The Speech Writer is a fictional documentary presented in the form of ten flip books (6 x 12 cm) in a slipcase. The contents follow a day in the life of a retired political speech writer. Surrounded by the memories of his family and his vast collection of speeches, he is a creature of habit, idiosyncratic behaviour and reclusive existence. Retired from a lifetime of public service work, his connection with the outside world takes the form of a daily broadcast from the comfort of his home. Passersby, now accustomed to the perplexing array of loudspeakers wired to the outside of his house, stop to listen for a few moments each day. We cannot hear him speak but witness instead a moment of ultimate freedom in the life of a man who formulated the rhetoric, visions, dreams and declarations of others.

This volume includes concise, illustrated entries on the more than 450 examples of furniture, porcelain, and silver from the Museum's collection. New to this expanded edition are sections devoted to maiolica and glass. An index of previous owners and updated bibliographies are of particular help to the scholar.

The collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman of New York is one of the most important private collections of ancient Greek and Roman art in the United States and among the most important in the world. Composed of approximately three hundred objects from the Bronze Age to the Late Antique, it includes bronze statuettes, marble sculpture, vases, jewelry, lamps and candelabra, keys, weights, and silver bowls and utensils. The Fleischmans have a particular fascination with pieces associated with everyday life in antiquity, since these objects evoke a human connection to the past. They are also drawn to pieces that exemplify the human propensity to transform a functional object into a thing of beauty. Not only has their emotional response to an object’s aesthetic appeal or its historical significance guided them in their forty years of collecting, personal interests have been at work as well. The large number of pieces related to the theater or representing theatrical subjects reflects Barbara Fleischman’s lifelong love of that art. A Passion for Antiquities contains photographs and extensive catalogue entries on the objects included in the exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Eighteen contributors provide art historical and descriptive information about each piece. The objects not selected for the exhibition are detailed in a checklist that specifies their origins, dates, media, and sizes. This book is the first major reference on the entire collection, since most of the objects have never before been publicly shown. To facilitate finding specific objects or groups of objects, the book is organized first chronologically and then by medium. Bibliographic sources for each entry cite both publications where the specific work is discussed as well as references to related scholarship. Karol Wight provides a chronological overview of the collection, and Oliver Taplin relates selected pieces to the development of Greek theater. The exhibition of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman’s collection and this catalogue allow us to enter into their minds and emotions so that, for a time, we can share their passion for antiquities.

"Many famous artworks of the Italian Renaissance were made to celebrate love, marriage, and family. They were the pinnacles of a tradition, dating from early in the era, of commemorating betrothals, marriages, and the birth of children by commissioning extraordinary objects - maiolica, glassware, jewels, textiles, paintings - that were often also exchanged as gifts. This volume is the first comprehensive survey of artworks arising from Renaissance rituals of love and marriage and makes a major contribution to our understanding of Renaissance art in its broader cultural context. The impressive range of works gathered in these pages extends from birth trays painted in the early fifteenth century to large canvases on mythological themes that Titian painted in the mid-1500s. Each work of art would have been recognized by contemporary viewers for its prescribed function within the private, domestic domain."--BOOK JACKET.

Presents the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago in Illinois, featuring over 7000 objects spanning five centuries of Western and Eastern civilizations. Provides information about exhibitions, events, the collection, educational programs, and membership. Posts contact information via mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail.

While readers will come away from Chinese Art with a nuanced understanding of Chinese culture, the volume is also a work of art in its own right—a must-have collectible for any devotee of Chinese art and culture. Assouline’s Ultimate Collection is an homage to the art of luxury bookmaking—the oversized volume is hand-bound using traditional techniques, with several of the plates hand-tipped on art-quality paper and housed in a luxury silk clamshell.