Luxurious objects are celebrated for their exoticism, rarity and style, but also disparaged as indulgent, extravagant and corrupt. The ancient origins of these attitudes emerged at the boundary between the imperial Persian and democratic Athenian Greek worlds. Luxury was at the center of the royal Persian court and behaviors of ostentatious display rippled through the imperial provinces, whose elite classes emulated luxury objects in lesser materials. But luxury is contrastingly depicted through Athenian eyes - within the philosophical context of early democratic codes and the historical context of the Greco-Persian Wars, which suddenly and spectacularly brought eastern luxuries into the imagination of the Athenian populace for the first time. While Greek writers rejected luxury as eastern, despotic and corrupt, the Athenian elite adopted Persian luxuries in imaginative ways to signal status, distinction and prestige. Under the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great and its subsequent kingdoms, royal Achaemenid luxury culture would later be adopted and displayed by the Macedonian and local elite across the Greek and Middle Eastern worlds: behaviors of ostentatious display were a means to seek advantage in the new Hellenistic world order. Ultimately, this publication demonstrates how competing political spins woven around 2,500 years ago still continue to shape modern perceptions of luxury today.
Picasso was one of the most creative and experimental talents ever to explore the medium of print. This book charts his career as a printmaker, which was characterised by close collaboration with skilled printers, through which extraordinary artworks were produced.
Printmaking was a vitally important activity in the long artistic career of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). His long-standing, if at times episodic, engagement with printmaking, stretched from his early years in Paris until his old age in 1972. This book explores how the technical challenges of working in different print media (etching, aquatint, linocut and lithography) inspired Picasso's creativity.
Together with a stunning selection of works on paper by Picasso, it also includes sculptures, drawings and prints by other artists and cultures of the kind that inspired Picasso. His prints often demonstrate his keen sense of belonging to an artistic lineage stretching back to antiquity (stemming from his kinship with the Mediterranean world of his birthplace, Málaga), as well as great artists of the past such as Raphael, Rembrandt and Ingres. One section explores the contradictions and controversies relating to Picasso's relationships with his wives and lovers. The focus on Picasso as a printmaker will argue for the importance of this activity in his long artistic career, and his continued relevance as one of the most creative and experimental talents ever to explore the medium of print.
Hiroshige was one of Japan's most talented, prolific and popular artists. Famed for his landscapes, he was also a great observer of nature with a visionary approach to colour and brushwork. His legacy continues to influence and inspire artists today.
Over a career spanning four decades, the prolific Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) produced thousands of landscape and nature prints, hundreds of paintings commissioned by the samurai elite, as well as many illustrated books.
Traces the development of Jain, Buddhist, and Hindu religious imagery in Ancient India, highlighting symbolic to human forms between 100 BCE and 600 CE.
Ancient India was a dynamic, cosmopolitan centre of creativity. The visual traditions of its major indigenous religions were closely interrelated, reflecting political power, changes in peoples' daily lives and artistic innovation. Exported beyond the Indian subcontinent in antiquity, these three major religions - Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism - are living traditions and their devotional works of art impact on the daily life of billions of people across the world.
This major new publication traces the development of religious imagery from around 100 BCE, when it focused on the depiction of nature spirits, to 600 CE, by which time devotional images of Jain, Buddhist and Hindu deities and teachers had taken definitive shape. Moving from symbolic to human form, such imagery employed attributes, divine attendants and animal vehicles that we still recognise today and are found across the global diaspora. Examples of these ancient images are found not only across South Asia, but also in Central and Southeast Asia, China and Japan - and they transformed the religious landscape of these regions too.
The authors explore fascinating topics such as the first devotional images of the twenty-four jinas (enlightened Jain teachers); the transformation from symbolic depictions of the Buddha to those that showed him in bodily form for the first time; and the formalisation of divine representations and devotional sculpture in Hindu traditions. This beautifully illustrated book reveals the ancient roots of the images and depictions of these world religions that many will find familiar today.
Michelangelo Buonarroti fut l'un des plus grands artistes de la Renaissance. Il n'était pas le génie isolé et torturé du mythe artistique, mais un homme qui a entretenu tout au long de sa vie un cercle étroit d'amis et d'associés. Il a développé des relations de travail avec des artistes plus jeunes, maintenant ainsi sa renommée et sa réputation même en vieillissant, confiant le travail physique trop dur pour lui aux autres. Ses derniers dessins offrent un aperçu puissant de sa psychologie, reflétant sa foi catholique, son engagement intellectuel et son élan vital. Édité à partir de l'extraordinaire collection de dessins du British Museum, cet ouvrage explore son oeuvre tardive aux côtés de ses relations personnelles pour considérer la transformation de Michel-Ange en la figure imposante du génie artistique connue aujourd'hui.
Cultural creativity in China between 1796 and 1912 demonstrated extraordinary resilience in a time of warfare, land shortages, famine and uprisings. Innovation can be seen in material culture (including print, painting, calligraphy, textiles, fashion, jewellery, ceramics, lacquer, glass, arms and armour, rugs, silver, money and photography) during a century in which China's art, literature, crafts and technology faced unprecedented exposure to global influences.
1796 - the official end of the reign of the Qianlong emperor - is viewed as the end of the 'high Qing' and the start of a period of protracted crisis. In 1912, the last emperor, Puyi, abdicated after the revolution of 1911, bringing to an end some 2,000 years of dynastic rule and making way for the republic.
Until recently the 19th century in China has been defined as an era of cultural stagnation. Built on new research, this book sets out a fresh understanding of this important era and creates a detailed visual account of responses to war, technology, urbanisation, political transformations and external influences. The narratives of each chapter are brought to life and individualised through illustrated biographical accounts that highlight the diversity of voices and experiences contributing to this fascinating, turbulent period in Chinese history.
An accessible introduction that reveals the importance of Greek inscriptions in the understanding of ancient Greek culture.
Inscriptions are an important form of evidence for our interpretation of past human societies. They are outstanding sources as they offer direct snapshots into the behaviour of humans and their aspiration to make a permanent and public record of themselves. Greek inscriptions in particular combine word and image in a multitude of ways, meaning they are rich in terms of the insights they offer into the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean and the mindsets of their peoples. They give us views of inter-state relations, historical narratives, the political administration of city-states and honorific culture; and at the same time offer perspectives on the significance of ideas about democracy, citizenship, gender, ethnicity, religion and the supernatural.
This book, based on the collection of ancient Greek inscriptions on stone and metal held at the British Museum, constitutes an introduction to the study of ancient Greek inscriptions, their significance for our understanding of ancient Greek culture, their history and their reception in the modern world. It places emphasis on the texts of the inscriptions, their physical form, their importance in understanding the ancient Greek language and the modern history of their collection.
Ce titre, édité par Thorsten Oppen, conservateur des antiquités grecques et latines au British Museum, jette un regard neuf sur la vie de Néron (54-68 après JC), donnant un aperçu des conflits internes d'une société romaine en transition et remettant en question les idées préconçues d'une figure rejetée par une tradition historique hostile comme tyrannique et incompétent.
'The Tomb of an Unknown Craftsman is of a treasure hoard from a distinct civilisation. The difference is that it is a civilisation of one. The territory it springs from is my imagination. ... The relationship between my personal themes and obsessions and the vastness of world culture as represented in the British Museum is like a narrow pilgrimage trail across an infinite plain.' - Grayson Perry
Grayson Perry's centrepiece to this fascinating journey is a major artwork: a metal tomb in the form of a ship, encrusted with reliefs and artistic cargo based on, or actually cast from, objects in the collection of the British Museum. The occupant sails into the afterlife surrounded by the talismans of many faiths and peoples. This is a memorial to all the anonymous craftsmen that over the centuries have fashioned the man-made wonders of the world, many of which are on display in the Museum. Around the tomb, the other artworks - ceramics, tiles, cast metal sculpture, textiles and prints - are laid out in ritualistic symmetry as if they once belonged somewhere else.
Alongside his own works, Grayson Perry presents a personal selection of objects from the British Museum that are the inspiration for his pieces or connected strongly with them thematically or aesthetically. Including an introduction by Grayson Perry and lavishly illustrated, this book takes us to the fantasy world of a contemporary artist who never fails to challenge and unsettle his audience.
Explores the ideals, symbolism and ideology of Egyptian kingship and uncovers the stories behind the objects and images left as a legacy by this ancient civilisation.
The rulers of ancient Egypt were not always male, nor always Egyptian. At times, Egypt was divided by civil war, conquered by foreign powers or ruled by competing kings. While some kings were revered - such as Thutmose III who expanded Egypt's empire to its largest extent - the memory of others was officially erased.
The first publication to celebrate the British Museum's rich collection of these technically sophisticated artworks created as part of Japanese cultural salons in the late 18th and 19th centuries, featuring lively figures in daily life and festivals, elegant birds and flowers, ferocious animals and lyrical landscapes.
Cultural salons were creative spaces for people of all social levels to jointly pursue painting, poetry and other artistic endeavours.
S'appuyant sur la figure du peintre-graveur allemand Georg Baselitz, l'exposition Germany Divided présente près de cent oeuvres d'une génération d'artistes - Lüpertz, Palermo, Penck, Polke et Richter - marquée par les traumatismes de l'histoire allemande qui a redéfini l'art allemand dans la seconde moitié du 20e siècle.
Cette somme, fruit de 20 ans de recherches d'un conservateur du British Museum, relate l'histoire et les techniques de l'industrie de la gravure, de la Renaissance à l'époque moderne. La gravure fut pendant 3 siècle la seule technique de reproduction de l'image en grande série et elle a touché toutes les populations d'Europe.
Le monde entier est un théâtre : à travers le prisme de l'oeuvre du plus célèbre dramaturge anglais, le British Museum propose, dans le cadre de l'année Shakespeare, une incursion vivante et originale dans l'Angleterre au tournant des 16e et 17e siècles. Une sélection d'objets du quotidien, d'oeuvres d'art, de bijoux, de manuscrits et de livres, témoignent du rôle considérable de ses pièces de théâtre dans la diffusion des événements historiques majeurs et des enjeux politiques de son époque.
How old is the oldest chat-up line between men? Who was the first 'lesbian'? Were ancient Greek men who had sex together necessarily 'gay'? And what did Shakespeare think about cross-dressing? A Little Gay History takes objects ranging from Ancient Egyptian papyri and the erotic scenes on the Roman Warren Cup to images by modern artists including David Hockney and Bhupen Khakhar to consider questions such as these. Explored are the issues behind forty artefacts from ancient times to the present, and from cultures across the world, to ask a question that concerns us all: how easily can we recognize love in history?
À l'occasion du nouvel écrin aménagé au British Museum pour exposer la donation de Ferdinand de Rothschild en 1898, ce livre présente une quarantaine de magnifiques objets d'art européens. Photographiés avec précision et accompagnés d'une notice explicative, ces trésors montrent toute la créativité et la finesse du travail des plus grands artisans, du Moyen-Âge au 19e siècle.
Le British Museum de Londres expose, jusqu'en janvier 2013, sa collection de dessins et gravures espagnols. Des oeuvres qui retracent l'évolution et la place de ces deux techniques en Espagne, du 15e au 18e siècle. Parmi les artistes les plus connus,
Ce petit livre du célèbre artiste japonais Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) présente une sélection inédite de 103 dessins réalisés spécifiquement pour cette publication inédite restée jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Ils présentent un large éventail de sujets allant des représentations de figures religieuses, mythologiques, historiques et littéraires aux animaux, oiseaux, fleurs et autres phénomènes naturels, ainsi que paysages.
A beautiful showcase of the British Museum's little-known yet extensive collection of artists' books from the Middle East and beyond. This accompanied an exhibition at the British Museum in 2023, the first time the works have been presented together in the context of the Museum's collection.
In the hands of artists and poets, books have been taking a radically different form since the advent of the artist's book in Paris in the early 20th century. Appearing in a variety of shapes and sizes, as one-offs or small print editions, books offer artists and poets a novel form of expression. In the words of Indian artist Nalini Malani (b. 1946), the book is 'a carrier of experience', in which whole worlds are encapsulated.
In this beautifully produced book, works made by artists from New York to Damascus and beyond highlight the relationship between artists and writers and the influences that inform their work, from family to politics and everything in between. Lebanese artist Abed Al Kadiri (b. 1984) conceived his book during the first month of the pandemic to explore his family history, while through the eyes of Iraqi artist Kareem Risan (b. 1960) we see the shocking aftermath of a deadly explosion on the streets of Baghdad in 2005.
These artists also find inspiration in classical poetry and literature. Here you will see works that respond to and that are informed by the medieval Persian poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi and Hafez, as well as the tales of The Arabian Nights.
De superpuissance influente à régime répressif, le Myanmar - également connu sous le nom de Birmanie - a connu des fluctuations de fortune spectaculaires au cours des 1 500 dernières années. Interconnecté mais isolé, riche en ressources naturelles telles que le jade, les rubis et le teck, mais avec une grande partie de sa population vivant en dessous du seuil de pauvreté, le Myanmar est un pays qui défie toute catégorisation. Ce livre explore ses complexités, en se concentrant sur l'art et l'artisanal national pour retracer et analyse l'histoire du pays. Présentant des objets tels que des pierres précieuses, des robes de cour, des meubles finement sculptés, des dessins animés satiriques ou encore des objets du quotidien allant des années 400 de notre ère à nos jours, ce livre est un témoignage de la créativité et de la variété des nombreux peuples du Myanmar.
