Alastair Sooke's Books

Henri Matisse

A Second Life

By: Alastair Sooke

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Henri Matisse by Alastair Sooke - an essential guide to one of the 20th century's greatest artists 'One January morning in 1941, only a fortnight or so after his seventy-first birthday, the bearded and bespectacled French artist Henri Matisse was lying in a hospital bed preparing to die.' Diagnosed with cancer, the acclaimed painter, and rival of Picasso, seemed to be facing his demise. Then something unexpected happened. After a life-saving operation that left him too weak to paint, and often too frail to even get out of bed, Matisse invented a ground-breaking and effortless new way of making art. The results rank among his greatest work. In an astonishing blaze of creativity, he began conjuring mesmerising designs of dazzling dancers and thrilling tightrope walkers, sensuous swimmers and mythical figures falling from the heavens. His joyful and unprecedented new works were as spontaneous as jazz music and as wondrous as crystal-clear lagoons. Their medium? Coloured paper and scissors. This book, by art critic and broadcaster Alastair Sooke, focuses on Matisse's extraordinary final decade, which he called 'a second life', after he had returned from the grave. Both a biography and a guide to Matisse's 'cut-outs', it tells the story of the valedictory flourish of one of the most important and beloved artists of the twentieth century. Published in time for a major Tate Modern retrospective. 'Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude' Sarah Vine, The Times 'His shows are excellent - clever, lively, scholarly, but not too lecturey; he's very good at linking his painters with the world outside the studio, and at how these artists have affected the world today' Sam Wollaston reviewing 'Modern Masters', Guardian Alastair Sooke is art critic of the Daily Telegraph. He has written and presented documentaries on television and radio for the BBC, including Modern Masters, The World's Most Expensive Paintings, Treasures of Ancient Rome and, most recently, Treasures of Ancient Egypt. He is a regular reporter for The Culture Show on BBC Two. He is the author of Roy Lichtenstein: How Modern Art was Saved by Donald Duck.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

Publisher

Penguin UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

0241969093

ISBN 13

9780241969090

Pop Art

A Colourful History

By: Alastair Sooke

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Pop Art

A Colourful History

By: Alastair Sooke

Pop Art by the BBC's Alastair Sooke - an essential but snappy new guide to our favourite art movement Pop Art is the most important 20th-century art movement. It brought Modernism to the masses, making art sexy and fun with coke cans and comics. Today, in our age of selfies and social networking, we are still living in a world defined by Pop. Full of brand new interviews and research, Sooke describes the great works by Warhol, Lichtenstein and other key figures, but also re-examines the movement for the 21st century and asks if it is still art? He reveals a global story, tracing Pop's surprising origins in 19th-century Paris to uncovering the forgotten female artists of the 1960s.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

160

Publisher

Penguin UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

0241973074

ISBN 13

9780241973073

Roy Lichtenstein

How Modern Art Was Saved by Donald Duck

By: Alastair Sooke

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Roy Lichtenstein

How Modern Art Was Saved by Donald Duck

By: Alastair Sooke

A Penguin Special on Roy Lichtenstein by Alastair Sooke - read in 2 hours or less 'Why, Brad darling, this painting is a masterpiece! My, soon you'll have all of New York clamoring for your work!' Roy Lichtenstein - architect of Pop art, connoisseur of the comic strip, master of irony and prophet of popular culture. From exhilarating images of ice-cool jet pilots in dog fights, to blue-haired Barbie dolls drowning in scenes of domestic heartache, Lichtenstein's instantly recognisable paintings, with their Ben-Day dots and witty one-liners, defined the art of a generation. But how did a jobbing, unassuming painter of the Fifties become a world-famous Pop artist whose work today sells for millions? What do his paintings really tell us? And what is his legacy? This book, by art critic and broadcaster Alastair Sooke, is a perfect introduction to the artist and his work. Spanning Lichtenstein's career, and explaining his unique style, it is a journey through the life of one of the twentieth century's greatest artists. Published in time for a major new retrospective of the work of Roy Lichtenstein. 'Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude' Sarah Vine, The Times 'His shows are excellent - clever, lively, scholarly, but not too lecturey; he's very good at linking his painters with the world outside the studio, and at how these artists have affected the world today' Sam Wollaston reviewing 'Modern Masters', Guardian Alastair Sooke is deputy art critic of the Daily Telegraph. He has written and presented documentaries on television and radio for the BBC, including Modern Masters, an acclaimed BBC One series that chronicled modern art in the twentieth century. Since 2009 he has reported regularly for The Culture Show on BBC Two. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

Publisher

Penguin UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

0241965063

ISBN 13

9780241965061

Pop Art

A Colourful History

By: Alastair Sooke

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Pop Art

A Colourful History

By: Alastair Sooke

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

160

Publisher

Penguin UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

0241973074

ISBN 13

9780241973073

Roy Lichtenstein

How Modern Art Was Saved by Donald Duck

By: Alastair Sooke

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Roy Lichtenstein

How Modern Art Was Saved by Donald Duck

By: Alastair Sooke

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

Publisher

Penguin UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

0241965063

ISBN 13

9780241965061

Boy on the Wire

By: Alastair Bruce

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Boy on the Wire

By: Alastair Bruce

He is a man who lied, who told a story, a wild, fanciful story, about the death of a child, a hard and unyielding story. It is that, he finds, that he hates most. The story that was told.' In 1983 Paul Hyde, aged ten, dies falling from a ledge in the mountains of the Karoo. His older brother Peter, who falls at the same time, survives but loses all memory of the event. The youngest brother, John, is the only witness. Many years later, John is living in London. He and his wife Rachel, who knows nothing of the tragedy of his past and nothing of his family, make plans to have children of their own. Their life together is disrupted when Peter arrives in London and claims his memory is returning. Pulled back in spite of himself, John returns to South Africa and the home he grew up in. His return makes him question his recollection of the tragedy. Can we ever be certain of events that happened that far in the past, certain we have not completely changed their meaning and our part in them?

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

188

Publisher

Profile Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1782831614

ISBN 13

9781782831617

Book's by Alastair Sooke

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse

Pop Art

Pop Art

Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein

Pop Art

Pop Art

Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein

Boy on the Wire

Boy on the Wire

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email