Posted by Beth Whalley, Marketing Executive
Art critic Brian Sewell recently identified a selection of his favourite art books for an article in the London Evening Standard. Among them were two Ashgate publications: The Ashgate Research Companion to Giorgio Vasari, and The Borghese Collections and the Display of Art in the Age of the Grand Tour.
Of the former, Sewell writes that it is “a collection of deeply scholarly essays on a key figure in Renaissance studies and his legacy as art historian, artist and academician – the coal face of art history.” The volume, published to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Vasari’s birth, brings together studies of Vasari’s life and works by the world’s foremost experts as well as up-and-coming scholars in order to provide a comprehensive assessment on the current state of Vasari scholarship.
The latter, published in 2008, is praised for discussing “the impact of the most important private collection in Rome in the age of the Grand Tour, in the setting of then contemporary art.” Identified as “essential reading” by caa.reviews and a “meticulous account” by the Times Literary Supplement, the book provides a comprehensive study of the late-eighteenth-century redecoration of the exhibition spaces at the Borghese palace and villa in Rome and the reinstallation of the family’s art collection.
Sewell rounds off his account: ‘everyone interested in art scholarship should keep an eye on Ashgate publications.’ Start browsing at www.ashgate.com/art, where you can download our 2015 catalogue, access information on our latest publications, read about the list, and more.
