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Title: Ai Weiwei: And the Evolution of Political Art

Subtitle: Studies in World Art, Book 90

Author: Edward Lucie-Smith

Narrator: Anthony Howard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-16-17

Publisher: Cv Publications

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

To start this off I cant do better than quote the piece by Ben Luke, resident art critic of the London Evening Standard, that appeared shortly before my time of writing, and a couple of weeks before the relevant exhibition opened at the Royal Academy:

Ai Weiwei, Luke said, is probably the most famous artist in the world. He has transcended the world of museums and galleries, and exerts a newsworthiness that no other artist competes with.

This statement, if one bothers to look through the kind of publicity that Ai now attracts - thanks to the digital revolution most of this is easily available with a few clicks on ones computer - is self-evidently true. Even the very biggest art stars of the past - not Picasso in his dotage, for example, nor Andy Warhol in the 1960s during the epoch of The Factory and the New York nightclub Studio 54, nor even Joseph Beuys, at the time when his 'Organisation for Direct Democracy Through Referendum' formed the central point of reference at the 1972 Documenta 5 in Kassel - enjoyed the same degree of global celebrity.

In large part this is due to the operation of the Web itself. Picasso died in 1973, Beuys in 1986, and Warhol in 1987. Though we still speak glibly of the two latter as 'contemporary artists', really they belong to a different world in terms of celebrity and how it is created.

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Title: The Dance of Death

Subtitle: CV/Visual Arts Research, Book 179

Author: Edward Lucie-Smith

Narrator: Barry Shannon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-08-17

Publisher: Cv Publications

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Edward Lucie-Smith examines Hans Holbein's famous series of prints, The Dance of Death, together with associated works, such as various artistic variations on the theme of Death and the Maiden.

In addition, Lucie-Smith looks at some famous images made on the theme of war, notably the prints of Jacques Callot and the bitter social studies of Goya y Lucientes.

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Title: Goya: Between Two Worlds

Author: Edward Lucie-Smith

Narrator: Teague Dean

Format: Unabridged

Length: 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-29-17

Publisher: Cv Publications

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

A study of a later period album of drawings on the theme of old women and nightmares by Francisco Goya exhibited at the Courtauld Gallery London, with reference to his supernatural "Black Paintings".

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Title: Rogues' Gallery

Subtitle: The Rise (And Occasional Fall) of Art Dealers, the Hidden Players in the History of Art

Author: Philip Hook

Narrator: Nigel Patterson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-17

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Here for the first time is the history of art dealers, those extraordinary men and women who, over centuries (and almost entirely out of the public eye), built their profession on a singular skill: identifying the intangible but infinitely desirable qualities that characterize the greatest works of art - and finding clients for whom those qualities are irresistible.

Philip Hook's riveting narrative takes us from the early days of art dealing in Antwerp, where paintings were sold by weight, to the unassailable hauteur of contemporary galleries in New York, London, Paris, and beyond. Along the way, we meet a surprisingly wide-ranging cast of characters-from tailors, spies, and the occasional anarchist to scholars, aristocrats, and connoisseurs, some compelled by greed, some by their own vision of art - and some by the art of the deal. Among them are Joseph Duveen, who almost single-handedly brought the Old Masters to America; Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, high priest of Cubism; and Peter Wilson, the charismatic Sotheby's chairman who made a theater of the auction room.

Rogues' Gallery bursts with unforgettable anecdotes and astute judgments about art and artists, honed by Hook's more than 40 years in the art market - making it essential listening for anyone interested in the hidden history of art.

Critic Reviews:

"A lively exploration of the history of art and the tastemakers and dealers whose influence in shaping it is often overlooked." (

Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Picasso, with a side of Warren Buffet

This book covers a topic that has always fascinated me. What makes one amalgamation of wood, canvas and oil paint worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and another one worth $15 at a garage sale? True, anyone can see the genius in a Monet, but âgeniusâ is in this case a human-defined quantity. To put it another way, how did Monetâs craft become âgeniusâ, while your brother-in-lawâs still-life paintings clog up the garage?

Philip Hook has the experience and expertise to tackle this question. He has held senior positions at Sothebyâs and Christieâs, and has an appreciation for both the current and historical art market.

=== The Good Stuff ===

* Hook writes well, and avoids the complicated and flowery language that plagues art books. He is able to explain various artistic styles and complicated artist/agent relationships in a way that makes them understandable and interesting.

* The narrative runs over several hundred years, and the author is able to show how art brokers fit in with their own times, and yet how many of their sales tactics and business strategies were timeless. Along the way we meet art merchants of various degrees of morality and trustworthiness.

* Hook is at his best when examining the motivation of the artist and art broker, and how they intersect. For example, it was not uncommon for brokers to âcontractâ to buy some percentage of an artistâs output for a fixed price. While the artist ended up with less money than he might have made on the open market, he was guaranteed a fixed and predictable income stream. Similarly, some well-known artists might owe some of their fame and success to their brokerâs ability to place their paintings in top-tier collections.

* The tactics of the brokers were interesting and well explained.

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Title: Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts

Author: Christopher de Hamel

Narrator: Christopher de Hamel

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-30-17

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts written and read by Christopher de Hamel.

This is a book about why medieval manuscripts matter. Coming face to face with an important illuminated manuscript in the original is rather like meeting a very famous person. We may all pretend that a well-known celebrity is no different from anyone else, and yet there is an undeniable thrill in actually meeting and talking to a person of world stature. The idea for this book, which is entirely new, is to invite the listener into an intimate conversation with a selection of the most famous manuscripts in existence and to let each of those manuscripts illuminate the Middle Ages and sometimes the modern world too.

Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts invites the listener to accompany the author on exclusive private visits to a dozen very varied collections, in different parts of the world, to discover 12 great manuscripts and to explore their historical and intellectual significance.

Members Reviews:

Meeting with a remarkable book!

This book is remarkable! Christopher de Hamel is a dear friend for over 30 years, and I am honored to know someone who combines erudition with accessibility in his many studies of manuscripts, creativity, and the obsessive pursuit of these treasures. This book combines these topics in a unique and readable way. For most of us mortals, actual contact with these rare ancient books is simply impossible. We settle for photographs, high-priced facsimiles, or an exhibition in a darkened room with mere moments in front of an original manuscript. So here we are taken by the hand into the library/museum, admonished by the curator what is OK (NO nail-polish! NO adjustment of the stands! NO touching without a surgical scrub!), sat at a table and given a $30 million dollar book to look at. We learn to study the history, the construction, the meanings, and the variants as we explore the scribbles, the calligraphy, the painting, the binding... everything. He makes it fascinating, like a psycho-historical profile of a famous person. Yet he never is condescending or over-academic. You go through the tour like attending a party and talking to a series of special hosts. I proudly read the entire book several times and will freely say it is unlike any other book on the subject, all of which study the material from only an art-historical viewpoint. Very unique!

Far More than a Book About Manuscripts

This book is a wonderful exhibition of artistry, an engaging string of mystery stories, a tour of a period of European history, and a reference volume for readers even casually interested in medieval manuscripts. The author introduces a series of manuscripts in much the way a journalist would interview a series of important (or notorious) public figures--setting the physical and political scene of the interview, and then interweaving physical description of the manuscript with little adventures into history and often with an enticing mystery about the book. He manages to touch on topics from classical Greek authors to movable-type printing, from Charlemagne's court to monastery scriptoria to the rise of the commercial book trade, without ever losing his enthusiasm, focus or narrative thread. He does take time at the beginning to introduce some technical vocabulary and nomenclature, but it is done clearly and in the service of his later story-telling.

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Title: Aspects of Jasper Johns

Author: Nicholas James, Edward Lucie-Smith

Narrator: Eric Elliott

Format: Unabridged

Length: 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-30-17

Publisher: Cv Publications

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

An introductory essay by Edward Lucie-Smith, "The Enigma of Jasper Johns", explores the art, analysing its development from the 1950s to the exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

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Title: Introduction to Documentary, Third Edition

Author: Bill Nichols

Narrator: Bobby Brill

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-06-17

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

A handicapped boy wants to cure his own muscle disease, but a rivalry turns his ambitions into obsessions.

Dennis Caine has a pretty average near death experience. White light. Crisis of faith. Family bonding. Dont forget: delusions of grandeur. Plenty of those.

After a surgery gone wrong leaves him bedridden, Dennis isnt satisfied with just regaining his strength. His harrowing journey of rehabilitation is just the beginning, as he seeks to cure his muscle weakness, impress the girl of his dreams, and destroy his childhood bully. You know: your average delusions of grandeur.

Experience the first chapter in a companion series based on the Seven Deadly sins. Each tale will investigate the horrors of human error across history, and contrasts our corruption with the power of the gospel.

Critic Reviews:

"This engaging, thoughtful, accessible, and comprehensive work will stimulate many to teach documentary film." (Choice)

"...the ending had a perfect feeling of unease and suspense.... It basically felt the same way as when I finished watching Psycho for the first time..." Megan Pegasus, Booktuber/Reviewer

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

Easy to read - Used it for a class

Five Stars

Had to read this book for a film class. It took some time to get into certain chapters.

I enjoyed this book

I enjoyed this book. It helped me with a couple papers I had to write for a journalism and social documentary class. However, the chapters can get repetitive and it seems to touch on the same points over and over. I would recommend this book for journalism, social documentary, film/communication technologies classes.

Five Stars

Perfect was the correct book and came in quickly

or super fans of documentaries

was an interesting read. maybe a little bland for people who aren't using it for a class, or super fans of documentaries.

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Title: Basilica of San Marco Venice Italy

Author: Paola Stirati

Narrator: Karolina Starin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-04-17

Publisher: Il Narratore s.r.l.

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

If you would like to hear about the extremely rich history of Venice, and you find it hard to imagine the influence Venice underwent and absorbed for centuries, you can just listen to our audioguide, about the magnificent Saint Mark's Basilica - the symbol of the people and culture.

The audioguide describes the unique history of Saint Mark's Basilica, made evident by the architecture and decorations, with elements of different styles. The audioguide has been made by professionals in the field of history and art.

©2017 Associazione ACEB (P)2017 Associazione ACEB

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Title: Hagia Sophia Istanbul Turkey

Author: Sergey Ivanov

Narrator: Karolina Starin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-04-17

Publisher: Il Narratore s.r.l.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

The audioguide tells the story, describes the architecture and reports interesting facts about the basilica of Santa Sofia, the largest Byzantine monument. For 916 years, the basilica was Christian, while for the last 481 it was Muslim. In 1934 it became a museum. For 900 years, until the construction of the famous Duomo of Florence, in 1436, it had no equal in terms of the height of its interior.

The audioguide has been made by professionals in the field of history and art.

©2017 Associazione ACEB (P)2017 Associazione ACEB

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Title: Comic Books as History

Subtitle: The Narrative Art of Jack Jackson, Art Spiegelman, and Harvey Pekar

Author: Joseph Witek

Narrator: Gabriel Russo

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-14-17

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Visual Arts

Publisher's Summary:

This well focused and perceptive analysis of a phenomenon in our popular culture - the new respectability of the comic book form - argues that the comics medium has a productive tradition of telling true stories with grace and economy. It details vividly the outburst of underground comics in the late 1960s and '70s, whose cadre of artistically gifted creators were committed to writing comic books for adults, an audience they made aware that comic books can offer narratives of great power and technical sophistication.

In this study Joseph Witek examines the rise of the comic book to a position of importance in modern culture and assesses its ideological and historical implications. Jack Jackson, Art Spiegelman, and Harvey Pekar are among the creators whom Witek credits for the emergence of the comic book as a serious artistic medium. As American codes of ethics, aesthetics, and semiotics have evolved, so too has the comic book as a mode for presenting the weightier matters of history. It is safe to claim that comic books are not just for kids anymore.

The book is published by University Press of Mississippi.

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

A very good book filled with great insights. This book is for those who love comics and for those who love history. Well documented, clear, concise, engaging. Loved it!

Insightful, Serious,...and Entertaining

As one of the artists mentioned briefly in Witek's book, I want to let readers know that Witek's analysis of my splash page for the story "May 4-5, 1970" in American Splendor #1 (1976, Harvey Pekar) is a thoughtful and accurate examination of what I was trying to accomplish. At that time, I had just discovered Will Eisner's work and was experimenting with trying to indicate time and sequence within comic panels frames as well as the more standard sequential panel-to-panel convention. Whether or not I was successful is left to Witek and the reader to decide.

Beyond that, Witek has provided an insightful and even entertaining examination of the successful (and unsuccessful) experiments that people make in translating historical or biographical events into graphic form, and into the complex drivers that motivate people to do so.

--Brian Bram

A classic

Rusty Witek was the first of a younger (well probably not so young anymore) set of academics to publish a rigorous work on comics. This book deserved attention and I reviewed it in American Quarterly. I wish I had said more about its strengths. Witek takes comic books seriously and builds an argument that flows from the comic books rather than seeing them simply reflecting society. Witek raises issues about the relationship between the form of comic art and the stories told. I did not always agree with his view, but Witek was doing things no one else had attempted with American comics at this point. If you are interested in comic books, and work that wants to discuss them seriously, you should buy this book.