Category: Europe

Categories
Central and Eastern Europe Society and Culture

Central and Eastern European Art Since 1950 by Maja Fowkes, Reuben Fowkes

For the readers who believe that post World War II eastern and central Europe went into some kind of a art hibernation are in for a pleasant shock! This month we present to you a fascinating story of art and art movements in eastern Europe since the 1950s. This richly illustrated book by the Fowkeses duo is a gem of a book, especially for those readers who would like to know what went on in the ares during the second half of the last century. Read on…

A groundbreaking introduction to the contemporary art of central and Eastern Europe, this wide-ranging study explores painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and conceptual work.

In this pathbreaking new history, Maja and Reuben Fowkes introduce outstanding artworks and major figures from across central and Eastern Europe to reveal the movements, theories, and styles that have shaped artistic practice since 1950. They emphasize the particularly rich and varied art scenes of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia, extending their gaze at intervals to East Germany, Romania, the Baltic states, and the rest of the Balkans.

This generously illustrated overview explores the richness of this region’s artists’ singular contribution to recent art history. Tracing art-historical changes from 1950 to now, the authors examine the repercussions of political events on artistic life—notably the uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the Solidarity movement in Poland, and the collapse of the communist bloc. But their primary interest is in the experimental art of the neo-avant-garde that resisted official agendas and engaged with global currents such as performance art, video, multimedia, and net art. Central and Eastern European Art Since 1950 is a comprehensive, transnational survey of the major movements of art from this region.

From the book description

It is a path-breaking work of immense artistic and societal significance. This book should be in the library of readers who enjoy history as much as art. Widely available at leading book stores. Get it now!

Categories
Germany Mindfulness Science and Technology Society

Healing Art: How art in hospitals promotes healing by Isabel Gruener

An often overlooked part of art is healing. Hospitals have known it for a long time, and therefore you can notice a lot of paintings in hallways and rooms. This month we bring to you an excellent book on the subject. Healing Art is as much about art as it is about healing and the intersection of creative synapses that influence, and sometimes promote healing. Read on…

• Explores the concept that art promotes healing through a survey of work created for the Robert Bosch Hospital in Germany

• Includes 48 commissioned artworks by significant contemporary artists, including some that were created with input from patients

• Offers specialist contributions from architecture and art history, healthcare design, art and corporate philosophy

Art can contribute to a healing environment, supporting the work of hospitals and enriching the lives of both patients and staff members. In this book, Isabel Gruener, the art officer at the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, explores how the hospital’s commissioned art program supports the complex process of healing. Whether it is seriously ill patients in the intensive care unit, visitors in the public corridors, or employees in sterile functional areas: each is affected in their own way by the total of 48 artistic interventions. The narrative describing these art projects, which were created between 1998-2018, is supplemented by specialist contributions from the fields of art, design, and corporate philosophy. They explore an interdisciplinary approach and offer a view towards the future potential of healing art in healing environments.

From the book description

This is an excellent read for those of us who like to step beyond the obvious and stare into hitherto underappreciated intersections of art, society, and well-being. This book is not widely available, so you may like to call your local book store in advance.

Wishing all our readers Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2020! See you next month.

Categories
Europe Medieval Religious Renaissance

Gothic 1200-1500 by Uta Hasekamp

Gothic is a frequently misunderstood term and unless you are well versed with the period history, it is easy to pigeon-hole the term into one or the other simplistic categories. We have a special recommendation for you this month. For the readers who would like to develop a better understanding of Gothic art and architecture, and its connection to religion, economic growth, war, disease and other discontinuities of the period will surely enjoy this wonderful book by Uta Hasekamp. Read on…

Painting from 1200 to 1500 is a mirror of its time, marked by deep religiousness as well as progressive tendencies, by economic prosperity as well as devastating wars and epidemics. A religious perspective is joined by secular themes and efforts to achieve a realistic way of representation. These developments take place in book illumination, which is accessible to rather few people, as well as in the public medium of frescoes and, since 1300, also in panel paintings. With nearly 500 works, Gothic 1200-1500 gives an overview of the visual art of the time.

From the book description

This book offers unique insights into the society and culture of the period 1200 to 1500, and it is really hard to categorize such a brilliant work into a particular category. This book is not widely available, and you may like to check with your local book store in advance.

Categories
Ancient Europe Roman

The Art of the Roman Empire: 100-450 AD by Jas Elsner

The Roman Empire and its rise and decline has been the subject of uncountable works. This ancient civilization continues to fascinate us with its so many contributions to the civilization that we know today. However, not many care about the Roman Empire’s art during its waning years. This month we bring to you an adventurous account of the Roman Art during its decline. Read on…

The passage from Imperial Rome to the era of late antiquity, when the Roman Empire underwent a religious conversion to Christianity, saw some of the most significant and innovative developments in Western culture. This stimulating book investigates the role of the visual arts, the great diversity of paintings, statues, luxury arts, and masonry, as both reflections and agents of those changes.

Jas’ Elsner’s ground-breaking account discusses both Roman and early Christian art in relation to such issues as power, death, society, acculturation, and religion. By examining questions of reception, viewing, and the culture of spectacle alongside the more traditional art-historical themes of imperial patronage and stylistic change, he presents a fresh and challenging interpretation of an extraordinarily rich cultural crucible in which many fundamental developments of later European art had their origins.

This second edition includes a new discussion of the Eurasian context of Roman art, an updated bibliography, and new, full colour illustrations.

This is a fascinating, almost groundbreaking work by an accomplished team. Followers of history will most definitely enjoy this academically oriented collection. Widely available at leading bookstores.

Categories
Germany Modern

Inventur: Art in Germany, 1943-55 by Lynette Roth

Post World War II Germany took a long time to recover but when it did, it led several art and design movements especially the modern and minimalist design movements from mid 1950s onwards. However, the readers may wonder, what happened between the war and the 1950s – the lost decade, so as to say. This book fills that gap by outlining the art scene in Germany during that decade which essentially laid the foundation for the subsequent decades. A very interesting book. Read on…

As Germany went through a period of intense physical and moral stocktaking in the wake of World War II, the country’s artists responded by creating highly charged works and engaging in heated debates about artistic practice and its relationship to the reestablishment of a new national identity. This long-overdue examination of German art from the immediate postwar period includes case studies of nearly fifty artists working in a variety of media ranging from small-scale drawings and collages to large, colorful canvases and industrial products. Insightful essays delve into Willi Baumeister’s wartime lacquer experiments, Louise Rösler’s abstract ruinscapes, and Arno Fischer’s photographs of a divided Berlin, revealing Germany’s surprisingly generative and pluralistic artistic culture. With a title taken from a 1945 poem by Günter Eich, this important book provides a fresh perspective on a largely overlooked corpus of works—some published here for the first time—and is a valuable contribution to our understanding of 20th-century German art. 

From the book description

For the readers who enjoy the treasure hunt of missing pieces, this book is an excellent addition. It is now widely available. Get it, it will make an excellent addition to your library.

Categories
Ceramics United Kingdom

Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery by Glenn Adamson

Pottery is one of the most ancient art forms right from Mesopotamia, to Harappa, China, and beyond. This book takes the art of pottery to an esoteric level. Studio pottery technique provides a befitting background to elevate this work, and the book that we are presenting today is one of the best on the subject that we have ever seen. Read on…

For nearly a century British potters have invigorated traditional ceramic forms by developing or reinventing techniques, materials, and means of display. Things of Beauty Growing explores major typologies of the vessel—such as bowl, vase, and charger—that have defined studio ceramics since the early 20th century. It places British studio pottery within the context of objects from Europe, Japan, and Korea and presents essays by an international team of scholars and experts. The book highlights the objects themselves, including new works by Adam Buick, Halima Cassell, and Nao Matsunago, featured alongside works by William Staite Murray, Lucie Rie, Edmund de Waal, and others, many published here for the first time. Rounding out the beautifully illustrated volume is an interview with renowned collector John Driscoll and approximately fifty illustrated short biographies of significant makers.

From the book description

Readers who are interested in sculpting, clay modeling, engraving, painting, ceramics, and pottery will definitely enjoy this exciting collection. Needless to add, a good compliment to your coffee table as a conversation starter. This book is not widely available, so you may need to call ahead to check availability and/or reserve your copy.

Categories
Germany Renaissance War

Fashion in Steel: The Landsknecht Armor of Wilhelm von Rogendorf by Stefan Krause

For those readers who know that our founders are based in Jamshedpur, the steel city, we want to share our continued enthusiasm for all things steel. It is a matter of coincidence that very recently an amazing new book was launched that did the unthinkable – but the two words Fashion and Steel together in the title. Unthinkable? Really? Well, we think otherwise and those art lovers who are steel and materials oriented will find this to be a great addition to their libraries. Read on…

A gloriously illustrated volume that looks at the remarkable armor of a key Habsburg commander and its relationship to contemporary Renaissance fashion 

This sumptuously illustrated book celebrates a curious masterpiece of German Renaissance art–the Landsknecht armor of Wilhelm von Rogendorf (1523). Recently conserved to its original glory, this magnificent suit of armor, made for a trusted courtier, diplomat, and commander of infantry units for the Habsburgs, deceives the eye: the steel sleeves drape in graceful folds, with cuts in the surface, suggesting the armor is made from cloth rather than metal. The author of this fascinating volume explores the question: why does the armor look this way?

Stefan Krause delves back five centuries to the political, social, and cultural context in which von Rogendorf lived. Among other key venues in the Holy Roman Empire, this story takes the reader to the court of Emperor Charles V in Spain and to Augsburg, the leading center of armor making, where Rogendorf was introduced to the court armorer of Charles V, Kolman Helmschmid (1471-1532). Helmschmid was famous for his inventive and masterfully sculptured works, and this book elaborates on his unique contributions to the history of armor, and how and why von Rogendorf’s suit was informed by contemporary fashion.  

From the book description

This wonderfully illustrated book is not very widely available and therefore please plan ahead if you intend to buy or gift it.

Categories
Architecture Austria

The Glass of the Architects: Vienna 1900-1937 by Rainald Franz

Architecture is the foundation of civilizations and it reflects, with varying degrees, economy, art, society, geography, weather and the general human condition. This month, we present to you a breathtaking collection on architecture from early last-century Austria.

The Glass of the Architects: Vienna 1900-1937 is the second exhibition dedicated to international developments in 20th-century glass, after Glass from Finland in the Bischofberger Collection. The exhibitions are part of the “Le Stanze del Vetro” project jointly run by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Pentagram Stiftung for the purpose of studying and promoting the art of glassmaking in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition in Venice, this volume presents over 300 works from the collection of the MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art in Vienna and private collections. It focuses for the first time on the history of glassmaking in Austria from 1900 to 1937, a period spanning the last decades of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the First Republic.

In the early 20th century a group of young architects, designers, and fine arts and architecture students developed a special interest in the process of glassmaking. Many of them were to win fame as leading figures in Viennese Modernism, such as Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956), Koloman Moser (1868-1918), Joseph Maria Olbrich (1867-1908), Leopold Bauer (1872-1938), Otto Prutscher (1880-1949), Oskar Strnad (1879-1935), Oswald Haerdtl (1899-1959) and Adolf Loos (1870-1933). They paved the way to the first pioneering developments in 20th-century glass production as they worked with the furnaces in order to gain a thorough understanding of the material. The collaboration between architects and designers and the introduction of their innovations to production created the style of Viennese Glass, found in new projects such as the Wiener Werkstätte or the Austrian Werkbund.

From the book description

The readers will definitely appreciate and enjoy this collection that brings to the table work that has never been put together in such a format. A real treat for architecture students and historians alike. Widely available now.

Categories
Europe Medieval

A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe by Martina Bagnoli, Virginia Brilliant, Carla Casagrande, Emma Dillon, Barbara Newman

An apt title for a wonderful collection! For the readers who would like to explore medieval art and culture in depth, this is an essential addition. Read on to learn now:

The late medieval world was marked by a culture of refinement and sophistication. The period’s media of choice—paintings, manuscripts, prints, tapestries, embroideries, ivory sculpture, metalwork, and enamels—speak volumes about the pleasures of sensory engagement. Art objects were touched, smelled, tasted, and heard, as well as seen.

 

This sumptuous new book brings together sacred and secular art to reveal the shared intellectual culture that governed the understanding of perception and the role of senses in Europe from the 12th through the 16th century. A focused exploration of the performative and multifaceted nature of medieval art underscores its direct appeal to the senses, revealing the rich experiential world that informed its interpretation. Eight essays explore these themes through representations of religious practices, royal rituals, feasts and celebrations, music, and literature. Beautifully designed and produced, A Feast for the Senses contributes significantly to an emerging field in the history of art and showcases approximately 130 objects, each accompanied by a full description, provenance, and bibliography.

From the book description

We sincerely hope that the readers will savor every image in this amazing collection. This book is not very widely available, so you may like to call ahead and check with your local book store. Let us know what you think about this wonderful collection.

Categories
Culture Russia Soviet

The Soviet Mind: Russian Culture Under Communism

It is time to move on beyond badly made movies about the cold war. This month we bring to you an excellent view of the Soviet society under communism. This is clearly an insider’s view and is an illuminating book on several aspects of the society. Now that several years has passed since the break up of USSR, it gives the readers a fine retrospective into the influence of this economic system on various walks of life.

With a revised foreword by Brookings President Strobe Talbott and a new introduction by Berlin’s editor, Henry Hardy.
George Kennan, the architect of US policy toward the Soviet Union, called Isaiah Berlin “the patron saint among the commentators of the Russian scene.” In The Soviet Mind, Berlin proves himself fully worthy of that accolade. Although the essays in this book were originally written to explore the tensions between Soviet communism and Russian culture, the thinking about the Russian mind that emerges is as relevant today under Putin’s post-communist Russia as it was when this book first appeared more than a decade ago.
This Brookings Classic brings together Berlin’s writings about the Soviet Union. Among the highlights are accounts of Berlin’s meetings with the Russian writers in the aftermath of the war; a celebrated memorandum he wrote for the British Foreign Office in 1945 about the state of the arts under Stalin; Berlin’s account of Stalin’s manipulative “artificial dialectic”; portraits of Pasternak and poet Osip Mandel’shtam; Berlin’s survey of Russian culture based on a visit in 1956; and a postscript reflecting on the fall of the Berlin Wall and other events in 1989.
Henry Hardy prepared the essays for publication; his introductory discussions describe their history. In his foreword, revised for this new edition, Brookings’s Strobe Talbott, a long-time expert on Russia and the Soviet Union, relates the essays to Berlin’s other work.
The essays and other pieces in The Soviet Mind —which includes a new essay, “Marxist versus Non-Marxist Ideas in Soviet Policy”, and a summary of a talk on communism—represent Berlin at his most brilliant, and are invaluable for policy-makers, students and anyone interested in Russian politics and thought—past, present and future.

From the book description

Those readers who are interested in exploring art in the broader context of society and economy, this is an excellent read. It is hard to find this book, so please call ahead your book store to check availability.

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