A brilliant book by Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel, The Age of Insight takes us to Vienna 1900, where leaders in science, medicine, and art began a revolution that changed forever how we think about the human mind—our conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions—and how mind and brain relate to art.
At the turn of the century, Vienna was the cultural capital of Europe. Artists and scientists met in glittering salons, where they freely exchanged ideas that led to revolutionary breakthroughs in psychology, brain science, literature, and art. Kandel takes us into the world of Vienna to trace, in rich and rewarding detail, the ideas and advances made then, and their enduring influence today.
The Vienna School of Medicine led the way with its realization that truth lies hidden beneath the surface. That principle infused Viennese culture and strongly influenced the other pioneers of Vienna 1900. Sigmund Freud shocked the world with his insights into how our everyday unconscious aggressive and erotic desires are repressed and disguised in symbols, dreams, and behavior. Arthur Schnitzler revealed women’s unconscious sexuality in his novels through his innovative use of the interior monologue. Gustav Klimt, Oscar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele created startlingly evocative and honest portraits that expressed unconscious lust, desire, anxiety, and the fear of death.
Kandel tells the story of how these pioneers—Freud, Schnitzler, Klimt, Kokoschka, and Schiele—inspired by the Vienna School of Medicine, in turn influenced the founders of the Vienna School of Art History to ask pivotal questions such as What does the viewer bring to a work of art? How does the beholder respond to it? These questions prompted new and ongoing discoveries in psychology and brain biology, leading to revelations about how we see and perceive, how we think and feel, and how we respond to and create works of art. Kandel, one of the leading scientific thinkers of our time, places these five innovators in the context of today’s cutting-edge science and gives us a new understanding of the modernist art of Klimt, Kokoschka, and Schiele, as well as the school of thought of Freud and Schnitzler. Reinvigorating the intellectual enquiry that began in Vienna 1900, The Age of Insight is a wonderfully written, superbly researched, and beautifully illustrated book that also provides a foundation for future work in neuroscience and the humanities. It is an extraordinary book from an international leader in neuroscience and intellectual history.

米开朗琪罗创作的西斯廷礼拜堂壁画，五百年来一直为世人所惊叹。这件传世之作是如何诞生的？画作中隐藏着什么秘密？它背后又有怎么样的故事？本书作者以丰富的史料为基础，开讲一段生动的艺术史演义。所写人物众多而个性鲜明，所述事件纷杂而脉络清晰。以生花妙笔让时光倒转，引领读者回到十六世纪的意大利，感受一位天才艺术家的生命历程……
一件艺术作品只有作为一种重要并且永恒的成就，才能跻身于杰作之列。能够创造出这样一件优秀的作品，对于一位艺术家来说是其一生无上的荣耀。而在雕塑、绘画、建筑、诗歌等众多艺术门类中能够取得这样辉煌成就的，在迄今为止的人类文明史上，可以说只有一个人。他，就是与达.芬奇和拉斐尔并称文艺复兴“三杰”的米开朗琪罗。他的才智是如此杰出，以至于在他活着的时候，人们就尊称他为“神”。在梵蒂冈西斯廷教堂顶部作画，这是教皇尤利乌斯二世交给了米开朗琪罗一生中最具挑战性的任务，这里成就了他生平最大杰作的这一壁画。

本书以图文资料与独特的见解深度剖析世人对“丑”的成见，颠覆传统审美观，形成一部异彩纷呈的审丑观念史。

本书论述上起新石器时期，下至清代数千年中国染织纹样发生发展及其演变的历史，并就各历史时期的政治经济、生产方式、工艺技术、织物品种等方面的内容进行综合论述，着重对各时代纹样从造型、色彩方面进行剖析，并联系个时期的政治、经济、文化背景，深入阐述染织纹样的形成风格和美学特色。
染织纹样史研究的内容是以纹样为核心的，涉及纺织原料、染织工艺、织物品种以及社会制度、时代风尚等多方面的综合性研究。本书按历史时期分为八章，每章的第一节是对织物的原料与品种及纹饰的表现工艺的研究；第二节论述本时期典型时代纹样的结构特点、纹样的流变等；第三节是纹样的文物示例与阐释，以图片为主，加少量文字阐释。

《艺术博物馆》是一个虚拟的艺术博物馆。建造者和监管者都是英国费顿出版社（Phaidon）。它的藏品无与伦比。它的展厅不受有形空间限制。为艺术、摄影艺术、木版画、丝网版画、陶瓷、手抄本等艺术品济济一堂，共同讲述着世界的历史。
你可以漫步于25个画廊间，在这成列着旷世杰作的450个展厅中度过美好时光。这些艺术品有的妇孺皆知、有的默默无闻，其搜罗自全世界的私人收藏和公共收藏。你可以在这恢弘的画廊中漫步，也可以在某个展厅中流连。
达•芬奇的《蒙娜丽莎》、伦勃朗最棒的《自画像》、委拉斯贵支的《宫娥》、毕加索的《格尔尼卡》、中国的陶瓷、葛饰北斋的浮世绘、秘鲁的金器、拉斯科洞窟的岩画、塞•托姆布雷和布赖斯•马登的作品，在这里一一收藏。如此丰富齐全，舍却此处，别无他家。
“艺术博物馆”开阔宽敞，游览方便，极富教益，不啻一场出类拔萃的视觉盛宴。每个画廊都有彩色编号。每个展厅所涉及的艺术运动、文化、主题都有明确解释标注于墙面。每件作品也都有注释标签。
全年365天每天24小时开放，这是世界上第一个真正可以随时随地参观的艺术博物馆。