Ocean Art: From the Shore to the Deep

Helen Scales

One of the Best Popular Science Books of 2025 at New Scientist

From a leading writer of the sea, an exquisitely illustrated deep dive into the beauty and meaning of art inspired by the life of the watery depths.

Artists have captured the marvels of ocean life throughout history. From fine art to scientific illustrations, these portrayals help us to appreciate and interpret the diversity of shapes, colors, and patterns of the remarkable organisms that inhabit the oceans of the world. In Ocean Art, marine biologist and writer Helen Scales takes readers on a tour of ocean art, looking for the most striking and meaningful depictions of sea creatures, from ancient times to modern and from the coast to the deepest abyss, reflecting on how these works influence our view of life beneath the waves. This richly illustrated celebration of the beauty and wonders of ocean life is also a call to cherish and protect the endangered living seas.

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"This book offers a fascinating opportunity to see art and science reflect off each other in a richly illustrated tour of artwork about the ocean, starting at its coastlines and ending at its abysses. At school, the book’s author, marine biologist Scales, was asked to choose between following an artistic life and a scientific one. Here she indulges both, aiming to select works that 'celebrate the diversity of life in the sea,' and to show how artists and scientists working together have played an important part in describing and recording the biodiversity of our oceans. Drawings still play a key role, as Scales recalls a conversation with an ichthyologist, who knew he would need to use both sketching and scientific skills to achieve a true classification of an odd-looking female deep-sea anglerfish."

“The book explores the ways in which artists and craftspeople have reproduced and represented what dwells beneath the waves. This meticulously researched, delightful narrative essentially amounts to a visual journey through the ocean.”

"Salt water covers seven-tenths of Earth’s surface and is where life began. So it is no surprise that our oceans are home to a wide diversity of creatures of all shapes, colours and evolutionary strategies. Marine biologist and writer Scales’s latest book, Ocean Art: From the Shore to the Deep, takes us on a journey through these vast underwater landscapes and their inhabitants via 140 photographs and illustrations—ranging from fine ceramic art to scientific drawings. The art is as diverse as the ocean life it represents. And Scales tells us as much about the artists as the sea life in a fusion of marine biology and art history."

"Scales takes a refreshing spin on these topics by introducing the reader to a collation of centuries of marine-inspired art from around the world. Using examples that range from the corals, snails and bivalves of Earth’s coasts and beaches to the often-enigmatic and largely unknown organisms of the abyss, Scales shows a profound understanding of how little we know about the diversity of organisms that live in the ocean, while also celebrating the human endeavor to capture these organisms through art. Whether they were created for scientific or artistic purposes, Scales’ appreciation for these marine artworks comes through in this book. Her writing and selection of artistic content leaves the reader enlightened and also stirred to learn more about both the artists and the scientific facts of the highlighted species."

“For lovers of the sea and of art, this book is a dream come true: a round-the-world, through-the-ages gallery tour in the company of one of the world's top experts on the lives of ocean creatures. Writing with both authority and affection, Scales makes canvasses, cave art, and sculpture literally come to life as she imbues the images with the animals' natural history—and the artists' viewpoints as well. This is a book to be savored and celebrated!”

"In this brilliantly fun and expertly written book, Scales tells crucial human stories about the development of our relationship with the ocean. She takes us on a tour through some of the most compelling, rare, and diverse works of art that have been inspired by sea life, from ancient artifacts and found fossils to modern paintings and scientific illustrations. Marine biologists: this is the ideal book for your artsy side! Artists and historians: you'll find no more appealing way to learn more about all that grows, crawls, slithers, and swims in the ocean!"

"In her latest book, Scales intricately intertwines the wonders of marine life with the power of art. Her expert knowledge and vivid storytelling masterfully weave together the beauty of the ocean and the creativity it inspires, making this an essential read for anyone passionate about art, nature, and the mysteries of the sea."

"The oceanic world Scales has meticulously summoned in this exquisite book holds an extraordinary variety of species. Scales asks that we not only see this realm, but also listen to it, attuning ourselves to the memory of sound in water. For her, observation does not end on the page; rather, it evokes our capacity to enter salt water, that 'skin we are not in' which covers seven-tenths of the planet."

Ocean Art: From the Shore to the Deep

Preț: 140^.25 lei

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Ocean Art: From the Shore to the Deep

Preț: 140.25 lei

Specificații

Notă biografică

Cuprins

Recenzii

Preț: 140^.25 lei