The face of Britain : a history of the nation through its portraits
(Book)
Author
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016].
Format
Book
ISBN
9780190621872, 0190621877
Physical Desc
xxiv, 602 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), portraits ; 25 cm
Status
Description
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Also in this Series
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Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Bernards Township Library - Adult Nonfiction | 704.942 SCH | Available |
Chatham Borough-Chatham Township Library - Adult Nonfiction | 704.9 SCH | Available |
Morris County Library - Adult Nonfiction | 704.9 SCH | Checked Out |
Subjects
OCLC Fast Subjects
More Details
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016].
Language
English
ISBN
9780190621872, 0190621877
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description
Simon Schama's latest book fuses history and art to create a tour de force of narrative sweep and illuminating insight. Using images from works--paintings, photographs, lithographs, etchings, sketches--found in London's National Portrait Gallery, The Face of Britain weaves together an account of their composition, framed by their particular moment of creation, and in the process unveils a collective portrait of a nation and its history. "Portraits." Schama writes, "have always been made with an eye to posterity." Commissioned to paint Winston Churchill in 1954, Graham Sutherland struggled with how to capture the "savior" of Great Britain honestly and humanely. Schama calls the portrait, initially damned, the "most powerful image of a Great Briton ever executed." Annie Leibovitz's photograph of a nude John Lennon kissing Yoko Ono, taken five hours before his murder, bears "a weight of poignancy she could not possibly have anticipated." Hans Holbein's preparatory sketch for a portrait of Henry VIII depicts "an unstoppable engine of dynastic generation." Here are expressions from across the centuries of normalcy and heroism, beauty and disfigurement, aristocracy and deprivation, the familiar and the obscure--the faces of courtesans, warriors, workers, activists, playwrights, the high and mighty as well as pub-crawlers. Linking them is Schama's vibrant exploration of how their connective power emerges from the dynamic between subject and artist, work and viewer, time and place. Schama's compelling analysis and impassioned evocation of these works create an unforgettable verbal mosaic that at once reveals and transforms the images he places before us.--Adapted from dust jacket.
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Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Schama, S. (2016). The face of Britain: a history of the nation through its portraits . Oxford University Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Schama, Simon. 2016. The Face of Britain: A History of the Nation Through Its Portraits. Oxford University Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Schama, Simon. The Face of Britain: A History of the Nation Through Its Portraits Oxford University Press, 2016.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Schama, Simon. The Face of Britain: A History of the Nation Through Its Portraits Oxford University Press, 2016.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.
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