{"title":"EKPHRASIS","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e series is dedicated to publishing rare, out-of-print, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eIt is part of David Zwirner Books’s ongoing effort to publish new and surprising pieces of writing on visual culture.\u003c\/h5\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"summoning-pearl-harbor","title":"Summoning Pearl Harbor (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummoning Pearl Harbor\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSummoning Pearl Harbor is a mesmerizing display of linguistic force that redefines remembering. How do words make the past appear? In what way does the historian summon bygone events? What is this kind of remembering, and for whom do we recall the dead, or the past? In this highly original meditation on the past, renowned art historian Alexander Nemerov delves into what it means to recall a significant event― Pearl Harbor―and how descriptions of images can summon it back to life. Beginning with the photo album of a former Japanese kamikaze pilot, which is reproduced in this volume, Nemerov transports the reader into a different world through his engagement with the photographs and the construction of a narrative around them.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThrough its lyrical prose, Summoning Pearl Harbor expands what we traditionally associate with ekphrastic writing. The kind of writing that can enliven a work of art is also the kind of writing that makes the past appear in vivid color and deep feeling. In the end, this timely piece of writing opens onto fundamental questions about how we communicate with each other, and how the past continues to live in our collective consciousness, not merely as facts but as stories that shape us. Here, Nemerov’s constant awareness of the power of language to make an experience―seen or remembered― become real reminds us that great ekphrastic writing is at the heart of every effective description.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eExplore other titles form the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis\" title=\"Ekphrasis Collection\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39501930725463,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Summoning_Pearl_Harbor.jpg?v=1789648929"},{"product_id":"degas-and-his-model","title":"Degas and His Model (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDegas and His Model\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"There are many myths about the artist Edgar Degas—from Degas the misanthrope to Degas the deviant, to Degas the obsessive. But there is no single text that better stokes the fire than \u003cem\u003eDegas and His Model\u003c\/em\u003e, a short memoir published by Alice Michel, who purportedly modeled for Degas. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNever before translated into English, the text’s original publication in \u003cem\u003eMercure de France\u003c\/em\u003e in 1919, shortly after the artist’s death, has been treated as an important account of the master sculptor at work. We know that Alice was writing under a pseudonym, but who the real person behind this account was remains a mystery—to this day nothing is known about her. Yet, the descriptions seem too accurate to be ignored, the anecdotes too spot-on to discount; even the dialogue captures the artist’s tone and mannerisms. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is found in these pages is at times a woman’s flirtatious recollection of a bizarre “artistic type” and at others a moving attempt to connect with a great, often tragic man. The descriptions are limpid, unburdened; the dialogue is lively and intimate, not unlike reading the very best kind of gossip, with world-historical significance. Here in these dusty studios, Degas is alive, running hands over clay, complaining about his eyes, denigrating the other artists around him, and whispering salaciously to his model. And during his mood swings, we see reflected the model’s innocence and confusion, her pain at being misunderstood and finally rejected. It is an intimate portrait of a moment in a great artist’s life, a sort of \u003cem\u003eBildungsroman\u003c\/em\u003e in which his model (whoever she may be) does not emerge unscathed.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExplore other titles form the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis\" title=\"Ekphrasis Collection\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e collection\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39501937999959,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Degas_and_His_Model.jpg?v=1789648625"},{"product_id":"the-cathedral-is-dying","title":"The Cathedral is Dying (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Cathedral is Dying\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"In this volume, the writer and Rodin scholar Rachel Corbett selects excerpts from the famous sculptor’s book Cathedrals of France, first published in 1914, just before the outbreak of World War I. Cathedrals were central to the way Rodin thought about his art: he saw them as visual metaphors for the human figure, among the finest examples of craftsmanship known to modern man, and as a model for how to live and work—slowly, brick by brick.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere, Corbett takes the fire at Notre Dame and the concerns over its restoration as an entry point in an exploration of Rodin’s cathedrals. Rodin adamantly opposed restoration, as he felt it often did more damage than the original injury. (Many of the cathedrals that Rodin looks at in his texts were, in fact, bombed during the war.) But while he rails against various restoration efforts as evidence that “we are letting our cathedrals die,” the book, with its tenderly rendered sketches and written portraits, is itself an attempt to preserve these cathedrals. The selection of texts in this volume is a reminder—as is the tragedy of Notre Dame—of why we ought to appreciate these feats of architecture, whether or not they are still standing today.\"\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"a-unordered-list a-nostyle a-vertical a-spacing-none detail-bullet-list\"\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39501951139927,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/The_Cathedral_is_Dying.jpg?v=1789650800"},{"product_id":"on-contemporary-art","title":"On Contemporary Art (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn Contemporary Art\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"On Contemporary Art, a speech by the renowned novelist César Aira, was delivered at a 2010 colloquium in Madrid dedicated to bridging the gap between writing and the visual arts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn Aira’s dizzying and dazzling path, everything comes under question—from reproducibility of artworks to the value of the written word itself. In the end, Aira leaves us stranded on the bridge between writing and art that he set out to construct in the first place, flailing as we try to make sense of where we stand. Aira’s On Contemporary Art exemplifies what the ekphrasis series is dedicated to doing—exploring the space in which words give meaning to objects, and objects shape our words.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike the great writers Walter Benjamin and Hermann Broch before him, Aira operates in the space between fiction and essay writing, art and analysis. Pursuing questions about reproducibility, art making, and limits of language, Aira’s unique voice adds new insights to the essential conversations that continue to inform our understanding of art.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePages: 64\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e10.8 x 17.8 cm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExplore other titles form the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis\" title=\"Ekphrasis Collection\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e collection\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39502795800663,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/On_Contemporary_Art.jpg?v=1789649412"},{"product_id":"two-cities","title":"Two Cities (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTwo Cities\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"From acclaimed poet and New Yorker writer Cynthia Zarin comes a deeply personal meditation on two cities, Venice and Rome—each a work of art, both a monument to the past—and on how love and loss shape places and spaces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere we encounter a writer deeply engaged with narrative in situ—a traveler moving through beloved streets, sometimes accompanied, sometimes solo. With her, we see, anew, the Venice Biennale, the Lagoon, and San Michele, the island of the dead; the Piazza di Spagna, the Tiber, the view from the Gianicolo; the pigeons at San Marco and the parrots in the Doria Pamphili. As a poet first and foremost, Zarin’s attention to the smallest details, the loveliest gesture, brings Venice and Rome vividly to life for the reader. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sixteenth book in the expanding, renowned ekphrasis series, Two Cities creates space for these two historic cities to become characters themselves, their relationship to the writer as real as any love affair.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39502950826071,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Two_Cities_01c8411c-e662-44e3-900e-328b6690d909.jpg?v=1789650541"},{"product_id":"a-balthus-notebook","title":"A Balthus Notebook (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Balthus Notebook\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"In his 1989 book on Balthus—the storied and controversial artist who worked in Paris throughout the twentieth century—Guy Davenport  gives one of the most nuanced, literary, and compelling readings of the work of this master. Reading it today highlights the change in perspectives on sexuality and nudity in art in the past thirty years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten over several years in his notebooks, Davenport’s distinct reflections on Balthus’s paintings try to explain why his work is so radical, and why it has so often come under scrutiny for its depiction of girls and women. Davenport throws the lens back on the viewer and asks: is it us or Balthus who reads sexuality into these paintings? For Davenport, the answer is clear: Balthus may indeed show us periods in adolescent development that are uncomfortable to view, but the eroticization exists primarily on the part of the viewer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArguing that Balthus’s figures are erotic only if we make them so, and that their innocence is more present than anything pornographic in them, Davenport posits that the paintings hold up a mirror to our own perversities and force us, difficultly, to confront them. He writes, “The nearer an artist works to the erotic politics of his own culture, the more he gets its concerned attention. Gauguin’s naked Polynesian girls,  brown and remote, escape the scandal of Balthus’s, although a Martian observer would not see the distinction.” Davenport’s critique helps us understand Balthus in our times—something we need more than ever as we crucially confront sexual politics in visual art.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39504394125399,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/A_Balthus_Notebook.jpg?v=1789650654"},{"product_id":"pissing-figures-1280-2014","title":"Pissing Figures 1280–2014 (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePissing Figures 1280–2014\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Jean-Claude Lebensztejn’s history of the urinating figure in art, Pissing Figures 1280–2014, is at once a scholarly inquiry into an important visual motif, and a ribald statement on transgression and limits in works of art in general. Lebensztejn is one of France’s best-kept secrets. A world-class art historian who has lectured and taught at major universities in the United States, his work has remained almost entirely in French, his American audience limited to a small but dedicated group of cognoscenti.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst introducing the Manneken Pis—the iconic little boy whose stream of urine supplies water to this famous fountain and is also the logo for a Belgian beer company—the author takes the reader through a semi-scatological maze of cultural history. The earliest example is a fresco scene located directly above Cimabue’s Crucifixion from around 1280 at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, in which Lebensztejn’s careful eye locates an angel behind a pillar who looks like he is about to urinate through a hole in his garment. He continues to navigate expertly through cultural twists and turns, stopping to discuss Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 film Teorema, for example, and Marlene Dumas’s 1996–1997 homage to Rembrandt’s pissing woman. At every moment, Lebensztejn’s prose is lively, his thinking dynamic, and his subject matter entertaining.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this short and poignant cultural history, readers not only find the care for detail that has made Lebensztejn into one of the greatest European art historians, but also the rebelliousness that makes him one of the most interesting intellectuals of our time. The first widely distributed book of Lebensztejn’s in English, Pissing Figures 1280–2014 is simultaneously published in France by Éditions Macula.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSoftcover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e168 Pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e10.8 x 17.8 cm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExplore other titles form the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca title=\"Ekphrasis Collection\" href=\"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e collection\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39506231263319,"sku":"","price":11.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Pissing_Figures_1280_2014.jpg?v=1789648479"},{"product_id":"giotto-and-his-works-in-padua","title":"Giotto and His Works in Padua (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGiotto and His Works in Padua\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The Arena Chapel in Padua was completed in 1303; Giotto, then considered the preeminent painter in Italy, was commissioned to paint it in 1306. The resulting fresco cycle, detailing the history, birth, life, and death of Christ, ranks among the greatest artworks ever created.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Ruskin helped redefine art criticism in the nineteenth century through his attention to detail, his playful and engaging prose, and the conviction with which he discussed the subjects that mattered most to him. Ruskin’s ekphrastic writing became a way for readers to approach the experience of looking at great art without actually seeing it in person. Despite having written about Giotto on numerous occasions in Stones of Venice and Modern Painters, he never treated the Arena Chapel in its own right. Here Ruskin examines the panels and brings them life, describing their many hidden details, all the result of Giotto’s unrivaled genius. As Ruskin says, “Giotto was…one of the greatest men who ever lived.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLong out of print, the Arundel Society first published Giotto and His Works in Padua between 1853 and 1860. It stands as Ruskin’s most compelling set of reflections on Giotto’s masterpiece—an artwork that, in Ruskin’s estimation, changed the very course of art history. Originally accompanied by a set of black and white woodcuts of the panels in the Chapel, this new edition presents each panel in vivid colour photography, adding a useful visual aid to Ruskin’s lyrical descriptions. The result is a book that serves not only as an introduction for students of art history, but also as a discussion of what it means to be a great artist, by one of most influential writers ever to tackle visual art.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSoftcover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e184 Pages\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e10.8 × 17.8 cm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExplore other titles form the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis\" title=\"Ekphrasis Collection\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e collection\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39506250006615,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Giotto_and_His_Works_in_Padua.jpg?v=1789649227"},{"product_id":"oscar-wilde-the-critic-as-artist","title":"The Critic as Artist (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Critic as Artist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"In 'The Critic as Artist' - arguably the most complete exploration of his aesthetic thinking, and certainly the most entertaining - Oscar Wilde harnesses his famous wit to demolish the supposed boundary between art and criticism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe essay takes the form of a leisurely dialogue between two characters: Ernest, who insists upon Wilde's own belief in art's freedom from societal mandates and values, and a quizzical Gilbert. With his playwright's ear for dialogue, Wilde champions idleness and contemplation as prerequisites to artistic cultivation.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39509615673431,"sku":"","price":12.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/The_Critic_as_Artist.jpg?v=1789650379"},{"product_id":"patric-modiano-dominique-zehrfuss-28-paradises","title":"28 Paradises (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e28 Paradises\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"28 Paradises is a rare book: it reveals not only the individual talents of the authors, Modiano and Zehrfuss, but also the depth of the couple's creative union. Sensitively translated into English for the first time by Damion Searls, 28 Paradises captures the exquisite sadness of waking from a beautiful dream. There are twenty-eight dreams in this book, or perhaps one dream in twenty-eight parts-visions of paradise imagined by Zehrfuss during a time of deep sadness. Captured first in Zehrfuss's brightly colored gouaches, each paradise was then refashioned as a poem by Modiano.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eZehrfuss's paintings are Edens in miniature, and rather than describe them outright, Modiano dreams himself into these reveries in quiet, understated verse. The reader enters this shared realm in an experience less like paging through a book and more like slipping into a shared world. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThese paradises are wishes for moments when a painting, or a poem, or a lover-perhaps they are not so different-relieves the loneliness of being human. As Modiano writes with a touch of wistfulness, \"The Lilliputian painted her paradises \/ And I \/ Next to her \/ Wrote a poem.\" A pure example of ekphrastic writing-poetry inspired by paintings- this book shows how writing and visual art can together create a unique emotional experience.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39509693530199,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/28_Paradises.jpg?v=1789649699"},{"product_id":"paul-gaugin-ramblings-of-a-wannabe-painter","title":"Ramblings of a Wannabe Painter (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRamblings of a Wannabe Painter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Criticism is our censorship . . .” So begins one of the greatest invectives against criticism ever written by an artist. Paul Gauguin wrote “Racontars de rapin” only months before he died in 1903, but the essay remained unpublished until 1951. Through discussions of numerous artists, both his contemporaries and predecessors, Gauguin unpacks what he viewed as the mistakes and misjudgments behind much of art criticism, revealing not only how wrong critics’ interpretations have been, but also what it would mean to approach art properly—to really look.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLong out of print, this new translation by Donatien Grau includes an introduction that situates the essay within Gauguin’s written oeuvre, as well as explanatory notes. This text sheds light on Gauguin’s conception of art—widely considered a predecessor to Duchamp—and engages with many issues still relevant today: history, novelty, criticism, and the market. His voice feels as fresh, lively, sharp in English now as it did in French over one hundred years ago. Through Gauguin’s final piece of writing, we see the artist in the full throes of passion—for his work, for his art, for the art of others, and against anyone who would stand in his way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the inaugural publication in David Zwirner Books’s new ekphrasis reader series, Ramblings of a Wannabe Painter sets a perfect tone for the books to come. Poised between writing, art, and criticism, Gauguin brings together many different worlds, all of which should have a seat at the table during any meaningful discussion of art. With the express hope of encouraging open exchange between the world of writing and that of the visual arts, David Zwirner Books is proud to present this new edition of a lost masterpiece.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e• 109 mm × 310 mm\u003cbr\u003e• 52 pages\u003cbr\u003e• Date of Publication: 2016\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39509703557207,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Ramblings_of_a_Wannabe_Painter.jpg?v=1789648194"},{"product_id":"letters-to-a-young-painter","title":"Letters to a Young Painter (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLetters to a Young Painter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Never before translated into English, Rainer Maria Rilke’s fascinating \u003cem\u003eLetters to a Young Painter\u003c\/em\u003e, written toward the end of his life between 1920 and 1926, is a surprising companion to his \u003cem\u003eLetters to a Young Poet\u003c\/em\u003e, earlier correspondence from 1902 to 1908. While the latter has become a global phenomenon, with millions of copies sold in many different languages, the present volume has been largely overlooked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn these eight intimate letters written to a teenage Balthus—who would go on to become one of the leading artists of his generation—Rilke describes the challenges he faced, while opening the door for the young painter to take himself and his work seriously. Rilke’s constant warmth, his ability to sense in advance his correspondent’s difficulties and propose solutions to them, and his sensitivity as a person and an artist come across in these charming and honest letters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Writing during his aged years, this volume paints a picture of the venerable poet as he faced his mortality, through the perspective of hindsight, and continued to embrace his openness towards other creative individuals. With an introduction by Rachel Corbett, author of \u003cem\u003eYou Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin\u003c\/em\u003e (2016), this book is a must-have for Rilke’s admirers, young and old, and all aspiring artists.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExplore other titles form the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis\" title=\"Ekphrasis Collection\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e collection\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39511663968343,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Letters_to_a_Young_Painter.jpg?v=1789648771"},{"product_id":"chardin-and-rembrandt","title":"Chardin and Rembrandt (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChardin and Rembrandt\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e THE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Long overlooked in Proust's posthumously published writings, Chardin and Rembrandt, written when he was only twenty-four years old, not only reemphasizes the importance of visual art to his development, but contains the seeds of his later work. Proposed in 1895 by Proust to the newspaper Revue hebdomadaire (it was rejected), this essay is much more than a straightforward piece of art criticism. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is a literary experiment in which an unnamed narrator gives advice to a young man suffering from melancholy, taking him on an imaginary tour through the Louvre where his readings of Chardin imbue the everyday world with new meaning, and his ruminations on Rembrandt take his melancholic pupil beyond the realm of mere objects. Published for the first time as a stand-alone volume and newly translated, this edition, part of the David Zwirner Books ekphrasis series, aims to introduce a wider audience to one of Proust's most important and influential works in Western literature. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"For the true artist,\" as Proust writes, \"as for the natural scientist, every type is interesting, and even the smallest muscle has its importance.\" The same could be said of the author's own work--every essay has its own crucial place in the formation of his groundbreaking oeuvre. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe afterword by renowned Proust scholar Alain Madeleine-Perdrillat, originally published in the French by Le Bruit du Temps, is an impassioned argument in favor of returning to the lost paths of Proust's early thinking. It sees, in the passage from Chardin's world of objects to Rembrandt's contemplative paintings, a movement toward the radical interiority for which Proust would later become widely celebrated as a novelist. Written at the beginning of his literary career, Chardin and Rembrandt gestures back to some of Proust's earliest notes on art, while creating space for what was to come.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e• 178 mm × 110 mm\u003cbr\u003e• 64 pages\u003cbr\u003e• Published: 2016\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eExplore other titles form the \u003ca title=\"Ekphrasis Collection\" href=\"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39553779728471,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Chardin_and_Rembrandt.jpg?v=1789648359"},{"product_id":"oh-to-be-a-painter","title":"Oh, to Be a Painter! (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOh, to Be a Painter!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The twentieth volume in the renowned \u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e series, this collection of Virginia Woolf’s writings on the visual arts offers a whole new perspective on the revolutionary author.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite wide interest in Woolf’s writings, and in the artists and art critics in her Bloomsbury circle, there is no accessible edition or selection of essays dedicated to her writings on art. This volume collects her longest essay on painting, “Walter Sickert: A Conversation” (1934), alongside shorter essays and reviews, including “Pictures and Portraits” (1920) and “Pictures” (1925).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese formally inventive texts reveal the centrality of the visual arts to Woolf’s writing and vision. They show her engaging with contemporary debates about modern art and are innovative in their treatment of ideas about color and form, including in response to the work of her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell, who designed many of her book covers and jackets. In these essays and reviews, Woolf illuminates the complex and interdependent relationship between the artist and society, and reveals her own shifting perspectives during decades of social and political change. She also provides sharp and astute commentary on specific works of art and on the relationship between art and writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn introduction by Claudia Tobin situates the essays within their cultural contexts.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39563440586839,"sku":"","price":12.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Oh_to_Be_a_Painter.jpg?v=1789650930"},{"product_id":"dix-portraits","title":"Dix Portraits (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDix Portraits\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eOriginally published in 1930 in an edition of one hundred copies, Gertrude Stein’s \u003cem\u003eDix Portraits\u003c\/em\u003e pairs her singular literary style with original lithographs by Pablo Picasso and other artists in Stein’s circle to create an exceptional artist book exploring written and visual portraiture.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWritten between 1913 and 1929, revolutionary years in art history, \u003cem\u003eDix Portraits\u003c\/em\u003e conveys the deep human engagement between an artist and her subject. The artist book unites Stein’s ten portraits in prose with ten sketches by five artists: Christian Bérard, Eugene Berman, Pablo Picasso, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Kristians Tonny. Utilizing the interplay between word and image, Stein’s writing and the artists’ images provide nuance and depth, balancing humor and sincerity. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWith a new introduction by the writer Lynne Tillman, \u003cem\u003eDix Portraits\u003c\/em\u003e is an unforgettable artistic collaboration. The subjects represented include Guillaume Apollinaire, Christian Bérard, Eugene Berman, Bernard Faÿ, Georges Hugnet, Pablo Picasso, Erik Satie, Pavel Tchelitchew, Virgil Thomson, and Kristians Tonny. Originally printed in an edition of one hundred copies with the lithography, and now widely accessible for the first time, Dix Portraits captures Stein’s legacy as a champion of artists and a pioneer of creativity. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em;\"\u003e\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39765026013271,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Dix_Portraits.jpg?v=1789651160"},{"product_id":"something-close-to-music","title":"Something Close to Music (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSomething Close to Music\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eAn intimate and unique collection of the work of John Ashbery—a prolific poet and art critic—pairing poetry and art writings with playlists of music from his personal library\u003cstrong\u003e.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis book places poetry by Ashbery, gathered from his later collections, in conversation with a selection of contemporaneous art writing. In addition, as Ashbery loved music and listened to it while writing, the “playlists” here present samplings of music from these same years, culled from his own library of recordings. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAshbery’s poetry is frequently described as ekphrastic, though, rather than writing a poem “based on” or “inspired” by the content of an artwork or piece of music, he engages with how the experience of seeing it and the artistic strategies employed offer ways of thinking about it and through it. Many observations from Ashbery’s art writing also provide keys to how we might read his poetry. Many recordings he listened to feature contemporary classical works that emphasize complex textures, disparate sounds, and disjunct phrases—qualities which are mimicked in his poetry.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn exploring this ekphrastic book project, the reader is invited to discover how, for Ashbery, these three forms might illuminate and inform one another. In Mónica de la Torre’s introduction, she explores the connection between the three muses of music, art, and poetry, and the ekphrastic experience of reading Ashbery.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em;\"\u003e\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39765026635863,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Something_Close_to_Music.jpg?v=1789650012"},{"product_id":"strange-impressions","title":"Strange Impressions (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStrange Impressions\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMost known for her bold and darkly painted portraits, Brooks was revolutionary in her feminist renderings of women in resistance. Openly queer, she challenged conceptions of gender and sexuality in her art, which also served as her refuge. While many of her male counterparts were disfiguring and cubing their subjects―often women―Brooks gave personhood and power to the figures she painted. Her frank approach to her complicated relationship with her mother, faith, wealth, sexuality, and gender is complemented by a keen wit that echoes the gray tones of her work.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThough her paintings are held in major collections, Brooks’s influence in modernist circles of the early twentieth century is largely underexplored. This new publication, guided by Brooks’s own impressionistic musings, bridges an important gap between the art and the artist. An introduction by Lauren O’Neill-Butler explores Brooks’s role as an artist in the early twentieth century through the lens of gender and sexuality.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40014598111319,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Strange_Impressions.jpg?v=1789651525"},{"product_id":"kandinsky-incarnating-beauty","title":"Kandinsky - Incarnating Beauty (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKandinsky - Incarnating Beauty\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA teacher to Jacques Lacan, André Breton, and Albert Camus, Kojève defined art as the act of extracting the beautiful from objective reality. His poetic text, “The Concrete Paintings of Kandinsky,” endorses nonrepresentational art as uniquely manifesting beauty. Taking the paintings of his renowned uncle, Wassily Kandinsky, as his inspiration, Kojève suggests that in creating (rather than replicating) beauty, the paintings are themselves complete universes as concrete as the natural world. Kojève’s text considers the utility and necessity of beauty in life, and ultimately poses the involuted question: What is beauty?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIncluding personal letters between Kandinsky and his nephew, this book further elaborates the unique relationship between artist and philosopher. An introduction by Boris Groys contextualizes Kojève’s life and writings.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40014610923607,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Kandinsky_-_Incarnating_Beauty.jpg?v=1789651303"},{"product_id":"mad-about-painting","title":"Mad About Painting - Hokuasi (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMad About Painting - Hokuasi (Ekphrasis Collection)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMad about Painting collects beautiful new translations of Hokusai’s painting tutorials and related essays written by the artist and his peers—a selection made available in English for the first time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBest known for his iconic print \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnder the Wave off Kanagawa\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, also known as the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eGreat Wave\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Katsushika Hokusai was a revolutionary printmaker. His mastery of ukiyo-e in the nineteenth century has inspired generations of artists since, and his works helped introduce the world to the delicate beauty and power of the Japanese woodblock technique. In addition to his remarkable artistic output, Hokusai was also a dedicated teacher who sought to pass down his unique understanding of color and painting to practicing artists through immensely detailed written tutorials and manuals, many of which are excerpted here, in English, for the first time.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eConnecting Hokusai’s prints from the Edo period to contemporary Japanese art, the scholar Ryoko Matsuba’s introduction foregrounds Hokusai’s contributions to Japanese creative expression from the 1800s to today. 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The film and its script, as reproduced in this volume, serve as an impassioned response to the lack of political engagement with the AIDS crisis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJarman’s Blue moves through myriad scenes, some banal, others fantastical. Stories of quotidian life––getting coffee, reading the newspaper, and walking down the sidewalk––escalate to visions of Marco Polo, the Taj Mahal, or blue fighting yellow. Facing death and a cascade of pills, Jarman presents his illness in delirium and metaphors. He contemplates the physicality of emotions in lyrical prose as he grounds this story in the constant return to Blue—a color, a feeling, a funk. 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An early follower of Walter Pater, her work is characterized by extreme attention to her own responses to artworks, and a level of psychological sensitivity rarely seen in any aesthetic writing. Today, she is largely overlooked in curriculums, her aesthetic works long out of print. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDavid Zwirner Books is reintroducing Lee’s writing through the first-ever English publication of \"Psychology of an Art Writer\" (1903) along with selections from her groundbreaking \"Gallery Diaries\" (1901–1904), breathtaking accounts of Lee’s own experiences with the great paintings and sculptures she traveled to see. Ranging from deeply felt assessments of the way mood affects our ability to appreciate art, to detailed descriptions of some of the most powerful personal experiences with artworks, these writings provide profound insights into the fields of psychology and aesthetics. Her philosophical inquiries in \u003cem\u003eThe Psychology of an Art Writer \u003c\/em\u003eleave no stone unturned, combining fine-grained ekphrases with high fancy and dense abstraction. The diaries, in turn, establish Lee as one of the most sensitive writers about art in any language.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith a foreword by Berkeley classicist Dylan Kenny, which guides the reader through these writings and contextualizes these texts within Lee’s other work, this is the quintessential introduction to her astonishing and complex oeuvre.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSoftcover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e136 Pages\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e10.8 × 17.8 cm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExplore other titles form the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis\" title=\"Ekphrasis Collection\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/em\u003e collection\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40159736922199,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/The_Psychology_of_an_Art_Writer.jpg?v=1789649112"},{"product_id":"my-friend-van-gogh-emile-bernard","title":"My Friend, Van Gogh - Émile Bernard (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMy Friend, Van Gogh - Émile Bernard\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eAn intimate testament to the power of friendship between two creative forces―available again in English after more than a century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I exaggerate, I sometimes make changes to the subject, but I still don’t invent the whole of painting; on the contrary, I find it ready-made, but to be untangled, in the real world.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e ― Vincent van Gogh\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe painter and poet Émile Bernard’s firsthand account of the beloved Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh’s life offers a close perspective into the difficulties the artist faced. First published in French in 1911, and presented here in English for the first time, Bernard details van Gogh’s approach to painting, his tools, his style, his love of the medium. Moreover, he chronicles his attempts to have van Gogh’s work recognized after his death, a sign of a true friend. Shedding light on the artistic community they were part of, Bernard also discusses notable figures such as Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, and Émile Zola, in his storied account of his friend’s life and work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLetters written by van Gogh to a young Bernard, some of which are included in this volume, further the import of the friendship between the two men. Van Gogh’s words of advice to Bernard as well as ruminations on his own practice, inspirations, and creative struggles are revealed in these pages.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrought together and introduced by preeminent van Gogh scholar Martin Bailey, these texts present a sensitive and discerning portrait of van Gogh that goes beyond his reputation as a troubled genius.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40522778640471,"sku":null,"price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/My_Friend_Van_Gogh_-_Emile_Bernard.jpg?v=1789651980"},{"product_id":"any-day-now-toward-a-black-aesthetic-larry-neal","title":"Any Day Now - Toward a Black Aesthetic (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAny Day Now - Toward a Black Aesthetic - Larry Neal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eA comprehensive and inspiring collection of essays by Larry Neal, a founder of the seminal Black Arts Movement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The Black Arts Movement is radically opposed to any concept of the artist that alienates him from his community. Black Art is the aesthetic and spiritual sister of the Black Power concept. As such, it envisions an art that speaks directly to the needs and aspirations of Black America.\"\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e― Larry Neal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in Philadelphia, Neal was surrounded by Bebop music and writing. He culled inspiration and teachings from Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, and the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance. After studying folklore at the University of Pennsylvania, Neal became a prolific poet and critic, and he served as the arts editor for the Liberator where he published many of his essays about art.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNeal encouraged artists to produce work that was not only politically engaged but also unapologetically rooted in the Black experience, and this message reverberated through African American literature, theater, music, and visual arts. He probed the notion of the Western art historical canon and challenged Black artists and writers to reshape artistic traditions. Deeply invested in cultural and personal understandings of the artist's intentions and experiences, Neal argues that to properly create and critique a work of art one must invest in the history of the artist's culture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith an introduction by the writer and researcher Allie Biswas, this publication celebrates and memorializes the great writings of a powerful and influential activist and artist.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40522795024471,"sku":null,"price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Any_Day_Now_-_Toward_a_Black_Aesthetic_-_Larry_Neal.jpg?v=1789652127"},{"product_id":"souvenirs","title":"Souvenirs - From a Memoir (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eSouvenirs - From a Memoir\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eA selection from the memoir of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, the renowned eighteenth-century French portraitist and one of the most important women painters in art history\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text-black-100 text-sm md:text-md\"\u003eIn her memoir, Vigée Le Brun offers a candid and thoroughly enjoyable account of her life and art. She relates her encounters among the royalty and aristocracy she painted––including, most famously, her patron Marie Antoinette––and the effusive reception they extended to her across Europe. Forced to flee during the French Revolution, Vigée Le Brun traveled through Italy, Russia, Germany, and England, returning twelve years later to France under Napoleon I. These pages demonstrate her unflagging creativity during unstable times and her remarkable savvy. Her observations provide unique insight into the art world of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe, a time when women were rarely allowed success.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text-black-100 text-sm md:text-md\"\u003eIn her introduction to this volume, the scholar Anne Higonnet conveys Vigée Le Brun’s unique position at a turning point in the art world, as well as the larger world beyond, and navigates in particular how one retroactively reconstructs a relationship to a world-changing revolution.THE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55905373290880,"sku":null,"price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Souvenirs_-_From_a_Memoir.jpg?v=1789652580"},{"product_id":"duchamps-last-day","title":"Duchamp's Last Day (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDuchamp's Last Day\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003ePublished on the fiftieth anniversary of Marcel Duchamp’s death,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eDuchamp’s Last Day\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eoffers a radical reading of the artist’s final hours\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJust moments after Duchamp died, his closest friend Man Ray took a photograph of him. His face is wan; his eyes are closed; he appears calm. Taking this image as a point of departure, Donald Shambroom begins to examine the surrounding context―the dinner with Man Ray and another friend, Robert Lebel, the night Duchamp died, the conversations about his own death at that dinner and elsewhere, and the larger question of whether this radical artist’s death can be read as an extension of his work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShambroom’s in-depth research into this final night, and his analysis of the photograph, feeds into larger questions about the very nature of artworks and authorship which Duchamp raised in his lifetime. In the case of this mysterious and once long-lost photograph, who is the author? Man Ray or Duchamp? Is it an artwork or merely a record? Has the artist himself turned into one of his own readymades?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA fascinating essay that is both intimate and steeped in art history, Duchamp’s Last Day is filled with intricate details from decades of research into this peculiar encounter between art, life, and death. Shambroom’s book is a wonderful study of one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59910347686272,"sku":null,"price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Duchamp_sLastDay.jpg?v=1789649606"},{"product_id":"that-still-moment-poetry-and-essays-on-dance","title":"That Still Moment - Poetry and Essays on Dance (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThat Still Moment - Poetry and Essays on Dance\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EKPHRASIS SERIES is specially dedicated to publishing out-of-print, rare, and newly commissioned texts as accessible paperback volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eThe newest volume in the beloved ekphrasis series focuses on dance and poetry through the eyes of one of the twentieth century’s greatest critics\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I am interested at the moment in recalling to you how it looks when one sees dancing as non-professionals do, in the way you yourselves I suppose look at pictures, at buildings, at political history or at landscapes or at strangers you pass on the street. Or as you read poetry.” —Edwin Denby\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter starting his career as a dancer with companies and troupes in Germany and Switzerland, Edwin Denby moved to Manhattan, where he formed friendships with prominent members of the New York School, including Frank O’Hara and John Ashbery, and artists such as Rudy Burckhardt. In his critical writing, he brought his experience as a dancer to the page along with a poet’s sensibility, distinguishing himself as an authority through delicate observation and illustrative prose. This collection of writings highlights Denby’s interdisciplinary scope and range of expression, as well as his sharp, singular voice and empirical sensibility toward all works of art.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThis Still Moment\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e pairs Denby’s landmark essays on dance criticism and portraits of major performers, such as Vaslav Nijinsky, with selections of his poetry. The writer and editor Cal Revely-Calder further contextualizes Denby’s life and work in his insightful introduction.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59910674809216,"sku":null,"price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/That_Still_Moment_-_Poetry_and_Essays_on_Dance.jpg?v=1789652551"},{"product_id":"hebdomeros-a-novel-a-novel-giorgio-de-chirico","title":"Hebdomeros - A Novel Giorgio de Chirico (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHebdomeros - A Novel Giorgio de Chirico\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eThis seminal 1929 surrealist novel by the painter Giorgio de Chirico merges the realms of dream and reality.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the artist’s only novel, de Chirico invites the reader into a world where language, time, space, and meaning are fluid, highlighting themes of mystery, myth, and the uncanny. Following the titular character Hebdomeros as he embarks on a series of philosophical musings and bizarre experiences divorced from a specific place or time, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eHebdomeros\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e embraces ambiguity in a profound exploration of the subconscious mind. Highly visual passages evoke the landscapes and compositions of de Chirico’s metaphysical paintings, and non sequiturs mirror the freedom that Surrealism allowed for in art of all categories.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn introduction by the scholar Fabio Benzi contextualizes de Chirico’s work within a broader modernist framework, highlighting its influence on surrealism and its resonance with the literary and artistic movements of the early twentieth century.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59910698762624,"sku":null,"price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/Hebdomeros-ANovel-ANovelGiorgiodeChirico.jpg?v=1789652733"},{"product_id":"a-dream-of-stone-marguerite-yourcenar","title":"A Dream of Stone - Marguerite Yourcenar (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Dream of Stone - Marguerite Yourcenar\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eA selection of texts on art and artists by the Belgian French novelist and essayist Marguerite Yourcenar\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBest known for her seminal novel \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eMemoirs of Hadrian\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1951), an imagined autobiography of the Roman emperor, Yourcenar brings the same depth of inquiry and inventive speculation to her lyric prose on art and artists in this newest title in the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e series. In these five jewel-like essays, Yourcenar meditates on the decay of time, the desire both satiated and refused by art, and the imagery animating the lives, works, and dreams of Michelangelo, Dürer, and Piranesi. And in an intimate mediation on the historical novel, Yourcenar describes her own encounters with how language reveals the past. Together these exquisite essays explore that fundamental awe―perhaps even the terror―at the heart of an encounter with beauty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn introduction by John Knight sketches the life of this extraordinary writer and situates Yourcenar’s unique criticism within her attempt to capture the great struggle required to make an enduring work of art. Subtle and learned, Yourcenar’s essays are like stepping stones into the past and the shadowy business of artistic creation. Bringing back into print Yourcenar’s seminal essay “The Dark Brain of Piranesi” in the poet Richard Howard’s elegant English translation, conducted in collaboration with the author, this volume also collects texts from \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThat Mighty Sculptor, Time\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1983) into a particularly focused volume.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59910707642752,"sku":null,"price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/ADreamofStone-MargueriteYourcenar.jpg?v=1789653320"},{"product_id":"my-morandi-luigi-magnani","title":"My Morandi - Luigi Magnani (Ekphrasis Collection)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMy Morandi - Luigi Magnani\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eThe Italian painter Giorgio Morandi is recounted as a friend and artist in this memoir by Luigi Magnani, an art historian and devoted collector of Morandi’s work.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the most beloved and critically acclaimed artists of the twentieth century, Giorgio Morandi painted serial and permutational arrangements of everyday objects that elevated the quotidian into the sublime. In 1940, he struck up a decades-long friendship with entrepreneur, musicologist, art historian, and collector Luigi Magnani.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eMy Morandi\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is the first full-length English translation of Magnani’s memoir reflecting on his bond with the artist and his long-standing academic and personal interest in Morandi’s paintings. In \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eMy Morandi\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Magnani considers the artist’s aloofness from artistic trends and his dedication to painting for a small, discerning audience. He locates Morandi within the art-historical canon as well as recounts their artistic and intellectual kinship, which led to a unique, rich collection of Morandi’s work at Magnani’s villa in Mamiano, now the Magnani Rocca Foundation. Magnani’s personal collection of Morandi’s work was on view at David Zwirner, New York, in 2025. Originally published in 1982 in Italian, this memoir is accompanied by a new preface by Alice Ensabella and includes an introduction by Stefano Roffi, director of the Magnani Rocca Foundation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59910722027904,"sku":null,"price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2009\/7115\/files\/MyMorandi-LuigiMagnani.jpg?v=1789653085"}],"url":"https:\/\/unitom.info\/collections\/ekphrasis.oembed?page=2","provider":"UNITOM","version":"1.0","type":"link"}