Among the most delightful literary discoveries are those that reveal an author's playfulness—moments when serious writers lower their guard and indulge in private jokes. Orwell’s is precisely such a treasure: a book inscribed by George Orwell, signed not with his own name but as "Leo," the first clue and tongue-in-cheek reference to his now famous essay "Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool." The Inscription: a Weighty Joke for Those in the Know Orwell’s essay was almost impossible to

There are moments in the rare book trade when a single inscription can illuminate unexpected connections across literary history. Our recent acquisition—a book inscribed by Alice B. Toklas to Adelaide Atkinson—is precisely such a discovery, bridging the bohemian salons of modernist Paris with the tragic romance of Victorian literary scandal. The Shakespearen Inscription: A Deliberate Message What makes this inscription truly extraordinary is not merely that Alice B. Toklas de

At the outset the art of Henri Matisse was very conservative and it was natural that he should e participated in the very official Salon...

The Dada Movement developed between 1915 and 1922, between the dispersal of Cubism - from which it borrowed, and generalized for its own...

Like so many other painters, he discovered Cézanne on his arrival in Paris. There he also made friends with the sculptor Brancusi, who...

In 1840, the French painter Claude Monet was born. Monet is the most Impressionist of impressionists, and his work is the symbol of the...

In 1903, the English painter Graham Sutherland was born. After studying at the Goldsmiths School of Art, he concentrated on etching and...

In Montriog in 1893, Joan Miro was born. At fourteen he entered the School of Fine Arts of Barcelona and attended courses at the Gali...

In 1887, Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Russia. Chagalls earlier works were based on everyday familiar subjects, water carriers,...

The French painter was born in Havre in 1877. Dufy was a painter of joy, the joy of seeing, imagining and creating, without ever...

John Piper was born in 1903. He studied at the Royal College of Art and the Slade school. Piper came to painting rather late, and began...

Henry Moore was born in Castleford, Yorkshire in 1894. After studying at the Leeds School of Art and later at the Royal College of Art in...

Even more than the variations of Picasso, whose genius recapitulates the history of forms, Klee's art opens on the future. His work is...

Dutch painter, Cornelius “Kees” van Dongen astonished his family by his precocious gifts. When still an adolescent, he drew and painted...

The early work of Picasso reveals a remarkable ability to fuse his own ideas with those of the great masters as well as a diverse range...

The movement was at first given its name in derision. Like Impressionism, Cubism encountered general hostility and incomprehension. It...

Great houses a low skies most readily associated with John Piper