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WHEN ELEPHANTS PAINT
By Komar and Melamid with Mia Fineman
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0060955961


Among the stacks of beautifully illustrated and annotated volumes devoted to a featured art form, you sometimes stumble onto a surprising little book that offers more than a gratifying aesthetic journey. WHEN ELEPHANTS PAINT reaches around the globe and will touch the heart of anyone who understands the importance of preserving the Earth's environment and the species that inhabit it.

In 1995 Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, two Russian artists with a reputation for innovation, were introduced to an experiment in pachyderm painting in Phoenix, Arizona. Shortly after, an article in the New York Times about the plight of Thailand's elephant population sparked an idea for raising money to save these creatures from their suffering and eventual extinction --- and the rest, as they say, is history. For the next four years, Komar and Melamid along with any number of other enthusiasts set about to establish painting schools for Thailand's elephants and to market their product to a skeptical world.

Sound silly? When you read about their story, which is richly illustrated with photographs and accompanied by a detailed history of the elephants and their country, there are moments when you'll laugh out loud. The artists are witty and self-effacing about many of their trials along the way, and the result is a very entertaining read. But you won't be snickering at the plight of these marvelous creatures, nor at the ultimate results of the artists' project. In addition to other successes, in March of 2000, in the prestigious setting of Rockefeller Center, Christie's auction house held "The World's First Auction of Elephant Art." They raised $75,000.

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THE JOY OF ART: A Creative Guide for Beginning Painters
By Serge Clement and Marina Kamena
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 0810942259


Art is not just for artists, according to authors Serge Clement and Marina Kamena who created THE JOY OF ART, a book written expressly for beginning painters. While most of us have dabbled in the arts as children in school, most people lay down their brushes and push aside their colored pencils at an early age. This beautifully illustrated, easy to follow guide helps novices uncover their inner artist by combining art history with art technique. The book proves that painting and drawing can be a part of everyone's life, no matter what age. Give this encouraging book to a budding artist that you know this holiday season --- or treat yourself!

VALLEY OF THE GOLDEN MUMMIES
By Zahi Hawass
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 0810939428


Just a few years ago, in the middle an Egyptian desert 230 miles southwest of Cairo, archaeologists made an amazing discovery --- they found a group of intact Egyptian tombs containing at the very least 60 gilded mummies. In this spectacular book, archaeologist Zahi Hawass shares his firsthand experiences at this site, including photographs taken during the excavation. The tombs containing the mummies were in surpassingly good shape, no looting had taken place, which means there were many artifacts for the archaeologists to unearth. Ancient Egypt buffs will love this beautiful book filled with 300 illustrations, including 200 in full color.

SILENT IMAGES: Women in Pharaonic Egypt
By Zahi Hawass
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 0810944782


So many people are enamored by the myth and art surrounding ancient Egypt. When we think of this period of history, we often conjure images of queens such as Nefertiti and Cleopatra, donning majestic head pieces and wearing serpentine bracelets coiled around their wrists and arms. But all this mythology aside, what were the women of ancient Egypt really like? They certainly weren't all of royal and goddess descent. SILENT IMAGES brings to light an era of history with news of recent excavations and analyses of older evidence. In this beautifully illustrated book --- there are 150 full color illustrations --- author and archaeologist Zahi Hawass deconstructs the myths and presents readers with a comprehensive history of women's lives in ancient Egypt.

NUDE SCULPTURE
Photographs by David Finn, essay by Vicki Goldberg
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 0810933462


Realistic nudes, bloated nudes, idealized nudes, pregnant nudes, decapitated nudes, broken nudes, male nudes, female nudes --- you get the idea. The black and white book NUDE SCULPTURE is filled with sculptured nudes from the Paleolithic period to the present. Nude sculpture often evokes awe when the observer comes face to face with an artist's vision of the body. And when presented in a book that covers a spectrum of time and culture, this awe can be tenfold. The book, photographed by David Finn, contains a range of artists from Michelangelo, Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol, Henry Moore to other unknown or little-known artists. Open up to any page and begin your nude journey from ancient times to the 20th century.