Frank Milner Livres

“I’m pursuing the impossible . . . I want to paint the air in which the bridge, the house, and boat are to be found—the beauty of the air around them . . .” Claude Monet wanted to capture more than just air and light in impasto paint on canvas, as he explained in a conversation with the Danish author Herman Bang in 1895. The master of light was also a master of shadows and reflections. This is evident in his most famous paintings, such as that of the façade of the Rouen cathedral, or the haystacks painted against light, or in the reflections of the water lilies in the pond at Giverny. In particular, his sun-drenched groves, coastlines, and depictions of the Seine in both summer and winter, demonstrate how Monet revolutionized painting by questioning the conventional notions of what a painting could be. This exquisite volume is devoted to the works from the period between 1880 and 1905 and truly paints Monet in a new light. Exhibition: Fondation Beyeler Riehen/Basel, January 22–May 28, 2017

Frida Kahlo, with over 80 large-scale full-color plates, illustrates the full range of this vibrant artist's work, from the extraordinary series of self-portraits which she painted over more than 20 years, to those more disturbing and cerebral works which were hailed by her contemporaries as Surrealist. Art historian Frank Milner traces the potent mixture of personal history, cultural inheritance, political commitment and sheer self-conscious myth-making that permeates Kahlo's work, and argues that any attempt to subsume her painting within a particular tradition is doomed to a unique artistic phenomenon.

Art historian, Frank Milner introduces 60 of Van Gogh's most characteristic works in this stunningly illustrated volume.