Pablo Picasso, Mexican Muralists, Christo & Signac

Pablo Picasso: Human Form in the 20th Century

The graphic works presented in this volume trace Picasso's artistic development. Their spontaneity and immediacy in the realization of his artistic ideas make them particularly well-suited to demonstrate the transformations in his depiction of the human form.
This particular selection of well-known works from great museums and of previously unpublished drawings and gouaches from major private collections shows how his an evolved from its academic beginnings, through the Blue and Rose Periods, to the turning point of Cubism, the revival of classical forms and, finally, to the stylistic diversity of his later works.
Pablo Picasso: Human Form in the 20th Century by Roland Doschka
ISBN: 3791323504

Mexican Muralists

The Mexican Mural movement lasted from the 1920s until the early 1970s and represented one of the most powerful and significant achievements for public art this century. This book follows the careers of the three most prominent artists of the movement, 'los tres Grandes' - Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Dr Rochfort traces their lives from childhood in a rural, feudal society through the bloody years of the revolution and the first commissions from the new state, and on to the years of their artistic maturity and their greatest works.
The first study to offer comprehensive color illustrations of all the major murals, both those sited in Mexico and in the United States, where all three artists worked in the 1930s, it also looks at the paintings in the context of their cultural background and assesses the artists' achievements within the political framework of their country.
The story is an extraordinary and moving one, telling of the forging of a national identity through an unprecedented marriage between politics and art. Dr Rochfort has written a lively, accessible text which presents a complex period of art history clearly and well, while the illustrations ensure that the sheer scale of the works is never forgotten.
Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros by Desmond Rochfort
ISBN: 0811819280

Frida Kahlo

Hailed by readers and critics across the country, this engrossing biography of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo reveals a woman of extreme magnetism and originality, an artist whose sensual vibrancy came straight from her own experiences: her childhood near Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution; a devastating accident at age eighteen which left her crippled and unable to bear children; her tempestuous marriage to muralist Diego Rivera and intermittent love affairs with men as diverse as Isamu Noguchi and Leon Trotsky; her association through Rivera with the Communist party; her absorption in Mexican folklore and culture; and her dramatic love of spectacle. Here is the tumultuous life of an extraordinary twentieth-century woman - with illustrations as rich and haunting as her legend.
Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera
ISBN: 0060085894

Christo: The Gates

In February 2005, Christo and Jeanne-Claude will complete a monumental work of art in New York City's Central Park. The project, first conceived in 1979, will feature 7500 16-foot-high vinyl gates lining the park's paths, from which will hang saffron-colored fabric panels. Seen from the buildings surrounding the park, The Gates will look like a golden, flowing river, while those walking through them will experience the ambience of a fluid, golden ceiling.
Financed entirely by the artists through their C.V.J. Corporation, The Gates are to be fabricated and assembled in local factories and installed by local workers, thus providing employment for thousands of New York City residents. The temporary work of art will remain in place for 16 days, after which it will be disassembled and the materials recycled. The installation will be free for all visitors, who can continue to use Central Park undisturbed during the whole process.
This historic event is intended to provide a memorable and joyous experience for every New Yorker, and Taschen will document this project from start to finish in two editions. A first edition will be published in January 2005, containing photo documents and preparatory drawings for The Gates. In February 2005, directly after the installation has been realized, a second edition will be published, containing 32 extra pages showing photographs of the completed work of art.
Christo: The Gates
ISBN: 3822842427

The Gates: Central Park, New York City

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are renowned for their dramatic and innovative public projects. Their installations often feature fabric -- sometimes wrapped around existing structures or used to create large-scale temporary environments. Some of their most influential projects include Running Fence in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, Surrounded Islands in Miami, The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris, The Umbrellas, Japan-USA simultaneously in Japan and California, and the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin. Now New York City, where they have lived and worked for forty years, will be the site for a much-anticipated Christo and Jeanne-Claude project. The Gates will consist of saffron-colored fabric panels suspended from the horizontal tops of around 7,500 sixteen-foot-tall vinyl gates, positioned at regular intervals throughout 23 miles of walkways in Central Park. The installation will be on view for sixteen days, beginning February 12, 2005.
Published in conjunction with a major exhibition that opens in April 2004 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, this beautiful book celebrates the culmination of the artists' vision for The Gates, a project that began in 1979. Richly illustrated with photographs by Wolfgang Volz, On the Way to The Gates features an introduction by Jonathan Fineberg that surveys the career of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and assesses their contribution to contemporary art and culture. The heart of the book consists of beautiful reproductions of the various preparatory collages and drawings that Christo has created for The Gates project, many of which have not been previously published, and detailed documentation of the personalities and events that have led up to the project. This volume also includes four engaging, unpublished interviews with the artists, from the 1970s to a recent interview of July 2003.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: On the Way to The Gates: Central Park, New York City
ISBN: 0300101384

Paul Signac: Watercolors

Paul Signac is known for his pointillist paintings yet, less known for his watercolors. In 1892, when resting in a small Mediterranean village of Saint Tropez, the artist discovered the immense possibilities of this specific technique, which was to become his favorite means of expression.
Signac: Watercolors by Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon
ISBN: 2845760272

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