Chiara Di Stefano – författare

An accessible introduction to American painter Winslow Homer, examining his work through the lens of conflictA fresh exploration of the work of iconic American painter Winslow Homer (1836–1910) through the lens of conflict, a recurring theme in his prolific career. A persistent fascination with struggle permeates Homer’s art⁠—from emblematic images of the Civil War and Reconstruction to dazzling tropical works and monumental marines⁠—and reveals his lifelong engagement with the charged subjects of race, nature, and the environment.  This publication illuminates Homer’s preoccupation with the complex social and political issues of his era—war, slavery, imperialism—as well as his broader concerns with the fragility of human life and dominance of nature. These powerful themes are present in his earliest Civil War and Reconstruction paintings, which explore the effect of the conflict on the landscape, soldiers, and the formerly enslaved. They continue through his later images of rural life, dramatic rescues, and hunting⁠—paintings that grapple with the often uneasy relationship between humans and the natural world. Toward the end of his life, human figures were reduced to tiny, irrelevant presences, while the ocean acquired a pivotal role.This richly illustrated volume will be published to accompany a retrospective at the National Gallery, organized in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press

The extraordinary story behind Degas’s groundbreaking painting of the African-American circus performer Miss La La. Edgar Degas’s Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando (1879) is one of only two paintings by the artist representing people of colour. Miss La La, born Anna Albertine Olga Brown to a white Prussian mother and African-American father, was a renowned performer of extraordinary daring in fin-de-siècle Paris. Exploring the fascinating story behind Degas’s painting, this is the first in-depth study to focus on the sitter’s identity, presenting new research on her life and career, as well as unpublished photographic material tracing her tour across Europe. The book also analyses the genesis of Degas’s work, from his rapid sketches completed on the spot to his more elaborate preparatory drawings and pastels. The son of a Creole mother from New Orleans, Degas travelled to Louisiana in 1872–73, which was to have a lasting impact on his art. This book examines the artist’s complex attitudes to ethnicity in relation to his own family background, and the representation of multiracial people in late nineteenth-century France. Published by National Gallery Global Ltd/Distributed by Yale University Press

Captivating artworks by renowned painters including Seurat and Signac are explored alongside pieces by lesser-known Neo-Impressionists, such as Anna BochThis catalogue accompanies the National Gallery’s first-ever exhibition devoted to the vibrant Neo-Impressionist movement. Organised thematically, the book interweaves the works of French, Belgian, and Dutch artists, painted from 1886—the year in which Seurat established the Pointillist movement—to the early twentieth century.The publication focuses on an exceptional loan of works from the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands, founded by the pioneering collector Helene Kröller-Müller. She was one of the first great women art patrons of the twentieth century, and her acquisitions and support of artists were key to shaping the canon of modern art. The book recounts the formation of Kröller-Müller’s extraordinary collection, before thematic texts explore the use of the dot in Neo-Impressionism; the relationship between the movement and anarchism; the interplay between Neo-Impressionism, modern life and entertainment; as well as the subjects of interiors and portraiture, which recur throughout these mesmerising works.Published by National Gallery Global Ltd/Distributed by Yale University Press