Seurat, Thomson, Michelangelo, Man Ray & Dada

Georges Seurat by Hajo Duchting

Georges Seurat (1859-1891) literally "got to the point" in a career that lasted little more than a decade but revolutionized painting technique. He spearheaded a new movement (Neoimpressionism) and brought a degree of scientific rigor to investigations of color that would prove profoundly influential. This book surveys the master pointillist's life and work.
Seurat by Hajo Duchting
ISBN: 9707182016

Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm

Tom Thomson did it better than anyone else. He stands as the most important artist in Canadian history. A forerunner of The Group of Seven, Thomson created paintings that shaped the way Canadians view their land.
The mystery of his death continues to stir speculation and spin off theories, but the emotional response to his paintings is stronger than ever. Although he died before he was forty, Thomson's compelling works ignited a powerful national art movement and create lasting icons for a young country. Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm contains the most extensive collection of his work ever published, 177 paintings in vivid color and many more in black and white. Nearly 80 of his brilliant sketches are reproduced to their actual size, giving them an immediacy almost equal to the originals. This is the only book that reproduces over 140 paintings that had never been reproduced in color before.
The accompanying texts, by artist Harold Town (1924-1990) and art historian David P. Silcox, provide an aesthetic commentary and full biographical chronicle. This special 25th Anniversary edition of Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm marks the 125th Anniversary of the birth of Canada's most popular and beloved artist and the 85th anniversary of his death.
Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm by by Harold Town
ISBN: 1552975509

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

In 1508, despite strong advice to the contrary, the powerful Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the newly restored Sistine Chapel. With little experience as a painter (though famed for his sculpture David), Michelangelo was reluctant to begin the massive project. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling recounts the four extraordinary years Michelangelo spent laboring over the vast ceiling while the power politics and personal rivalries that abounded in Rome swirled around him. Battling against ill health, financial difficulties, domestic problems, the pope's impatience, and a bitter rivalry with the brilliant young painter Raphael, Michelangelo created scenes so beautiful that they are considered to be among the greatest masterpieces of all time. A panorama of illustrious figures converged around the creation of this magnificent work - from the great Dutch scholar Erasmus to the young Martin Luther - and Ross King skillfully weaves them through his compelling historical narrative, offering uncommon insight into the intersection of art and history.
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King
ISBN: 0142003697

Man Ray

Inventive, audacious, with an effervescent imagination and a continual willingness to call traditional notions of art into question, Man Ray (1890-1976) was the quintessential avant-garde artist. Born Emmanuel Radnitsky in Philadelphia, Man Ray came into his own in Paris in the 1920s, becoming a major figure in the Dadaist and Surrealist movements as well as one of the most successful commercial photographers of his day.
The more than 70 images in this book, including 28 color-plates, highlight masterworks in all of Man Ray's principal mediums and from all the major periods of his career. To complete the volume, his rich personal life is chronicled in a biographical outline and several documentary photographs.
Man Ray
ISBN: 0893817430

Musee d'Orsay

The Musee d'Orsay contains one of the most magnificent collections of 19th- and early 20th-century art in the world. Limited to the years between 1848 and 1914, the collection showcases Impressionist and Postimpressionist favorites by Monet, Renoir, Cassatt, Van Gogh, Seurat, and Signac.
In addition, Realist, Nabis, Symbolist, and Fauvist movements are represented in works by Millet, Gauguin, Redon, and Matisse. The light-filled galleries are also ideal for viewing the sculpture.
Works in other media include furniture, objets d'art, architecture, photography, jewelry, and glassware. This book's color plates depict many of the masterpieces, and the text traces the roots of the core collection within the context of developing and changing art trends.
The Musee d'Orsay by Alexandra Bonfante-Warren
ISBN: 0760734917

Dada Painters and Poets

The Dada Painters and Poets offers the authentic answer to the question "What is Dada?" This incomparable collection of essays, manifestos, and illustrations was prepared by Robert Motherwell with the collaboration of some of the major Dada figures: Marcel Duchamp, Jean Arp, and Max Ernst among others. Here in their own words and art, the principals of the movement create a composite picture of Dada, its convictions, antics, and spirit.
First published in 1951, this treasure trove remains, as Jack Flam states in his foreword to the second edition, "the most comprehensive and important anthology of Dada writings in any language, and a fascinating and very readable book."
Dada Painters and Poets contains every major text on the Dada movement, including retrospective studies, personal memoirs, and prime examples. The illustrations range from photos of participants, in characteristic Dadaist attitudes, to facsimiles of their productions.
Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology by Robert Motherwell
ISBN: 0674185005