What do the thousands of images of bras and panties on perfectly sculpted bodies that we see spread across billboards and magazines say about our society? Many women indulge in lingerie to please men. Yet, since Antiquity, women have always kept lingerie hidden away under outer garments. Thus, lingerie must be more than erotic bait. Authors Muriel Barbier and Shazia Boucher have researched iconography to explore the relationship of lingerie to ...

Pop Art, an abbreviation of Popular Art, is a movement that found its origins in England in the 1950s but realised its full potential in New York in the 60s. The name referred to the interest of a number of artists, such as Robert Rauschenberg (born 1925) and Jasper Johns (born 1930), in the imagery and techniques of consumerism and popular culture. Pop Art, led by the cult figure of Andy Warhol, was probably the most extraordinary innovation of ...

Impression who better than Monet in 1867, could have defined what was to become the most well-known and beloved pictorial movement? Nevertheless, it took more than thirty years for these artists (Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir) to be accepted and acknowleged by their contemporaries. Impressionism was the first step towards modern painting, and it revolutionned an artistic background suffocated by academic norms.Taking the Impressionistic ...

Nave art first became popular at the end of the 19th century. Until that time this form of expression, created by untrained artists and characterised by spontaneity and simplicity, enjoyed little recognition from professional artists and art critics. Influenced by primitive arts, nave painting is distinguished by the fluidity of its lines, vivacity, and joyful colours, as well as by its rather clean-cut, simple shapes.
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The Renaissance began at the end of the 14th century in Italy and by the second half of the 16th century has extended across the whole of Europe. The rediscovery of the splendour of ancient Greece and Rome marked the beginning of the rebirth of the arts following the break-down of the dogmatic certitude of the Middle Ages. A number of artists began to innovate in the domains of painting, as well as sculpture and architecture. Depicting the ideal ...

Meticulously detailed drawings, a simple technique, and bright colors are three important characteristics of Naive art, which for a long time was considered <<primitive>> or even retarded. Now Naive art is recognized for its refreshing vision of the world. The artists find their subjects in everyday life, yet transcend the mundane through imagination and poetic insight.<P>This book explores the different roots and traditions of ...

The Bauhaus movement is one of the most significant and consequential cultural emergences of the twentieth century. Walter Gropius founded this institute of design in 1919 in Weimar and it was effective in Weimar, Dessau and Berlin. The teachings of the Bauhaus in design are still observed in today's architecture and design schools but also in general art classes. The products of the Bauhaus, such as Marcel Breuer's well-known steel pipe ...

Symbolism appeared in Europe and the United States between the 1880s and the early 20th century. The Symbolists, fascinated with ancient mythology, attempted to escape the reign of rational thought imposed by science. They wished to transcend the world of the visible and the rational in order to attain the world of pure thought, constantly flirting with the limits of the unconscious.
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With the help of numerous color reproductions, this book retraces the life of Caravaggio--the 16th-century Italian artist--and analyzes his work while illustrating the scope of his influence on the greatest artists.
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Music is not only a pleasure for the ear, it is the echo of the heartbeat, breath and desire. Professor Dpp revisits music as the catalyst for dance, love and sex. From the music sheet to dance and through instruments, music is the expression of our profound desires and most violent passions. The text revisits the history of music and art from the dances of the first men to pop and electronic music and through belly dance.
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