Books in the Getty Publications - (Yale) series

It is often assumed that reading about the lives of artists enhances our understanding of their work. This book contains a collection of essays, by a number of respected art historians that attempt to address this relationship by looking at the life and works of such artists as Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Leonardo da Vinci.

Seeks to familiarize American audiences with Nicolas Lancret(1690-1743), a master of the genre of fete galante, who was a revered painter in his own time, rivalling his contemporaries Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher, and a favourite of crowned heads across Europe.

Aimed at the lovers of architecture, photography and ancient art, this souvenir book aimes to capture the architecture and grounds of the renovated Getty Villa. Illustrated with more than seventy colour photographs, it guides the readers through the site - beginning with the cobblestone 'Roman road' through the refurbished Museum building.

For millennia, people of all cultures have decorated the surfaces of their domestic, religious, and public buildings. Earthen architecture, in particular, has been a common ground for surface decoration, such as paintings, sculpted bas-relief, and ornamental plasterwork. This volume explores the issues associated with preserving these surfaces.

Louis de Carmontelle was an 18th-century French draftsman, painter, and garden designer. In 1783, he began painting a series of panoramas on translucent paper that, when cranked through a backlit viewing box gave viewers the experience of journeying through beautiful landscapes. This title offers glimpse into the beginnings of the moving image.

The Fon, who are the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Benin in West Africa, established the powerful kingdom of Dahomey in the early seventeenth century. In their capital city of Abomey, they built a remarkable complex of palaces, featuring walls decorated with colorful low-relief sculptures, or bas-reliefs, which recount legends and battles and glorify the history of their royal dynasty's reign. Over the centuries, these visual stories have represented and perpetuated the history and myths of the Fon people. Palace Sculptures of Abomey combines lavish color photographs of the bas-reliefs with a lively history of the Dahomey kingdom, complemented by period drawings, rare historical photographs, and colorful textile art. The book provides a vivid portrait of these exceptional narrative sculptures and the equally remarkable people who crafted them. Also included is a discussion of the continuing popularity of bas-reliefs in contemporary West African art, a reading of the stories on the walls, and details of the four-year collaboration between the Benin Ministry of Culture and Communications and the Getty Conservation Institute to conserve the bas-reliefs of Abomey.

This guide aims to help readers recognize the legendary characters of classical antiquity in art. The characters are described in entries summarizing their stories, special attributes, and the ways in which artists have depicted them. Each entry is illustrated with reproductions of artworks.

In 2005, the Institut National du Patrimoine of Tunisia played host to the ninth Triennial meeting of the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics (ICCM). The meeting focused on assessing past practices of mosaic conservation, both in situ and in museums. This volume provides readers with a record of the conference proceedings.

The effects of war and famine in Europe, in the 14th century, lead to a widespread mystical religiosity, which emphasised both joy and suffering. This in turn inspired the creation of some of the most magnificent religious art of the period. This illustrated work highlights the most important artists, works, concepts and theories of the period.

Brings together a collection of works relating to the biodeterioration and conservation of art, architecture, and archaeological sites around the world. This book includes such topics as mechanism of biodeterioration, and correlation between biodeterioration and environment. It discusses solutions for the prevention and control of deterioration.

Between 1699-1701, Maria Sibylla Merian travelled to the Dutch colony of Suriname in South America to study the area's unique flora and fauna. Many of the drawings and painting she produced on this trip were published in her "Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname" (1705). This volume reproduces details of sixteen plates from that volume.

Friedrich Gilly was an important figure in Berlin's architectural tradition. In addition to presenting five of Gilly's most influential essays, this volume contains archival records that clarify the intellectual context in which Gilly developed his thoughts on architecture.

Although oil remains an important binding medium in artists' paints, today's synthetic resins are being used with increasing frequency. This was true during much of the twentieth century, when artists such as David Alfaro Siqueiros, Jackson Pollock, and Pablo Picasso used commercial or industrial paints based on synthetic resins.

Filmmaker, musicologist, painter, ethnographer, graphic designer, mystic, and collector of string figures and other patterns, Harry Smith (1923-1991) was among the most original creative forces to emerge in post-war American art and culture. This title presents an examination of the life and works of Harry Smith.

This series offers a range of heretofore unavailable writings in English translation on the subjects of art, architecture, and aesthetics. Wagner's manifesto is a plea for an end to architectural eclecticism and for a more rational approach to design suited to contemporary life.

In an era of intense religious conflict in Europe, the "Ceremonies et costumes religieuses de tous les peoples du monde" (1723-37), written by Jean Frederic Bernard, set a new agenda for thinking about faith and provided a lasting visual template for representing the world's religions. The authors approach this work from a variety of angles.

An exploration of the Pisa Altarpiece, Masaccio's multi-panelled painting of which the Saint Andrew panel is thought to have once formed a part. It discusses Masaccio's short life and illustrious career; the commission of the altarpiece; its patron and programme; its original location; and more.

Through a series of texts and images, this work explores how extreme sensations such as wonder, misery, ecstasy and rage have been portrayed at different times in Western culture. It covers multiple fields of creative endeavour and intellectual inquiry - from Descartes's writings to the Internet.

A beautifully illustrated, accessible volume about one of the Getty Center's best-loved sites.

Focusing on the centuries in which the phenomenon of collecting came powerfully into its own, this title analyzes the radical recontextualization of celebrated paintings by Raphael, Caravaggio, and Rubens; brings to light a lost holy tower from fifteenth-century Bavaria; and offers new insights into the meaning of 'sacred' and 'profane'.

The balance between conserving fragile ancient cultural sites and making them available to increasing numbers of visitors is one of the main themes of this book. Topics discussed include site management, the reconstruction of ancient buildings and ways of presenting sites for today's visitors.

A discussion of the style, iconography and craftsmanship of 17 spectacular pieces of gold jewellery from Ptolemaic Egypt, dating from the late-3rd century BC. The pieces include earrings, bracelets, beads and a hairnet.

Offering a transcription of the exhaustive inventory of the marquis's estate, this work also contains an essay which not only sketches Marigny's life, but also recreates the interiors and grounds where the paintings, statues and books listed in the inventory were displayed and used.