Книги по живописи

A rich survey of the life and work of one of the most intriguing artists of the twentieth century.

Published in conjunction with an exciting exhibition at the Neue Galerie New York, opening in autumn 2007, this beautifully produced book features more than one hundred color plates in a generous layout that allows close viewing of the artist's paintings and drawings. Admirers of Klimt will discover fascinating essays by leading scholars, many containing new research and fresh insights. The essays' subjects include Klimt's earliest patrons; his studios; the role of photography in his erotic work; profiles of the most important women in the artist's life; his relationship with Gustav Mahler and Auguste Rodin; his never-before-published 1917 notebook; and an interview by Neue Galerie director Renée Price with Maria Altmann, heir to the five paintings stolen by the Nazis that were recently returned to her by the Austrian government. Perfect for casual perusing or serious study, this lavish exploration of Klimt's life and art, and the influence of Klimt on popular culture, is certain to find a wide audience.

A splendid volume featuring the work of Gustave Courbet, the great reviver of French nineteenth-century art, whose lifelike images continue to fascinate a diverse audience.

The life and works of Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) — widely considered one of the most outstanding advocates of Realism — represent a revolt against the academic tradition of painting and conservative politics. Technically masterful, his captivating paintings contrasted the idealization of nature with realistic representation, often triggering downright scandal among his contemporaries.

By examining Courbet’s major works — self-portraits, portraits, genre paintings, landscapes, nudes, hunting scenes, still lives — this splendid volume spans the Frenchman’s entire artistic career and his involvement with politics. Renowned experts shed light on his development of a realistic, critical style, describe his great influence on both contemporaries and later generations, and consider his works in their own art-historical context, as well as his relationship to early photography, which also strove to create a faithful reproduction of reality.

Die Graue Passion gilt als ein Hauptwerk von Hans Holbein d. Ä. (um 1465–1524) und als eine der ungewöhnlichsten Passionsfolgen der altdeutschen Kunst. Schon der Name des zwischen 1494 und 1500 entstandenen Zyklus weist auf die farbliche Gestaltung der Bildfolge hin. Ihr kommt innerhalb der europäischen Malerei eine einzigartige Stellung zu. Der vermutlich in Augsburg geborene Künstler zählt neben Martin Schongauer und Albrecht Dürer zu den bedeutendsten deutschen Malern seiner Zeit. Mit seiner Kunst steht Hans Holbein d. Ä. zwischen den Epochen, am Übergang von der Spätgotik zur Renaissance. Die Publikation verdeutlicht die künstlerische Herkunft und Wirkung der Grauen Passion durch eine exemplarische Werkauswahl der Vorgänger und Zeitgenossen Holbeins. Eine eingehende Dokumentation gibt Einblicke in die aufwendigen Restaurierungsarbeiten, die an den zwölf Bildtafeln vorgenommen wurden.

The “Gray Passion” is one of Hans Holbein the Elder’s great masterpieces, as well as one of the most unusual passion cycles in German art. Painted between 1494 and 1500, the cycle’s title refers to its color scheme. This set of panels occupies a unique position within European painting. Holbein, who was probably born in Augsburg around 1465, was one of the most important painters of his time, in a class with Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer. His art places him between eras, on the threshold between Late Gothic and the Renaissance. Thanks to the inclusion of an exemplary selection of works by Holbein’s predecessors and contemporaries, this publication sheds light on the artistic background and impact of the “Gray Passion.” Thorough documentation provides insight into the elaborate restoration of the cycle’s twelve panels.

120 illustrations

Born in Selingenstadt, Memling (1430/40-1494) left his native Germany to settle in Bruges in 1465, where the death of his supposed teacher, Rogier van der Weyden, left a near absence of competition.
Unlike one of his predecessors, Van Eyck, Memling, considered a minor artist for a long time, was not a painter of the court, but of the bourgeoisie. A man recognized and respected by the end of his life for his enormous talent, he amassed one of greatest fortunes in the city.
Forgotten during the 17th and the 18th centuries, Memling is nowadays regarded as one of the greatest painters of the United Provinces of the 15th century, thanks to the perfect balance between realism and idealization that permeates his portraits. His compositions, most often diptychs and triptychs for altarpieces, show a talent comparable to that of Van Eyck. His taste for detail and precision in drawing, his mastery of technique, and his sense of composition produced such magnificent works as The Last Judg ment (1466-1473), The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine (1479), and Seven Joys of the Virgin (1480).
Through its rich collection of reproductions of Memling’s major paintings, which highlight the fine faces and modest poses prescribed by the artistic canons of the ime, this work examines the complex talent of this mportant artist.

Happy land. The cheerful art of street culture's most famous proponent

By the time of his death from AIDS at the age of 31, Keith Haring (1958-1990) was already a wildly successful and popular artist. Haring’s original and instantly recognizable style, full of thick black lines, bold colours, and graffiti-inspired cartoon-like figures won him the appreciation of both the art world and the general public; his work appeared simultaneously on T-shirts, gallery walls, and public murals. In 1986, Haring founded Pop Shop, a boutique in New York’s SoHo selling Haring-designed memorabilia, to benefit charities and help bring his work closer to the public and especially street kids, with whom he never lost contact.

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 colour illustrations with explanatory captions

The author:

Alexandra Kolossa studied art history, German literature, and business administration in Trier. She took her doctorate in 2003. Since 1998 she has been a freelance author and contemporary art exhibition curator. She lives and works in Düren, Germany.

This two-volume edition includes a perfect facsimile of Matisse's seminal cut-out work: Jazz. At last, readers can experience Jazz as if holding the 1947 original.

The reputation of Henri Matisse (1869–1954) as the most important artist of the modern era is rivaled only by Picasso — who himself said, "All things considered, there is only Matisse."

Towards the end of his monumental career as a painter, sculptor, and lithographer, an elderly, sickly Matisse was unable to stand and use a paintbrush. So at almost 80 years of age, he developed a new technique: he drew shapes on colored paper, cut them out and pasted them together. These gouaches decoupées (gouache cut-outs) represented a revolution in modern art, yet their simplicity was dismissed by many critics as the folly of a senile old man. Later critics realized that Matisse had found a brilliant solution to the age-old conflict between line and color — one that would profoundly influence generations of artists to come.

Printed in exactly the same colors, using the same paper and inks as the 1947 edition, the facsimile volume allows readers to experience Jazz in its original, unbound form.

The second volume provides a thorough historical context to Matisse's cut-outs, tracing their genesis in his 1930 trip to Tahiti, through to his final years in Nice. Also included are other pivotal works from his later career, including his contributions to Verve magazine and his exquisite decoration of the Vence Chapel. Includes rare and historic photographs by Matisse taken in Tahiti, as well as photos of Matisse by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï, and the filmmaker Murnau. The text is supplemented by quotations from Matisse, Picasso, E. Tériade (the publisher of Jazz and Verve), the poets Louis Aragon, Henri Michaux, and Pierre Reverdy, and Matisse's son-in-law, Georges Duthuit.

- Printed with 18 different colors on a small offset press, only 4 pages at a time, to get the highest fidelity to the original
- The name of the paper is Old Mill from the Italian paper mill Fedrigoni in 190 gsm. The paper has archival quality and is, with its felt-like softness, much like hand-made paper
- Just like the original, this reprint is unbound and folded in signatures of 4 pages. It is protected by a French folded jacket and a hard-backed cover

A splendid book on the motif of the female figure in the oeuvre of the great resuscitator of European painting, Henri Matisse.

Throughout his career few other subjects inspired Henri Matisse (1869-1954) with such passion as the female figure in indoor settings. Many of his interiors focus on women—reading, daydreaming, or sleeping, as passive figures, reclining on chaise-longues, often clothed in exotic fabrics.

This book offers an in-depth view of this important motif in which Matisse developed and continually explored his rich and imaginative repertoire of forms and colors. It features outstanding paintings from all periods of his career, supplemented by ensembles of his bronze sculptures, his intricate drawings, and his cut-outs and prints. Historical photographs by Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï, Hélène Adant, and others show how leading art photographers saw Matisse's models and artfully designed studio interiors. An illustrated biography completes this exquisite presentation.

In this fascinating look at over 180 “hidden” images Helga Prignitz-Poda, one of the world’s leading authorities on the Mexican artist, pulls back the curtain on masterpieces that rarely, if ever, see the inside of an exhibition or gallery.

Illustrated with stunning reproductions of works that Prignitz-Poda has discovered over the course of her career, this book helps expand our knowledge and understanding of this hugely popular artist. Arranged chronologically, the works include those Kahlo completed in her youth, works from her travels to America, paintings she made as an instructor in Mexico City, and a number of still-lifes from the last phase of her career. From largely unknown images, such as embroidery-stitched at the age of five and doodles on love letters to her boyfriend Alejandro, to well-known works such as My Birth (1932), now owned by Madonna, and Remembrance of the Open Wound, which was destroyed in a fire, these “hidden” artworks create an invaluable resource for Frida Kahlo scholars and will be treasured by the painter’s many fans.

About the author:

Helga Prignitz-Poda is an art historian and specialist in Latin American studies and lives in Istanbul and Berlin. She is a co-editor of the catalogue raisonné of Frida Kahlo's work and curator of the exhibition.

Devil in the details. The symbols, monsters, and morals of a Netherlandish radical

A bird-monster devouring sinners, naked bodies in tantric contortions, a pair of ears brandishing a sharpened blade: with nightmarish details and fantastical painterly schemes, Netherlandish visionary Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) secured his place as an art historical magnet. 500 years on from his death, his extraordinary works continue to enthrall scholars, artists, designers, and musicians.

This large-scale TASCHEN monograph presents the complete Bosch oeuvre, celebrating the artist’s staggering compositional scope and most bizarre and intricate details through full-page reproductions, abundant details, and a fold-out spread drawn from The Last Judgement. With guidance from art historian and Bosch expert Stefan Fischer, we explore the many compelling elements that populate each scene, from hybrid creatures of man and beast, to painterly assaults on the body, and a pictorial use of proverbs and idioms. Particular attention is given to Bosch’s most famous work, the mesmerizing, terrifying triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Renaissance radical. The haunting visions of Hieronymus Bosch

Take home one of the most cult artists in history with this handy Bibliotheca Universalis edition, presenting all known works of Hieronymus Bosch. Through full spreads and carefully curated details, the book surveys the artist’s compositional scope as well as his most compelling, if disturbing, inventions, from horse-skulled harp players to devils on ice skates.

Only 20 paintings and eight drawings are confidently assigned to Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) but in their fantastical visions, they have secured his place as one of the most cult artists in history. 500 years on from his death, his works continue to inspire scholars, artists, designers, and musicians, death metal band names and designer dresses.

This Bibliotheca Universalis edition offers the complete and haunting Bosch world in one compact format. Through full spreads and carefully curated details, we explore the full reach and compelling inventions of the artist’s genius as well as disturbing imagination. We encounter his hybrid creatures, his nightmarish scenarios, his religious and moral framework, and his pictorial versions of contemporary proverbs and idioms. Along the way, art historian and Bosch expert Stefan Fischer reveals the most important themes and influences in these cryptic, mesmerizing masterpieces.

About the Author:

Stefan Fischer studied art history, history, and classical archaeology in Münster, Amsterdam, and Bonn. In 2009 he completed his doctoral thesis “Hieronymus Bosch: Malerei als Vision, Lehrbild und Kunstwerk.” His specialist fields are Netherlandish painting of the 15th to the 17th centuries and museology.

About the series:

Bibliotheca Universalis — Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!

Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together more than 100 of our all-time favourite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.

Bookworm’s delight — never bore, always excite!

Renaissance radical. An earthly delight not to be missed

In the midst of the realist-leaning artistic climate of the Late Gothic and Early Renaissance, Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) was more than an anomaly. Bosch’s paintings are populated with grotesque scenes of fantastical creatures succumbing to all manner of human desire, fantasy, and angst. One of his greatest inventions was to take the figural and scenic representations known as drolleries, which use the monstrous and the grotesque to illustrate sin and evil, and to transfer them from the marginalia of illuminated manuscripts into large-format panel paintings. Alongside traditional hybrids of man and beast, such as centaurs, and mythological creatures such as unicorns, devils, dragons, and griffins, we also encounter countless mixed creatures freely invented by the artist. Many subsidiary scenes illustrate proverbs and figures of speech in common use in Bosch’s day. In his Temptation of St Anthony triptych, for example, the artist shows a messenger devil wearing ice skates, evoking the popular expression that the world was “skating on ice” — meaning it had gone astray. In his pictorial translation of proverbs, in particular, Bosch was very much an innovator.

Bosch — whose real name was Jheronimus van Aken — was widely copied and imitated: the number of surviving works by Bosch’s followers exceeds the master’s own production by more than tenfold. Today only 20 paintings and eight drawings are confidently assigned to Bosch’s oeuvre. He continues to be seen as a visionary, a portrayer of dreams and nightmares, and the painter par excellence of hell and its demons.

Featuring brand new photography of recently restored paintings, this exhaustive book, published in view of the upcoming 500th anniversary of Bosch’s death, covers the artist’s complete works. Discover Bosch’s pictorial inventions in splendid reproductions with copious details and a huge fold-out spread, over 110 cm long, of The Garden of Earthly Delights. Art historian and acknowledged Bosch expert Stefan Fischer examines just what it was about Bosch and his painting that proved so immensely influential.

The author:

Stefan Fischer studied art history, history and classical archaeology in Münster, Amsterdam and Bonn. In 2009 he completed his doctoral thesis on “Hieronymus Bosch: Malerei als Vision, Lehrbild und Kunstwerk”. His specialist fields are Netherlandish painting of the 15th to the 17th century and museology.

Renaissance radical. The haunting visions of Hieronymus Bosch

Only 20 paintings and eight drawings are confidently assigned to Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) but in their fantastical visions they have secured his place as one of the most cult artists in history. 500 years on from his death, his works continue to inspire scholars, artists, designers, and musicians, death metal band names and designer dresses.

This edition offers the complete and haunting Bosch world in one compact format. Through full spreads and carefully curated details, we explore the full reach and compelling inventions of the artist’s genius as well as disturbing imagination. We encounter his hybrid creatures, his nightmarish scenarios, his religious and moral framework, and his pictorial versions of contemporary proverbs and idioms. Along the way, art historian and Bosch expert Stefan Fischer reveals the most important themes and influences in these cryptic, mesmerizing masterpieces.

The author:

Stefan Fischer studied art history, history, and classical archaeology in Münster, Amsterdam, and Bonn. In 2009 he completed his doctoral thesis “Hieronymus Bosch: Malerei als Vision, Lehrbild und Kunstwerk.” His specialist fields are Netherlandish painting of the 15th to the 17th centuries and museology.

About the series:

TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program — now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

Bosch lived and worked over 500 hundred years ago in the Netherlands’ town of ’s Hertogenbosch, from which he takes his name. He is best known for his fantastical, wondrous art full of strange creatures both grotesque and heavenly. The work he has left behind still defies the imagination. 

Taking account of the latest research, Hieronymus Bosch: Masterpieces of Art gives an overview of what is known of this elusive painter and draughtsman, and reproduces his (and some of his followers’) impressive work, from traditional Biblical stories with a Boschian twist, such as the Adoration of the Magi, to his apocalyptic Four Visions of the Hereafter. His diptychs and triptychs, such as the famously complex Garden of Earthly Delights are covered as well as his stunning line drawings, such as The Wood Has Ears, The Field Has Eyes.

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) was one of the last great artists in the ukiyo-e tradition. Literally meaning "pictures of the floating world", ukiyo-e refers to the famous Japanese woodblock print genre that originated in the 17th century and is practically synonymous with the Western world`s visual characterization of Japan. Though Hiroshige captured a variety of subjects, his greatest talent was in creating landscapes of his native Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and his most famous work was a series known as "100 Famous Views of Edo" (1856-1858). This book provides an introduction to his work and an overview of his career.

The author:

Adele Schlombs studied sinology, East Asian art history, European art history, and comparative religious studies at Cologne and Heidelberg Universities. From 1984 to 1987 she studied at Kyoto University and gained her doctorate in 1989 at Heidelberg University. In 1991, she took over the directorship of the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne and since then she has organized numerous loan exhibitions of Japanese and Chinese art.

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 colour illustrations with explanatory captions
-  a concise biography

Orient Expressed. The master of Japanese ukiyo-e

Hiroshige was one of the last great artists of ukiyo-e, the woodblock print genre that flourished between the 17th and 19th century and did much to determine the world’s visual concept of Japan. This dependable introduction leads you through the blossoming cherry trees, beautiful women, and dramatic ocean views that made Hiroshige a household name and became exemplary of Japonisme.

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) was one of the last great artists in the ukiyo-e tradition. Literally meaning “pictures of the floating world,” ukiyo-e was a particular woodblock print genre of art that flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries. Subjects ranged from the bright lights and attractions of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), to spectacular natural landscapes.

In the West, Hiroshige’s prints became exemplary of the Japonisme that swept through Europe and defined the Western world’s visual idea of Japan. Because they could be mass produced, ukiyo-e works were often used as designs for fans, greeting cards, and book illustrations. The style influenced Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Art Nouveau artists alike, with Vincent van Gogh and James Abbott McNeill Whistler both particularly inspired by Hiroshige’s landscapes.

This introductory book presents key images from Hiroshige’s vibrant, vivid portfolio of blooming cherry trees, beautiful women, Kabuki actors, and busy shopping streets to introduce one of the greats of Asian art history.

The author:

Adele Schlombs studied Sinology, East Asian art history, European art history, and comparative religious studies at Cologne and Heidelberg Universities. From 1984 to 1987 she studied at Kyoto University and gained her doctorate in 1989 at Heidelberg University. In 1991, she took over the directorship of the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne and since then she has organized numerous loan exhibitions of Japanese and Chinese art.

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