Thames&Hudson

One golden summer afternoon in 1862, the young Oxford mathematics don Charles Dodgson shared a picnic with three little girls in a boat on the River Thames. One of the sisters, Alice Liddell, asked for a story with plenty of nonsense in it. The adventure he created for her under the pen name Lewis Carroll and the unforgettable characters he invented — the White Rabbit, the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, amongst others — have enchanted generations of readers thoughout the world. The world of Lewis Carroll, whose powerful imagination gave us the timeless magic of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, is here vividly brought to life.

Clare Willsdons new book explores the rich history and striking evolution of Impressionist garden paintings. By the 1860s, gardens were highly popular in France; the introduction and cross-breeding of new plant and flower species and the opening to the public of the former royal parks had stimulated a great horticultural movement. With their delight in colour, plein-air effects and modern-life themes, the Impressionists and their followers naturally turned to gardens for artistic inspiration. This book follows the spread of the Impressionist garden in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and illustrates not only masterpieces of Impressionism by Manet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley and others, but also works by such forebears as Delacroix, Corot, Courbet and later figures like Van Gogh, Gauguin, Klimt and Sargent. With its spectacular illustrations and accessible, engaging text, it will appeal equally to the scholar, student, art lover or gardening enthusiast.

Sarane Alexandrian traces the development of surrealism from its origins in the Dada anti-art revolt of 1916-1920 to the death of its guiding spirit, Andre Breton, in 1966. Alexandrian discusses and illustrates an astonishing variety of surrealist artists. The result is a thorough and sympathetic account of the one current within 20th-century culture that has devoted itself to the pursuit of a sense of magic.

Clues to the meaning of many of the masterpieces of art history lie in a rich system of symbols, themes and motifs that often elude modern museum-goers. The intimate knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology, folklore and Christian theology that was so vivid in the minds of viewers during the Renaissance is rarely part of the preparation of the contemporary viewer brings to a painter. This illuminating, anecdotal, portable book — with 1,000 gorgeous colour illustrations — helps to fill in these gaps by decoding the imagery of more than 150 of the most influential and admired artworks of all time. Covering the works of the Italian, Dutch, German and Spanish Old Masters, from 1350 to 1750 — paintings by such artists as Giotto, Botticelli, El Greco, Bruegel, Holbein, Rubens and Vermeer, all held in public collections — How to Read a Painting not only helps the viewer to understand the significant details of a picture but also explains the relationship with similar imagery in other works. The guide to Old Master paintings that every art lover has always wanted, this indispensable museum companion will open the reader to a whole new experience of Western art's most praised and visited paintings.

For too long, kindergarten architects have been seemingly preoccupied with the principles of durability, maximisation of space, and minimisation of cost. This, however, also meant forgetting that these environments should promote fun, learning and creativity. However, the field has been experiencing a revolution and this volume showcases 60 of the most outstanding recent innovations worldwide. The chosen projects prove especially that collaboration between educationalists and designers can be uniquely fruitful for the planning and building of kindergartens.

»Carnival Strippers» is a photographic documentary of the carnival strip shows that flourished in county fairs in small-town New England through the late 1970s. The book consists of photographs of the strippers, the managers, callers, and barkers who run the shows, and their customers, or «marks».

From a Brazilian mine where 50,000 men haul heavy sacks of dirt up and down ladders in search of a nugget of gold, to a former lake in western Africa, where starving people walk over its surface of sand, photographer Sebastian Salgado explores the lives of the planet's often-ignored people.

Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) has, for a long time, been seen as a rather suspect anti-artist whose Dada- inspired playfulness offered nothing to the serious, committed artist or art-lover. Recently, however, his name has been dropped regularly by such contemporary luminaries as Damon Hirst (himself no stranger to controversy) and recognised as the inspiration for numerous important artists such as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. When we return to the quality and breadth of Duchamp's century-spanning work (and the contemporaries who so admired him: Salvador Dali, Apollinaire, Man Ray, Andre Breton and Erik Satie)it becomes clear why this is so. The originally controversial Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (first exhibited in 1913 at the Armory Show in New York) was a vital inspiration to the Futurists and remains a cubist classic. His Fountain (a ready-made urinal exhibited to create a debate about the very nature of art) continues to inspire. Large Glass (1915- 1923) continues to beguile. Duchamp's last work Etant Donnes (1946-1966) continues to disturb. This book, from the essential World of Art series, provides both a good basic biography of the artist and a fine overview of his works. Although not as detailed on each piece as, for example, a book such as Juan Antonio Ramirez's Duchamp this is certainly a wonderful way into the strange world of one of the 20th century's most enigmatic and yet important artists.

When the internet emerged as a mass global communication network in the mid-1990s, artists immediately recognized the exciting possibilities for creative innovation that came with it. This book considers the many diverse forms of internet art and the tools and equipment used to create them, while discussing the wider cultural context and historical importance of the work. Covering email art, websites, artist-designed software and projects that blur the boundaries between art and design, product development, political activism and communication, «Internet Art» shows how artists have employed online technologies to engage with the traditions of art history, to create new forms of art and to depart into fields of activity normally beyond the artistic realm. Throughout the book, the views of artists, curators and critics offer an insider's perspective on the subject, while a timeline and glossary provide easy-to-follow guides to the key works, events and technological developments that have taken art into the 21st century.

This intelligently argued, critical overview is invaluable for the way in which it reveals and makes coherent sense of the often bewildering diversity of styles, forms, media, techniques and agendas that proliferate in contemporary art. Now revised and expanded, Michael Archer's acclaimed book is brought right up to date with discussions about the comprehensive globalization of art since the 1990s, which has been reflected in the growth of the exhibition calendar and the number of new museums opening around the world. With over thirty new illustrations and an updated timeline and bibliography, Art Since 1960 provides an indispensable survey and source of information on the evolution of art over the past four decades.

Still life is an art form which gives us valuable insights into changes of mentality and philosophy. Each still life is emblematic of a specific time and place and of a certain metaphysical perspective. This overview features sixty works from antiquity to the present and analyzes the history and significance of each.

With The Subway Graffiti Sketchbook, today's graffiti artists will be able to go back to the medium's roots and find inspiration without fear of electrocution or arrest. The book contains 54 accurate line drawings of subway carriages, some with color or black-and-white line art on them to help you get started, but most clean and ready for use.

Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns each made a tremendous impact on modern art in the 20th century. As pioneers of revolutionary movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Pop art, they are key figures in the postwar transitions that brought American art to the forefront of the international scene. These latest volumes in the MoMA Artist Series, which explores important artists and favorite works in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, guide readers through a dozen of each artists most memorable achievements. A short and lively essay by Carolyn Lanchner, a former curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum, accompanies each work, illuminating its significance and placing it in its historical moment in the development of modern art and the artists own life. These books provide a unique overview of the individuals who shaped the development of American art since mid-century and are excellent resources for readers interested in the stories behind the masterpieces of the modern canon.

In the years between 1919 and 1939, Paris experienced a cultural and intellectual boom. Packed with amazing illustrations, this book explores every aspect of the city during the interwar years, when Paris truly was the City of Light. Featuring a stellar array of artists, writers, composers, musicians, designers and artists, Paris between the Wars covers everything from architecture and technology, to fashion, cafe culture and the gay scene.

Pompeii: Echoes from the Grand Tour is a collection of 53 photographs of Pompeii by the master photographer Mimmo Jodice, published here for the first time. These unique images, visions conjuring up a long-lost past tradition, are coupled with texts by Ethan Canin, Jim Nisbet and Jay Parini.

Shows you how to make your own successful animation films. This book guides the reader through the entire process of 3D animation, culminating in a practical, illustrated step-by-step description of how to create effective characters, a storyboard, sets, and eventually make an entire film.

Famous all over the world for his composite heads made up of plants, fruit and animals, Arcimboldo still remains, paradoxically, a painter shrouded in mystery. This important monograph proposes to reveal the eclecticism of one of the most fertile and lively minds of the Mannerist period, placing him in the cultural context in which he lived and worked. In addition to the artist's anamorphic heads, this volume includes an important selection of his paintings (among which, numerous previously unpublished portraits), tapestries, drawings and illustrations, realised throughout his life, from the period of his training in Lombardy to his time at the Hapsburg court.

No one in the twentieth century created more instantly recognizable images than Cartier-Bresson. Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) was perhaps the finest and most influential image maker of the twentieth century, and his portraits are among his best-known work. Over a fifty year period, he photographed some of the most eminent personalities of the era, as well as ordinary people, chosen as subjects because of their striking and unusual features. In 2003, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, which was created to provide a permanent home for his collected works, opened in Paris. This book is published to coincide with the first exhibition at the Fondation that is drawn entirely from those archives, and it features both well-known images and previously unpublished portraits. Each portrait has been chosen because it perfectly embodies Cartier-Bresson's description of what he was attempting to communicate in his photographs: I'm seeking above all an inner silence. I am trying to translate the personality and not an expression. The portraits reproduced here — discreet, without artifice, their subjects frozen in time — confirm once more the singular gift of Cartier-Bresson who instinctively knew in which revealing fraction of a second to click the shutter. 100 illustrations.

Here is a lively and lighthearted survey that looks at the role that old and classic fonts from letterpress to slab serifs and beyond play in contemporary graphic design. Written and compiled by the worlds leading graphic-design historian, the book provides hundreds of examples, as well as informed texts that will entertain, edify and inspire a new generation of students and practitioners to appreciate that the past contains typographic riches for the future.

Reuters photojournalists are continually bearing witness to events as they happen across the globe. They submit some 1,500 photos a day, creating an annual archive of over half a million images. This award-winning work pushes the boundaries of what news photography is and can be: it ranks among the finest photojournalism of our times. Our World Now 3 draws upon this unparalleled resource to document a year in the life of our vibrant, troubled, beautiful planet. Sometimes funny, sometimes devastating, always compelling, the images in this book encompass the fantastic diversity of trends, moods and stories that have defined 2009.

In Comic Art Now, many of the mediums finest exponents from around the world are gathered together for the first time in a volume that reveals the sheer diversity and rich talent that abounds in this thrilling artform. This book showcases the creme de la creme of contemporary comic book creators, whether they're established professionals or hot new bucks making waves in the industry. From superlative superheroes to heart-stopping horror, the artwork is divided into today's most popular comic-book genres. This book takes a rare holistic approach, incorporating small, self-published projects, through independent artists work, right up to big established names working for Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. What qualifies them for inclusion is the quality of their work, regardless of genre, labels or preconceptions. Comic Art Now is at the razors edge of one of the most important, relevant and misunderstood artforms on the planet.

A selection of sixty powerfully seductive women, from Biblical times to the present day, featuring mythical and real heroines. The most memorable stories throughout history feature a powerful, seductive woman who has an irresistible hold over the man in her life. The alluring Cleopatra, like Helen of Troy, inspired lovers to the battlefield in a brave display of loyalty. Eve and Pandora wreacked havoc when they tempted men to defy the laws of the day. Traitorous Dalila brought the all-powerful Samson to his knees as she divested him of his magical mane. Lovesick Juliet and Hamlet's Ophelia chose death over life in a courageous display of honor to their forbidden passion. The enchanting Scheherazade of One Thousand and One Nights saved herself from certain death through her exceptional capacity for storytelling. Each of these women was brave and steadfast, and their stories have inspired artists throughout the history of art. In this gallery of femmes fatales, feminist historian Laure Adler guides us through the ages to rediscover incredible heroines. Their stories are illustrated with iconic works by masters such as da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Rubens, Goya, Sargent, Picasso, Dali, Warhol, Saint Phalle, and Tracey Emin.

This sumptuously illustrated catalogue charts the history of drawing in Italy from 1400, just prior to the emergence in Florence of the classically inspired naturalism of the Renaissance style, to around 1510 when Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian were on the verge of taking the innovations of earlier masters, such as Leonardo and Pollaiuolo, in a new direction. The book highlights the key role played by drawing in artistic teaching and in how artists studied the human body and the natural world. Aspects of regional difference, the development of new drawing techniques and classes of graphic work, such as finished presentation pieces to impress patrons, are also explored. An extended introduction focusing on how and why artists made drawings, with a special emphasis on the pivotal role of Leonardo, is richly illustrated with examples from the two collections that elucidate the technique and function of the works. This is followed by catalogue entries for just over 100 drawings where discussion of their function and significance is supported by comparative illustrations of related works, such as paintings.

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) is one of the most influential and beloved figures in the history of photography. Released to accompany an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century is the first major publication to make full use of the extensive holdings of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris including thousands of prints and a vast resource of documents relating to the photographers life and work. The heart of the book surveys Cartier-Bressons career through 300 photographs divided into twelve chapters. While many of his most famous pictures are included, a great number of images will be unfamiliar even to specialists. A wide-ranging essay by Peter Galassi, Chief Curator of Photography at the Museum, offers an entirely new understanding of Cartier-Bressons extraordinary career and its overlapping contexts of journalism and art. The extensive supporting material featuring detailed chronologies of the photographers professional travels and his picture stories as they appeared in magazines will revolutionize the study of Cartier-Bressons work.