Showing titles in Artists, Architects & Photographers

Joe Tucker's Uncle Eric was a beloved yet unconventional figure throughout Joe's life. A shambolically dressed man who lived with his mother for almost eighty years, he had an almost compulsive need to charm strangers with working men's club comedy routines, and appeared to exist only for daily trips to the bookie - and yet had also amassed over five hundred of his own remarkable paintings without anyone ever realising his achievements.

This gripping true-life account, "The King's Kid" unveils the compelling and intriguing journey of a unique kid growing up in the sixties in Essex, England. He was born a boy, but he innately felt the “girl” inside of him. He also strongly felt lost and sensed that he did not belong in his family. This courageous kid set out on an arduous mission to follow his instincts in seeking the truth. He not only became the girl that he knew he was, but she made an amazing discovery!

Terry Farrell is one of Britain's most influential architects of the 21st century. Offering a compelling personal account of his life in architecture as an influential postmodern designer, architect-planner, and principal of a leading global practice, this autobiography includes anecdotes and invaluable insights into Terry's life and work from the 1940s to the present day.

Renowned for her exquisite landscapes and fine portraits, painting has been Judy Ann MacMillan’s life from a very young age. Once again, she has turned that acute and truthful eye upon herself with a sensational new self-portrait. But this time, she is using a pen rather than a paintbrush. With startling honesty, Born Ya lays bare the unique sacrifices required of a female artist living and working in an island that can often confound even the strongest spirit. Despite all the trials and tribulations, MacMillan has remained true to her twin passions of painting and homeland.

One of the finest screen and television character actors of his generation, Patrick Kilpatrick has played against a broad spectrum of superstars including Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Pam Grier, and Naomi Watts, to name a few. With an entertainment career spanning more than 170 credits as lead actor, producer, screenwriter, director, and global entertainment teacher, Kilpatrick is now sharing his life in his much-anticipated two-volume memoir.

It's possible that Michelangelo is the most famous artist in history, but it's also possible that he's an underrated artist. The vast influence of his career is reflected by the fact that he is not only known for his own art but has also come to embody an entire epoch of Western art. Along with Leonardo da Vinci, there are no other artists who so fully capture the spirit of scientific and artistic discovery that characterized art during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

The 1935 murder of architect Francis Mawson Rattenbury, world famous for his design of the iconic Parliament Buildings and Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, and the arrest and lurid trial of his thirty years younger second wife, Alma, and the family chauffeur, George Percy Stoner, her lover, who was half her age, riveted people. Debate continues even today as to which one of them really was responsible.

Penguin presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of Turner by Franny Moyle, read by John Sackville. J. M. W. Turner is Britain's most famous landscape painter. Yet beyond his artistic achievements, little is known of the man himself and the events of his life: the tragic committal of his mother to a lunatic asylum, the personal sacrifices he made to effect his stratospheric rise and the bizarre double life he chose to lead in the last years of his life.

Merton Clivette once dominated the 1920s and 1930s art world. He ruled the Orpheum Circuit as a magician, shadowgraphist, mindreader, and acrobat. He performed in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. Clivette worked with Houdini and PT Barnum, and he inspired Mark Twain. He taught Sir Arthur Conan Doyle how to be a medium. He went by names such as Clivette the Great, The Man in Black, The Mysterious Stranger, and many others. Clivette led a remarkable life then, like the magician he was, he disappeared from the history books after his death in 1931.

Biographical profile of Walter Elias Disney, the man who built an empire on the back of a mouse. Imbued with an iron-like drive to succeed, Disney pushed, prodded, and pressed those around him, as he did himself, to succeed. He was always on the edge of vision and technology. An unmitigated risk taker, Disney constantly flirted with financial ruin, seemingly bent on a mission to remain in debt while his brother Roy's ambition was to harness Walt's financial excesses.

Following Once Were Warriors, Alan Duff wrote Maori: The Crisis and the Challenge. His controversial comments shook the country. A quarter of a century later, New Zealand and Maoridom are in a very different place. And so is Alan - he has published many more books, had two films made of his works, founded the Duffy Books in Homes literacy programme and endured 'some less inspiring moments, including bankruptcy'.

Dame Zandra Rhodes has spent her life rallying against what was expected of her, both as a designer and a woman. Often perceived as too bold for the mainstream, she fought for creativity and individuality, and continues to achieve both in everything she does. In this insightful memoir, Zandra shares her life story for the first time. Told through a variety of mementos and curiosities collected over the course of her eight decades, it is a vibrant account.

“Famous People Who’ve Met Me” narrated by the author is an outrageous collection of true stories starring oddball characters, behind the scenes gurus, scoundrels, and brilliant superstars in the music business straight out of Minnesota. The unique memoir does more than just recount tales; it’s a true in-depth character study as told through the eyes of musician, agent, concert promoter, and manager Owen Husney.

Mediante veintitrés cartas dirigidas a su amigo y confidente Germán Arciniegas, Emma Reyes asumió el arduo ejercicio de narrar los giros y adversidades que vivió durante su infancia. Estos textos, escritos entre 1969 y 1997, son una conmovedora mezcla de inocencia y serenidad ante la tragedia, y articulan magistralmente un relato personal que evoca el duro contexto de la Colombia de la segunda y tercera décadas del siglo xx.

Iconoclast. Contrarian. Pugilist. Artist. Throughout his life, shrewd self-promoter and creative genius Edgar Leeteg possessed many titles, astounding fans and antagonizing critics. Considered the “American Gauguin”, the rakish ladies’ man originated the modern technique of oil painting on black velvet. Once memorialized by James Michener as the original rascal in paradise, he redefined artistic success by pioneering a form of painting in the South Pacific that would forever change the world.

Artista genuina, espíritu indomable, fervorosa militante: todo en la vida de Tina Modotti contribuyó a que se convirtiera en leyenda. Apasionada e impetuosa, la personalidad de Tina fue única. Nacida en Italia a finales del siglo xix, y tras un breve paso por Hollywood, donde trabajó como actriz, llegó a México en plena efervescencia cultural de los años veinte.

Artists have learnt to pay attention. The rest of us spend most of our time on auto-pilot, rushing from place to place, our overfamiliarity blinding us to the marvellous, life-affirming phenomena of our world. But that doesn't have to be the case. In his typical engaging style, Will Gompertz takes us into the minds of artists - from contemporary stars to old masters, the well-known to the lesser-so, and from around the world - to show us how to look and experience the world with their heightened awareness.

De geheimen van de grootste genie uit de geschiedenis. Leonardo da Vinci wordt gezien als het meest creatieve genie ooit. Naast zijn wereldberoemde werk als schilder was hij ook uitvinder, schrijver, architect, beeldhouwer, componist, anatomist, filosoof, natuurkundige, scheikundige en ingenieur. Op basis van duizenden pagina's van Da Vinci's aantekenboeken en nieuwe ontdekkingen over zijn leven en werk vertelt Isaacson een prachtig verhaal over hoe Da Vinci's kunst verweven is met de wetenschap.

Picasso’s work is famous. His art is intricate, yet bizarre. His personal life was filled with struggles, and his children weren’t any better off, creating substance abuse and suicidal headlines. Despite the dysfunctionality in his personal and family life, his artwork reflected something new and fresh. And in a variety of paintings, an underlying rebel message against totalitarian regimes. Having lived through many horrors of the Spanish war, as well as other 20th-century conflicts, the painter showed both style and morale in his works, and left a legacy studied by the masses.

This autobiography, The Wooden Bazooka, is a story of manifold drama too vivid, improbable, and intensely personal to have been conjured up by a novelist. From orphanage to battlefront to prison camp to board room and beyond, Karl Heinz Johannsmeier spins a fast-paced narrative of incredible span and trajectory, a testimony to the power of optimism and tenacity to outwit death, overcome defeat, and engineer triumph. Few individuals have proven so dramatically that the American Dream of success is indeed alive and well.