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Sunken cities in the jungle and towering temple pyramids reflect only a small portion of our knowledge about Mayan culture. This fascinating people achieved the landmarks of an advanced civilization — such as a highly developed writing system and densely populated cities — in the classical period (AD 300-600), earning them a place among the greatest civilizations in the world. However, this period represents just one phase in the history of the Mayan culture, which extends over thousands of years. Our knowledge of Mayan life has increased dramatically in recent decades. As a result, specialists from a wide range of disciplines have contributed to this book in order to represent all of the latest research on the Maya.
The contributions included in this magnificent volume range from the origins of Mayan culture all the way to modernity, giving insight into everyday life and religion as well as the artistic accomplishments and intellectualabilities of this important culture.

Prof. Nicolai Grube, born in 1962 in Bonn, Germany, studied ancient American languages and cultures and ethnology at the University of Hamburg. He earned his doctorate in 1989 with a thesis on “The Development of Mayan Writing”. His publications primarily address the history of dynasties and the political structures and writing system of the Mayans.

Highlights

• Essays on every aspect of the Mayan world, from architecture and art to achievements in fields such as writing, books, astronomy and mathematics, politics and religion
• Overview of historic Mayan cities and selected collections and museums
• Extensive glossary

300 illustrations in colour, 180 signatures.

Pressure exerted by America in 1854 caused Japan to open its doors after 260 years of isolation. Virtually uninhibited receptiveness to everything Western was the driving force behind the modernisation of Japan initiated by the Meiji government yet it also induced a rapid rediscovery of indigenous cultural values. At early Paris and London international exhibitions, the Japanese decorative and applied arts sparked off the Western fascination with all things Japanese – japonisme. In Japan, on the other hand, new technologies were eagerly adopted – the government realised that increasing production for export would be an excellent means of promoting Japanese economic growth and thus enhancing Japan’s status worldwide.

 The present publication represents the first detailed survey of the development of Japanese export porcelain against a highly charged background of political, economic and cultural factors. Stylistic development in Japanese ceramics did not mean one-sided Westernisation; instead, inspiration went both ways, most notably in the impact made by Japanese art on Art Nouveau/Jugendstil and, ultimately, the Japanese aesthetic response to it.

This is the first complete survey of Japanese export porcelain from the Meiji era to be published in English – a benchmark standard work for specialists and an insider tip for lovers of porcelain and anyone interested in Art Nouveau and Japan.

Kostbar veredelte Glasgefäße von Emile Gallé, Daum Frères und Louis Comfort Tiffany, subtil dekorierte Erzeugnisse der berühmten Porzellanmanufakturen Rozenburg, Kopenhagen, Nymphenburg und Meissen, neben reich mit Blütendekor geschmückten Haarkämmen und anderen extravaganten Schmuckstücken der Pariser Juweliere um René Lalique, bis zu individuell gestalteten Möbeln von August Endell, Richard Riemerschmid und Henry van de Velde: Wer sich als Besucher in die Sammlung des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums München begibt, der wandelt durch die faszinierend vielfältige Zeit des Jugendstils.

Diese Sammlung zählt zu den herausragenden deutschen Museumsbeständen mit Meisterwerken des Jugendstils. Den Kern bilden die über Jahrzehnte mit hoher Kennerschaft zusammengetragenen Sammlungen Professor Dr. Siegfried Wichmanns und Herzog Franz von Bayern, die seit 1983 für das Münchner Museum erworben wurden. Aus dem mehr als 500 Einzelobjekte umfassenden Bestand führt die reich bebilderte Publikation dem Leser rund 150 der schönsten und bedeutendsten Werke mit fundierten Texten und brillanten Abbildungen vor Augen.

Dem Charakter der Sammlung entsprechend, spiegelt die Publikation das breite Spektrum der internationalen Jugendstilbewegung mit Arbeiten erstrangiger Künstler und mit Beispielen aus nahezu allen Materialgattungen wider.

Spanning the entirety of the artist's career, Mel Kendrick: Seeing Things in Things charts the singular trajectory of one of the country's most adventurous sculptors.

With more than 100 works representing four decades, this is the definitive monograph on abstract sculptor Mel Kendrick, who first emerged in 1970s New York, where he studied with legends Tony Smith and Robert Morris. At a time when Minimal and Conceptual art dominated, Kendrick forged his own path, embarking on a career-long series of provocative investigations into the fundamentals and possibilities of sculpture, his restless experimentations with form, scale, and materiality realized in wood, rubber, cast paper, or concrete. Essays by Nancy Princenthal, Allison N. Kemmerer, Terrie Sultan, and Adam D. Weinberg, and a conversation between Kendrick and fellow artist Carroll Dunham provide fascinating perspective on forty years of art making in the aftermath of Minimalism.

About the Author:

Carroll Dunham is an American painter and close friend of Kendrick. Allison N. Kemmerer is Interim Director and Mead Curator of Photography and Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Addison Gallery of American Art. Nancy Princenthal is a New York-based writer for publications including Art in America and the New York Times. Terrie Sultan is director of the Parrish Art Museum. Adam D. Weinberg is the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

This retrospective monograph unites Mel Ramos’s drawings, paintings, and sculptures.

Mel Ramos (*1935 in Sacramento, California), one of the most significant figures of Pop Art, borrows motifs from the mass media and commercial advertisements for his work, just as his contemporaries Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein did. To create his paintings, he combines a wide variety of consumer goods with immaculate, self-confident, and frequently naked women. Drawing upon the imagery in pinup magazines of the fifties and sixties and the lifestyle magazines of today, he portrays his female figures wrapped lasciviously around the products with which he pairs them.

This publication offers a survey of Ramos’s production over the last fifty years, ranging from the first self-portrait he executed in 1959 to his most recent three-dimensional works. On the occasion of the artist’s first large-scale museum retrospective in Europe as well as his seventy-fifth birthday, this volume presents several insightful essays and illustrations of around ninety works drawn from the various series Ramos has produced, including his earliest figurative paintings, his depictions of comic-book heroes and heroines, the Fashion and Animal Paintings, his famous pinup girls, his tributes to art history, his landscapes, and his sketches and recent sculptures.

Bringing together two communities with a shared history of statelessness, Ukrainian Jewish Journey focuses on the cultural similarities of the two groups while delving into the complex and difficult histories of both populations over the last two hundred years. Despite their points of interconnectedness, the interactions between the two groups have been historically complex.

The book examines the history of Ukrainian-Jewish interactions by highlighting encounters in daily life, in cultural contexts, and in episodes of violence. It explores the ways in which the Jewish and non-Jewish peoples of present-day Ukraine have sought to define their identities while also remaining rooted in their own unique traditions. Featuring one hundred colour images and with new research, the book is a focused exploration of universal issues of cultural memory, national and individual identity, and the cultural implications of encounter.

The ‘Anatomy of an Actor’ series takes ten roles by a single actor, each studied in a dedicated chapter, and identifies the key elements that made the performances exceptional – carefully examining the actor’s craft for both a professional audience and movie fans alike.

This new title explores the career of Meryl Streep (b.1949). One of the most talented actresses of her generation, Streep provides a high benchmark by which others are measured.

In films as diverse as The Deer Hunter (1978), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Mamma Mia (2008) and her Oscar-winning turn as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2010), Streep has never failed to astound audiences with her ability to fully inhabit her characters.

An accessible text combines both a narrative and analytical dimension and is illustrated by 300 film stills, set photographs and film sequences.

Satanism, skulls and distortion? Indeed, but much much more. Currently, some of the best international artists have broken the boundaries of metal and hardcore and reached new heights with work for bands such as Mastodon, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Baroness, Converge and Slayer. This impressive and monumental book, the first graphic anthology of metal and hardcore ever published, compiles more than 2000 illustrations, photographs and design applied to the covers of CDs, logos, t-shirts and posters.

Combines tutorials, inspirational galleries, extensive cross-referencing and advice in metal jewelry-making

With its comprehensive combination of tutorials, inspirational galleries, extensive cross-referencing and advice, Metalsmithing for Jewelry Makers is an authoritative reference that is guaranteed to appeal to professionals and amateurs alike.

Thanks to the popularity of workshops and classes, metal jewelry-making is no longer the exclusive realm of professional jewelry designers. Now, with a little patience and the right instruction – and this book – anyone can learn to create beautiful jewelry with metalsmithing techniques.

This book is one of the most comprehensive volumes on metal jewelry-making available. Freshly commissioned, full-colour photographs accompany detailed step-by-step tutorials, while comprehensive sidebars detail the relevant considerations for applying each technique to a variety of different metals, with cross-references where applicable.

The book also includes profiles of contemporary practitioners, providing readers with an understanding of a wide range of different working methods, materials and developing techniques.

About the Author:

Jinks McGrath is a designer and jewelry maker living in East Sussex, UK. Her work has been inspired by a number of visits to India, Thailand, and Africa where she has watched and worked alongside local craftspeople. Jinks trained at the Berkshire College of Art and Design and is the author of several books including The Encyclopedia of Jewelry Making Techniques and Jewelry Making: A Complete Course for Beginners.

Arguably the greatest all-round entertainer of his era, Michael Jackson embodied the paradox of extreme fame: a uniquely gifted singer, dancer and songwriter, his extraordinary talents were matched only by the loneliness, eccentricity and ego-mania of his isolated position atop popular culture. This book charts the rise and demise of the self-proclaimed King of Pop.

A star from the age of 11, Michael Jackson's unrivalled success spanned five decades beginning with the Jackson 5 in 1968, through a solo Motown career as a teen-idol in the early '70s (while still fronting the Jacksons), and as a remarketed pop genius from the 1980s. While the success of Thriller, the best-selling album in history, owed much to production maestro Quincy Jones, Jackson's abilities as a supreme vocalist, dance provocateur, music video pioneer, songwriter and live performer simply know no equal. As an entertainer he was a perfectionist. Yet his music transcended race, geography, sex, genre, age and color—a remarkable achievement for a shy, troubled boy who never grew up. While his untimely death in June 2009 shook the world, it is Jackson's musical legacy that will endure for generations to come. In this book, the triumph and tragedy of his extraordinary journey is revealed through a unique visual and narrative chronology.

The Music Icons series:
Each title contains a painstaking selection of approximately 150 portraits, colorful posters and record covers, rare concert photos, and previously unpublished candid photos. These images—each matching an important biographical event—are accompanied by text tracing the progression of each subject’s life and career and are complemented by a section containing lists of essential recordings and selected chart rankings.

Getty Images have a fantastic and extensive collection of photographs of Michael Jackson from sources all over the world and from his earliest days. In addition they have been following Jackson s career with their own dedicated staff and third party photographers, one of whom, Jonathan Exley, spent 8 years with the Jackson family as personal family photographer. Michael Jackson; A life in the Spotlight is the fourth book in Endeavour s Rock and Film Idol series. Here we have pictures of the young Michael, the happy performer, his beautiful children and the unhappy road he found himself on in the latter part of his career. It s all covered and it s all here, the beautiful, the wonderful and the very rare moments of one of the world s greatest performers and his extraordinary life.

Photographer Todd Gray worked with Michael Jackson for several years before Jackson requested that he become his personal photographer, a relationship that would encompass the singer's performances with the Jacksons through the release of his smash solo albums Off the Wall and Thriller. This collection of unseen, intimate, and joyful pictures of Michael taken over a span of 10 years reveal him at home, with his family and fans, in career-making live performances, and the on the "Beat It" video shoot. A young black man not much older than Jackson at the time they met, Gray brings unique insights to his time with the singer, contributing stories and context to the images, presenting a rare, intimate portrait of Jackson at a creative peak as he grew from a brilliantly talented young man into a pop icon.

Todd Gray photographed Michael Jackson over a period of 10 years, often as Jackson's chosen photographer. He has shot numerous album covers and directed music videos, and his photo-based artwork is in the permanent collections of museums in the U.S. and abroad. He is currently a professor of art and photography at Cal State University, Long Beach, and lives in Los Angeles.

Over the course of the eight feature films he has directed since 1979, Michael Mann has shown himself, time and again, to be a rigorous, honest dramatist, a maker of solid worlds. So much so that in America, at least, he tends to be underrated. The most respectful of his critics often define him (a bit too simply) as a "realist." Certainly, whether the subject is thievery (The Jericho Mile, Thief, Heat), killers (Manhunter, Collateral), frontier life (The Last of the Mohicans), the nuanced struggle between the news media and corporate money (The Insider), or that of a celebrated athlete looking to find his life`s meaning in a world of bigotry (Ali), Mann seeks authenticity above all. Whatever suspense, entertainment value, and emotional or philosophical insight his work may yield rises from a truthfully imagined, painstakingly observed set of human beings and their warring intentions. This book explores Mann`s multifaceted oeuvre, including his most recent film, Miami Vice.

Taschen 25 - Special edition!

Michelangelo between earthly passions and fear of God

During the Renaissance, several great homosexual artists - from Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli to Michelangelo and Raphael - transformed the history of art, striving for ever closer imitation of nature while shaping it to their tastes. In their art ambiguous beings were born, half man, half woman; female breasts were planted on male busts and a young man's gaze peeped out beneath the eyelids of a Madonna.

From his earliest youth Michelangelo transformed personal torment into exquisite creativity - attempting to reconcile the apparently conflicting forces that inhabited him: his earthly passions and his fear of God. Hence the peerless monuments to beauty, celestial and infernal alike, that Michelangelo raised to the glory of God. His predecessors aspired to Heaven through faith alone; Michelangelo sought absolution through the contemplative exaltation of beauty - even on the ceiling of a papal chapel: the Sistine. This exposed him to a chorus of derision from prudish critics, who accused him of exhibiting paganism in a place of religion, and who clothed his immodest Titans in painted "breeches".

It was Michelangelo's curse to remain a colossus outside and apart from his time. It is the birthright of the comet to inspire fear and awe in the spectator; but the spectacle of such glory can sear the tender eye.

About the Series:
Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Art Series features:

* a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist
* approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions
* a concise biography