Thames and Hudson Ltd – serie

This authoritative survey of archaeological practice takes a unique approach by launching each chapter with an important question that archaeologists consider. In this edition, new co-author Elizabeth DeMarrais, an expert in the archaeology of the Americas, introduces recent discoveries and advances in methodology, analysis, and interpretation, paying special attention to the contributions of women, people of color, and Indigenous communities, and to how the discipline is changing amid calls for decolonization and diversification.

The most authoritative and entertaining history of tea ever published, written with verve to engage a wide readership. Throughout the centuries, tea has inspired artists, enhanced religious experience, played a pivotal role in the emergence of world trade - and even triggered major wars. No other drink has touched the lives of so many people in so many different ways. The True History of Tea brings all these disparate strands together in an erudite tale full of quirky facts and unexpected byways. Victor H. Mair takes the reader from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the splendour of the Tang and Song dynasties in China, from the tea ceremony aesthetics of medieval Japan to the fabled tea and horse trade of Central Asia, from the advent of Britain's love affair with tea to the tea party that sparked the American Revolution. It celebrates the common heritage of a beverage we have all come to love, and plays a crucial part in dismantling that obsolete dictum: East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.

Written by a team of authors whose expertise spans the globe, The History of Art: A Global View is the first major art history survey text built from a truly global perspective. Its chronological organization shows students how art developed simultaneously around the world, encouraging them to draw cross-cultural connections. The book’s brief, modular chapter structure allows for maximum flexibility when designing your course, as chapters can be taught in any order or skipped altogether. A new Norton Illumine Ebook helps students engage more deeply with key concepts throughout the chapter, with interactives that help students practice their visual analysis skills.

The most comprehensive book on David Hockney and his extraordinarily creative output over a rich and joyful career spanning more than sixty years: Hockney’s Pictures is essential reading for any fans of his work. 'A compelling narrative of the workings of a curious, intelligent, visually inventive mind at work' Art Quarterly'From between the covers springs all the brightness and energy of the prolific output of this most exuberant and yet sensitive artist' The TimesThe story of Hockney is one of passion: passion for seeing, passion for telling, passion for images. But to these should be added passion for life. Hockney's art is a celebration of what it is to be alive. All his pictures – sometimes tender, as when he drew close friends and family; sometimes playful, as in his paintings of lazy, carefree days by the pool; sometimes awe-inspiring, as with his monumental images of the Grand Canyon – convey what it means to be in the world, to see it, to move in it, to love it. This constant exploration of how to communicate such experiences and perceptions through art emerges with particular clarity in this visually dense volume, now updated with a new final chapter that focuses on his prolific recent work in series across various media, including the iPad. Charting almost sixty years of extraordinary creativity, the book is arranged thematically to show the evolution and diversity of Hockney’s prolific paintings, drawings, watercolours, prints and photography. It also features quotes from the artist that illuminate the passion and deep thought behind his work. Hockney's Pictures celebrates the artist's lifelong experiments in ways of looking, seeing and depicting.

The most talked-about art book of the year Sunday TimesIt will change our views of Western painting London Review of BooksHockney has utterly transformed the scope and basis of the debate… He is making us look at things afresh Martin Kemp, University of OxfordHockney is a superb communicator, his prose as lithe and vivid as his own pencil line GuardianSparkling, brilliantly analysed treatise on the use of optics in art and one of the most important books on painting published in the last 100 years State magazine Secret Knowledge created a sensation when it was first published. David Hockney’s enthralling story of how some of the great works of Western art were created with the help of mirrors and lenses and how the optical look came to dominate painting attracted major media attention around the world and generated intense debate in the fields of science and art history. Now in this expanded edition, Hockney takes his thesis even further, revealing for the first time new and exciting discoveries. Hockney's voyage of discovery began when he became gripped by a desire to find out how the artists of the past had managed to depict the world around them so accurately and vividly. As a painter faced with similar technical problems, he asked himself: 'How did they do this?' For the next two years, he sacrificed his own time as an artist to follow this mystery trail, obsessively tracking down the hidden secrets of the Old Masters. As news of his controversial investigations spread, he enlisted the support of scientists and art historians worldwide. In Secret Knowledge, Hockney recounts the story of his quest as it unfolded. He explains how he uncovered piece after piece of scientific and visual evidence, each one yielding further revelations about the past. With the benefit of his painter's eye, he examines the major works of art history and reveals the truth of how artists such as Caravaggio, Velazquez, van Eyck, Holbein and Ingres used mirrors and lenses to help them create their famous masterpieces. For this new edition, Hockney demonstrates, with the aid of drawings, paintings and photographs of his own experiments, how Renaissance artists used mirrors and lenses to develop perspective and chiaroscuro - radically challenging our view of how these two foundations of Western art were established. Hundreds of paintings and drawings - among them the best-known and best-loved works in the history of Western art - are reproduced and accompanied by Hockney's infectious and enthusiastic descriptions. His own photographs and drawings illustrate the various methods used by past artists to capture accurate likenesses, and present the results they would have achieved. In addition, extracts from the many historical and modern documents that he uncovered offer further intriguing evidence, while correspondence between himself and an array of international experts provides an exciting account of the remarkable story as it happened. Secret Knowledge is not just about the lost techniques of the Old Masters. It is also about how we see, treat and make images in an age of computer manipulation. Taking nothing for granted, questioning received ideas and practice, Hockney opens our eyes to the way we perceive and represent the world – a privileged insight into the history of art by an outstandingly prolific and original artist.

One hundred of the most outstanding photographs taken by photographer, model and Surrealist muse Lee Miller, published in anticipation of the November 2023 release of the film Lee, starring Kate Winslet as Lee Miller Photojournalist, war correspondent, model and Surrealist muse, Lee Miller was one of the most important women photographers of the twentieth century, working in the fields of photojournalism, fashion, portraiture and advertising. This book presents 100 of Miller’s finest works in a single volume. Introduced to photography at an early age, Lee Miller honed her craft in Paris, where she associated with the Surrealists and avant-garde artists including Jean Cocteau and Picasso. Together with Man Ray she accidentally discovered the distinctive technique of solarization to create mesmerizing halo effects. After establishing her own photographic studio in New York, where she became a prominent commercial photographer, she then moved to the Middle East and Europe before becoming the official war photographer for Vogue, a period during which she took many of her most iconic photographs. This evocative book collects Lee Miller’s most famous documentary, fashion, and war works, as well as photographs of Miller, all carefully compiled by her son the photographer Antony Penrose, with a foreword by actress Kate Winslet, who will star as Miller in the film Lee.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'A burst of springtime joy' Daily Telegraph'A springboard for ideas about art, space, time and light' The Times'Lavishly illustrated' GuardianDavid Hockney reflects upon life and art as he experiences lockdown in rural NormandyAn uplifting manifesto that affirms art’s capacity to divert and inspire, Spring Cannot be Cancelled draws on a wealth of conversations and correspondence between the late David Hockney and art critic Martin Gayford, in which the artist reflects upon life as he self-isolates in rural France. Their exchanges span nature, food, art, opera, fairy tales and more, and are illustrated by a selection of Hockney’s Normandy iPad drawings and paintings alongside works by other artists, including van Gogh, Monet and Bruegel. We see how Hockney is propelled ever forward by his infectious enthusiasms and sense of wonder, still utterly absorbed by the themes that have fascinated him for decades: light, colour, space, perception, water, trees. He has much to teach us, not only about how to see... but about how to live.

The debut monograph from the inimitable photographer, exploring the strangeness lurking behind the ordinary in everyday life.Take a Picture, It Will Last Longer is a curated collection of Brooke DiDonato’s singularly surreal photography. Evoking feelings of nostalgia or disorientation, DiDonato’s work teeters between the familiar and the fantastical. Inspired by family homes in Ohio, her compositions challenge expectations of how space can be occupied. Torsos, legs and arms contort into uncanny arrangements across sofas and ascend into attics. Ordinary surroundings often have a compelling presence – white picket fences, corn fields, deserts and sidewalks become sites of unexpected psychological encounters as figures are subsumed by their environments. Her pictures are playfully titled – Growing Upward Has Its Downside, What to Expect When You’re Expecting Nothing, and Went to Therapy but I’m Still in My Patterns – and poignantly touch upon contemporary anxieties and universal themes of love and loss.The most extensive collection of DiDonato’s work to date, Take a Picture, It Will Last Longer brings together her most well-known bodies of work, including A House is Not a Home, alongside new works published here in print for the first time. A short introduction from writer Eleanor Sutherland provides an overview of DiDonato’s practice, while an intimate conversation between Emmy award-winning filmmaker and writer Eve Van Dyke and Brooke’s father, Bob DiDonato, offers a personal glimpse into her evolution as an artist.A one-of-a-kind photographic experience, DiDonato’s first monograph invites us into her beguiling world, daring us to stare a little longer.

‘A clarion call and a celebration of how green spaces can radically transform both people and the planet’ Sunday Times ‘It is hard to overstate the potent timeliness of Lottie Delamain’s book. Against a backdrop of unsustainable human activity and climate crisis, this is a well-researched and beautifully presented collection of 65 inspiring green worlds powered by hope and innovation’ Gardens Illustrated An exploration of the many ways in which green spaces can be the solution to some of our most pressing problems, from loneliness to climate change. With the world warming, prices soaring and crises all around, it’s easy to feel powerless in our everyday lives. But what if the solutions to many of these problems could be found simply by going outside? Bringing together the galvanizing stories of 65 projects that revolve around plants, Gardens that can Save the World reveals how small changes can have a big impact on you, your loved ones and the environment around us. Discover the myriad ways that green spaces can: • REPAIR the damage done to soil, water and biodiversity• EMPOWER communities struggling with conflict and hardship• NOURISH our bodies and our mind• HEAL stress, isolation and trauma through contact with nature• REIMAGINE neglected landscapes, and our world Whether you're a green-fingered garden aficionado or have yet to step outside your front room, award-winning garden designer Lottie Delamain’s uplifting book reveals how people from all walks of life are harnessing nature to right the planet’s wrongs. Packed with inspiration, it will encourage you to try out easy-to-replicate strategies in your own plant pot, balcony, or further afield.

A new history of painting as told through the eyes and hands-on insights of a practising artist. The first question that Lachlan Goudie asks himself when he sees a work of art is not ‘why’ it was created but ‘how’. For this book he poses that question of artworks created by the earliest humans to artists today, focusing on the technical inventions and turning points that at each stage have marked a new chapter in the history of art. Goudie knows from experience that masterpieces don’t emerge serenely from an artist’s studio. They are the result of a long tussle between dirty hands and crushed pigment, hog’s-hair brushes and linseed oil, rabbit-skin glue and pulverized chalk. Great paintings are always the product of a struggle involving artists and their materials, one that pushes the practitioner to the very limits of technical ability. The secrets of painting lie above all in the physical elements from which an image is crafted. The nature of these elements has changed over time and across continents. And as each generation of painters exploits the new material and technical innovations of their era, they transform the character of their work and help propel the course of art history. Goudie traces this story all the way back to the original ‘big bang’ in the story of art: the very first painting pigments, made from charcoal and minerals, that were used to paint extraordinary art on the walls of the caves at Chauvet 36,000 years ago. He goes on to explore the impact of numerous new inventions and discoveries over the centuries, including ink, fresco, egg tempera, oil paint, canvas, watercolour, gouache, impasto, tubes of manufactured oil paint, collage, household gloss, acrylic, digital media and AI. Each chapter focuses on a technical turning point as embodied in the work of particular artist, including Giotto, Artemisia Gentileschi, Alma Thomas, Anselm Kiefer, David Hockney and many more.

AESME STUDIO offer a masterclass in designing naturalistic floral arrangements with a sense of place in a range of stunning settings, from the English countryside to Europe and beyond. Sisters Ally and Jess are the founders of leading London flower company AESME STUDIO and have created a unique naturalistic style that connects floral design back to nature. This, their first book, takes the reader on a journey through the seasons. The sisters visit twelve unique locations throughout the UK, Europe and beyond to gather flowers and create seasonal floral arrangements with a sense of place. Naturalistic floral design is about using local, wild and seasonal flowers to create beautiful, sustainable arrangements that are in harmony with their location. From English country houses to a garden in Provence, Jess and Ally have spent a year documenting their travels to provide a unique guide to how to create stunning – and often inexpensive – arrangements wherever you are. Each chapter tells the story of the sisters' discoveries along the way and explores a location through its regional flowers and scenery, offering plenty of ideas for styling flowers along with arrangement 'recipes' that show how each was designed and created. Whether you are interested in naturalistic floral design or just looking for tips and ideas to style flowers more sustainably at home, this journey through a year of floral arrangements will be a rich source of inspiration for anyone looking to decorate with seasonal flowers.

A richly informative and visually packed sourcebook demonstrating and explaining the function and worldwide appeal of Islamic architecture. Islamic architecture dates back 1,400 years and continues to reinvent itself up to the present day. The enormous richness of building types, regional styles, and architectural details is revealed here by a well-travelled expert guide, exploring the familiar and unfamiliar, striking a balance between famous masterpieces and unknown gems. All eras and global regions are represented, with a selective eye for some of the creative exuberance, boldness and sensitivity of Islamic architecture that has not always been widely appreciated outside of the region. Close-ups of architectural details not only describe style and function but also show the hand of the craftsman, making this reference work both useful and beautiful. Here is a wealth of information about the historical and cultural context of buildings around the world, a chance to encounter the widest Islamic community, and the deeper pleasure of immersing ourselves in the beauty of Islamic architecture.

A sweeping new history of the city of Rome, told through its emperors and the monuments they built to make their mark on one of the great capitals of the classical world. ‘What is worse than Nero? What is better than Nero’s Baths?’ – so wrote the poet Martial in the first century AD, demonstrating the power that buildings have on public consciousness. In ancient Rome, who built a monument and why mattered as much as its physical structure. Over centuries and under many different emperors, a small village in Italy was transformed into the crowning glory of an empire. Seeking out the personalities behind the great building projects is key to understanding them. With this firmly in mind, Paul Roberts takes the reader on a tour of ancient Rome, vividly evoking the sights and sounds of the city: from the roar of the crowds at the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum, to the dazzling gleam of the marble- and mosaic-covered baths of Caracalla and Diocletian. He tells this story emperor by emperor, drawing out the political, social and cultural backdrop to the monuments and ultimately the very human motivations that gave rise to their construction – and destruction. These fascinating buildings are further brought to life with reconstructions that show how the ancients themselves would have experienced them. When and why were these monuments built? What did they add to the lives of the people who used them? What impact did they have on the shape of the city? Roberts expertly weaves together the latest archaeological research with social and cultural history, to tell the story of the Eternal City, always in some way rising, falling and being rebuilt.

Published to mark the 250th anniversary of Caspar David Friedrich’s birth, the most thorough Friedrich retrospective in many years. Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) is renowned as the Romantic painter par excellence, his works icons of an age of major social upheaval. His landscape paintings and drawings broke with traditional patterns of representation, and paved new ways of both experiencing and reflecting on the ambivalent relationship between humankind and nature. Accompanying the most comprehensive Friedrich retrospective in many years, this catalogue re-examines the artist’s groundbreaking work in light of the urgent challenges in a time of climate crisis and postcolonial reflection. It centres on more than sixty paintings, among them many major iconic works, and about 100 drawings. Selected works by Friedrich’s colleagues, notably August Heinrich, Georg Friedrich Kersting, Ernst Ferdinand Oehme and Johann Alexander Thiele are also featured. The second part of the book focuses on the contemporary reception of his work. In contributions ranging from video and photography to installations, some twenty artists working across a variety of genres and media explore the Romantic era, its attitude to nature and the art of Caspar David Friedrich. The participants include Alex Grein, Swaantje Güntzel, Jochen Hein, Johanna Karlsson, Hiroyuki Masuyama, Loudmila Milanova, Mariele Neudecker, Ulrike Rosenbach, Susan Schuppli, Santeri Tuori and Kehinde Wiley.

'A book full of heart – frank and confessional – that presents Emin at the zenith of her powers, having survived near-fatal cancer and found new purpose and conviction ... this concise, elegant and beautifully illustrated study, with Gayford’s skilful and always apposite narrative, is as thought-provoking as it is readable, and I closed it with a greatly enriched understanding of the mysterious process by which life is transmuted into art' Ariane Bankes, The Spectator 'Gayford is an established confidant of painters, the artist-whisperer of Lucian Freud and David Hockney. He elicits a remarkable trove of information and opinion from Emin ... My Heart Is This is the story of how a dark stretch in her life led Emin to a new love and appreciation of paint and greater facility at the canvas. It will appeal to her many fans as well as the gallery crowd' Stephen Smith, Financial Times Tracey Emin talks about painting: what it is, why she does it, why it matters. Richly illustrated with photographs of the artist and her art, here is a vivid and intimate portrait of her life and work in her own words, in conversation with art critic Martin Gayford. Emin reflects on painting – how she approaches it, why it matters to her, and how it connects to her life – and how everything has changed since her cancer diagnosis. ‘Every image has first entered my mind, travelled through my heart, my blood – arriving at the end of my hand. Everything has come through me.’ Offering a uniquely personal insight into the artist’s extraordinary life and career, Emin expresses herself in her characteristically frank, confessional style that is so familiar to anyone who has seen her paintings. This is Tracey Emin on her own terms: on learning to paint, on living her life after cancer, and relearning why painting matters to her above everything else.

Every blot's an inspirationEvery line is freeUnlock your imaginationDraw what you seeHirameki - 'brainwave' or 'flash of inspiration' in Japanese - is where doodling and imagination come together. Simply put, it's the art of turning a random blot into something amazing, just by adding a few dots and lines. If it's true that you can find happiness in little things, this book should keep your eyes, hand and brain entertained for hours.

Lee Miller’s work for Vogue from 1941–1945 sets her apart as a photographer and writer of extraordinary ability. The quality of her photography from the period has long been recognized as outstanding, and its full range is shown here, accompanied by her brilliant despatches. Starting with her first report from a field hospital soon after D-Day, the despatches and nearly 160 photographs show war-ravaged cities, buildings and landscapes, but above all they portray the war-resilient people – soldiers, leaders, medics, evacuees, prisoners of war, the wounded, the villains and the heroes. There is the raw edge of combat portrayed at the siege of St Malo and in the bitterly fought Alsace campaign, and the disbelief and outrage Miller describes on witnessing the victims of Dachau. The war’s horror is relieved by the spirit of post-liberation Paris, where she inudulged in frivoluous fashions and recorded memorable conversations with Picasso, Cocteau, Eluard, Aragon and Colette. The book ends with Miller’s first-on-the-scene report giving a sardonic description of HItler’s abandoned house in Munich, and the looting and burning of his alpine fortress at Berchtesgaden, which marked a symbolic end to the war. David E. Scherman, the renowned war photojournalist who shared many of Miller’s assignments, contributes a foreword.

An entirely fresh and accessible approach to reading ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs by a proven expert, this step-by-step introduction assumes no previous knowledge of grammar or ancient languages, but guides readers through the inscriptions, from simple to more complex, supported by full explanations and translations. Readers' will see their knowledge and skills grow as Bill Manley clearly explains the mysteries of hieroglyphs without jargon or technical terms, guiding the reader step by step through 27 real-life, unaltered texts from stelae, tombs and portable objects. Specially commissioned line drawings present engaging texts clearly and elegantly, while fact boxes bring to life images of monuments of high officials and kings, giving glimpses of ancient Egyptian society and beliefs. This guide is essential reading for anyone interested in Ancient Egypt, hieroglyphs or ancient languages and contains all the knowledge you need in order to start deciphering hieroglyphic texts for yourself.

Traces a key turning point in the history of photography: the young Joel Meyerowitz's early experiments in colour photography. An early advocate of colour photography, Joel Meyerowitz has impacted and influenced generations of artists. For fifty-eight years, the master photographer has documented the US’s ever-changing social landscape.For a while, during the late 1960s, Meyerowitz carried two cameras: one loaded with monochrome stock, the other with colour. Just how, when and why US fine-art photographers switched from black-and-white image-making, which was prized within the gallery system, to colour photography, once seen as the preserve of the holiday snapper, has been the cause of much debate.In this book, Meyerowitz tells the story of his early days as a photographer when he was told that serious photographers took black & white pictures. 'But why?' he asked, 'when the world is in colour?' He proceed to buy a colour camera and various rolls of films and to read manuals and experiment with colour techniques: a passion he continued to pursue all his life...

Written by a team of authors whose expertise spans the globe, The History of Art: A Global View is the first major art history survey text built from a truly global perspective. Its chronological organization shows students how art developed simultaneously around the world, encouraging them to draw cross-cultural connections. The book’s brief, modular chapter structure allows for maximum flexibility when designing your course, as chapters can be taught in any order or skipped altogether. A new Norton Illumine Ebook helps students engage more deeply with key concepts throughout the chapter, with interactives that help students practice their visual analysis skills.

The ultimate guide to the magic and mystery of photography, featuring the landmark photographs, inventions, innovations, exhibitions and publications that changed the way we see the world. Photography has not simply changed how we capture the world: it has changed how we view it, structuring our very ways of seeing. This ambitious publication, timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the first-ever photograph, brings together photographs from leading image-makers – including Zanele Muholi, Andreas Gursky, Man Ray, Sebastião Salgado, Hannah Höch, Barbara Kruger and Edward Steichen – alongside unexpected selections. From the earliest 19th-century experiments in fixing light on paper, photography has blossomed and proliferated to a point where some 1.9 trillion photographs are snapped annually. Photographs are now at the core of our image-dominated culture. This is Photography: The First 200 Years carves a cohesive, compelling path through this dizzying mass of information. Presented chronologically, the book showcases key photographs and objects year by year, each one accompanied by a short text entry offering historical, technical or critical context. Interleaved throughout are longer thematic texts by contributing writers, as well as extracts from the writings of photographers and major thinkers on the subject, bringing a depth of understanding to the principal genres and developments in photography. Alongside pivotal and instantly recognizable photographic works – from Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies to Rosalind Franklin’s DNA imaging, and from the documentary work of Robert Frank to Cindy Sherman – This is Photography records the objects, cameras, technical developments, exhibitions and publications that have shaped the medium, making this an essential resource for anyone interested in photography.

A raucous yet reflective look back at the evolution of the music press and the passionate rock and pop journalists who defined the music of the 20th century. Totally Wired is the definitive story of the music press on both sides of the Atlantic, tracing its rise and fall from humble beginnings nearly 100 years ago. Along the way, this potent creative breeding ground for scores of writers, publishers, photographers, designers and music-makers tested the very limits of journalistic endeavour and influenced the wider worlds of film, media and pop. Focusing on developments from the 1950s to the 2000s, a period that witnessed rock ’n’ roll, mod, the Summer of Love, glam, punk, pop, reggae, dance music, R&B and hip-hop, Paul Gorman chronicles the stories of individual magazines from their Tin Pan Alley beginnings and the countercultural foundation of Rolling Stone and the underground press. He explores the 1970s heyday of NME, Melody Maker and Sounds plus such punk-rock publications as Sniffin’ Glue and Temporary Hoarding; tracks the emergence of dedicated monthlies Q, The Face and Mojo as well as dance-culture independents like Boy’s Own and Jockey Slut; and spotlights feminist and Riot Grrrl ’zines Ben Is Dead and Girlfrenzy along with the rise of media by and for people of colour, from Black Music and Black Echoes in the 1970s to The Source, Vibe and XXL in the 1990s. Evoking the music press’s kaleidoscopic visual identities, Totally Wired is illustrated with rare and legendary magazine artwork throughout. Painting a complete picture of the scene, Gorman discusses the role played by such writers as Lester Bangs, Charles Shaar Murray and Nick Kent in the development of the careers of, among others, David Bowie, the Clash and Led Zeppelin. He also tackles the entrenched sexism and racism faced by women and those from marginalized communities by highlighting publications and individuals whose contributions have been unfairly overlooked. The resulting narrative, containing stories of unbound talent, blind ambition and sometimes bitter rivalry, makes Totally Wired a riveting and roller-coaster read.

An appealing picture book of cats depicted by John Craxton, one of the major figures of modern British painting, with an introduction and commentary by Andrew Lambirth, who knew Craxton well. By concentrating on a single subject very dear to John Craxton’s heart – cats – this book offers a much more accessible introduction to this popular artist (championed by David Attenborough and Andrew Marr among many others) than the recently published biography and monograph. Craxton's significance as the early artist companion of Lucian Freud, his time in Greece and his collaborations with Patrick Leigh Fermor have generated growing interest in his art. For John Craxton, cats were an index of moods and states of mind, and a splendidly apposite vehicle for his visual and verbal wit. Craxton loved cats and lived with them, on and off, for most of his life. The cat image came readily to mind and hand, whether he was planning a taverna scene in Crete, or doodling during a telephone conversation. Cats permeate his art, weaving their way through his paintings, drawings and prints, bringing humour and mischief to his images as they did to his daily existence. Affectionate and faithless, they were like so many casual lovers, no better than they should be, and gloriously on the make. In many ways, they are a fitting symbol or leitmotif for Craxton's own happy-go-lucky life. Containing new and original material, this widely accessible introduction to Craxton’s work will appeal to the devotee and the uninitiated alike.

A Radio 4 Book of the Week 'A marvellous book' Ali Smith Shaped by the cycle of the natural world, a fresh look at the life and work of John Constable to celebrate the 250th anniversary of his birth in 2026. As exhilarating as a lungful of oxygen: that’s how some of his contemporaries felt about John Constable’s paintings. Others, though, were baffled by his uncompromisingly fresh and realistic treatment of the natural world. Susan Owens follows Constable through the seasons, tracing the rhythms and resonances of the artist’s year to offer a vivid, unconventional perspective on this beloved figure. Whether in London in May, preparing pictures for exhibition and longing for the Suffolk spring, or painting boat-builders and waiting to be married in a particularly gloomy September, Constable’s life and work were unusually shaped by the yearly cycles of weather and agriculture, as well as by the often competing demands of the art world. Raised in Suffolk and trained to manage his father's land, his rural background had an enduring impact on his painting. His was the approach of one who knew the laneways, ploughs and millponds he painted intimately, and who understood the countryside as a place of both labour and natural phenomena. Though today he is often considered a traditional artist, in truth John Constable was a radical. His sketchbooks and paintings reject second-hand, slip-shod versions of nature, instead subjecting the land, its people and industry to intense scrutiny; developing a new kind of painting to fit the landscape he saw with his farmer’s eye and felt beneath the soles of his boots.

Creating a work of art is as simple as playing with different colours. Packed with easy art activities, this book from Marion Deuchars will transform anyone into an artist! Marion Deuchars' activity book for children and families uses colour as the starting point for different types of art. Bright colours, light colours, clashing colours, matching colours: all the colours of the rainbow. Taking inspiration from Paul Klee and the Bauhaus artists, Deuchars has devised a series of simple art activities based on colour. Budding young artists will learn how to create planets that radiate, rainbows that glow, teetering towers, a sea full of colourful fish, and much, much more using simple games and techniques. The book teaches some basic colour theory, and reveals simple tricks such as how to mix colours with coloured pencils using cross-hatching, and how to reveal hidden rainbows of colour by scraping away layers of paint. With something for every artist, Play With Colour makes starting a work of art easy and immediately satisfying.

A darkly evocative compendium of images exploring natural, constructed, imaginary and subconscious underworlds, curated by renowned image collector and social media figure Stephen Ellcock. From the burrows and secret bunkers beneath our feet to imagined hellscapes and surrealist dreamscapes, the disquieting, alarming and wonderful visuals span natural and constructed subterranea and imagined and subconscious worlds. A personal introduction by Stephen together with contextual chapter introductions establish the key themes, while supplementary texts elucidate essential concepts, historical events and figures. Thought-provoking literary, philosophical and spiritual quotations punctuate the intriguing images. Together, the images and authoritative text highlight the interplay between the real and the imagined, revealing how the real has fed our fears and hopes and informed our imagination – and conversely, how our imagination has depicted the esoteric, the abject and the unknown.

An in-depth cultural and archaeological history of one of England's great ancient monuments: the White Horse at Uffington. The White Horse at Uffington is an icon of the English landscape – a sleek, almost abstract figure 120 yards long which was carved into the green turf of the spectacular chalk scarp of the North Wessex Downs in the early first millennium BC. For centuries antiquarians, travellers and local people speculated about the age of the Horse, who created it and why. Was it a memorial to King Alfred the Great’s victory over the heathen Danes, an emblem of the first Anglo-Saxon settlers or a prehistoric banner, announcing the territory of a British tribe? Or was the Horse an actor in an elaborate prehistoric ritual, drawing the sun across the sky? The rich history of this ancient figure and its surroundings can help us understand how people have created and lived in the Downland landscape, which has inspired artists, poets and writers including Eric Ravilious, John Betjeman and J.R.R. Tolkien. The White Horse itself is most remarkable because it is still here. People have cared for it and curated it for centuries, even millennia. In that time the meaning of the Horse has changed, yet it has remained a symbol of continuity and is a myth for modern times.

Between 1978 and 1992, Factory was one of the most important record labels in Britain. It launched the careers of Joy Division, New Order and the Happy Mondays, to name but a few; it opened the legendary Haçienda club and Dry bar; and it introduced to music the concept of high-quality, cutting-edge design. The visual languages developed alongside the music, by designers such as Peter Saville, Central Station Design and 8vo, are still widely recognized and imitated today. Factory Records documents the label’s entire visual legacy and its role in bringing design into the mainstream. Every item with a famous Factory inventory number is illustrated or listed, including album sleeves, singles, special editions, flyers, posters, stationery and architectural projects. With a foreword by Tony Wilson, Factory’s charismatic record label owner and nightclub manager, this book amply conveys the energy, creativity and enthusiasm of one of the most dynamic (and chaotic) record labels ever.

A landmark study of ancient Greek and Roman cults, from the nocturnal mysteries at Eleusis to the cults of Dionysus and Mithras. Mystery cults are one of the most intriguing areas of Greek and Roman religion. In the nocturnal mysteries at Eleusis, participants dramatically re-enacted the story of Demeter's loss and recovery of her daughter Persephone; in Bacchic cult, bands of women ran wild in the Greek countryside to honour Dionysus; in the mysteries of Mithras, men came to understand the nature of the universe and their place within it through frightening initiation ceremonies and astrological teachings. These cults were an important part of life in the ancient Mediterranean world, but their actual practices were shrouded in secrecy, and much of what they were about has remained unclear until now. This is the first book to describe and explain all the major mystery cults of the ancient world, cult by cult, reconstructing the rituals and exploring their origins. It makes plentiful use of artistic and archaeological evidence, as well as ancient literature and epigraphy. Greek painted pottery, Roman frescoes, inscribed gold tablets from Greek and South Italian tombs and the excavated sites of ancient religious sanctuaries all contribute to our understanding of ancient mystery cults. Making use of the most recent work on these cults, the book is also informed by crucial current work on the anthropology and cognitive science of religion. Not only is this clearly written book a significant contribution to the study of these cults, but it is also accessible to a general readership. More than any other book on ancient religion, it allows the reader to understand what it was like to participate in these life-transforming religious events.