The Genius of Rome, 1592-1623 - Caravaggio, Annibale, Carracci, Rubens and Their Contemporaries by Beverly Louise Brown

$40.00 NZD

Category: Art | Reading Level: very good

Showcase the achievements of the masters who gave birth to the Baroque style of painting.

A Passion for Art: Art Collectors and their Houses by Irene Gludowacz & Susanne van Hagen & Phillipe Chancel

$55.00 NZD

Category: Maud’s Picks | Reading Level: very good

Here is all the inspiration you need to start gathering objects of desire for yourself. The lure of the hunt, the thrill of the chase, that moment of discovery when dream and ideal meet in a single object

Architectura: Elements of Architectural Style by Miles Lewis

$55.00 NZD

Category: Architecture | Reading Level: very good

Art lovers, art students, and vacation travelers to world-famous sites will relish this beautifully bound and lavishly illustrated book. It explores and explains the architectural elements of buildings and monuments--the arches, domes, roofs, walls, entrance ways, windows, arcades, and ornamental detail s that give each structure its own distinctive character. Discussing these elements from both an aesthetic and a practical, structural point of view, this beautiful volume presents technical drawings as well as interior and exterior photos of architectural landmarks around the world. Structures examined range from the buildings of classical Greece and Rome to the giant modern Gateway Arch that overlooks the Mississippi River in St. Louis. Variations on architectural elements are illustrated and analyzed. For example, a discussion of the arch includes examples of-- The Roman Arch --both as incorporated into buildings and as stand-alone monuments, for example, the "Arc de Triomphe" in Paris The Lancet Arch --the elongated, pointed arch that distinguishes Europe's Gothic cathedrals The Ogee, or Venetian Arch --an ornate arch used, for instance, in Venice's Palace of the Doges The Four-Centered Arch --an elliptical or pointed arch used, for instance, in Moorish Islamic buildings Readers will develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of what went into the planning and construction of cathedrals, mosques, seats of government, private mansions, office blocks, apartment complexes, museums, castles, monuments, towers, and theaters. Hundreds of full-color photos and illustrations. (sidebar) " Architectura " Analyzes Great Buildings in Detail including-- The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (now, Istanbul, Turkey), an edifice of the late Roman Empire. It was built as a Christian church in the fourth century by the Emperor Justinian. Transformed into a mosque in 1453 by the Ottoman Turks, it stands today as a great museum. Architectura examines the construction of this monumental building, using detailed cross-section drawings to demonstrate how ancient Roman architects and engineers built its great central dome. ...Show more

The Adventures of Hamza - Painting and Storytelling in Mughal India by John William Seyller; W. M. Thackston (Contribution by); Freer Gallery of Art Staff (Contribution by); Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Staff (Contribution by)

$80.00 NZD

Category: Maud’s Picks | Reading Level: very good

Blowing the Bloody Doors Off - And Other Lessons in Life by Michael Caine

$14.00 NZD

Category: Film | Reading Level: very good

With over 100 movies and two Academy Awards to his credit over six decades, Hollywood legend Michael Caine shares the wisdom, stories, insight, and skills that life has taught him in his remarkable career-and now his eighty-fifth year. One of our best-loved actors Michael Caine has starred in a huge ra nge of films from the classic movies Alfie, Zulu, and The Italian Job (the inspiration for the book title) to the Hollywood blockbusting Dark Knight trilogy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Cider House Rules. Caine has excelled in every kind of role-with a skill that's made it look easy. He knows what success takes-he's made it to the pinnacle of his profession from humble origins. But as he says, Small parts can lead to big things. And if you keep doing things right, the stars will align when you least expect it. Now in his eighty-fifth year-and more beloved than ever-he wants to share everything he's learned. With brilliant new insight into his life and work and showcasing his wonderful gift for storytelling, Blowing the Bloody Doors Off is Caine at his wise and entertaining best. ...Show more

Restoring a New Zealand House by Christopher Cochran

$15.00 NZD

Category: New Zealand | Reading Level: good

Chopin's Piano: In Search of the Instrument That Transformed Music (PB) by Paul Kildea

$14.00 NZD

Category: Music | Reading Level: near fine

'Beguiling ... Limpidly written, effortlessly learned' William Boyd, TLS, Books of the Year In November 1838 Frédéric Chopin, George Sand and her two children sailed to Majorca to escape the Parisian winter. They settled in an abandoned monastery at Valldemossa in the mountains above Palm a, where Chopin finished what would eventually be recognised as one of the great and revolutionary works of musical Romanticism - his 24 Preludes. There was scarcely a decent piano on the island (these were still early days in the evolution of the modern instrument), so Chopin worked on a small pianino made by a local craftsman, which remained in their monastic cell for seventy years after he and Sand had left. This brilliant and unclassifiable book traces the history of Chopin's 24 Preludes through the instruments on which they were played, the pianists who interpreted them and the traditions they came to represent. Yet it begins and ends with the Majorcan pianino, which during the Second World War assumed an astonishing cultural potency as it became, for the Nazis, a symbol of the man and music they were determined to appropriate as their own. The unexpected hero of the second part of the book is the great keyboard player and musical thinker Wanda Landowska, who rescued the pianino from Valldemossa in 1913, and who would later become one of the most influential musical figures of the twentieth century. Kildea shows how her story - a compelling account based for the first time on her private papers - resonates with Chopin's, while simultaneously distilling part of the cultural and political history of Europe and the United States in the central decades of the century. Kildea's beautifully interwoven narratives, part cultural history and part detective story, take us on an unexpected journey through musical Romanticism and allow us to reflect freshly on the changing meaning of music over time. ...Show more

Richard Wagner: A Life in Music by Martin Geck

$25.00 NZD

Category: Music

Best known for the challenging four-opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung, Richard Wagner (1813-83) was a conductor, librettist, theater director, and essayist, in addition to being the composer of some of the most enduring operatic works in history, such as The Flying Dutchman, Tannhauser, and Tristan a nd Isolde. Though his influence on the development of European music is indisputable, Wagner was also quite outspoken on the politics and culture of his time. To befit such a dynamic figure, acclaimed biographer Martin Geck offers here a Wagner biography unlike any other, one that strikes a unique balance between the technical musical aspects of Wagner's compositions and his overarching understanding of aesthetics. There are few, if any, scholars today who know more about Wagner and his legacy than Geck, who builds upon his extensive research and considerable knowledge as one of the editors of the Complete Works and the Complete Letters to offer a distinctive appraisal of the composer and his operas. Geck explores key ideas in Wagner's life and works, while always keeping the music in the foreground. This year will mark the bicentennial of Wagner's birth, and there is no better testament to the composer's enduring influence than this fresh, vivid, and authoritative work. Richard Wagner: A Life in Music is a landmark study of one of music's most important figures, offering something new to opera enthusiasts, Wagnerians, and anti-Wagnerians alike. ...Show more

Frances Hodgkins European Journeys by Catherine Hammond & Mary Kisler

$45.00 NZD

Category: New Zealand | Reading Level: near fine

A vivid and revealing book published alongside a landmark exhibition focused on one of New Zealand’s most internationally recognised artists, Frances Hodgkins. Marking the 150th anniversary of the artist’s birth New Zealand-born Frances Hodgkins (1869–1947) arrived in London in 1901 and, by the 1920s, had become a leading British modernist, exhibiting frequently with avant-garde artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. Published to coincide with a touring exhibition of her work initiated by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, this book explores Hodgkins as a traveller across cultures and landscapes – teaching  and discovering the cubists in Paris, absorbing the landscape and light of Ibiza and Morocco, and exhibiting with the progressive Seven & Five Society in London. Complete with a rich visual chronology of the artist’s encounters abroad, alongside over one hundred of Hodgkins’ key paintings and drawings, the book is an illuminating journey that moves us from place to place through the writings of a number of distinguished national and international art historians, curators and critics: Frances Spalding (University of Cambridge, England), Alexa Johnston (Auckland-based writer and curator), Elena Taylor (University of New South Wales, Australia), Antoni Ribas Tur (Ara newspaper, Spain), and Julia Waite, Sarah Hillary, Catherine Hammond and Mary Kisler (Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand). ...Show more

Room to Dream - A Life in Art by David Lynch; Kristine McKenna

$25.00 NZD

Category: Film | Reading Level: near fine

The extraordinary, highly anticipated memoir from visionary filmmaker David Lynch. In this memoir, David Lynch, co-creator of Twin Peaksand writer and director of groundbreaking films like Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvetand Mulholland Drive, opens up about a lifetime of extraordinary creativi ty, the friendships he has made along the way and the struggles he has faced--sometimes successful, sometimes not--to bring his projects to fruition. Part memoir, part biography, Room to Dreaminterweaves Lynch's own reflections on his life with the story of those times, as told by Kristine McKenna, drawing from extensive and explosive interviews with ninety of Lynch's friends, family members, actors, agents, musicians and collaborators. Lynch responds to each recollection and reveals the inner story of the life behind the art. David Lynchadvanced to the front ranks of international cinema in 1977 with the release of his first film, the startlingly original Eraserhead. Since then, Lynch has been nominated for three Best Director Academy Awards, for The Elephant Man, Blue Velvetand Mulholland Drive; awarded the Palme d'Or, for Wild at Heart; and established himself as an artist of tremendous range and wit. In 1990, Twin Peaksmania swept the world when his groundbreaking television series premiered. A new season of Twin Peaksaired in 2017 to widespread acclaim. Kristine McKennais a widely published critic and journalist who wrote for the Los Angeles Timesfrom 1977 to 1998. Her profiles and criticism have appeared in Artforum, the New York Times, Artnews, Vanity Fair, the Washington Postand Rolling Stone. 'Offers countless new stories, even for Lynch fanatics...All is told with Lynch's considerable charm.' Australian Financial Review '...the blending of biography and memoir into a kind of biographical duet turns the whole project on its head, makes it different, stranger, more alive...Exactly what Lynch always does in his art.' LA Times '[A] cubist portrait of the artist, body and mind on separate tracks...Room to Dreamoffers countless new stories, even for Lynch fanatics.' Washington Post 'What makes this book endearing is its chatty, calm...anti-Hollywood attitude...and matter-of-fact defiance of reality.' San Francisco Chronicle 'The book doesn't give us one focused view of Lynch, but a double vision, as though two similar but not quite exact portraits of the man have been projected onto one another...There is value, joy, and beauty in staying with Lynch and his cohorts for these 500-plus pages.' Los Angeles Times 'Intimate and honest...McKenna's interviewees unfailingly describe Lynch's charisma and warmth, and his methodical but instinctive dedication to craft.' NPR 'Insightful, well-researched...The book abounds in great stories and terrific movie trivia that will sate Lynch fans for years to come.' Kirkus Reviews 'If you expected a David Lynch biography to be just like any other biography, you've never seen a David Lynch movie...Fascinating.' New York Times 'David Lynch's memoir illuminates the origins of his art...the humour and eccentricity of Mr Lynch's own reminiscences and observations are the book's main pleasure.' Economist 'Lynch is the master of the perverse, the unsettling and the plain bonkers.' Sunday Times 'A fascinating look into an endlessly imaginative and alarming man.' Otago Daily Times '[A] memorable portrait of one of cinema's great auteurs...It provides a remarkable insight into Lynch's intense commitment to the "art life".' Guardian ...Show more

With the Allied Armies in Italy by Edward Seago

$20.00 NZD

Category: Artists | Reading Level: good

Oskar Kokoschka, A Biographical Study by J. P. Hodin

$14.00 NZD

Category: Artists | Reading Level: good