What to read to understand the paintings, architecture and photography
Art surrounds us throughout life, but to understand it is not always enough just to go to museums or make selfies against the background of monuments. And here, books come to our aid.
We have selected publications that will help you understand modern and classical art.
Photo. Art of deceit. Irakli Shanidze
The discussion of the phenomenon of photography has been going on for a long time. Susan Zontag (essay “About Photography”) and Roland Bart (“Camera Lucida”) were the first to talk about it. They considered the image not only as a creative act, but also as a socially significant phenomenon. Today, based on these theoretical conclusions, professionals create their books.
Irakli Shanidze has long been engaged in artistic and advertising photography and now he has decided to share his secrets with readers. Why even a realistic image is a lie? How to create a photo that is perfect from the technical and artistic point of view? How to attract a selective viewer? A recognized master will help you find the answers to these and other questions.
The book is equipped with color and black-and-white illustrations and will be useful both for professionals and beginners of photo art.
Banksy. Wall and Piece
Graffiti is considered the successor of the oldest way of expression – rock paintings. But now, the creation of paintings on the walls is usually called acts of vandalism, not decoration of the city. Perhaps that’s why they become so popular: so the British graffiti artist Banksy has won incredible fame and recognition around the world, and his name is familiar even to those who are far from the graffiti culture.
One can only guess about the real name Banksy. Some claim with certainty that behind the pseudonym hides the founder of Massive Attack, Robert Del Naya. However, the name is not so important, much more interesting than his work and creative philosophy. Among the loudest masterpieces are “The Girl with the Ball” on the bridge over the Thames; the image of a man throwing a bouquet of flowers in Jerusalem; “Mobile Lovers” in Bristol. On the pages of this book you will find Banksy’s autobiographical texts about his works, stories about the difficulties of life graffiti artist, funny stories from life and, of course, many illustrations.
World Painting
The book presents paintings of different epochs, from medieval miniatures, with their allegories and classical understatement, to the experiments of New and New Time. Story about different styles, short biographies of artists and beautiful illustrations make “World Painting” almost irreplaceable thing for those who want to understand the fine arts.
Raphael. Life and Creativity in 500 Paintings
And now let’s move on to the person and tell about a novelty in the series “Portrait of the artist. Here is an illustrated biography of one of the participants of the “Holy Trinity” of Renaissance – Raphael Santi.
It is believed that he set the direction in painting, which developed the artists of different countries until the second half of XIX century. It is no accident that in the 1850s there was a circle of pre-Raphaelites, who tried to work the way artists before Raphael did.
But let’s leave the art history disputes and discussions behind. Rafael’s contribution to painting can not be disputed, and the biography of this master is so interesting that it is worthy of attention as much as his paintings. However, the artist’s life is always inextricably linked to his works.
World Architecture
If we often get acquainted with paintings from the early years thanks to reproductions of paintings, architecture is not always paid such close attention. Sometimes it is difficult for us to remember even the history of our native city buildings, but every country has its own famous architectural monuments!
From this book you will learn about the famous buildings, scattered around the world: from temples and tombs of Ancient Egypt to modernist masterpieces by Gaudi and Melnikov. Many of them have long been familiar to you (Pyramids of Giza, the Colosseum, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris), and about some you may read for the first time!