Books $20 and Under

Few artists tried as hard as Claude Monet (1840–1926) to capture light itself on canvas. The painter of whom Cézanne said “only  an eye, but my God what an eye!” he stayed true to the principle of absolute fidelity to the visual sensation, painting...

Through eye-popping colors and simple forms, rejoice in the restless creativity and infectious energy of Henri Matisse, the artist who never stopped making art, and whose vivid palette gave nudes, landscapes, and interior views a whole new modernity...

Most commonly associated with the birth of the Impressionist movement in mid-19th-century Paris, Edgar Degas (1834–1917) in fact defied easy categorization and instead developed a unique style, strongly influenced by Old Masters, the body in motion, and...

For Marc Chagall (1887–1985), painting was an intricate tapestry of dreams, tales, and traditions. His instantly recognizable visual language carved out a unique early 20th-century niche, often identified as one of the earliest expressions of psychic...

In the latter half of the 19th century, in the verdant countryside near Aix-en-Provence, Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), busily plied his brush to landscapes and still lifes that would become anchors of modern art.  With compact, intense dabs of paint and...

Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than  many others in the group.  Caillebotte painted many domestic and familial scenes, interiors, and...

Throughout his life, the visionary artist Édouard Manet (1832–1883)  strove to leave behind the conventions of painting of his time.  Genre paintings, maritime landscapes, still lifes or portraits – for Manet, painting has always been the...

Considered by many to be the founder of modern sculpture, Rodin created sculptures that would enjoy a lasting renown, including The Kiss, The Thinker, and The Burghers of Calais.  Philadelphia's own Benjamin Franklin Parkway is graced by a museum...

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) was the first female representative of Impressionism. Her early works are mostly watercolors and pastels, but she later progressed to oils.  She developed a technique of transcribing her drawings onto her canvases and then...

Ever since his self-proclamation as part of the “New York Five,”  Richard Meier has risen through one top commission after another to the dizzy heights of architectural stardom. From Madison Square Garden to Shenzhen, China, his sleek, luminously...

The creative duo Charles Eames and Ray Kaiser Eames transformed the visual character of America. Though best known for their furniture, the husband and wife team were also forerunners in architecture, textile design, photography, and film.   The...

Acclaimed as the “father of skyscrapers,” the quintessentially American icon Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect of aspiration. He believed in giving cultivated American life its fitting architectural equivalent and applied his idealism to structures...

Even in his unrealized projects, Le Corbusier redefined modern living, synthesizing functionalism, expressionism, and expansive urban thinking  from Switzerland to Chandigarh, India. This book provides a succinct  introduction to his...

In 1956, TIME magazine called him one of the defining “form-givers of the 20th century.”  Today, Marcel Breuer remains a locus classicus of modernism for architects and designers alike.  From his landmark tubular furniture to “binuclear”...

Over the course of his artistic career, Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) transformed not only his own style, but the course of art history. From early figurative and landscape painting, he went on to pioneer a  spiritual, emotive, rhythmic use of color...

Meet Gerhard Richter, the German artist who redefined painting. Between abstract works and photography-based paintings, Richter pushes the medium’s boundaries and reminds us of its urgency and importance in a world of digital images. This introduction to...

From majestic desertscapes to magnified lilies and irises, survey the unique and luminous oeuvre of Georgia O’Keeffe, a seminal figure in modern American art and radical pioneer of abstraction. This book  follows the artist through her pioneering...

More than 300 photographs by Lewis W. Hine, whose trailblazing documentary images of early 20th-century working conditions helped to transform United States labor laws.  This book covers all eras of Hine’s work, including his pictures of  child...

It was a dappled and daubed harbor scene that gave Impressionism its  name. When Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet was exhibited in April  1874, critics seized upon the work’s title and its loose stylistic rendering of light and motion...

The traditional “knight in shining armor” has become a staple figure in popular culture and the images of bloody battlefields, bustling feasting halls, and courtly tournaments have been creatively interpreted many times in film and fiction...

While it is considered by many artists to be a pure and simplistic form of expression, abstract art is also often thought of as vague or exceedingly theoretical. This new installment in the Art Essentials  series demystifies the concept and history...

Pierre-Auguste Renoir put people into the center of his painting. His compositions showed people embracing the pleasures of life, dancing, and  enjoying outings in Paris. He created special atmospheres full of  summer warmth and lightness,...

Street art is a phenomenon and subculture movement that reaches from the darkest urban backstreets to the most glamorous international art  fairs. Despite having earned a place in the canon of twentieth-century  art history, its qualifications...

It is often forgotten just how provocative and unsettling impressionist canvases seemed when they were first exhibited in 1874. Critics,  professional artists, and gallery visitors alike were shocked to  encounter the unorthodox paintings on...

Pop Art refers to a post-war movement connecting art with  popular culture. Billboard signs, comic books, and movie stars were just  some of the subjects chosen by pop artists, such as Andy Warhol, Roy  Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, and...

Modern Art guides the reader through individual movements  from Impressionism to Conceptual Art, situated within five broader  chronological eras. Starting with Impressionism in 1860, art historian  Amy Dempsey explains the essentials of...

Looking at pictures can be an exciting or moving experience, but some pictures—often the most rewarding—require some explanation before they can be fully understood. Delving into the origins, designs, and themes  of over one hundred...

Take an intimate promenade through Paris with some 500 images from Eugène Atget. Down main streets and side streets, through courtyards, arcades, and the city’s 20 arrondissements, we find a unique portrait of a beloved city and the making...

Surrealism was launched as a literary and artistic movement by French  poet Andre Breton in 1924, and by the time of his death in 1966 it had  become one of the most popular and recognizable art movements of the  twentieth century...

Iconography, or the study of symbols—be they animals, artifacts, plants,  geometric shapes, or gestures—is an essential aspect of interpreting  art. One of the most consistent features of human society throughout  time has been the use of...

Art lovers can list history’s most important art objects, but what many  don’t know are the dramatic, funny, and sometimes bizarre stories behind  these most famous works. Spanning the last 500 years of art history,  this book revisits...

Fables, folklore, and fantasy—this compendium of all things alchemical  and mystical gathers centuries of esoteric mythology in the form of  writings, drawings, paintings, and prints. From early Christian mystics  to the illustrations of...

From the opening sequence of Killer’s Kiss to the final frames of Eyes  Wide Shut, this dazzling collection includes some of Kubrick’s most  unforgettable shots and revealing interviews, as well as abundant  material from his own archives,...

More than 250 works by Albrecht Dürer are reproduced here to give the  reader a comprehensive survey of the life and work of this unique and  universal genius in genres ranging from prints and drawings to  watercolors and oil paintings...

A divine painter and universal genius, Leonardo da Vinci continues to  fascinate us almost 500 years after his death. The works reproduced here  allow readers to rediscover the entire spectrum of da Vinci’s  prodigious artistic and...

Tintoretto shaped the artistic appearance of his hometown, Venice, like  no other Renaissance artist. His works remain foundational for the  European aesthetic. More than 180 pieces offer a fascinating insight  into this artist’s genius...

Thomas Gainsborough was one of the great English portrait and landscape  painters of the eighteenth century. His modern manner of painting based  on emotions was criticized by contemporaries such as Joshua Reynolds,  but it gave...

Greek artist Domínikos Theotokópoulos, usually referred to as El  Greco, is considered one of the most outstanding artists of the late  sixteenth century. He became the main representative of Mannerism in  Spain with an individual style...

Sandro Botticelli (1444/45–1510) numbers among the most important  artists of the Italian Renaissance. He attracted commissions from many  of the most powerful figures of the Italian city states, above all the  Medici family, creating...

Antoni Gaudí's architecture is unique and has been designated a  UNESCO World Heritage Site. Impressive forms, rich colors, and ingenious  structural solutions create syntheses of natural inspiration and  technical innovation, of styles...

As a painter, designer, sculptor, and also a collector of art, Paul  Gauguin (1848–1903) was the leader of the Pont-Aven school and one of  the most important post-impressionist painters. Trained in painting by  Camille Pissarro, he...

Fall under the spell of Gustav Klimt. A century after his death, the Viennese artist still startles with his unabashed eroticism, dazzling surfaces, and artistic experimentation. Master of 19th-century Viennese art and pioneer of the Secessionist...

A dazzling reprint of Hiroshige's views of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), one of the masterpieces of the ukiyo-e woodblock tradition and a paradigm of the Japonisme that inspired Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Art Nouveau artists, from Vincent van Gogh...

In a fleeting 14-year period between two world wars, Germany’s  Bauhaus school of art and design changed the face of modernity. With  utopian ideas for the future, the school developed a pioneering fusion  of fine art, craftsmanship, and...

Notorious bad boy of Italian painting, Caravaggio is now considered one of the greatest influences in all art history.  This Bibliotheca Universalis edition offers a neat and comprehensive Caravaggio catalogue raisonné. Each of his paintings is...

Arranged alphabetically, this biographical encyclopedia features  every major photographer of the 20th century alongside her or his most  significant monographs.  From the earliest representatives of  classical Modernism right up to...

Originally published in France between 1876 and 1888, Auguste Racinet’s  Le Costume historique was in its day the most wide-ranging and incisive  study of clothing ever attempted. Covering the world history of costume,  dress, and style...

In 367 exquisite plates, this treasure of botanical literature records the flowers of the palatial grounds at Eichstätt,  Bavaria, once some of the most beautiful gardens in history. The  illustrations are organized by season and, following the...

One of the most accomplished human beings who ever lived, Leonardo da  Vinci remains the quintessential Renaissance genius. Creator of the  world’s most famous paintings, this scientist, artist, philosopher,  inventor, builder, and...

If you take even the slightest interest in the design of your  toothbrush, the history behind your washing machine, or the evolution of  the telephone, you’ll take an even greater interest in this completely  updated edition of Industrial...

Completed circa 1474, Sébastien Mamerot’s lavishly  illustrated manuscript is the only contemporary document to describe  several centuries of French crusades, when successive kings tried to  seize the Holy Land. Jean Colombe, the medieval...

Most art historians agree that the modern art adventure first  developed in the 1860s in Paris. A circle of painters, whom we now know  as Impressionists, began painting pictures with rapid, loose brushwork.  They turned to everyday street...

Explore the modern age of design in this Bibliotheca Universalis edition  of the 20th century’s key movements and trends. Featuring countless  works from around the world, this is an essential compendium for design  aficionados everywhere,...

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec recorded unforgettable images of belle-époque  Paris in his paintings, lithographs, and posters. The posters created by  the painter and graphic designer for the Moulin Rouge club in  Montmartre remain extremely...

The work of Piet Mondrian is highly eclectic: from impressionist  landscapes to cubism and abstracts, in the final years of his working  life. This volume, enriched with images, provides a fascinating analysis  of the Dutch artist’s...

The artistic work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) is  considered a milestone of international modernism and the climax of  German Expressionism. This volume documents the development of the  multi-faceted oeuvre from the epoch-making...

Claude Monet’s extensive work is revealed in numerous images. He was a  painter who like no other moved perception to the center of his artistic  activities. Nature became his own studio. This resulted in fascinating landscapes of different...

His Great Wave off Kanagawa is the most famous work in  East Asian art. Hokusai, a self-confessed eccentric and obsessive,  created with his pictures of the floating world a veritable encyclopedia  of Japanese daily life and thus became a...

Hiroshige is one of the most important artists of the Japanese woodblock  print and is considered a master of “ukiyo-e,” the “pictures of the  floating world.” His evocative illustrations show mainly landscapes and  scenes from the capital...

Few painters are as well-known and admired as Cézanne. His work focuses  on subjects popular since the Renaissance: portraiture, figure studies,  landscapes, and still lifes. However, the way the artist transformed  these traditional...

Edvard Munch is the most important Scandinavian artist and a pioneer of  Expressionism. With him, the existential fear, the loneliness of man,  and the unpredictability of his feelings are drawn into art. With a novel and experimental painting...

The arresting paintings of Frida Kahlo were in many ways expressions of trauma. Through a near-fatal road accident at the age of 18, failing health, a turbulent marriage, miscarriage and childlessness, she transformed the afflictions into revolutionary...

By Flavia Frigeri In 1971, in an essay that has now become one of the touchstones of feminist art history, Linda Nochlin raised the question heard round the world: “Why have there been no great women artists?” Since the 1970s, as a result of this kind of...