"The Art Essentials Series continues with a vivid introduction to the ever-evolving story of abstract art told through the work of more than seventy-five groundbreaking artists. While it is considered by many artists to be a pure and simplistic form of expression, abstract art is also often thought of as vague or exceedingly theoretical. This new installment in the Art Essentials series demystifies the concept and history of abstraction, taking the...

"For more than 2,000 years the art of Greece and Rome has lain at the heart of western civilization. This book recaptures the excitement of the artists who first created it. It traces the daring innovations of those who, defying traditional wisdom, explored new ideas; it describes the valiant struggles of sculptors and painters to portray - for the first time - both the complexities of the human form and the richness of human emotions. So much has...

Iconography, the study of symbols - be they animals, artefacts, plants, shapes or gestures - is an essential element of art history. 0 This guide unravels over fifty of the most common and intriguing visual symbols from across the globe from 2300 BCE to the present day. While symbols cross dialects and national boundaries, their meanings can vary and are often culturally specific. The snake, an object of fascination and mysticism in Aztec culture,...

"Key Moments in Art' describes fifty pivotal moments - some famous, others unfamiliar - from the Renaissance to the present day. Vivid, colourful vignettes capture the excitement of their times: when Michelangelo's David or Marcel Duchamp's Fountain were unveiled for the first time; when chance meetings have spurred artists to create compelling new styles, such as Impressionism or Pop Art; or when exhibitions have caused a public sensation. Lee Cheshire's...

Street art is a phenomenon and subculture movement that reaches from the darkest urban backstreets to the most glamorous international art fairs. Despite having earned a place in the canon of twentieth-century art history, its qualifications are often disputed by both the art establishment and practitioners themselves, all concerned with notions of authenticity. This book examines how street art evolved from its origins in the 1970s New York graffiti...

"Art historian Suzanne Blier surveys over 150,000 years of African art, set against the changing history of the continent, customs and religions, postcolonial debates and the challenges of the present. Core themes in African visual and cultural expression are examined in detail, including trade, empire expansion, gender, the body and representations of power, across meaningful chapters spanning ancient art, the Middle Ages, Early Modern, the colonial...

In a brand-new approach, this book presents photography in all its principal forms of experience, to portray the unique characteristics of this accessible and universally appealing medium. Arranged chronologically, legendary photographs are discussed alongside photobooks that represent a significant contribution towards photography, as well as important exhibitions that marked a shift in outlook, values and approach. In art history, particular works...

ImagineFX Presents: Fantasy Art Essentials is packed full of 288 pages of the biggest names in fantasy art including interviews, advice, workshops and new art from Wayne Barlowe, Chris Foss, Charles Vess, Dave Gibbons, HR Giger, Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell and many more! It contains a mix of traditional art advice from people such as James Gurney, Brian Froud and Rodney Matthews as well as digital techniques from Adam Hughes, Marta Dahlig and Andrew

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Pop Art refers to a post-war movement connecting art with popular culture. Billboard signs, comic books, and movie stars were just some of the subjects chosen by pop artists, such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, and Claes Oldenburg, to name a few, to illustrate the contemporary world in which they lived. Largely characterized by bold and strident colors combined with a cool-eyed appropriation of contemporary imagery, pop art sought...

It is often forgotten just how provocative Impressionist canvases seemed when they were first exhibited in 1874. The advocates of the new style rejected the established principles of art prevalent at that time in France. 0This book traces Impressionism's origins to its spread to America and Australia. Ralph Skea shows how Impressionist artists transformed everyday subject matter. Daringly using colour and rapid brushstrokes, the Impressionists worked...