Mercedes Volait - Böcker

A beautiful overview of fascinating paintings of the classical world and the Holy Land by a beloved American artist Frederic Church (1826–1900), one of the leading painters of 19th-century America and the Hudson River School, also journeyed around the globe to find fresh inspiration for his highly detailed compositions. Among Church’s lesser-known masterpieces are his paintings of the Middle East, Italy, and Greece, produced in the late 1860s through late 1870s, which explore themes of human history and achievement.  Taking a closer look at this geographical and thematic shift in Church’s practice, this handsome book brings together the artist’s major paintings of Athens, Rome, Jerusalem, and the surrounding region. The essays concentrate on a set of six major paintings of architectural and archaeological marvels; one essay also spotlights Olana, Church’s home in New York State, which reflects the influence of Middle Eastern design. This impressive volume stands apart in its new approach to the artist’s work and its quest to determine why and how this quintessentially American figure was drawn to scenery and themes from the other side of the globe.Distributed for the Detroit Institute of ArtsExhibition Schedule:Detroit Institute of Arts(10/22/17–01/15/18)Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC(02/08/18–05/13/18)Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT(06/03/18–08/26/18)

This book redresses the under-representation in existing English-language literature, of the global formation and development of global cities which have been informed by the diffusion of Western ideas and building principles beyond the Western world The modes of diffusion of ideas that shape planned environments, and the ways these ideas are realized, have been gaining prominence as subjects of study and discussion among planning historians and others. Recently, some researchers have begun to approach the relations between actors and stakeholders in the processes of planning diffusion in increasingly complex and ambiguous ways.The natives in developing countries, whether colonial or post-colonial, are now being recognized as full-fledged participants in the shaping of the built environment, with a variety of roles to play and means to play them, even if they frequently face many constraints to their actions. The specific traits of the indigenous are even in question: ultimately, who are the ‘locals’?The research presented here recognises the importance of both provider and recipient as essential and influential entities within this diffusion process.This book raises important conceptual questions as to the identities and roles of the actors involved and looks at the methodological implications for historians and the new challenges that arise from this questioning of a long-standing traditional view.