Искусство

Le Bonheur de Vivre. The vital colors and shapes of a modernist master

The work of Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954) reflects an ongoing belief in the power of brilliant colors and simple forms. Though famed in particular for his paintings, Matisse also worked with drawing, sculpture, lithography, stained glass, and collage, developing his unique cut-out medium when old age left him unable to stand and paint.

Matisse's subjects were often conventional: nudes, portraits, and figures in landscapes, Oriental scenes, and interior views, but in his handling of bold color and fluid draftsmanship, he secured his place as a 20th-century master. It was Matisse's palette that particularly thrilled the modern imagination. With vivid blue, amethyst purple, egg-yolk yellow, and many shades beyond he liberated his work from a meticulous representation of reality and sought instead a vital harmony, often referring to music as an inspiration or analogy for his work.

From vast patterned panels to simple and tender portraits, this book introduces the full reach and creativity of Matisse's career, spanning his early work within the Fauvism movement right through to his latter-year projects such as Jazz and the Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence.

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

The search for balance, purity and serenity. An indispensable survey about a lodestar of modern art

The extraordinary significance of the painter and sculptor Henri Matisse in the history of modern art, but also his influence, was no less decisive than that of his main rival, Pablo Picasso. In fact, Matisse's stylistic liberation actually goes one step further in the pursuit of his own personal goal — the perfect synthesis of line and color — by which he sought revolutionary approaches to the great tradition of French painting by drawing upon its classical aspects.

For those who wish to know more about this lodestar of modern art and follow the adventurous path of his creative career, this publication is surely the most comprehensive and informative source available. Lavishly illustrated, its authoritative commentaries trace the artist's search for balance, purity and serenity, from the chromatic brilliance of his Fauve period, through his travels, the Orient, geometric synthesis (it was he who introduced Picasso to African art by giving him his first mask), and the odalisques to the final triumph when, at the age of eighty, he invented his gouache cut-outs that culminated in his illustrations for Jazz and allowed him to achieve his goal of sculpting in paint just as a sculptor works in stone.

Matisse is widely acknowledged as an artist whose canvases are extremely difficult to reproduce in print. With this in mind, each work presented here has been painstakingly compared with the respective original, in close collaboration with the artist's grandson, Claude Duthuit. The bard of color deserves no less.

The author:

Xavier-Gilles Néret is a teacher of Philosophy in the region of Paris. Like his father Gilles Néret he is passionate about philosophy, as well as poetry and art. He has been working on the figures who unite these disciplines, notably Stéphane Mallarmé. He is also interested in less known figures such as the poet Claude Tarnaud or the artists Barnard Saby and Pascal Doury, on which he has published books and articles.

288 illustrations in color

Max Ernst (1891–1976) is one of the most significant and influential artists of the twentieth century. Influenced by two world wars, he repeatedly questioned and adjusted his repertoire of expression throughout his entire career and reflected on the potentials of art with vast inventiveness. His complex pictorial worlds now seem more relevant than ever before: a younger audience will be able to discover links between Ernst’s fantasy worlds and their own travels to the cyber worlds of modern computer games.
This publication considers Max Ernst’s revolutionary life’s work from a new perspective. It examines in detail his Dada years in Cologne, his residence in France from 1921 to 1941 and his importance amid the Parisian Surrealists, the decade in American exile, and the period after his return to Europe until his death. In-depth contributions by authorities on Ernst focus on central aspects of his oeuvre, for example his experimental techniques, his mysterious collage novels, as well as his fantastical sculptural works.

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

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

Highlights

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

300 illustrations in colour, 180 signatures.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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