For every groundbreaking new idea that changes the world as we know it, there are thousands (if not more) that are entirely useless—whether or not they were inspired, clever or even ingenious at their moment of inception. In “Inventions that Didn’t Change the World,” author Julie Halls of the British National Archives chronicles the plentitudes proposed and even developed during the Victorian Era—a heyday of …
Pop-Surrealist Mark Ryden introduced his creepily precious characters to the contemporary art world in the 1980s to wide acclaim, and in his sixth book, “Mark Ryden: The Gay 90’s,” the artist returns to his signature doll-like figures, using them to explore the conflict of ideals around the end of the 1800s. In this book, the artist’s provocative sketches, sculptures and paintings toy with our preconceptions …
When the Queen of England is among your collectors, you know you’re doing something right. But British writer and artist Charlotte Cory doesn’t let this distinction go to her head—that much is clear from the casual way in which she delivered her work to Windsor Castle. “I went and got a cab, put them in the cab and said, ‘can you take me to Windsor?’ …
