Swarovski is proud to sponsor 'Imperial Austria: Treasures of Art, Arms and Armor from the State of Styria,' an exhibition that documents an important part of Austria's cultural, artistic, and technological history. The exhibition also reveals the high standards of craftsmanship and innovation demonstrated by Austrian artists of the 15th through the 17th centuries. Much of the armor in the exhibition was made in Tyrol, the home of Swarovski. When Daniel Swarovski founded the company in 1895, he sought to achieve superior technical and artistic standards. A belief in the value of innovation and artistic achievement has guided the company ever since that time. Styria has always been a border state...always a fortress but also a bridge. In centuries past, they had to repel attacks from the East. Styrians are known for their strong will to hold their own ground. They have acquired their endurance and persistence in difficult times, for often they had to depend on themselves. Daily 'small' wars, assaults, plundering, arson, and constant uncertainty have formed the land and the people. Still, in its best historic dimension, they have always kept strong ties with their neighbors, and in the sovereign state of 'Inner Austria,' with Graz as a capital, Romans, Slavs and Germanic peoples have lived together peacefully. Throughout its beautiful countryside, one can still find old castles, fortified cities, and chuches, and mighty fortresses. In the Graz, the old 'Zeughaus' Armory Museum contains the original arms and armor, protected by Styrians for centuries from dissolution and destruction.

Imperial Austria: Treasures of Art, Arms & Armor from the State of Styria

Arts & Photography

Walter J. Karcheski Jr.

Peter Krenn

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Mexican colonial period has traditionally been considered a dark period in the arts, a long gap between the arrival of the Spaniards and the early twentieth century. Through new and focused scholarship, the exhibition catalogue The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico demonstrates that just the opposite is true. This landmark publication features extraordinary decorative and fine arts from the Mexican viceregal period (1521-1821). The lavishly illustrated catalogue is written in Spanish and English and, for the first time, presents to American audiences the rich artistic heritage of colonial Mexico. Five insightful essays by Mexican and American specialists explore the confluence of cultures that gives the arts of colonial Mexico a distinctive quality. This distinction, which differentiates the works from the arts of both Spain and other Latin American countries, is not widely understood in either the United States or Mexico. Expert commentaries enable readers to learn in greater depth about the outstanding collection of paintings, sculptures, furniture, ceramics, metals, textiles, featherwork, lacquer, and books housed in the Museo Franz Mayer in Mexico City. The contributors are: <ul>
<li>D. Hector Rivero Borrell Miranda, Director of the Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City</li> <li>Gustavo Curiel, cultural historian</li> <li>Antonio Rubial García, historian</li> <li>Juana Gutiérrez Haces, art historian</li> <li>Peter C. Marzio, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston</li> <li>David B. Warren, Director of Bayou Bend Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston</li> </ul>

The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico / La grandeza del México virreinal: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer

Museo Franz Mayer

Museum of Fine Arts. Houston

History & Criticism

Globalization has produced a new class of transnational art collectors who are changing the nature of collecting. Latin Americans have participated in this process from its inception, challenging mainstream biases and cultural stereotypes to build collections of extraordinary quality. Collecting Latin American Art for the 21st Century, published by the Department of Latin American Art and International Center for the Arts of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), explores the shifting profile of Latin American collections. What are the challenges of collecting the art of such a heterogeneous region? How have local collectors balanced individual tastes with the demands of a globalized art world? Through a series of case studies, contributors examine the history and context behind this largely unprecedented trend. Five essays follow an introduction by Mari Carmen Ramírez. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto examines the cultural exchange resulting from circular migration between Latin American and U.S. Latino populations, and he calls upon institutions like the MFAH to foster additional dialogue. Olivier Debroise traces the transition in Mexican art patronage from its nationalist origins to its present international climate. Marcelo Pacheco considers the economic boom in 1990s Argentina and the resulting rise in entrepreneurial, globally oriented collectors. Luis Pérez Oramas discusses the collection of Patricia and Gustavo Cisneros as a benchmark for enlightened collecting. And Beverly Adams outlines the history of collecting Latin American art in the United States, articulating the challenges ahead for collectors on this side of the border.

Collecting Latin American Art for the 21st Century: International Center for the Arts of the Americas

From the late 1950s until the 1980s, the German-born Venezuelan artist Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt) made drawings, prints, three-dimensional works, hanging-net pieces (reticulareas), and wire constructions (drawings without paper) of extraordinary quality. Taken as a whole, these works illustrate the issue at the core of her production: the liberation of line from volume and form into space. Though little known outside Latin America, Gego's work enjoyed a dialogue with twentieth-century artists and movements active not only in Venezuela, but also worldwide. In a series of essays examining her art in relation to Modernism, Informalism, kinetic art, and other tendencies, this volume - the second in the MFAH International Center for the Arts of the Americas series - situates Gego in her international context.

Questioning the Line: Gego in Context (International Center for the Arts of the Americas 2) (English and Spanish Edition)

English Text.Houston, 2003; hardback, pp. 66, col. ill. and plates, cm 20x22.

Colors of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

DesnoeÌttes, Caroline

This catalogue covers the ABC's of Noland's pictorial vocabulary since he began painting in the 1950s--the circle, the chevron and the stripe. With that foundation, Noland built an influential oeuvre that communicated the substance and associative power of color. This compact retrospective provides a fine overview.

Kenneth Noland: The Nature Of Color (THE MUSEUM OF F)

Wilkin, Karen

Greene, Alison De Lima

Individual Artists

A Portrait of the Artist, 1525-1825 reveals how artists depicted themselves and their profession from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. This richly illustrated book presents more than eighty engravings, etchings, woodcuts, mezzotints, and lithographs from the collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation. It provides an in-depth examination of works by Rembrandt van Rijn, Claude Lorrain, Adriaen van Ostade, Salvator Rosa, William Hogarth, Francisco Goya, and many other European masters. A Portrait of the Artist, 1525-1825 accompanies an exhibition organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation. The prints in this book are organized into four themes: "Icon," "Work," "Genius," and "Market." Together the themes present a comprehensive look at how artists used art to define individual and group identities. From the late Middle Ages onward, artists struggled to improve their social status. This quest affected the ways in which they represented themselves, other artists, and subjects relating to their profession. The prints featured in this book focus on artists' lives and work and on the roles that both artists and the arts held in society. Many of the examples are self-portraits, whereas others depict artists at work, interacting with clients, or in training.

A Portrait of the Artist, 1525-1825: Prints from the Collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation

Clifton, James

Journeys

Caroline Desnoëttes

Used. Very Good conditions. May have soft reading marks and name of the previous owner.

Red Hot: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection

Tucker, Anne Wilkes

Li, Vivian

Starkman, Christine

Martin, Elliott Zooey

Sanchez, Marisa C.

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Imperial Austria: Treasures of Art, Arms & Armor from the State of Styria

The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico / La grandeza del México virreinal: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer

Collecting Latin American Art for the 21st Century: International Center for the Arts of the Americas

Questioning the Line: Gego in Context (International Center for the Arts of the Americas 2) (English and Spanish Edition)

Colors of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Kenneth Noland: The Nature Of Color (THE MUSEUM OF F)

A Portrait of the Artist, 1525-1825: Prints from the Collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation

A Portrait of the Artist, 1525-1825: Prints from the Collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation

Journeys

Red Hot: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection