Bloodsilver

1691: un bateau transportant de mystérieux passagers aborde la côte est du continent nord-américain. Les vampires viennent de débarquer de la vieille Europe. Ils forment bientôt le Convoi, longue colonne de chariots recouverts de plaques de plomb, et se lancent à la conquête de l'Ouest, anticipant le trajet du chemin de fer dans une lente et implacable progression... 1692: à Salem, une poignée d'hommes impitoyables fonde la Confrérie des Chasseurs, bien décidés à stopper l'avancée du Convoi et à en découdre avec les créatures des ténèbres. De Fort Alamo aux territoires sioux, de Wounded Knee à Silver City, les hommes du Nouveau Monde, Billy le Kid, les frères Dalton ou encore Doc Holliday mêlent le sang à l'argent, luttant sans merci contre les vampires, ou formant avec eux d'improbables alliances...

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) was one of the finest and most distinctive of the Victorian painters. Dutch-born, he moved to London in 1870, and became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, with languorous figures set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea and sky. In this original and penetrating study, Rosemary Barrow presents an absorbing and often amusing portrait of an exuberant personality who carved out a brilliant career for himself at the heart of London's artistic and cultural élite. But above all she subjects the paintings to a fresh and rigorous scrutiny, revealing that Alma-Tadema was a highly knowledgeable student of antiquity, who made effective use of precise literary and archaeological allusions to play a game of interpretation with his viewers. Time and again the seeming innocence of the scenes he depicts is subverted by a mischievously placed inscription or statue, suggesting to the initiated a darker and usually risqué meaning. Like his contemporaries, Alma-Tadema was neglected after his death, but his paintings are once again admired for their beauty and their mastery of light, colour and texture. With its fresh and intriguing new insights into his personality and intentions, this book now provides a challenging reassessment of a major artist

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) was one of the finest and most distinctive of the Victorian painters. Dutch-born, he moved to London in 1870, and became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, with languorous figures set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea and sky. In this original and penetrating study, Rosemary Barrow presents an absorbing and often amusing portrait of an exuberant personality who carved out a brilliant career for himself at the heart of London's artistic and cultural élite. But above all she subjects the paintings to a fresh and rigorous scrutiny, revealing that Alma-Tadema was a highly knowledgeable student of antiquity, who made effective use of precise literary and archaeological allusions to play a game of interpretation with his viewers. Time and again the seeming innocence of the scenes he depicts is subverted by a mischievously placed inscription or statue, suggesting to the initiated a darker and usually risqué meaning. Like his contemporaries, Alma-Tadema was neglected after his death, but his paintings are once again admired for their beauty and their mastery of light, colour and texture. With its fresh and intriguing new insights into his personality and intentions, this book now provides a challenging reassessment of a major artist

Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1936-1912) est l'un des peintres les plus raffinés et les plus singuliers de l'époque victorienne. Né citoyen des Pays-Bas, il s'établit à Londres en 1870, où il s'illustre par des ?uvres dépeignant le luxe et la décadence de l'Empire romain, avec des personnages alanguis se prélassant dans de somptueux décors de marbre ou sur fond de mer et de ciel méditerranéens bleu azur. Dans cet ouvrage riche et original, Rosemary Barrow dresse un portrait captivant et souvent amusant de ce personnage haut en couleur qui parvint à imposer avec brio son art au sein de l'élite artistique et culturelle londonienne. Par un regard neuf et minutieux porté sur ses ?uvres, elle montre en outre qu'Alma-Tadema était un grand connaisseur de l'Antiquité, qui puisait constamment à de nombreuses sources littéraires et archéologiques. Il plaçait ainsi dans des scènes en apparence anodines des citations de textes ou de statues qui, pour le spectateur initié, donnaient au tableau un sens caché plus audacieux. L'?uvre d'Alma-Tadema, comme celle de ses contemporains, fut reléguée dans l'oubli après sa mort. Aujourd'hui, le public en redécouvre la beauté et la parfaite maîtrise de la lumière, de la couleur et de la matière. Cet ouvrage contribue à réhabiliter ce grand artiste an éclairant d'un ?il neuf sa personnalité comme ses intentions.