A fascinating life of Sergei Shchukin, the great collector who changed the face of Russia's art world. Sergei Shchukin was a highly successful textiles merchant in the latter half of the nineteenth century, but he also had a great eye for beauty. He was one of the first to appreciate the qualities of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists and to acquire works by Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso. A trailblazer in the Russian art world, Shchukin and his collection shocked, provoked, and inspired awe, ridicule, and derision among his contemporaries. This is the first English-language biography of Sergei Shchukin, written by art historian Natalya Semenova and adapted by Shchukin's grandson Andre Delocque. Featuring personal diary entries, correspondence, interviews, and archival research, it brings to light the life of a man who has hitherto remained in the shadows, and shows how despite his controversial reputation, he opened his collection to the public, inspiring a future generation of artists and changing the face of the Russian art world.

One of the most accomplished authors in history, Tolstoy has inspired and influenced generations of readers. While celebrated for his masterpieces Anna Karenina and War and Peace, his short stories are just as compelling. This collection includes 'The Story of Ivan the Fool', 'Ilys', and many more of Tolstoy's finest tales, and it demonstrates the raw power and emotion of his narrative genius.

The second installment of Icons of Modern Art, the major exhibition organized by Fondation Louis Vuitton, brings together more than 170 unparalleled masterpieces from the collection of modern French and Russian art created by the Muscovite brothers Mikhail and Ivan Morozov. Following the exhibition of the collection of Sergei Shchukin, Fondation Louis Vuitton continues its exploration of the cultural and intellectual world of Russia's collectors and patrons, pioneers of modern art. Presented for the fi rst time outside Russia, the Morozov collection includes iconic works by Manet, Rodin, Monet, Pissarro, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Sisley, Cйzanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Bonnard, Denis, Maillol, Matisse, Marquet, Vlaminck, Derain, and Picasso, alongside works of celebrated Russian artists from the turn of the twentieth century, such as Repin, Vrubel, Korovin, Golovin, Serov, Larionov, Goncharova, Malevich, Mashkov, Konchalovsky, Utkin, Saryan, and Konenkov. The unprecedented presentation of work by these artists represents an exceptional opportunity for discovering them anew. The philanthropic brothers Mikhail Abramovich Morozov (1870-1903) and Ivan Abramovich Morozov (1871-1921) dominated Moscow's cultural life from the end of the nineteenth century until the early twentieth century, along with the Tretyakov, Mamontov, Ryabushinsky, and Shchukin families. Their unconditional support of European and Russian contemporary art was integral to the international recognition of modern French painters.

A hilarious story of everyone's favourite bear, Paddington - now a major movie star! When Paddington goes to an outdoor painting exhibition he is inspired to work on his own masterpieces. And it's not long before he sells some of his paintings to a mysterious art collector! Stories of Paddington Bear have delighted children all over the world for more than sixty years.

Discover the extraordinary stories behind the world's missing works of art. Travel back in time to discover works of art that have vanished from the record, as well as those that went missing and have since been reclaimed or recovered. From the treasures of Tutankhamun to the altarpiece of Ghent, a missing Faberge egg, and Vincent van Gogh's majestic Sunset at Montmajour, numerous masterpieces have disappeared throughout history as a result of theft, looting, natural catastrophe, or conflict... And some have resurfaced decades or even centuries later! Lost Masterpieces examines the unique story of the most significant of these artworks, the artists who created them, and those thought to be involved in their loss. It explores the various means by which museum curators and international crime investigators have unearthed missing treasures. It highlights the moral dilemma of museums that have profited from looted works of art and examines the recent "heists" made by some nations in an effort to regain their nation's stolen works of art. This awe-inspiring art history book promises: - A selection of the most important "lost" cultural artefacts from ancient times to the present day - Features images of the artworks where available, or specially commissioned illustrations of them based on written accounts - Includes details of the ongoing debate about whether looted art should be returned to its country of origin Delve into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian tombs, marvel at the hoards unearthed by archaeologists, and discover the skulduggery behind the disappearance of priceless Rembrandts and Vermeers, and see the world of art and antiquities in a whole new light! A must-have volume for adults and young adults with an interest in art, culture and history, whether you're an art or history student, a collector of art antiques, or you're simply a curious life-long learner, Lost Masterpieces is sure to delight.

This outstanding collection by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Cheever shows the power and range of one of the finest short story writers of the last century. Stories of love and of squalor, they include masterpieces such as 'The Swimmer' and 'Goodbye, My Brother' and date from the time of his honourable discharge from the Army at the end of the Second World War.

An enchanting and fascinating insight into Japanese landscape, culture, history and future. Originally written in Japanese, this passionate, vividly personal book draws on the author's experiences in Japan over thirty years. Alex Kerr brings to life the ritualized world of Kabuki, retraces his initiation into Tokyo's boardrooms during the heady Bubble Years, and tells the story of the hidden valley that became his home. But the book is not just a love letter. Haunted throughout by nostalgia for the Japan of old, Kerr's book is part paean to that great country and culture, part epitaph in the face of contemporary Japan's environmental and cultural destruction. Winner of Japan's Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize, and now with a new preface. Alex Kerr is an American writer, antiques collector and Japanologist. Lost Japan is his most famous work. He was the first foreigner to be awarded the Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize for the best work of non-fiction published in Japan.

The Fondation Louis Vuitton's unprecedented exhibition brings together one hundred and thirty masterpieces, among the most iconic of the collection created in Moscow by the great Russian art patron, Sergei Shchukin. From Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe (1866) by Claude Monet, the hieratic Mardi gras (1888-90) by Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin's Tahitian odalisque Eh quoi, tu es jalouse? (1892), the luminescent panel L'Atelier du peintre (1911) by Henri Matisse, to conclude with Pablo Picasso's Trois femmes (1908) and the collage Compotier, grappe de raisin, poire coupee (1914), the magnificence of Shchukin's collection is most fittingly exhibited here. Extended by a group of sorne thirty major works from the Russian avant-gardes, including Counter Relief (1916) by Vladimir Tatlin, Green Stripe (1917) by Olga Rozanova, and Kazimir Malevich's monochrome painting, Black Suprematie Square (1929), Icons of Modern Art covers the extreme breadth of this journey through nineteenth- and twentieth-century creation. The presentation of these exceptional works, where our collective gaze cornes together, constitutes an exemplary "painting lesson."

Charles Dickens wrote a number of supernatural and horror stories, some of which were included in his longer works, while others were published in magazines. This collection provides an invaluable insight into the author's storytelling apprenticeship and his steady growth towards excellence. As well as offering a further dimension to the world of his better-known masterpieces, these tales - from 'The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton' to the celebrated 'The Signalman' - illustrate Dickens's well-known love of a spooky story told around a blazing fire, the pastime of a bygone age to be rediscovered for our own delight.

An autobiographical volume which recounts the story of Nabokov's first forty years up to his departure from Europe for America at the outset of World War Two. It tells of his emergence as a writer, his early loves and his marriage, and his passions for butterflies and his lost homeland. Written in this writer's characteristically brilliant, mordant style, this book is also a tender record of lost childhood and youth in pre-Revolutionary Russia.

A cult classic of Italian literature published in English for the first time, with a foreword by Andre Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name In the late 1960s, Leo Gazzara left his family in Milan and moved to Rome for work. Soon unemployed, he has spent his time in an alcoholic haze, bouncing between hotels, bars, romantic entanglements, and the homes of his rich and well-educated friends. Rome is indifferent. Leo drifts, aimless and alone. On the evening of his thirtieth birthday, he meets Arianna, a young woman who is both fragile and seductive. All night they drive the city in Leo's run-down Alfa Romeo, talking and talking. They eat brioche for breakfast, drink through the dawn, drive to the sea and back. A whirlwind beginning. This is the story of the year Leo fell in love and lost everything. Intense, brief, witty and devastating, Last Summer in the City is a newly rediscovered classic of Italian literature. Translated into English for the first time by Howard Curtis, Gianfranco Calligarich's romantic and despairing debut is reminiscent of The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises and The Catcher in the Rye.

Sir Henry Rider Haggard was an English writer of adventure novels set largely in Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential. In Black Heart and White Heart, Henry Rider Haggard mounts once more those trusty steeds of his, the nobility of the savage and the rascality of the civilized white. He rides, too, with all his old dexterity, and the story concerning Zulus, witches, battles, sacrifices, and traitors.

Sir Henry Rider Haggard was an English writer of adventure novels set largely in Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential. In Black Heart and White Heart, Henry Rider Haggard mounts once more those trusty steeds of his, the nobility of the savage and the rascality of the civilized white. He rides, too, with all his old dexterity, and the story concerning Zulus, witches, battles, sacrifices, and traitors.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896–1940) - а famous American novelist and short story writer. F. Scott Fitzgerald is regarded as one of the greatest twentieth century writers from the so-called "Lost Generation". He finished four novels, left a fifth unfinished, and wrote dozens of short stories that treat themes of youth, promise, age, and despair. Tender is the Night (1934), tells the story of the rise and fall of Dick Diver, a promising young psychoanalyst, and his wife, Nicole, who is also one of his patients. The early 1930s, when Fitzgerald worked on the book, were the darkest years of his life, and the novel's bleakness reflects the author’s own experiences.

An autobiographical volume which recounts the story of Nabokov's first forty years up to his departure from Europe for America at the outset of World War Two. It tells of his emergence as a writer, his early loves and his marriage, and his passions for butterflies and his lost homeland. Written in this writer's characteristically brilliant, mordant style, this book is also a tender record of lost childhood and youth in pre-Revolutionary Russia.

An autobiographical volume which recounts the story of Nabokov's first forty years up to his departure from Europe for America at the outset of World War Two. It tells of his emergence as a writer, his early loves and his marriage, and his passions for butterflies and his lost homeland. Written in this writer's characteristically brilliant, mordant style, this book is also a tender record of lost childhood and youth in pre-Revolutionary Russia.