Vincent Van Gogh died a gruesome death at the age of 37, after a life of misery and loneliness. How did this son of a clergyman, who once dreamed of following in his father's footsteps, come to be one of the world's most beloved artists? The mysteries that surround Van Gogh's life and career are addressed in this insightful and informative volume, one of the first four of a series.

The Essential Vincent Van Gogh

Ingrid Schaffner

Barnes&Noble Books

Pablo Picasso is the artistic giant of the 20th century. His name and face and work and lifestyle are legendary. But why? How did this artistic toreador climb to the top of the heap -- and stay there? Stripped of the hype, here is Pablo as:* Tender romantic and ferocious egotist* Secure artist and restless explorer of new forms* Macho aficionado and bullfights and heartbroken witness to war* Creative collaborator and individual superstar 76 illustrations, including 55 plates in full color

Essential Pablo Picasso

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Barnes&Noble

The Imagery of Chess Revisited recovers a celebrated and extraordinary moment in art history: the 1944-45 exhibition The Imagery of Chess, held at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City. The exhibit was a legend in its own time and has been considered a singular event in the history of art exhibitions ever since. The show's organizersthe influential art dealer Julien Levy, the Surrealist painter Max Ernst, and Dada leader Marcel Duchamp, himself a serious chess playerinvited a virtual "who's who" of artists and members of the cultural avant-garde to redesign the standard chess set or otherwise explore chess imagery and its symbolism in bold new ways. Participants included famous European expatriates and soon-to-be famous American modernists: Andre Breton, Duchamp, Alexander Calder, Ernst, Man Ray, Isamu Noguchi, and Yves Tanguy are among those who contributed chess sets; John Cage and Vittorio Rieti created original musical scores; and Dorothea Tanning, Arshile Gorky, David Hare, Man Ray, Matta, Robert Motherwell, and others produced pivotal chess-related paintings, sculptures, and photographic works. Featuring new color photographs as well as rarely seen archival images, recollections by participants and their descendants, and period reviews, The Imagery of Chess Revisited includes previously unpublished works. Among them are Andre Breton and Nicolas Calas's wine-glass chess set and Alexander Calder's chess set made of found materials, in addition to thirty-five of Calder's chess-related drawings. An essay by Larry List explores the chess designs as visual objects and pivotal creations in the context of participating artists' lives and work. Lowell Cross and Paul B. Franklin examine the two musical scores included in the show; and Ingrid Schaffner provides an introduction to the art-world milieu in which The Imagery of Chess took place. 50 illustrations in color, 80 in black and white.

The Imagery of Chess Revisited

Larry List

Individual Artists

George Braziller, Inc.

For readers who are short on time, long on curiosity, and turned off by art-world jargon, Abrams presents a series of hip, entertaining books on artists and pop culture.
* A fascinating account of the artist's life and work
* Fresh anecdotes, both professional and personal
* Concise sidebars on major players and cultural and social movements that shaped the artist's work
* Superb, full-color reproductions

The Essential Andy Warhol

Harry N. Abrams

Describes the artistic career and major works of Pablo Picasso.

The Essential Pablo Picasso

Focusing on Pablo Picasso, this is one of an illustrated series which provides accounts of the lives of individual artists, professional and personal anecdotes, and concise definitions of cultural and social movements that shaped their work. The book discusses how Picasso rose to eminence - and stayed there. It depicts him as tender romantic and ferocious egotist, secure artist and restless explorer of new forms, macho aficionado of bullfights and heartbroken witness to war, and creative collaborator and individual superstar.

The Essential Pablo Picasso (Essential Series)

Here's a series of quick, savvy, entertaining books on artists and pop culture at a popular price. It's for readers who want easy access to information and who are turned off by art-world jargon.
With cutting-edge tone and text, these innovative, richly illustrated, compact books (6" x 6" gift size) are targeted at busy people who've heard of these much-discussed artists -- and who know that many people, for some reason, think these artists are important -- but honestly don't get what the big fuss is all about.
Abrams produces fine illustrated books with such major art institutions as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Louvre.

The Essential Henri Matisse (Essential Series)

Hannelore Baron: Works from 1969 to 1987

Hannelore Baron

Mark Baron

Anna R. Cohn

Smithsonian Inst Traveling Service

Dream, metaphor, sensuality, fetishism and play are among the defining characteristics of the collection of Surrealist art Julien Levy assembled in the 1930s and 40s. As one of Modernism's preeminent art dealers, Levy's passion went beyond professional protocol, Levy didn't just sell Surrealism, he lived it. Artists he represented were intimate friends and he shared in their creative life. Works by Atget, Arp, Bing, Brassaï, Cartier-Bresson, Bellmer, Berman, Bayer, de Chirico, Cocteau, Cornell, Dalí, Duchamp, Ernst, Gorky, Hugnet, Kertész, Man Ray, Matta, Moholy-Nagy, Parry, Roh, Tabard, Tanguy, Cornell, Noguchi, Sougez, Tanning, Tchelitchew, and more. Limited to 1000 copies. Published on the occasion of the traveling exhibition Accommodations of Desire: Surrealist Works on Paper Collected by Julien Levy 7x5 inches (18x13cm) 128 pages 143 gsm mat, 83 illustrations cloth bound with faux-fur spine

Accommodations of Desire: Surrealist Works on Paper, Collected by Julien Levy

Colin Westerbeck

Curatorial Assistance, Inc.

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Books by Ingrid Schaffner