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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
57.95 USD
By Andrew Bolton, with contributions by Susannah Frankel and Tim Blanks; Photography by Sølve Sundsbø Alexander Mc Queen (British, 1969-2010) was one of the most influential, imaginative, and provocative designers of his generation. His clothing both challenged and expanded the conventional parameters of fashion to express ideas about culture, politics, and identity. Rare among designers, Mc Queen saw beyond clothing's physical constraints to its ideological and conceptual possibilities, addressing questions related to race, class, gender, religion, sexuality, and the environment. Featuring the most iconic and radical designs of his prolific career, Alexander Mc Queen: Savage Beauty examines the designer's evolution from the start of his fledgling label, to his years as creative director at Givenchy in Paris, and finally to the collections of his own world- renowned London house. It reveals how Mc Queen adapted and combined the fundamentals of Savile Row tailoring, the specialized techniques of haute couture-such as lacework, embroidery, and featherwork-and technological innovation to achieve his distinctive aesthetic. It also focuses on the highly sophisticated narrative structures found in Mc Queen's collections and in his extravagant runway presentations, which suggested the most avant-garde installation and performance art. Published on the occasion of an exhibition organized by the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute, this stunning book includes a preface by curator Andrew Bolton; an introduction by Susannah Frankel; an interview with Sarah Burton, creative director of the house of Alexander Mc Queen, conducted by Tim Blanks; and illuminating commentary from the designer himself. Alexander Mc Queen: Savage Beauty celebrates the astounding creativity and originality of a designer who relentlessly questioned and confronted the requisites of fashion. Named one of the Top Ten Best Books of 2011 by Library Journal, named to Time's list of Best Gift Books for 2011, list
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty
77.95 USD
By Andrew Bolton With contributions by Tadao Ando, Anita Briey, Stefania D'Alfonso, Olivia Douchez, Amanda Harlech, Patrick Hourcade, Mellissa Huber, Nicole Lefort, Kai Toussaint Marcel, Jacqueline Mercier, Loïc Prigent, and Anna Wintour Photographs by Julia Hetta This investigation into Karl Lagerfeld's (1933-2019) artistry explores his extraordinary sixty-five-year career, from the designs for Chloé and Fendi in the 1960s and 1970s to his celebrated leadership in the 1980s and beyond at Chanel and his own label. Inspired by the "line of beauty" theorized by eighteenth-century English painter William Hogarth, this dazzling publication pursues the straight and serpentine "lines" and their intersections in Lagerfeld's work as a means of understanding his unique creative process. Andrew Bolton is the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art = Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History
82.95 USD
Coffee Table Book, Art History Book Foreword by Max Hollein Featuring more than 800 artworks from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, this groundbreaking book-organized by thematic keywords rather than the usual chronological or geographical categories, and drawing upon analytics from The Met's online Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History-offers up fresh, unconventional ways of engaging with visual culture. Beyond the wealth of illustration, more than 160 engaging curatorial essays place the works in wider contexts, while a fold-out, detachable timeline offers further perspective. The Met is one of the most important cultural institutions in the world and hosts more than six million visitors each year, with many millions more accessing its collection online. The Museum's director Max Hollein contributes the foreword, while essays are written by the Museum's curatorial staff and other art experts.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India
72.95 USD
By John Guy Named for two primary motifs in Buddhist art, the sacred bodhi tree and the protective snake, Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India is the first publication to foreground devotional works produced in the Deccan from 200 BCE to 400 CE. Unlike traditional narratives, which focus on northern India (where the Buddha was born, taught, and died), this groundbreaking book presents Buddhist art from monastic sites in the south. Long neglected, this is among the earliest corpus of Buddhist art surviving, and among the most sublimely beautiful. An international team of researchers contributes new scholarship on the sculptural and devotional art associated with Buddhism, and masterpieces from recently excavated Buddhist sites are published here for the first time including Kanaganahalli and Phanigiri, the most important new discoveries in a generation. With its exploration of Buddhism's emergence in southern India, as well as of India's deep commercial and cultural engagement with the Hellenized and Roman worlds, the definitive study expands our understanding of the origins of Buddhist art itself. John Guy is Florence and Herbert Irving Curator of the Arts of South and Southeast Asia in the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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100 Dresses
32.9 USD
By Harold Koda What woman can resist imagining herself in a beautiful designer dress? Here, for the first time ever, are 100 fabulous gowns from the permanent collection of the renowned Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, each of which is a reminder of the ways fashion reflects the broader culture that created it. Featuring designs by Paul Poiret, Coco Chanel, Madame Grès, Yves Saint Laurent, Gianni Versace, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander Mc Queen, and many others, this one-of-a-kind collection presents a stunning variety of garments. Ranging from the buttoned-up gowns of the late seventeenth century to the cutting-edge designs of the early twenty-first century, the dresses reflect the sensibilities and excesses of each era while providing a vivid picture of how styles have changed-sometimes radically-over the years. A late 1600s wool dress with a surprising splash of silver thread; a large-bustled red satin dress from the 1800s; a short, shimmery 1920s dancing dress; a glamorous 1950s cocktail dress; and a 1960s minidress-each tells a story about its period and serves as a testament to the enduring ingenuity of the fashion designer's art. Images of the dresses are accompanied by informative text and enhanced by close-up details as well as runway photos, fashion plates, works of art, and portraits of designers. A glossary of related terms is also included.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art How to Read Medieval Art
37.9 USD
By Wendy A. Stein This volume, the sixth in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's popular series of How to Read titles, introduces the subjects and themes most frequently depicted in medieval art, many of them drawn from the Bible and both religious and secular literature. Included among the 38 representative works of art discussed are brilliant altarpieces, stained-glass windows, intricate tapestries, carved wood sculptures, delicate ivories, and captivating manuscript illuminations, all from the holdings of the Metropolitan Museum, one of the world's most comprehensive collections of medieval art. Informative texts on iconic masterworks such as the Merode Altarpiece, the Unicorn Tapestries, and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry along with less familiar work highlight the context in which the objects were made, conveying their visual and technical nuances as well as their broader symbolic meaning. With its accessible and informative discussions and superb full-color illustrations, How to Read Medieval Art explores the iconographic themes of the period, making them clearly recognizable and opening vistas onto history and literature, faith and devotion. Wendy A. Stein is a research associate in the Department of Medieval Art at The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art George Grosz in Berlin: The Relentless Eye
52.95 USD
By Sabine Rewald with an essay by Ian Buruma This overdue investigation of George Grosz's (1893-1959) most compelling paintings, drawings, prints, and collages offers a reassessment of the celebrated German Expressionist during his years in Berlin-from his earliest artistic endeavors to the trenchant satirical images and searing depictions of moral decay between the World Wars for which he is known today. Menacing street scenes, rowdy cabarets, corrupt politicians, wounded soldiers, greedy war profiteers, and other symbols of Berlin's interwar decline all met with the artist's relentless gaze, which exposed the core social issues that eventually led to Germany's extreme nationalist politics. Featuring masterpieces as well as rarely published works, this book provides further insight into the artist's creative pinnacle, reached during this critical and ominous period in German history. Sabine Rewald is curator emerita in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Ian Buruma is an author based in New York and was the editor of the New York Review of Books from 2017 to 2018.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet
42.95 USD
Shop Met Museum publications. By Kurt Behrendt With essays by Christian Luczanits and Amy Heller and an interview with Tenzing Rigdol A mandala is a diagram of the universe-a map of true reality intended to provide a focus for Buddhist religious practice and inspire the devout. This book highlights the distinctive Tibetan approach to creating mandalas, exploring how the form crossed over from India into Tibet, and how continuous exchanges of art and ideas between the two cultures, led by monks and spiritual teachers, gave rise to a uniquely Tibetan style of Buddhist imagery. Featuring more than one hundred paintings, sculptures, and ritual objects, this superbly illustrated volume reflects the dazzling complexities of the Tibetan imagery that has provided a foundation for mandalas through the centuries. Most notably, a mesmerizing installation by the Tibetan-American artist Tenzing Rigdol (b. 1982), specially created for the accompanying exhibition and published here for the first time, offers contemporary audiences a way of interrogating and understanding their world and underscores how this ancient tradition remains a vibrant living practice. Kurt Behrendt is Associate Curator of South Asian Art, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Amy Heller is Research Associate, Institute for the Science of Religion, University of Bern; Senior Research Fellow, Margot and Thomas Pritzker Art Collaborative; and Associate Researcher, CNRS-Paris, Centre de Recherche sur les Civilisations de l'Asie Orientale. Christian Luczanits is David L. Snellgrove Senior Lecturer in Tibetan and Buddhist Art, Department of History of Art and Archaeology, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Tenzing Rigdol is a contemporary artist based in New York and Kathmandu.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cubism and the Trompe l'Oeil Tradition
57.95 USD
Emily Braun and Elizabeth Cowling with contributions by Claire Le Thomas and Rachel Mustalish The age-old tradition of pictorial illusionism known as trompe l'oeil ("deceive the eye") employs visual tricks that confound the viewer's perception of reality and fiction, truth and falsehood. This radically new take on Cubism shows how Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris both parodied and paid homage to classic trompe l'oeil themes and motifs. The authors connect Cubist works to trompe l'oeil specialists of earlier centuries by juxtaposing more than one hundred Cubist paintings, drawings, and collages with related compositions by old masters. The informed and engaging texts trace the changing status of trompe l'oeil over the centuries, reveal Braque's training in artisanal trompe l'oeil techniques as an integral part of his Cubist practice, examine the material used in Gris's collages, and discuss the previously unstudied trompe l'oeil iconography within Cubist still lifes. Emily Braun is Distinguished Professor of Art History at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and Curator of the Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Elizabeth Cowling is Professor Emeritus and Honorary Fellow in the History of Art at the University of Edinburgh.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Gerhard Richter: Painting After All
57.95 USD
Contemporary Art Book, Exhibition Catalogue By Sheena Wagstaff and Benjamin H. D. Buchloh with essays by Briony Fer, Hal Foster, Peter Geimer, Brinda Kumar, and André Rottmann Over the course of his acclaimed 60-year career, Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) has employed both representation and abstraction as a means of reckoning with the legacy, collective memory, and national sensibility of post-WWII Germany, in both broad and very personal terms. This handsomely designed book spans the artist's rich and varied oeuvre from the early 1960s to the present, including photo paintings, portraits, large-scale abstract series, and works on glass. Essays by leading experts on the artist illuminate Richter's preoccupation with painting in relation to other modes of representation, and emphasize the ongoing importance of the medium's formal and conceptual possibilities in contemporary art. Sheena Wagstaff is Leonard A. Lauder Chairman of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Benjamin H. D. Buchloh is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Modern Art in the History of Art and Architecture department at Harvard University.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Juan de Pareja: Afro-Hispanic Painter in the Age of Velázquez
57.95 USD
By David Pullins and Vanessa K. Valdés With essays by Luis Méndez Rodriguez and Erin Kathleen Rowe Diego Velázquez's portrait of Juan de Pareja (ca. 1608-1670) has long been a landmark of European art, but this provocative study focuses on its subject: an enslaved man who went on to build his own successful career as an artist. This catalogue-the first scholarly monograph on Pareja- discusses the painter's ties to the Madrid School of the 1660s and revises our understanding of artistic production during Spain's Golden Age, with a focus on enslaved artists and artisans. The authors illuminate the highly skilled labor within Seville's multiracial society; the role of Black saints and confraternities in the promotion of Catholicism among enslaved populations; and early twentieth-century scholar Arturo Schomburg's project to recover Pareja's legacy. The book also includes the first illustrated and annotated list of known works attributed to Pareja. David Pullins is associate curator in the Department of European Paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vanessa K. Valdés is associate provost for community engagement at the City University of New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Beyond the Light: Identity and Place in Nineteenth-Century Danish Art
57.95 USD
Edited by Freyda Spira, Stephanie Schrader, and Thomas Lederballe With contributions by Gry Hedin and Karina Lykke Grand Though known as the Danish Golden Age, nineteenth-century Denmark was one of the most tumultuous periods in the nation's history-from the disastrous siege of Copenhagen and the collapse of Denmark's monarchy to the swelling tide of nationalism that eventually engulfed all of Europe. This volume places artists at the center of Denmark's dramatic cultural, political, and philosophical transformation by bringing together 90 drawings, paintings, and oil sketches by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, Christen KØbke, Constantin Hansen, Martinus RØrbye, Johan Thomas Lundbye, Vilhelm HammershØi, and others. Five thematic essays by leading scholars in Denmark and the United States explore the way Danish artists manifested the pride, traditions, and anxieties of their nation; the sea's ever-changing role as a marker of Danish identity; the evolving nature of portraiture; nostalgia for the Danish landscape and folk traditions; and the influence on Danish artists of their travels throughout Europe. Freyda Spira is Robert L. Solley Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Yale University Art Gallery. Stephanie Schrader is curator of drawings at J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Thomas Lederballe is chief curator and senior researcher at the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bernd & Hilla Becher
72.95 USD
By Jeff L. Rosenheim with contributions by Gabriele Conrath-Scholl, Virginia Heckert, Lucy Sante, and Max Becher For more than five decades, Bernd (1931-2007) and Hilla (1934-2015) Bechercollaborated on photographs of industrial architecture in Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, and the United States. This sweeping monograph features the Bechers' quintessential pictures, which present water towers, gastanks, blast furnaces, and more as sculptural objects. Beyond the Bechers' iconic Typologies, the book includes Bernd's early drawings, Hilla's independent photographs, and excerpts from their notes, sketchbooks, and journals. The book's authors offer new insights into the development of the artists' process, their work's conceptual underpinnings, the photographers' relationship to deindustrialization, and the artists' legacy. An essay by award-winning cultural historian Lucy Sante and an interview with Max Becher, the artists' son, make this volume an unrivaled look into the Bechers' art, life, and career. Jeff L. Rosenheim is Joyce Frank Menschel Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll
57.95 USD
By Jayson Kerr Dobney and Craig J. Inciardi Play It Loud celebrates the musical instruments that gave rock and roll its signature sound. Seven engrossing essays by veteran music journalists and scholars discuss the technical developments that fostered rock's seductive riffs and driving rhythms; the evolution of the classic lineup of two guitars, bass, and drums; the thrilling innovations and expanded instrumentation musicians have explored to achieve unique effects; the powerful visual impact instruments have had; and the essential role they have played in the most memorable moments of rock and roll history. Abundant photographs depict rock's most iconic instruments-including Jerry Lee Lewis's baby grand piano, Chuck Berry's Gibson ES-350T guitar, John Lennon's twelve-string Rickenbacker 325, Keith Moon's drum set, the white Stratocaster Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock, Joan Jett's Melody Maker, and St. Vincent's signature electric guitar-both in performance and as works of art in their own right. Produced in collaboration with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this astounding book goes behind the music to offer a rare, in-depth look at the instruments that inspired the musicians and made possible the songs we know and love. Jayson Kerr Dobney is Frederick P. Rose Curator in Charge, Department of Musical Instruments at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Craig J. Inciardi is curator and director of acquisitions at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art How to Read European Decorative Arts
37.9 USD
Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide Spanning three centuries of creativity, from the High Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution, this volume in The Met's How to Read series provides a peek into daily lives across Europe-from England, Spain, and France to Germany, Denmark, and Russia. Featuring 40 exemplary objects, including furniture, tableware, utilitarian items, articles of personal adornment, devotional objects, and display pieces, this publication covers many aspects of European society and lifestyles, from the modest to the fabulously wealthy. The book considers the contributions of renowned masters, such as the Dutch cabinetmaker Jan van Mekeren and the Italian goldsmith Andrea Boucheron, as well as talented amateurs, among them the anonymous young Englishwoman who embroidered an enchanting chest with scenes from the Story of Esther. The works selected include both masterpieces and less familiar examples, some of them previously unpublished, and are discussed not only in light of their art-historical importance but also with regard to the social issues relevant to each, such as the impact of colonial slavery or the changing status of women artists. Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide is Henry R. Kravis Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection
42.95 USD
Edited by Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow This groundbreaking new history of Cubism, based on works from the most significant private collection in the world today, is written by many of the field's premier art historians and scholars. The collection, recently donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, includes 80 works by Picasso, Braque, Gris, and Léger and is unsurpassed in the number of masterpieces and iconic pieces deemed critical to the development of Cubism.Twenty-two essays explore various facets of Cubism from its origins and consider small groupings of works in light of specific themes-such as a study by neuropsychiatrist Eric Kandel on Cubism and the science of perception. Also included is a fascinating interview in which Lauder discusses his approach to collecting. This is a work to place beside other great histories of Modernism. It is a comprehensive, copiously illustrated book that offers a greater understanding of Cubism and will stand as a resource on this pioneering style for many years to come.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art How to Read Islamic Carpets
37.9 USD
By Walter B. Denny This engaging and accessible publication offers insights and novel perspectives on what is perhaps the most iconic of all Islamic art forms: the handwoven carpet. With a history stretching back to the fourteenth century and a geographic reach spanning from Europe to Mongolia and the Middle East, Islamic carpets boast a degree of innovation and technical skill that rival the world's most exalted works of art. Beauty and brilliance emerge in equal measure from carpets of all forms, whether colossal silk rugs exchanged as gifts by sultans and kings or small, sturdy textiles woven for use in nomadic encampments. Some sixty superlative examples from the Metropolitan Museum's collection-from Persia, India, Turkey, North Africa, and across the Islamic world-are presented here in lavish detail, with concise texts that position each work in historical and cultural context. Beginning with a discussion of materials and techniques,How to Read Islamic Carpetsoffers a comprehensive introduction to this captivating art form, and reveals the lasting influence of carpet-weaving traditions in lands far beyond the Islamic world. This is an essential volume for students, professionals, and anyone who wants to understand the production, imagery, and history of these intricate textile arts produced as a part of a vibrant Islamic tradition.
Rizzoli The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings
92.95 USD
By Kathryn Calley Galitz Foreword by Thomas P. Campbell This monumental book celebrates the greatest and most iconic paintings in The Met collection. Its broad sweep of material makes it at once a universal history of painting and the ideal introduction to the beloved masterworks of this world-renowned institution. Lavish color illustrations and details of 500 masterpieces, created over 5,000 years by cultures across the globe, are presented chronologically, from the dawn of civilization to the present. These works represent a grand tour of painting: from ancient Egypt and classical antiquity to prized Byzantine and medieval altarpieces; from works from Asia, India, Africa, and the Americas to the greatest European and North American masters. This unprecedented book includes an introduction and illuminating texts about each artwork. European and American artists include Duccio, El Greco, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Bronzino, Caravaggio, Turner, Velázquez, Goya, Rubens, Rembrandt, Brueghel, Vermeer, David, Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne, Degas, Sargent, Homer, Matisse, Picasso, Pollock, and Warhol. For those wishing to experience the unparalleled collection of The Met, or to study masterpieces of painting from throughout history, this important volume is sure to become a classic work cherished by art lovers.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Van Gogh's Cypresses
62.95 USD
By Susan Alyson Stein With essays by Charlotte Hale, Silvia Centeno, Alison Hokanson, and Marina Kliger Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) immortalized the cypress tree in signature images that have become synonymous with his fiercely original power of expression. This richly illustrated publication illuminates the backstory of his invention for the first time, from his initial investigations of the motif in benchmark drawings from Arles to his realization of their full evocative potential in such iconic canvases as The Starry Night and Wheat Field with Cypresses, painted at the asylum in Saint-Rémy. Susan Alyson Stein retraces the Dutch artist's inspired response to the flamelike evergreens as they gained ground in his works and artistic thinking over the course of his sojourn in the South of France. The volume provides further insight into Van Gogh's creative process through a technical study focused on two celebrated works from the artist's epic painting campaign of June 1889. The visual and literary heritage of the cypresses is featured in a compilation of images and excerpts from nineteenth-century poetry, novels, and travel writing-many translated into English for the first time. Susan Alyson Stein is Engelhard Curator of Nineteenth-Century European Painting in the Department of European Paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England
72.95 USD
By Elizabeth Cleland and Adam Eaker with contributions by Marjorie E. Wieseman and Sarah Bochicchio Ruling successively from 1485 through 1603, the five Tudor monarchs used the arts to legitimize and glorify their tumultuous rule, from Henry VII's bloody rise to power, through Henry VIII's breach with the Roman Catholic Church, to the reign of the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I. With incisive scholarship and sumptuous new photography, this book explores the extreme politics and outsize personalities of the Tudors, and how they used art in their diplomacy at home and abroad. Though their truly cosmopolitan courts attracted top artists and artisans from across Europe, the Tudors also nurtured a distinctly English aesthetic that is forever connected to the visual legacy of their dynasty. The Tudors brings to life the family's extravagant and politically precarious world through the exquisite paintings, lush textiles, gleaming metalwork, and countless luxury objects that adorned their spectacular courts. Elizabeth Cleland is Curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and Adam Eaker is Associate Curator in the Department of European Paintings, both at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Click here to learn more about our Tudor-inspired collections.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art
57.95 USD
Edited by Joanne Pillsbury, Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos, and James A. Doyle with contributions by Iyaxel Cojti Ren, Caitlin C. Earley, Stephen D. Houston, and Daniel Salazar Lama Focusing on the period between A. D. 250 and 900, Lives of the Gods reveals that ancient Maya artists evoked a pantheon as rich and complex as the more familiar Greco-Roman, Hindu-Buddhist, and Egyptian deities. The authors show how this powerful cosmology informed some of the greatest creative achievements of Maya civilization, represented here from the monumental to the miniature through more than 140 works in jade, stone, and clay. Thematic chapters supported by new scholarship on recent archaeological discoveries detail the different types of gods and their domains, the role of the divine in the lives of the ancient Maya, and the continuation of these traditions from the colonial period through the present day. Joanne Pillsbury is Andrall E. Pearson Curator of Ancient American Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Yale University and Curator at the Yale Peabody Museum. James A. Doyle is Associate Research Professor and Director of the Matson Museum of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, State College.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Picasso: A Cubist Commission in Brooklyn
32.95 USD
By Anna Jozefacka with Lauren Rosati In 1910, Pablo Picasso began a series of 11 decorative paintings intended for the Brooklyn residence of American artist, collector, and critic Hamilton Easter Field. This publication is the first in-depth examination of this commission which, despite never being completed, offers new insights into a little-known chapter in Picasso's art that coincided with a critical moment in the development of Cubism. Based on new research, including letters and archival material from both Picasso and Field, this book shows how the unrealized commission challenged Picasso to move beyond easel painting and adapt Cubist forms to an immersive aesthetic experience. Authors investigate the progression of Cubist ideas and show how Picasso used Easter Field's proposal as a place of experimentation by both subverting and paying homage to decorative painting traditions. Published to coincide with Celebration Picasso, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the artist's death, this compact volume provides a compelling look at what might have been, as well as a fascinating portrait of art and patronage in the early twentieth century. Anna Jozefacka is an independent scholar. Lauren Rosati is assistant curator in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting
72.95 USD
A Met Museum publication makes the perfect gift. By John T. Carpenter With Tim T. Zhang In East Asian cultures, the integration of poetry, painting, and calligraphy, known as the "Three Perfections," is considered the apex of artistic expression. This sumptuous book explores 1,000 years of Japanese art through more than 100 works-hanging scrolls, folding screens, handscrolls, and albums-from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. John T. Carpenter provides an engaging history of these interrelated disciplines and shows evidence of intellectual exchange between Chinese and Japanese artists in works with poetry in both languages, calligraphies in Chinese brushed by Japanese Zen monks, and examples of Japanese paintings pictorializing scenes from Chinese literature and legend. Many of the works featured, including Japanese poetic forms, Chinese verses, and Zen Buddhist sayings, are deciphered and translated here for the first time, providing readers with a better understanding of each work's rich and layered meaning. Highlighting the talents of such masters as Musō Soseki, Sesson Shūkei, Jiun Onkō, Ryōkan Taigu, Ike no Taiga, and Yosa Buson, this book celebrates the power of brush-written calligraphy and its complex visual synergy with painted images. John T. Carpenter is the Mary Griggs Burke Curator of Japanese Art in the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux's Why Born Enslaved! Reconsidered
32.95 USD
Edited by Elyse Nelson and Wendy S. Walters This critical reexamination of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's iconic bust Why Born Enslaved! unpacks the sculpture's complex and sometimes contradictory engagement with an antislavery discourse. Noted art historians and writers discuss how categories of racial difference grew in popularity in the nineteenth century alongside a crescendo in cultural production in France during the Second Empire. By focusing on Why Born Enslaved! and comparing it to works by Carpeaux's contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as to objects by twenty-first-century artists Kara Walker and Kehinde Wiley, this volume explores such key themes as the portrayal of Black enslavement and emancipation; the commodification of images of Black figures; the role of sculpture in generating the sympathies of its audiences; and the relevance of Carpeaux's sculpture to legacies of empire. The book also provides a chronology of events central to the histories of transatlantic slavery, abolition, colonialism, and empire. Elyse Nelson is assistant curator of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European sculpture in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Wendy S. Walters is concentration head in non-fiction and associate professor in the Writing Program of the School of the Arts at Columbia University, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Art of the Literary Poster
57.95 USD
A Met Museum publication is the perfect gift for art lovers. By Allison Rudnick with essays by Jennifer A. Greenhill, Rachel Mustalish, and Shannon Vittoria Spurred by innovations in printing technology, the modern poster emerged in the 1890s as a popular form of visual culture in the United States. Created by some of the best-known illustrators and graphic designers of the period - including Will H. Bradley, Florence Lundborg, Edward Penfield, and Ethel Reed - these advertisements for books and high-tone periodicals such as Harper's and Lippincott's went beyond the realm of commercial art, incorporating bold, stylized imagery and striking typography. This book, based on the renowned Leonard A. Lauder Collection, explores the craze for literary posters, which became sought after collectibles even in their day. It offers new scholarly perspectives that address the aesthetic sophistication and modernity of the literary poster; the impact of early experiments in the field of advertising psychology; the expanded opportunities for women artists, who played an important role in advancing the so- called poster style; and the printmaking techniques that artists employed in this novel art form. A lively survey of a little-known but highly influential period in graphic design, The Art of the Literary Poster is sure to delight enthusiasts of illustration, advertising, and book arts. Allison Rudnick is Associate Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Jennifer A. Greenhill is Endowed Professor of American Art at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Rachel Mustalish is Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge of the Department of Paper Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Shannon Vittoria is Assistant Curator in the American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Unicorn Tapestries in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
32.9 USD
By Adolfo Salvatore Cavallo The unicorn tapestries are one of the most popular attractions at The Cloisters Museum and Gardens, the medieval branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Traditionally known as The Hunt of the Unicorn, this set of seven exquisite and enigmatic tapestries was likely completed between 1495 and 1505. The imaginatively conceived scenes-displaying individualized faces of the hunters and naturalistically depicting the flora and fauna of the landscape-are beautifully captured in silk, wool, and metal yarns. Written by one of the world's leading authorities on medieval textiles and illustrated with many lovely color reproductions,The Unicorn Tapestriestraces the origins of the tapestries as well as possible interpretations of their symbolic meaning. This is an essential book for any lover of medieval art and textiles.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Oceania: The Shape of Time
57.95 USD
By Maia Nuku The visual arts of Oceania tell a wealth of dynamic stories about origins, ancestral power, performance, and initiation. This publication explores the deeply rooted connections between Austronesian-speaking peoples, whose ancestral homelands span Island Southeast Asia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the island archipelagoes of the northern and eastern Pacific. Unlike previous books, it foregrounds Indigenous perspectives, alongside multidisciplinary research in art history, ethnography, and archaeology, to provide an intimate look at Oceania, its art, and its culture. Stunning new photography highlights more than 130 magnificent objects, ranging from elaborately carved ancestral figures in ceremonial houses, towering slit drums, and dazzling turtle-shell masks to polished whale ivory breastplates. Underscoring the powerful interplay between the ocean and its islands, and the ongoing connection with spiritual and ancestral realms, Oceania: The Shape of Time presents an art-focused approach to life and culture while guiding readers through the artistic achievements of Islanders across millennia. Maia Nuku is Evelyn A. J. Hall and John A. Friede Associate Curator for Oceanic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.
72.95 USD
Edited by Medill Harvey A silversmith, designer, and prodigious collector, Edward C. Moore (1827-1891) was the creative leader who brought Tiffany & Co. to unparalleled originality and success during the late nineteenth century. This informative, richly illustrated volume-the first study of Moore's life and influence-presents more than 175 examples from his vast collection, ranging from Greek and Roman glass to Spanish vases, Islamic metalwork, and Japanese textiles. These are juxtaposed with sixty-nine magnificent silver objects created by the designers and artisans at Tiffany who were inspired by Moore's acquisitions. The illuminating texts have been enriched by groundbreaking research into newspapers, periodicals, the Tiffany & Co. Archives, a newly identified technical manual, and supervisor's diaries, all of which provide an intimate look at the firm's design processes and Moore's role in shaping them. A valuable contribution to the history of American decorative arts, Collecting Inspiration illuminates the legendary Tiffany aesthetic and the legacy of a significant collector, designer, and entrepreneur of the Gilded Age. Medill Higgins Harvey is the Ruth Bigelow Wriston Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts and Manager, The Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
DK Publishing The Met Paper Dollhouse
29.94 USD
Gifts for kids. Travel across cultures and through time with this book guiding young readers through five of The Met's famous period rooms. Kids can immerse themselves in these beloved Museum spaces with this illustrated dollhouse book, perfect for little ones who enjoy crafting and history. They can even pop out and play with the furniture and other decorative objects to furnish their very own dollhouses.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Avian Holiday Pop-Up Advent Calendar
32.9 USD
Gather around the Christmas tree alongside twenty-four fanciful birds with this interactive pop-up Advent calendar from The Met. Each day of Advent, find and open the numbered door. Remove the bird inside and hang it on the pop-up tree by slipping the folded tab over a branch. On Christmas Day, top off the birds' nested Christmas tree with a golden star. The calendar is based on the watercolor Avian Holiday(1953) by Adolf Dehn (American, 1895-1968). Known for his humorous satires and social commentaries on modern life, Dehn, whose work is in The Met collection, concentrated as a young artist on printmaking before focusing on watercolors in 1937.
DK Publishing The Met Dress-Up Paper Dolls
29.94 USD
Children's history books make perfect gifts. Published in partnership with The Met's Costume Institute, this perfectly giftable book takes young readers through 170 years of fashion, from the 1880s to the present day. Learn about key moments in fashion history through lavishly illustrated scenes, must-know facts, and highlights from select designers represented in the Costume Institute's collection. Then, turn to the back of the book to press out and play with three paper dolls, complete with 14 stylish outfits to dress them up in.
Fun with Hieroglyphs, New Edition
42.94 USD
By Catharine Roehrig Everything young Egyptologists need to write their own hieroglyphs is in this new edition of a Metropolitan Museum classic. A full-color paperback book reveals the history and mystery surrounding the written language of the ancient Egyptians, and also contains fun puzzles and activities. An easy-to-use chart matches letters from the English alphabet with their corresponding hieroglyphs and sounds. The kit's 24 hieroglyphic stamps and ink pad are ready for sending secret messages, creating designs, or making cards.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Irving Penn: Centennial
77.95 USD
By Maria Morris Hambourg and Jeff L. Rosenheim Contributions by Alexandra Dennett, Philippe Garner, Adam Kirsch, Harald E. L. Prins, and Vasilios Zatse Irving Penn (1917-2009) was among the most esteemed and influential photographers of the twentieth century. This indispensable book features one of the largest selections of Penn's photographs ever compiled-nearly 300 in all-including famous and beloved images as well as works that have never been published. Celebrating the centennial of Penn's birth, this volume spans the entirety of his nearly 70-year career. Lively essays acquaint readers with Penn's primary subjects and campaigns, including early documentary scenes and imagery; portraits of cultural figures and celebrities; fashion; female nudes; peoples of Peru, Dahomey (Benin), New Guinea, and Morocco; and still lifes. Rounding out the book are discussions of Penn's advertising pictures and his painstaking printing processes, as well as an illustrated chronology. Irving Penn: Centennial is essential for any fan of this artists work or of the history of twentieth-century photography. Maria Morris Hambourg is an independent curator of photography. Jeff L. Rosenheim is Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Alexandra Dennett is associate archivist at The Irving Penn Foundation. Philippe Garner is retired from the auction business and was most recently deputy chairman of Christie's. Adam Kirsch is a poet and literary critic. Harald E. L. Prins is University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University. Vasilios Zatse is associate director of The Irving Penn Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art How to Read European Armor
37.9 USD
By Donald J. La Rocca This engaging book offers an introduction to and overview of armor in Europe from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, focusing in particular on the 16th century when plate armor reached its peak of stylistic beauty and functional perfection. Through informative discussions of representative works The Met collection, this new addition to the popular How to Read series shows what to look for when examining armor, the pieces that make up a typical suit of armor, how the parts work, the various methods used to decorate armor, and how armor became an important part of so many museum collections today. Donald J. La Rocca is curator in the Department of Arms and Armor at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art How to Read Buddhist Art
37.9 USD
By Kurt Behrendt Intended to inspire the devout and provide a focus for religious practice, Buddhist artworks stand at the center of a belief system that swept across Asia during the first millennia. How to Read Buddhist Art assembles 54 masterpieces from The Met collection dating from the first century B. C. to the present and including seminal works from early reliquaries to sublime images of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and powerful tantric deities. These sacred objects-created in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Himalayas, China, Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia-crossed linguistic and cultural barriers while also maintaining unique regional iconography. Like other titles in The Met's How to Read series, this book offers a rich but concise overview of the topic. It provides the essential frameworks needed to understand Buddhist art and practice, with engaging chapters that help the reader appreciate the methods artists used to give form to subtle aspects of the teachings. Kurt Behrendt is Associate Curator in the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Manet/Degas
72.95 USD
By Stephan Wolohojian and Ashley Dunn with contributions by Stéphane Guégan, Denise Murrell, Haley S. Pierce, Isolde Pludermacher, and Samuel Rodary Friends, rivals, and at times antagonists, Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas maintained a pictorial dialogue throughout their lives as they both worked to define the painting of modern urban life. Manet/Degas, the first book to consider their careers in parallel, investigates how their objectives overlapped, diverged, and shaped each other's artistic choices. Enlivened by archival correspondence and records of firsthand accounts, essays by American and French scholars take a fresh look at the artists' family relationships, literary friendships, and interconnected social and intellectual circles in Paris; explore their complex depictions of race and class; discuss their political views in the context of wars in France and the United States; compare their artistic practices; and examine how Degas built his personal collection of works by Manet after his friend's premature death. An illustrated biographical chronology charts their intersecting lives and careers. This lavishly illustrated, in-depth study offers an opportunity to reevaluate some of the most canonical French artworks of the nineteenth century, including Manet's Olympia, Degas's The Absinthe Drinker, and other masterworks. Stephan Wolohojian is John Pope-Hennessy Curator in Charge in the Department of European Paintings, and Ashley Dunn is associate curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints, both at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art How to Read Greek Sculpture
37.9 USD
By Seán Hemingway This volume, the latest installment in The Met's widely acclaimed How to Read series, introduces eight centuries of Greek sculpture, from the early rectilinear designs of the Geometric period (ca. 900-700 B. C.) through the groundbreaking creativity of the Archaic and Classical periods to the monumental achievements of the Hellenistic Age (323-31 B. C). The generous selection of objects and materials-ranging from the sacred to the everyday, and from bronze and marble to gold, ivory, and terracotta-acts as primer on Greek art but also on life in ancient Greece. The informative text features a comprehensive introduction and insightful discussions of forty objects, including depictions of Zeus, Athena, and Eros; architectural elements; funerary reliefs; perfume vases; and jewelry. An essential volume on one of the most remarkable achievements of Western art, this book reveals how Greek artists captured the fundamental aspects of the human condition more than two millennia ago. Seán Hemingway is the John A. and Carole O. Moran Curator in Charge of the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
How to Read Greek Vases
37.9 USD
By Joan R. Mertens This handsomely illustrated volume is the second in a series of publications aimed at giving a broad audience deeper insight into the extensive collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum is famed for is Greek vases. Joan R. Mertens, Curator in the Department of Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan, has chosen thirty-five notable examples. They reveal the variety and vitality of the refined forms and masterfully rendered scenes that characterize these works. And they demonstrate the interrelation of function, shape, techniques, and subject matter that is key to understanding the rich language of Greek vases. The introduction provides valuable background information, and the entries delve into the features of each vase, incorporating brilliant color illustrations, including many arresting details. Greek vases served specific utilitarian functions, and they also afforded outstanding artists, some of whom signed their work, a medium for depicting both the details of daily existence and aspects of their gods, goddesses, and heroes. We see the garments, implements, athletic competitions, and marriage and funerary rituals of Greeks who lived from the seventh through the fourth century B. C. We see their spear, and shield, and the great hero Herakles, from his first exploit as a baby to his elevation as an immortal at the end of his earthly life. The exceptional group of works assembled in this volume conveys the extent to which the culture of ancient Greece is still apparent today. Urns and jars inspired by Greek models are a staple in all types of public and private spaces. The meander patterns, palmettes, and other florals that adorn ancient vases recur in all kinds of modern objects. And the concept of the hero, or superman, first formulated and given visual form in ancient Greece is integral to Western culture.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art How To Read Chinese Ceramics
37.9 USD
By Denise Patry Leidy This addition to the ongoing How to Read series focuses on the rich history of Chinese ceramics. Geared to appeal to a nonspecialist audience, the series is intended to guide the reader through the subject matter and show them how to "read" works of art from around the world ranging from antiquity to the present, broadening their understanding of these works and their cultures. This volume features Chinese ceramic vessels and sculptures of diverse subjects, shapes, and materials that date from the Neolithic Period to the twentieth century. Both highlighting the accomplishments of their makers and exemplifying the breadth and depth of China's cultural achievement, each of these works in the Metropolitan's impressive collection of Asian art is examined in a richly illustrated catalogue entry.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100-1900
72.95 USD
Met Museum publications make perfect gifts for art lovers. By Pengliang Lu Bronze vessels were the ultimate emblems of power in ancient China. Beginning in the twelfth century, the rediscovery of ancient bronzes as evidence of an earlier golden age led to a revival of bronze casting. This publication is the first comprehensive study of these later Chinese bronzes in archaic styles, which were commissioned by emperors and officials from the twelfth through the nineteenth centuries to assert political legitimacy and alignment with traditional values. Redressing the misconception that these works were mere imitations of the ancient vessels they emulated, Recasting the Past demonstrates that they were in fact creative reinterpretations of antique shapes and decorative motifs that were fundamentally new creations with their own aesthetic and functional character. Featuring nearly two hundred objects, many never before published- including ceremonial bells, incense burners, flower vases, ritual vessels, and writing utensils-Pengliang Lu explores their cultural and political significance from the Song dynasty through the Qing dynasty and shows their enormous influence on Chinese art and culture. Pengliang Lu is Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art in the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.