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Imran Qureshi applying gilt. Photo: Courtesy the artist and Corvi-Mora, London
Light Crossbow with Lever, 1728. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Imran Qureshi
With an introduction by Sheena
Wagstaff and an interview with
the artist by Ian Alteveer and
Navina Najat Haidar
Named the Deutsche Bank Artist of the
Year for 2013, Imran Qureshi combines
traditional motifs and techniques of
Islamic art with contemporary reflections on the relationship
between Islam and the West. His investigations into
ornamentation reference both the miniature painting of the
Mughal tradition, in which he was trained, and large, sitespecific
installations in architectural space, which address both
the building itself and its historical and political meanings. In
May 2013, Qureshi will create the latest rooftop installation for
the Metropolitan Museum. This volume discusses the interplay
between the artist’s vision and the space for which the work
was created. An interview with Qureshi highlights the
traditions from which his work derives, as well as the political
and aesthetic connotations that inform this latest creation.
Exhibition
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14/05/13 – 03/11/13
Sheena Wagstaff is chairman of the department of modern
and contemporary art; Ian Alteveer is assistant curator in the
department of modern and contemporary art; and Navina
Najat Haidar is curator and administrator in the department
of Islamic Art, all at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
July 64 pp. 229x203mm. 100 colour illus.
PB ISBN 978-0-300-19775-4 £9.99*
The Devil’s
Invention
European
Crossbows,
1250–1850
Dirk Breiding
The advent of the crossbow more than 2,500 years ago
effected dramatic changes for hunters and warriors. For
centuries, it was among the most powerful and widely used
handheld weapons, and its popularity endures to this day.
The Devil’s Invention presents a lively, accessible survey of the
crossbow’s ‘golden age’, along with detailed descriptions of
twenty-four remarkable examples.
Beginning in the middle ages, the European aristocracy’s
enthusiasm for the crossbow heralded shooting competitions
and pageants that featured elaborately decorated weapons
bearing elegant embellishments of rare materials and prized
artistry. In addition to being highly functional, these weapons
were magnificent works of art. The Devil’s Invention includes
fascinating descriptions of crossbows used by Margaret of
Savoy and Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian I and Charles
V, among others.
Dirk Breiding is J. J. Midveckis Curator of Arms and Armor
at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
October 144 pp. 216x241mm. 100 colour illus.
PB ISBN 978-0-300-19704-4 £16.99*
Medieval Treasures
from Hildesheim
Edited by Peter Barnet
and Michael Brandt
Art 59
Artists and
Amateurs
Etching in Eighteenth-
Century France
Edited by Perrin Stein
With essays by Charlotte
Guichard, Rena M.
Housington, Elizabeth
Rudy and Perrin Stein
Over the course of the 18th century a great number of artists,
ranging from established painters and sculptors to amateurs,
experimented with etching, an accessible form of printmaking
akin to drawing. In a period when artists strained to navigate
the highly regulated Académie Royale and the increasingly
discordant public spheres of the marketplace and the Salon,
etching afforded them stylistic freedom and allowed them to
produce exquisite works of art in a spirit of collaboration and
experimentation. Featuring works by Watteau, Boucher,
Fragonard, Hubert Robert and many others, Artists and
Amateurs embarks on a fresh exploration of how etching
flourished in ancien régime France, shedding new light on
artistic practice and patronage at that time.
Exhibition
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 01/10/13 – 04/01/14
Perrin Stein is Curator, department of Drawings and Prints,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
August 240 pp. 267x229mm. 189 colour & b/w illus.
HB ISBN 978-0-300-19700-6 £45.00*
Hildesheim, Germany, was a
leading centre of art between
1000 and 1250, when
outstanding precious works, such
as the larger-than-life size
Ringelheim Crucifix, illuminated manuscripts lavishly bound in
jewelled covers and a monumental bronze baptismal font, were
commissioned for its churches and cathedral. In 1985,
UNESCO designated St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Michael’s
Church in Hildesheim a world cultural heritage site, recognising
them as monuments of medieval art with rich treasures.
Despite its significance, Hildesheim’s incomparable collection
of medieval church furnishings is little known outside of
Germany. This book provides the first comprehensive
examination in English of the city’s leading role in the art of
the Middle Ages.
Exhibition
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 17/09/13 – 05/01/14
Peter Barnet is Michel David-Weill Curator in Charge,
department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Michael Brandt is director,
Hildesheim Cathedral Museum.
August 176 pp. 267x235mm. 100 colour illus.
PB ISBN 978-0-300-19699-3 £16.99*
Joseph Marie Vien the Elder, The Arrival of the Wine Vat (detail), c. 1755.
Etching. 18 x 44.2 cm. 2011.540
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Distributed by Yale University Press