Isabella Alston: 12 books

Piet Mondrian pioneered the de Stijl movement—Dutch for “The Style”—that emerged in the early 20th century and which served as an important transition from a focus on Symbolism and Realism to a new and growing focus on abstraction. The evolution of Mondrian’s initial, traditional style,...

Coco Chanel, without question probably the most famous fashion designer of all time, was named by Time  magazine one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Her life was filled with trauma, romance, intrigue, and scandal, but her business acumen and groundbreaking talent (along with...

Edvard Munch’s career is effectively divided into two periods: those before and after his mental breakdown in 1908. Prior to his psychiatric treatment and recuperation, the underlying themes of his work bounced between dark sorrow and an overt, aggressive sexuality. But after his breakdown, when...

Eugène Delacroix was highly influential in the 19th-century Romanticism art movement and is considered by many art historians to be the most important of the Romantic painters. Delacroix is often attributed with refining Romanticism, not only aesthetically but philosophically, as his work influenced...

Edith Head is probably the most iconic of all Hollywood costume designers. Beginning in the early 1930s until her retirement in 1977, Edith Head costumed the stars of over 500 films. With 35 Academy Award nominations for Best Costume Design, she won 8—the closest to come to her record is Irene Sharaff,...

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as simply Sandro Botticelli, was born in Florence, Italy, probably in or around 1445. Serendipitously winning a high-profile commission from the Florentine court, he was catapulted to notoriety as wealthy patrons, in particular the Medici family,...

When Liberace was just seven years old, he memorized the full 17-page score of Mendelssohn’s“Midsummer Night’s Dream” in one day. No matter your opinion of Liberace’s ostentatious and flamboyant style, his talent on the piano is unarguable. He learned the entertainment business as a teenager...

The earliest known decks of tarot cards created in Italy in the late 15th century were used as a game. The tarot’s association with fortune telling and gypsies did not come about until the late 1700s. The first decks were hand painted for wealthy families who had the money to commission the decks...

The human body is an immensely complex and amazing system, but sometimes something goes haywire and causes one or more of its vital elements to misfire, resulting in bizarre and often devastating anatomical anomalies. Such physical abnormalities in times past often meant that the affected individuals...

The origins of Chinese astrology can be traced to the Han Dynasty (stretching from the second century BC to the AD second century) and evolved in close association to broad Chinese philosophical concepts, most notably Confucianism and Taoism. The system of astrology that developed in the East was...

The French poster, born of a basic utilitarian purpose, has developed with age into an admired and collected art form. Vintage posters command high prices at auction and curators specialize in their restoration. The earliest art-worthy posters appeared on the streets of Paris designed by French-born...

The image most indelibly linked to the term Pin-Up Girl is a busty, longlegged, beautiful woman posing provocatively on calendars, posters, and in magazines primarily during the World War II years, most often in the U.S. military’s Yank magazine. These images make up the quintessential and most...