What should you do at Christmas? In Edvard Munch's Christmas in the Brothel, the artist depicts himself sleeping off the effects of drink, but the Madame reads a book. What links Stalin and the artist Rosso Fiorentino? What was Gauguin hinting at when he painted a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost into a portrait of a friend? How did a chance meeting on Unter den Linden make the young owner of The Red Book famous? Was it true that no one ever saw Picasso with a book in his hand? And why were the Cumberland girls reading The Fashionable Lover in Romney's commissioned portrait?Thousands of fine paintings include books in their subject matter. This companionable survey first asks 'what is a book?'; it explores the symbiotic relationship between the development of books and the emergence of our modern idea of the role of the artist; it parades and interprets the work of many of the greatest artists of the last five hundred years; and it explains how and why books became the single most ubiquitous feature of our cultural lives and, in large measure, of our everyday existence.These paintings connect us with centuries of lived experience: religious systems, symbols of all kinds, education, changing patterns of transport, gender roles, social status, romance, the imagination of children, literary life, sex, friendship, civilized bathing, professional competence, scientific discovery, aids to rest, aids to reflection, danger... books tell us about ourselves, and have earned their place in life - and art - through the ages.

“Why do artists love books?” This volume takes this tantalizingly simple question as a starting point to reveal centuries of symbiosis between the visual and literary arts. First looking at the development of printed books and the simultaneous emergence of the modern figure of the artist, The Art of Reading appraises works by the many great masters who took inspiration from the printed word. Authors Jamie Camplin and Maria Ranauro weave together an engaging cultural history that probes the ways in which books and paintings represent a key to understanding ourselves and the past. Paintings contain a world of information about religion, class, gender, and power, but they also reveal details of everyday life often lost in history texts. Such artworks show us not only how books have been valued over time but also how the practice of reading has evolved in Western society. Featuring over one hundred works by artists from across Europe and the United States and all painting genres, The Art of Reading explores the two-thousand-year story of the great painters and the preeminent information-providing, knowledge-endowing, solace-giving, belief-supporting, leisure-enriching, pleasure-delivering medium of all time: the book.

In an intimate talk with his protégé, the sculptor offers candid, wide-ranging comments on the meaning of art; other famed artists; the relation of sculpture to poetry, painting, and music; more. 76 illustrations.

Painting has often been declared dead since the 1960s and yet it refuses to die. Even the status and continued legitimacy of the medium has been repeatedly placed in question. As such, painting has had to continually redefine its own parameters and re-negotiate for itself a critical position within a broader, more discursive set of discourses. Taking the American Clement Greenberg's 'Modernist Painting' as a point of departure, After Modernist Painting will be both a historical survey and a critical re-evaluation of the contested and contingent nature of the medium of painting over the last 50 years. Presenting the first critical account of painting, rather than art generally, this book provides a timely exploration of what has remained a persistent and protean medium. Craig Staff focuses on certain developments including the relationship of painting to Conceptual Art and Minimalism, the pronouncement of paintings alleged death, its response to Installation Art's foregrounding of site, how it was able to interpret ideas around appropriation, simulation and hybridity and how today painting can be understood as both imaging and imagining the digital. After Modernist Painting is an invaluable resource for those seeking to understand the themes and issues that have pertained to painting within the context of postmodernism and contemporary artistic practice.

The first in a fast-paced, funny series featuring The Stig: Top Gear's legendary racing driver. Sam Wheeler may be the new boy in Bunsfold, but he's got a feeling that all is not well either in the town or at Bunsfold High - and he's not just talking about the maths teacher with the unfortunate flatulence. A local boy, Buster Mustang, has recently gone missing, and no one seems to care - they're all too busy playing the highly addictive video game Xenon or getting the town ready for its very first TT race. Both are the brainchild of mysterious local billionaire PT Cruiser. Besides global domination, PT Cruiser wants nothing more than to destroy his nemesis The Stig once and for all - and his TT race is just what he needs to tempt him on to the big stage again ... Sam sets out with his new friends Minnie Cooper and Ford Harrison to uncover the truth behind all the strange goings-on in Bunsfold - but danger has a habit of showing up wherever they do, and soon all that stands between our heroes and disaster is ... a taciturn man in a white suit. Perfect for fans of ALEX RIDER and CHERUB

Offers a concise and accessible presentation of important concepts for beginning designers, and experienced practitioners will appreciate its insightful and practical coverage of the relationship between building structures and interior spaces. A broad range of rich illustrations communicates visual information and ploughs fertile ground for creative ideas and inspiration.