Lee Beard – författare

The great painting and sculpture of the past is the indispensable backbone of most people’s visual library, but wrangling centuries of wonderful works by thousands of artists into a digestible form that allows you to focus on their detail and direction can be tough. Enter 30-Second Great Art. It takes readers on an engrossing tour of 50 top-flight works by artists from Giotto to Marlene Dumas, including a full-page reproduction of each one, accompanied by text that puts it in the context of the world in which it was created, and adds another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of the history of art. Along the way, special spreads will offer insights into the collectors and critics of the past, as well as its creators, and a glossary for each chapter will explain specialist terms. Succinct, lively descriptions make for speedy and enjoyable reading; it’s like taking a trip round the world’s greatest art gallery.

Throughout his life, Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) was a prolific and creative writer. Correspondent to many, his unpublished letters, selected and extracted here for the first time (along with published writings), reveal fascinating insight into significant events and encounters at various stages of the artist's career, while also demonstrating how Nicholson's aesthetic was interwoven into every aspect of his daily life. Including previously unpublished letters to both Winifred Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth, these are complemented by those sent to some of the artist's closest friends and trusted supporters, among them Herbert Read, Adrian Stokes, Jim Ede and Margaret Gardiner. Throughout, Nicholson's lively intellect and total commitment to art are clearly evident, as is his association and friendship with some of the key figures of international Modernism, including Mondrian, Henry Moore and Picasso.  Featuring reproductions of key works and selected letters, Ben Nicholson: Writings and Ideas is an invaluable resource to all those interested in the work of this key British artist and the period in which he worked.

An intimate look at Ben Nicholson's everyday inspirationsThroughout his career, Ben Nicholson (1894–1982) transformed everyday homewares into extraordinary experiments in abstract art. Nicholson’s studio was filled with objects that inspired him. From patterned mocha-ware jugs and cut glass goblets to spanners, hammers and chisels, these ordinary personal possessions were a source of almost endless inspiration to the artist. This book brings together for the first time Nicholson’s paintings, reliefs, prints and drawings alongside his rarely seen personal possessions and studio tools. It traces how the artist’s style developed, from his early traditional tabletop still lifes to his later abstract works. Still life was at the heart of Nicholson’s artistic practice. Through these humble items, he began to experiment with form and color. His early works in particular owed inspiration to his father, the painter William Nicholson. The book traces the artistic and personal influences on Nicholson’s evolutionary still life style from the 1920s to the 1970s. It explores his time with Winifred Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth, as well as his encounters with other Modernist greats, Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian. Distributed for Pallant House Gallery