Synopses & Reviews
The British Artists Series from Tate Publishing provides an affordable and accessible introduction, in a hardcover format, to some of the greatest figures in British Art. See abramsbooks.com for the complete list.
Known for his iconic and vibrant paintings of modern life that reinvigorated traditional artistic genres such as the still life, Patrick Caulfield (1936and#8211;2005) drew his subject matter more from the masters of modern art, such as Braque and Gris, than from the consumer culture that preoccupied his fellow artists. Celebrating the artistand#8217;s mastery of color and graphic elegance as well as his wit, this book offers the chance to reassess his influences and the legacy of his approach to painting, and its publication coincides with a survey of Caulfieldand#8217;s work at Tate Britain.
Caulfield favored a reductive, streamlined use of line and the depiction of everyday objects saturated in color. Introduced to screenprinting by Richard Hamilton and Chris Prater in 1964, Caulfield consistently used the medium for his graphic work thereafter. The deceptive simplicity of his images, perfectly matched by the aesthetic capacities of the process, is clear throughout the various phases of his printmaking career.
Synopsis
More than 150 years after his death, William Blake (1757and#150;1827) remains a cryptic and controversial figure. Equally gifted as a poet and a painter, he produced work that is as arresting for its beauty as for its strangeness. With this fresh examination of Blakeand#8217;s unfolding career, William Vaughan presents an artist with a radical and utterly individual vision, who was deeply concerned with the social, religious, and political issues of his age.
Synopsis
Ben Nicholson (1894andndash;1982), a pioneer of abstract art in Britain, played a significant role in the European avant-garde, forming close links with Picasso, Braque, Arp, Mondrian, and others. At the same time he had a strong sense of tradition, maintaining a lifelong attachment to landscape and still-life forms. Nicholsonandrsquo;s career spanned more than 60 years and embraced carved reliefs, paintings, drawings, and prints. Virginia Buttonandrsquo;s engaging, fully illustrated survey provides a detailed examination of his life and work.
Synopsis
Terry Frost (1915andndash;2003) was one of Britainandrsquo;s great abstract painters. His career started with his introduction to art in a prisoner of war camp, and stretched into the 21st century. Resolutely abstract and joyful, his paintings, collages, and sculptures are known for their exuberance and strong color. In this book, Chris Stephens presents Frostandrsquo;s art in historical and international context.
About the Author
William Vaughan is professor emeritus in the history of art at Birkbeck College, University of London.