'I perhaps owe it to flowers', wrote Claude Monet (1840-1926), 'that I became a painter.' One of the leading figures of the Impressionist movement and perhaps the most celebrated landscape painter of his age, Monet dedicated his life to capturing the subtleties of the natural world. Trees - willows enveloped in the eerie mists of the Seine, palm trees beneath the bright Mediterranean sun or poplars heavily laden with snow - became a significant motif in his work, and he used them to experimen...

Gives you an understanding of the ways in which modern art differs from realistic works of earlier centuries. This book examines 100 works of modern art that have attracted critical and public hostility from Cy Twomblys scribbled "Olympia", Jean-Michel Basquiats crude but spontaneous "LNAPRK", and more.

A compact, introductory guide to modern art that explains styles, schools, and movements from Impressionism to the present day

The definitive introduction to the understanding and practice of archaeology, now in its second edition.

Discover the infinite possibilities of drawing with this essential inspiration book

Horses have been the inspiration for hundreds of works of art over the centuries. This book celebrates the horse in all its glory, from its role as working animal in war and sport, to beloved pet. The horse's beauty and majesty is caught by artists as diverse as Stubbs, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Magritte, Frink and Freud.The Book of the Horse is a cool and quirky collection of equine art and illustration by artists from around the world. Interspersed through the illustrations are entertainin...

Francis Bacon is considered one of the most important painters of the 20th century. A major exhibition of his paintings at theRoyal Academy of Arts explores the role of animals in his work - not least the human animal.

Having often painted dogs and horses, in 1969 Bacon first depicted bullfights. In this powerful series of works, the interaction between man and beast is dangerous and cruel, but also disturbingly intimate. Both are contorted in their anguished struggle, and the erotic lurks no...