Catcher In The Rye – Cover Art
Jan 29, 2010 Art, Image based
Newsweek has an overview of Catcher In The Rye cover styles over the last several decades. Check it out here.
Book Cover Archive
Dec 11, 2009 Art, General, Image based
Just because you don’t judge a book by its cover doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate them. Here’s a massive archive of over 1000 book covers for you to enjoy.
Ways of Seeing
Dec 1, 2009 Art
You don’t need to be an art appreciation expert to read this. In fact, it might be better for you if you’re not. This collection of seven essays – three of which are entirely pictorial – is a million miles away from the dry, intellectual verbosity of stereotypical art critiques or histories. Opening with a scathing look at how art is kept as the province of the wealthy and educated, and ending with a damning analysis of publicity images, this book is like a bucket of cold water being poured over your brain.
Synopsis: How do we see the world around us? The Penguin on Design series includes the works of creative thinkers whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision forever. “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak. But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but word can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.”
John Berger’s Ways of Seeing is one of the most stimulating and influential books on art in any language. First published in 1972, it was based on the BBC television series about which the (London) Sunday Times critic commented: “This is an eye-opener in more ways than one: by concentrating on how we look at paintings . . . he will almost certainly change the way you look at pictures”. By now he has.
Win possibly the greatest Magic Book ever
Nov 20, 2009 Art, Image based, Special Offers, Specialist Subjects
TASCHEN are noted for their wonderful books crammed full of images and we own quite a few, however this release is really something special. Featuring more than 1,000 rarely seen vintage posters, photographs, handbills, and engravings as well as paintings by Hieronymus Bosch and Caravaggio among others, this 650-page volume traces the history of magic as a performing art from the 1400s to the 1950s.
Combining sensational images with incisive text, Magic explores the evolution of the magician’s craft, from medieval street performers to the brilliant stage magicians who gave rise to cinematic special effects; from the 19th century’s Golden Age of Magic to groundbreaking daredevils like Houdini and the early 20th century’s vaudevillians.
This book is a stunning publication. I will admit, first thoughts were that was a specialist release, however attempting to put the book down is very hard. Well actually it is very easy, its weighty feel is something to behold at a good 10lbs. And yet I must have spent at least 30 minutes turning pages and reading snippets before I realised the time.
Further more we’re giving away a copy of this book and not just any copy. We have managed to secure copies signed by one of the great illusionists of all time, Derren Brown. He is not featured in this book, its time period only stretches from 1400-1950, but many who have influenced him are.
To win a fantastic copy just visit the TASCHEN site here and select the LEAF THROUGH option on the right. Leaf through the MAGIC book until you find a bottle of Ether. Tell us exactly where you found it, along with the reason why you’re into books or magic (your choice but must be in less than 100 words) and email us here.
The winner picked out of a hat will be announced on the 1 December via the blog.
MAGIC – Taschen, Win a copy signed by Derren Brown on Vimeo.
Exclusive – low price offer over at Amazon
Chauvet Cave: The Discovery of the World’s Oldest Paintings
Nov 7, 2009 Art, History, Specialist Subjects
Early cave paintings are quite an astonishing sight. Our very earliest forms of writing stretch back to around 3000 years B.C, however cave paintings have predated this by more than 10,000 years. Other examples such as the Cave of Altamira (cue Steely Dan) found in Spain have dated back as far as 18,000 years BC and for a long time these were the only examples of the earliest forms of humans expressing themselves in such a way.
However the astonishing thing about the Chauvet cave is that the paintings, found by amateur explorers, were so astonishing in quality and detail they were at first thought to be a hoax. Further more the examples were revealed to be more than 32,000 years old, considerably earlier than anything else discovered.
Now that the cave is closed to the public, this book provides an opportunity to view the paintings at first hand, revealing the mastery of our Stone Age ancestors. The pictures are clear and crisp and mostly in colour.
