Paul Mellon Centre for Studies – serie

An in-depth study of the expanding role of the moving image in British art over the past thirty yearsOver the past three decades the moving image has grown from a marginalized medium of British art into one of the nation’s most vital areas of artistic practice. How did we get here? Artists’ Moving Image in Britain Since 1989 seeks to provide answers, unfolding some of the narratives—disparate, entwined, and often colorful—that have come to define this field. Ambitious in scope, this anthology considers artists and artworks alongside the organizations, institutions, and economies in which they exist. Writings by scholars from both art history and film studies, curators from diverse backgrounds, and artists from across generations offer a provocative and multifaceted assessment of the evolving position of the moving image in the British art world and consider the effects of numerous technological, institutional, and creative developments.Distributed for the Paul Mellon Center for Studies in British Art

A fascinating look at how Elizabethan England was transformed by its interactions with cultures from around the worldChallenging the myth of Elizabethan England as insular and xenophobic, this revelatory study sheds light on how the nation’s growing global encounters—from the Caribbean to Asia—created an interest and curiosity in the wider world that resonated deeply throughout society. Matthew Dimmock reconstructs an extraordinary housewarming party thrown at the newly built Cecil House in London in 1602 for Elizabeth I where a stunning display of Chinese porcelain served as a physical manifestation of how global trade and diplomacy had led to a new appreciation of foreign cultures. This party was also the likely inspiration for Elizabeth’s celebrated Rainbow Portrait, an image that Dimmock describes as a carefully orchestrated vision of England’s emerging ambitions for its engagements with the rest of the world. Bringing together an eclectic variety of sources including play texts, inventories, and artifacts, this extensively researched volume presents a picture of early modern England as an outward-looking nation intoxicated by what the world had to offer.Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

A radical, lively departure from received notions about art of the Romantic periodFor many, the term “neoclassicism” has come to imply discipline, order, restraint, and a certain myopia. Leaving the term behind, this book radically challenges enduring assumptions about the art produced from the late 18th century to the early Victorian period, casting new light on appropriations of the classical body by British artists. It is the first to foreground the intersections of gender, race, and class in discussions of British visual classicism, laying bare artists’ alternately politicizing and emphatically sensual engagements with Greco-Roman art. Rather than rely exclusively on subsequent scholarship, the book takes up the poet John Keats (1795–1821) as a theoretical framework. Eschewing the “Golden Age” narrative, which sees J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) as the pinnacle of the period’s artistic achievement, the book examines overlooked artists, such as Henry Howard (1769–1847) and John Graham Lough (1798–1876). The result is a fresh account of underappreciated works of British painting and sculpture.Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

An investigation of the outsized influence of the Mod subculture on key figures of the 1960s London art sceneBonding over matters of taste and style, the ‘Mods’ of late 1950s London recognised in one another shared affinities for Italian-style suits, tidy haircuts, espresso bars, Vespa scooters and the latest American jazz. In this groundbreaking book, leading art historian Thomas Crow argues that the figure of the Mod exerted an influence beyond its assumed social boundaries by exemplifying the postwar metropolis in all of its excitement and complexity. Crow examines the works of key figures in the London art scene of the 1960s, including Robyn Denny, David Hockney, Pauline Boty, Bridget Riley and Bruce McLean, who shared and heightened aspects of this new and youthful urbanity. The triumphant arrival of the international counterculture forced both young Mods and established artists to reassess and regroup in novel, revealing formations. Understanding the London Mod brings with it a needed, up-to-date reckoning with the legacies of Situationism, Social Art History and Cultural Studies.Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

A thought-provoking look at Aesthetic painting and its relationship to the changing technological landscapeIn the 19th century, the Aesthetic movement exalted taste, the pursuit of beauty, and self-expression over moral expectations and restrictive conformity.  This illuminating publication examines the production and circulation of artworks made during this unique historical moment. Looking at how specific works of art in this style were created, collected, and exchanged, the book pushes beyond the notion of Aesthetic painting and design as being merely decorative. Instead, work by James McNeill Whistler, Edward Burne-Jones, Albert Moore, and others is shown to have offered their makers and viewers a means of further engaging with the rapidly changing world around them. This multifaceted and thought-provoking study provides a radical new perspective on a mode of artistic production, linking it to the era’s expanding visual culture and the technological advancements that contributed to it. In a period marked by increasing connectivity, this book shows how art of the Aesthetic movement on both sides of the Atlantic figured into growing global networks.Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art