This posthumously published essay presents Hans De Wolf's sharp analysis of one of the greatest rivalries in art history: a rivalry between two centuries, embodied by two of their most prominent figures: Courbet for the 19th and Duchamp for the 20th Century. It is a story in which, in a certain sense, one becomes the perfect enemy of the other. This constellation helped Duchamp to forge his own path, creating an artistic response to Courbet's work with equal relevance and monumentality. The c...

How did objects move between places and people, and how did they reshape the Republic’s arts, cultures and sciences?

‘Objects’ were vitally significant for the early modern Dutch Republic, which is known as an early consumer society, a place famous for its exhaustive production of books, visual arts and scientific instruments. What happens when we push these objects and their materiality to the centre of our research? How do they invite us to develop new perspectives on the early moder...

200 years have passed since the founding of the Leiden Print Room, incorporated today into Leiden University Libraries. In celebration of that long, rich history this wide-ranging new publication presents a complete and varied survey of the Leiden collections, starting with rare drawings from the early sixteenth century and ending with recent acquisitions from just this past decade. From Jan Gossart and Barend van Orley to Carel Visser and Emo Verkerk, this work encompasses the history of two...

– Antonio Muñoz Molina, El País

"This wonderful and wise book made me look at the artwork without intimidation or any confusion. It is a great pleasure to be guided by the experienced eye of Alejandro Vergara."

— Olga Tokarczuk, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

Throughout history, human beings have excelled at creating art of the highest quality. Aristotle wrote that Homer “surpassed all others” while Pliny the Elder referred to “masterpieces that we never tire of admiring�...

Aan de hand van beelden van vrouwen en mannen uit de hoogtijdagen van de Japanse prentkunst (1765–1865) gaat dit boek dieper in op de subtiele iconografie en de complexe symbolen die eigen zijn aan deze traditie. De intrigerende elementen verwijzen naar de Japanse geschiedenis, literatuur, mythologie, mode, folklore en roddels uit de Edo-periode en zijn soms moeilijk te onderscheiden, laat staan te vatten, zonder de juiste kennis.

The official book of Hidden Portraits by world-leading digital artist Volker Hermes - volker.hermes on Instagram. This beautifully produced collection of work from a social-media phenomenon is a hoghly modern and mysetrious take on the Old Masters.

Art in Theory (1648-1815) provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive collection of documents on the theory of art from the founding of the French Academy until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Like its highly successful companion volumes, Art in Theory (1815-1900) and Art in Theory (1900-1990), its' primary aim is to provide students and teachers with the documentary material for informed and up-to-date study. Its' 240 texts, clear principles of organization and considerable editorial content o...