Bøker av Dianne L. Durante

A century ago, Henry Kitchell Webster (1875-1932) was a well-known, well-paid, and well-respected author. His stories frequently appeared in major magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post. In 1921, the New York Times printed his thoughts on "What Is a Novel, Anyhow?" But why should we bother with his novels, short stories, and plays today? Because his characters are charming and intelligent. They pursue their goals in intriguing ways. The situations are unusual: this volume includes several set in the theater and in the business world. The endings are unpredictable, except in the sense that they are upbeat and satisfying. Webster's works hold their appeal because of that upbeat sense of life. If you enjoy the sculpture of Augustus Saint Gaudens or the paintings of Maxfield Parrish (both of whose lives overlap with Webster's), you'll probably find delight in Webster's works as well. Volume 3 of Webster's Collected Works, covering 1915-1922, includes 11 short stories, one play (previously unpublished), 49 letters (all previously unpublished), and a short biography of Webster.

Why did subject and style in art change so dramatically over the course of the 19th century - from Madame Recamier, by Jacques-Louis David (1800) to Luxe, Calme et Volupte by Matisse (1904)? We'll look for an explanation through a combination of art analysis and philosophical detection.Artistic trends are not the result of a collective consciousness working its will. Such trends are simply the styles that a majority of artists chooses to embrace. Each of those artists, in turn, makes his own choice of style. Over the 19th century, France was the epicenter of artistic change. We briefly survey the works of 18 French artists, including Neoclassicists, Romantics, Naturalists, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, Pointillists, Symbolists, and Academics. Then we look at what these artists (as well as a few influential art critics) have to say about four crucial issues: the role of training; the role of reason vs. emotion in creating art; the importance of style vs. subject; and qualifications for judging art. Finally we see how these statements relate to the philosophical context of the time.

A favorite artwork can provide you with enjoyment and inspiration, help you recall important events of the past, and help you project a course into the future. Get even more enjoyment from a work of art you love by approaching it with an active mind.This book sets out a method for getting from the visual to the verbal - from looking at an artwork to thinking and talking about it. With examples that progress from simple to complex, it demonstrates how to study a sculpture in detail to determine its theme, and how to evaluate it in emotional, esthetic, philosophical, and art-historical terms. The goal: to allow you to luxuriate in spending more time with your own favorite sculptures. The bonus: knowing explicitly which aspect of a favorite work appeals to you will help you find new favorites. May this book give you hours of enjoyment as you read it ... and decades of enjoyment as you look with new eyes at your current and future favorite works of art!

For five years, I've been sending out a Sunday email with brief comments on art that's inspiring, thought-provoking, skillfully executed, and/or beautiful. Ayn Rand described art as emotional fuel. My goal-and my selfish pleasure!-is to help you find more of that fuel and use it more efficiently. How? By showing you wonderful art and provoking you to think about why you enjoy a particular piece ... or don't. This volume offers 172 recommendations, of which 54 were originally sent only to paid supporters. Among them are paintings, sculptures, architecture, decorative arts, music, film, TV shows, novels, dramas, short stories, poetry, and select works from museums and exhibitions.

For five years, I've been sending out a Sunday email with brief comments on art that's inspiring, thought-provoking, skillfully executed, and/or beautiful. Ayn Rand described art as emotional fuel. My goal-and my selfish pleasure! -is to help you find more of that fuel and use it more efficiently. How? By showing you wonderful art and provoking you to think about why you enjoy a particular piece ... or don't. This volume includes ninety-eight of the poems I've recommended, sorted loosely by topic: Inspiration, Art & Beauty, Work & Leisure, Courage & Perseverance, Family, Country, Nature, Travel, Truth & Knowledge, and Love, Loss, & Recovery.

How did artists progress from Egyptian sculptures to a work such as Frishmuth's The Vine, or from cave paintings to LeRolle's The Organ Rehearsal? To find out, we focus on innovations that gave the artist who created them - and all those who followed - greater power to make viewers stop, look, and think about their works.These two jargon-free books are a great introduction or refresher for anyone interested in art or art history. The broadest goal is to help you find more subjects, styles, and periods that intrigue you and appeal to you - that present the world the way you think it can and ought to be. Because what's the point of looking at art, if not for moments like that? The time you spend reading Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting is a small investment for a possibly huge return: more art to love, more art that reflects your values and sense of life.The ideal readers for Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting are intellectually curious and love to integrate knowledge. They admire individuals who use their minds to the utmost, in whatever field of endeavor. More specific audiences include:Museum visitors who want a framework for the art they're seeing.Teachers and students who want an overview before diving into details of specific periods or artists.Sculptors, painters, and graphic artists who want a big-picture view of the development of the expressive means available to them.Friends of art enthusiasts who want to share the excitement but need a foothold to get started.Why these books are uniqueThis is the introduction to art that you've been waiting for it you're curious about its history but are daunted by thousand-page art-history tomes and two-semester courses that cover the art of every major civilization worldwide. Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting are unique because they're short enough to digest easily and because they provide a framework not only for looking at all periods of Western sculpture and painting, but for reading detailed works on whatever period or style catches your fancy. There are no other works like this for sculpture and painting, although I've seen them for disciplines such as geology and computer development.

How did artists progress from Egyptian sculptures to a work such as Frishmuth's The Vine? To find out, we focus on innovations that gave the artist who created them - and all those who followed - greater power to make viewers stop, look, and think about their works.This jargon-free book is a great introduction or refresher for anyone interested in art or art history. The broadest goal is to help you find more subjects, styles, and periods that intrigue you and appeal to you - that present the world the way you think it can and ought to be. Because what's the point of looking at art, if not for moments like that? The time you spend reading Innovators in Sculpture is a small investment for a possibly huge return: more art to love, more art that reflects your values and sense of life.The ideal readers for Innovators in Sculpture are intellectually curious and love to integrate knowledge. They admire individuals who use their minds to the utmost, in whatever field of endeavor. More specific audiences include:Museum visitors who want a framework for the art they're seeing.Teachers and students who want an overview before diving into details of specific periods or artists.Sculptors, painters, and graphic artists who want a big-picture view of the development of the expressive means available to them.Friends of art enthusiasts who want to share the excitement but need a foothold to get started.Why this book isuniqueThis is the introduction to art that you've been waiting for it you're curious about its history but are daunted by thousand-page art-history tomes and two-semester courses that cover the art of every major civilization worldwide. Innovators in Sculpture is unique because it's short enough to digest easily and because it provides a framework not only for looking at all periods of Western sculpture, but for reading detailed works on whatever period or style catches your fancy. There are no other works like this for sculpture.

Few of us are completely happy with the world as it is. But to change the future, you have to know the past. What actually happened? What ideas drove those events? The ideas are revealed not only in political slogans, but in such things as how business is regarded, what areas science is exploring, and what's popular in fiction, visual arts, architecture, film, and music. This timeline, with a multitude of illustrations, juxtaposes politics and culture. It's a scaffolding on which you can build a better understanding of the past and the present, and increase your ability to change the future.

Looks at figures and events that changed New York, the United States and the world. This handbook provides a compact method for studying sculpture, inspired by Ayn Rand's writings on art. It is useful for residents and tourists, and historians and students, who want to spend more time viewing and appreciating sculpture and New York history.