Bøger i Dover Fine Art, History of Art serien

Among graphic artists and commercial designers, Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939) is praised for his innovative style books that pioneered the use of Art Nouveau in commercial packaging, design, and ornament. The most important of these style books was DOCUMENTS DECORATIFS, published in 1901, and carefully reproduced here. Includes 18 plates in full color, 54 in two or more colors.

His Don Quixote ... from its first to its last page [is] a marvel of imagination, poetry, sentiment, and sarcasm. . . . People still speak of it only as 'Doré's Don Quixote'.--Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré Doré himself had something of Quixote's chivalry and spent an arduous life drafting impossible dreams; he knew fame as well as pain, disillusionment, and failure. At age 30 he was ready for Quixote and prepared to realize his dream of illustrating the world's great books.Doré never became the painter he yearned to be, but he came very close to realizing his desired intimacy with the classics. His sympathy with Cervantes' satire was so close that, of the numerous Quixote interpretations by many outstanding artists, Doré's has become the standard. The French translation of Cervantes that Doré illustrated is forgotten; here is the memorable remnant of that work--all 120 full-page plates, plus a selection of 70 characteristic headpiece and tailpiece vignettes.As can be seen in the backgrounds, Doré was ready professionally as well as emotionally for Quixote. He had traveled through Spain preparing an earlier work, and his graphic memory was as strong and indelible as that of another great Quixote interpreter, Picasso. From Sancho's village through Spanish hills and dry plateaus, in the Pyrenees and by the sea, in rural castles and Barcelona luxury, Doré illuminated the seventeenth-century setting with a nineteenth-century acquaintance with the scene. Doré was also a careful student of Renaissance costume and architecture; his minutiae, so copious, are invariably correct.Captions written especially for this edition describe the action with reference to the original Spanish text, capturing high points of the story. But of course Doré conveys it all in a picture: the famous windmill charge, traversing the Sierra Morena, battling the Knight of the White Moon, visions of giants, dragons, flaming lakes, and damsels, the Dulcinea never found, all in full-page wood engravings. Doré's marvelous penchant for ghostly effects in panoramic landscapes and seascapes finds large scope here, carefully engraved by one of the best of his longtime studio engravers, H. Pisano.Doré's Man of la Mancha glows with the artist's own enchantment and humor. Artists and illustration aficionados will add this royalty-free volume to other Dover editions of Doré's works--art he created to stand with great literature that now stands alone. Doré's Quixote indeed stands alone, unique among the knights and graphic castles in Spain.Dover (1982) original publication of selections from L'ingenieux hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche par Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, published by L. Hachette et Cie, Paris, 1869.

Although Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest artists who ever lived, his career was marked by an unusually large number of uncompleted projects and by finished works that rapidly deteriorated. Nevertheless, his influence is undoubted, and his claim to greatness rests chiefly on his drawings, which have been carefully preserved in such locations as Windsor Castle, the Louvre, the Uffizi Gallery, and the British Museum.This collection, excellently reproduced in black-and-white, is representative of Leonardo's various achievements in many drawing media. Among the selections are drawings of plants, landscapes, animals, battles, weapons, and the human face and figure, as well as studies for later paintings or sculpture: a full compositional study for The Adoration of the Magi, a study for the angel's head in The Virgin of the Rocks, studies of horses for the Sforza monument, studies for The Last Supper, studies for The Battle of Anghiari, and an early cartoon for The Madonna with St. Anne.Dover (1980) original publication.

This graphic novel by an Expressionist master offers a stunning depiction of urban Europe between the world wars. First published in Germany in 1925, it presents 100 woodcuts of remarkable force and beauty that depict scenes of work and leisure, wealth and deprivation, and joy and loneliness.

First republication of remarkable repainting of great Mexican codex, dated to ca. AD 1400. 76 large full-color plates show gods, kings, warriors, mythical creatures, and abstract designs. Introduction.

Among the best known and most immediately recognizable images in art history are the superb studies and portraits of ballet dancers by Edgar Degas (1834-1917). One of the most popular of nineteenth-century artists, Degas was fascinated by movement, especially that of dancers. His highly trained eye enabled him to capture the dancer's grace and power as well as subtleties and nuances of pose and execution, making his pictures as true in fact as they are in spirit.This original compilation includes 41 full-page and six half-page black-and-white Degas drawings of dancers. Some are finished works, others are sketches or studies for future works. Singly, in pairs, and in groups, the dancers appear on stage, in the classroom, and at rehearsals--pirouetting, executing grand battements and portes de bras, practicing at the barre, and adjusting their costumes in moments of repose.Art enthusiasts and balletomanes who prize Degas's pictures of dancers will delight in the sublime beauty and mastery of expression of these images. This inexpensive edition allows lovers of art and the dance to savor these enchanting, beautifully reproduced drawings.Dover (1999) original compilation from various sources.

Albrecht Dürer was a master in various media, but it was in woodcut design that his creative genius reached its highest expression. Here are all of his extant woodcuts, a collection of over 300 great works containing all the familiar cuts long treasured by the world's art lovers: the celebrated series on the Life of the Virgin, The Apocalypse of John (17 cuts), The Great Passion, St. Jerome in his Study, Samson Fighting the Lion, The Fall of Icarus, The Six Knots, The Men's Bath, St. Christopher, The Virgin in Glory, The Rhinoceros, The Last Supper of 1523, illustrations from Dürer's The Art of Measurement and from his four books on human proportion, and many others, including much little-known material. This book is the only available source for many of these works.Although sacred subjects predominate (the Holy Family, scenes from Christ's life, crucifixion, etc., the lives of the saints, Old Testament episodes), many other motifs are treated. There are portraits of prominent men of the ages, book illustrations (secular and religious), coats of arms, the celestial and terrestrial globes, animals, mythological and historical themes, etc. The plates are arranged generally in chronological order permitting the reader to view the development of Dürer's art. From out of the gnarled figures and landscapes one can see the emergence of an individualistic style and skill unrivaled in this sphere.An introduction by Campbell Dodgson and a 34-page textual guide to the plates by Dr. Willi Kurth discuss the evidence and controversies surrounding the authenticity of each work, citing the opinions of all the important Dürer scholars; they also furnish the reader with the historical background of the cuts and of Dürer's life and times--from the years of apprenticeship in Nuremberg to the last works of 1520-1528.All of the woodcuts are reproduced in excellent detail. This book is indispensable for the professional art historian and critic. To the layman with any aesthetic interests at all it will be a source of stimulation and satisfaction that only great art can provide.

For more than a generation, Gertrude Stein's Paris home at 27 rue de Fleurus was the center of a glittering coterie of artists and writers, one of whom was Pablo Picasso. In this intimate and revealing memoir, Stein tells us much about the great man (and herself) and offers many insights into the life and art of the 20th century's greatest painter.Mixing biological fact with artistic and aesthetic comments, she limns a unique portrait of Picasso as a founder of Cubism, an intimate of Appollinaire, Max Jacob, Braque, Derain, and others, and a genius driven by a ceaseless quest to convey his vision of the 20th century. We learn, for example, of the importance of his native Spain in shaping Picasso's approach to art; of the influence of calligraphy and African sculpture; of his profound struggle to remain true to his own vision; of the overriding need to empty himself of the forms and ideas that welled up within him.Stein's close relationship with Picasso furnishes her with a unique vantage point in composing this perceptive and provocative reminiscence. It will delight any admirer of Picasso or Gertrude Stein; it is indispensable to an understanding of modern art.

This collection gathers breathtaking art from early editions of "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," and other classics. 180 elegant images -- most in color -- include works by Rackham, Dore, Dulac, Nielsen, and others.

Forty important lithographic prints with line and composition comparable to the works of Miro's friend Picasso. Eerie, droll, technically brilliant, and aggressive.

Forty-six outstanding studies, including sketches for David, Sistine Ceiling, Last Judgment, and more. Nudes, figure studies, children, animals, mythical and religious works, more.

In the brief span of his life and career, Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98) galvanized public attention in 1890s London with his exotic renderings of subjects, which often projected the sensual and the grotesque. This splendid volume brings together the best of Beardsley's work--a rich selection ranging from illustrations for Laclos's Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Balzac's La Comédie Humaine to magazine cover designs, book plate silhouettes, title-page ornaments, and delightful mini-portraits of major composers. Also included are two photographs of the artist, consisting of private portrait studies by Frederick H. Evans.Over 180 beautifully reproduced black-and-white plates capture the uniqueness of Beardsley's vision and reveal the seductive power of his art. Among the illustrations are brilliantly conceived vignettes from Le Morte D'arthur, Venus and Tannhäuser, Salome, and Lucian's True History as well as enchanting creations for The Yellow Book (an influential British arts quarterly), and much more.Characterized by bold black masses, elongated shapes, and sensually provocative figures, these works are the product of a remarkable individual style that transformed the art of illustration. Reproduced here in an inexpensive high-quality format, they are certain to thrill not only Beardsley enthusiasts but anyone interested in the early years of modern graphic art.Dover (1990) original publication.

Gustave Doré (1832-83) was perhaps the most successful illustrator of the nineteenth century. His Doré Bible was a treasured possession in countless homes, and his best-received works continued to appear through the years in edition after edition. His illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy constitute one of his most highly regarded efforts and were Doré's personal favorites. The present volume reproduces with excellent clarity all 135 plates that Doré produced for The Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. From the depths of hell onto the mountain of purgatory and up to the empyrean realms of paradise, Doré's illustrations depict the passion and grandeur of Dante's masterpiece in such famous scenes as the embarkation of the souls for hell, Paolo and Francesca (four plates), the forest of suicides, Thaïs the harlot, Bertram de Born holding his severed head aloft, Ugolino (four plates), the emergence of Dante and Virgil from hell, the ascent up the mountain, the flight of the eagle, Arachne, the lustful sinners being purged in the seventh circle, the appearance of Beatrice, the planet Mercury, and the first splendors of paradise, Christ on the cross, the stairway of Saturn, the final vision of the Queen of Heaven, and many more. Each plate is accompanied by appropriate lines from the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation of Dante's work. Dover (1976) original publication.

This famous work by a pioneer in the movement to free art from the bonds of tradition explores the role of the line, point, and other key elements of non-objective painting. 127 illustrations.