Background
LEVEY, Michael Vincent was born on June 8, 1927 in London. Son of the late O. L. H. Levey and Gladys Mary Milestone.
(From Giotto to Cezanne: A Concise History of Painting Mic...)
From Giotto to Cezanne: A Concise History of Painting Michael Levey. 549 color illustrations. "Outstanding...accurate, free from prejudice, always neat, often stimulating. No better introduction to Western painting has eve been produced." (The Sunday Times). " combining serious scholorship with a presentation simple enough to interest the general reader and employing a standard of reproduction good enough to make the result both an intellectual and an aesthetic pleasure." ( the Burlington magazine).
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(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
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(Michael Levey, former Director of the National Gallery in...)
Michael Levey, former Director of the National Gallery in London, traces the major trends of European painting in the eighteenth century, taking as his theme the exciting evolution--and revolution--that took place in art from Watteau's birth to the death of Goya. 154 illus., 22 in color.
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(The bicentenary of Mozart's death both confirmed and reju...)
The bicentenary of Mozart's death both confirmed and rejuvenated the enduring appeal of this remarkably gifted composer. Yet our understanding of the man has been clouded; his personality has all too often been seen as an inevitable by-product of genius, a portrayal that is as misleading as it is unsatisfactory. In his biography, Michael Levey sees behind that darkened varnish and reveals the clear image of a man of great liveliness and humanity, not at all at odds with the genius so evident in his music.
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(Following the success of the previous volumes in this ext...)
Following the success of the previous volumes in this extraordinary Series (The Early Renaissance and The Flowering of the Renaissance), Italian Frescoes: The High Renaissance to the Early Baroque presents twenty-two fresco cycles that include brilliant works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Andrea del Sarto, Parmigianino, Bronzino, Veronese, and Carracci all of them still visible on walls and ceilings of palaces and churches spanning Italy from the Veneto to Rome. The authors present such celebrated sites as the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Palladio Villa Barbaro in Maser, and the Palazzo del Te in Mantua as well as lesser known gems. Each of the twenty-two chapters is concise and authoritative, offering a descriptive and interpretive essay on all aspects of fresco painting, covering the artists and their patrons in the context of their cultural and political history. Each essay concludes with a diagram of the fresco cycle, followed by a series of full- and double-page colour plates showing the entire cycle, many reproduced from new photographs of recently restored frescoes.
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("...states the case for Pater as the instigator in Englan...)
"...states the case for Pater as the instigator in England of a darringly hedonistic approach to the arts...(his) life storypossesses great poignancy." Married tp Brigid Brophy, the author has been a Cambridge professor and Director of The National Gallery, London.
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( Sir Thomas Lawrence (17691830) was the most gifted and...)
Sir Thomas Lawrence (17691830) was the most gifted and successful British portrait painter in the generation following Gainsborough and Reynolds, and his pre-eminence was confirmed by his election as President of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1820. Yet Lawrence’s work has often been dismissed as flashy and meretricious. This beautifully illustrated, eloquently written, and comprehensive account reverses that view, demonstrating that Lawrence was an intelligent, hard-working, and profoundly conscientious artist. The book is the first sustained study of Lawrence’s work in many years, and the first ever to look closely at his highly accomplished drawings as well as his paintings. Tracing the steps in his career, Michael Levey analyses and illustrates the finest of Lawrence’s achievements, making pertinent comparisons with the work of British contemporaries and with foreign artists like Goya and Ingres. Utilizing published and unpublished sources and focusing detailed attention on individual works, Levey presents a persuasive argument for reconsideration of Lawrence as an artist of the top rank.
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(For over fifty years Dr. Robert Spencer (1889-1969) pract...)
For over fifty years Dr. Robert Spencer (1889-1969) practiced medicine in the small coal-mining town of Ashland, PA. As the only town doctor, he was known by everyone as a dedicated medical professional who spent long hours at his clinic, charged a modest fee for his services, never turned anyone away who couldn't pay, and was the person the townspeople turned to with their many ailments and injuries. But he also gained another kind of notoriety as well, about which there was generally a discreet silence in the town: he would willingly perform safe and reliable abortions. Women "in trouble" could consult him without shame or fear, and he would perform the procedure quickly and efficiently with no questions asked. This was unique in the era before Roe v. Wade, especially in the 1920s when Dr. Spencer opened his practice. As a result he soon became a much-sought-after physician, to whom doctors throughout the country would refer women who wished to end their pregnancies. Of course, many disapproved of his not-so-secret and illegal abortion practice. Despite the townspeople's reliance on him for his medical expertise, over the years he was blackmailed, robbed, often shunned in public, censured by the American Medical Association, and arrested by the police. This is the first biography of Dr. Spencer. Vincent Genovese has done yeoman's work in reconstructing Dr. Spencer's life and career by researching his correspondence, interviewing surviving Ashland residents who knew him, and combing through old newspaper archives. This unique biography is a must read for anyone interested in the issue of abortion.
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(Tiepolo was a decorative artist in the 18th century, this...)
Tiepolo was a decorative artist in the 18th century, this prize-winning volume provides a cogent and sympathetic analysis of Tiepolo, tracing the development of the painters career and art in the context of his times, and emphasizing his essentially Venetian qualities.
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(Genius and talent combine to render both brilliant and va...)
Genius and talent combine to render both brilliant and varied the image of painting and sculpture in France in the last years of the ancien regime. The outpouring of creative activity and of inspired patronage, both public and private was then unparalleled elsewhere. Gifted exponents of sculpture include the Coustou, Michel-Ange Slodtz, and Caffieri, besides the better-known Falconet, Pigalle, and Houdon: their often monumental work provides a salutary reminder of the seriousness of intention in an age often still stereotyped as frivolous and lightweight. In painting, Restout, Vernet, Oudry and others were appreciated at least as much as Boucher, and portraiture, genre, and still life were all well served. The era may have opened with Watteau and the fete galante, but it closed with a revival of history painting, and with an artistic revolutionary in the person of David. Bringing new insights and information to bear on the work of the great French artists and sculptors of the eighteenth century, Levey has created a book that is at once beautiful and instructive.
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(High Renaissance artists, considered as the interpreters ...)
High Renaissance artists, considered as the interpreters of a divinely inspired energy, and many of their creations are examined individually and collectively. With the aid of more than 150 illustrations, Michael Levy demonstrates the unparalleled virtuosity of an extraordinarily fertile era.
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(Otto Pacht, one of the most significant art-historians of...)
Otto Pacht, one of the most significant art-historians of the 'Vienna School', and well known for his analyses of Early Netherlandish art, turns his attention in this publication to the humanist circle of Early Renaissance painters in Venice, dominated by Jacopo Bellini, his sons Gentile and Giovanni, and also his son-in-law Andrea Mantegna. It was a period of newly awakened interest in the Antique, of studies made directly from nature, and of trial and error in the technique of perspective. And in addition, a new awareness of the role of light and colour in the devotional and often monumental images of the Madonna, of altarpieces and of allegories contributed to the founding of what we now recognise as the hall-mark of Venetian painting, that culminated with Titian. Of the Bellini family, it has been Giovanni who was generally regarded as the major figure of the dynasty. Pacht, however, devotes particular attention to Jacopo's work, interpreting it as the basis for his sons' later development. He analyses Jacopo's London and Paris Sketchbook drawings, demonstrating where Late Gothic elements can be seen to be overtaken by the need to give perspective depth to the image, and how subsequent painting took account of these changes. This is also the essence of Pacht's examination of Mantegna's work, where the construction of space and depth is the key to our understanding of Mantegna's creative process. Turning to the next generation of the Bellini family, Pacht guides our eyes to appreciate the refinement and perception of Gentile's portraits, and finally takes us step by step through the works of Giovanni, where fantasy combines with the play of colour and light in creating compositions, devotional images, and landscape settings of perfect harmony and beauty.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1872501230/?tag=2022091-20
(Tiepolo was a decorative artist in the 18th century, this...)
Tiepolo was a decorative artist in the 18th century, this prize-winning volume provides a cogent and sympathetic analysis of Tiepolo, tracing the development of the painters career and art in the context of his times, and emphasizing his essentially Venetian qualities.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FKY3NQE/?tag=2022091-20
(Undoubtedly some of the most witty and urbane films of Ho...)
Undoubtedly some of the most witty and urbane films of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the six movies that composed MGM’s Thin Man series showcased a pair of wealthy, inebriated detectives who solve murders in their down time. Through the series’ run from 1934 to 1947, William Powell and Myrna Loy turned Nick and Nora Charles into a cinematic institution, showcasing a marriage that was sexy, funny, and exciting, whether there was a gun pointed at them at any given moment or not. Thoughts On The Thin Man reflects on these famous films, looking back at Dashiell Hammett’s original inspiration, the genesis of the films, and the men and women who made them possible. This collection of essays covers all six movies, including detailed plot breakdowns, quotes, trivia, discussion of motifs, looks at the many spin-offs of the series, a couple of nostalgic odes, and even drinking games, including a custom cocktail devoted to the duo. Would you expect any less?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1503361799/?tag=2022091-20
(Accompanying a landmark exhibition at the Courtauld Galle...)
Accompanying a landmark exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, this book examines the remarkable drawings made by Durer as a young man from 1490 to 1495, especially those made during his journeyman years, or Wanderjahre - considered the final part of a craftsman's training - and a second shorter trip which immediately followed and seems to have brought the artist to Italy. These trips form the framework for the book, which focuses on the young artist's figure studies and has at its heart the Courtauld Gallery's double-sided drawing of a Wise Virgin and Two studies of the artist's left leg. This superbly ambitious work serves as a springboard to explore in depth the role of drawing at this stage of Durer's career. It allows us to address a series of crucial questions: how Durer formed 'his hand', how he responded to artistic challenges presented by contemporary and earlier art (both on a stylistic and an iconographic level), how his pursuit of professional success was linked with the quest for an individual artistic identity, and how the strategy of recording his own creative achievements in drawings dovetails with his claim for a new status for the artist in his city. The scholarly and beautifully illustrated catalogue is introduced with five essays by distinguished experts. Stephanie Buck examines the documentary evidence and attempts to reconstruct the motivations and activities of Durer's travels as a young man. David Freedberg discusses Durer's obsessive observation and recording of himself in portraits and in studies of his limbs. These represent the first critical steps in the artist's developing understanding of the body, and of the ways in which its movements could not just show emotion, but rouse the equivalent sense of torsion, tension and pathos in the bodies and minds of his viewers. Stephanie Porras looks at Durer's copies of drawings or prints circulating in Nuremberg workshops or acquired during the Wanderjahre, which were used as a means of seeking inspiration, of challenging himself to draw more sophisticated figures and dynamic compositions. Michael Roth asks the question of how the three strands of the art of the line - drawing, engraving and woodcut - structurally correspond in Durer's work and, consequently, how drawing merges with certain manual aspects of printing. A final essay presents new technical research on Durer's early drawings undertaken collaboratively in a number of leading collections of the artist's work, and aims to enrich our understanding of the young Durer's approach to the medium of drawing.
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( Having studied how boys and girls develop differently, ...)
Having studied how boys and girls develop differently, Michael Gurian turns his attention to adult men in this entertaining, informative, and groundbreaking book on the male brain. Following two decades of neurobiological research, What Could He Be Thinking? answers the questions women and the world are asking about husbands, fathers, boyfriends, and coworkers. Mixing neurobiology with Gurian's very readable style, anecdotes from everyday life, and a new vision of the male psyche, the book will satisfy the tremendous curiosity women and our culture have about the roots of male behavior. Women know intuitively that men are different from them. What women are now just coming to realize is that the men they are married to, having sex with, working with, parenting with, and trying to fathom, act and think in very male ways, not only because they are socialized to do so, but because they are built to--neurobiologically. The new field of brain science has revealed wonderful secrets about a man's mind. In this book, women who are eager to understand the men in their lives can discover the new brain science in an entertaining way, as they get answers to the prime question every woman asks at some time in her life: What could he be thinking? The book provides fascinating information about the male brain, male habits, male tendencies, and the nuances of men's actions and thoughts. It is a provacative, exciting vision into the minds of men.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312311494/?tag=2022091-20
LEVEY, Michael Vincent was born on June 8, 1927 in London. Son of the late O. L. H. Levey and Gladys Mary Milestone.
Graduate in English Language & Literature with honours, Exeter College, Oxford, 1950. Doctor of Letters (honorary), Manchester University.
Assistant keeper National Gallery, London, 1951—1966, deputy keeper, 1966—1968, keeper, 1968—1970, deputy director, 1970—1973, director, 1973—1986. Slade professor, fine art Cambridge University, 1963—1964, Oxford University, 1994—1995. Wrightsman lecturer New York University, 1968.
Honorary fellow Exeter College, 1973. Captain King's Shropshire Light Infantry, with Education Corps, 1945-1948.
(Following the success of the previous volumes in this ext...)
(Accompanying a landmark exhibition at the Courtauld Galle...)
(Otto Pacht, one of the most significant art-historians of...)
(Tiepolo was a decorative artist in the 18th century, this...)
(Tiepolo was a decorative artist in the 18th century, this...)
(Michael Levey, former Director of the National Gallery in...)
( Sir Thomas Lawrence (17691830) was the most gifted and...)
(Undoubtedly some of the most witty and urbane films of Ho...)
( Having studied how boys and girls develop differently, ...)
(High Renaissance artists, considered as the interpreters ...)
(Genius and talent combine to render both brilliant and va...)
(The bicentenary of Mozart's death both confirmed and reju...)
(A balance and complete picture of Western painting from G...)
(From Giotto to Cezanne: A Concise History of Painting Mic...)
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
(Book of royal collection)
(For over fifty years Dr. Robert Spencer (1889-1969) pract...)
(Book by Levey, Michael)
(2nd Paperback Editio)
(Hardcover book)
(New edition)
(324pages. in8. broché. Avec 549 planches en couleurs -Tra...)
("...states the case for Pater as the instigator in Englan...)
Author: National Gallery Catalogues, 1956, 1959, 1971, Painting in XVIIIth Century Venice, 1959, review edition, 1994, From Giotto to Cezanne, 1962, Durer, 1964, Later Italian Pictures in the Royal Collection, 1964, review edition, 1991, Rococo to Revolution, 1966, Early Renaissance, 1967 (Hawthornden prize, 1968), Concise History of Western Art, 1968, Painting at Court, 1971, The Life and Death of Mozart, 1971, Art and Architecture in 18th Century France, 1972, High Renaissance, 1975, The World of Ottoman Art, 1976, The Case of Walter Pater, 1978, (exhibition catalogue) Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1979, (fiction) Tempting Fate, 1982, An Affair on the Appian Way, 1985, Giambattista Tiepolo, 1986 (Banister Fletcher prize, 1987), Men at Work, 1989, Painting and Sculpture in France 1700-1789, 1992, Florence: A Portrait, 1996. Editor: Pater's Marius the Epicurean, 1985.
Fellow: Royal Society Literature, British Academy. Member: Ateneo Veneto (foreign member).
Married Brigid Brophy, June 12, 1954. 1 child Katharine Jane.