A timely celebration of multiculturalism.
The international heritage of British art.
In his book debut, British art historian and lecturer Primo examines the influence of foreign artists in England from the mid-15th to early-19th century, arguing persuasively that the “new artistic sensibility” that eventually became known as the British school of art could not have developed without the influx of artists from abroad. Some, such as Hans Holbein the Younger and Paul Rubens, are well known; others, such as the Belgian Daniel Mytens and the Czech Wenceslaus Hollar, less so, although both were prolific. Some spent extensive time in England, where they established studios and found patronage; others made brief visits. Holbein the Younger traveled from his home in Basel to England in 1526, carrying letters of praise from Erasmus to Thomas More. He soon became a sought-after portrait painter, whose sitters included Henry VIII and his court. From the Netherlands, Marcus Gheeraerts came to England with his father as a child, in 1568, escaping from religious persecution. Taught by his father, Gheeraerts was heir to the Netherlandish techniques and practices that, by the 16th century, came to dominate European artistic taste and were assimilated into British art. Gheeraerts’ portraits placed his subjects in landscaped surroundings, an innovation copied by others; his full-length portrait of Elizabeth I has been considered “the embodiment of the Elizabethan Age.” While some artists were lauded, others encountered prejudice and misogyny. Swiss-born Angelica Kauffman, for example, who arrived in England in 1766 after studying art in Italy, confronted patriarchal attitudes that trivialized the value of her work. Born in Britain as a person of color with Caribbean heritage, Primo informs his study with a deep sensitivity to the xenophobia and discrimination that incomers still experience in British society. Profusely illustrated.
A timely celebration of multiculturalism.Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9780500024010
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.
A coffee-table book celebrates Michelle Obama’s sense of fashion.
Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Obama’s chatty latest book begins with some school portraits from the author’s childhood in Chicago and fond memories of back-to-school shopping at Sears, then jumps into the intricacies of clothing oneself as the spouse of a presidential candidate and as the first lady. “People looked forward to the outfits, and once I got their attention, they listened to what I had to say. This is the soft power of fashion,” she says. Obama is grateful and frank about all the help she got along the way, and the volume includes a long section written by her primary wardrobe stylist, Koop—28 years old when she first took the job—and shorter sections by makeup artists and several hair stylists, who worked with wigs and hair extensions as Obama transitioned back to her natural hair, and grew out her bangs, at the end of her husband’s second term. Many of the designers of the author’s gowns, notably Jason Wu, who designed several of her more striking outfits, also contribute appreciative memories. Besides candid and more formal photographs, the volume features many sketches of her gowns by their designers, closeups on details of those gowns, and magazine covers from Better Homes & Gardens to Vogue. The author writes that as a Black woman, “I was under a particularly white-hot glare, constantly appraised for whether my outfits were ‘acceptable’ and ‘appropriate,’ the color of my skin somehow inviting even more judgment than the color of my dresses.” Overall, though, this is generally a canny, upbeat volume, with little in the way of surprising revelations.
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593800706
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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