Exciting New Book On Decorative Tiles Published

February 16, 2016

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. recently announced the release of its newest decorative arts title, “Tiles & Styles-Jugendstil & Secession: Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts Design in German and Central European Decorative Tiles, 1895-1935” by Ken Forster.
This book examines decorative tiles manufactured in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia/Moravia/Czechoslovakia in the years between 1895 and 1935. These ceramic tiles, used primarily on walls, floors, and stoves, but also furniture, trays, and more, were an affordable decor element that made art accessible to a large segment of the population. They would also turn out to be some of the best examples of the Jugendstil and Secession movements in design. Both were variations of international Art Nouveau and rejected the conservative aesthetics of mainstream art.
In Part I of the book, the author places these movements within the context of art history, then explores the history of the tiles. In Part II, a broad look is taken at Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau tiles, including influences from other Western and Central European nations. With almost 600 color photos of tiles, this book will appeal to art historians, decorative arts aficionados, and anyone who appreciates beautiful, inspirational design.

About the author: educated in England, Scotland, and Germany, Ken Forster earned an M.A. in philology and modern languages from New College, Oxford, having also attended the Universities of Vienna and Aix-en-Provence. After being granted a diploma in fabric design from the Derby College of Technology, he worked in Singapore, Malacca, and Kuala Lumpur as a merchant trader and in London producing and recording rock-music programs for the BBC Radio Transcription Service. After immigrating to the United States, he opened his first gallery of American and European decorative arts in Dallas and, later, others in Alexandria and Baltimore, with an emphasis on 19th- and 20th-century design. He is the author of the acclaimed “UND Pottery-a History and Comparative Study of the Art Pottery made at the University of North Dakota, Alternative American Ceramics, 1870-1955,” and “Biographies in American Ceramic Art, 1870-1970.”
For further information, including how to order, visit www.schifferbooks.com.

 

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