The rules of composition have changed. Discover the new ideas that shape the art we make today.Art has changed beyond recognition since the principles of harmonious composition were established in classical times. From the invention of photography to the digital revolution, technological and social advances have transformed the way we see the world. This new vision, influenced by changing attitudes not least towards gender roles and the West's colonial history, is ...

For most of the past 300 million years, the world’s continents were interlinked as the supercontinents Pangaea and then Gondwana. Around 50 million years ago, Australia tore itself free from Antarctica to become the huge, splendidly isolated island it is today. Over time, its creatures began to evolve in ways not seen anywhere else on Earth, with tree-climbing crocodiles, gigantic venomous lizards, walking omnivorous bats and flesh-eating kangaroos roaming the continent.Prehist...

The heroism of the English priest-martyrs during penal times is hard to understate. St John Southworth, whose body lies in a glass casket in Westminster Cathedral, lived and died tirelessly serving the persecuted Catholics of London, praying for his monarch and the country he loved so dearly. This fully updated biography tells of the life, ministry, imprisonment and death of Westminster's Parish Priest.

For skeptics, art lovers, and the millions of us who visit art galleries every year—and are confused—What Are You Looking At? by former director of London’s Tate Gallery Will Gompertz is a wonderfully lively, accessible narrative history of Modern Art, from Impressionism to the present day.What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will ...

***SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING**LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE*Shortlisted for Waterstones’s “Book of the Year 2022”One of:The New Yorker’s “The Best Books of 2022 So Far”Telegraph’s “50 best books of 2022”Sapiens for natural history: a stirring, eye-opening journey into deep time, from the Ice Age to the first appearance of microbial life 550 million ...

Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's most acclaimed writers, brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life in this monumental book in his The History of England series, charting the course of English history from Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I.Rich in detail and atmosphere, Peter Ackroyd's Tudors is the story of Henry VIII's relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief reign of the teenage king, Edward...

A visit to an art gallery can be a baffling experience - a bewildering parade of paintings, sculptures, artists and movements with little perspective on how they all fit together. 50 Art Ideas you Really Need to Know is here to help. For all those who don't know their Degas from Dali or their Monet from their Mondrian, this informative and insightful guide discusses 50 of the most important and influential concepts in art from the Ancient Greeks to the present.Taking in the definin...

The tragic history of Queen Mary I and her brief reign of terror against Protestants in sixteenth century England—includes illustrations.When Mary Tudor, eldest daughter of Henry VIII, succeeded to the throne of England in 1553, she enjoyed a degree of popularity rarely seen on the accession of a British monarch. Yet at her death only five years later, she was so reviled by her people that she was posthumously awarded the sobriquet Bloody Mary. The change of public...

In today's art world many strange, even shocking, things qualify as art. In this Very Short Introduction Cynthia Freeland explains why innovation and controversy are valued in the arts, weaving together philosophy and art theory with many fascinating examples. She discusses blood, beauty, culture, money, museums, sex, and politics, clarifying contemporary and historical accounts of the nature, function, and interpretation of the arts. Freeland also propels us into the future by surveying c...

An introduction to the rich and diverse history of contemporary art over the past 60 years—from Modernism and minimalism to artists like Andy Warhol and Marina Abramović.Featuring lavish illustrations, this is the perfect gift for art history fans and anyone looking for a more inclusive perspective on ‘the old boys’ club.’Encountering a work of contemporary art, a viewer might ask, "What does it mean?" "Is it really art?" and "Why does it c...

Mary Tudor was the first female English sovereign a ruling queen who was not simply the consort of the king. Yet little is known about this complex woman, whose reputation for ruthlessness belied her emotional fragility and who, like her half-sister Elizabeth, had to survive from childhood in the turbulent Tudor court.David Loades explores the twisting path whereby Princess Mary, daughter of a rejected wife, Catherine of Aragon, and a capricious father - Henry VIII - endured disfav...

What is it to be a work of art? Renowned author and critic Arthur C. Danto addresses this fundamental, complex question. Part philosophical monograph and part memoiristic meditation, What Art Is challenges the popular interpretation that art is an indefinable concept, instead bringing to light the properties that constitute universal meaning. Danto argues that despite varied approaches, a work of art is always defined by two essential criteria: meaning and embodiment, as well a...