In January 2006 a man tried to break Marcel Duchamp's Fountain sculpture with a small hammer. The sculpted foot of Michelangelo's David was damaged in 1991 by a purportedly mentally ill artist. Each such incident confronts us with the unsettling dynamic between destruction and art. Renowned art historian Dario Gamboni is the first to tackle this weighty issue in depth. Starting with the sweeping o..
In the history of Western culture we find lists of saints, rosters of soldiers, catalogues of grotesque creatures or medicinal plants, and hordes of treasure. The poetics of lists can be found from Homer to Joyce, from the treasures of Gothic cathedrals to the fantastic landscapes of Bosch and cabinets of curiosities, until we get to Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst in the 20th century. This illustrat..
Since its first appearance in 1931 Herbert Read's introduction to the understanding of art has established itself as a classic of its kind. It provides a basis for the appreciation of paintings, sculpture and art-objects of all periods by defining the elements that went into their making.
A compact survey of the world's art, from primitive cave-drawings to Jackson Pollock, The Meaning of Arte..
Beauty and ugliness are two sides of the same coin; by ugliness we usually mean the opposite of beauty and we often define the first in order to understand the nature of the second. But the various depictions of ugliness over the centuries are richer and more unpredictable than is commonly thought.
The striking images and anthological quotations in On Ugliness lead us on an extraordinary jour..
'60 fantastical structures described and illustrated in this colourful and highly entertaining book.' The Sunday Times
'If you can’t think of a present for the armchair architect in your life – well, problem solved' The Daily Telegraph
'These ghostly architectural echoes entrance the reader.' The Field
‘This is a lavishly illustrated book of wonder for the dreamer in your life’ The Metr..
