Category: Society and Culture

Central and Eastern Europe Society and Culture

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

Post author By Art Ride
Post date April 20, 2020

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!

Ancient Museums

Art in the Eurasian Iron Age: Context, Connections and Scale by Courtney Nimura

Post author By Art Ride
Post date February 25, 2020

Iron Age. Because Iron was a killer-app! It led to the rise of civilizations, agriculture, industry, and accelerated war outcomes. However, a little noticed aspect of Iron Age is also the immense rise in art objects during the period. This new book on the subject by Courtney Nimura examines this ancient period’s art from close quarters. Read on…

Since early discoveries of so-called Celtic Art during the 19th century, archaeologists have mused on the origins of this major art tradition, which emerged in Europe around 500 BC. Classical influence has often been cited as the main impetus for this new and distinctive way of decorating, but although Classical and Celtic Art share certain motifs, many of the design principles behind the two styles differ fundamentally. Instead, the idea that Celtic Art shares its essential forms and themes of transformation and animism with Iron Age art from across northern Eurasia has recently gained currency, partly thanks to a move away from the study of motifs in prehistoric art and towards considerations of the contexts in which they appear.
This volume explores Iron Age art at different scales and specifically considers the long-distance connections, mutual influences and shared ‘ways of seeing’ that link Celtic Art to other art traditions across northern Eurasia. It brings together 13 papers on varied subjects such as animal and human imagery, technologies of production and the design theory behind Iron Age art, balancing pan-Eurasian scale commentary with regional and site scale studies and detailed analyses of individual objects, as well as introductory and summary papers. This multi-scalar approach allows connections to be made across wide geographical areas, whilst maintaining the detail required to carry out sensitive studies of objects.
From the book description

For readers with a keen interest in archaeology and ancient art, this is an excellent book, well written, thoroughly researched, and richly illustrated. Widely available at all leading bookstores, get your copy now!

Germany Mindfulness Science and Technology Society

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

Post author By Art Ride
Post date December 3, 2019

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.

Botanical Drawing Science and Technology Zoology

A Wild Child’s Guide to Endangered Animals by Millie Marotta

Post author By Art Ride
Post date November 8, 2019

Wishing all our readers a very happy Diwali! There is a child inside every grown up. A child, curious, exploring, learning, and wondering. It is for this child that we bring this month’s recommendation – an excellent guide to endangered animals by noted illustrator Millie Marotta. Read on…

From New York Times bestselling author Millie Marotta comes this gorgeous celebration of the animal kingdom.
Highlights the plight of 43 endangered species from around the world: Take a trip through freshwaters, oceans, forests, mountains, tundras, deserts, grasslands, and wetlands while learning about rare and well-known animals and their habitats.
• Vivid illustrations bring caribous, axolotls, giraffes, agami herons, and many more to life on these rich and varied pages.
• Illuminating text relays the story of each species, from how they live and why they are endangered to what is being done about it.
• Complete with a map detailing where each species can still be found to enrich the reading experience further and inspire additional research.
A visually rich, timely, informative book raises awareness in the most spectacular way .
Millie Marotta is a freelance illustrator working from her studio by the sea in a little corner of West Wales. She grew up in the wilderness of rural Wales where she developed a fascination with all things flora and fauna, which, along with intricate pattern and detail, remains an ongoing theme in her work. Millie’s intention is simply to create beautiful artwork which captivates, charms, and inspires a curiosity in others for the natural world.
A Wild Child’s Guide to Endangered Animals makes an enlightening gift for any nature or animal enthusiast.
From the book description

Readers who are nature enthusiast will find this book informative and though provoking. Widely available, get your copy now!

Cartography Museums

An Atlas of Geographical Wonders: From Mountaintops to Riverbeds by Gilles Palsky

Post author By Art Ride
Post date October 14, 2019

One doesn’t need to be a cartographer to appreciate the beauty of maps. This month we bring to you a unique book – a geographical atlas with stunning illustrations of various geographical features with a focus on mountain and rivers. These maps were produced during the 1800s primarily to aid the imperial adventures abroad. Read on…

This is the first book to catalog comparative maps and tableaux that visualize the heights and lengths of the world’s mountains and rivers. Produced predominantly in the nineteenth century, these beautifully rendered maps emerged out of the tide of exploration and scientific developments in measuring techniques. Beginning with the work of explorer Alexander von Humboldt, these historic drawings reveal a world of artistic and imaginative difference. Many of them give way—and with visible joy—to the power of fantasy in a mesmerizing array of realistic and imaginary forms. Most of the maps are from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection at Stanford University.
From the book description

Readers who are keen observers of geography are sure to enjoy this wonderful collection. This book is not widely available, so you may like to call ahead and check with your local book store.

Ancient Latin America Museums

The Market for Mesoamerica: Reflections on the Sale of Pre-Columbian Antiquities by Cara G. Tremain

Post author By Art Ride
Post date September 12, 2019

Trade and possession of antiquities has always fascinated art aficionados. This month we present to you, in this series, a very interesting book by Cara G. Temain on the sale of pre-Columbian Antiquities. It examines the entire economic chain behind Central American art objects through a broad lens and the readers who would like to learn more about this oft-forgotten part of the world will find it a very interesting book. Read on…

Pre-Columbian artifacts are among the most popular items on the international antiquities market, yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to monitor these items as public, private, and digital sales proliferate. This timely volume explores past, current, and future policies and trends concerning the sales and illicit movement of artifacts from Mesoamerica to museums and private collections.
Informed by the fields of anthropology, economics, law, and criminology, contributors critically analyze practices of research and collecting in Central American countries. They assess the circulation of looted and forged artifacts on the art market and in museums and examine government and institutional policies aimed at fighting trafficking. They also ask if and how scholars can use materials removed from their context to interpret the past.
The theft of cultural heritage items from their places of origin is a topic of intense contemporary discussion, and The Market for Mesoamerica updates our knowledge of this issue by presenting undocumented and illicit antiquities within a regional and global context. Through discussion of transparency, accountability, and ethical practice, this volume ultimately considers how antiquities can be protected and studied through effective policy and professional practice.
From the book description

Heading into the holiday season, this book is a great find and a fine addition to your library or those of your friends. This one book offers much more between its covers than several semesters of learning art economics at the art school. Definitely for the academically oriented. Widely available at all leading book stores. Get your copy now!

History Society and Culture

Native Arts Of North America, Africa, And The South Pacific: An Introduction by George A. Corbin

Post author By Art Ride
Post date July 18, 2019

This month we bring an excellent academic compilations for the students of native arts all over the world. George A Corbin’s book on native arts is an in-depth study into chosen native art styles. This is a timely release as the focus world over grows on going back to the roots of native people and bringing the original art into focus, as opposed to mass-produced plastic art that the world has come to become comfortable with. Read on…

This introduction to the art of tribal peoples of North America, Africa, and the South Pacific does not briefly cover the hundreds of artistic traditions in these three vast areas but rather studies in depth thirty-six art styles within all three areas using the methods of art history, including stylistic analysis and iconographic interpretation. Emphasis is on the art in cultural context and as a system of visual communication within each tribal area. Where appropriate for a more complete understanding of the art, data from archaeology, ethnology, linguistics, religion, and other humanistic disciplines are included.Among the peoples and cultures whose art is studied are the Haida, Kwakiutl, and Tlingit; the Hohokam and Mongollon, the Anasazi and Hopi; the Dogon and Bamana of Mali; the Asante of Ghana; the Benin, Yoruba, and Ibo of Nigeria; the Fan, the Bamum, and the Kuba of Central Africa; Australian aboriginal and Island New Guinea art; Island Melanesia art; central and eastern Polynesia; Hawaii and the Maori in Marginal Polynesia.The format of the text and selected illustrations is based on seventeen years of teaching African, North American Indian, and South Pacific art to undergraduate and graduate students at Herbert H. Lehman College (CUNY), New York University, and Columbia University. The book is intended for art history and anthropology students and the interested lay reader or collector. The detailed notes at the end of the book are for further study, research, and understanding of the tribal art style under discussion.
From the book description

This is an excellent book for the researcher. However, casual readers who buy books only for the pictures can skip it. This book requires serious reading, deep contemplation and connecting our present to our collective pasts. Widely available at leading bookstores. Get your copy now!

America Society Street Art

Street Art Las Vegas by William Shea

Post author By Art Ride
Post date April 23, 2019

Continuing with our previous theme of art influencing social movements, this month we present to you a unique collection of Las Vegas street art. Those who know Vegas for other reasons may not immediately appreciate the level of evolution of street art in that city. This photographic book by William Shea aims to document and share this phenomenal work. Read on…

Photographers William Shea and Patrick Lai release the first ever photo documentary about the Las Vegas street art and graffiti scene with the intention of creating awareness about the unseen talent and hidden benefits that street art contributes to the art community. The 8 x 10 book is made up of 200 pages, and consists of 252 high quality full color images. The project time frame covers several years, with photos from all parts of the valley and the Life is Beautiful Festival. Introduction by writer and journalist Ed Fuentes.
From the book description

The readers who enjoy being thrown into unfamiliar situations will certainly enjoy this vivid collection. This book is not widely available, so you may call your local book stores to order a copy for you. Enjoy!

Colonial War

Lady Butler: painting, travel and war by Catherine Wynne

Post author By Art Ride
Post date March 26, 2019

Long before PTSD was an acknowledged and researched condition, Lady Elizabeth Butler, as a war painter, had been documenting the agony, tyranny, shock and horrors of war through her paintbrush. A consummate artist, she left behind a treasure trove of art and manuscripts, most of which now finds place in this book by Catherine Wynne. Read on…

A ‘recovery’ project drawing on unpublished letters and diaries, this is the first biography of Victorian Britain’s famous war artist, Elizabeth Thompson Butler. She transformed war art by depicting conflict trauma, decades before its designation as a medical condition. Married to an officer in the British army, she traveled with her husband’s military postings. Her art is prescient in its concern about the implications of foreign military intervention and champions the ordinary soldier and the dispossessed. Lady Butler is a story of travel and history, of war and conflict, of Italy of the Risorgimento, of the London art world where she achieved celebrity and negotiated the difficulties of being a female artist in a male-dominated domain, and of imperial travel. Her biography reveals a figure whose perspective on war is modern, whose confidence in achieving success in the masculine field of battle art taps into contemporary debates, and whose work provokes a rethinking of the post-imperial world.
From the book description

Readers who like to learn more about the colonial world, especially imperial Britain, will like this collection of visuals of their foreign policy, which was war, to be a thrilling, and some times soul-stirring journey. Not for the faint-hearted! Widely available at most large book stores.

Society

Postmodern Artists: Creators of a Cultural Movement by Amanda Vink

Post author By Art Ride
Post date February 20, 2019

Art and culture have always influenced each other. However, there are times when art assumes a more active role and creates cultural movements. This is definitely true of the post-modern world. You do not need to look farther than the nearest wall art to notice that. In this fascinating new book by Amanda Vink, she outlines the path of art as a creator of cultural movements in a richly illustrated and an insightful study. Read on…

Postmodern art emerged in the late 1960s following a time period when art had been defined by superstars like Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dal. Rejecting the idea of art being exclusive to professionals, artists who emerged during the postmodern era believed anyone could be an artist and anything could be art. Through exciting main text featuring annotated quotes from experts, detailed sidebars, and examples of postmodern art, readers explore how the foundations of art were challenged by postmodern artists such as Andy Warhol and Barbara Kruger and also how their work still impacts today’s art world.
From the book description

The readers whose idea of art is much more evolved than the traditional view dominated by fine art will find this book uniquely placed to help understand several cultural movements. An excellent coffee table addition. The book is not widely available, so you may like to check in advance.