Books by Rosalind Ormiston
Hans Holbein: His Life and Works in 500 Images, 2022
“ Hans Holbein the Younger’s life is discovered through his artworks, his family, his patrons and... more “ Hans Holbein the Younger’s life is discovered through his artworks, his family, his patrons and the people who met him. Born into a family of talented artists, Holbein learnt to be a draughtsman, a painter, a portraitist, and a designer for woodcuts. What could not be taught was his remarkable skill as a portrait painter. From the Augsburg workshop of his youth, he would achieve high status as Painter to the King at the English court of Henry VIII. Holbein had a talent to engage with his clients, proven by repeated commissions. He could capture a moment in time, from Erasmus sitting in his study in Basel, to rich Hanseatic merchants seated in their London offices. His gift as a painter was grounded in a sound knowledge of pigments, practical costings and time required to complete a work. In his lifetime he created a unique portfolio of ground-breaking art, predominantly in portraiture. This glorious and comprehensive volume is both a biography and gallery of his work.
Hans Holbein the Younger learned his craft from his father, a distinguished painter of religious art. The younger Holbein would become celebrated in Basel, as one of the four greatest artists in Germany, and in England acknowledged as the ‘Apelles’ of his time for the superb realism of his portraiture.
Born into a family of talented artists in the Northern Renaissance, Holbein’s future career was set at an early age. He learnt to be a draughtsman, a painter, a portraitist, and a designer for woodcuts. What could not be taught was his remarkable skill as a portrait painter that rose beyond that of his father and brother, uncle and cousins. From initiation in an Augsburg workshop as a youth, he would achieve high status as Painter to the King, at the English court of Henry VIII. Holbein had a talent to engage with his clients, proven by repeated commissions. He could capture a moment in time, from Erasmus sitting in his study in Basel, to rich Hanseatic merchants seated in their London offices. His gift as a painter was also based on a sound knowledge of pigments, practical costings and time required to complete a work. In his lifetime he created a unique portfolio of ground-breaking work, predominantly in portraiture, that continues to astound today, near five centuries after his death.
The details of Holbein the Younger’s life are not well documented, and painstaking research gleans what we know, or can ascertain, through his artworks, his family, his patrons and the people who met him. A fascinating picture of a complex man emerges, who trod a careful path in a time of turbulent political and religious upheaval, and who was a longstanding friend of leading thinkers of the time as well as making the highest connections in the royal court.
This volume is both an in-depth biography of his life and times, and a comprehensive gallery; the second part of the book presents his works from first margin scribblings as a teenager in a copy of Erasmus’ Praise of Folly, his intricate woodcuts and drawings for stained glass, building decorations and murals; his many preparatory sketches, and of course his outstanding portfolio of portraits that managed not only to delight their patrons but also reveal the character and individuality of the sitter. It was Holbein’s depiction of Henry VIII that has indelibly created our enduring image of the Tudor king, in perhaps one of the earliest and most impressive pieces of marketing. The author also explores the multiple versions of iconic paintings produced during and after Holbein’s lifetime. With more than 500 reproductions, this beautifully illustrated book is essential reading for anyone who would like to learn about the life, work and influence of an extraordinary painter. “
Lorenz Books, Anness Publishing
Picasso, 2020
Picasso was arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century. Over the course of a career... more Picasso was arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century. Over the course of a career that spanned seven decades - and included thousands of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, drawings, prints, and tapestries -his work continued to evolve in response to his own life and to events in the world around him. This elegant introduction to Picasso offers lively artistic and biographical commentary, as well as beautiful reproductions of key works. Readers will discover why Picasso's work is often categorised by ''periods'' and his masterful achievements in the realms of neoclassicism, surrealism, and sculpture - in short, how his tremendous body of work reflected the development of modern art in the 20th century.
Leonardo da Vinci Masterworks: Art in the Age of the Medici, 2019
Famed for the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and his astonishing drawings, Leonardo da Vinci excelle... more Famed for the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and his astonishing drawings, Leonardo da Vinci excelled in a multitude of arenas. The patronage of the Medici family was key, and this book offers a view of the artist in this context, alongside the work of others who benefited from their association with the Medici, from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo.
Series: Masterworks
'Vermeer & the Dutch Masters', published August 2108
Today we marvel at the shimmering light, the... more 'Vermeer & the Dutch Masters', published August 2108
Today we marvel at the shimmering light, the detail and hidden significances within the subtle techniques of Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Eyck, Frans Hals and their peer group. The luminescent art of the Dutch Masters grew from the confidence of the newly independent Netherlands in the early 1600s. Shed of religious conflict it encouraged a wealthy mercantile class that sought the oceans of the world in search of riches and influence, and a new sensibility in art that cast light across the actions and objects of daily life. The Dutch Masters are characterized by the abandonment of religious patronage, allowing, for the first time, a relentless focus on everyday subjects: the taverns, breakfast tables and living rooms of the newly wealthy and the places they loved to visit.
'Gauguin began his artistic life as an Impressionist in Paris, but yearning for a wider world vie... more 'Gauguin began his artistic life as an Impressionist in Paris, but yearning for a wider world view he experimented with decorative art and bright colours to create what some have termed Symbolism. He painted briefly with Van Gogh but was strongly drawn by the “otherness” of the South Pacific to which he travelled frequently, and finally settled far away from his origins and early influences to create a unique and intensely personal body of work. '
Austrian painter Egon Schiele was a gifted artist, mentored by the great Gustav Klimt. Inspired b... more Austrian painter Egon Schiele was a gifted artist, mentored by the great Gustav Klimt. Inspired by the human form, he is best-known for his figurative works, particularly of women, with their defiantly confrontational air and their bold contortions. Schiele’s nudes are shockingly direct in the way they face us: frank, unabashed and defiant in their gaze. To be as resolutely transgressive as Schiele is an artistic achievement in itself. Egon Schiele Masterpieces of Art features a fascinating introduction to the life and art of this talented artist, as well as showcasing his key portraits, nudes, landscapes and still life in all their glory.
Flame Tree Publishing, June 2016
Bosch lived and worked over 500 hundred years ago in the Nether... more Flame Tree Publishing, June 2016
Bosch lived and worked over 500 hundred years ago in the Netherlands’ town of ’s Hertogenbosch, from which he took his name. He is best known for fantastical, wondrous art full of strange creatures both grotesque and heavenly. The works he created still defy the imagination. Taking account of the latest research, Hieronymus Bosch: Masterpieces of Art gives an overview of what is known of this elusive painter and draughtsman, and reproduces his (and some of his followers’) impressive work, from traditional Biblical stories with a Boschian twist, such as the Adoration of the Magi, to his apocalyptic Four Visions of the Hereafter. His diptychs and triptychs, such as the famously complex Garden of Earthly Delights are covered as well as stunning line drawings, such as The Wood Has Ears, The Field Has Eyes.
The book allows the reader to revel in Hopper’s most well-known and masterful works, to rediscove... more The book allows the reader to revel in Hopper’s most well-known and masterful works, to rediscover the artist, to delve further than the obvious paintings in order to fully understand his motivations, and then to reassess his works in a fresh light. Before the ‘Masterpieces’ section the text discusses Hopper from a number of angles, laying the groundwork with Life & Times, travelling through the Places that inspired him, examining his key Subjects & Themes, and explaining the Styles & Techniques by which he was influenced or to which he subscribed, not forgetting his lasting legacy. The works are cross-referenced.
'Origins of Modern Art: Masterworks of Modernism' (with Foreword by Professor Fran Lloyd). Publis... more 'Origins of Modern Art: Masterworks of Modernism' (with Foreword by Professor Fran Lloyd). Published by Flame Tree Publishing, September 2015
The roots of Modern Art can be seen in the wild sea paintings of Turner, as early as the mid 19th Century, but it took the Impressionists and the Pre-Raphaelites to break the elite classical mode, until the final blows were dealt in the early 1900s by Kandinsky, Klee and Picasso. Modern Art was a reaction to the gathering pace of industrialisation of the late Victorian world, and the desire for art that looked forwards not behind to classical myth and legend. But once the beast of modernism had been unleashed it fragmented into many different forms, each of which are explored in this striking, heavily illustrated new book.
Perhaps no individual is more associated with the 20th century art deco revival than Russian-born... more Perhaps no individual is more associated with the 20th century art deco revival than Russian-born French artist and designer, Erté. Although his talent spanned many creative fields, Erté is perhaps best-known for his theatre and fashion designs; many were later translated into silkscreen prints.
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Books by Rosalind Ormiston
Hans Holbein the Younger learned his craft from his father, a distinguished painter of religious art. The younger Holbein would become celebrated in Basel, as one of the four greatest artists in Germany, and in England acknowledged as the ‘Apelles’ of his time for the superb realism of his portraiture.
Born into a family of talented artists in the Northern Renaissance, Holbein’s future career was set at an early age. He learnt to be a draughtsman, a painter, a portraitist, and a designer for woodcuts. What could not be taught was his remarkable skill as a portrait painter that rose beyond that of his father and brother, uncle and cousins. From initiation in an Augsburg workshop as a youth, he would achieve high status as Painter to the King, at the English court of Henry VIII. Holbein had a talent to engage with his clients, proven by repeated commissions. He could capture a moment in time, from Erasmus sitting in his study in Basel, to rich Hanseatic merchants seated in their London offices. His gift as a painter was also based on a sound knowledge of pigments, practical costings and time required to complete a work. In his lifetime he created a unique portfolio of ground-breaking work, predominantly in portraiture, that continues to astound today, near five centuries after his death.
The details of Holbein the Younger’s life are not well documented, and painstaking research gleans what we know, or can ascertain, through his artworks, his family, his patrons and the people who met him. A fascinating picture of a complex man emerges, who trod a careful path in a time of turbulent political and religious upheaval, and who was a longstanding friend of leading thinkers of the time as well as making the highest connections in the royal court.
This volume is both an in-depth biography of his life and times, and a comprehensive gallery; the second part of the book presents his works from first margin scribblings as a teenager in a copy of Erasmus’ Praise of Folly, his intricate woodcuts and drawings for stained glass, building decorations and murals; his many preparatory sketches, and of course his outstanding portfolio of portraits that managed not only to delight their patrons but also reveal the character and individuality of the sitter. It was Holbein’s depiction of Henry VIII that has indelibly created our enduring image of the Tudor king, in perhaps one of the earliest and most impressive pieces of marketing. The author also explores the multiple versions of iconic paintings produced during and after Holbein’s lifetime. With more than 500 reproductions, this beautifully illustrated book is essential reading for anyone who would like to learn about the life, work and influence of an extraordinary painter. “
Lorenz Books, Anness Publishing
Series: Masterworks
Today we marvel at the shimmering light, the detail and hidden significances within the subtle techniques of Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Eyck, Frans Hals and their peer group. The luminescent art of the Dutch Masters grew from the confidence of the newly independent Netherlands in the early 1600s. Shed of religious conflict it encouraged a wealthy mercantile class that sought the oceans of the world in search of riches and influence, and a new sensibility in art that cast light across the actions and objects of daily life. The Dutch Masters are characterized by the abandonment of religious patronage, allowing, for the first time, a relentless focus on everyday subjects: the taverns, breakfast tables and living rooms of the newly wealthy and the places they loved to visit.
Bosch lived and worked over 500 hundred years ago in the Netherlands’ town of ’s Hertogenbosch, from which he took his name. He is best known for fantastical, wondrous art full of strange creatures both grotesque and heavenly. The works he created still defy the imagination. Taking account of the latest research, Hieronymus Bosch: Masterpieces of Art gives an overview of what is known of this elusive painter and draughtsman, and reproduces his (and some of his followers’) impressive work, from traditional Biblical stories with a Boschian twist, such as the Adoration of the Magi, to his apocalyptic Four Visions of the Hereafter. His diptychs and triptychs, such as the famously complex Garden of Earthly Delights are covered as well as stunning line drawings, such as The Wood Has Ears, The Field Has Eyes.
The roots of Modern Art can be seen in the wild sea paintings of Turner, as early as the mid 19th Century, but it took the Impressionists and the Pre-Raphaelites to break the elite classical mode, until the final blows were dealt in the early 1900s by Kandinsky, Klee and Picasso. Modern Art was a reaction to the gathering pace of industrialisation of the late Victorian world, and the desire for art that looked forwards not behind to classical myth and legend. But once the beast of modernism had been unleashed it fragmented into many different forms, each of which are explored in this striking, heavily illustrated new book.
Hans Holbein the Younger learned his craft from his father, a distinguished painter of religious art. The younger Holbein would become celebrated in Basel, as one of the four greatest artists in Germany, and in England acknowledged as the ‘Apelles’ of his time for the superb realism of his portraiture.
Born into a family of talented artists in the Northern Renaissance, Holbein’s future career was set at an early age. He learnt to be a draughtsman, a painter, a portraitist, and a designer for woodcuts. What could not be taught was his remarkable skill as a portrait painter that rose beyond that of his father and brother, uncle and cousins. From initiation in an Augsburg workshop as a youth, he would achieve high status as Painter to the King, at the English court of Henry VIII. Holbein had a talent to engage with his clients, proven by repeated commissions. He could capture a moment in time, from Erasmus sitting in his study in Basel, to rich Hanseatic merchants seated in their London offices. His gift as a painter was also based on a sound knowledge of pigments, practical costings and time required to complete a work. In his lifetime he created a unique portfolio of ground-breaking work, predominantly in portraiture, that continues to astound today, near five centuries after his death.
The details of Holbein the Younger’s life are not well documented, and painstaking research gleans what we know, or can ascertain, through his artworks, his family, his patrons and the people who met him. A fascinating picture of a complex man emerges, who trod a careful path in a time of turbulent political and religious upheaval, and who was a longstanding friend of leading thinkers of the time as well as making the highest connections in the royal court.
This volume is both an in-depth biography of his life and times, and a comprehensive gallery; the second part of the book presents his works from first margin scribblings as a teenager in a copy of Erasmus’ Praise of Folly, his intricate woodcuts and drawings for stained glass, building decorations and murals; his many preparatory sketches, and of course his outstanding portfolio of portraits that managed not only to delight their patrons but also reveal the character and individuality of the sitter. It was Holbein’s depiction of Henry VIII that has indelibly created our enduring image of the Tudor king, in perhaps one of the earliest and most impressive pieces of marketing. The author also explores the multiple versions of iconic paintings produced during and after Holbein’s lifetime. With more than 500 reproductions, this beautifully illustrated book is essential reading for anyone who would like to learn about the life, work and influence of an extraordinary painter. “
Lorenz Books, Anness Publishing
Series: Masterworks
Today we marvel at the shimmering light, the detail and hidden significances within the subtle techniques of Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Eyck, Frans Hals and their peer group. The luminescent art of the Dutch Masters grew from the confidence of the newly independent Netherlands in the early 1600s. Shed of religious conflict it encouraged a wealthy mercantile class that sought the oceans of the world in search of riches and influence, and a new sensibility in art that cast light across the actions and objects of daily life. The Dutch Masters are characterized by the abandonment of religious patronage, allowing, for the first time, a relentless focus on everyday subjects: the taverns, breakfast tables and living rooms of the newly wealthy and the places they loved to visit.
Bosch lived and worked over 500 hundred years ago in the Netherlands’ town of ’s Hertogenbosch, from which he took his name. He is best known for fantastical, wondrous art full of strange creatures both grotesque and heavenly. The works he created still defy the imagination. Taking account of the latest research, Hieronymus Bosch: Masterpieces of Art gives an overview of what is known of this elusive painter and draughtsman, and reproduces his (and some of his followers’) impressive work, from traditional Biblical stories with a Boschian twist, such as the Adoration of the Magi, to his apocalyptic Four Visions of the Hereafter. His diptychs and triptychs, such as the famously complex Garden of Earthly Delights are covered as well as stunning line drawings, such as The Wood Has Ears, The Field Has Eyes.
The roots of Modern Art can be seen in the wild sea paintings of Turner, as early as the mid 19th Century, but it took the Impressionists and the Pre-Raphaelites to break the elite classical mode, until the final blows were dealt in the early 1900s by Kandinsky, Klee and Picasso. Modern Art was a reaction to the gathering pace of industrialisation of the late Victorian world, and the desire for art that looked forwards not behind to classical myth and legend. But once the beast of modernism had been unleashed it fragmented into many different forms, each of which are explored in this striking, heavily illustrated new book.
The work of Pablo Picasso was celebrated in many galleries and museums worldwide during 2023, and into 2024 in Barcelona.
ISBN: 978 0 500 093870
It was published in Cassone in November 2014
(1 April-27 September 2015)
(Artists & Illustrators magazine September 2018.)
For further research on Mike Nicholson visit his blogspot:
http://ensixteeneditions.blogspot.co.uk/