Art in the Age of Queen Victoria


Book Description

Published to accompany the exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London and toured with the assistance of the Denver Art Museum from May 1999 to September 2000 to Denver, Seattle, West Palm Beach, New York City, and Cincinnati.







Charles I


Book Description

During his reign, King Charles I (1600-1649) assembled one of Europe's most extraordinary art collections. Indeed, by the time of his death, it contained some 2,000 paintings and sculptures. Charles I: King and Collector explores the origins of the collection, the way it was assembled and what it came to represent. Authoritative essays provide a revealing historical context for the formation of the King's taste. They analyse key areas of the collection, such as the Italian Renaissance, and how the paintings that Charles collected influenced the contemporary artists he commissioned. Following Charles's execution, his collection was sold. This book, which accompanies the exhibition, reunites its most important works in sumptuous detail. Featuring paintings by such masters as Van Dyck, Rubens and Raphael, this striking publication offers a unique insight into this fabled collection. AUTHORS: Desmond Shawe-Taylor is Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. Per Rumberg is Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. David Ekserdjian is Professor of Film and Art History at the University of Leicester. Dr Barbara Furlotti is Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Gregory Martin, formerly Curator of Baroque Paintings and Assistant Keeper of the National Gallery, London, is Editor of the Corpus Rubenianum. Guido Rebecchini is Lecturer and Head of the Renaissance Section at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Vanessa Remington is Senior Curator of Paintings at The Royal Collection. Dr Karen Serres is the Schroder Foundation Curator of Paintings at the Courtauld Gallery, London. Lucy Whitaker is Assistant Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. Jeremy Wood is Professor Emeritus of Art History at the University of Nottingham. Helen Wyld is Curator at National Museums Scotland. SELLING POINTS: * The compelling story of the British monarch who created one of the most stupendous art collections ever assembled * Accompanies the once-in-a-lifetime exhibition that brings together astonishing works by Van Dyck, Rubens, Titian, Holbein, Mantegna and Rembrandt, among many others * A major BBC TV series on the Royal Collection and a documentary on Charles I is planned 200 colour illustrations




The Royal Treasure Measure


Book Description

King Balbazar's kingdom has made a mess of measuring. Curtains are too long, robes are too short, and no one knows how to solve the problem. People measure length with everything from candlesticks to sausages to spoons. Finally, King Balbazar holds a contest. Who will come up with the winning unit of measurement—and what will it be?




Art, Passion & Power


Book Description

"Hall’s consummate history is not just the story of the evolution of one of the world’s great collections... The book is also a through-the-keyhole insight into the shifting tastes, good or bad, of 1,000 years of monarchs." - The Times The Royal Collection is the last great collection formed by the European monarchies to have survived into the twenty-first century. Containing over a million artworks and objects, it covers all aspects of the fine and decorative arts, from paintings by Rembrandt and Michelangelo to grand sculpture, Fabergé eggs and some of the most exquisite furniture ever made. The Royal Collection also offers a revealing insight into the history of the British monarchy from William the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth II, recording the tastes and obsessions of kings and queens over the past 500 years. With unprecedented access to the royal residences of St James' Palace, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, Art, Passion & Power traces the history of this national institution from the Middle Ages to the present day, exploring how royalty used the arts to strengthen their position as rulers by divine right and celebrating treasures from the Crown Jewels to the "Abraham" tapestries in Hampton Court Palace. Author Michael Hall examines the monarchy's response to changing attitudes to the arts and sciences during the Enlightenment and celebrates the British monarchy's role in the democratisation of art in the modern world. Packed with glimpses of rarely seen artworks, Art, Passion & Power is a visual treat for all art enthusiasts. Accompanying the BBC television series and a major exhibition at the Royal Academy, Art, Passion & Power is the definitive statement on the British monarchy's treasures of the art world.




The Royal School of Needlework Book of Embroidery


Book Description

An all-in-one volume covering crewelwork, canvaswork, and six other types of hand embroidery, from the renowned school established in nineteenth-century England. This beautiful book is a rich source of embroidery techniques, stitches, and projects, covering eight key subjects in detail: crewelwork, bead embroidery, stumpwork, canvaswork, goldwork, whitework, blackwork, and silk shading. Collecting all the books in the trusted, bestselling Royal School of Needlework Essential Stitch Guide series, plus a new section on mounting your finished work, this fantastic book—heavily illustrated with photos—is a must-have for all embroiderers.




Francis Bacon


Book Description

Francis Bacon is considered one of the most important painters of the 20th century. A major exhibition of his paintings at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2020 explores the role of animals in his work - not least the human animal. Having often painted dogs and horses, in 1969 Bacon first depicted bullfights. In this powerful series of works, the interaction between man and beast is dangerous and cruel, but also disturbingly intimate. Both are contorted in their anguished struggle and the erotic lurks not far away: "Bullfighting is like boxing," Bacon once said. "A marvellous aperitif to sex." 0Twenty-two years later, a lone bull was to be the subject of his final painting. In this fascinating publication - a significant addition to the literature on Bacon - expert authors discuss Bacon's approach to animals and identify his varied sources of inspiration, which included surrealist literature and the photographs of Eadweard Muybridge. They contend that, by depicting animals in states of vulnerability, anger and unease, Bacon sought to delve into the human condition.00Exhibition: Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (22.01-12.04.2021).




Picasso and Paper


Book Description

Picasso's artistic output is astonishing in its ambition and variety. Picasso and Paper examines a particular aspect of his legendary capacity for invention: his imaginative and original use of paper. He used it as a support for autonomous works, including etchings, prints and drawings, as well as for his papier-collé experiments of the 1910s and his revolutionary three-dimensional "constructions," made of cardboard, paper and string. Sometimes his use of paper was simply determined by circumstance: in occupied Paris, where art supplies were in short supply, he ripped up paper tablecloths to make works of art. And of course his works on paper comprise the preparatory stages of some of his very greatest paintings. With reproductions of nearly 400 works of art and a series of insightful new texts by leading authorities on the artist, this sumptuous study reveals the myriad ways in which Picasso explored the potential of paper at different stages of his career. Picasso and Paper is published for an exhibition organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and the Cleveland Museum of Art in partnership with the Musée national Picasso-Paris. The legendary life and career of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) spanned nearly the entire 20th century and ushered in some of its most significant artistic revolutions.







The Connoisseur


Book Description