Art Beauty

The Art Instinct combines two of the most fascinating and contentious disciplines, art and evolutionary science, in a provocative new work that will revolutionize the way art itself is perceived. Aesthetic taste, argues Denis Dutton, is an evolutionary trait, and is shaped by natural selection. It's not, as almost all contemporary art criticism and academic theory would have it, "socially constructed".

Named a Top 100 Must-Read Book of the Year by Time and a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker * Winner of the 2024 Writers’ Prize for Nonfiction * Shortlisted for the Inaugural Women’s Prize for Nonfiction * Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize New York Times bestselling author Laura...

An Oxford mathematician, playwright, and musician reveals how creative people can harness the profound and productive relationship between mathematics and the arts When Shakespeare has the Three Witches cast Macbeth’s lot, he uses something very weird to do it: not simply “eye of newt and...

In the sixth volume of the Swans Are Not Silent series, John Piper celebrates the importance of poetic effort by looking at three influential Christians whose words magnificently display a commitment to truth and a love of beauty. Examining the lives of George Herbert, George Whitefield, and C. S. Lewis, Piper helps us appreciate the importance of carefully crafted words by exploring how Christians can use them to testify to God's glory, wonder at his grace, and rejoice in his salvation.

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE YEAR SHORT-LISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE 2025 A timeless story of strife and hope set during the conflict in the Balkans in the early '90s—a searing debut novel about a woman who...

We all get dressed. But how often do we pause to think about the place of clothes in our world? What unconscious thoughts do we express when we dress every day? Can a philosophy of living be wrapped up in a winter coat? Can we see a handbag not just as an object, but as an idea? Dressed is the thinking person’s book about clothes. Ranging freely from suits to shoes, from Marx’s coat to Madame X’s gown, philosopher Shahidha Bari unveils the hidden power of what we wear, addressing the deepest questions of who we are and how we choose to face the world.

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning comes Katerina, James Frey’s highly anticipated new novel set in 1992 Paris and contemporary Los Angeles. A kiss, a touch. A smile and a beating heart. Love and sex and dreams, art and drugs and the...

Abstract theology is overrated, for God can be found in even the most ordinary of things. Jesus used things like a lily, sparrow, and sheep to teach about the kingdom of God. And in the Old Testament, God repeatedly describes himself and his saving work in relation to physical things such as a...

Personally attached to Zen Buddhism, wabi-sabi is a style that invites solace and an unpretentious otherworldliness into the home. It's anything but an embellishing style, fundamentally, yet a mentality. To establish a genuine wabi-sabi climate, one must gradually strip away overabundance and figure out how to be fulfilled living at the same time. Wabi-Sabi Home describes the rich history of this arising pattern in home plans and uncovers endless ways of bringing wabi-sabi components into contemporary residing spaces.

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK From one of the sharpest voices in fiction today, a profound and enthralling novel about beauty and power, capital, art and those who devote their lives to creating it Once, Jay was an artist. After graduating from art school in London, he was tipped for greatness, a...

“Scandal, sabotage and spies. Who knew the beauty industry was so cutthroat! This was a thoroughly compulsive and addictive read."" — Kate Thompson, bestselling author of The Little Wartime Library Bestselling author Gill Paul reveals the history of cosmetic titans Elizabeth Arden and Helena...

Nice women never wore makeup. Even the word was taboo in polite society—until Max Factor entered the scene. Born in Poland in 1877, Factor worked as a beautician for the Russian royal family, the Romanovs. In 1904, he fled to America, where he opened a cosmetics store in Los Angeles. Creating makeup originally for silent films, then the talkies, and, ultimately, color motion pictures, Factor designed looks for Katharine Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, and countless other beauties of the day. Soon women everywhere wanted to look like their favorite glamorous stars, and Factor was there to help, bringing his innovative cosmetics to the general public.

This “lush, sexy, absorbing novel” of historical fiction “brings to life two artists who are inextricably linked in passion and competition” (Melissa Febos, bestselling author of Girlhood) A “captivating” lesbian romance set in the “wonderfully atmospheric” art world of 1600s...

Every time you dress, you assert your identity. With style, you tell the world your story. In that way, style affords you opportunities to think about your appearance as a quality of your creative character. The Little Black Book of Style helps you to explore your own fashion voice - the piece of you that joyously revels in the glamorous experience of creating your best self.

It used to be pretty easy to distinguish between the bourgeois world of capitalism and the bohemian counterculture. The bourgeois worked for corporations, wore gray, and went to church. The bohemians were artists and intellectuals. Bohemians championed the values of the liberated 1960s; the...

"Describes with plenty of colour how surrealism, from Rene Magritte's bowler hats to Salvador Dali's watches, was born and developed." - The Times (UK) As she did for the Modernists In Montmartre, noted art historian and biographer Sue Roe now tells the story of the Surrealists in Montparnasse...

Everything you need to know about ear, face, and body piercings—from how to find a skilled professional piercer to best practices for safe healing and optimal results. “As a piercer, nurse, and educator, I can say without a doubt that this is the most complete book ever written for all...

One of the nation’s chief architecture critics reveals how the environments we build profoundly shape our feelings, memories, and well-being, and argues that we must harness this knowledge to construct a world better suited to human experience. Taking us on a fascinating journey through some...

Art historian Catherine McCormack challenges how culture teaches us to see and value women, their bodies, and their lives. Venus, maiden, wife, mother, monster—women have been bound so long by these restrictive roles, codified by patriarchal culture, that we scarcely see them. Catherine...

Homemade soap making has become quite popular these days, and it's not considered to be just a hobby anymore as it traditionally has been for years. For health and other reasons, homemade soap making has become quite a large business because you can personalize the ingredients to suit your needs. The book The Intricate Art of Soap Making: How to Make Homemade Soap goes into detail on how that's done.