In 2008, Bob Dylan became the first rock and roll artist to be honored with a Pulitzer Prize, for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power. A musician, poet, and celebrated nonconformist of unparallelled stature, Dylan is revered by critics and fans alikeas the most influential singer-songwriter in the history of popular music. Setting out in 1961 as a young man with a guitar and a harmonica, this elusive and enigmatic artist has grown into an international cultural icon as a tireless author of over 30 albums and a relentless live performer. The Music Icons series: Each title contains a painstaking selection of approximately 150 portraits, colorful posters and record covers, rare concert photos, and previously unpublished candid photos. "More bang for your buck! "... a fast-food, high-energy fix on the topic at hand." The New York Times Book Review"

Few music lovers realize that the arrangement of notes ontoday’s pianos was once regarded as a crime against God and nature,or that such legendary thinkers as Pythagoras, Plato, da Vinci,Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and Rousseau played a role inthe controversy. Indeed, from the time of the Ancient Greeksthrough the eras of Renaissance scientists and Enlightenmentphilosophers, the relationship between the notes of the musicalscale was seen as a key to the very nature of the universe. In this engaging and accessible account, Stuart Isacoff leads usthrough the battles over that scale, placing them in the context ofquarrels in the worlds of art, philosophy, religion, politics andscience. The contentious adoption of the modern tuning system knownas equal temperament called into question beliefs that hadlasted nearly two millenia–and also made possible the music ofBeethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, and all who followed. Filledwith original insights, fascinating anecdotes, and portraits ofsome of th

Claude Monet (1840-1926) was the most typical and the most individual Impressionist painter. His long life he dedicated to a pictorial exploration of the sensations which reality, and in particular landscape, offer the human eye. But while Monet the painter was faithful and persevering in the pursuit of his motifs, his personal life followed a more restless course. Parisian by birth, he discovered plein-air painting as a youth in the provinces, where one of his homes, Argenteuil, has come to represent the artistic flowering and official establishment of Impressionism as a movement, with Monet as its creative leader. In his endeavor to capture the ever-changing face of reality, Monet went beyond Impressionism and thereby beyond the confines of self-contained panel painting: in Giverny he painted the Poplars, Grain Stacks and Rouen Cathedral series in which he addressed one motif in constantly new variations. Here, too, Monet laid out the famous garden with its water-lily pond which he was to paint on huge canv

“The standard of photography is absolutelyamazing.”— Practical Photography The third editionof Reuters: Our World Now captures the key events from2009 in more than 350 powerful photographs. Organized into foursections that represent the four quarters of the year, the imagescover the full range of global reporting: politics, commerce,conflict, the environment, natural disasters, faith andfestivities, entertainment, celebrity, and lifestyle. The photosoffer a fresh take on the year’s most memorable events as well asplenty of less-familiar stories. This completely new edition includes special “Witness” features:in-depth photo essays from around the world, many of them createdby local photographers with unique access and insight. The bookprovides an indispensable visual record of our times. 360 color and10 black-and-white photographs.

What's the secret to writing a hit song? It's as simple as1-2-3-4-5-6 Innovative, practical, and inspiring, "Six Steps toSongwriting Success" presents a surefire step-by-step approach tomastering the elements consistently found in hit songs. AuthorJason Blume, a songwriter with the rare distinction of having hadsongs on the Country, Pop, and RandB charts simultaneously, haspacked this book with such key aids as the three-step lyric writingtechnique used by the pros; lyric, melody, and demo checklists; andtools for self-evaluation-plus many other exercises that work.Blume's warm, humorous style features motivational anecdotes andentertaining stories of how hit songs came to be written andrecorded. Get "Six Steps to Songwriting Success," and get on thecharts

Everyone, it seems, is a fan of Audrey's. She was Gigi, a princess, Holly Golightly, a nun, Maid Marian, even an angel. And we believed her in every role. But Audrey Hepburn was also one of the most admired and emulated women of the twentieth century, who encouraged women to discover and highlight their own strength. By example, she not only changed the way women dress--she forever altered the way they viewed themselves. But Audrey Hepburn's beauty was more than skin deep. "You know the Audrey you saw onscreen? Audrey was like that in real life, only a million times better," says designer Jeffrey Banks. For the first time, this style biography reveals the details--fashion and otherwise--that contributed so greatly to Audrey's appeal. Drawing on original interviews with Hubert de Givenchy, Gregory Peck, Nancy Reagan, Doris Brynner, and Audrey Wilder, as well as reminiscences of professional friends like Steven Spielberg, Ralph Lauren, noted Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby, Steven Meisel, and Kev

Antonio Stradivari (1644—1737) was a perfectionist whosesingle-minded pursuit of excellence changed the world of music. Inthe course of his long career in the northern Italian city ofCremona, he created more than a thousand stringed instruments;approximately six hundred survive, their quality unequalled by anysubsequent violin-maker. In this fascinating book, Toby Fabertraces the rich, multilayered stories of six of these peerlesscreations–five violins and a cello–and the one towering artist whobrought them into being. Blending history, biography, meticulousdetective work, and an abiding passion for music, Faber takes usfrom the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, andfrom the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the firstphonographic recordings. This magnificent narrative invites us toshare the life, the intrigue, and the incomparable beauty of theworld’s most marvelous stringed instruments.

The ubiquitous chair in all its shapes and forms (TASCHEN's 25th anniversary special edition) More than any other piece of furniture, the chair has been subjected to the wildest dreams of the designers. The particular curve of a back-rest, or the twist of a leg, the angle of a seat or the colour of the entire artefact all reflect the stylistic consciousness of each era. From Gerrit Rietveld and Alvar Aalto via Verner Panton to Eva Zeisel; from Art Nouveau to International Style, from Pop Art to Postmodernism, the phenomenon of the chair is so complex that it requires a reference work as comprehensive as this to do it full justice. They are all here: Thonet's bentwood chairs and Hoffmann's sitting-machines, Marcel Breuer's Wassily chair and Ron Arad's avant garde armchairs. The book, a slightly abbreviated version of our classic title 1000 Chairs, devotes one page to each chair, displayed on its own as pure form, with biographical and historical information about the chairs and their designers. A special treat

This new title in our Icons of Style series captures in 200gorgeous photographs the spirit of Ferrari, the legendarysportscar. This amazing book reveals the story of Ferrari's mostfamous models and presents its interesting history outside theracetrack.

Vincent van Gogh's paintings and his tempestuous life story continue to command enormous popular interest, inspiring numerous blockbuster exhibitions and biographies. This compact collection returns to what started it all--the paintings themselves. With a hand-held size, this volume manages to be affordable and comprehensive--a veritable dictionary of the artist's work. Included are all genres and periods of his work-from his gorgeous irises to his striking night skies and portraiture. Introducing the paintings is an intriguing essay by celebrated art critic Robert Hughes. This book provides an essential resource for students as well as for all art lovers. And it represents an extraordinary value. No other book on the artist offers as many images at this price.

Tote bags are becoming more and more popular because they are reusable and eco-friendly. This affordable and stylish alternative to the ubiquitous plastic bag is now also a fashion statement. The use of tote bags has spread from the eco-savvy shopper to the style-conscious consumer. With this shift, totes have moved from being a purely utilitarian item to a medium for self-expression. The printed design on the tote bag sends a message about the owner's personality. The graphics, imagery and messages displayed on tote bags are becoming increasingly sophisticated, subtle and imaginative. This book showcases some of the most striking, inventive and subversive of current examples of the tote. The featured totes come from over 120 illustrators, graphic designers and design studios around the world, from the Netherlands to Nigeria. Designs include floral prints, typography, illustrations and characters.

An invaluable guide for both casual opera fans and afficionados,this volume contains act-by-act de*ions of operatic worksranging from the early seventeenth century masterworks ofMonteverdi and Purcell to the modern classics of Menotti andBritten. Written in a lively anecdotal style, entries includecharacter de*ions, historical background, and much more.

In this compulsively readable, fascinating, and provocativeguide to classical music, Norman Lebrecht, one of the world's mostwidely read cultural commentators tells the story of the rise ofthe classical recording industry from Caruso's first notes to theheyday of Bernstein, Glenn Gould, Callas, and von Karajan. Lebrechtcompellingly demonstrates that classical recording has reached itsend point-but this is not simply an expos? of decline and fall. Itis, for the first time, the full story of a minor art form,analyzing the cultural revolution wrought by Schnabel, Toscanini,Callas, Rattle, the Three Tenors, and Charlotte Church. It is thestory of how stars were made and broken by the record business; howa war criminal conspired with a concentration-camp victim to createa record empire; and how advancing technology, boardroom wars,public credulity and unscrupulous exploitation shaped the musicalbackdrop to our modern lives. The book ends with a suitable shrineto classical recording: the author's critical selectio

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) is now universallyacclaimed: museums pride themselves on his paintings, crowds flockto his retrospectives. His work shows art at its mostlight-hearted, sensual and luminous. Renoir never wanted anythingugly in his paintings, nor any dramatic action. "I like pictureswhich make me want to wander through them when it's a landscape,"he said, "or pass my hand over breast or back if it's a woman."Renoir's entire oeuvre is dominated by the depiction of women.Again and again he painted "these faunesses with their poutinglips" (Mallarme) and invented a new image of feminity.

Life is life, and art is art. ""It is my wish to come very close, strikinglyclose, to the times in which we live, without submitting toartistic dogma...I need the connection to the world of senses, thecourage to portray ugliness, life as it comes."" - Otto Dix In the 1920s, Otto Dix was the artist ofNeue Sachlichkeit, the New Objectivity, par excellence. Painting ina very realistic, almost photographic style, he chose as subjectsthe poverty, violence, death, and war that he experienced as asoldier in World War I. After this terrible experience, he paintedthe famous triptych "The War." Dix staged the world as a play, a grotesquefarce. But the form he chose to do so was based on the classicalcanon of beauty. Dix lived his life and served art, for he adheredto the age-old rule that the American painter Ad Reinhardt put in anutshell: "Life is life, and art is art."

The Renaissance holds an undying place in our imagination, itsgreat heroes still our own, from Michelangelo and Leonardo to Danteand Chaucer. This period of profound evolution in European thoughtis credited with transforming the West from medieval to modern andproducing the most astonishing outpouring of artistic creation theworld has ever known. But what was it? In this masterly work, theincomparable Paul Johnson tells us. He explains the economic,technological, and social developments that provide a backdrop tothe age’s achievements and focuses closely on the lives and worksof its most important figures. A commanding short narrative of thisvital period, The Renaissance is also a universally profoundmeditation on the wellsprings of innovation.

Few works in the piano literature are as essential to an understanding ofeighteenth-century style as Mozart's solo sonatas. Almost without exception, they are works of great sensitivity, classic design, and a wonderful balance oflyricism and drama. This new compilation unites 6 of Mozart's most familiar sonatas, including Sonata No. 8 in A minor (K310); Sonata No. 10 in C major (K330); Sonata No. 11 in A major (K331); Sonata No. 12 in F major (K332); Sonata No. 14 in C minor (K457); Sonata No. 16 in C major (K545).