Museum of Fine Arts,Boston – förlag

John Singer Sargent’s approach to watercolour was unconventional. Disregarding late-nineteenth-century aesthetic standards that called for carefully delineated and composed landscapes filled with transparent washes, his confidently bold, dense strokes and loosely defined forms startled critics and fellow practitioners alike. One reviewer in England, where Sargent spent much of his adult life, called his work ‘swagger watercolours’. For Sargent, however, the watercolours were not so much about swagger as about a new way of thinking. In watercolour as opposed to oils his vision became more personal and his works more interconnected. Presenting nearly 100 works of art, this book is the first major publication of Sargent’s watercolours in twenty years. Each chapter highlights a different subject or theme that attracted the artist’s attention during his travels through Europe and the Middle East: sunlight on stone, figures reclining on grass, patterns of light and shadow. Insightful essays by the world’s leading experts enhance this book and introduce readers to the full sweep of Sargent’s accomplishments in the medium, in works that delight the eye as well as challenge our understanding of this prodigiously gifted artist.

The first book to focus exclusively on Hokusai’s landscapes, by one of the world’s leading ukiyo-e specialists The best known of all Japanese artists, Katsushika Hokusai was active as a painter, book illustrator and print designer throughout his ninety-year lifespan. Yet his most famous works of all – the colour woodblock landscape prints issued in series, beginning with Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji – were produced within a relatively short time, in an amazing burst of creative energy that lasted from about 1830 to 1836. Hokusai’s landscapes not only revolutionized Japanese printmaking but within a few decades of his death had become icons of world art as well. With stunning colour reproductions of works from the largest collection of Japanese prints outside Japan, this book examines the magnetic appeal of Hokusai’s designs and the circumstances of their creation. The book includes all published prints of the artist’s eight major landscape series: Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (1830–32), A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces (1833–34), Snow, Moon and Flowers (1833), Eight Views of the Ryukyu Islands (1832–33), One Thousand Pictures of the Ocean (1832–33), Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces (1834), A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poetry (1833) and One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (1835). Working prolifically in the years just before Japan opened to the West in 1853, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) was the first Japanese artist to be internationally recognized. His cleverly composed ukiyo-e prints of everyday life and the landscapes of Edo Japan arrived in a 19th-century Europe gripped by Japonisme-mania, where they influenced artists such as Degas, Gauguin, Manet and Van Gogh.

During his remarkable life, Yousuf Karsh, who was born in Armenia in 1908, traveled the globe to photograph subjects ranging from historical figures to anonymous farmers to steelworks. Karsh: A Biography In Images is a full revision of the 1996 60-year retrospective of his work and brings that popular catalogue back into print in an affordable paperback format. This new edition covers the photographer's career with greater breadth than its previous incarnation, adding works from his early experiments and his photojournalism commissions in Canada. Karsh's reputation as one of the most sought-after portrait photographers of the twentieth century is well established. A roll call of his subjects is a veritable who's who of the modern age--Winston Churchill, Jacqueline Kennedy, Pablo Picasso, Walt Disney, Elizabeth Taylor and Albert Einstein, to name just a few--and this book features many of these figures, in some of the most recognized images of our time. But added to the portraits are a number of lesser-known or previously unpublished photographs--early figure studies, atmospheric views of the Ottawa theatre and scenes of wheat fields, city streets and factories across Canada. With its long autobiographical essay and extensive captions for each photo, many of them new to this edition, Karsh: A Biography In Images is both an elegant celebration and an indispensable overview of a life lived in photography. Yousuf Karsh passed away last year.

Images of fantasy and fairy tales by a Danish master of illustrationThe Danish artist Kay Nielsen’s luminous interpretations of fairy tales and legends from around the world are among the most celebrated book illustrations of the 20th century, unsurpassed in their dramatic intensity and intricate detail. This book is the first to put his achievements in the context of a career that took him from studies in Paris to the Copenhagen theater, to galleries in London and New York, to the Walt Disney Studios, presenting fresh insights into his life and work as well as his materials and techniques. Dazzling reproductions of original watercolors and drawings from one of the premier collections of Nielsen’s work invite viewers to enter the enchanted world of an imaginative and supremely gifted artist.Born in Copenhagen and educated in Paris, Kay Nielsen (1886–1957) gained international recognition for his exquisite gift book illustrations, notably his masterpieces East of the Sun and West of the Moon (1914) and Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen (1924). In contrast to some of his contemporaries, Nielsen often focused on the melancholic or dramatic elements of tales, creating memorable visual sequences reflecting themes of love, passion, loss and death. During the last stage of his career, he collaborated with Walt Disney Studios on the landmark animation film Fantasia, and produced several public art commissions.

Resplendent watercolors of the 19th-century world by New England native Winslow Homer"You will see," said American artist Winslow Homer, "in the future I will live by my watercolors." From his early forays into pastoral landscapes to his more mature works encompassing the maritime scenes for which he is best known, Homer's watercolors are most remarkable for their reverence of nature and the people who thrive within its conditions—sketches that are both quaint and sublime in scope.Boasting one of the most significant collections of Homer's watercolors in the United States, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, presents a luminous collection of nearly 50 works that demonstrate the artist's mastery of the medium. Readers will be transported to the rugged Maine coast, the rivers and streams of the Adirondacks, the weathered shores of seaside England and the bright beaches of the Caribbean. The many facets of these environments—ecological, artistic, social and economic—are reflected in Homer's thoughtful compositions that, though more than 100 years old, shine with a modern effervescence.Winslow Homer (1836–1910) was born in Boston and apprenticed to a commercial lithographer. He taught himself painting while working as a freelance illustrator for Harper's and other magazines. In 1883 he moved into his permanent home and studio in Prouts Neck, Maine, but continued to find inspiration in his travels to Canada, Cuba, the Bahamas, Key West and the Adirondacks.

A perennial favorite returns to print in this sumptuous volume celebrating six decades of automotive design genius, from Bugatti to Bentley, Alfa Romeo to Aston Martin, Mercedes to McLarenBugatti and Bentley, Alfa and Aston, Mercedes and McLaren—these are not merely cars, they are some of the most exquisite automobiles ever assembled, all collected by trendsetting designer Ralph Lauren. This breathtaking volume features 29 of these wonders—from such unparalleled masterpieces as the 1938 Alfa Romeo Mille Miglia and the 1938 Bugatti Atlantic Coupe to marvels by Jaguar, Ferrari, Porsche and even a Ford "Woody." Each of these vehicles is lovingly photographed and presented with authoritative elegance. Complementing the images are sketches of these and other cars—rarely seen drawings that give insight into the conceptual and development stages of the automobiles.Long out of stock, this fan favorite finally returns to print, staying true to its original format and content. With over 160 color images by photographer Michael Furman, plus an interview with Ralph Lauren—who discusses the links between the cars and his overall design philosophy—this book will delight both the rampant car enthusiast and aficionados of great design in any form.

This latest volume in the MFA Highlights series showcases over 100 stunning photographs from the museum's collection. An extensive introductory essay traces the aesthetic and technical history of photography as an art form, from the early days of the camera obscura through the invention of the daguerreotype and calotype and into the present digital age. In the selection of objects that compose the body of this beautifully designed volume, careful juxtapositions emphasize the graphic qualities of the photos, and extended captions compare and contrast images from different times and places, underscoring shared techniques, sensibilities or subjects. A wide range of photographers--from early experimenters such as Eugène Cuvelier, Charles Marville and Anna Atkins to modern giants Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, as well as contemporary practitioners such as James Nachtwey, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Loretta Lux--are represented by portraits and figure studies, city scenes and still lifes, landscapes and seascapes.

A selection of masterpieces from MFA Boston’s preeminent decorative arts collectionAmerican Decorative Arts features over 100 carefully selected masterpieces of furniture, silver, glass, ceramics, base metals, coins and medals, basketry and sculpture from one of the world's preeminent collections. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is renowned for its high-style works from New England, but in fact its collection is encyclopedic, featuring significant pieces from a wide geographic area and all time periods. This survey includes monuments such as Paul Revere's Sons of Liberty bowl, Tiffany and Gorham silver, sculpture from William Rimmer and Augustus Saint-Gaudens, furniture by Gustav Stickley and Charles Eames, and craft objects from contemporary creators including Sam Maloof and Judy McKie, plus selected examples from Central and South America. Through these objects, handsomely illustrated and intelligently discussed, American Decorative Arts offers a unique window into the beauty and meaning of the decorative arts as they have flourished in the American context.

From refined portraits of resplendent maharajas to earthy depictions of divine rogues cavorting with milkmaids, Indian miniature paintings depict the world as it should be: radiant, plentiful and passionate. These manuscript illustrations combine vibrant color with exquisite delicacy, offering immediate impact while also rewarding lengthy examination. Alone on the market, this beautiful volume presents the art form for non-specialists, surveying the most notable styles and periods of Indian painting and offering an introduction to the legends and historic personalities that inspire its entertaining subjects. The text covers such diverse topics as scriptures written on palm leaves, likenesses of favorite animals, images inspired by music, techniques and materials, and Indian reactions to European art. The Boston Museum of Fine Art's collection of Indian paintings, assembled by the esteemed scholar A. K. Coomaraswamy, is justly renowned as one of the finest in the world, and Indian Painting, one of the only readily available comprehensive histories of the subject, is the first book since Coomaraswamy's seminal catalogues of the 1920s to draw so extensively on the MFA's collection. It includes 120 of the most remarkable pieces, many of which are reproduced here in color for the first time.

The MFA's holdings of Japanese art make up the finest and most comprehensive collection outside of Japan. This stunning overview features many of the collection's best-known and most beloved works, including such rare paintings as the eighth-century Buddhist panel "Shaka, the Historical Buddha, Preaching on Vulture Peak" and the thirteenth-century narrative hand-scroll "Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace" (the most exciting section of the celebrated Heiji monogatari scrolls), along with fine examples from the Museum's unsurpassed grouping of woodblock prints, magnificent sculptures such as a gilt-wooden statue of the bodhisattva Miroku by the twelfth-century master Kaikei, plus a representative selection of postcards, textiles, ceramics, lacquer wares, sword-fittings and other decorative arts. In all, more than 160 highlights from the museum's staggering collection are illustrated and discussed, divided into four themes--Art of the Temple, The Town, The Ruling Classes and Japanese Art in the World. Ranging from the seventh century to the present day, this engaging volume introduces readers to the complex variety and renowned brilliance of Japanese arts.

Ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan civilizations come to life in this illustrated selection of 100 highlights from the famous collections of classical art of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. An introduction by curator Christine Kondoleon describes the geographic range, stylistic progression and technical development of art in the classical world, and a second essay briefly relates tales of conservation and the provenance of some of the featured objects. In the main body of the book, the highlighted artworks are grouped into five broad themes: Myth and Religion, Heroes and Warriors, Love and Loss, Daily Life and Beasts and Beauties. Celebrated mosaics, statues and vases share the stage with less familiar jewelry, coins and glassware, with each piece accompanied by a concise discussion of its artistic creation and cultural context. Both common themes and distinctions emerge in cross-cultural discussions of topics such as war and politics, commemoration of the dead, sports and entertainment and the human form, providing rich insight into the astonishing civilizations that produced and used these fascinating objects so many centuries ago.

Mixed from egg whites and vegetable tints, water and soot, oils and rare minerals and applied to bone, wood, metal and canvas, the plastic and expressive properties of paint have stirred artists and their admirers throughout history. The holdings of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston have grown into a formidable appraisal of one of humankind's oldest and most diverse forms of artistic expression--from its first acquisition, Washington Allston's "Elijah in the Desert" (1818), to recently acquired works by Edgar Degas, Georgia O'Keeffe and Takashi Murakami--and now constitutes one of America's largest permanent collections. The first version of Masterpieces has long been a favorite among museum-goers and art lovers. This new edition expands on the scope of the old, adding new acquisitions and featuring 150 master works by artists from Asia, Europe and the Americas--from delicate Song-dynasty handscrolls to jewel-like images of medieval piety, scenes of mythic drama, austere still lifes, sensitive portraits, grand landscapes and jarring Modern visions. Featuring artists such as Rembrandt, El Greco, Copley, Monet, Sargent and Picasso, anonymous masters of medieval Europe and Asia and living artists of uncompromising vision such as Gerhard Richter and David Hockney, this book is a celebration of the possibilities of paint.

An introduction to the refined, spiritually significant, and often dazzling arts produced by the varied cultures of a cradle of world civilization The ancient cultures of the Americas comprise a vast array of societies, whose peoples spoke thousands of languages and dialects, developed distinctive political and economic systems, and followed myriad spiritual practices. The territory stretching from northern Mexico to Chile is one of six world regions where ancient civilizations arose – joining Egypt, the Near East and Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, North China and Southeast Asia. The intellectual, architectural and artistic accomplishments of the ancient American peoples rival those of the others, including fully developed writing systems, the tallest structures in the western hemisphere until the 20th century, and textiles and painted ceramics of unsurpassed complexity and refinement.The collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is particularly strong in Maya ceramics, early Andean textiles, and gold objects from Panama and Colombia, and throughout its history the Museum has been at the forefront in presenting pre- Columbian artifacts as part of art history rather than in the context of natural history or archaeology. The artworks featured in this volume exemplify the aesthetics and supreme craftsmanship of the peoples of the ancient Americas in pictorial pottery, sumptuous gold body adornments and luxury textiles. Together they introduce the sophistication, creativity and variety of the cultures of the Western Hemisphere’s cradle of civilization.

Among private collections of fine photography, the Lane Collection stands out as one of the most remarkable. Begun in the 1960s and still ongoing, the collection shines not only for its wealth of top-quality prints by the great modernist triumvirate of Ansel Adams, Charles Sheeler and Edward Weston (including the most important single holding of Adams' work), but also for its breadth. This volume presents 120 photographic masterpieces from the Lane Collection, ranging from William Henry Fox Talbot to the Starn twins, and including along the way work by Arbus, Brancusi, Bravo, Cunningham, Frank, Fuss, Goldin, Kertesz, Lange, Michals, Modotti, Morell, Penn, Steichen, Strand, Sudek and nearly 50 others. The keynote essay by Lyle Rexer trains an acute eye on images from the collection, defining the vision behind this magnificent grouping. But it is the images themselves that place this among the most significant photography books of the year.

Arts of Korea celebrates historical Korean art through 100 works from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The MFA has one of the finest collections of Korean art outside of East Asia, with particularly superb holdings of high-quality stoneware and lacquerware of the Koryo and Yi dynasties, Bronze Age funerary objects and Buddhist paintings and sculptures. Many of the objects in this book were originally intended for everyday use and tell a story not only about the people who used or collected these boxes, mirrors, jars, tiles and trays, but also about the people who made them. Set to coincide with the MFA’s long-awaited Korean Gallery renovation, this is an affordable yet unique addition to any Asian art library, with essays that offer an ideal introduction to the history of Korean art.

Sometime in the early fourth century bc, an unknown Egyptian master carved an exquisite portrait in dark-green stone. The statue that included this remarkably lifelike head of a priest, who was likely a citizen of ancient Memphis, may have been damaged when the Persians conquered Egypt in 343 bc before it was ritually buried in a temple complex dedicated to the worship of the sacred Apis bull. Its adventures were not over, though: after almost two millennia, the head was excavated by August Mariette, a founding figure in French Egyptology, under a permit from the Ottoman Pasha. Returned to France as part of a collection of antiquities assembled for the inimitable Bonaparte prince known as Plon-Plon, it found a home in his faux Pompeian palace. After disappearing again, it resurfaced in the personal collection of Edward Perry Warren, a turn-of-the-twentieth-century American aesthete, who sold it to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Along the way, this compelling and mysterious sculpture, known worldwide as the Boston Green Head, has reflected the West’s evolving understanding of Egyptian art – from initial assertions that it was too refined to be the product of a lesser civilization, to recognition of the sophistication of the culture that produced it.

Ink, Silk, and Gold explores the dynamic and complex traditions of Islamic art through more than 115 major works in a dazzling array of media, reproduced in full color and exquisite detail – manuscripts inscribed with gold, paintings on silk, elaborate metalwork, intricately woven textiles, luster-painted ceramics, and more. These objects, which originated within an Islamic world that ranges from Western Europe to Indonesia and across more than thirteen centuries, share a distinctive relationship to the materials they are made of: their color, shape, texture, and technique of production all convey meaning. Enhanced by texts from an international team of scholars and drawing on the latest technical information, Ink, Silk, and Gold is an inviting introduction to the riches of the Islamic art collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a window into a vibrant global culture.

Located at the intersection of trade routes from central Africa, the ancient Near East, and the Classical world, ancient Nubia ruled the entire Nile Valley at the height of its power in the eighth century bc. Its neighbour and frequent rival Egypt called it ‘the gold lands’ because its territories held such an abundance of the precious metal, and because its inhabitants produced some of the most finely crafted jewelry of the ancient world. This book features over 100 adornments and personal accessories from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which houses the finest collection of Nubian jewelry outside Khartoum. The first comprehensive introduction to the sophisticated jewels of this great empire, it reveals how Nubian artisans employed techniques that would not be reinvented in Europe for another thousand years, and how the original owners valued such possessions not only for their inherent beauty, but also because they were imbued with magical meanings. Exquisite photography and an authoritative history written by leading experts make this book essential for both jewelry aficionados and anyone interested in the great cultures of the ancient world.

Born in Italy, trained in Paris and a resident of London, John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) became Boston’s favorite painter in the 1880s. His commissions from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to decorate its new building’s grand staircase and rotunda resulted in one of Sargent’s last and most ambitious works. Sargent regarded the entire space as a giant canvas and brought together all the pictorial, decorative and architectural elements with a painter’s skill and vision. This compact volume offers a guide to the murals and their surroundings, elucidating their allegorical subjects drawn from classical mythology to emphasize the museum’s role as the guardian of fine arts.

Contemporary art is a vast and complex field representing artists, ideas, and trends from every imaginable cultural and geographical background. This book introduces the art of our times by taking the reader through a tour of some seventy examples from the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Thematic chapters present artistic categories, concepts, and propositions that have been prevalent since the mid-1950s and offer a path toward understanding the different subjects, forms, styles, purposes, and techniques of contemporary art. Some, such as `portrait’, are long-standing notions in the history of art; others, such as `site’ or `borrowed’, raise provocative questions and may be less immediately obvious. But it is the works of art themselves – brilliantly conceived by some of the most creative minds of our times – that make the case for embracing contemporary media in all its diversity.

Quilts and Color presents more than sixty graphically bold American quilts from the Pilgrim/Roy Collection, one of the finest and largest collections of quilts in the world. These collectors recognized that quilt makers often grappled with the same concerns as many modern artists. Influenced by twentieth-century art developments such as Abstraction, Op Art and the Colour Field movement, Paul Pilgrim and Gerald Roy were among the first to appreciate quilts as more than simply decorative bedcovers, women’s fancy work, or symbols of a rustic past. Reproduced brilliantly and arranged by ideas based in colour theory – Vibrations, Mixtures, Gradation Harmonies, Contrasts, Variations, Optical Illusions and Singular Visions – each quilt in this book is celebrated as a unique work of art. The accompanying text also sheds light on the social and cultural history of the quilts as well as the practices and aspirations of their mostly anonymous makers, who created such works of enduring beauty and arresting visual impact.

American patriot Paul Revere is wrapped in the swirling mixture of myth and poetry through which history often descends, but as a craftsman and artist, he left behind more tangible traces, as well. In this volume, esteemed art historian Gerald W. R. Ward tells the true story of Revere’s most iconic creation, the Sons of Liberty bowl, bravely made and marked by the rebel and silversmith on the threshold of the Revolutionary War. John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Revere, created the same year, 1768, helps introduce the man he was and the legend he became. The painting and the silver bowl are both popularly reproduced and have joined re-tellings of his Midnight Ride to define Revere in the American imagination, in turn signifying the Revolution and the young country’s values.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston houses a world-famous collection of European painting and sculpture, including such masterpieces as Renoir’s Dance at Bougival, Gauguin’s Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, Degas’s Little Dancer, Turner’s Slave Ship and the largest collection of paintings by Claude Monet outside of France. This overview features these well-known and much-loved works, divided into thematic chapters that represent major art movements, with an introduction that describes the phenomena that helped chart the course of art in the period. In all more than 100 highlights from this impressive collection are illustrated and discussed, each testifying to the richness and complexity of European art in the modern era. The MFA Highlights series presents the best of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s collections accessibly and affordably. Its aim is threefold: to make available the greatest masterworks in the MFA; to provide an informative, readable overview of various artistic genres, cultures, and periods, for use by students, visitors, and scholars; and, over time, to create a library that will act as a general tour of world art through the ages.

Takashi Murakami’s irreverent, pop culture-infused art has made him one of the most recognized Japanese artists today. His bright, contemporary boisterousness, however, belies his deep scholarship and engagement with traditional Japanese art. Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics presents key examples of Murakami’s work alongside a rich selection of Japanese masterpieces spanning several centuries and arranged here according to concepts laid out by his mentor and foil, leading Japanese art historian Nobuo Tsuji. Beautifully illustrated with Tsuji’s selections from the pre-eminent Japanese art collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as well as some of the Murakami’s best known works of painting and sculpture, the combination of old and new in this groundbreaking volume enriches our understanding of each, and ultimately shows us how contemporary art can be seen as part of a continuum or lineage.

This is a book about Edward Weston before he was Edward Weston – before he was the renowned modernist photographer we know so well. His early years in the field coincided exactly with the height of the Pictorialist movement in America, and while he was never a typical practitioner, he did make photographs that borrowed themes from paintings and other media, and experimented with soft-focused imagery that sometimes look more like graphite drawings or inky dark prints than photographs. He would later disavow the gauzy, painterly experiments of his early years, claiming in his Daybooks that ‘even as I made the soft “artistic” work...I would secretly admire sharp, clean, technically perfect photographs.’Introducing rare surviving prints from the unplumbed holdings of the Lane Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this book offers new insights into Weston’s working methods and his evolution as a photographer. By taking a longer and more nuanced view of his early years, and by reinserting his first experiments back into the larger story of his artistic production, it reveals the variety of ways in which the paths he took as a young man led him to become the mature modernist master. Beautifully reproduced examples of Weston’s most important early work, essays explaining their place in his oeuvre, and a section dedicated to the variety of Weston’s early materials and techniques make this book a must-have resource.

Glorious, sophisticated, and refined works of art produced in ancient Nubia, drawn from one of the richest museum collections in the world and presented in their cultural contexts. Ancient Nubia was home to a series of civilizations between the sixth millennium bce and ad 350 that produced towering monuments, including more pyramids than in neighbouring Egypt, and artifacts of enduring beauty and significance. Nubia’s trade network reached across the Mediterranean and far into Africa. At the time that Nubian kings conquered Egypt, in the middle of the eighth century bce, they controlled one of the largest empires of the ancient world.The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has the largest and most important collection of ancient Nubian art outside of Khartoum, mostly gathered during the pioneering Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition in the first half of the twentieth century. The objects highlighted in this volume include refined early ceramics, monumental statues and relief carvings made for royal pyramids, exquisite gold and enamel jewelry, playful decorations for furniture and clothing, and luxury goods traded from around the Mediterranean world. Together they provide a fascinating introduction to a sophisticated cultural tradition and a rich history that are still being revealed today.

Evocative photographs of a major archaeological expedition from the last century, conveying the effort and excitement of discovery and the austere beauty of the desert landscape.Specially trained Egyptian photographers were an integral part of the pioneering Harvard-MFA expedition during the first half of the twentieth century. Their photographs documented the excavations with thousands of images, as the riches of a great ancient civilization in northern Sudan were uncovered. The best of these photographs bring to life the dramatic landscapes of the Nile Valley, the excitement of archaeological discovery, and the artistry of the photographers who recorded it all.

A stunning stained glass window becomes a lens through which to view the career of Louis Comfort Tiffany and intersecting arcs of art and design in America.The story of the Parakeets stained glass window – from national and international recognition to years of obscurity, followed by a return to the limelight – parallels the public reception of the art of its maker, Louis Comfort Tiffany, who had one of the most recognized names in American art at the turn of the twentieth century. It is a story of artistic ambition and experimentation, of nationalist pride and promotion, and of the capricious nature of public opinion and the art market. A careful study of the fabrication, imagery, and life of the window offers an intimate look into the legacy of Tiffany, as well as the nineteenth-century revival of the lesser-known medium of stained glass, which some argue was the United States’ first major contribution to the international art world.

An authoritative and beautifully illustrated history of the innovative, colourful and finely crafted Arts and Crafts jewelry created by a circle of artists in the first decades of the 20th century. Belief in the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement, which held that art and beauty could instill morality and inspire joy, united a vibrant and active community of jewelry makers – along with artists, craftspeople, scholars and critics and patrons – at the turn of the 20th century in Boston. Frank Gardner Hale, who trained in England with founders of the movement, became the most prominent and prolific creator of works of wearable art, helping to define the `Boston look’ characterized by bold use of colored stones and brilliant enamels; refined and delicate settings; and exquisite design and craftsmanship, conceived and executed by a single craftsman. A leading figure in the community of jewelers, and an advocate for the Society of Arts and Crafts, Hale influenced many other important makers, among them Josephine Hartwell Shaw, Edward Everett Oakes, Margaret Rogers and Elizabeth Copeland. This book, the first in-depth study of the subject, reproduces dozens of ornaments in dazzling colour, accompanied by design drawings from the extensive Frank Gardner Hale archive at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These drawings provide insight into the works’ transformation from two to three dimensions and represent rare renderings of many pieces of jewelry that are now lost. The authoritative text brings together scholars of jewelry history and American design to explore how Hale and his contemporaries expressed Arts and Crafts principles in the creation of jewels of enduring allure.