From impossible staircases to tessellated birds, Dutch artist M.C. Escher (1898–1972) crafted a unique graphic language of patterns, puzzles, and mathematics. Dense, complex, and structured by intricate principles, his work is at the same time decorative and playful, toying constantly with optic illusions and the limitations of sensory perception. For mathematicians and scientists, Escher is a mastermind. For hippies, he was the pioneer of psychedelic art.

Born in Leeuwarden, in the Netherlands in 1898, Escher’s early works focused on nature and landscapes, with regular exhibitions in Holland, and some international recognition. It was on a trip to the Alhambra Palace in Spain in the 1920s, however, that Escher found his niche. Sketching the patterns of the palace’s Moorish architecture, Escher became captivated by the codependency of forms within and next to each other.

Working mainly with lithographs and woodcuts, Escher went on to explore the relationships among shapes, figures, and space with a near-obsessive delight. He reveled in quirky vantage points, multiple perspectives, the transition from paper flatness to illusory volume, and intricate mathematical puzzles such as the Möbius strip, a seemingly infinite loop which twists and recoils on itself in a contortion of apparent physical impossibility.

This introductory book taps into Escher’s brilliant mind with key works from his restless investigation of image and perception. Along the way, you’ll find fish morphing into birds, lizards crawling off the page, masterful reflections, infinite mazes, and some of the most mind-bending images of 20th-century art.

John Malkovich appears as some of photography’s most famous subjects in 41 recreations of iconic portraits

Hollywood legend John Malkovich may seem like an unlikely choice for an artist’s muse, but American photographer Sandro Miller declares him “a photographer’s dream.” Miller (born 1958) has been finding inspiration in the Academy Award-nominated actor since the two first met in 1999. In their latest collaboration, Miller pays homage to the great photographers of past and present, with Malkovich as his sole model, in their recreations of 41 iconic portraits. The project is a testament to both Miller’s skill as a photographer and Malkovich’s chameleon-esque acting ability.

With months of research in addition to accurate costumes and makeup application, Miller’s recreations are delightfully exact in their lighting and editing, while Malkovich seems to easily inhabit the original subjects no matter who he is meant to portray. He appears as the titular migrant mother in Dorothea Lange’s Depression-era portrait, as a bewigged Andy Warhol cast in crimson and as both sisters in Diane Arbus’ infamous Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, matching with himself in a wide-collared dress and lace stockings. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Miller manages to breathe new life into some of the world’s most recognizable images in this playful take on the history of photography's intersection with pop culture.

This groundbreaking study redefines the status of the beloved American artist Mary Cassatt, placing her work in the wider context of nineteenth-century feminism and art theory. Mary Cassatt looks at the artist’s work in light of her time as an advocate for women’s intellectual life and political emancipation. Esteemed by her contemporaries for her commitment to what she and her radical colleagues in Paris termed "the new art"—now called impressionism—Cassatt brought her discerning gaze and compositional inventiveness to the study of the subtle, often psychological, social interactions of women in public and private spaces.

Focusing on key moments of engagement and change over the artist’s long career, art historian Griselda Pollock discusses Cassatt’s artistic training across Europe, her profound study of the old masters, and places fresh emphasis on the artist’s interest in Manet and other contemporary French and Spanish painters as well as her influence on American collections of French modernism. Now revised with a new preface, updates to the bibliography, and color illustrations throughout, this book offers a reevaluation of the work of this important artist as seen through the frames of class, gender, space, and difference.

• Elegantly produced and very inviting to browse at the reader’s leisure.
• The Masters of Art series are celebrated introductory texts to art and artists.
• Over 50 essential works chart the emergence of his vision and its evolution over time.
• Features artwork by Bruegel such as ‘The Wedding Dance’ and ‘The Census at Bethlehem’.
• Paintings are accompanied by perceptive commentary from historic context to technique.