Phaidon Press

Welles began his direting career in 1940, at the age of twenty-five, with Citizen Kane, an undisputed, ground-breaking masterpiece of cinema history. Welles' satture as a baroque, impetuous and profoundly free artist made the sudios uncomfortable. He had control of every detail on the twelve feature films he was able to make, including Lady from Shanghai with Rita Hayworth (1947), Touch of Evil with Charlton Heston (1958), adaptations of Shakespeare's plays including Macbeth (1948), Othello (1952) and Kafka's The Trial (1962). Orson Welles remains a unique figure in cinema history and a real source of imagination for future generations of film-makers.

Billy Wilder (USA, 1906-2002) is an undisputed master of American comedy, taking situation comedy to the edge of the absurd in Some Like it Hot (1959). But he also made pessimistic melodramas such as Sunset Boulevard (1950), in which Gloria Swanson gives a moving performance as a fallen star, and a few fine examples of film noir, such as Double Indemnity (1944) et Witness for the Prosecution (1957). Wilder worked with the greatest stars and his filmography is studded with classic scenes, including Marilyn Monroe playing the banjo in Some Like it Hot or holding her billowing skirt over the subway outlet in Seven Year Itch (1955), Jack Lemmon draining spaghetti with a tennis racket in The Apartment (1960) and Shirley MacLaine as a Parisian streetwalker in Irma la Douce (1963). His humour is often incisive and his vision of the world somewhat cynical, but all his characters experience a moment of truth and, for this reason, Billy Wilder is primarily a great moralist.

From eclairs to souffles and macaroons to madeleines, when it comes to desserts, no-one does it better than the French. Beautiful, elegant and delicious, French desserts are easy to create at home as only a few basic recipes are needed to make some of the world's most renowned cakes and tarts. The Art of French Baking is the definitive collection of authentic French pastry and dessert recipes. From Tarte Tatin and Hazelnut Petit Fours to Cherry Tartlets and Choux Buns, it contains more than 350 simple recipes that anyone can follow at home. The book also includes details of basic equipment and techniques and information on how to troubleshoot common baking problems. Along with beautiful photographs and illustrations throughout, The Art of French Baking is an inspiring collection to celebrate the sweet tastes of France.

This is an introduction to cubism, the movement often seen as the single most important development in the history of 20th-century art. The book offers an account of the origins of the style in the dialogue between Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso between 1907 and 1914. It traces cubism's evolution in the work of these two artists as well as Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, Robert Delaunay, Andre Derain, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger and many others. The book situates cubism in the context of its times, and shows how it penetrated artistic activity far beyond painting and sculpture, reinvigorating architecture, graphic design, music and poetry, and transforming the possibilities of photography and film.

A rebellious youth who chose a career as an artist against his father's wishes, Michelangelo (1475-1564) went on to be recognized as one of the outstanding talents of his age. Such was the degree of fame and wealth that he acquired that he became a legend within his own lifetime. In the centuries since his death his work has been almost universally admired, and he has been cast as the prototype for artistic genius. In this introduction to the artist's life and work, Anthony Hughes employs the latest evidence from research and restoration projects to take a fresh look at what Michelangelo was and what he has become. Setting Michelangelo within the political and social world he inhabited, Hughes interprets his work not only as the expression of an individual sensiblity but also as the results of often difficult transactions between artist and clients. He gives us an account of the full range of Michelangelo's creative endeavours, in the process exploring the artist's relations with family and friends, his sexuality and his position in the 16th-century world.

With his distinctive paintings of landscapes, figures and still-lifes, Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) profoundly influenced the Cubists and the direction of 20th-century art. This account of his life and work traces his full career from his early years in Aix-en-Provence, through his time in Paris studying the Old Masters and working with the Impressionists, to his later, reclusive years back in Provence, when he produced the pictures that made him the precursor of a new art. The book roots Cezanne in his own time and place, examining his work within the issues and debates of his own generation, particularly those about the essential characteristics and direction of French art and society.

Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) was the most important European artist in a period of extraordinary upheaval. A participant in the French Revolution, he then witnessed the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. A revolutionary in both art and life, David took painting away from the frivolity of the Rococo towards the dramatic moral force of neoclassicism. Passionate, intense, fiercely ambitious and a shrewd businessman, David brought to life in his paintings the heroic deeds of the ancient world, commemorated the revolutionary years in France and glorified the reign of Napoleon. In this comprehensive book Simon Lee employs up-to-date scholarship to present a view of David that incorporates artistic, political and social concerns. It deals with all aspects of his career and character and traces his changing relationships with his patrons. Lee follows David's career from his early student years in Rome, through his time as chief artist to the revolutionary government and Napoleon, to his life in exile in Brussels.

Celebrations of city streets; tranquil vistas of the countryside and seashore; enchanting images of the leisured classes in domestic interiors or at fashionable Parisian cafes — the work of the Impressionists gives pleasure to art lovers everywhere. But while Impressionism today may appear natural and effortless, contemporaries were shocked by the loose handling of paint and the practice of painting out-of-doors. In defiance of the conservative official Salon, the Impressionists — led by Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas — sought to capture the immediacy of experience. This comprehensive study brings together the most recent research on Impressionism. James Rubin makes accessible its philosophical, political and social context, from Baudelaire's conception to the painter of modern life, to the influences of photography, the burgeoning art market, and contemporary notions of gender and race. As well as the acknowledged masters, our attention is drawn to lesser-known Impressionists such as Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassat and Gustave Caillebotte. Rubin also examines the work of Paul Cezanne and his relationship to the group. Finally, the book explores the legacy of Impressionism and its enduring appeal.

Carl Andre (born 1935), is among the foremost exponents of minimalism. Although best known for his grid-based floor sculptures, his output is diverse, encompassing large, outdoor public artworks and small sculptures, poetry and installations.

A survey of one of the most controversial epochs art history, the Modern Movement, this text combines a critical eye with a historian's insight into wider trends. It reflects the changes that have swept across the art world since 1960, challenging the old assumptions and certainties. As it reviews the worldwide view, the book's central argument is that the art world is no longer hierarchical but plural, and that its structures — if they exist at all — are provisional. The author charts the progress of contemporary development and points out their sources and interrelationships.

This series acts as an introduction to key artists and movements in art history. Each title contains 48 full-page colour plates, accompanied by extensive notes, and numerous comparative illustrations in colour or black and white, a concise introduction, select bibliography and detailed source information for the images. Monographs on individual artists also feature a brief chronology.

Minimalism comprises one of the key movements in post-war art. The term 'minimalism' was coined to describe the work of a group of American artists who, in the 1960s, produced a decidedly unexpressionistic, reductive work with a hard industrial feel. This title examines the movement from its beginnings to its broader cultural influence.

Alfred Sisley is now recognized as one of the great landscape painters of the 19th century, and a leading figure in the Impressionist movement. He divided his time between France and England and the illustrations in this volume include the snow scenes of the Paris suburbs, his views of the flooded Seine at Port-Marly, and his paintings of the regattas on the Thames, which have been described as embodying the perfect moment of Impressionism. This series acts as an introduction to key artists and movements in art history. Each title contains 48 full-page colour plates, accompanied by extensive notes, and numerous comparative illustrations in colour or black and white, a concise introduction, select bibliography and detailed source information for the images. Monographs on individual artists also feature a brief chronology.

This series acts as an introduction to key artists and movements in art history. Each title contains 48 full-page colour plates, accompanied by extensive notes, and numerous comparative illustrations in colour or black and white, a concise introduction, select bibliography and detailed source information for the images. Monographs on individual artists also feature a brief chronology.

Area_2 is the newest volume in Phaidon's acclaimed Area series, and features 100 of the world's most interesting emerging graphic designers, as chosen by 10 of the most respected figures in the field. Within, more than 1,500 images reveal the talents and trends of contemporary graphic design as it has evolved over the past five years. Each of the book's 100 four-page sections is devoted to the work of a single designer, and includes a critical essay written by the relevant curator. Featured design ranges from posters to books to typography — and beyond. By gathering together the best work of the most intriguing up-and-coming graphic designers, Area_2 promises to be an invaluable resource for students, designers, and anyone interested in the visual trends shaping our culture. Today's most interesting graphic design is showcased in this comprehensive international survey.

This is a comprehensive survey of one of the most fertile and varied eras in the history of painting. It embraces not just the United Kingdom but also the British-speaking countries linked to Britain by cultural ties of empire and emigration, such as the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. Long regarded as a backwater of sentiment and outmoded academic convention that was bypassed by the mainstream of development in Western art, Victorian painting is now enjoyed in its own right. Unfettered by old prejudices, Lionel Lambourne presents a vivid panorama of an age of unparalleled energy and creativity. Wealth, optimism, education and self-confidence created a huge demand for art and a remarkable array of talent emerged to meet it. Producing works in a wide variety of styles, subjects and media, many artists became rich celebrities, while the profession as a whole enjoyed unprecedented public esteem. The author tackles this protean subject by dividing it into themes which reflect its richness and variety. Chapters are devoted to such topics as mural/history painting, the nude, the portrait, sporting painting, genre scenes and women painters; to social themes such as the fallen woman, social realism, travel and emigration; to movements such as the Pre-Raphaelites. Written with a light touch, full of anecdotes, and with 600 colour illustrations, this study should be entertaining and informative. It should also be a valuable reference work, for in addition to many famous and well-loved images, it presents work by lesser-known artists and explores the byways as well as highways of Victorian art, demonstrating the sheer range and depth of talent that that age produced.

Vitamin Ph provides a third dose of visual stimulation and vital information, following on from the successes of Vitamin P and Vitamin D. Similar in concept, scope and structure, Vitamin Ph presents, in A to Z order, the work of 121 international artists. This up-to-the-minute survey focuses on global developments in art photography and the use of the medium by contemporary artists. 78 nominators worldwide have identified living artists who have made a fresh and innovative contribution to recent international photography. These selections will be accompanied by a 5000 word introductory text by TJ Demos, aiming to explore ideas relevant to contemporary photography with reference to the works included in the book. In addition, the work of each photographer/artist is introduced by a short commissioned text of approximately 500 words. All works reproduced in the book use photography as their primary medium or source material, whether or not they then develop into or merge with other media. Extending beyond the parameters of straight photography to encompass sculptural, painterly and filmic elements, Vitamin Ph explores the medium in an expanded sense. The artists represented have emerged, or re-emerged, in the last five years to create a distinctive body of new work. Vitamin Ph aims to contribute to international debates on contemporary photography whilst providing an accessible overview and concise reference book.

Rudolf Kuenzli, is a comprehensive reassessment of all aspects of Dada activity — writing, performance, and social experimentation — that forever changed our fundamental ideas about art. The newest addition to Phaidon's Themes & Movements series.

Federico Fellini (Italy, 1920-1993) is a major figure in the history of cinema, who created his own highly personal and baroque cinematic language. He had his first major success in 1954 with La Strada, in which his wife and favourite actress Giulietta Masina plays the unforgettable Gelsomina, an innocent clown who falls prey to the violence of the post-war period. With La Dolce Vita of 1960, Fellini turned his attention to modern life and the scene in which Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg embrace in the Trevi fountain has become a globally-recognized symbol of seduction. Psychoanalysis is a clear influence on 8A (1963), in which the character of the film-maker, played by Mastroianni, is a fantasy double of Fellini himself, while Fellini Roma (1972) and Amarcord (1973) are highly personal films, combining caricature, dreams and nostalgia. In the 1980s Fellini made Ginger and Fred (1986) and Intervista (1987), both melancholic reflections on the death of cinema. Through the prism of the director's own desires and obsessions, Fellini's work is universal in scope, dealing with modern humanity in all its contradictions.

Few artists have been so directly invoved in the events of their time as Gustave Courbert. Amid the social transformations of the mid-19th century, Courberts unconventional and stark paintings came to embody values with radical political implications. Rebuffed by the Parisian art world and attacked as a Realist, he seized upon that name to assert his sympathy for ordinary citizens and their down-to-earth experience. Coubert painted subjects from the world around him: from rural labourersand family gatherings to sensuous landscapes, hunting scenes, still lifes, portraits and erotic nudes. James Rubin addresses the full range of Courbet's work and combines a close reading of the paintings with a discussion of the personal, political, economic and social circumstances in which they were created.

Takes you on a tour of prehistoric caves, and explores the origins of art and creativity. This title features 85 caves and rock shelters, revealing the works of art within them. It also includes over 300 works from the Paleolithic period, made between 35,000 and 11,000 years ago.

Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969) created some of the most memorable fashion imagery of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s Contains photographs that were seen by millions in Vague, Harper's Bazaar and Cosmopolitan Seminal innovator of colour photography when the medium was just developing Photographs are rich in hybrid. Imagery, imbuing images of celebrities and black-and-white graphical shapes with saturated colour and eroticism Offers new interpretation to key works and features little-known surrealist images.

The first volume of «Vitamin F», issued in 2002, called the «scenic» environment resonance. After its publication there has grown up a whole new generation of artists. Some artists drew inspiration from it, the other — in other similar sources. «Vitamin Ж2: new perspectives in art» opens the world of this new wave of artists. In the environment of the artists of the means of expression continues to be the main pillar, and this album introduces the extraordinary artists that push the boundaries. 80 international critics, artists and curators have chosen for you 115 painters, who brought a fresh, unique and innovative contribution to modern painting. All these masters of brush appeared recently on the world arena and in the previous edition are not mentioned.

Covering the entire 20th century, this text traces the roots of conceptual art to movements such as Dada, explaining its importance in the 1960s and 1970s and showing that it is still alive today. In 1917 Marcel Duchamp signed the name R. Mutt on a urinal and placed it in a gallery. Even the most strident modernists refused to accept this object as a work of art, however, Duchamp stuck to his guns, claiming that he had chosen the urinal as an art object so it must be art. Such arguments over the nature of art still continue today. Tony Godfrey sees the archetypal work of Conceptual Art as a question and a proposition joined together: What is Art? This could be Art. This text seeks to demystify the subject by placing the art in its social and political context.