“Mesmerizing account of an amateur artist who made millions selling forged paintings to art-obsessed Nazis and business tycoons” (Kirkus, starred review). New York Times–Bestseller A New York Times Staff Pick “Dolnick brilliantly re-creates the circumstances that made possible one of the most audacious frauds of the twentieth century. . . . An incomparable page turner.” —Boston Globe As riveting as a World War II thriller, The...

"ArtQuake introduced 50 pivotal works that shook the world, telling the fascinating stories behind their creation, reception and legacy. Causing fascination and intrigue in some, repulse and scorn in others, these cutting-edge totems celebrated novelty and innovation and defined twentieth-century art. From Gustave Courbet's The Bathers (1853) to Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917); Yves Klein's Anthropology Performance (1960) to Judy Chicago's The Dinner...

Rilke, Rodin's secretary, examines Rodin's life and work, and explains the often elusive connection between the creative forces that drive timeless literature and great art. Written in 1903 and 1907, these essays about the master's work and development as an artist were declared by Rodin himself as the supreme interpretation of his work. 33 illustrations.

In the predawn hours of a gloomy February day in 1994, two thieves entered the National Gallery in Oslo and made off with one of the world's most famous paintings, Edvard Munch's Scream ... Baffled and humiliated, the Norwegian police turned to the one man they believed could help: a half English, half American undercover cop named Charley Hill, the world's greatest art detective. The Rescue Artist is a rollicking narrative that carries readers deep...

"From ancient Sumerian pottery to Tiffany stained glass, decorative art had been a fundamental part of the human experience for generations. While fine art is confined to galleries and museums, decorative art is the art of the every day, combining beauty with functionality in objects ranging from the prosaic to the fantastical. In this work, authors Albert Jacquemart and Émile Bayard celebrate the beauty and artistic potential behind even the most...

The metropolis of the future - as perceived by architect Hugh Ferriss in 1929 - was both generous and prophetic in vision. Largely an illustrated essay on the modern city and its future, Ferriss' book incorporated his philosophy of architecture. Includes powerful illustrations of towering structures, personal space, wide avenues, and rooftop parks. 59 illustrations.

This book considers the material basis of building as a key impetus of both urbanization and the energetics of urban life. The otherwise externalized material geographies and thermodynamics of building's material basis reveal much about the dynamics and efficacy of how we build. This book plots the material history and geography for one plot of land in Manhattan: the parcel of land under the Empire State Building over the past two hundred years. Through...

"I am not interested in myself as a subject for painting, but in others, particularly women…"Beautiful, sensuous and above all erotic, Gustav Klimt's paintings speak of a world of opulence and leisure, which seems aeons away from the harsh, post-modern environment we live in now. The subjects he treats – allegories, portraits, landscapes and erotic figures – contain virtually no reference to external events, but strive rather to create a world...

November 1891, the heart of Gilded Age Manhattan. Thousands filled the streets surrounding Madison Square, fingers pointing, mouths agape. After countless struggles, Stanford White-the country's most celebrated architect was about to dedicate America's tallest tower, the final cap set atop his Madison Square Garden, the country's grandest new palace of pleasure. Amid a flood of electric light and fireworks, the gilded figure topping the tower was...

Bring Monet's paintings and gardens to life using this gorgeously illustrated book that will teach you how to create a Monet lifestyle from your living room to your kitchen to your garden-from the documentarian and author of Monet's Palate Cookbook, with the support of the American steward and all the head gardeners at Giverny. Aileen Bordman has long been influenced by the work of Claude Monet, one of the founders of French Impressionist painting...