Книги по живописи

The inventor of modernity

Violently criticized during his lifetime for his supposedly provocative paintings, French painter Edouard Manet (1832-1883) is now considered a master of inestimable importance in the history of painting. His 1863 painting "Déjeuner sur l’herbe" depicting two clothed men picnicing with a nude woman—now considered one of the most memorable images of the 19th century—stirred up controversy for what many considered its vulgar audacity. It was famously rejected by the Paris Salon and exhibited in the Salon des Refusés. Manet’s bold style helped pave the way from Realism to Impressionism, and in doing so ushered in the age of modern 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 colour illustrations with explanatory captions

The author:
Gilles Néret (1933–2005) was an art historian, journalist, writer and museum correspondent. He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L'Œil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. His TASCHEN titles include Salvador Dalí: The Paintings, Matisse, and Erotica Universalis.

Lampooned during his lifetime for his style as much as his subject matter, French painter Édouard Manet (1832–1883) is now considered a crucial figure in the history of art, bridging the transition from Realism to Impressionism.

Manet’s work combined a painterly technique with strikingly modern images of contemporary life, centered on the urban Paris experience. He recorded the city’s parks, bars, and cabarets, often delighting in the frisson of underground or provocative content. The Paris salon rejected his Déjeuner sur l’herbe with its juxtaposition of fully dressed men and a nude woman, while the steady gaze and unabashed pose of the prostitute Olympia, a very modern reworking of Titian’s Venus of Urbino, caused a society scandal.

This richly illustrated book introduces Manet’s work and his uniquely influential combination of Realism, Impressionism, and reworked Old Masters that would become paradigms of a brave new world for generations of modernists to come.

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

Few artists have created as much controversy or survived it with greater fame than Edouard Manet.

In his day, the avant-garde was not only a challenge to the traditions of art, but it was also a gunshot fired at society as a whole.

With his painting Olympia (1869), Manet was to become, to quote Degas, as famous as Garibaldi. Yet how the urbane and diffident son of a bourgeois family became the father of both Realism and Impressionism is a complex and fascinating story that has too often been reduced to textbook clichés.

As Manet has become recognized as a touchstone for historical change but also for interpretations of how that change came about, his individual story has become all the more relevant to the study of art history.

Moreover, far from being an artists to shrink behind his work, one of Manets most characteristic practices was to leave an indelible trace of his own personal identity within his paintings, as illustrated throughout the volume by eminent scholar James H. Rubin.

This lavishly illustrated volume is presented in a handsome box set, and offers a comprehensive and original angle of study on the great master.

Animal expressions. Franz Marc’s search for a universal art

Franz Marc (1880–1916) became known principally for his images of animals: blue horses, yellow tigers, red fawns. What was it that led him to concentrate on painting animals? Marc himself explained his choice of subject matter in these words: “From an early date I felt humankind to be ‘ugly’; animals seemed to be possessed of greater beauty and purity...” Seeing Marc merely as a painter of animals proves, however, premature. Marc, cofounder of the Blauer Reiter group of Expressionist artists, was deeply dissatisfied with the impurity of the world and was on a quest for a universal art which would resolve the contrarieties of life in the harmony of creation. Using pure colours highly charged with symbolic values, adopting crystalline shapes, and absorbing the influence of Cubism, he moved steadily towards an abstract order of image, coming closer to his own understanding of a better world. At the age of 36, Franz Marc’s life was cut short when he died in the Battle of Verdun.

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

About the Author:

Susanna Partsch (born in 1952) studied art history first in Heidelberg and, between 1980 and 1985, at the Wilhelm Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Presently a freelance writer in Munich, she has written books on Rembrandt, Gustav Klimt, Franz Marc and Paul Klee.

Marc Chagall, who died in 1985 at the age of 97, was without doubt one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. In his paintings he created a unique world full of pathos, poetry, humour and enchantment, drawing on vivid memories of Vitebsk, his birthplace and childhood home in today`s republic of Belarus. He was clearly influenced by Byzantine and Russian icon painting and folk art, but wished his own mythologigal floating figures and symbolism to be interpreted freely.

The poetry and biblical inspiration of his paintings have always appealed to a broad public, and his works are collected, exhibited and admired all over the world. Chagall`s enormous œuvre, spanning seven decades, apart from paintings, gouaches, water-colours and graphic works includes stained-glass windows, ceramics, mosaics, tapestries and sculptures.

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!

For thirty-two years, the artist Margaret Mee was enchanted by and lured back again and again to the massive, unpredictable and fertile rainforests of Amazonas. Her initial objective, to search out and illustrate the glorious flora growing in the tree canopies and along the innumerable waterways of the great rivers of the Amazon basin, was later combined with a growing concern at the commercial plunder of the great forests.

Her first expedition to Amazonas was in 1956 and it was then that she began to keep the diaries that, along with her paintings, drawings and sketches, make up this book. Although plant hunting always came first whenever possible and practical, other events often took over. A small dug-out canoe could become a waterlogged, if not dangerous, place to be; rapids had to be got through; recalcitrant boatmen were gently or sternly coerced; drunken prospectors were held off with a revolver. She was fascinated by the rich mix of Brazilians she came across and often lived with for a time; she was especially fond of the riverines she met, and over the years became friends with many of them.

Between expeditions, some of which lasted for up to four months, Margaret returned home to Sul Paulo, to teaching commitments, and to her own painting. Unpredictable weather, transport and guides meant she often had to make hurried in situ sketches (always meticulously annotated) which she later worked up into coloured sketches and finished paintings.

In the Autumn of 1988, just after what was sadly to be her last expedition, Margaret came to England to lecture to the Royal Geographic Society and attend the opening of an exhibition of her paintings, Margaret Mee's Amazon, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is ironic that this enthusiastic lover of the Amazon, who had braved so many hazardous and alarming situations, was killed in a car crash in England. She was seventy-nine, keen to return to the Amazon, and still producing fine work. There is every reason to suppose that more passion and more painting would have been forthcoming. As it is, her legacy is incalculable.

Mark Rothko belongs to the generation of American artists who completely revolutionized the essence of abstract painting. His stylistic evolution, from a figurative visual repertoire to an abstract style rooted in the active relationship of the observer to the painting, embodied the radical vision of a renaissance in painting. Rothko characterized this relationship as "a consummated experience between picture and onlooker". His colour formations indeed draw the observer into a space filled with an inner light.

Rothko always resisted attempts to interpret his paintings. He was mainly concerned with the viewer's experience, the merging of work and recipient beyond verbal comprehension. Rothko was an intellectual, a thinker, a highly educated man. He loved music and literature and was very involved in philosophy, especially in the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche and of ancient Greek philosophy and mythology.

Rothko was a protagonist within the movement of American painters who became known as the Abstract Expressionists. First formed in New York City during the inter-war years, this group was also called the New York School. In all the history of art, they became the first American artists to receive international recognition as a significant movement. Many among them, including Rothko, have become legendary figures.

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

The first publication dedicated exclusively to Mark Rothko’s art during the critical formative period of the 1940s.

Examining the development and artistic exploration of one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, this unprecedented volume presents the works of American artist MarkRothko from the 1940s, a time when his most essential development as a painter occurred, dramatically and in a very compact space of time. During this period, Rothko moved from expressive figurative and surrealist canvases to more abstract multiform subjects and finally to his signature abstractions - luminous rectangles of colour suspended in space.

Richly illustrated with works by Rothko and his contemporaries, and with essays by prominent Rothko scholars, this important new book deepens our understanding of Rothko’s art during this vital period, and that of the mature works that emerged from it.

About the Author:

Todd Herman is the director of the Arkansas Arts Center. David Anfam is an independent scholar in London and the author of the Rothko catalogue raisonné of works on canvas. Modern and contemporary American art scholar Bradford R. Collins is the chair of the University of South Carolina’s art department. Harry Cooper is a curator of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Ruth Fine is a curator of special projects in modern art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the author of the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Rothko’s works on paper. The son of Mark Rothko, Christopher Rothko is a writer and psychologist.

Пролистать книгу  Mark Rothko: The Decisive Decade: 1940-1950

Acrylic, watercolours, oil, and pastel colours are the four classical means of artistic expression in painting. With this practice-oriented introduction readers can learn about them by trying their own hand at painting and perfecting their skills step-by-step. The book provides an overview of the artist's tools and the various types of painting. The wealth of illustrative information ranges from simple everyday objects to still life and landscapes, the human body and portrait painting. Examples of each genre demonstrate the various stages of painting a picture. This enables learners to improve their technique from the very first sketch to the most complex composition: Mastering the Art of Painting is the ideal introduction for the prospective artist!

Famous Manuscripts - The fascinating world of medieval miniature painting and illumination. From "The Book of Kells" to Boccaccio's "Decameron" and from the "Vienna Genesis" to Dante's "Divine Comedy" - see the breathtaking originals of 167 of the greatest classics of all time. This lavishly produced book introduces the reader to the fascinating world of medieval miniature painting and illumination. 167 of the most beautiful and important medieval scripts from the 4th century to 1600 are presented in chronological order and described in full. Each sample of script is headed by a highly informative synopses which serves to orient the reader at a glance. These synopses - together with the abundance of brilliant, large-format reproductions - make this book unparalleled in its field. Although the focus is on European manuscripts (French, Dutch, German, Italian, English and Spanish), examples have also been selected to illustrate the refinement and intricacy of manuscript illumination from non-European cultures (Mexican, Persian, Indian, Ottoman etc.).

A 36-page appendix contains biographies of the artists as well as an extensive bibliography, an index and, most importantly, a glossary in which the technical terms used in the book can quickly be found. This is a rare opportunity to come face-to-face with incredibly precious treasures that one would otherwise never see-treasures once belonging to emperors and kings, and now worth many millions.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings and prints focused on the theater, dance halls, cafés, and even brothels of late-19th-century Paris. Brimming with emotion and atmosphere, his works were characterized by a distinctive and masterly handling of line. This volume illuminates the unique place Toulouse-Lautrec came to occupy in French art during his short lifetime of 37 years.

Jan Vermeer's mysterious and poetic paintings - with their luminous power and their simple, studied, everyday scenes - continue to fascinate us. This volume reproduces all of Vermeer's known works, including Saint Praxedis, which had only recently been validated by scholars as an important early work of the artist at the time of the book's original publication.

290 color ills

The history of Impressionism, including its forerunners, the great masters, and the representatives of Neo-Impressionism and Pointillism, is closely traced in this publication by exploring the Wallraf’s unparalleled collection.

The Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud—“Wallraf” for short—is Cologne’s oldest museum and one of Germany’s great picture galleries, boasting one of the most important accumulations of Western art—from the Middle Ages through to the early twentieth century—in Germany. In fact, the museum’s collection of Impressionist paintings is the largest in the country, not least because of the Fondation Corboud’s contributions, which in 2001 became part of the Wallraf when they were donated by the Swiss collector Gérard J. Corboud.

The Impressionist treasures among the Wallraf’s collection are presented here for the first time in a splendid, richly-illustrated volume. Monet, Renoir, Sisley, and the works of many other great masters are the focus of this book, providing a feast for the eyes on a tour of the history of art from 1874 through to 1926.

The Fauvist. Brilliant colour, simple forms, and purity of expression are the hallmarks of  Matisse's work

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) is known not only as one of the most important French painters of the 20th century but also as co-founder and leading exponent of Fauvism. His work reflects an ongoing quest for the expressive power of pure, brilliant colours and simple forms; as a result, the realistic presentation of nature often retires to a secondary position.

For Matisse, color did not serve as a tool for the expression of subjective feelings, but rather became the equivalent of light itself: it functioned as a pure medium in the creation of an autonomous pictorial space: "Out of my fruitful work with discovered tones there must emerge a vital colour harmony, a harmony that is analogous to a musical composition."

As a creative artist, Matisse was not only a painter but also experimented with other materials: he produced glass windows and theater designs and created significant sculptures in bronze, ceramic and clay. In old age, confined to a wheelchair, he created collages with coloured paper, glue, and scissors: his famed gouache cut-outs.

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

A color harmony that is analogous to a musical composition

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) is known not only as one of the most important French painters of the 20th century but also as co-founder and leading exponent of Fauvism. His work reflects an ongoing quest for the expressive power of pure, brilliant colors and simple forms; as a result, the realistic presentation of nature often retires to a secondary position.

For Matisse, color did not serve as a tool for the expression of subjective feelings, but rather became the equivalent of light itself: it functioned as a pure medium in the creation of an autonomous pictorial space: "Out of my fruitful work with discovered tones there must emerge a vital color harmony, a harmony that is analogous to a musical composition."

As a creative artist, Matisse was not only a painter, but also experimented with other materials: he produced glass windows and theatre designs and created significant sculptures in bronze, ceramic and clay. In old age, confined to a wheelchair, he created collages with coloured paper, glue, and scissors: his famed gouache cut-outs.

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:

Volkmar Essers, born in 1944, studied art history, archaeology, and German in Bonn, Munich and Berlin. In 1972 he earned his doctorate with a work on the sculptor Johann Friedrich Drake. For many years, he has been the curator for the Art Collection of North Rhine-Westphalia, where he organized exhibitions of Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock and other artists. Essers has also published numerous essays and books on art of the 19th and 20th centuries.