Tate Introductions – serie

In this concise and beautifully illustrated introduction book, expert Jason Rosenfeld walks us through the key moments and central artworks to the Pre-Raphaelite movement.The Pre-Raphaelites, the first avant-garde group in the history of British art, were bent on introducing bold new ideas, encouraging change in art and challenging the broader culture. They rebelled against the academic art of the day and produced novel explorations of subjects from literature, poetry and the Bible. The principal members of the group, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, created such seminal and well-loved paintings as The Awakening Conscience, Ophelia and Beata Beatrix.Jason Rosenfeld, an acknowledged expert on the Pre-Raphaelites, explores the origins and influence of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

An indispensable introduction to one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.Andy Warhol's work reflected and commented on contemporary themes in American society: consumerism; celebrity; mass production; disaster and death. To capture these ideas he used a wide range of iconic images: Coca Cola; Marilyn Monroe; Elvis Presley; the electric chair; the crashed car; the race riots; and the atomic bomb. His openness to subject matter was matched by a willingness to explore all media, resulting in his innovative approach to painting, photography, drawing and printmaking, and his influential activity as an experimental filmmaker.This book, beautifully reissued with a metallic cover, offers an unmissable portrait of the work and life of Andy Warhol.

A lively and accessible introduction to the life and work of Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), one of the most inventive and influential artists of the post-war period. An important influence on Pop artists in the 1960s, Rauschenberg worked across a variety of media - painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, silkscreen, lithography, and performance - and actively collaborated with musicians, choreographers and dancers, and with engineers and scientists to pursue the potentials offered by new technologies. Part of the Tate Introduction series, this book offers a concise and engaging account of Rauschenberg's life, his art, and the ongoing debates concerning his significance.

A lively and accessible introduction to the life and work of some of the best-known and best-loved Impressionists. In the 1870s France was devastated by the Franco-Prussian war, and violent insurrection in Paris drove numerous Impressionist artists to seek refuge in England. Their experiences in London and the friendships that developed not only influenced their own work, but also contributed to the British art scene. Part of the Tate Introduction series, this book offers a concise and engaging account of some of the best-known and best-loved impressionists' lives, works and the ongoing debates concerning their significance.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth-century, working in an unprecedented variety of styles. A Spanish painter, sculptor, etcher, lithographer, ceramist and designer who spent most of his adult life in France, he is known for co-founding the cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the coinvention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Exceptionally prolific throughout the course of his long life, Picasso achieved universal renown and immense fortune for his revolutionary artistic accomplishments, and became one of the most famous figures of his era. Part of the Tate Introduction series, this book offers a concise and engaging account of Picasso's life and the key aspects of his prolific career.

Vincent van Gogh is without a doubt one of the greatest and most influential artists of all time. Born in 1853, this Dutch Postimpressionist painter was hugely prolific, creating more than 2,000 works including more than 800 oil paintings, most of them within the last two years of his life. This generously illustrated and accessibly written publication is a must-have for anyone wanting to learn more about one of the great masters and his enormously popular art.