Art

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Grant Pooke and Graham Whitham

"Art History: The Basics is a concise and accessible introduction for the general reader and the undergraduate approaching the history of art for the first time at college or university. It will give you answers to questions like: What is art and art history? What are the main methodologies used to understand art? How have ideas about form, sex and gender shaped representation? What connects art with psychoanalysis, semiotics and Marxism? How are globalization and postmodernism changing art and art history? Each chapter introduces key ideas, issues and debates in art history, including information on relevant websites and image archives. Fully illustrated with an international range of artistic examples, Art History: The Basics also includes helpful subject summaries, further ideas for reading in each chapter, and a useful glossary for easy reference."--Publisher description.

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[by] E. H. Gombrich

The Story of Art, by E. H. Gombrich, is a survey of the history of art from ancient times to the modern era. First published in 1950 by Phaidon, the book is widely regarded both as a seminal work of criticism and as one of the most accessible introductions to the visual arts

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H.A. Meek

H. A. Meek gradually unfolds the story of the synagogue from its origins in Solomon's Temple to its exuberant Baroque phase in Venice and thence to the classic simplicity of the modern building. Over the course of several millennia, the style of the synagogues has grown and developed, drawing in a vast array of cultural and artistic influences to produce a rich and coherent heritage. A heritage that is always aware of its biblical antecedents and still strongly based on God's commandments to Moses to construct a Tabernacle in the desert. Magnificently illustrated, with much specially commissioned photography from around the world, this book provides a detailed and comprehensive picture of the synagogue and its decoration. Numerous metropolitan and provincial synagogues, from the flamboyantly Moorish to the sparsely contemporary, are represented as a monument to the art and architecture of Judaism.

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Brad Collins

"Featuring the international residential, corporate, educational, and institutional work that has positioned the firm among the world's architectural elite, this look at Gwathmey Siegel's thirty-five-year career is unprecedented in its scope and detail. The twenty-six projects documented here with full-color photography, drawings, and insightful project descriptions - including the seminal Gwathmey Residence and Studio (1965), the controversial renovation and addition to Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum (1992), and the David Geffen Company Building in Beverly Hills (2000) - document the evolution of the firm's work from the highly disciplined modernism of their earliest houses to the investigative collage assemblages of their most recent work. This volume reveals the complete Gwathmey Siegel design philosophy and certifies why their work, along with that of Richard Meier, Robert A. M. Stern, Frank Gehry, and Michael Graves, is among American architecture's most important."--BOOK JACKET.