Art

Largely self-taught as an artist, Francis Bacon (1909-1992) developed a unique ability to transform interior and unconscious impulses into figurative forms and intensely claustrophobic compositions.Emerging into notoriety in the period...

Discover how scenes of daily life and delicate dabs of color shocked the art world establishment.In this TASCHEN Basic Art introduction to Impressionism, we explore the artists, subjects, and techniques...

In the mid-1950s, Yves Klein (1928-1962) declared that "a new world calls for a new man." With his idiosyncratic style and huge charisma, this bold artist would go on to...

The great Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1526/31-1569) was an astoundingly inventive painter and draftsman, who made his art historical mark with beautiful, evocative landscapes as well as...

No other artist, apart from J. M. W. Turner, tried as hard as Claude Monet (1840-1926) to capture light itself on canvas. Of all the Impressionists, it was the man...

It was the decade of daring Expressionist canvases, of brilliant book design, of the Bauhaus total work of art, of pioneering psychology, of drag balls, cabaret, Metropolis, and Marlene Dietrich's...

With his instantly recognizable decorative style, Czech artist and Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) defined the look of the fin-de-siecle. In evocative shades of peach, gold, ochre, and olive,...

Abstraction shook Western art to its core. In the early part of the 20th century, it refuted the reign of clear, indisputable forms and confronted audiences instead with vivid visual...

Since the original TASCHEN edition of Manga Design, Japan's comic phenomenon has produced yet more captivating characters and a whole host of hot new talents. This revised and updated edition...

Hailed the "Prince of the Impressionists", Claude Monet (1840-1926) transformed expectations for the purpose of paint on canvas. Defying the precedent of centuries, Monet did not seek to render only...

In endless odes to the female form, Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) traced elongated bodies, almond eyes, and his own name into art history. His languid female subjects are as instantly recognizable...

Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was interested in the telling of truths. Always operating outside the main currents of 20th-century art, the esteemed portrait painter observed his subjects with the regimen and...

Painter, sculptor, writer, filmmaker, and all-round showman Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was one of the 20th century's greatest exhibitionists and eccentrics. One of the first artists to apply the insights of...

The unfading popularity of Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) attests not only to the particular appeal of his luxuriant painting but also to the universal themes with which he worked: love, feminine...

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is hailed as the most important proponent of the Pop art movement. A critical and creative observer of American society, he explored key themes of consumerism, materialism,...

In our imaginings of Paris, painter and graphic artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) has no small role to play. In his prints, posters, paintings, and drawings, the artist immortalized the...

Italian-born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564) was a tormented, prodigiously talented, and God-fearing Renaissance man. His manifold achievements in painting, sculpture, architecture, poetry, and engineering combined body, spirit, and...

With his graphic style, figural distortion, and defiance of conventional standards of beauty, Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was a pioneer of Austrian Expressionism and one of the most startling portrait painters...

A hairless, ghostly figure on a bridge. The sky orange-red above him. His hands raised to his ears, his mouth wide in a haunting wail. In painting The Scream, Edvard...

Today, the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) are among the most well known and celebrated in the world. In Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, and many...

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) was one of the last great artists in the ukiyo-e tradition. Literally meaning "pictures of the floating world," ukiyo-e was a particular woodblock print genre of art...

Over the course of his artistic career, Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) transformed not only his own style, but the course of art history. From early figurative and landscape painting, he went...

Sharp angles, strange forms, lurid colors, and distorted perspectives are classic hallmarks of Expressionism, the twentieth century movement that prioritized emotion over objective reality. Though particularly present in Germany and...

Though numbering just 35 known works, the oeuvre of Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is hailed as one of the most important and inspiring portfolios in art history. His paintings have prompted...

In the work of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) lies an impact akin to a sudden acquisition of sight. His landscapes and seascapes scorch the eye with such ravishing light...

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) was one of the last great artists in the ukiyo-e tradition. Literally meaning "pictures of the floating world," ukiyo-e was a particular genre of art that flourished...

This is a handy guide to the art 'isms' of the modern day. From Impressionism and the birth of modern art to street art and Internationalism of the 21st century,...

With over 70 original illustrations, printmaker Angela Harding invites you to look at how the light changes the world around us, and how that changes us in its turn."I, like...

We all dream of taking an unforgettable holiday off the beaten track: to be stunned by unique destinations, new cultures, or breathtaking nature. And when money is no object, there...

Discover the extraordinary stories behind the world's missing works of art.Travel back in time to discover works of art that have vanished from the record, as well as those that...

What goes into creating art? How can we learn to "read" paintings? What are the key elements of composition?If you've ever found yourself seeking the answers to the above questions...

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZECHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, MAIL ON SUNDAY, FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW STATESMAN,...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2019SELECTED AS BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, SUNDAY TIMES, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT AND SPECTATOR'A...

Art Markets, Agents and Collectors brings together a wide variety of case studies, based on letters and detailed archival research, which nuance the history of the art market and the...

If participation has been an ideal in politics since ancient democracy, in art it became central only with the avant-gardes emerging from WWI and the Russian Revolution. Politics and aesthetics...

Sabotage is the deliberate disruption of a dominant system, be it political, military or economic. Yet in recent decades, sabotage has also become an artistic strategy most notably in Latin...

The post-1989 period has seen artists in Central and Eastern Europe embrace socially engaged practices. Reclaiming public life from the ideologies of both communist regimes and neoliberalism, their projects have...

Urban Roar argues for the existence of 'autonomous affectivities' that roar beneath the din of the urban, seeking the attention of us humans so captured by the environments of our...

Latin Blackness in Parisian Visual Culture, 1852-1932 examines an understudied visual language used to portray Latin Americans in mid-19th to early 20th-century Parisian popular visual media. It charts how the...

'Katy Hessel is a brilliant chronicler of the overlooked. I am so thrilled this book exists as an empowering, enlightening guide to the unforgettable vision of these brilliant artists. Essential...

An illustrated selection of Van Gogh's letters, forming an extraordinary window into the life and creative thinking of one of the world's most iconic artists. Vincent van Gogh's letters have...

Paul Gauguin created some of the most advanced art in a brilliant generation of artists - all of whom struggled against the stifling conformity of the late 19th century's artistic...

'As seductive as it is scholarly ... Riveting' Financial Times'Unusual and refreshing ... Brilliant' Leanne Shapton'A bold, unusual book, filled with archival research, exuberant ideas and a determination to counter...

How is The Colour Code different to other books on colour? Well, the short answer is that it is a whole lot more fun - not least because it is...

Most surveys of the history of art come neatly packaged. They are divided up into historic periods, artistic schools and movements, and the careers of individual painters. They may make...

Great works of art cannot be fully understood in a single encounter: to revisit and reconsider art again and again throughout one's life is to be richly rewarded with an...

Great paintings cannot be fully understood in a single encounter; there is always more to be derived from them. Art lovers may revisit and reconsider the masterpieces throughout their lives,...

'Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist' - PicassoWhether it's through disrupting a routine, turning an idea on its head or challenging the...