitutes, and representations come to define the experience of “reality.”

In this book, Tilman Osterwold explores the styles, sources, and stars of the Pop Art phenomenon. From Lichtenstein’s comic-book aesthetics to Warhol’s images of Marilyn, it explores how a movement that interrogated the icons of its time came to produce icons of its own.

Whaam! When the kitschy, banal, and mass-market became art

Peaking in the 1960s, Pop Art began as a revolt against mainstream approaches to art and culture and evolved into a wholesale interrogation of modern society, consumer culture, the role of the artist, and of what constituted an artwork.

Focusing on issues of materialism, celebrity, and media, Pop Art drew on mass-market sources, from advertising imagery to comic books, from Hollywood's most famous faces to the packaging of consumer products, the latter epitomized by Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans. As well as challenging the establishment with the elevation of such popular, banal, and kitschy images, Pop Art also deployed methods of mass-production, reducing the role of the individual artist with mechanized techniques such as screen printing.

With featured artists including Andy Warhol, Allen Jones, Ed Ruscha, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roy Lichtenstein, this book introduces the full reach and influence of a defining modernist movement.

About the series:

- Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Genre series features:
- approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions
- a detailed illustrated introduction plus a timeline of the most important political, cultural, and social events that took place during that period
- a selection of the most important works of the epoch, each presented on a 2-page spread with a full-page image and accompanying interpretation, as well as a portrait and brief biography of the artist

The world’s most famous portraits and the hidden stories behind their subjects are explored in this fascinating and highly entertaining book.

Portraiture is one of the oldest and most studied genres of art. While most scholars will look at a painting’s composition, style, and themes, often questions remain unanswered—who were these people and why were they painted? This entertaining book reveals the identities and lives of some of the most famous characters that populate art history — from the Renaissance to the 21st century. Readers will learn how the fifteen-year-old subject of da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine nearly destroyed a marriage; that van Dyck’s depiction of Prudence in wild clothes is actually one of the most controversial aristocrats of the seventeenth century; and that Francis Bacon’s character George Dyer was a man he met in a Soho nightclub.

These and other stories behind works by Picasso, Klimt, Rubens, Warhol, and dozens of other artists show how portraiture remains one of the most enthralling genres.

Based on art scholarship and conveyed in an accessible tone, these fascinating tales of power, lust, intrigue, jealousy, vengeance, and romance will help readers understand masterpieces of art history in an entirely new light.

Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and others began as Impressionists but soon extended their explorations of the world around them to create highly personal work. 

With their foundations in the bright colours of Impressionism and the break from traditional representational art, the Post-Impressionists worked alone but collectively created the bridge into the expressionism of the 20th Century. Their delightful and evocative masterpieces are celebrated in this gorgeous new book.

Authoritatively written and including rare photography and memorabilia, this sumptuous slipcased hardcover is the only illustrated gift book to examine Prince’s most iconic album and film, Purple Rain.

In 1984, Prince, along with his band, The Revolution, released what would become his best-selling album and a touchstone of 1980s pop culture. Purple Rain has gone on to sell 25 million copies and counting. In Prince and Purple Rain, Andrea Swensson, a Minneapolis-based journalist and host/co-producer of Prince | Official Podcast, takes a deep dive into the legendary musician’s most famous album on its 40th anniversary.

The book features:

- A lush purple velvet slipcase with gold-foil lettering
- A foreword by Prince superfan Maya Rudolph
- Stunning performance and off-stage photography
- Interviews with musicians who worked with Prince
- Images of memorabilia from top collectors 

Chapters cover:

- Prince’s youth and early music career in Minneapolis, as well as each of the five studio albums that preceded Purple Rain
- Prince’s backing band, The Revolution, and the backgrounds of each of its individual members, with an emphasis on the Purple Rain studio and touring members: drummer Bobby Z, bassist Brown Mark, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, and keyboardist Matt Fink
- Track-by-track analyses of each side
- A look at the groundbreaking film of the same name and its multiplatinum soundtrack
- Awards, accolades, and critical reception
- Prince’s legacy post–Purple Rain, up to his untimely death in 2016
- From intimate afternoon tea taken in the drawing-room to glamorous tea parties in the garden, there are afternoon tea experiences to suit any occasion.  

Prince and Purple Rain is a definitive and beautifully produced tribute to a legendary album from a legendary performer and artist.

The Great Albums series presents authoritative explorations of rock’s most revered records, beautifully packaged for fans to treasure. Delve into even more groundbreaking releases with: Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon, The Who & Quadrophenia, Bruce Springsteen and Born to Run, and Queen & A Night at the Opera, with more to come.

About the Author:

Andrea Swensson is an author, podcast host, and music journalist based in Minneapolis. She hosts the Official Prince Podcast, produced in collaboration with Paisley Park Enterprises, NPG Records, Warner Records, and Sony Music Entertainment, and has contributed music journalism to numerous outlets, including NPR Music, Pitchfork, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, City Pages, and The Current, where she previously hosted “The Local Show.” Her first book, Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound, chronicling the funk and soul scene from the 1950s to the 1970s, was released in October 2017 and honored with a Minnesota Book Award. She is also the author of the new book Deeper Blues, a heartfelt biography of the nonagenarian blues musician (and Jimmy Jam’s father) Cornbread Harris.

This fascinating book features the remarkable characters, worlds, and stories created by artist Yana Bogatch, aka Cosmic Spectrum.

PRISM showcases the artist’s story and discusses the development of her vintage, dark-academia style and impressive career. Cosmic Spectrum shares brand-new tutorial content, and, with character art and comics being her specialty, the book features an array of invaluable tips and techniques for drawing anatomy, gesture, and character details. She gives readers an extensive look at her work-flow across multiple mediums, plus rough work and sketches she's never shared before. Discover a detailed timeline of her artistic development, covering the many highs and lows of her professional and personal art journey thus far, and find out how she infuses her art with storytelling and connection with others. Yana’s energy, enthusiasm, and entrepreneurial spirit is sure to encourage those looking for way to transform their passion for art into a viable career, while staying true to their personal style. PRISM: The art journey of Cosmic Spectrum is the creative inspiration and springboard every character artist needs.

About the Author:

Yana Bogatch is a freelance illustrator, character designer, and comic artist based in Toronto, Canada. With over 15 years experience and a degree in Traditional Animation, Yana loves to experiment with new media and techniques, both digitally and traditionally, and has developed unique approaches to both in her character design. She also creates and sells in-depth tutorials, real-time demonstration videos, and products for her shop.

Cut it, stick it, twist it!

Collage is the art of reinvention, a magical and tactile process that invites you to collect, combine and transform existing imagery and ephemera, both old and new, into entirely original compositions. Tactile, versatile and accessible, collage encapsulates the magic of experimentation. Collage can elevate trash into treasure, reinterpreting the familiar and mundane. Requiring no specialist equipment – only everyday materials – it is an art form for everyone and every budget.

The 50 contemporary collage projects within this book will both inform and inspire you to experiment with a range of materials, techniques and themes. Each chapter centres around a different subject, and the projects within develop on this theme and offer a variety of fresh approaches to it. Simple step-by-step directions demonstrate the creative process behind an example artwork. With a great mix of collage styles to choose from, you can start at the beginning and work your way through the book, or dip in and out of the projects as you wish.

From striking architectural builds to mixed-media menageries, this book offers fresh ideas and guidance to help you cut and paste your way to your own unique artworks.

About the Author:

Bev Speight is an artist, illustrator, designer and educator who teaches at Middlesex University. She was previously creative director for a major book publisher and, amongst many other clients, has worked extensively on high profile campaigns for the BBC.

With this book, anyone can create protest graphics. The 46 die-cut stencils, plus a bespoke typeface, can be combined to create both slogans and powerful visual messages, and are robust enough to be re-used any number of times. 

There are classic symbols from the great protest movements of the twentieth century, as well as new images reflecting contemporary concerns – such as the environment and the economy. 

These are the building blocks of visual statement, and this book is the essential toolkit for the graphics of protest.

About the Author:

Patrick Thomas is a graphic artist, author and educator based in Berlin. He has exhibited his work across five continents in which it can be found in numerous private and public collections. He is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and a Professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, Germany.

A thoughtfully curated and gloriously illustrated retrospective of the band’s studio releases, Queen, comes just in time for the 45th anniversary of their debut LP and biopic.

Formed in 1970, Queen went on to become one of the most popular — and most successful — rock bands of all time. Even following the untimely death of beloved and magnetic frontman Freddie Mercury, and nearly 50 years after their formation, interest in the band has continued, evidenced by scores of reissues, arena tours with surviving members, and a feature-film biopic.

In this new installment in Voyageur Press’s Album by Album series, rock journo Martin Popoff convenes a cast of 19 Queen experts and superfans to discuss all 15 of the band’s studio albums (including their soundtrack for the 1980 film Flash Gordon). Panelists include Queen experts, rock journalists, musicians, and record industry figures. The results are freewheeling discussions delving into the individual songs, the circumstances that surrounded the recording of each album, the band and contemporary rock contexts into which they were released, and more.

The engaging text of this beautifully designed book is illustrated throughout with rare live performance and candid offstage photography, as well as scads of rare Queen ephemera.

The Album by Album series is a unique approach to the rock bio, injecting the varied voices of several contributors. The results have even the most diehard fans rushing back to their MP3 players (or turntables) to confirm the details and opinions expressed!

About the Author:

Martin Popoff has been described as the world’s most famous heavy-metal journalist, though he has covered plenty of Punk and New Wave albums in his career of 7,000-plus album reviews. He has penned many books on various bands, genres of rock, and record collecting, including Voyageur Press’ Rush: The Illustrated History; Metallica: The Complete Illustrated History; The Art of Metal; and The Big Book of Hair Metal. He has also worked on film documentaries about Rush and ZZ Top. Popoff lives in Toronto.

Queenie: Godmother of Harlem isa historical graphic novel inspired by the life of legendary mobster Stephanie Saint-Clair, the infamous criminal who made herself a legend in the 1930s.

“It’s original, entertaining, riveting, moving. A beautiful piece of art, a must-read!” —Whoopi Goldberg

Born on a plantation in the French colony of Martinique, Stephanie Saint-Clair left the island in 1912 and headed for the United States, eager to make a new life for herself. In New York she found success, rising up through poverty and battling extreme racism to become the ruthless queen of Harlem’s mafia and a fierce defender of the Black community.

A racketeer and a bootlegger, Saint-Clair dedicated her wealth and compassion to the struggling masses of Harlem, giving loans and paying debts to those around her. But with Prohibition ending, and under threat by Italian mobsters seeking to take control of her operation, she launched a merciless war to save her territory and her skin. In an America still swollen by depression and segregation, Saint-Clair understood that her image was a tool she could use to establish her power and wield as a weapon against her opponents.

Authors Elizabeth Colomba and Aurelie Levy’s meticulous details — in both story and art — bring Saint-Clair’s story to life in a tense narrative, against a sometimes bloody backdrop of jazz and voodoo. The story tackles the themes of colonization, corruption, police violence, and racial identity, but above all, Queenie celebrates the genius of a woman forgotten by history.

About the Author:

Aurelie Levy is a screenwriter, novelist, and documentary filmmaker. Born and raised in France, she pursued her higher education in Japan at the prestigious ICU in Tokyo where she studied history. She then extended her film and history studies at UCLA where she met Elizabeth Colomba. She then went on to write and direct six feature-length documentaries. For the past 20 years she has traveled around the globe unveiling relevant stories and addressing current issues. Among the subjects she has tackled are celebrity culture, international adoption, and men in the #MeToo era. Levy writes screenplays and TV series for French and US productions and hosts a podcast on writing with the largest literary media company in France. Other books by the author include the novel And the Oscar Goes To (2012) and The 21st Man (2021).

The definitive collection of the Radiohead photographs of legendary photographer Tom Sheehan - with unseen images.

Explore the story of Radiohead - perhaps the finest band of a generation - through the lens of legendary Melody Maker chief photographer Tom Sheehan.

Through more than 200 photographs and Sheehan's first-hand memories and stories, journey into the eye of a musical storm. From their earliest days as indie upstarts, through the wild, all-conquering years of OK Computer and into the experimental soundscapes beyond, Tom Sheehan captured Radiohead's world in breathtaking detail.

Covering recording sessions, live performances, studio portraits and moments snatched on tour around the world, these photographs - many of which have never been published before - paint an intimate picture of a band pushing the boundaries of music.

Accompanied by a biography of Radiohead from Craig McLean (Associate Editor, The Face) drawing on his personal interviews with the band, this book - beautifully presented in a cloth bound hardback - is a unique visual record of a breathtaking musical journey.

About the Author:

Tom Sheehan is a renowned music photographer. Former Chief Photographer for Melody Maker, he has taken iconic images of artists including Oasis, The Smiths, The Cure, The Jam, Mick Jagger, Ozzy Osbourne, Snoop Dogg, Tom Waits, Kate Bush and many more. Described as 'legendary' by Vice, Tom's photographs have featured in the NME, The Times, the Guardian, the Observer, Q, Uncut and Mojo.

Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink is the definitive career retrospective of this revered and provocative UK artist.

Renowned for his collaborations with iconic American writer Hunter S. Thompson, he formed an unlikely duo that created "Gonzo" journalism.

This lifelong collaboration included the now-legendary Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, originally published in Rolling Stone magazine, which has since become a cult classic.

- Explores Steadman's signature ink-splattered style
-  Features a diverse body of work that includes satirical political illustrations
- Includes art from award-winning children's books such as Alice in Wonderland

Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink is a must-have celebration of the artist's important and influential career.

This comprehensive monograph on the life and work of Ralph Steadman collects work from his dozens of books from his 50-plus year career.

- Satirist, artist, cartoonist, illustrator, writer ― Steadman's prolific and influential career continues to resonate and inspire.
-  His work is synonymous with the counterculture of the 1970s.
- The ultimate gift and coffee table book for fans of Gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson, and political satire
-  Add it to the shelf with books like Ralph Steadman: Proud Too Be Weirrd by Ralph Steadman, The Curse of Lono by Hunter S. Thompson, and Gonzo: The Art by Ralph Steadman.

About the Author:

Ralph Steadman is a Welsh-born, UK-based artist who has been creating groundbreaking art for over 60 years. He has published many books and has been featured in numerous publications, such as Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, the New York Times, and many more.

In art history, we tend to be on first-name terms only with the most revered of masters. The Renaissance painter and architect Raphael Santi (1483–1520) is one such star. The man we call simply Raphael has for centuries been hailed as a supreme Renaissance artist. For some, he even outstrips his equally famous, equally first-named, contemporaries, Leonardo and Michelangelo.

From 1500 to 1508, Raphael worked throughout central Italy, particularly in Florence where he secured his reputation as a painter of portraits and beautifully rendered Madonnas, archetypical icons within the Catholic faith. In 1508 he was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II and later embarked on an ambitious mural scheme for the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican. Within this room, Raphael’s The School of Athens is considered a paradigm of the High Renaissance, merging Classical philosophy with perfected perspectival space, animated figures, and a composition of majestic balance.

This essential introduction explores how in just two decades of work, Raphael painted his way to legendary greatness. With highlights from his prolific output, it presents the mastery of figures and forms that secured his place not only in the trinity of Renaissance luminaries but also among the most esteemed artists of all time.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions