Books in the Dover Fine Art, History of Art series

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.

This book contains 101 of Hogarth's finest and most important engravings, including all the major series or progresses: The South Sea Scheme, A Harlot's Progress, A Midnight Modern Conversation, A Rake's Progress, Before and After, Marriage à la Mode, Industry and Idleness, The March to Finchley, The Four Stages of Cruelty, Time Smoking a Picture, Tailpiece, and many more, including ten study sketches and paintings that show how the final works evolved. Sean Shesgreen, a foremost authority on Hogarth, has consistently selected the best states of the plates to be used in this edition and has carefully introduced them, commenting upon the artist's milieu and the importance of plot, character, time, setting, and other dimensions. A most important aspect of this book, found in no other Hogarth edition, is the positioning of the editor's commentary on each plate on a facing page. With the incredible and sometimes overwhelming amount of detail and action going on in these engravings, this is a most helpful feature.Dover Original.

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.

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.