Why does medieval art matter today? This beautifully illustrated book
will examine this question through the lens of the magnificent objects
in the Wyvern Collection of Medieval and Early Renaissance art,
accompanying the collection’s first exhibition in the United States.
Works include exquisite examples of metalwork, stone and wood sculpture,
and illuminated manuscripts from across Europe, as well as the
Christian community of Ethiopia. Offering new photography and
complementary text, this book will be an essential resource for one of
the world’s most important private collections of medieval art, and a
fascinating read for all interested in the Middle Ages and the role of
art history in exploring our world.

The National Museum, Sultanate of Oman, is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the treasures of Oman’s cultural heritage. The magnificent new building, opened in July 2016, houses a collection that spans Oman’s history from the earliest human settlement – around two million years ago – to the present day.

Illustrated throughout with highlights from the galleries, this book illuminates Oman’s rich maritime, military and religious history.

Contents:
Introduction
Land and People
Maritime History
Arms and Armour
Civilisation in the making
Aflaj
Currency
Prehistory and Ancient History
The Land of Frankincense

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The National Gallery of Umbria, one of Italy’s leading art collections, is housed in the Palazzo dei Priori in Perugia. The museum was linked to the Academy of Fine Arts until 1863, when it became the Civic Painting Collection named after one of the city’s greatest artistic sons, Pietro Vannucci, known as Perugino. In 1918 the collection was taken over by the state and eventually renamed the National Gallery of Umbria.

Today the museum’s collections feature a wealth of important medieval and Renaissance works by such artists as Arnolfo di Cambio, Benozzo Gozzoli and Piero della Francesca, including the latter’s great altarpiece of St Anthony. Umbrian artists include Perugino and Pintoricchio and their pupils and followers. The museum also features thematic sections devoted to the works of goldsmiths and jewellers, to ivory and wooden inlays, to the traditional Perugia tablecloths and to the topography of the city of Perugia. There are also priceless paintings covering the period from the 17th to the 191th century by Orazio Gentileschi, Valentin de Boulogne, Pietro da Cortona, Sassoferrato, Francesco Trevisani, Sebastiano Conca, Pierre Subleyras, Corrado Giaquinto and Jean-Baptiste Wicar.

The Museum of Photography in Krakow was created over 30 years ago and is the only public institution of its kind in Poland. The collection covers almost the entire history of photography, from its invention to contemporary times. It comprises almost 70,000 items, from positive prints, negatives and examples of fine art photographic techniques and systems, to darkroom and cinematic equipment. Journalistic, studio, artistic, documentary, technical and amateur photography – all of these genres are represented within the museum’s diverse collection. Visitors can explore the work of celebrated photographers who have made great contributions to the development of Polish photography, as well as that of many lesser-known craft photographers and anonymous artists who used photography either as a means of individual expression, a work tool, or a method of documenting their personal history. Published to coincide with the completion of an ambitious renovation project, this book presents a selection of highlights drawn from the museum’s diverse collection.

This guide displays the rich and varied collection of the Museum of
Lisbon and its five sites. From prehistory to the end of the 20th
century, the book reveals the various layers of one of Europe’s oldest
cities, highlighting structural themes in Lisbon’s history and also
emblematic pieces in the museum’s collection: the Roman Theatre of
Olisipo; the international character of the Franciscan Saint Anthony;
the importance of Lisbon as a force behind the Discoveries; the model of
the city before the earthquake of 1755; the legacy of a city which
produced ceramics and azulejos (glazed wall tiles); the
rationalism and illuminism of the Pombaline reconstruction of the city
after 1755; and finally the Expo ’98.

The birth of Czech Cubism transformed Prague into one of pre-War Europe’s centres of avant-garde art. It manifested itself across architecture, the applied arts and graphic art with a unity of artistic expression that made it truly unique. This was a style in its own right, unmatched in scope and cohesiveness of concept by any other country. Glass, ceramics and furniture were presented at Cubist exhibitions on a par with painting, sculpture and architecture.

The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague houses one of the world’s finest collections of Art Nouveau and Cubist art, embracing graphic arts and photography, furniture, metalwork, ceramics, fashion and a world-renowned glass collection. Primarily a showcase for the work of Czech artists and designers, the Museum also holds key pieces by prominent international artists.

Published to coincide with the reopening of the Museum in 2017 after extensive renovation, this book aims to bring the range and wealth of the collection to a wider audience than ever before.

Marianela Nuñez is an international ballet superstar. The Argentine-born Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet is lauded for her dazzling classical technique, lustrous artistry and charisma. When Marianela met photographer Maria-Helena Buckley, something clicked: in the snap of a camera and a connection of minds, they embarked on a ballet voyage together. This stunning book is a unique combination of photography and of dance. Buckley’s images capture the unique qualities of ballet that Nuñez so radiantly embodies.

The Modern Art Collection (Sammlung Moderne Kunst) at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich is one of the world’s leading institutions for painting, sculpture, photography and new media. The spectrum ranges from the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century to contemporary art. In the incomparably rich collection of Expressionists, the Cubist and Futuristic re-definition of autonomous art challenges the question of man’s changed circumstances in the modern age.

The artists of the ‘Brücke’ and the ‘Blaue Reiter’, along with Max Beckmann, who is uniquely represented here, address this issue eloquently. Pablo Picasso’s pictorial fantasies and formal richness of invention are highlighted, along with Surrealists like Max Ernst, René Magritte and Salvador Dalí. Important themes after 1950 are debated in the works by Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Dan Flavin, Georg Baselitz and others. This volume offers the author’s refreshingly personal perspective on these subjects and highlights the iconic works in this world-class collection.

MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, which opened on 19 May 2011, is the first post-war institution in Poland founded and purpose-built for the presentation of international contemporary art. The Museum’s vibrant programme extends beyond its physical boundaries, and had included exhibitions in venues across Poland and in wider Europe, from the MAXXI – Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo – to the Center for Persecuted Arts in Solingen, the Semperoper Dresden, Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen, the Exhibition and Conference Centre LITEXPO in Vilnius and the Palace of Art in Lviv.

This selection, chosen by the Director herself, is the perfect introduction to this diverse collection. Her incisive commentary elucidates the complex works displayed and grants new and thought-provoking insights into the work and workings of contemporary artists.

Eight hundred turbulent years of history are reflected in the now calm and delightful house and gardens of Michelham Priory.

Founded in 1229 by Augustinian canons, the priory boasts the longest water-filled medieval moat in England, forming a substantial island enclosure of over seven acres. An impressive fourteenth-century gatehouse, built during the threat of French invasion, still guards the entrance, and the Prior’s Room gives today’s visitor the flavour of life in a medieval religious house.

After the dissolution of the monasteries, the main domestic building became a Tudor gentleman’s residence and was considerably enlarged into a handsome and comfortable home. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when small estates became less economically viable, Michelham was run as a tenant farm. Today the Tudor reception rooms, the Elizabethan great barn, the working watermill and the forge all reflect Michelham s changing role with the fluctuations of history, while the glorious grounds offer a recreated physic and kitchen garden and a moat walk, and have developed into a significant wildlife haven.

Contemporary artist Michael Rees is an acknowledged leader in the field
of cutting-edge digital art. This volume documents a compelling group of
Rees’s colourful inflatable sculptures that incorporate brilliant
structural elements and dynamic interventions of augmented reality.
Commissioned for an exhibition at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, New
Jersey (open until January 2021), these objects, alongside augment
works by six other contemporary artists, illuminate how digital thinking
and its rich visual vocabulary are at the forefront of the future of
art. Synthetic Cells features augmented
reality artworks by Michael Rees, Claudia Hart, Chris Manzione, Will
Pappenheimer, John Craig Freeman, Carla Gannis and Tamiko Thiel.

What’s behind a picture? The term “metadata” is used to describe the information that travels with a digital image file but is unseen within the image itself. In our networked digital environment, metadata is accessed by both human users and artificial intelligences. Software algorithms orchestrate what images we see and exchange while collecting the valuable data generated by our interactions. In our moment, dominated by image-based social media and surveillance, we are becoming increasingly aware that understanding the information that circulates unseen around photographic images is just as important as seeing what they represent.

This fascinating, fully-illustrated publication explores new paradigms for understanding the ecology of the photographic image through the work of an international selection of contemporary artists and visual activists. This includes not just the tags or descriptors attached to image files, but the power relationships, biases, and economic interests that are not always visible in the image itself.