Yale University Press Pelican History of Art Series – serie

The magnificent bronze doors of Hildesheim Cathedral, the ivory, gold, enameled, and bejeweled book covers made to contain superbly illuminated manuscripts, the startling reliquary caskets made in the shape of the part of the body supposed to be contained within them—these and other sacred objects were contained within church treasuries and cloisters in the early Middle Ages in Europe. This beautiful book traces the development of these so-called Minor Arts and the major role they played alongside the other pictorial arts and architectural sculpture of the period.Although it is impossible to establish a strict chronology of this period, since styles evolved concurrently and with varying speed across diverse regions of Europe, Peter Lasko has established an object-based chronology that enables him to trace the developments of these styles. In addition, he describes the personalities, stylistic traits, and influence of some of the great craftsmen whose names are briefly recorded in cathedral treasury records. He surveys the sacred arts from Scandinavia to Spain and from Italy to England, examining the impact of English art on the court of Charlemagne and investigating external influences on English art both before and after the Norman Conquest. Lasko records the wide range of opinions on style and method and also explicates his own; his comprehensive survey of craftsmanship alters previous assumptions about chronologies, creates new groupings of materials, and reassesses stylistic sources.

This book is the first in a major three-volume series that will survey China's immense wealth of art, architecture, and artifacts from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. The Arts of China to A.D. 900 investigates the beginnings of the traditions on which much of the art rests, moving from Neolithic and Bronze Age China to the era of the Tang Dynasty around A.D. 900.William Watson discusses in lively detail a wide range of art forms and techniques: porcelain and pottery, lacquer, religious and secular painting and sculpture, mural painting, monumental sculpture and architecture. He explains the materials and techniques of bronze casting, jade carving, pottery manufacture, and other arts, and he describes the most important sites, the artifacts that were produced at each one, and the historical interactions between different areas. He discusses the iconography, the technique and the function of every art form. Written by one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of Chinese art and archaeology, this lavishly illustrated book will be a valuable resource for both experts and beginners in the field.

This beautifully illustrated book provides a complete overview of the art of the Southern Netherlands from 1585 to 1700. The author examines the development of Flemish and specifically Antwerp painting, the work of Rubens and other leading masters, and the Antwerp tradition of specialization among painters as well as the sculpture and architecture of this period."A major moment of artistic culture has been magisterially sketched by one of its leading authorities."—Larry Silver, The Art Book"Consistently rewarding . . . a book that is going to transform how Flemish art is understood."—Jeremy Wood, Apollo Magazine"As well as examining the output and influence of leading figures such as Rubens and Van Dyke, Vlieghe provides the historical, social and cultural context for the development of history painting and other specializations. . . . This book will attract both the informed and general reader."—Alison Smith, Art Newspaper"Essential for current study of Belgian art."—Choice

In this unprecedentedly wide-ranging account of art, design, and architecture in the complex Central Europe of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during its momentous last decades, Elizabeth Clegg achieves a forceful integration of political and cultural developments. Comparing the situation in eight cities—among them Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Cracow, and Zagreb—the author highlights contrasts, rivalries, parallels, and interconnections across this colorful and important region. The book deals with all the chief ethnic/national categories of Austria-Hungary and embraces all the visual arts. Focusing on their public display, appraisal, and consumption, Clegg shows how the harmonious/antagonistic coexistence of institutions, publications, and events gave rise to the dynamic art life of a period that would end in a turning point for Central Europe. As vividly revealed, this was a time and place marked by a simultaneous fear and celebration of ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity that has enormous international resonance a century later.

Art in Britain 1660–1815 presents the first social history of British art from the period known as the long 18th century, and offers a fresh and challenging look at the major developments in painting, drawing, and printmaking that took place during this period. It describes how an embryonic London art world metamorphosed into a flourishing community of native and immigrant practitioners, whose efforts ultimately led to the rise of a British School deemed worthy of comparison with its European counterparts. Within this larger narrative are authoritative accounts of the achievements of celebrated artists such as Peter Lely, William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, and J.M.W. Turner. David H. Solkin has interwoven their stories and many others into a critical analysis of how visual culture reinforced, and on occasion challenged, established social hierarchies and prevailing notions of gender, class, and race as Britain entered the modern age. More than 300 artworks, accompanied by detailed analysis, beautifully illustrate how Britain’s transformation into the world’s foremost commercial and imperial power found expression in the visual arts, and how the arts shaped the nation in return.Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

A survey of how the Aegean peoples expressed themselves during a period of some 5000 years after the end of the Bronze Age (circa 1100 BC), and before the rise of Greek art. Work produced in the ambience of the palaces of Crete (including the palace of Minos at Knossos) and of Mycenae on the mainland is fully described and illustrated. For purposes of clarity the arts are considered by function and material rather than by geographical region or chronological period; but the main political upheavals affecting them are kept in mind. Little wall-painting has survived, and the so-called minor arts are examined for the light they thow on it, as well as to assess artistic development in the Aegean as a whole.

This book traces the origins and growth of modern art, assessing the intrinsic qualities of individual works and describing the social forces in play. It covers various areas including works of Impressionism, Cubism, Constructivism and Surrealism.

Between the ninth and thirteenth centuries the Western world witnessed a glorious flowering of the pictorial arts. In this lavishly illustrated book, C.R. Dodwell provides a comprehensive guide to all forms of this art—from wall and panel paintings to stained glass windows, mosaics, and embroidery—and sets them against the historical and theological influences of the age.Dodwell describes the rise and development of some of the great styles of the Middle Ages: Carolingian art, which ranged from the splendid illuminations appropriate to an emperor's court to drawings of great delicacy; Anglo-Saxon art, which had a rare vitality and finesse; Ottonian art with its political and spiritual messages; the colorful Mozarabic art of Spain, which had added vigor through its interaction with the barbaric Visigoths; and the art of Italy, influenced by the styles of Byzantium and the West. Dodwell concludes with an examination of the universal Romanesque style of the twelfth century that extended from the Scandinavian countries in the north to Jerusalem in the south. His book—which includes the first exhaustive discussion of the painters and craftsmen of the time, incorporates the latest research, and is filled with new ideas about the relations among the arts, history, and theology of the period—will be an invaluable resource for both art historians and students of the Middle Ages.