From rolling meadows to moody skies, how does the beauty, complexity, and dimensions of the world translate to artistic expression? This book examines the evolution and importance of the landscape genre from the late Middle Ages to modern times, selecting some of the most important landscapes in history from practitioners as diverse as Titian, Caspar David Friedrich, Edvard Munch, and Andy Warhol.

"Covering a comprehensive array of topics, from the first pigments and frescos to linear perspective in Renaissance paintings, the influence of photography, Impressionism, and the birth of modern art, The Story of Painting follows each step in the evolution of painting over the last 25,000 years, from the first cave paintings to the abstract works of the last 150 years. Packed with lavish color reproductions of paintings and photographs of artists...

"Exploring the origins, designs and themes of over one hundred pictures from different periods and places, Susan Woodford artfully expands our appreciation of pictures. Woodford's riveting prose compares different artistic approaches, questions assumptions and introduces us to a wide range of stimulating ideas. Wether looking a Japanese woodcut, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper or Picasso's Guernico, Looking at Pictures develops our eyes as well as...

Throughout the ages, from Sappho to Mary Wollstonecraft, extraordinary women have exposed other women to the world of letters and the freedom it brings. This unique cross-cultural account highlights the accomplishments of women writers and educated women, and provides beautiful reproductions of renowned artworks that illustrate their achievements and the worlds they inhabited, thereby also tracing the social functions of the portraits of reading women...

"The American Civil War was arguably the first modern war. Its grim reality, captured through the new medium of photography, was laid bare. American artists could not approach the conflict with the conventions of European history painting, which glamorized the hero on the battlefield. Instead, many artists found ways to weave the war into works of art that considered the human narrative--the daily experiences of soldiers, slaves, and families left...

"Kenjiro Nomura, American Modernist: An Issei Artist's Journey features the Japanese American artist's work throughout his life from his early works focusing on Seattle's urban environment and rural Northwest landscapes, to paintings and drawings capturing his life in World War II internment camps, and post-war abstractions fully demonstrating Nomura's artistic stylistic and professional growth. Born in Japan in 1896, Kenjiro Nomura came to the United...

"When she became interested in painting, the author would visit museums and wonder about all the information she was missing. How did one style develop after another? What meanings were hidden in these works? What were these artists’ lives like? How did their works survive for so many years? She longed for the kind of essential knowledge that would enable her to decode a painting loaded with references. The result of her curiosity is a highly...

There are no rules, and even less justice. Death takes everyone without discrimination. Sometimes it is accidental - like Signorelli, who fell from scaffolding. Sometimes it is expected, as with the diabetic Cezanne, who wrote "I am old, sick, and I swore to die while painting". But often, researching a painter's death is an easier task than determining which of their works is truly their 'last'. Paintings tend to be dated by year and not month, inciting...