New Releases by Edmund de Waal

The definitive illustrated edition of the international bestseller Two hundred and sixty-four Japanese wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox: Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in his great-uncle Iggie''s Tokyo apartment. When he later inherited the netsuke, they unlocked a far more dramatic story than he could ever have imagined. From a burgeoning empire in Odessa to fin de siècle Paris, from occupied Vienna to postwar Tokyo, de Waal traces the netsuke''s journey through generations of his remarkable family against the backdrop of a tumultuous century. With sumptuous photographs of the netsuke collection and full-color images from de Waal''s family archive, the illustrated edition of The Hare with Amber Eyes transforms a deeply intimate saga into a work of visual art.

Edmund de Waal, um dos mais importantes ceramistas da atualidade, era fascinado pela coleção de 264 miniaturas japonesas entalhadas em madeira e marfim guardadas no apartamento do tio-avô, que vivia em Tóquio. Nenhuma daquelas peças era maior do que uma caixa de fósforos e, no entanto, seu valor revelou-se grandioso. Mais tarde, quando herdou estes netsuquês, Edmund descobriu que, além da riqueza artística, eles carregavam uma história muito maior: revelavam o passado de sua família e eventos cruciais do século XX. A partir dessa delicada coleção, A lebre com olhos de âmbar, obra vencedora do Costa Book Award na categoria Biografia e finalista do South Bank Sky Arts Award na categoria Literatura, transporta o leitor desde um império em Odessa - passando pela Paris do fin-de-siècle e pela Viena ocupada pelos nazistas - até o Japão e a Inglaterra contemporâneos.

Más de doscientas figuritas de madera y marfil, ninguna de ellas mayor que una caja de cerillas, son el origen de este fascinante libro en el que Edmund de Waal describe el viaje que han hecho a lo largo de los años. Un viaje lleno de aventuras, de guerra, de amor y de pérdida, que resume, en la historia de una familia, la historia de Europa en los siglos XIX y XX. Un texto evocativo y de gran belleza que comienza con una pequeña liebre de ojos de ámbar que se mezcla en un bolsillo con las monedas, y termina, como todo auténtico viaje, con el descubrimiento de uno mismo. "El libro de la década... Una obra maravillosa, para ser conservada y leída una y otra vez por tantas generaciones como describe". The Times Literary Supplement "La mejor lección de historia imaginable". The New Yorker "Un libro de enorme categoría, casi insólito en el panorama editorial. Los grandes hechos de la historia transcurren en paralelo a la pequeñez de los objetos coleccionados, y todo está tan bien ligado en este libro prodigioso". Jordi Llovet, El País "Una apasionante, bella y sutil historia de su familia, poblada de banqueros, aristócratas y artistas, con cameos de Proust, Renoir, Strauss, Rilke, la reina de Inglaterra, los Rotschild...". Xavi Ayén, La Vanguardia "Un fascinante ensayo. De Waal es un gran escritor, nutrido de una copiosísima varia erudición, cuya riqueza, sin embargo, nunca empece el flujo de una pasión desbordante. La clave de esta venturosa travesía narrativa es haberla urdido a partir de ese pequeño botón del netsuke". Francisco Calvo Serraller, El País

Haren med øyne av rav er en bok som knapt likner på noen andre: familiehistorie, memoar, biografi, essay, fortelling, kunsthistorie, detektivroman. De færreste hadde forventninger til boken da den utkom i England sommeren 2010. Ett år senere er De Waals bok et av de mest omtalte fenomenene i den internasjonale forlagsverdenen. I en prosa som er like presis og elegant som netsukene selv forteller Edmund de Waal historien om en mektig families langsomme vei mot tragedien – og om samlingen de klarte å holde fast på, et siste minne om hva de en gang hadde vært. Edmund de Waal er en av verdens ledende keramikere, og arbeidene hans er representert i mange museumssamlinger.

Geheel herziene, prachtig geïllustreerde editie. In september verschijnt de 12e druk van deze internationale bestseller. Edmund de Waal beschrijft op meeslepende wijze de geschiedenis van zijn familie en hun bijzondere netsukeverzameling. Van een ontluikend imperium in Odessa naar het fin de siècle in Parijs, via bezet Wenen naar het naoorlogse Tokio: tegen de achtergrond van een tumultueuze eeuw volgt De Waal de reis van de netsukes door de generaties van zijn opmerkelijke familie.

The history of ceramic art is ingrained in the history of mankind. Clay is one of the very first materials ''invented'' by man. An essential part of our lives it has been moulded, thrown, glazed, decorated and fired for over 30,000 years in order to preserve and transport food and water. In more recent times clay has been used not just by artisans and potters, but also by artists, designers and architects. The Pot Book is the first publication to document the extraordinary range and variety of ceramic vessels of all periods, in a comprehensive and accessible A to Z format. From a delicate bowl made by an unnamed artisan in China in the third millennium BC, or a jug made in eighteenth-century Dresden, to a plate made by Picasso in 1952, a ''spade form'' made by Hans Coper or the vases of Grayson Perry today, it''s all in included in this beautifully illustrated collection. Each entry is sequenced in alphabetical order by the name of the artist/potter, the school, or style, creating a grand tour through the very finest examples of the art form.

«Incantevole» Natalia Aspesi, la Repubblica «Raramente un libro ha conquistato a tal punto il pubblico amante dell’arte e della letteratura» Livia Manera, Corriere della Sera Un''elegante vetrina nella casa londinese di Edmund de Waal contiene 264 sculture giapponesi di avorio, o legno, non più grandi di una scatola di fiammiferi, raffiguranti divinità, personaggi di ogni tipo, animali, piante. La vetrina è aperta, e i piccoli figli di de Waal possono estrarre i netsuke - così si chiamano i minuscoli oggetti - e giocarci. Come facevano, ha scoperto l''autore, i piccoli figli di Viktor e Emmy von Ephrussi, suoi bisnonni, nel boudoir della madre, in un fastoso palazzo viennese della Ringstrasse, un secolo fa. Prima che Hitler entrasse in trionfo a Vienna e avessero inizio le persecuzioni e i saccheggi nelle case degli ebrei.Ebrei di Odessa erano appunto gli Ephrussi, commercianti di cereali e poi banchieri ricchi e famosi quanto i Rothschild, con ville e palazzi sparsi in tutta Europa. Quello di Vienna, dove i netsuke arrivano nel 1899 da Parigi - dono di nozze ai cugini di Charles Ephrussi, famoso collezionista, mecenate, storico dell''arte, amico di Renoir, Degas, Proust - conteneva tante e tali opere d''arte che i minuscoli oggetti sfuggirono all''attenzione dei razziatori nazisti. Come sopravviveranno alla guerra, e come finiranno a Tokyo, dove de Waal li vede per la prima volta a casa del prozio che glieli lascerà in eredità, sono solo due delle tante, emozionanti sorprese di questo libro che, apparso più di un anno fa, continua a incantare critici e lettori.Affascinato dall''eleganza, dalla precisione, dalle straordinarie qualità tattili delle sculture, l''autore, famoso artista della ceramica, decide di ricostruire la storia dei loro passaggi da una città all''altra, da un palazzo all''altro, da una mano all''altra. Ricostruisce così anche la storia romanzesca della sua famiglia. «Vagabondando» per anni tra l''Europa e il Giappone, attingendo a una quantità di materiali d''archivio, ma soprattutto rivivendo le vicende dei suoi antenati nei luoghi da loro abitati, osservandole con gli occhi dell''artista, de Waal ci regala un libro capace di restituire l''atmosfera di intere epoche, di sigillare intere vite dentro un racconto perfetto.

In the 1870s, Charles Ephrussi assembled a collection of 360 Japanese ivory carvings known as "netsuke." In this grand story, a renowned ceramicist and the fifth generation to inherit the collection traces the story of a remarkable family and a tumultuous century.

Edmund de Waal is one of the leading artists working with ceramics today. He has also specialised in various large-scale installations which show groups of ceramic vessels, often in historic architectural settings. Signs and Wonders will be the largest and most ambitious installation commission, to date, by any single artist in a public or private space, which will be placed at the heart of the recently reopened ceramic galleries in the V+A. This beautifully illustrated book provides a very personal narrative on how the galleries have generated new ways of working. Archival pictures and newly commissioned photography of the installation made up of 425 pieces, are shown alongside examples from the V+A''s world famous ceramics collection,which have in turn inspired Signs and Wonders.

The qualities that have caused clay to be overlooked as a medium by those writing the history of modern art are precisely those that make it attractive to artists. It is easy to work, fragile, inexpensive, unpredictable and physical, and therefore inherently subversive. A Secret History of Clay reveals the previously undisclosed love affair between artists and this most humble of materials and in doing so re-writes modern art history. Works by some of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, many never reproduced before, will be fully illustrated in colour, tracing the transition of ceramics from a craft pursuit to something altogether more radical. Simon Groom, curator of the exhibition, argues the case for a re-examination of the use of clay in modern art. The distinguished ceramicist and writer Edmund de Waal explores its history, examining little-known works works by groups such as the Fauves, Russian Suprematists, German Expressionists, Italian Futurists, and CoBrA, as well as by artists including Duchamp, Miro, Picasso and Noguchi. The book will also feature extracts from the manifestos and writings of both artists and critics on the use of clay. Starting with Gauguin,

Potters long ago left behind the notion that pots must be purely useful or merely pleasant everyday objects.

Presents the best works of 70 exceptional contemporary artists.

From abstract vessels to domestic tableware and sculptural pieces in earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, this volume presents ceramic design from all over the world. It features the work of ceramic artists who use a wide range of clays and decorative and firing techniques to produce pieces.

Bernard Leach was the preeminent artist potter of this century. Early in his career he spent 12 formative years in Japan. Returning to England in 1920, he set up a studio in St. Ives. Leach''s influence on the growth of the studio pottery movement, both in Japan and in the West, has been profound. His making of ceramics and his teaching of some of the foremost artist-potters of the period gives him a central place in the international history of decorative arts.