You searched for temple of invention history of a national landmark - Page 9 of 24

150 Gardens You Need to Visit before You Die profiles a selection of the most beautiful gardens in the world, renowned for their exceptional flora, imaginative designs, and inspiring locations. From Kew Gardens in London to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, and from Monet’s garden at Giverny to the Zen garden of the Ryōan-ji Temple in Kyoto, this handsomely bound book captures in words and images the most notable features of these 150 glorious, not-to-be-missed gardens. An essential bucket list book for garden lovers!

The Shikoku Pilgrimage on the island of the same name is one of the few circular pilgrimages in the world. At 1,200 kilometers in length, the trail includes 88 temples and passes through diverse countryside such as idyllic bamboo groves, deserted beaches and ordinary Japanese neighborhoods. There is a long tradition of pilgrimage in Japan, dating back at least to the time of the renowned monk, poet and philosopher Kobo Daishi (774-825) who is particularly associated with this trail.

John Lander, long-time resident of Japan, author and photographer, has visited and recorded every temple in evocative images, as well as providing fascinating details about the origin of the trail and what the pilgrimage means to the thousands who undertake it every year. The pilgrimage is undertaken for many reasons – to have a time of reflection away from everyday life, as a spiritual journey or as a healing period after a traumatic life experience. Along the way, pilgrims will encounter ordinary Japanese people and learn to understand the custom of o-settai, or charitable giving.

Art for Tribal Rituals is the outcome of extensive fieldwork carried out by Eberhard Fischer and Haku Shah in South Gujarat in 1969. After an initial survey tour to locate village shrines and sacred pilgrimage sites, as well as specialists in rituals and crafts, the two art-anthropologists stayed in the field to observe as silent participants oracle and spirit-healing sessions, a death ceremony and the worship of local deities by the village communities. Fischer and Shah documented their experiences in unprecedentedly detailed photographic sequences, and as well, took precise notation of what they observed. In addition, they spoke to the specialists and carefully noted their comments, which are reproduced in this book as individual “ indigenous voices ”.

This book of 528 pages and 823 photographs thus presents painted stones, large wooden stone-slabs and figures – representations of bodies for otherwise unsettled souls of the dead – but also monumental wooden crocodiles, revered with piles of terracotta votive offerings. They also documented the production, installation and worship of these icons and ritual objects. An astonishing variety of expressive forms are displayed by these spectacular field photographs, taken half a century ago.

This publication is a tribute to the artistic and ritualistic accomplishments of Adivasi ritual leaders, healers, and craftspeople of the past in a once remote area of Western India.

Austin is most definitely weird If by “weird”, you mean quirky, offbeat, intriguing, and utterly lovable. The city shares that uniquely Texan pride of place, and yet it has an independent spirit and character all its own. Locals and visitors alike should look no further than these pages to explore some of the weirdest corners of Austin. Try out the latest innovations in a technology petting zoo. Get your car washed among giant dinosaurs. If you dare, spend some time in a garden inspired by Alice Cooper. Soak up the sun on the only official nude beach in Texas. And, of course, in the city of music and food, catch a live show at the spot where Janis Joplin got her start, or enjoy soul food and soul music in someone’s big backyard. Savor some of the best tacos and tamales in a city known for amazing Mexican food.

In this guidebook, you’ll find out where all the secrets are hidden and learn the unknown stories behind them too. Whether you’ve lived here all your life, you’re just passing through, or something in between, you’ll become even more enamored with the capital of Texas in all its inventive, unabashed – and weird – glory.

The classic works of Chinese painting and calligraphy in the past dynasties selected in this series are mainly sketch paintings and corresponding letters, with a size and shape suitable for interior decoration and hanging, as well as easy to copy and appreciate, enabling readers to experience the beauty of traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy at close range. The series consists of five volumes covering some of the most significant works in the history of Chinese calligraphy.

This series contains:
Mi Fu’s Works of Calligraphy: Concern Letter to Mr. Dou; Letter to Linyi Envoy; Letter to My Friend Xisheng; In a Satchel: Letter to Jingwen
Su Shi’s Works of Calligraphy: Returning Home: Letter to Zhang Zihou; Crossing Sea: Letter to Zhao Mengde; Chance Meeting: Letter to Du Mengjian; Encounter: Letter to Dong Yue
Works of Calligraphy in the Jin and Tang Dynasties: Lu Ji: Recovery Letter; Yang Ningshi: Leek Flowers; Wang Xun: Letter to Boyuan; Li Bai: Ascent to Yangtai Temple
Three Greatest Works of Calligraphy in Running Script: Wang Xizhi: Preface to Poems Composed at Orchid Pavilion; Yan Zhenqing: Manuscript of Eulogy to My Nephew; Su Shi: Poem Composed in Huangzhou on Coldfood Festival
Wang Xizhi’s and Wang Xianzhi’s Works of Calligraphy: Wang Xizhi: Letter to Xie An and Xie Wan, Work of Getting a Letter; Taking Post in Distance: Letter to Zhou Fu; Letters of Recovery, Health Inquiry, and Orange-sending; Wang Xianzhi: Mid-Autumn Festival

Edinburgh is rightly celebrated for its famous historical and cultural attractions. But for the discerning visitor it has much more to offer away from the well-worn tourist trail. This book takes you to hidden corners and secret sights in this city of contrasts, exploring fascinating locations unknown even to most residents, and revealing unexpected aspects of some familiar local landmarks. Marvel at a unique underground temple hewn out of the living rock; learn how a world-famous illusionist came to be buried here – with his dog; find out why the city council once commissioned an enormous electric blanket; look out for the ordinary Edinburgh post box with an explosive history. Discover the human stories behind a wide range of places, both exceptional and commonplace, bringing to life the greatly varied cityscape where people have been leaving their mark for at least 5,000 years.

From the 2nd century CE to the 19th century, the people of the fertile estuary of the great Mekong River created treasures of sacred art, architecture and accomplished feats of water engineering that are coming to light in Vietnam’s vigorous new archaeological research programmes. The large stilted wooden houses of Oc Eo, the early Venice of the maritime routes of the East in the earliest centuries of the first millennium, drew in ships with precious cargoes from Rome, India and China to trade while waiting for the change of the monsoon wind to continue their voyages.

Chinese annals record that the early polity they called ‘Funan’ ruled 1,000 km of coastline along the shipping route. Among the earliest Mekong Delta Buddhist icons are a breathtakingly elegant 2.7m tall Buddha carved in hardwood that has survived more than 1000 years in the delta mud and a 29cm bronze Buddha that arrived on a trading ship from the 6th century Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. Very early Vishnu statues wear high, floral mitres and clasp war conch-trumpets on their left hip, and Shiva’s face stares out from stone lingas.

The Ho Chi Minh Museum collection conserves diverse masterpieces of the art from Vietnam, from the prehistoric Dong Son drums of the Red River Delta in the north to the vibrant Hindu and Buddhist statuary of the former kingdoms of Champa in Central Vietnam. In addition, there is an immense array of art and imperial furnishings of the last Vietnamese dynasty, the Nguyen, which was founded in the Mekong Delta at the beginning of the 19th century. There are refined inlaid wooden cabinets, sets of the finest blue and white ceramics and embroidered silken court costumes worn by the royal family, as well as huge wooden and ceramic Buddha statues which played crucial social and political roles in establishing the dynasty and quelling its foes.

‘Janamsakhis’ are stories about the life of Guru Nanak (1469–1539). They have been circulating orally, in writing, and in paintings and illustrations. B40 is one such documented artistic expression held at the British Library in London. Its 57 beautiful iconotexts narrate the life of the first Sikh Guru from his first day at school to his final moments. The talented artist Alam Chand Raj illustrates Guru Nanak’s sensuous feel for the all-inclusive Divine, his interior and exterior journeys, his manifold inter-faith conversations, his environmental aesthetics, and his marvelous actions. In the language of vibrant colors Guru Nanak’s transcendent materiality and world-affirming existentiality are exquisitely written out. The stylistic infusions of Punjabi art, Chaurapanchasika style and folk-art style of the Rajasthani Malwa School bring the historical Guru close to the viewer. Along with the artwork there is the rich text by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh explaining the stories from a 21st-century perspective. She insightfully explores the question – how are the Janamsakhis relevant to the political, societal, economic, and environmental state of the world at present.

The textiles here have been organized by several broad categories, beginning with type, and then by area of origin, dating and style. First are ikats and prints from India: the ikats woven in silk as “double ikats” and known as patola, and two prints that are cotton chintz. Though made in India, these textiles were all found in Sumatra, with the patola being highly-prized heirlooms used ceremonially, and the prints being used widely in trade across Indonesia from Sumatra to the Eastern Islands.

Next are ikats and other woven textiles organized by origin, moving West to East, from Sumatra to Borneo, Sulawesi, Bali, and Timor. For all of these pieces, the material was hand spun or commercial cotton, silk, or sometimes a mixture of the two.

Lastly are batiks, mostly from Java. The first three are the oldest batiks in this collection, each of which has been analyzed by radiocarbon dating and found to originate in the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively. These batiks are made on hand spun cotton.

The batiks here are from Sumatra and Java (the great mother-temple of batik artistry), ranging in age, after the proto-batiks described above, from the early 19th century to mid-20th century. They vary in style from the most traditional, including those distinctive in color and pattern from the kratons (palaces) of the sultans, Indian influences from chintz and other Indian imports, to Chinese-inspired depictions of animals, insects, plants and flowers, to French-inspired Art Nouveau mostly via Batik Belanda.

This collection of Indonesian textiles and some related Indian textiles that were popular and influential in Indonesian usage and design came together in a series of collecting periods spanning nearly 40 years.

Written jointly by Graham Watts and Woranuj (Laem) Maneerungsee, both journalists in Thailand, in Thai and English under the pen name Tamlin Bea. This book draws on the famous Thai epic poem and imagines two young teenagers magically transported into the story of The Ramekin.

Totsaken lands two contemporary Thai teenagers in the bewildering world of The Ramakien, in which Prince Ram, assisted by the wily Hanuman and his monkey army, seek to rescue Ram’s wife Sida from the clutches of the Demon King. In this telling, they cannot do it without the help of the children, a girl with near superpower martial arts skills and a boy with nerdish technical skills and the courage of a lion. In the process they have to defend their own world from the rage of the Demon King.

Totsaken is a fast-paced and exhilarating novel requiring no prior knowledge of the poem but brings the Thai epic vividly to life for a new generation. It’s a fantastical, gripping and exhilarating novel.

This book is an attempt to answer the questions: What makes historic architecture awe-inspiring? How have the Indian architectural masterpieces retained their vitality even after so many centuries? What spatial qualities and organizational principles have rendered them timeless?

At the outset the author sets forth fundamental Indian philosophical and ideological tenets—the Indian notion of time, the duality of existence, the concept of a world within a world, the idea of opposites as counterpoints, the role of semiotics in providing visual clues in architecture, and the changing perception of space while in movement. The study unravels the inherent virtues of traditional Indian architecture, inferred and exemplified in a range of traditional Indian architectural examples.

Discussion of each site is illustrated with a wealth of visual materials—photographs, architectural plans with analytic overlays and volumetric constructs. Miniature-style reproductions drawn for each example reconstruct their spatial, environmental and experiential qualities and are used to demonstrate the universality of communication in Indian architecture.

The papers published in this collection (supported by a generous donation from Abegg-Stiftung), all presented at Dyes in History and Archaeology meetings, demonstrate how dyes were used through the centuries. If one century is chosen – the 17th century, for example – a fascinating comparison can be made between the dyes and dyeing methods used in Europe, in Turkey, in South America and in Japan, not only on textiles, but also in the pigments used for painting.

Taking a different approach, chemical analysis has assisted detective work enabling a distinction to be made between rather similar 18th-century textiles with chinoiserie motifs, not all of which were Chinese in origin.

Over the long time scale covered in this book, many developments took place and are described in its pages. One of the most exotic of dyes, shellfish purple, was used in Late Bronze Age wall paintings dated to the 17th century BC at Akrotiri, while over 3000 years later the brilliantly colored, but sometimes impermanent synthetic dyes, devised by chemists, appeared on the market: the azo dyes, fluorescein, the eosins and others. A long and distinguished history of the use of color, a glorious variety of dyes revealed – the diversity of dyes in history and archaeology.

This book addresses a phenomenon that pervades the field of art history: the fact that English has become a widely adopted language. Art history employs language in a very particular way, one of its most basic aims being the verbal reconstruction of the visual past. The book seeks to shed light on the particular issues that English’s rise to prominence poses for art history by investigating the history of the discipline itself: specifically, the extent to which the European tradition of art historical writing has always been shaped by the presence of dominant languages on the continent.

What artistic, intellectual, and historical dynamics drove the pattern of linguistic ascendance and diffusion in the art historical writing of past centuries? How have the immediate, practical ends of writing in a common language had unintended, long-term consequences for the discipline? Were art historical concepts transformed or left behind with the onset of a new lingua franca, or did they often remain intact beneath a shifting veneer of new words?

Includes 10 essays in English, four in Italian, and one in German.

Text in English, German and Italian.

British flower painting has its own unique, if relatively recent, history, but it can only be judged in the light of the wider history of the subject and by comparison with other, particularly European, countries. The first chapter of A History and Dictionary of British Flower Painters, therefore, sets the scene with a brief introduction to floral art world wide before the next four chapters concentrate on British flower painting in the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The dictionary provides the biographical details of almost 1,000 British flower painters, offering information regarding their specialities, awards and exhibitions.

Sources of yellow natural dyes provide a leitmotif running through the papers contained in this volume. Sawwort is the source of a yellow dye that played an important part in textile dyeing in 15th-century Europe and was traded by the Florentine dye company of Francescodi Giuliano Salviati. It is less well known than weld, also traded by the Salviati company and used all over Europe as well as in Iran for dyeing Persian carpets. Some sources of yellow dye also have a pharmaceutical role: such as chamomile, present among the named boxes of ‘simples’ housed at the Spezieria di Santa Maria della Scala, Rome.

Not every paper presented at the 35th and 36th meetings of Dyes in History and Archaeology held in Pisa (2016) and Hampton Court (2017) focused on yellow dyes, however. Other topics discussed and presented in this book include the fascinating story of Cornelis Drebbel, the scarlet cochineal dye he discovered and its subsequent history; a Victorian carpet manufacturer who used the lichen dye cudbear; and non-destructive methods of examination of Japanese textiles.

“A history of cool.” — Airmail

“Without a doubt she is the great reference of photography in the Hip Hop Culture, with photos that are already the history of contemporary culture of the 20th century.” — Staf Magazine

“In over 240 pages, the book encapsulates the spirit of history-making generations and their influence on fashion and wider visual culture.” — The Luupe

Covering four decades of photography, this book serves as a stunning snapshot of Beckman’s significance in the world of art, photojournalism, music, fashion, and popular culture – but most prevalently, it’s a testament to her unique ability to extract beauty from the outliers of society. With written contributions from Beckman’s peers including academia’s Jason King, Chair of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music & Vivien Goldman Author & Professor at NYU; journalists Vikki Tobak, and co-founder of PAPER, Kim Hastreiter; visual artist Cey Adams; music legends Sting, Run DMC, Paul Weller, Salt-n-Pepa, Belinda Carlisle, and Slick Rick; and fashion’s Dapper Dan, Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, Levi’s Chad Hinson – Rebels: From Punk to Dior showcases Janette Beckman’s influence in her realm.

In addition to publishing five books, Janette Beckman’s work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide and is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Museum of the City of New York, and the British National Portrait Gallery. She is represented by the Fahey Klein Gallery.

This monograph is the first title in a new series titled Opera Maestra, specifically focused on the work and itinerary of the artists who made history, from an unprecedented perspective. The series begins with Leonardo da Vinci, captured by the expert Marco Versiero.

At the core the analysis is the specific soul, among the thousands of Leonardo’s, that Marco Versiero wants to underline: his mirror-soul; namely, Leonardo’s eye between Human and Nature. In other words, the eye that allowed the artist to mediate between his favourite dimensions (the human and the natural one), and allowed them to communicate with each other without cancelling themselves, but rather managing to reflect one in the other’s light, like in front of a mirror.

An essential biographical note introduces the reader to Marco Versiero’s pages, enriched with 61 detailed pictures. The pictures, proposing not only a selection of Leonardo’s paintings but also of his drawings, enhanced with comprehensive captions, tell the itinerary of the genius from the years of his apprenticeship in Verrocchio’s workshop till the days of his maturity.

KS Radhakrishnan is a leading contemporary sculptor of national and international acclaim whose sculptures are exclusively executed in the medium of bronze. His intervention in the revival of figurative tradition in Indian sculptural parlance with an emphasis on the body has been acknowledged as a significant art historical milestone. Trained under the supervision of two important modernists Ramkinkar Baij and Sarbari Roy Choudhury, Radhakrishnan has developed an inimitable style which emphasise fluid, dynamic, extra-ordinary body types using two characters Musui and Maiya. His works have been displayed in “Triennalle India” (1990),” Hippodrome d’Longchamp,” Paris (1996); “Espace Michel Simon-Noisy Le Grand,” France (1996), “Beijing Biennale” (2012).

R Sivakumar’s informative essay on the sculptural journey of KS Radhakrishnan is an art historical gem for serious lovers of art. Mapping with Figures is a highly focused study of the artist’s works from the past fifteen years which offers an insightful account of the significance of KS Radhakrishnan in contemporary Indian art. It restores a sense of history, complemented by a fascinating background check on the formations of Radhakrishnan as an artist.

Contents: 1. Publisher’s Note; 2. Foreword by Director, NGMA, Bengaluru; 3. Mapping the world with Human Figure by R Sivakumar; 4. Biographical Profile.

• Rare monograph on one of India’s finest sculptors
• Richly textured narrative placing the artist in the context of Indian modernism

KS Radhakrishnan is a leading contemporary sculptor of national and international acclaim whose sculptures are exclusively executed in the medium of bronze. His intervention in the revival of figurative tradition in Indian sculptural parlance with an emphasis on the body has been acknowledged as a significant art historical milestone. Trained under the supervision of two important modernists Ramkinkar Baij and Sarbari Roy Choudhury, Radhakrishnan has developed an inimitable style which emphasize fluid, dynamic, extra-ordinary body types using two characters Musui and Maiya. His works have been displayed in “Triennalle India” (1990),” Hippodrome d’Longchamp,” Paris (1996); “Espace Michel Simon-Noisy Le Grand,” France (1996), “Beijing Biennale” (2012).

Contents: 1. Publisher’s Note; 2. Foreword by Director, NGMA, Bengaluru; 3. Mapping the world with Human Figure by R Sivakumar; 4. Biographical Profile.

R Sivakumar, one of the foremost art historians in India, is professor of History of Art at Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan. He was responsible for charting out a seminal scholarship on the modernist interventions of artists from Santiniketan. His significant contribution to Indian art was heralded with his monograph Santiniketan: The Making of a Contextual Modernism (1997), which was followed by extensive studies and curatorial manuscripts on prominent Indian artists including Rabindranath Tagore, K.G. Subramanyan, Benodebehari Mukherjee, Ramkinkar Baij and others. His significant publications include The Santiniketan Murals, 1995; K.G. Subramanyan: A Retrospective, 2003; My Pictures: A Collection of
Paintings by Rabindranath Tagore, 2005.

This interdisciplinary scholarly catalog examines Motherland, an important series of photo-performances by the acclaimed artist Pushpamala N. on the Indian nation personified as woman, mother, and goddess. The series shows Pushpamala taking on Mother India’s myriad personifications: nubile beauty and saintly renunciant; militant goddess wearing a garland of skulls or receiving the ultimate sacrifice of a warrior’s head; the mother-surgeon activating the birth of model citizens; and destitute widow, bent from years of abject labor. As she does so, she reveals that nations are invented, as are national embodiments. The artist’s burden is to reveal the ingredients of such inventions.

The Willett Collection is unique. It is the only collection formed to illustrate what 19th century businessman Henry Willett called ‘popular British history’. The collection of nearly 2,000 items is arranged here in chapters corresponding to Willett’s own cataloguing system. Many of the groupings commemorate historical events and personalities, such as ‘Royalty and Loyalty’, its content running from the Tudors through to Queen Victoria, and ‘Statesmen’, with its ceramic representations of Disraeli and Gladstone. Other chapters focus on social history, from the grisly murder in the Red Barn to bull baiting, pugilism, animal husbandry and teetotalism.

Stella Beddoe’s engaging, informative text places each item in context, exploring the maker and the subject matter depicted. The introduction on Henry Willett the man reveals the life that spawned such a diverse, irreplaceable collection of ceramics. The items, depicted in more than 800 colour illustrations, comprise hollow ware and flat ware, ornamental busts and figures, dating from the late sixteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. They represent a complete range of ceramic bodies and manufacturing technology.