New to the catalogue

(Photo credit: Granta Books)

Over the course of a year and a half, Miriam Darlington travelled around Britain in search of wild otters: from her home in Devon to Scotland, Cumbria, Wales, Northumberland, Cornwall, Somerset and to her childhood home near the River Ouse.

Otter Country follows Darlington’s search through different landscapes, seasons, weather and light, as she tracks one of Britain’s most elusive animals.

During her journey she meets otter experts, representatives of the Environment Agency, conservationists, ecologists, walkers, zoo keepers, fishermen, scientists, hunters and poets.

Above all, she learns how to track and be around otters.

This is an engaging and mesmerising book which should establish Darlington as a prominent voice within the new generation of British nature writers.

Further details of Otter country: in search of the wild otter can be found on our catalogue.

Journey through Tibet with the latest addition to the collections of the National Library of Scotland. Travel to a land of high mountain ranges, stunning temples and monasteries, beautiful rivers and farmland.

The work allows an insight into all aspects of life in this unique land from religion, history, work and festivals. Photographs of the stunning landscapes and beautiful architecutre of the region abound. The vibrant colour of these photographs certainly captures the beauty of the ‘Land of Snows’ with fold out photographs enhancing our experience.

The book also features a comprehensive index which references the traditional and geographic significance of each location, giving the reader further cultural and historic background.

You can find further details of Tibet on our catalogue.

(Photo credit: Royal Academy of Arts)

The Royal Academy of Arts presents the first major exhibition of new landscape works by David Hockney RA.

Born in Bradford in 1937, David Hockney attended Bradford School of Art before studying at the Royal College of Art from 1959 to 1962. Hockney’s stellar reputation was established while he was still a student; his work was featured in the exhibition Young Contemporaries, which heralded the birth of British Pop Art.

He visited Los Angeles in the early 1960s and settled there soon after. He is closely associated with southern California and has produced a large body of work there over many decades.

For the last decade Hockney has been based in Yorkshire, where he has returned to painting in the open air, observing with honesty and intensity the scenery remembered from school holidays spent working in East Yorkshire.

This major study of his work redefines him as an important painter of the English countryside, presenting his recent landscapes for the first time. Featuring vivid paintings inspired by the East Yorkshire landscape, these large-scale works have been created especially for the galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts and are shown alongside related drawings and film.

These works convey the drama and splendour of nature and the pathos of our relationship with it, an age-old subject treated by Hockney with a modern and spirited eye.

The exhibition also reveals how Hockney has embraced new technology, including his early use of the Polaroid, his innovative use of the colour photocopier, and more recently his iPhone and iPad. It includes a display of his iPad drawings and a series of new films produced using 18 cameras, which are displayed on multiple screens and provide a spellbinding visual journey.

David Hockney : A Bigger Picture is a fully illustrated catalogue containing a number of essays, including an introduction by Marco Livingstone, exploring the artist’s engagement with landscape painting in the context of Hockney’s illustrious career.

Writers as notable as Margaret Drabble, Tim Barringer, Martin Gayford, Xavier Salomon and David Hockney himself address the artist’s place in the landscape tradition, his recent video works and his delight in new technologies.

Illustrated with paintings, charcoal drawings, iPad drawings and video stills, many of which have never been seen before, this landmark publication confirms David Hockney as one of the greatest artists of his generation.

You can find further details of David Hockney: a bigger picture on our catalogue.