"In his widely anticipated memoir, Ai Weiwei--one of the world's most famous artists and activists--tells a century-long epic tale of China through the story of his own extraordinary life and the legacy of his father, Ai Qing, the nation's most celebrated poet. Hailed as 'the most important artist working today' by the Financial Times and as 'an eloquent and unsilenceable voice of freedom' by The New York Times, Ai Weiwei has written a sweeping memoir...

""It's the very process of looking at something that makes it beautiful." -David Hockney. Growing up under the gray skies of England during WWII, David Hockney used art to brighten his world. He discovered that the more he looked and drew, the more he could see beyond the surface to find beauty, possibility, and new perspectives. In the most ordinary things, whether a splash of water, a changing landscape, or the face of a friend, David always found...

"The vibrant and daring life of Marianne North, a self-taught artist and scientist who subverted Victorian gender roles and advanced the field of botanical illustration."--Publisher description.

Despite the flow of books on William Blake, this first full-length life biography published in 1863 remains essential to those who would understand one of the greatest of Englishmen, for the author, Alexander Gilchrist, had one advantage which has been denied to his successors - he could still find people who had known Blake. These personal reminiscences give the book an actuality which few of the later ones have touched. The second and best edition...

In a memoir spanning decades of artistic risk-taking, Genesis P-Orridge, the inventor of "industrial music," founder of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, and world-renowned fine artist takes us on a journey through creativity and destruction, pleasure and pain. Genesis's unwillingness to be stuck-in one place, in one genre, or in one gender-will be an inspiration to the newest generation of trailblazers and nonconformists. It's for an audience that...

A clever, quirky biography of a leading contemporary artist, for children Banksy is a world-famous graffiti artist who secretly spray paints pictures on streets and walls while no one is watching! His works are often about politics, war, and other important things, but he also likes to paint rats. Rats scurry around and hide, often creating a bit of a stir, just like he does! Millions of people know his work but no one really knows who Bansky is -...

An introduction to the life and career of the author Beatrix Potter.

Chronicles the life of children's illustrator and author Beatrix Potter, examining how art influenced her young life.

With these words to Boswell, Samuel Johnson dismissed Lady Di Beauclerk, the wife of one of his closest friends, a woman of the highest rank, the daughter of a duke, who had forsaken her reputation, her place in society, her children, and her role as lady-in-waiting to the Queen for love. Born Lady Diana Spencer in 1735, the eldest child of the third Duke of Marlborough, she was expected rigidly to follow a traditional path through life: educated...

An authorized account of the life and work of the influential British artist covers his education at the Royal College of Art, the role of the 1960s in shaping his vision, and his relationship with Peter Schlesinger during the turbulent emergence of gay rights.