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The ArtsFebruary 2007Fragonard's playful paintings
Visual games in rococo art
by Jennifer Milam, Marsha Meskimmon, Shearer West, Tim Barringer
Fragonard's playful paintings is the first critical analysis of the function of play as an artistic concept and visual experience in Rococo art. The art of Jean-Honoré Fragonard embodies the pervasive culture of play in eighteenth-century France. His interactive paintings and drawings invite beholders to engage in a visual game of interpretation through subject, form and theme. This book not only examines Fragonard's art through close analyses of individual works, but also considers the role of the viewer within a variety of contexts related to social behaviour, philosophy, literature and aesthetics. More than any other artist from the period, Fragonard produced images of play that evidence the ludic impulses of ancien-régime thought and expose the underlying significance of eighteenth-century frivolity. Focused on bringing students and specialists closer to works of art, the book addresses what we see in order to understand better how paintings about play can stimulate playful ideas through dynamic exchanges between artist, image and beholder. ;
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The ArtsAntoine Watteau
by Youri Zolotov, Vera Alexeyeva, Tatiana Kamenskaya
Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Watteau incarnates all the grace, all the intelligence, all the poetry of the eighteenth century, when French tastes were triumphant throughout the whole of Europe. He is well known as one of the key figures of Rococo art. He excels in scenes of everyday life and theatrical costumes. His world is indeed highly artificial, depicting some melancholy under apparent frivolity, reflecti ng the deep sense of love beyond the pleasure of the flesh, the enigmatic atmosphere brooding over his landscapes and the drooping glance of lovers’ eyes. He alone possessed that genius for colour which conveys a sense of softness and mystery, a sense of music everywhere; that vigorous draughtsmanship which proclaims him equal to the greatest; that natural poetry arising from the dreams.
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Individual artists, art monographsJean Honoré Fragonard
by Edmond and Jules Goncourt
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732- 1806), Fragonard closes, with a burst of fireworks, the curve of the eighteenth century opened by Watteau with his fairy poems of love and melancholy. Watteau was ethereal and profound; Fragonard was merely light. He amuses us while amusing himself; he is never moved. He painted mainly fêtes-galantes in Rococo style. Pupil of François Boucher, Fragonard also studied under Chardin. Always remembering Boucher’s advice, he depicted romantic gardens, with their fountains, grottos, temples and terraces where one can also recognise the influence of Tiepolo. With King Louis XV as a patron he turned himself towards the depiction of the pleasure-loving and licentious court, scenes of love and voluptuousness.
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Science fictionRococo and Other Worlds
Selected Poems
by Gary Wolfe
In this wide-ranging series of essays, an award-winning science fiction critic explores how the related genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror evolve, merge, and finally "e;evaporate"e; into new and more dynamic forms. Beginning with a discussion of how literary readers "e;unlearned"e; how to read the fantastic during the heyday of realistic fiction, Gary K. Wolfe goes on to show how the fantastic reasserted itself in popular genre literature, and how these genres themselves grew increasingly unstable in terms of both narrative form and the worlds they portray. More detailed discussions of how specific contemporary writers have promoted this evolution are followed by a final essay examining how the competing discourses have led toward an emerging synthesis of critical approaches and vocabularies. The essays cover a vast range of authors and texts, and include substantial discussions of very current fiction published within the last few years.
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March 2010Rococo and Other Worlds
Selected Poems
by Afzal Ahmed Syed, translated by Musharraf Ali Farooqi
First English language publication of Urdu’s greatest modern poet
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Architecture20120935Architecture: A Spotters Guide
The Essential Enthusiast's Companion
by Sarah Cunliffe, Jean Loussier, Sara Hunt
Confused about the difference between Baroque and Rococo? Curious about the latest architectural trends, or maybe the ancient traditions of Japan? Wondering if the White House has Doric or Corinthian columns? Architecture: A Spotter’s Guide takes you on a whirlwind tour of our rich and varied architectural heritage. However much, or little, you know about architecture, you’ll find this concise, worldwide guide to our remarkably diverse built landscape invaluable. Not only does it provide a richly illustrated, easy-to-use reference to the major trends that have prevailed in architecture since Classical antiquity, it also outlines the key features that will enable you to identify the style of almost any building that catches your attention, giving you a whole new outlook on your surroundings.
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FictionJanuary 2014The Unsinkable Herr Goering
by Ian Cassidy
Contrary to what the so-called history books tell you, Hermann Goering, Hitler's Deputy, Head of the Luftwaffe and second most powerful man in Nazi Germany, did not leave this world courtesy of a cyanide tablet secreted in the heel of his jackboot minutes before his appointment with the hangman. The truth is far more bizarre. THE UNSINKABLE HERR GOERING is a monumental debut novel by Ian Cassidy. It follows Goering, a man blindsided by hubris, on his attempted escape – from both Germany as well as from the Allies – and the inept men of mettle who put a stop to it. It is a hilariously depraved story of of villainous villains, slightly less villainous heroes, bad behavior (and even worse beer), and uncomfortable underwear. Not since A Confederacy of Dunces has a book brought to life such audaciously flawed characters. It gets so much wrong, yet so much right.
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Mozart in Motion
His Work and His World in Pieces
by Patrick Mackie
The music and life of one of modernity's most prevalent figures through the compositions that shaped him, from a dazzling new writer of non-fiction Mozart is one of the most familiar and beloved icons of our culture, but how much do we really understand of his music, and what can it reveal to us of the great composer? In exhilarating, transformative prose, Patrick Mackie mixes biographical storytelling with deep dives into the experience of listening to Mozart''s music to reveal a musician in dialogue with culture at its most sweepingly progressive, when Europe was caught between two historical worlds.We follow Mozart from his adolescence in Salzburg to his early death; from his close and rivalrous relationship with his father to his romantic attachments; from his hugely successful operas to intimate compositions on the keyboard. Mackie leads the reader through the major and lesser-known moments of the composer''s life and brings alive the teeming, swivelling, modernity of eighteenth-century Europe. In this era of rococo painting, surrealist aesthetics and political turbulence, Mozart reckoned with a searing talent which threatened to overwhelm him, all the while pushing him to extraordinary feats of musicianship.Returned to the volatility of the eighteenth century, we hear Mozart''s music in all its audacious vividness, gaining fresh perspectives on why his works still move us so intensely today, as we continue to search for a modernity he imagined into being.
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MusicJanuary 2013Getting a Handel on Messiah
Getting a Handel on Messiah
by David W. Barber
David. W. Barber has delighted readers all around the world with the quirky definitions of Accidentals on Purpose, the irreverent history of Bach, Beethoven and the Boys, a hilariously offbeat history of dance and ballet in Tutus, Tights and Tiptoes and a host of other internationally bestselling books of musical humor and literature. Chances are you’ve heard Handel's Messiah at least once, if not many times. Maybe you've even performed it, as have countless musicians around the world. After all, it's probably one of the best-loved, and certainly one of the best-known, works in the standard repertoire. But if you think you know all there is to know about the great composer’s famous oratorio, think again. For example, it may surprise you to learn that: – Handel’s first impulse to compose the work came not from religious or even musical inspiration. It had a whole lot more to do with money. – The very first performance of Messiah took place not in London, but in Dublin – and not with a huge choir and orchestra, but with only a relative handful of musicians. – Although church groups and clergy members now praise Messiah as an example of religious music at its best, Handel had to disguise his oratorio for its first performance in London, in order to sneak it past the prissy church authorities. – The Hallelujah chorus wasn’t originally called that at all, but had a different (and much longer!) name. – Although Handel was proud of Messiah, he didn’t think it was his best work. His favorite oratorio was one that hardly anyone has ever heard of, much less heard. All these and many more entertaining (and entirely true!) facts await your discovery as internationally bestselling author David W. Barber takes you on another delightful romp through the pages of music history – as it ought to be taught!
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100 most beautiful castles of the world
by Rebo International
Our 100 series presents important cultural monuments, notable natural wonders, highlights from the world of music and film, and more, all accompanied by quality photography and authoritative text. We’re pleased to introduce redesigned and updated editions of our best-selling 100 series, containing the same great mix of historical text, travel tips, and high-impact photos in a luxurious package.
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History of Art / Art & Design StylesAugust 2014Mediating Netherlandish Art and Material Culture in Asia
by Edited by Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann and Michael North
Scholars have extensively documented the historical and socioeconomic impact of the Dutch East India Company. They have paid much less attention to the company’s significant influence on Asian art and visual culture. Mediating Netherlandish Art and Material Culture in Asia addresses this imbalance with a wide range of contributions covering such topics as Dutch and Chinese art in colonial and indigenous households; the rise of Hollandmania in Japan; and the Dutch painters who worked at the court of the Persian shahs. Together, the contributors shed new light on seventeenth-century Dutch visual culture“and the company that spread it across Asia.
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FictionStealing
A Novel in Dreams
by Shelly Brivic
Two Jewish brothers growing up in the 1950s Bronx navigate a toxic home environment headed by an emotionally abusive father and an unhappy mother. One brother eventually finds escape through academic achievement and a new life on the west coast, while the other brother remains entangled in the darkness of his existence, his life and mind slowly unraveling. By presenting the conscious and unconscious connections between family members, this experimental novel explores the concept of individuality, the psychological influences of family, and the very nature of reality.
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FictionCabaret Biarritz
by José C. Vales
NADAL PRIZE 2015 - In the summer of 1925, the residents of Biarritz were shocked by a tragic event. The body of a young girl appeared dangling with a foot caught in one of the iron rings used for securing boats in the port. In 1938, the young, passionate writer Georges Miet receives what would turn out to be the most important assignment of his career. His editor asks him to write a ‘serious’ novel about what had taken place in Biarritz almost fifteen years earlier. Miet does not hesitate to travel to the vibrant, coastal city to speak to everyone who could have been linked to the event and comes upon people from all rungs of the social ladder; ranging from domestic employees to distinguished, high-society ladies, as well as reporters, two gendarmes, a photographer, artists, performers, a judge and even a nun. Miet interviews each person he believes to be involved, as if preparing a press feature, in order to meticulously transcribe their statements. He sketches an accurate and detailed portrait of sophisticated, outrageous Biarritz, which turns into the model setting for those golden years of the 1920s during which society sought to break with the most long-established and outdated conventions.
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Where the Silver River Ends
by Anna Quon
Joan, a Chinese Canadian English conversation teacher who is unmoored in Europe, flees Budapest for a fresh start. Stepping off the train in Bratislava, she meets Milan, a proud Roma teenager, with whom she strikes up a friendship. The ensuing tale of youthful hope in the face of systemic oppression and racial violence, of family reconciliation and the magic of coincidence, asserts the primacy of love and courage in hard times. Where the Silver River Ends plumbs the depths of intergenerational relationships, mixed-race identity, and what happens when we gather the courage to step out of the current and make our own way in the world.
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RomanceAugust 2014Love Wins In Berlin
by Barbara Cartland
Simona Bell, the lovely daughter of Lord Belgrave, has been invited by her friend, Karoline von Honentaal to stay with her family in Berlin. Simona finds that Karoline’s father, the Baron, owns an amazing collection of art which interests her greatly. Alone for a moment, she finds her way into the Baron’s private Sanctuary, where she admires an unusual Sedan Chair. Hearing voices and frightened she might be discovered, she slips into the Sedan Chair and closes the door. The Baron and another man enter the room and Simona overhears them discussing an Englishman called Watson, who has been working on a new naval gun with the Marquis of Midhurst. Watson has been kidnapped by the Germans, who are desperate to learn the secrets of the gun. The Baron is persuaded to invite the Marquis to stay with him in Berlin and agrees to ask a beautiful Countess to seduce his secrets from the Marquis. Simona leaves the Sedan Chair undetected and is anxious to warn the Marquis. When he arrives she finds a way to tell him all she has overheard, and he is extremely grateful for her help. How the Marquis enlists her in his daring quest to free Watson, how they arrange to spirit him out of Germany and Simona finds the love she has been seeking is told in this exciting and spellbinding book by BARBARA CARTLAND.
