books about art
Felix Mendelssohn (full name Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) was a German composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, and one of the greatest representatives of Romanticism in music.
Felix was born into a Jewish musical family that later converted to Christianity. He received a versatile education and already as a child wrote many musical compositions, including 5 operas, 11 symphonies for string orchestra, concertos, sonatas and fugues. Mendelssohn's first public performance took place in Berlin in 1818, when he was nine years old. In 1821 Mendelssohn was introduced to J.W. von Goethe, for whom he performed works by J.S. Bach and Mozart and to whom he dedicated his Piano Quartet No. 3 in B minor. A friendship developed between the famous wise poet and the 12-year-old musician.
A few years later, the talented musician began conducting in various orchestras in Europe, and became acquainted with Carl Weber. In England, where Mendelssohn visited very often, by the middle of the 19th century his music had become very popular, even with Queen Victoria he was the most favorite composer. He dedicated his Symphony No. 3 in A minor major (Scottish Symphony) to the Queen.
Among Mendelssohn's most famous works are A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826), the Italian Symphony (1833), a violin concerto (1844), two piano concertos (1831, 1837), the oratorio Elijah (1846) and several chamber pieces. The tradition of playing the "Wedding March" from A Midsummer Night's Dream in wedding processions dates back to its performance at the wedding of a royal princess in 1858, already after Mendelssohn's death.
In 1843, Mendelssohn founded a conservatory in Leipzig, where he taught composition with Schumann. Mendelssohn was one of the first great Romantic composers of the nineteenth century.
Käthe Kollwitz (born as Schmidt) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including The Weavers and The Peasant War, depict the effects of poverty, hunger and war on the working class. Despite the realism of her early works, her art is now more closely associated with Expressionism. Kollwitz was the first woman not only to be elected to the Prussian Academy of Arts but also to receive honorary professor status.
William Shakespeare was a British poet and playwright and writer.
William's father, John Shakespeare, was a merchant and official in Stratford. There are reports that he was a sailor for a time before joining a theater company in London. Beginning in the 1590s, Shakespeare began writing plays, and in 1593 he published a poem, Venus and Adonis, which became popular. He dedicated it to the Duke of Southampton, who was a philanthropist and patron of talent, and soon his business was booming.
From 1592 to 1600 Shakespeare wrote his dramas and romantic comedies "Richard III", "The Taming of the Shrew", "Romeo and Juliet", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Merchant of Venice", as well as the comedies "Much Ado About Nothing", "Twelfth Night" and the tragedy "Julius Caesar". The playwright's business was so successful that he even bought a large house in Stratford. In 1599, Shakespeare became one of the owners, playwright and actor of the new theater "Globe". In 1603 King James took Shakespeare's troupe under his direct patronage. In the mature period, the great playwright turned to tragedies, there were "Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear", "Macbeth" and others.
Although in the 19th century researchers had some doubts about the authorship of many of these works, William Shakespeare is considered the greatest English playwright, one of the best playwrights in the world. His plays have been translated into all major languages and to this day form the basis of the world theatrical repertoire, most of them have been screened many times. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Shakespeare remains the world's best-selling playwright, and his plays and poems have sold more than 4 billion copies in the nearly 400 years since his death.
Edward Morgan Forster, English novelist, essayist, and critic, was a prominent literary figure of the early twentieth century. Born on 1 January 1879 in London and died on 7 June 1970 in Coventry, Forster's work was celebrated for its profound critique of social conventions, class distinctions and hypocrisy in British society. A member of the influential Bloomsbury group, Forster did not confine himself to novels, but also wrote essays, gave speeches and hosted programmes.
E. M. Forster was characterised by wit and a fine sense of irony. His novels, particularly A Room with a View, Howards End and A Passage to India, were recognised for their well-crafted plots and insightful social commentary. Not only have these works earned them a place in literature, but they have also been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. The films A Room with a View and Howards End won Academy Awards and have been recognised and celebrated in film archives and retrospectives by film institutions.
Edward Morgan Forster's novels serve as critical social commentary of their time and remain relevant to this day. Those interested in the intersection of literary art and its influence on film can look to first editions of his works or objects associated with acclaimed film adaptations to add to their collections.
Edward Morgan Forster, English novelist, essayist, and critic, was a prominent literary figure of the early twentieth century. Born on 1 January 1879 in London and died on 7 June 1970 in Coventry, Forster's work was celebrated for its profound critique of social conventions, class distinctions and hypocrisy in British society. A member of the influential Bloomsbury group, Forster did not confine himself to novels, but also wrote essays, gave speeches and hosted programmes.
E. M. Forster was characterised by wit and a fine sense of irony. His novels, particularly A Room with a View, Howards End and A Passage to India, were recognised for their well-crafted plots and insightful social commentary. Not only have these works earned them a place in literature, but they have also been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. The films A Room with a View and Howards End won Academy Awards and have been recognised and celebrated in film archives and retrospectives by film institutions.
Edward Morgan Forster's novels serve as critical social commentary of their time and remain relevant to this day. Those interested in the intersection of literary art and its influence on film can look to first editions of his works or objects associated with acclaimed film adaptations to add to their collections.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, full name Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe, was an American writer and poet, an activist for the eradication of slavery in the country.
Beecher Stowe is the author of the world-famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Published first in a newspaper and first published as a book in 1852, it aroused widespread anger in the country and galvanized the fight against slavery in the southern United States. This novel was later reprinted many times in all languages of the world and has been screened more than once.
In her youth, Beecher Stowe received an academic education, wrote poetry, notes and essays on social topics. In addition to "The Shack", she wrote several other novels and was engaged in teaching.