A Revolution in Painting The mysterious genius who transformed European art Caravaggio, or more accurately Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610), was always a name to be reckoned with. Notorious bad boy of Italian painting, the artist was at once celebrated and controversial: violent in temper, precise in technique, a creative master, and a man on the run. Today, he is considered one of the greatest influences in all art history. This edition offers a neat and compreh...
Discover 50 of the most exquisite and important medieval bible manuscripts, at once art historical treasures and precious religious artifacts. Published in partnership with the Austrian National Library, this stunning collection spans every epoch of the Middle Ages, revealing both the evolution of the Bible and the shifting history of the age.
The unique tones and spontaneity of Polaroids have made them a beloved photographic format for decades. Brimming with all the warmth and nostalgia of a family album, this ode to the instant camera presents hundreds of images from the Polaroid Corporations own collection. A chronicle of the experimental and innovative ways Polaroids have defied...
Japanese homes are refuges of tranquility, crafted in a unique domestic aesthetic of Eastern minimalism. Traditional architecture features alongside cutting-edge contemporary dwellings in this collection of homes, with many never-before-seen photographs. Turn to the rising sun and discover the fluid simplicity of these spaces where Zen...
In einer New Yorker Winternacht des Jahres 1949 erspähte der junge Marketing-Student und angehende Fotograf Walter Chandoha eine streunende Katze im Schnee, packte sie in seinen Mantel und nahm sie mit nach Hause. Er konnte damals noch nicht ahnen, dass er gerade der Muse begegnet war, die den weiteren Verlauf seines Lebens bestimmen sollte. Chandoha richtete seine Kamera auf seinen neuen Freund, den er Loco nannte, und war von den Ergebnissen so angetan, dass er begann, Kätz...
Peaking in the 1960s, Pop Art began as a revolt against mainstream approaches to art and culture and evolved into a wholesale interrogation of modern society, consumer culture, the role of the artist, and of what constituted an artwork.Focusing on issues of materialism, celebrity, and media, Pop Art drew on mass-market sources, from advertising imagery to comic books, from Hollywood's most famous faces to the packaging of consumer products, the latter epitomized by Andy Warho...
Today, the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) are among the most well known and celebrated in the world. In Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, and many paintings and drawings beyond, we recognize an artist uniquely dexterous in the portrayal of mood and place through paint, pencil, charcoal, or chalk.Yet as he was deploying the lurid colors, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms that would subsequently make his name, van Gogh battled not only ...
Die Kunst des Cover-DesignsSchallplattencover sind mehr als nur profane Schutzhüllen, sie sind immer auch Spiegel und Ausdruck ihrer Zeit. Wie die Musik auf einer Schallplatte, sprechen auch sie unsere Gefühle an - Liebe, Leben, Tod, Mode oder Rebellion. Viele Menschen verbinden mit einem bestimmten Cover auch eine ganz spezielle Situation oder Stimmung in ihrem Leben. Einige sind mindestens so legendär geworden wie die Musik, für die sie stehen, wie zum Beispiel Andy Warhols...
Star Wars exploded onto our cinema screens in 1977, and the world has not been the same since. After watching depressing and cynical movies throughout the early 1970s, audiences enthusiastically embraced the positive energy of the Star Wars galaxy as they followed moisture farmer Luke Skywalker on his journey through a galaxy far, far away, meeting extraordinary characters like mysterious hermit Obi-Wan Kenobi, space pirates Han Solo and Chewbacca, loyal droids C-3PO and R2-D...
Man Ray, multitalented master of modernist imageryMan Ray (1890–1976) was a polymath modernist, working in painting, sculpture, film, printmaking, and poetry. But it was his work in photography, with nude studies, fashion work, and portraiture that saw him pioneering a new chapter in the history of camerawork and art.With a wide-ranging collection of both his famous and lesser-known works, this monograph gives a vivid overview of Man Ray’s multifaceted practice and photograph...
To explore the Tarot is to explore ourselves, to be reminded of the universality of our longing for meaning, for purpose and for a connection to the divine. This 600-year-old tradition reflects not only a history of seekers, but our journey of artistic expression and the ways we communicate our collective human story.For many in the West, Tarot exists in the shadow place of our cultural consciousness, a metaphysical tradition assigned to the dusty glass cabinets of the arcane...
The Marvel Age of Comics was a triumphant era of comic book and pop culture innovation that redefined the superhero genre. This treasure trove of images and exclusive insights reveals the making of such popular characters as the Hulk and Spider-Man, as well as the legends who created them, from Stan "The Man" Lee to Jack "King" Kirby.
The official illustrated history of Depeche Mode by Dutch artist Anton CorbijnIn November 2020, Depeche Mode were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and Dave Gahan, accepting the honour, said: “I’d like to thank Anton Corbijn who thank God came in at the right time and actually made us look cool.” Also in the fall of 2020, TASCHEN released the limited edition Depeche Mode by Anton Corbijn (81–18) signed by Depeche Mode and Anton Corbijn, and it became one of the fast...
Pain and PassionThe Paintings of Frida KahloAmong the women artists who have transcended art history, none had a meteoric rise quite like Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907–1954). Her unmistakable face, depicted in over fifty extraordinary self-portraits, has been admired by generations; along with hundreds of photographs taken by notable artists such as Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, Nickolas Muray, and Martin Munkácsi, they made Frida Kahlo an icon of 20th century art.After ...
With the cold war ebbing, crime and inflation at record levels, and movie star-turned-President Ronald Reagan launching a Star Wars of his own, the 1980s did not seem likely to become one of the most outrageous, flamboyant, and prosperous decades of the 20th century. The "greed is good" mantra on Wall Street spawned the power-dressing, exercise-obsessed "Me Generation" of Yuppies. The art world enjoyed the influx of capital; computers and video games ruled in the office and a...
Clothes define people. A person’s attire, whether it be a sari, kimono, or business suit, is an essential code to his or her culture, class, personality, even faith. Indeed, clothing has the power to define people and their generation.Recognizing this sartorial significance is the Kyoto Costume Institute, whose team of curators examine fashion through sociological, historical, and artistic perspectives. With one of the world’s most extensive clothing collections, the KCI has ...
From the legendary Tank Girl to live-action animations with Gorillaz, a Chinese contemporary opera to an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, artist Jamie Hewlett is one of the most energetic figures of contemporary pop culture. With influences ranging from hip hop to zombie slasher movies, Hewlett emerged in the mid-1990s as co-creator of the zeitgeist-defining Tank Girl comic. With then-roommate Damon Albarn, he went on to create the groundbreaking cartoon band Gorillaz.The a...
The creative duo Charles Eames (1907–1978) and Ray Kaiser Eames (1912–1988) transformed the visual character of America. Though best known for their furniture, the husband and wife team were also forerunners in architecture, textile design, photography, and film. The Eameses’ work defined a new, multifunctional modernity, exemplary for its integration of craft and design, as well as for the use of modern materials, notably plywood and plastics.The Eames Lounge Chair Wood, des...
Swiss artist HR Giger (1940–2014) is most famous for his creation of the space monster in Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror sci-fi film Alien, which earned him an Oscar. In retrospect, this was just one of the most popular expressions of Giger’s biomechanical arsenal of creatures, which consistently merged hybrids of human and machine into images of haunting power and dark psychedelia. The visions drew on demons of the past, harking back as far as Giger’s earliest childhood fears as...
German photography pioneer Karl Blossfeldt (1865–1932) photographed plants so beautifully, and with such originality, that his work transcends the medium itself. Over more than 30 years, he took thousands of photographs, revealing a formally rigorous talent whose precision and dedication bridge the 19th- and 20th-century worlds of image-making and bring a distinctly sculptural aspect to a firmly two-dimensional art form.Beautifully but starkly composed against plain cardboard...
The Mediterranean is surrounded by three continents – Europe, Africa and Asia – and even though the cultures around this sea are highly diverse, they harmoniously share a pleasant climate, distinctive flora and fauna, and not least the intense blue of the water.Angelika Taschen set out in search of the most beautiful hotels on a great variety of coasts, islands and beaches, taking you on a journey to the luxurious Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and the ultra-chic Les Roches Rouges on ...
The industrial designs that shape our livesIf you take even the slightest interest in the design of your toothbrush, the history behind your washing machine, or the evolution of the telephone, you’ll take an even greater interest in this completely updated edition of Industrial Design A–Z.Tracing the evolution of industrial design from the Industrial Revolution to the present day, the book bursts with synergies of form and function that transform our daily experience. From ca...
Modern GraceLyrical forms from FinlandAlvar Aalto (1898–1976) made a unique modernist mark. Influenced by both the landscape and the political independence of his native Finland, he designed warm, curving, compassionate buildings, wholly set apart from the slick, mechanistic, geometric designs that characterized much contemporary European practice.Whether a church, a villa, a sauna, or a public library, Aalto’s organic structures tended to replace plaster and steel with brick...
