The Art of Arts: Rediscovering Painting

There was a time, five hundred years ago, when science was regarded as an art, and art as a science. And in the contest between the senses, the ear, through which we had previously received all knowledge and the word of God, was conquered by the eye, which would henceforth be king. A new breed of painters aimed to reconcile the world of the senses with that of the mind, and their goal was to conceal themselves in the details and vanish away, like God. A new way of perceiving was born. Anita Albus describes the birth and evolution of trompe-l'oeil painting in oils in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, focusing her attention on works by northern European artists—both major and minor. As a scholar, she stands in the tradition of Panofsky; as a painter, she is able to see things others have not yet perceived; as a storyteller, she skillfully describes abstract notions in a vivid and exciting way. Like the multilayered technique of the Old Masters, her method assumes an ability to distinguish between the different levels, as well as a talent for synthesizing them. The first part of the book is devoted to the visibility of the invisible in the art of Jan van Eyck—his visual effects, perspective, artistic technique, and philosophy. The second and third parts are taken up with descriptions of the genres of "forest landscape," "still life," and "forest floor." In the midst of butterflies, bumblebees, and dragonflies, Vladimir Nabokov emerges as final witness to the survival in literature of all that was condemned to vanish from the fine arts. After a glimpse into the continuing presence of the past and some conjectures as to the future, the book's final part throws fresh light on the colored grains of the hand-ground pigments that were lost when artists' materials began to be commercially manufactured in the nineteenth century. The Art of Arts is thus both a dazzling cultural history and the story of two explosive inventions: the so-called third dimension of space through perspective, and the shockingly vivid colors of revolutionary oil paints. Albus makes abundantly clear how, taken together, these breakthroughs not only created a new art, but altered forever our perception of the world.

Arts & Photography

Albus, Anita

History & Criticism

KNOPF

In this utterly original book, Anita Albus tells the story--in the birth and triumph of oil painting, the creation of perspective, and the very nature of paint itself--of how, when, and why the eye became king of all the senses. Albus's subjects are the inventors of easel painting in oils, the van Eyck brothers and their followers. It was in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in northern Europe that oil painting radically changed the way we perceived the world: the ear, through which we had previously received all knowledge, was replaced in importance by the eye. A painter of distinction herself, Albus re-creates this revolutionary time in all its intricacies, its familiarity, and its strangeness. The Art of Arts is thus both a dazzling cultural history and the story of two explosive inventions: the so-called third dimension of deep space through perspective, and the shockingly vivid colors of a new kind of paint. Albus makes abundantly clear how, taken together, these breakthroughs not only created a new art but altered forever our perception of the world.

University of California Press

On Rare Birds is an endearing compilation of the history and extinction of several bird species, along with detailed accounts of many rare birds as well. Anita Albus combines her education in natural history and investigative reporting and turns this book into a captivating story of culture, mythology, and storytelling. She also includes her very own artwork throughout the book. On Rare Birds shows that how along with the extinction of these birds comes a great loss of culture, art, mythology, and science.

On Rare Birds

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

LYONS PRESS+

On Rare Birds is an endearing compilation of the history and extinction of several bird species, along with detailed accounts of many rare birds. Award-winning writer Anita Albus combines her education in natural history with investigative reporting, transforming each bird's tale into a captivating combination of culture, mythology, science, and lyrical storytelling. Illustrated with stunning avian portraits throughout, it tells the compelling stories of ten rare or extinct bird species—from the tragic demise of the once-abundant Passenger Pigeon to the shooting death of the last Carolina Parakeet in the wild, and from the startling natural defenses of the “willful Nightjar” to the diverse cultural significance of the Kingfisher. Some stories bear sad witness to precious species we have lost, but they are all fascinating and often heartwarming or humorous depictions of the unique lives and loves of birds. With knowledge, devotion, and a true artist’s eye, Albus explains in graceful, precise prose why the decline of these bird species is a great loss both to the natural world and, unavoidably, to culture. With each species lost, a world is lost to human understanding—to our arts, our mythology, and our environment.

On Rare Birds: A Lamentation On Natural History’S Extinct And Endangered

On Rare Birds is an endearing compilation of the history and extinction of several bird species, along with detailed accounts of many rare birds as well. Anita Albus combines her education in natural history and investigative reporting and turns this book into a captivating story of culture, mythology, and storytelling.

Nature & Ecology

Greystone Books

Von seltenen Vögeln

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

FISCHER, S.

Der Blick aus der Ferne. ( Fischer Wissenschaft).

LÉVI-STRAUSS, Claude

Fischer (Tb.), Frankfurt

Paradies und Paradox. Wunderwerke aus fünf Jahrhunderten.

Eichborn

Über Wachstum und Form

Thompson, D'Arcy Wentworth

Medical Books

AB Die Andere Bibliothek

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Albus, Anita. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Albus, Anita