Искусство

Our epoch has found in the painter-king the most formidable accuser of totalitarian thinking, from nuclear energy to the organization of our living environment. He lives up totally to his way of seeing things, against the contradictions of our post-industrial society.

His trump card is his art, the creator of beauty: of natural harmony, peace and joy. The extra-lucid power of his analytical sensitivity makes him the perfect decoder of global culture and its guided information. Hundertwasser reveals the prodigious quality resources of naturist empiricism against the abusive uniformity of rationalist totalitarianism, against the tyranny of ugliness and the iron rule of its straight line.

It is all inscribed in his painting, which is the revelation of sensitivity, the open book of destiny; it translates intuition into images, and those images inspire the major orientations of his thinking and action. When concretized moreover, those orientations fit perfectly into the practical norms of his aesthetic. Based on the empirical, artisan and organic intelligence of man-nature relations, his project for society is a cry of hope in beauty, a sine qua non-condition for human development.

Images included:
The Small Way, Kaurinui, 1991
European Twirling his Moustache, Bürgeralm hut, Aflenz, 1951
Yellow Ships - Sea of Tunis and Taormina, Tunis - Taormina, 1951
Yellow Houses - It Hurts to Wait with Love if Love is Somewhere Else, Venice, 1966
Hommage au Tachisme, La Picaudière, 1961
Winter Painting - Mister Snow, Venice, 1966
The Third Skin, Venice, 1982
Mourning Schiele, Lugano, 1965
Water Fire, Venice, 1991
Rain of Blood Dropping into Japanese Waters Located in an Austrian Garden, Tokyo, 1961
The 30 Days Fax Painting, Vienna, 1994
The Beard is the Grass of the Bald-Headed Man, La Picaudière, 1961
Original poster Hundertwasser House, Vienna

Viennese-native Friedrich Stowasser (1928-2000) called himself  Hundertwasser Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt. True to the colorful variety of his names, he pursued many activities as a painter, architect and ecologist, and as "one who awakens identities." This presentation of Hundertwasser's work in all of its different facets is guided by the artist's own view of himself and his purpose. And, because his work is virtually inseparable from his personal life and political activity, a vivid portrait of the artist takes shape before the reader's eyes. Excerpts from conversations between the author and the artist lend a sense of immediacy and authenticity to the narration.

The dream of a world of peace

"A world full of color," says Friedensreich Hundertwasser, "is synonymous with paradise." With his demonstrations and actions, his manifestos for nature, for more human-oriented architecture and for the improvement of the quality of life and living conditions, Friedensreich Hundertwasser is one of the most fascinating artists of the 20th century. He became a symbolic figure, not only as a painter but also as an architect, ecologist and philosopher, in particular for all those who are searching for a life tuned to the natural and the human.

This anniversary edition consists of the first volume of TASCHEN’s limited edition Friedensreich Hundertwasser, 1928–2000, and offers a complete presentation of Hundertwasser's work, personality and life, with detailed texts by Hundertwasser's longtime friend Wieland Schmied.

The author:
Wieland Schmied has been President of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in Munich since 1995. He has organised over one hundred art exhibitions and is the author of many books on 19th- and 20th century art, including monographs on Caspar David Friedrich, Alfred Kubin, Giorgio de Chirico, Edward Hopper and Francis Bacon.

Although books on Hundertwasser's work abound, few are as satisfying as this luxuriously designed, one of a kind volume that was originally created as an exhibition catalog. Bound in black linen, foil-embossed, and printed in six colors with impeccable attention to detail, this gem of a book contains ninety-eight color illustrations featuring a selection of Hundertwasser's graphic works along with critical texts and commentary by the artist. A short introduction, an essay on the artist's graphic work and an up-to-date biography make this an indispensable book for fans of Hundertwasser and lovers of beauty.

Friedrich Stowasser (1928, Vienna – 2000, New Zealand), better known by the name of Friedrich Hundertwasser, was a painter, thinker, and architect, or rather a "doctor of architecture", as he declared in his manifesto of the 24th of January 1990.

His architectural creations, organic and full of imagination, may have been influenced by the works of Antoni Gaudí. Yet, Hundertwasser was more radical in his philosophy. As expressed in his remarkable eco-artistic manifestos, and other achievements (paintings, posters, stamps, houses, and architectural designs), his message remains profoundly and viscerally ecological.

His pictorial work is characterised by an organic abundance of forms and by the brilliance of its colours.
Hundertwasser is an artist who is difficult to classify. With his tremendous love of nature, he is one of the pioneers of humanist and environmentalist architecture, which attempted to reconcile creativity and ecology. This vision has been shared by many young artists all over the world and by the founders of eco-villages.

Examples of badge design from the 1950's to the present day covering political, cultural and commercial topics

This is a thought-provoking exploration of the masterpieces of sculpture, drawing and decoration of the last Ice Age. Produced between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, this is some of the oldest known figurative art in the world. Looking at these artworks provides a fascinating insight into the earliest modern minds and their capacity to express ideas symbolically through art.

Over 100 objects are featured, including small but exquisite sculptures made from mammoth ivory, engraved drawings, ceramic models, decorated objects and jewellery from the age of the great painted caves. Some are celebrated masterpieces such as the Swimming Reindeer (13,000 years old), the so-called Willendorf Venus (25,000 years old), the Vogelherd Horse (32,000 years old) and the Lion Man (32,000 years old); others are lesser- known treasures from the collections of European museums. The author examines them in a new light, as works of aesthetic – not solely archaeological – interest, and as such forming part of an unbroken continuum of human creativity.

The compelling narrative is also illustrated with a wealth of images, from classical sculpture to twentieth-century painting and even contemporary advertising campaigns, which demonstrate surprising aesthetic parallels between these ancient works and familiar modern pieces.

In this way, Ice Age art will bring home the point that the minds that created these objects in all their diversity and inventiveness were modern minds like our own, capable of highly sophisticated thought and expression.

This work analyzes the evolution of iconic art from its beginning in the Byzantine period, until the time of the Russian Empire. This work is for specialists and students as it is written by one of the world’s leading authorities on early Christian iconography.

Icons are a fundamental element in art history, it is, therefore, crucial to understand how this imagery started and how it evolved through the centuries. As there are very few books on the subject, Icons stands out and is bound to become a reference in the subject.

The Author:

Nikodim Pavlovich Kondakov was an art historian specialised in Russian culture and history. His extensive research on Russian Orthodox culture lead him to become the eminent specialist of Christian iconography. A true man of science, he was often the first to interpret the origin of certain icons.

Sacred paintings of the Christian Orthodox

This historical survey covers some one-and-a-half millennia of Christian imagery and includes descriptions of selected masterpieces

The icons in this book come from the Icon Museum in Recklinghausen, which possesses the most extensive and highest-quality icon collection outside the Orthodox world. Icons do not depict “details” of the earthly world, but rather an unearthly reality. In accordance with their sacred function, the painters had to keep to venerable traditions. This historical survey covers some one-and-a-half millennia and includes descriptions of selected masterpieces, providing a graphic introduction to this fascinating world of images. While the book's historical introduction traces the history of icon painting back to late Antiquity and the early Byzantine period, the examples in the picture section start with a 14th century Russian example and extend from the exquisite 15th century Byzantine icon “St Luke Paints the Mother of God” across the centuries to one from Transylvania (Romania) dating from 1887.

About the Series:
Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Genre Series features:

* a detailed introduction with approximately 35 photographs, plus a timeline of the most important events (political, cultural, scientific, etc.) that took place during the time period
* a selection of the most important works of the epoch; each is presented on a 2-page spread with a full-page image and, on the facing page, a description/interpretation of the work and brief biography of the artist as well as additional information such as a reference work, portrait of the artist, and/or citations

Graham Nash, geb. 1942 in Blackpool, war zunächst Gitarrist, Songwriter und Sänger bei den Hollies, bevor er England 1969 verließ und in New York die Gruppe Crosby, Stills & Nash mitbegründete. Nash ist aber nicht nur als Musiker bekannt geworden, er war immer auch als Photograph in der Szene dabei und ist ein ausgewiesener Kenner und leidenschaftlicher Sammler von Photographien. Für unser Buch hat er nun seine Lieblingsphotos aus der inzwischen 50-jährigen Geschichte des Rock und Pop zusammengetragen und mit persönlichen Anmerkungen kommentiert. Hier sind sie alle versammelt – neben Annie Leibovitz’ unvergesslichen Bildern aus ihrer Zeit beim Rolling Stone Magazine natürlich Anton Corbijn, Richard Avedon, Jim Marshall, Mick Rock und Dennis Hopper. In seiner Auswahl gelingt es Nash, auch den Sound der Musikphotographie zum Klingen zu bringen: mit Portraits von Joan Baez und Bob Dylan, Elvis on stage, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison und Kurt Cobain, einer Momentaufnahme seiner früheren Freundin Joni Mitchell, John Lee Hookers Hand und Bob Dylans Händen ... Es sind Bilder, die am Rand von Konzerten entstanden und die Konzentration backstage oder das Abhängen im Hotelzimmer einfangen – alles in allem Rock-Ikonen vom Feinsten.

Illuminated manuscripts are widely recognised as among the most beautiful objects of the western world. This is a book about their making: about the many talents involved in producing the missals, Books of Hours, breviaries and bibles that astonish us still with their richness and beauty. The original illuminated manuscripts were collaborative productions, with different specialists contributing script, initials, borders, illustration, and binding to the work.

Rowan Watson’s study is both scholarly and rich in anecdote; he not only brings individual scribes and book dealers vividly to life but throws light on the commercial and religious environments in which they worked, and on the co-operative working practices devised for their production. Having looked at the individual elements of the illuminated page, the author then turns his attention to a sequence of splendid leaves from some of the great illuminated masterpieces in the museum’s collection. He also discusses how early books were marketed and sold, and ends with a look at the survival of illumination after the advent of the printing press and its revival in the nineteenth century at the hands of pioneering designers such as Owen Jones and William Morris.

The illustrations are drawn from the exceptional and largely unpublished collections of the V&A, and the text offers us an entirely new look at the subject, treating illumination as a key to the history of the period, as much as an expression of medieval and Renaissance (and neo-Gothic) styles and sensibility.

The art of likeness. The spectrum of today’s portraiture, from caricature to realism

The field of illustration has flourished over the last decade, with professionals working both by computer and by hand. In illustration, the single most challenging and captivating subject has been the portrait, frequently used in editorials, advertising, products, and most recently, being the subject of major exhibitions. The book gathers together the exclusive (and frequently unpublished) portrait work of over 80 illustrators from all over the world, many of whom were featured in Illustration Now!, including Aaron Jasinski , André Carrilho, Hanoch Piven, Anita Kunz, Jody Hewgill, and Dugald Stermer. The book also features an index of subjects and an introduction by Steven Heller.

The editor:
Julius Wiedemann was born in Brazil, studied graphic design and marketing, and was an art editor for digital and design magazines in Tokyo. His many TASCHEN digital and media titles include Illustration Now!, Advertising Now, Logo Design, and Brand Identity Now!

Since their immigration from Russia to the West in 1987, conceptual artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov have produced magnificent installations in a wide variety of forums: a circus stage, public square, orchestral hall, opera houses, and museums.

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov's themes range from the playful to the utopian, but each reflects the artists' perspective on life in the Soviet Union. The nine projects presented in this exquisitely produced volume allow readers to observe ideas evolving from quickly sketched concepts to full-blown fantasies of enormous proportion.

Drawings, watercolors, plans, models and photographs of the productions themselves are interspersed with commentary about each installation. A lengthy interview with Ilya Kabakov, who was declared one of the "ten greatest living artists" by ARTnews magazine, completes this wonderful compilation of genius at work.

Concepts such as the prodigal son and the good Samaritan can be found in art, literature and everyday expressions in cultures around the world. Images from the Bible contains a beautiful collection of Bible illustrations from the 17th to the 19th century that have been chosen for their beauty and their relevance as illustrations of these shared cultural ideas.

All illustrations are stored on the accompanying CD and are ready to use for printed media and web page design. They can also be used to produce postcards, or to decorate letters, flyers, etc. For the vast majority of applications, single images can be used free of charge.