Искусство

American beauty. Painting life as it would like to be

An extraordinarily prolific artist, Norman Rockwell (1894–1978) produced some 4,000 paintings in his lifetime, not including a prodigious quantity of commissioned editorial, commercial, and advertising work. His death in 1978 was regarded the loss of a national icon, an artist who, like no other, celebrated the American Dream.

Shunning experimentation and avant-garde techniques in favour of effective composition and relatable subject matter, Rockwell created wholesome, homely paintings with accessible and aspirational appeal. Neat, quaint, and typically jovial, his subjects included classrooms, prom scenes, and Thanksgiving feasts, while his most long-standing projects were covers for The Saturday Evening Post magazine and calendars and covers for the Boys’ Life publication of the Boy Scouts of America. Imbued with optimism and patriotism, the work foregrounds classic professions such as doctor and teacher, as much as the conservative stalwarts of military, family, and faith.

Hailed by President Gerald Ford as a “beloved part of the American tradition,” Rockwell’s works reveal as much about his own talents as they do about the story of 20th-century America. This fresh artist introduction from TASCHEN brings together key paintings and illustrations from his celebratory and sunny portfolio, as well as some more unusual works tackling the underside of the United States, to understand an integrally American artist and the values and ideals that shaped his success.

About the Author:

Karal Ann Marling is professor of art history and American studies at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of numerous books on topics including American mural painting of the Depression era, illustration of the 1940s, the architecture of theme parks, and the influence of television on visual culture in the 1950s.

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

About the Series:

TASCHEN portfolios feature high-quality prints that beg to be framed. Tucked in each portfolio are 14 large-format reproductions, each with a brief description. Guaranteed to brighten any day, they also make great gifts for art lovers!

Emerging out of Baroque as a more relaxed style, Rococo was dominant in interiors, decorative art, and painting throughout Europe in the 18th century. With sentiment and emotion prevailing over reason, Rococo was a dramatic and theatrical style. In the Parisian art world, gallant scenes by Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard predominated, along with the delicate still lifes and genre paintings of Chardin. In Venice, we find the magnificent cityscapes and veduta of Canaletto and Guardi, along with Tiepolo's brilliantly illuminated ceiling frescos. London society celebrated portraitists of stature such as Hogarth, Gainsborough, and Reynolds, while in Southern Germany and Austria, pious images of celestial serenity created by Asam and Troger spanned the church ceilings.

Artists featured among others: François Boucher, Canaletto, Rosalba Carriera, Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, John Singleton Copley, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Thomas Gainsborough, Francisco de Goya, Francesco Guardi, William Hogarth, Angelika Kauffmann, Nicolas Lancret, Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Thomas Lawrence, Jean-Marc Nattier the Younger, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Joshua Reynolds, Johann Heinrich Tischbein, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Joseph Wright

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

Deriving from the French word rocaille, in reference to the curved forms of shellfish, and the Italian barocco, the French created the term Rococo. Appearing at the beginning of the 18th century, it rapidly spread to the whole of Europe. Extravagant and light, Rococo responded perfectly to the offhandedness of the aristocracy of the time. In many aspects, this art was linked to its Baroque predecessor, and is thus also referred to as late Baroque style. While artists such as Tiepolo, Boucher and Reynolds carried the style to its apogee, the movement was often condemned for its superficiality. In the second half of the 18th century, Rococo began its decline. At the end of the century, facing the advent of Neoclassicism, it was plunged into obscurity. It had to wait nearly a century before art historians could restore it to the radiance of its olden age, which is rediscovered in this work by Klaus H. Carl and Victoria Charles.

About the Authors:

Victoria Charles is a professor of art history. She has published many works and has regularly contributed to Art Information, an international guide to contemporary art. Writing frequently for specialised journals and magazines, Victoria Charles recently contributed to a collective work, 1000 Paintings of Genius.
Klaus H. Carl is the author of numerous works on the history of large cities, and is also a well-known photographer of nature. A teacher by profession, he also took part, alongside Victoria Charles, in the writing of 1000 Paintings of Genius.

The movement known as Rococo began in eighteenth-century France, and has infused design objects with a sinuous, organic, and sensuous impulse for three centuries. Rococo dominated French design from 1730 to 1765, during the reign of Louis XV. Rococo ideas, transmitted by prints, objects and the traveling designers themselves, quickly spread to England, the Netherlands, the German states, Italy and America.

Rococo resurfaced in England under the flamboyant George IV and in France during the Second Empire. Its most significant revival occurred in the design concept known as Art Nouveau. In the twenty-first century, the Rococo spirit has burst forth once again as a creative force.

Rococo: The Continuing Curve, 1730-2008, featuring essays by international scholars and over 380 color illustrations, traces the movement within the historic continuum.

The name Rolex is recognized around the world. It has become an icon of beauty, quality, accuracy, style, and taste. While there are other fine manufacturers of timepieces, none has reached this pinnacle of public respect and acclaim. The watches produced by Rolex over the last 100 years are celebrated in this lavishly illustrated classic, now in a revised and expanded third edition. Over 30 newly discovered wristwatches are included in this volume, along with new information and a revised value guide. In addition there are detailed looks at some of Rolex's legendary movements. Dowling and Hess, both acknowledged Rolex authorities, have captured the watches' beauty in color photography and present the most thorough and extensive history written of the company. The watches and the extensive information this book offeres to collectors make it a truly useful volume, one that will be cherished by watch lovers around the world.

Это не первая книга о ROLLING STONES. Можно побиться об заклад, что она будет далеко не последней.

Почти 50 лет ROLLING STONES являются объектом, приковывающим внимание миллионов последователей, критиков и недоброжелателей.

С момента появления группы неоднократно объявлялось о ее закате. Но каждый раз они ломали стереотипы, создавая музыку, которая помогала передать дух своего времени и, в конечном счете, становилась вечной.

For a long time, Roman art was somewhat overshadowed by the art of ancient Greece. It was only in about 1900 that a search began for ancient Roman art and architecture. The foundations of Roman imagery were laid in the early days of the Empire under Emperor Augustus. The imperial court and the imperial family were role models for artistic style, taste and fashion - trendsetters, so to speak, which imperial society was obliged to follow. It was at court that the "new" took shape, pieced together from the vocabulary of Greek originals, copies and imitations as well as new creations, but fulfilling entirely new functions and expressing new meanings. The portrait of the ruler and the so-called state reliefs, which enhanced and embroidered real events, by depicting gods for example, had a particular influence in the shaping of the imagery. Using classical stylistic means, Roman art was able to fulfill all the desires and ideas of its patrons for more than two centuries.

Featured works include: Augustus of Primaporta; Gemma Augustea; Lycurgus beaker; funerary relief of the Roman couple Publius Aiedius and Publia Aiedia; Constantine I in a helmet with the christogram; the portrait of a man, the so-called Brutus; equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius; colossal portrait of Emperor Constantine I; group statue of the Emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius and Constantine I, the "tetrarch group"; personifications of Macedonia and Persia

Roman Polanski's ability to wring laughter from the most degrading heartbreaks will carry the same wealth of healthy shocks in a hundred years. He creates a macabre beauty to be wooed by and wondered at. But behind the laughter and the beauty is the ghostly truth that Polanski was orphaned by the Nazis and wandered Poland alone from ages 9 to 13. Consider the isolated intensity that bridges Knife in the Water, Cul de Sac, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Death and the Maiden and his Oscar-winning masterpiece The Pianist. In each, the omniscient viewpoint feels "childlike" in the least innocent sense: we listen and watch, ever-wary; the truth of what's been hidden, or is being planned in secret, is always a matter of life and death; one's survival (even within the playful confines of a fantasy) depends on not missing so much as one detail.

This book has been made with full access to Roman Polanski's archives.

Reaching its peak in the 11th and 12th centuries, the Romanesque movement was marked by a peculiar, vivid, and often monumental expressiveness in architecture and fine arts. The main centres were located in Italy, France, the German-language countries, Spain, and England, though the voices of Scandinavia and Eastern Europe expressed themselves distinctly in the genre, which patterned itself on antique and Byzantine art. Despite untold losses, countless Romanesque masterpieces remain preserved today.

Highlights include: Frescoes in Galliano near Cantù, Sant`Angelo in Formis, Saint Chef, Saint-Savin-sur Gartempe, Lambach, San Pietro al Monte near Civate, San Clemente in Rome, from San Maria de Tahull, Berzé-la-Ville, Tavant, Panteón de los Reyes in León, Castel Appiano, from Sigena; the golden Altar-Piece from Lisbjerg; the Bayeux Tapestry; stained glass in the Cathedral of Augsburg and Le Mans, mosaics in San Clemete, Rome, and in San Marco, Venice; colored panels and crosses from La Seo de Urgel, Sarzana, and the painted ceiling in St. Michael, Hildesheim; sculptures in Souillac, Autun, and Santiago de Compostela; examples of metalwork, of manuscripts and enamels.

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

The term Roman art distinguishes, in art history, the period between the eleventh and the thirteenth centuries. This era showed a great diversity of regional schools which were all specific in their own way. In architecture as well as in sculpture, Roman art is marked by its raw forms. Through its rich iconography and captivating text, this work rediscovers this art from the middle ages often despised today in comparison to Gothic art which succeeded thereafter.

Illustrated on nearly every page with color photographs, reproductions of art, drawings, or maps, this overview of Romanesque art and architecture is a visual feast of Western culture during the spread of Christianity, revealed here in hundreds of paintings, religious objects and sculpture, and buildings that have stood for nearly a thousand years.

By the end of the first millennium, both Christianity and Roman architecture were established throughout Europe. As the empire collapsed and Rome withdrew, the architectural traditions left behind — most notably the round arch — were the foundation of what became essentially Christian architecture. Later classified as Romanesque, this style of art and building flourished with the expanding influence of Christianity and monastic culture through the mid-13th century. In sections that explore the evolution of the Romanesque in various regions, this book spotlights such buildings as the fanciful gingerbread collegiate cathedral of St. George in Limburg an der Lahn, Germany, and the picturesque pilgrims' bridge across the Somport in Puente de la Reina, France. Here too are apocalyptic visions in manuscript illuminations in Christian Spain, "tainted" as they were by Moorish influences, and a stunning cathedral-shaped reliquary from Cologne that is domed, gilded, and peopled with saints carved from walrus tusk.

In a revolt against Rationalism, Romanticism was characterized by a return to nature and belief in the goodness of humanity, with the artist considered to be a profoundly individual creator. Beginning in the early 19th century, Romantic ideals developed largely in opposition to entrenchment in the traditions of Greco-Roman antiquity, and advocated an open-ended and progressive—that is, modern—view of the age. Yet Romantic artists, searching perhaps for unattainable ideals, also turned back to the late medieval and Renaissance periods for nostalgic themes from the Judeo-Christian heritage; with the aid of these themes, they believed that a politically and intellectually enlightened utopia could be achieved. Romantic styles and subjects varied widely throughout Europe and America, ranging from tranquil contemplative scenes to spectacularly staged events, and it is precisely this diversity that lends Romantic art its fascination and lasting influence.

Artists featured among others: Albert Bierstadt, George Bingham, William Blake, Carl Gustave Carus, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, John Constable, Peter von Cornelius, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Eugène Delacroix, Carl Philipp Fohr, Caspar David Friedrich, Henry Fuseli, François Gérard, Théodore Géricault, Francisco José de Goya, Antoine-Jean Gros, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Friedrich Overbeck, Franz Pforr, Pierre-Paul Prud`hon, Ludwig Richter, Carl Rottmann, Philipp Otto Runge, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Carl Spitzweg, William Turner

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

Harmony Between Man and Nature. Discover the artists who sought to capture utopia

Around 1800, philosophers, writers, and artists revolted against rationalism, spreading a new “romantic” vision — one that believed in the goodness of humanity, the divine spirit of nature, and that saw the artist as an individual creator. This comprehensive introduction gathers an essay situating the genre across different regions, crisp reproductions, and detailed interpretations of 31 crucial pieces.

In a revolt against rationalism, Romanticism sought to return to nature and the belief in the goodness of humanity, with the artist considered to be a profoundly individual creator. Beginning in the early 19th century, Romantic ideals developed largely in opposition to the traditions of Greco-Roman antiquity, and advocated an open-ended and progressive — that is, modern — view of the age.

Yet Romantic artists, searching perhaps for unattainable ideals, also looked back to the late medieval and Renaissance periods for nostalgic themes of Judeo-Christian heritage; drawing from these, they believed that a politically and intellectually enlightened utopia could be achieved. Romantic styles and subjects varied widely throughout Europe and America, ranging from tranquil contemplative scenes to spectacularly staged events, and it is precisely this diversity that lends Romantic art its fascination and lasting influence.

This volume gathers an essay situating the genre across different regions, crisp painting reproductions, and detailed interpretations of 31 crucial pieces to offer a comprehensive introduction to Romanticism.

The author:

Norbert Wolf graduated in art history, linguistics, and medieval studies at the Universities of Regensburg and Munich, and earned his PhD in 1983. He held visiting professorships in Marburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Nuremberg-Erlangen, and Innsbruck. His extensive writings on art history include many TASCHEN titles, such as Diego Velázquez, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Caspar David Friedrich, Expressionism, Romanesque, Landscape Painting, and Symbolism.

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 of which is presented on a 2-page spread with a full-page image and with an interpretation of
the respective work, plus a portrait and brief biography of the artist