Art and Design > Fine Art

This brand new full-colour art book reveals in sumptuous detail more than 100 paintings based on The Lord of the Rings by acclaimed Dutch artist, Cor Blok, many of which appear here for the first time. Fifty years ago, shortly after The Lord of the Rings was first published, Cor Blok read the work and was completely captivated by its invention and epic storytelling. The breadth of imagination and powerful imagery inspired the young Dutch artist, and this spark of enthusiasm, coupled with his desire to create art that resembled a h... read more

In this lavishly illustrated book, author Graeme Lay presents the lives of twenty-three of the finest artists and writers to have been inspired by the South Pacific, and a rich selection of their works. In Search of Paradise is a compilation of memorable visual and literary journeys, covering two hundred years of European contact with the South Pacific islands and the people who inhabited them at a unique period in the region's history. Among the art and writings included are: * The candid chronicles of Joseph Banks * Louis-Antoin... read more

Art Toi is a wide-ranging review of New Zealand's art from the 1600s to the present day, edited by senior curator Ron Brownson. Art Toi contains over 300 finely detailed illustrations from 181 artists. Engaging essays written by the Galley's curators open each section and are complemented by eight focused 'vignettes' by external writers exploring different themes in New Zealand's art.

Clear, challenging and inspiring, this book contains instructions for 65 abstract paintings that you can get to work on straightaway, with no previous experience.All the basic information relating to picture elements, composition, theme and design is provided at the start of the book, together with an exploration of the meaning of abstract painting, and its importance as a means of self-expression and creativity.Rather than providing step-by-step instructions, each of the exercises consists of information on method, materials, tech... read more

Through character sketches and anecdotes the author depicts Piero di Cosimo shut away in his derelict house, living only to paint, and Giulio Romano's startling painting of Jove striking down the giants.

The perfect guide to the most important ideas and concepts that underpin Western art: Romanesque; Byzantine; International Gothic; Early Renaissance; High Renaissance; Northern Renaissance; Mannerism; Baroque; Caravaggism; Dutch Golden Age; Rococo; Neoclassicism; Romanticism; Academic Art; Orientalism; Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; Realism; Impressionism; Symbolism; Post-Impressionism; Neo-Impressionism; Synthetism/Primitivism/Les Nabis; Fauvism; Expressionism; Art Nouveau and Secessionism; Cubism; Orphism; Futurism; Dadaism; Surrea... read more

Peter Stitchbury's paintings engage in pointed dialogue with the world of popular culture. Drawing directly from the commercial imagery of advertising and celebrity he delivers exaggerated renditions which question our attachment to such images. In the Alumni his painted characters represent the extreme sub-sets of a school: the nerds, the beauties, the normal and the strange. His paintings engage with the hierarchies, the pecking orders and the power games of the classroom which is turn are both a microcosm and distortion of the ... read more

Pat Hanly's paintings are about passion and protest, light, love and life. He painted with many different styles and subjects but this book focuses on the work made in fear or protest about nuclear weapons. In the story of New Zealand's struggle to be nuclear-free no artist is more important than Pat Hanly. Pat Hanly was a small man with a big-hearted, wide-seeing view of the world. He was bold and brave. All through his life he painted and spoke up about political and social things that disturbed him, especially nuclear testing wh... read more

Artistic genius, political activist, painter and decorator, mythic legend or notorious graffiti artist? The work of Banksy is unmistakable, except maybe when it's squatting in the Tate or New York's Metropolitan Museum. Banksy is responsible for decorating the streets, walls, bridges and zoos of towns and cites throughout the world. Witty and subversive, his stencils show monkeys with weapons of mass destruction, policeman with smiley faces, rats with drills and umbrellas. If you look hard enough, you'll find your own. His statemen... read more

The story of twentieth-century art is dominated by a major shift from representation to abstraction, from Cezanne's paintings of hills and houses to Pollock's pictures of nothing. Yet in New Zealand we know a lot about Rita Angus and Colin McCahon but little about the post-representational art that now dominates the art world. This book is the first account of the work of New Zealand's leading abstract painter, Milan Mrkusich. Trained as an architect and working for the innovative design firm Brenner Associates in the 1940s, Mrkusi... read more

Contemporary New Zealand Art 4 is the final book in a series that offers readers a comprehensive view of New Zealand artists working at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries. This volume features over 100 artworks reproduced in full colour representing twenty artists, both established and emerging, working in a variety of media - painting, photography, sculpture, installation and multimedia. Contemporary New Zealand Art 4 as with previous volumes shows a selection of each artist's work - the art they produced ... read more

Contemporary New Zealand Art 4 is the final book in a series that offers readers a comprehensive view of New Zealand artists working at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries. This volume features over 100 artworks reproduced in full colour representing twenty artists, both established and emerging, working in a variety of media - painting, photography, sculpture, installation and multimedia. Contemporary New Zealand Art 4 as with previous volumes shows a selection of each artist's work - the art they p... read more

Dick Frizzell's images populate our world - you find them on T-shirts, on TV ads, in shop windows, on wine bottles, on cushions and T-towels and in art shows. People appropriate (or borrow) his images in much the same way that he too appropriated many of the images he has painted over the years. He's reached iconic status in NZ - we love him, he's one of our own. This book contains all of his major paintings, the story of his life in his own thoughtful and highly articulate words, and an essay by Hamish Keith on Dick's work and its... read more

Published to coincide with the first major survey exhibition of John Pule's work, curated by the City Gallery Wellington, Hauaga provides an indispensable guide to the work of one of the most powerful and original artists of the new Oceania.

Inspired by the development of Cubism, the Futurist movement was founded in 1909 by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, along with painters Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carr

Take a trip through New Zealand art via Dick Frizzell's point of view. He shines a light on some of the works he's always loved - a number of which have seemed to miss muster in the usual round-ups. It's an eclectic bunch of paintings and begins with images he was drawn to (because that's what it was all about. images) back before he was told what he'd be better off looking at. From Peter McIntyre inviting him up onto the scaffolding to watch him painting the WWII mural in the Hastings War Memorial Library, through to discovering ... read more

I Spy NZ art features works from the Chartwell Collection, and was written by Hanna Scott and Julia Waite with Rob Gardiner, Sue Gardiner, Caroline McBride and Christa Napier-Roberston.
"I Spy NZ Art matches works by 26 artists to the letters of the alphabet to create New Zealand’s first art-based ABC book. ‘Our idea was to encourage young readers to look for items and ideas within the illustrations that begin with a letter of the alphabet,’ says project coordinator Julia Waite. ‘We developed this book... read more

To celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit, a sumptuous full colour art book containing the complete collection of more than 100 Hobbit sketches, drawings, paintings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien. When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit, he was already an accomplished amateur artist, and drew illustrations for his book while it was still in manuscript. The Hobbit as first printed had ten black and white pictures, two maps, and binding and dust-jacket designs by its author. Later, Tolkien also painted five scenes ... read more

So many readers struggle with finding their own voice and with knowing which skills and artistic direction to focus on in order to create a look that doesn't mirror everyone else's, but which they can feel good about as being uniquely their own. In this book, the reader is introduced to 15 contributing artists - each with a new art-making technique to share as well as a brief glimpse at their own stories of how they discovered how to make a look that is uniquely theirs. Throughout the book, the author encourages the reader with sug... read more