ARTES

The life and times of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1526/30–1569) were marked by stark cultural conflict. He witnessed religious wars, the Duke of Alba’s brutal rule as governor of the Netherlands, and the palpable effects of the Inquisition. To this day, the Flemish artist remains shrouded in mystery. We know neither where nor exactly when he was born. But while early scholarship emphasized the vernacular character of his painting and graphic work, modern research has attached greater importance to its humanistic content. Starting out as a print designer for publisher Hieronymus Cock, Bruegel produced numerous print series that were distributed throughout Europe. These depicted vices and virtues alongside jolly peasant festivals and sweeping landscape panoramas. He then increasingly turned to painting, working for the cultural elite of Antwerp and Brussels. Rather than idealizing reality, he bravely confronted the issues of his day, addressing the horrors of religious warfare and taking a critical stand against the institution of the Church. To this end, Bruegel developed his own pictorial language of dissidence, lacing innocuous everyday scenes with subliminal statements in order to escape repercussions.

The life and times of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1526/30–1569) were marked by stark cultural conflict. He witnessed religious wars, the Duke of Alba’s brutal rule as governor of the Netherlands, and the palpable effects of the Inquisition. To this day, the Flemish artist remains shrouded in mystery. We know neither where nor exactly when he was born. But while early scholarship emphasized the vernacular character of his painting and graphic work, modern research has attached greater importance to its humanistic content.Starting out as a print designer for publisher Hieronymus Cock, Bruegel produced numerous print series that were distributed throughout Europe. These depicted vices and virtues alongside jolly peasant festivals and sweeping landscape panoramas. He would eventually increasingly turn to painting, working for the cultural elite of Antwerp and Brussels.

«Cambio de ánimo, de país y de profesión según las circunstancias. Un día estoy cantando sobre el escenario de un festival abarrotado de gente y al siguiente ejerciendo de enfermero en una residencia para pacientes con demencia y alzhéimer en Noruega. Esta doble vida, entre la música y la enfermedad, me obliga a ir y venir constantemente. Vivo entre dos mundos pero no encajo en ninguno, y todo parece estar siempre a punto de resquebrajarse. El escenario y el amor son una tregua, una burbuja a salvo de todo lo que me asfixia. Me he pasado la vida tratando de ser alguien más allá de mi casa para al final llegar a la conclusión de que lo que me importa es ser alguien en ella. Aquí es donde residen el gran amor de mi vida y mis hijas, y es donde sigo manteniendo intacta la esperanza de escribir algún día la canción de amor definitiva». Jorge Martí es líder y cantante de una de las bandas más importantes del indie español: La habitación roja. Pero su vida no es la que se podría esperar del líder de una banda de rock, tiene una cara A: la que muestra en el escenario cuando canta junto a sus fans a pleno pulmón Ayer o Indestructibles, concede entrevistas y viaja promocionando sus discos. Y una cara B, desconocida para sus miles de fans, la del fracaso, las expectativas no cumplidas, la decepción, la enfermedad, y también el amor y la música, que tal vez sean la misma cosa.

Caravaggio, o para ser más exactos Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), siempre fue una figura de relevancia. El artista, considerado un rebelde de la pintura italiana, fue a la vez alabado y vapuleado. De temperamento violento y tecnica precisa, fue un maestro creativo y un fugitivo de la justicia. En la actualidad se le considera una de las figuras más influyentes de toda la historia del arte. Esta edición ofrece un ordenado pero exhaustivo catalogue raisonne (catálogo exhaustivo, con todas las obras conocidas) de Caravaggio. Todas sus pinturas se reproducen a partir de fotografías recientes de gran calidad que permiten disfrutar en primera persona del genial repertorio de miradas y gestos del artista y de numerosos detalles de ese personal realismo que traspasaba límites. Los cinco capítulos que lo completan recorren toda la trayectoria de Caravaggio, desde sus primeros encargos públicos en Roma hasta el punto más alto de su celebridad. Asimismo, la detallada cronología del libro repasa su tempestuosa vida personal, en la que lo trágico tuvo el mismo protagonismo que los claroscuros en sus lienzos.

Mary Cassatt's tender and profound paintings redefined portraiture and broke down barriers for women in art—both as artists and as subjects. This collection focuses on Cassatt's insightful portrayal of women and children living their everyday lives. Fifty magnificent images cover the scope of Cassatt's work, from her early interest in Japanese woodblocks all the way to her exploration of Modernist techniques. Two essays contextualize her as a pioneering female artist and as the American face of Impressionist painting.

On a winter’s night in 1949 in New York City, young marketing student and budding photographer Walter Chandoha spotted a stray kitten in the snow, bundled it into his coat, and brought it home. Little did he know he had just met the muse that would determine the course of his life. Chandoha turned his lens on his new feline friend—which he named Loco—and was so inspired by the results that he started photographing kittens from a local shelter. These images marked the start of an extraordinary career that would span seven decades.