20th century

First | Previous | 1 2 3 | Next | Last

Linley Sambourne

“Ormond’s narrative is… [a] combination of exhaustive investigation with delicacy of touch—of reserved thoughtfulness with visual sensitivity” – Modern Language Review. When Linley Sambourne died in 1910, a host of obituaries paid tribute to his long career as a cartoonist and his contribution to late Victorian and Edwardian political satire. A hundred years on, the distinguished 19th-century scholar Leonee Ormond has written an illuminating biography, using his own copious records preserved intact in his house at 18 Stafford Terrace, Kensington, London - now a museum. More

Robin Hood Gardens: Re-Visions

Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets, East London, was designed by Alison + Peter Smithson and completed in 1972. In 2008, this large social housing scheme was threatened with demolition and became a controversial conservation case. This book uncovers the history of the project, arguing for its historical and architectural significance and for its future role in housing provision. More

Stanley Spencer and the English Garden

Stanley Spencer (1891–1959) is perhaps best known for his mystical biblical scenes and candid self-portraits, but it was his magnificent paintings of gardens, houses and landscapes, set in the small alleys and overgrown backyards of his home village of Cookham, which proved more popular during his lifetime. Published to accompany an exhibition at Compton Verney, Warwickshire, this book is the first to focus specifically on Spencer’s landscape paintings, and to consider them as a group, rather than as punctuation marks between the figure paintings. More

Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril: Beyond the Moulin Rouge

Accompanying an exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery, London, this publication is the first to celebrate the important creative collaboration between the artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) and his muse, the dancer Jane Avril (1868–1943). Avril was one of the stars of Moulin Rouge in the 1890s, and was nicknamed ‘La Mélinite’ after a form of explosive. More

Mondrian||Nicholson: In Parallel

This book accompanies an exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery, London, that will be the first to offer a comprehensive account of the parallel artistic paths charted by Piet Mondrian and Ben Nicholson during the 1930's. It will bring together an extraordinary group of paintings and reliefs to show how each artist was driven by a profound belief in the potential of abstract art to attain the highest aestethic and spiritual power. More

How to be Modern: Arne Jacobsen in the 21st Century

2002 was the centenary of Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen's birth (1902–1971). The Museum of Modern Art in Oxford celebrated Jacobsen's enduring importance by presenting a new exhibition which aimed to introduce to a wider audience aspects of his work as an architect and designer. More