Books by Ingo F. Walther
Van Gogh. The Complete Paintings
by Rainer Metzger, Ingo F. Walther
Today, the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) are among the most well known and celebrated in the world. In paintings such as Sunflowers, The Starry Night, and Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, we recognize an artist uniquely dexterous in the representation of texture and mood, light and place.Yet in his lifetime, van Gogh battled not only the disinterest of his contemporary audience but also devastating bouts of mental illness. His episodes of depression and anxiety would eventually claim his life, when, in 1890, he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday.This comprehensive study of Vincent van Gogh offers a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings, alongside writings and essays, charting the life and work of a master who continues to tower over art to this day.
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Van Gogh. The Complete Paintings
by Rainer Metzger, Ingo F. Walther
Vincent van Gogh’s story is one of the most ironic in art history. Today, he is celebrated the world over as one of the most important painters of all time, recognized with sell-out shows, feted museums, and record prices of tens of millions of dollars at auction.
Yet as he was painting the canvases that would subsequently become these sell-out modern masterpieces, van Gogh was battling not only the disinterest of his contemporary audiences but also devastating bouts of mental illness, with episodes of depression and paralyzing anxiety which would eventually claim his life in 1890, when he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday.
This comprehensive study of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) pairs a detailed monograph on his life and art with a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings.
About the series
Bibliotheca Universalis — Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!
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$30.00
Art for All. Impressionists
by Ingo F. Walther, Bernd Growe, Christoph Heinrich, Matthias Arnold, Peter H. Feist
This inspiring collection covers the work, the lives, and the enduring impact of five key Impressionists, in one volume that’s a primer and a celebration of probably the most popular artistic genre of all time. Each featured artist broke boundaries in different ways, astounding late 19th-century society with their boldness of vision and technique.Edgar Degas explored movement and the human form with masterly style and innovative compositions, most famously of dancers, racehorses, and busy streetscapes. Claude Monet was a maestro of light and atmosphere, capturing the fleeting moment with his iconic water lilies and series paintings. Pierre-Auguste Renoir celebrated beauty and sensuality, bringing vibrancy to everyday scenes with lush brushwork and a radiant palette. Paul Gauguin sought inspiration in the exotic, using bold colors and symbolism, often to unsettling effect. Finally, Vincent van Gogh’s highly emotive use of color and vigorous brushstrokes conveyed his private turmoil and did much to lay the groundwork for Expressionism.Together, these five creative masters redefined what art dared to achieve, emphasizing personal expression alongside their exploration of light, color, and perspective. Their output marked a pivotal shift to modern artistic freedoms and expectations.This collection looks beyond their most famous works and includes an extensive text on each artist’s oeuvre, alongside a detailed biography and more than 400 high-quality color illustrations.
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$40.00
Masterpieces of Western Art
This volume traces the history of painting from medieval times to modern times with a focus on each era and its major artists.
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Van Gogh
Today, the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) are among the most well known and celebrated in the world. In Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, and many paintings and drawings beyond, we recognize an artist uniquely dexterous in the portrayal of mood and place through paint, pencil, charcoal, or chalk.Yet as he was deploying the lurid colors, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms that would subsequently make his name, van Gogh battled not only the disinterest of his contemporary audience but also devastating bouts of mental illness. His episodes of depression and anxiety would eventually claim his life, when, in 1890, he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday.This richly illustrated introduction follows Vincent van Gogh’s story from his earliest pictures of peasants and rural workers, through his bright Parisian period, to his final, feverish burst of creative energy in the South of France during the last two and a half years of his life.
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Impressionism
It was a dappled and daubed harbor scene that gave Impressionism its name. When Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet was exhibited in April 1874, critics seized upon the work’s title and its loose stylistic rendering of light and motion upon water to deride this new, impressionistic tendency in art.
As with many seminal art movements, the critics got their comeuppance. Today, Impressionism is a close contender for the world’s favorite period of painting. With blockbuster exhibitions, record-breaking auction prices, and packed museums, the works once dismissed as unfinished or imprecise are now beloved for their atmospheric evocation of time and place, as well as the stylistic flair of rapid brushstrokes upon canvas.
Despite its popularity and a whole host of publications, many areas and artists of Impressionism remain inadequately researched. This TASCHEN book fills the gap, raising the profile of unjustly neglected pioneers such as Berthe Morisot, Lucien Pissarro, and Gustave Caillebotte, while exploring the characteristics of Impressionism, from painting en plein air to vivid color contrasts, not only in the movement’s native France but also across the rest of Europe and North America.
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$30.00
Codices Illustres. the World's Most Famous Illuminated Manuscripts 400 To 1600
by Ingo F. Walther, Norbert Wolf
From The Book of Kells to Boccaccio's Decameron, from the Vienna Genesis to Dante's Divine Comedy: to open Codices illustres is to open the door into a precious, private world. Now in a revised format, this radiant book brings you face-to-face with 167 of the most exquisite and important manuscripts of the medieval age.
Presented in brilliant large-format reproductions, these paradigms of miniature painting and illumination from the 4th century to 1600 were once the property of some of the greatest power players in history. Now art-historical treasures, they are worth many millions and typically tucked away in private collections or closely guarded archives-until now.
Although the focus of this collection is on European manuscripts, examples from Mexican, Persian, and Indian tradition illustrate the refinement and intricacy of manuscript illumination in non-European cultures. An informative synopsis for each manuscript orients the reader at a glance, while a 36-page appendix contains biographies of the artists, as well as an extensive bibliography, an index, and a glossary for technical terms.
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Codices Illustres: The World's Most Famous Manuscripts
OPULENT REPRODUCTIONS OF ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS SPANNING 12 CENTURIES
This oversized and magnificently printed tour de force contains examples from 167 of the most dazzling and significant illuminated manuscripts in existence. Presented in chronological order, each reproduction illustrates a one-of-a-kind painting originally created for the church, for royalty or for the wealthiest private benefactors. Although the focus is on European manuscripts (French, Dutch, German, Italian, English and Spanish), nearly two dozen examples have also been included from Persia, Turkey and India cultures with their own rich traditions of exquisite miniature painting.
The highly readable text is both factual and informational. Each entry provides the date and place of origin, format, content, name of miniaturist, number of illustrations, owner and provenance for the featured manuscript. Enriching the facts are essays describing the circumstances of the commission, description of the technique, history of the workshop from which it came, and much more.
CODICES ILLUSTRES is an unparalleled reference, but also an irresistible story book, revealing to the reader the significance of imagery used, and sharing fascinating facts about the painters who created these treasures and the patrons who were lucky enough to possess them.
A thirty-six page appendix contains biographies of the artists, an extensive bibliography, an index, and a glossary in which the technical terms used in the book can quickly be found. Flanking the page numbers are charming characters and symbols taken from the manuscripts, providing a witty decorative grace note to what is already an embarrassment of riches. Of special note; a fifth color gold was used in the printing of two hundred and twelve pages of CODICES ILLUSTRES. This complicated and costly process is the only way to genuinely reproduce the lavish gilding used in so many medieval manuscripts and the book wouldnt be the same without it.
CODICES ILLUSTRES is an essential addition to the library of anyone with an interest illuminated manuscripts, medieval art, and the history of books before the invention of printing.
**Hardcover with Vellum Dust Jacket
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Chagall
by Rainer Metzger, Ingo F. Walther
For Marc Chagall (1887-1985), painting was an intricate tapestry of dreams, tales, and traditions. His instantly recognizable visual language carved out a unique early 20th-century niche, often identified as one of the earliest expressions of psychic experience.
Chagall's canvases are characterized by loose brushwork, deep colors, a particular fondness for blue, and a repertoire of recurring tropes including musicians, roosters, rooftops, flowers, and floating lovers. For all their ethereal charms, his compositions were often rich and complex in their references. They wove together not only colors and forms, but also his Jewish roots with his present encounters in Paris, markers of faith with gestures of love and symbols of hope with testimonies of trauma.
Across scenes of birth, love, marriage, and death, this dependable artist introduction explores the many versions of Chagall's rich vocabulary. From visions of his native Vitebsk in modern-day Belarus to images of the Eiffel Tower, we explore the unique aesthetic of one of the most readily identifiable modern masters and one of the most influential Jewish artists of all time.
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Paul Gauguin, 1848-1903 The Primitive Sophisticate
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was not cut out for finance. Nor did he last particularly long in the French Navy, or as a tarpaulin salesman in Copenhagen who did not speak Danish. He began painting in his spare time in 1873 and in 1876 took part in the Paris Salon. Three years later, he was exhibiting alongside Pissarro, Degas, and Monet.
A querulous, hard-drinking individual, Gauguin often called himself a savage. His close but fraught friendship with the similarly temperamental Vincent van Gogh climaxed in a violent incident in 1888, when van Gogh purportedly confronted Gauguin with a razor blade, and later cut off his own ear. Shortly afterwards, following the completion of a midcareer masterpiece Vision After the Sermon (1888), Gauguin took himself to Tahiti, with the intention of escaping "everything that is artificial and conventional..."
On Tahiti, Gauguin's unfettered joy in the island's nature, native people, and figurative images soared, spurring a prolific output of paintings and prints. In works such as Woman with a Flower (Vahine no te Tiare, 1891) and Sacred Spring: Sweet Dreams (Nave Nave Moe, 1894), he developed a distinct, Primitivist style that positively oozed with sunshine and color. In the tradition of exotic sensuality, his thick, buttery lashings of paint lingered in particular over the curves of Tahitian women.
Gauguin died alone, on Tahiti's neighboring Marquesas Islands, with many of his personal papers and belongings dispersed in a local auction. It was not until a smart art dealer began curating and showing Gauguin's work in Paris that the artist's profound influence began making itself felt, especially to the new breed of French avant-garde artists, such as Picasso and Matisse.This book offers the essential introduction the artist's truly colorful life, from the Impressionist salons of 1870s Paris to his final days in the Pacific, productive and passionate to the end.
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