Oversize Art Books: Home

From the work of Lalique to the geometric Liberty designs, this book makes clear evidence of the international scope and appeal of Art Nouveau jewelry.

While many people recognize Shaker furniture by its pure lines, preservation of the natural beauty of wood, and meticulous but understated craftsmanship, few are well-versed in its cultural and spiritual context. By combining in-depth commentary on the Shaker tradition with detailed technical information and superb photographs, Rieman and Burks have created the most authoritative volume to date on the identification and authentication of individual pieces of Shaker furniture. The entire range of Shaker furniture is covered. Most studies concentrate on the favored period between 1820 and 1850, called the "gospel simplicity" era, but this comprehensive survey stretches back to the very beginning of the nineteenth century and forward into our own. The authors examine every aspect of Shaker construction, from wood selection to joinery techniques, moldings, and locking mechanisms. Not only have they examined hundreds of pieces, but they have also scrutinized numerous documents, including diaries, journals, records, and oral histories. Their efforts have yielded the names and life dates of more than 250 craftsmen.

With this lavishly illustrated monograph, historian Antonio Roman sheds new light on Saarinen's most important works, and argues for his relevance as a pivotal figure in the history of American architecture.

Two of Europe's foremost garden historians demonstrate the features and structure of the traditional English formal garden. Photographs and drawings document ten full tours of such prominent sites as Parnham House, Hestercombe Garden, Sissinghurst Castle, and other gems of the British Isles. 150 color illus. 70 bandw drawings and plans.

This book offers the reader an immersion into the world by means of artful detail in intimately explored rooms and spaces, ranging over the whole of Wright's oeuvre with a multitude of color photographs.

The genius of the renowned artist is revealed in this volume, through the paintings that made him famous and through the artistically designed environment of the home he built. Olana, the masterwork of his career.

Frederick Law Olmsted was a man of passionate vision and drive. He defined the profession of landscape architecture and designed America's most outstanding landscapes, many gorgeously illustrated here, including New York's Central Park, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, the U.S. Capitol grounds, and the Biltmore Estate. During a remarkable forty-ear career that began in the mid-1800s, Olmsted created the first major urban parks and park systems in this country, along with widely influential suburban residential communities. He was a pivotal figure in the movement to create scenic reservations and national parks, such as Niagara Falls, Yosemite, and Yellowstone. A comprehensive view of the man and this work, this updated edition of the Rizzoli classic marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of this seminal American landscape designer and includes new photography of Olmsted's masterworks, Central and Prospect parks, as well as a new introduction and new final chapter by the author that examines Olmsted's ongoing influence.

Rachel "Bunny" Mellon's greatest passion was garden design. She and her husband, Paul Mellon, one of the wealthiest men in America, maintained homes in New York, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Antigua, and Upperville, Virginia, and she designed the gardens at all of them. She also designed gardens for some of her dearest friends, including the Rose Garden and the East Garden at the White House, at the request of President Kennedy, and the gardens at both the Paris home and the château of couturier Hubert de Givenchy.

This is a book of ravishing images and intriguing stories of triumphs and reversals of fortune as well as the inevitable shifts in taste and influences which have shaped these extraordinary places. The selections have been made with an emphasis on gardens that can be visited.

A comprehensive overview of the careers of California's most famous architects of the Craftsman style, with their sensual blending of architecture, landscape, interiors, furnishings and the decorative arts.

A monograph on one of the very first modernist architects, the Californian Irving J. Gill

This book, a comprehensive survey of the history of landscape design, considers what the evolution of human interaction with with the land reveals about the development of society, and how the resulting cities, parks and gardens embody the values of the cultures that planned and built them.

Frank Lloyd Wright, an American architect, pioneered the organic style of architecture. His most famous buildings - Fallingwater and Guggenheim Museum - have inspired generations of architects and an entire school dedicated to teaching his principles. Less well-known are the contributions Wright brought to landscape and site design. His designs holistically integrated inside and outside, and he was a precursor in the field of sustainable, environmentally sensitive use of plant materials, climate, and natural lighting. This work examines Wright's residential and public work and his urban design initiatives.

American design during the period1920 to 1945 witnessed many influences and styles. The arrival of a number of émigré artists, such as Eliel Saarinen, Josef and Anni Albers, Gertrud and Otto Natzler and Paul T. Frankl, as well as the landmark 1925 Art Deco exposition in Paris, the Bauhaus in both of its manifestations in Weimar Germany, and the World of Tomorrow exhibition at the 1939 New York World's Fair, all contributed to the shift from the handmade objects of the Arts and Crafts Movement to the streamlined, geometric forms of modernism.

The authors examine the material culture of the Native American tribes, the objects produced, materials and methods used and the reasons for each according to the different regions of the country, the availability of ingredients and the techniques used from the birchbark and beadwork of the northeast to the adobe and weaving of the southwest.

This book draws our attention back to the birth of Art Deco--a period between the two world wars when industrialization was flourishing, interest in archaeology was peaking and movements such as Cubism, Constructivism, Futurism and Modernism were renewing the art world. The book is filled with hundreds of examples of painting, architecture, interiors, jewelry, crafts, furniture and fashion. Author Norbert Wolf traces the chronology of the Art Deco style by looking at the politics and culture of Europe in the 1920s and early 30s and the artistic movements that paralleled its popularity. He follows Art Deco's influence in Europe and its spread to the Americas and Asia.

The legendary interior design firm of Parish-Hadley Associates set the standard for style in the finest American houses for more than three decades, from the nineteen-sixties through the nineteen-nineties.

Focusing on modern California homes with their characteristic open plans and freewheeling indoor/outdoor living made possible by the conversion of World War II technologies to peacetime, civilian use, California Design 1930-1965, Living in a modern way is the first comprehensive survey of mid-century California furniture, ceramics, graphic and industrial design, architecture, metalwork, textiles and fashion.
This monumental study accompanied a major exhibition organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from October 1, 2011 through March 25, 2012.

This book brings a sound knowledge of the main ceramic methods to both the beginner and the practicing craftsman wanting to extend their approach to design and technique. Each chapter features a rich array of step-by-step explanations with examples of contemporary work. Ideas range from a thrown cup and saucer, a hand-formed interpretation of the human figure, a press-moulded jug with sprigged decoration, and slipcast vessels with the distinctive crackled surface of raku. Accessible and inspiring, the book uncovers both the practical essentials and the creative secrets of working with clay.

The noted turn-of-the-century designer Gustav Stickley was a major proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement in decorative arts, home building and furnishing styles. Stickley combined the roles of designer and manufacturer, architect, publisher, philosopher, and social critic. He is best known today for his straightforward furniture, sometimes called “mission” or “Craftsman” furniture. This catalogue published to accompany an exhibition held at the Dallas Museum of Art, covers all aspects of Stickley's design and production including furniture, metalwork and textiles, as well as design and architectural drawings.

Milton Glaser's signature graphic design style is characterized by a bold, playful approach to illustration and typography, often incorporating psychedelic colors, bold outlines, and silhouettes. He drew from diverse influences like comic books, Art Nouveau, Renaissance art, and Islamic ornamentations to create a unique visual language that was both conceptually inventive and conceptually rich. His work is known for its distinctive blend of high-art concepts with low-art popular culture and the use of vibrant, flat colors to create high chromatic intensity.
Glaser emphasized the importance of drawing, his thoughts on replacing the word "art" with "work" to connect creativity to daily life, and the book includes examples of preliminary sketches that offer a glimpse into his studio thinking.
Glaser's own commentary and interviews provide a deep dive into his design process, thoughts on creativity, and the fundamentals of good design. His strong belief in the importance of drawing as a fundamental tool for observation and conceptual development, is emphasized as he saw it being lost in the age of digital media.

The dynamic relationship between rock music and visual art crosses continents, generations, and cultures. Beginning with Andy Warhol’s involvement with The Velvet Underground in 1967, artists have maintained a strong connection to rock. Artists such as Slater Bradley, Mike Kelley, and Raymond Pettibon have created album covers and music videos for rock bands, while rock musicians such as Bryan Ferry, John Lennon, and Peter Townsend have emerged from art schools, and punk and new wave bands such as Talking Heads and Sonic Youth have shared the same social and artistic milieu as artists including Robert Longo and Richard Prince.
Presenting work that defies a more literal interpretation of the theme and instead suggests the style, energy, and attitude that has come to be associated with rock and roll, Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967 looks at the intimate and inspired relationship between the visual arts and rock-and-roll culture, charting their intersection through works of art, album covers, music videos, and other materials. The essays within examine rock-and-roll's style, celebrity, and identity politics in art; the experience, energy, and sense of devotion rock music inspires.

The book begins with a brief prelude describing the roots of Impressionism in America, then continues with an account of American artists visiting Claude Monet's Giverny; then, an evaluation of the progress of Impressionism in America from avant-garde aesthetic to mainstream success beginning with the 1983 Chicago World's Fair finally ending with the movement's eventual decline giving way to the more radical styles on Modernism.

Illustrated with copious color illustrations, the book provides fascinating evidence of the artist, his family and friends through his own writings and the reminiscences of his contemporaries, offering a fresh understanding of a genuinely innovative artist.

This massive monograph on Oldenburg was published in conjunction with an exhibition held at the National Gallery, Washington, D.C. and The Guggenheim Museum, NY.. Features essays are by Germano Celant, Dieter Koepplin, Marla Prather, and Mark Rosenthal. Includes 363 illustrations of which 305 are in color. This is the most comprehensive to date on Oldenburg and his multifaceted art. Interweaving photographs of installations and Happenings, texts, reproductions of the sculptures and drawings, this lavishly produced book traces Oldenburg's entire career.

Lavishly illustrated and heavily researched, this book explores Degas's love of the ballet against the backdrop of the Paris Opera home of France's national ballet company and the daily lives of the dancers.

This extensive new assessment of Hopper, which accompanied a major traveling exhibition, examines the dynamics of the artist's creative process and discusses his work within the cultural currents of his day--examining the influence not only of other painters, but also of such media as literature and film. And while most studies have tended to see Hopper as the great painter of alienation, this one takes a much broader, more nuanced, and ultimately more representative view. Spanning the entirety of Hopper's career, but with particular emphasis on his heyday in the 30s and 40s, Edward Hopper highlights the artist's greatest achievements while discussing such topics as his absorption of European influences, critical reactions to his work, the relation of Realism to Modernism, the artist's fascination with architecture, his depiction of women, and the struggle in his last years to produce original works. Illustrated with over 150 oils, watercolors and prints, and including essays by several noted scholars in the field and an extensive chronology and bibliography, this is the most comprehensive volume on Hopper produced in this century..

With over 200 reproductions, the book covers the complexity and beauty of the works of such masters as Giotto, Taddeo Gaddi, Pacino di Bonaguida and many others. Particular interest is placed on artists who worked as painters as well as manuscript illuminators.

The authoritative collection of graphics, including woodcuts, engravings, lithographs and mezzotints. from Escher's early through late periods informed by commentary by the artist himself.

This is the first comprehensive study of Jasper Johns work between 1980 and 2015. Concentrating on the visual and iconographic complexity of the paintings, works on paper and drawings of this period, his work is analyzed in concert with conversations between the artist and the author.

With essays by Elizabeth Carpenter and Joseph Ruzicka, the book offers context and new insights based on conversations with the artist and his printers and collaborators.

Portraits and other works from this period in color reproductions.

A practical and comprehensive guide to printmaking techniques. This is the fully revised second edition.

This collection of Rothko's iconic paintings includes fifty large-scale paintings with essays by the artist's son Christopher Rothko and Janet Bishop, curator of painting the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Hundreds of illustrations are included, many in full color, highlight a detailed look at the immense restoration work done on Michelangelo's masterpiece, showing how the cleaning of the Sistine Chapel frescoes has revealed intense, vivid colors that for years have been hidden for centuries by dirt and soot from candle smoke.

Beautifully illustrated, this history of one of the epics of Western art history, the story of the still life from the ancient world to the twentieth century is fascinating to read and the illustrations, a pleasure observe and contemplate. One will learn about the origin of the still life in ancient Greek images of xenia, or "hospitality gifts," and how these evocative pictures evolved into the superb trompe l'oeil still-life mural paintings of the Roman Empire. The book continues with the still life's re-emergence in sixteenth-century Europe and its new associations with the cycles of nature and with Christian moralism, and follows its development to the pure still lifes of the eighteenth century and beyond, encompasses the meticulous realism of the Old Masters, including the dynamic compositions of Courbet and his fellow Realists. It continues with the work of Monet and Renoir, the powerful forms of Cezanne and Picasso, and later with the Pop Art witticisms of Tom Wesselmann and Roy Lichtenstein.

This book covers all the periods of Picasso's incredibly versatile career, with reproductions of nearly every work of significance. Each author is an expert authority on a particular period of the artist's artistic evolution.

This book is the catalogue of the first major exhibition devoted to the artist's paintings organized by the National Gallery, Washington, D.C. The essays examine de Kooning's complex painting techniques and situate his art in the context of his forebears and contemporaries.

Mary Cassatt Modern Woman contains more than 100 richly printed dolor plates showing the development of the artist from her earliest days in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania through her years in Paris with Degas, Pissarro and Renoir at the very center of Impressionism and the development of Modern.
Published to accompany a traveling exhibition opening at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Bibliographical references and an index are included.

This comprehensive catalogue was published in conjunction with a retrospective exhibition mounted by Le Centre Pompidou in Paris and Milwaukee Art Museum.
Wassily Kandinsky's (1866-1944) career is traced from his artistic beginnings in Munich with the formation of the Blue Rider group through the development of his abstract style, his work at the Bauhaus through his final period in Paris and his death during World War II.

As the American Impressionist painters witnessed the transformation of the country from an agrarian to an industrialized urban society, they were simultaneously excited by the changes and nostalgic for the reassuring and familiar past. William Merritt Chase became the first major American painter to create Impressionist canvases in the United States. By the early 1890s, Impressionism was firmly established as a valid style of painting for American artists.
While some American artists adopted only the surface effects of Impressionism, simply to accommodate collectors’ evolving taste, many of them shared the French Impressionists’ conviction that modern life should be recorded in a vibrant modern style. Their works bear witness to their creators’ experiences abroad and at home, and offer tantalizing reflections of a dynamic period as well as enchanting records of color and light.
Many American artists worked in the Impressionist style into the 1920s, but innovation had long since waned. By 1910, the less genteel approach of urban realists known as the Ashcan School had emerged. In 1913, the immense display of avant-garde European art at the Armory Show made even the Ashcan School seem old-fashioned.
The American Impressionists’ focus on familiar subjects and their rapid painting techniques would leave an indelible mark on American painting.

This catalogue accompanying an exhibition of the same title, organized by the Denver Art Museum in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, shows the in-depth exploration of Vincent van Gogh’s unconventional path to becoming one of the world’s most recognizable artists. Becoming Van Gogh examines critical steps in his artistic evolution through paintings and drawings by Van Gogh, along with works by artists to whom he responded such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Camille Pissarro.
Considering the relative brevity of van Gogh’s active period (barely ten years) and the fascination with his decline in the popular imagination, a good portion of the exhibition was devoted to works created in the early and mid-1880s, following van Gogh’s decision to devote himself to artmaking. Among these earlier pieces were items highlighting his training in drawing—both by his own devices (copying from drawing manuals of the time) and through his relatively brief formal instruction in Paris.
Becoming Van Gogh surveys the full arc of his work through a number of key formative periods throughout the artist’s career, from early to late, inclusive of the artist’s process of development, his very emergence and training as an artist, hence the “becoming” of the exhibition’s title.

Catalogue published to accompany a major exhibition at the National Gallery, London covers the 1470s in Florence and the artists an their patrons of the time.

One of the most important and influential photographers of the twentieth century, Brassai (1899-1984) moved to Paris from Hungary in 1924. He is best known for chronicling the city in the 1930s & for his portraits of artists such as Picasso, Matisse, and writers including Henry Miller. His fifty-year artistic career also encompassed drawing, sculpture, writing, and filmmaking. Here are Brassai's iconic scenes of nocturnal Paris with its prostitutes and thugs, its night workers, cafes, dance halls, and theaters; here are the fog-shrouded streets, monuments, and bridges; and here is the literary and artistic elite of the Parisian avant-garde, whom Brassai counted among his friends. Alongside these images, and providing a deeper understanding of his working method, are many previously unpublished contact prints and variations of familiar shots taken from a different angle, differently framed, or as part of a sequence that constitutes a veritable short story on film. Beyond these, there are examples of Brassai's nude studies and magnifications of commonplace objects, the engraved photographic plates that he called "transmutations," his drawings and sculpted pebbles, the graffiti he found so fascinating - indeed, everything to which he turned his imaginative mind throughout a long, productive life."

Alongside step-by step tutorials, top image-makers from around the world provide real and practical advice on setting up a studio, creating a killer portfolio, and winning commissions. This book offers a master class for students and professional designers and illustrators who want to take their work beyond the constraints of two-dimensions and gain greater commercial success.

Traces the life and career of the iconic photographer through a selection of renowned as well as previously unpublished photographs and includes two insightful essays.

This publication explores the complex relationship between American art and early film. From the photographs of Eadweard Muybridge and Thomas Eakins of the 1880s to the first films of the 1890s, which drew upon the established conventions of American art, to the New York films and art of the first decades of the twentieth century, the struggle between art and film both polarized and inspired the artists of the era.

This copiously illustrated analysis of the visual style of film noir upon close examination reveals this book to be a series of extremely specific descriptions and analyses-- of the lighting, body language, expressions and camera angles demonstrated in a set of film production stills. In addition to the visual style expressed by such characteristics as velvety blacks, deep shadows and character-driven wardrobes, sets and props, it shows how every element of each shot can contribute to the content of the scene.

Matthew Palmer's new book shows you just how easy it is to produce fantastic landscapes on your tablet. Using clear, no-nonsense instruction and plenty of helpful, practical advice, you will quickly learn everything you need, from preparing your colors to adding atmosphere to your landscapes. The book shows you simple exercises to practice essential techniques in handling your tablet, then leads you into 6 full and varied landscape projects.

A collection of the Artist's work from 1990 to 2005. Her life, personal photographs as well as her professional work are all included. These photographs form a life narrative rich in contrasts and continuities.

This is the first comprehensive history of Black photographers. This collection of photographs of black life has been gathered by the author, a curator of photography at the Smithsonian Institution. Every style from the classic to avant-garde is represented in this book, and virtually every subject, including civil rights, spirituality, celebrity, culture, identity, and recurring scenes of family life.

Drawing upon hundreds of previously unseen images, this collection reveals Capa as one of the great poets of the camera. In these photographs, we see the world through the eyes of a driven humanist who was also a documentarian of the highest caliber. While previous volumes on Capa have focused on his role as a war photographer, Robert Capa: Photographs shows us the remarkable range of his work: the sufferings as well as the tenderness, humor, and wonder of his subjects.The extraordinary book includes poignant comments by Capa's close friend Henri Cartier-Bresson and by Cornell Capa (Robert's younger brother and the Founding Director of the International Center of Photography), as well as a historical essay by Robert Capa biographer Richard Whelan. The dramatic collection of images in Robert Capa: Photographs shows that he captured--through the events of history--the very heart of humanity.

This publication of the photographic work of the controversial artist was issued on the occasion of the exhibition Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium, on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, from March 15 to July 31, 2016, and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from March 20 to July 31, 2016.

The rarely exhibited photographs gathered in Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand are among the crown jewels of the Metropolitan’s collection. Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946), Edward Steichen (1879–1973), and Paul Strand (1890–1976) are among the most famous photographers of the 20th century. This handsome volume showcases for the first time the Metropolitan Museum’s extraordinarily rich holdings of works by these diverse and groundbreaking masters.

In 1902, an avant-garde band of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz, began to champion their work as art, rather than as a form of documentation, in an exhibit at the National Arts Club in New York. They called themselves the Photo-Secession and are now considered to be the best and most original photographers of their day. This is the first book to recreate that monumental exhibit, with 100 colour plates complemented by text from noted art scholar William Innes Homer. This beautiful book and remarkable tribute to Stieglitz and his contemporaries is a must for all art lovers.

The photographs by Annie Leibovitz in Women, taken especially for the book, encompass a broad spectrum of subjects: a rap artist, an astronaut, two Supreme Court justices, farmers, coal miners, movie stars, showgirls, rodeo riders, socialites, reporters, dancers, a maid, a general, a surgeon, the First Lady of the United States, the secretary of state, a senator, rock stars, prostitutes, teachers, singers, athletes, poets, writers, painters, musicians, theater directors, political activists, performance artists, and businesswomen. "Each of these pictures must stand on its own," Susan Sontag writes in the essay that accompanies the portraits. "But the ensemble says, So this what women are now -- as different, as varied, as heroic, as forlorn, as conventional, as unconventional as this."

Published to accompany the first European exhibition of Steichen's work after his death, aged ninety-three, this book captures the trajectory of his entire career and includes a full bibliography and a chronology of his life and career, making this is the most complete and wide-ranging volume.
Edward Steichen, born in Luxembourg in 1879, was a key figure of twentieth-century photography, directing its development as a prominent photographer and influential curator. Steichen came to the United States in 1881, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1900. He painted and worked in lithography, before undertaking photography in 1896, and first exhibited photographs at the Philadelphia Salon in 1899.
Steichen painted in Paris intermittently between 1900 and 1922; there he was exposed to modern art movements, and was thus able to advise Stieglitz on exhibition selections. Steichen helped Stieglitz establish the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, which became known as "291."In 1902, he cofounded the Photo-Secession and designed the first cover of Camera Work, in which his work was often published. In New York. He was director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art from 1947 to 1962, and was responsible for more than fifty shows, including The Family of Man in 1955, the most popular exhibition in the history of photography.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition Capa in Color at the International Center of Photography, January 31-May 4, 2014. Famed photojournalist and founder of Magnum Photos, Robert Capa was primarily known for his black-and-white images. But after World War II he turned increasingly to color, fulfilling assignments for a variety of popular magazines such as Life and Holiday. This volume reproduces Capa's color images in a wide variety of forms including prints, magazine spreads, book jackets, and other ephemera, revealing the photographer at a point in his career when his role as director of Magnum required that he keep up with current technology--both as a business decision and a way of capturing new assignments.
Over the years, this aspect of Capa’s career has virtually been forgotten. With over 150 contemporary color prints by the famous photojournalist, Capa in Color presents this work as an integral part of his postwar career and fundamental in remaining relevant to magazines.

Born into a wealthy New York family in 1898, Marguerite 'Peggy' Guggenheim was one of the greatest art collectors of the 20th century. Using her inheritance to open her first art gallery, Peggy's love of art lead her to eventually settle in Venice, where she relaunched her life after becoming the star of the 1948 Venice Art Biennale.
In Encounters with Peggy Guggenheim, renowned photographer Stefan Moses presents his collection of photographs of Guggenheim, taken between 1969 and 1974, many of which have never been seen before. Moses photographed Guggenheim in her favorite places around Venice, as well as in her private palazzo at Canal Grande, which later opened as a museum. Moses captures the personality of this genuinely eccentric character.

These breathtaking houses and gardens have been photographed by such celebrated photographers as François Halard, Oberto Gili, Mario Testino and Bruce Weber among others; such writers as Hamish Bowles, Joan Juliet Buck, Plum Sykes, Jonathan Van Meter and Chloe Malle give you an intimate view of the owners and how they live. A resource and inspiration for designers, architects, and landscape architects. Rich in ideas for all readers as well.