This volume is dedicated to the phenomenon of staged photography, the trend that has revolutionised the photographic language since the 1980s.

Through over 100 works, the catalogue tells how photography was able to reach the heights of fantasy and invention between the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st-century, previously almost exclusively entrusted to cinema and painting.

Goldfish invading bedrooms, icefalls in the desert, imaginary cities, Marilyn Monroe and Lady D shopping together: all of this can happen thanks to veritable stages set up in order to build a parallel reality, or thanks to new technologies and, in particular, through the increasingly sophisticated use of Photoshop, released in 1990.

Photography, the realm of documentation and (presumed) objectivity becomes the realm of fantasy, invention and subjectivity, completing the last decisive evolution of its history.

Works by: Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman, James Casebere, Sandy Skoglund, Yasumasa Morimura, Laurie Simmons, David Lachapelle, Bernard Faucon, Eileen Cowin, Bruce Charlesworth, David Levinthal, Paolo Ventura, Lori Nix, Miwa Yanagi, Alison Jackson, Julia Fullerton Batten, Jung Yeondoo, Jiang Pengyi.

Text in English and Italian.

Neoptolemos Michaelides (1920–92) was a pioneer of modern architecture in Cyprus. All of his designs are based on the desire to develop principles that combine modern architecture with traditional Cypriot construction methods—and the knowledge preserved therein regarding the choice of materials, geographical orientation, natural climate control, and the internal organisation of buildings. These principles are rooted in his studies of Western philosophy and even more in his affinity with Eastern philosophical thought, especially the spiritual importance of a harmonious relationship with nature. Between his respect for pure, natural materials and his awareness of elemental forces, his buildings seem both to worship nature and to evoke the Shintoism of Japan.

In this first ever book on the architecture of Neoptolemos Michaelides, the distinguished American architectural historian Kenneth Frampton presents his work in two essays. The first, illustrated with historical photos and documents, is dedicated to 13 of his most important buildings. The second takes a close look at Michaelides’ own home in Nicosia. Newly taken photographs and plan drawings created especially for the book on a 1:100 scale document this extraordinary house in detail. The beautiful volume is rounded out with a concise biography of Michaelides.

Text in English and Greek.

Presents a selection of more than 100 furnishing textiles and designs that range from a spectacular printed hanging designed by the Wiener Werkstätte artist, Dagobert Peche, between 1911 and 1918, to a series of dramatic woven, silk and metal wall coverings Les Colombes designed by Henri Stephany for the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. The Art Deco period is well represented by the works of Raoul Dufy, Alberto Lorenzi, Robert Bonfils, Alfred Latour, Emile Alain Seguy and Paul Dumas. Although the majority of pre-Second World War textiles are of French origin, the exhibition also includes some rare British furnishing fabrics from the 1930s, in particular the iconic and very elegant Magnolia Leaf by Marion Dorn, woven in off-white and silver viscut by Warner & Sons in 1936. During this period, Britain attracted talented European designers, such as Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler who had trained with Josef Hoffmann at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule. They became highly influential in creating a ‘New Look’ that took hold of Britain after the austerities of the Second World War. ‘The Festival of Britain,’ held in 1951, was epitomised by Calyx which launched the career of its designer, Lucienne Day and is now considered to be a landmark of post-War design. So great was its success that several versions were produced as well as contemporary copies, all of which are reproduced here in spectacular colour.

Two great textiles from the 1950s – Seaweed designed by Ashley Havinden in 1954 for Arthur Sanderson and Grecian by Alec Hunter in 1956 for Warner & Sons – bridge the gap between the spirit and elegance of the inter-War period and the new ‘contemporary’ look of the 1950s. Britain maintained its pre-eminent position in textile design throughout the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. This was because firms like Edinburgh Weavers, Heal & Sons and Hull Traders and museums such as the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester (the centre of the British textile industry) worked hard at integrating and promoting great design, often by well-known artists within the industry. Among the artists who worked with Edinburgh Weavers were Marino Marini, Victor Vasarely and Alan Reynolds. Britain was not alone in applying art to industry. An elegant example of Op Art is the work of the German artist, Wolf Bauer, whose 1969/70 designs for one of the leading American manufacturers, Knoll Textiles, is a highlight of this book.

Investigations by Sara Penco stem from the insightful finding of the absence of a key figure in the Sistine Chapel’s Last Judgement fresco. Prior to this illuminating research, Mary Magdalene was not unequivocally identified within Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Father Pfeiffer, with whom Penco establishes an inescapable dialectic, had already hypothesised the presence of Mary Magdalene in the fresco, but it is the scholar, for the first time in these pages, who convincingly justifies her identification. Mary Magdalene is closely connected to the salient episodes in the life of Jesus. The author rightly wonders, therefore, how it is possible that a figure so central to the biblical narrative and the Christian imagination could have been excluded from the depiction of the Parousia. This observation gives rise to an accurate reflection on the iconography of the saint and the Judgement, in relation to the sacred texts and in relation to Michelangelo’s poetics and production. Sara Penco traces Mary Magdalene in the tangle of figures on the wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel, contributing to characterise the fresco – one of the best known and most appreciated works in the world – with an unprecedented theological message.

Text in English and Italian.

You can’t sit still. You don’t like unannounced visitors. You always triple-check if the lights are out. But you also see details that no-one else notices. You’re always coming up with surprising solutions. You can focus intensely for hours at a stretch. Usually without realising it, many people lie somewhere on the spectrum of a neurodivergent condition. We often tend to focus on the many downsides of neurodivergent conditions such as AD(H)D, ASD, dyslexia and OCD. This book takes a different approach by looking in depth at the special talents that go hand in hand with these conditions. Whether you already have a diagnosis or simply feel you’re somewhere on the neuroatypical spectrum, one thing is certain: once you’ve identified your unique talents, you’ll be able to make more focused choices in your life and work. You’ll discover which jobs best showcase your talents, which colleagues complement your personality, and which environments and corporate cultures are right for you.

Interior designer Patrick Sutton is renowned for his close collaborations with clients to produce meaningful homes for their lifestyle, life stage, and style preferences. In this book, his follow-up to Storied Interiors (2018), Sutton presents seven beautiful and unique residences, telling the stories of how listening to his clients inherently shaped the design.

The seven projects are located in Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Wyoming, and include stately manors as well as an oceanfront mansion, luxurious guesthouse, and Western holiday home. While Sutton’s objectives for every project might be similar—discovering the “story” to help him craft a design that is influenced by the location, history, and client’s aspirations—he is adept at working in a variety of styles, with an approach that remains fluid and open-minded.

Each project is illustrated with gorgeous photography and accompanied by a narrative about the client, their brief, and Sutton’s approach to the design. It is through empathy and listening that Sutton creates rich and meaningful interiors. 

Georg Baselitz’s collected writings brings together more than 30 texts by, and interviews with, the artist – spanning the period 1961 to the present – including conversations with Michael Auping, Henry Geldzahler and Donald Kuspit. Known for his rebellious approach to Abstract Expressionism, Baselitz here discusses the impression his paintings convey, the act of painting, his biography and much more. The texts shift between these personal pieces – some of which have never before been published in English – to interviews conducted by a variety of respected critics and art historians. These conversations present a different voice as Baselitz responds to careful and critical questions about his work.

Glass is a threshold material, serving as both a divider and an opening, for one can always see what is behind it. This is a unique phenomenon and it is confounding, as well as being alluring and enhancing, making the space breathe. Florian Lechner (b. 1938) has dedicated himself to this unique material. He explores its substance and formal possibilities through architectural works and sculptural objects. He also experiments with it in combination with the media of light, sound and movement. For him it is essential to forge his work single-handedly, because only unrestricted personal creative input and the development of one’s own, often innovative ways of working can ensure an authentic result. However, the concepts behind his works and their spiritual roots are always more important to him than the process of their creation. Intellectual significance defines Florian Lechner as an artist. He takes an intellectual and philosophically motivated approach, but the result is always a sensory experience and never dominated by dry theory. Contents: Foreword Glass, Light, Space, Sound – Transparency and Transcendency Traversant: “En traversant un objet du regard, on peut aussi le parcourir mentalement.” Spaces and Places The Sculptural Work Bowl, Cosmos, Vessel, Sound The School of Fluxus Biography Appendix Text in English & German.

Gene Koss creates majestic works in glass and steel that require demanding techniques to realise their monumental scale. These massive volumes of glass are married with elaborately engineered steel elements. Koss casts molten glass directly from the hot furnace, working with teams of highly-skilled assistants and rigging together intricate systems for transporting his finished abstract works for display in museums, galleries and public spaces. The artistic works deal with the self-sacrificing work of the American farmers in whose milieu the artist grew up. The first monograph published on the work of this groundbreaking glass artist features Koss’s most important achievements and, through insightful essays by curators and critics, places them in historic perspective.

Eccentric, perturbing and mannerist, the art of Rachel Feinstein (Fort Defiance, Arizona, 1971) has the ability to transport the audience into a dreamlike dimension that draws inspiration as much from classical art and Renaissance painting as from modern fairy tales and cartoons. Juxtaposing often contrasting genres, suggestions and styles, the artist shapes her works by proceeding by addition and juxtaposition, as in a modern pastiche with an almost grotesque and alienating result that does not intend to pursue beauty at all costs.

Through a wide selection of texts and images, Rachel Feinstein in Florence offers a journey into the artist’s creative universe, taking the reader inside the monographic exhibition dedicated to her in three historic museums in Florence, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the Museo Stefano Bardini and the Museo Marino Marini, in dialogue with their art collections.

If Sir Elton John wrote the Foreword and director John Waters wrote the Afterword, then we’re surely dealing with a major talent. In this 400-page retrospective, award-winning photographer Greg Gorman presents the finest shots of his half-century in Hollywood. Throughout his star-studded portfolio entitled, It’s Not About Me, you’ll find the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp at the beginning of their careers, as well as the iconic posters Gorman created for films such as Scarface and Tootsie, record covers for David Bowie, and magazine covers for Andy Warhol.

“Forget the rural idylls. This sublime show recasts John Constable as the godfather of the Avant Garde, producing explosive, nightmarish paintings of a vanishing world.” – Jonathan Jones, Guardian

One of Britain’s greatest landscape painters, John Constable (1776–1837) was brought up in Dedham Vale, the valley of the River Stour in Suffolk. The eldest son of a wealthy mill owner, he entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1800 at the age of 24, and thereafter committed himself to painting nature out of doors. His ‘six-footers’, such as The Hay Wain and The Leaping Horse, were designed to promote landscape as a subject and to stand out in the Academy’s Annual Exhibition. Despite this, he sold few paintings in his lifetime and was elected a Royal Academician late in his career.

With texts by leading authorities on the artist, this handsome book looks at the freedom of Constable’s late works and records his enormous contribution to the English landscape tradition.

The Padua School originated from the Istituto Pietro Selvatico in Padua. The distinctive features of this jewelry are the use of gold reminiscent of the goldsmith’s art in antiquity and a modern and abstract formal expression within the group. Mario Pinton, who brought the goldsmith movement international recognition and acclaim in the 1950s and ’60s, is credited with founding the experimental goldsmith movement in Padua. Francesco Pavan has enlarged the scope of the Padua School with his kinetic and geometric formal idiom.

The breakthrough on the international jewelry scene took place in the late 1960s with Giampaolo Babetto, under whose support the geometric and Minimalist tendency was most pronounced. Other distinguished artists in jewelry such as Graziano Visintin, Renzo Pasquale, Annamaria Zanella, Stefano Marchetti and Giovanni Corvaya continued along these lines or went their own highly individual ways by experimenting with the use of new materials including plastic. The work of these creative artists is beautifully displayed through color photographs, which serve to highlight their great talent.

Discover the untold stories of European football culture through TIFO: The Art of Football Fan Stickers. This book explores how fans view their beloved clubs through design, illustration, and branding.

TIFO showcases the transformation of football stickers from their hooligan roots to symbols of unity and community. Dive into the vibrant evolution of sticker art, where football passion meets street art and graffiti, as fans infuse creativity into urban landscapes.

Featuring contributions from experts like James Montague, a sports writer for CNN, The New York Times, and The Guardian, and Eleanor Watson, Curator of Football at the Design Museum, TIFO offers depth and context to this captivating journey.

Illustrated with 200 barn sketches, diagrams, and maps, this book takes you on a journey through the St Croix River Valley. It grounds you in the geography, geology and biology of the region and introduces you to its original inhabitants, the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples, European explorers, fur traders and loggers and the settlers that followed them. It is a celebration of regional diversity and architectural expression through a single type of building — the barn.

Building Toys: An Architect’s Collection documents over 100 architectural building toys from the author’s collection, from the mid-1800s to the present, from the U.S. and abroad. Each toy has an immersive two-page spread celebrating its unique features with photos of packaging graphics, component parts, assembly diagrams, and a built example designed and constructed by the author.

Well-researched background information on designers and company histories provides intriguing facts which complete each toy’s description. When taken together, these stories reveal a microcosm of western commercial and industrial history, illustrating trends in design, advertising, and material production techniques.

The book is organised by toy material (natural wood, metal, plastic, etc.), creating six “chapters.” It includes a two-page introduction which reflects the author’s role as architect, photographer, and collector. There are approximately 250 pages giving a dynamic visual portrayal of a seldom seen world.

Georg Baselitz has been exploring, challenging and redefining contemporary art for over six decades, mainly via the medium of paint. A cornerstone of this task has been his complex exchange with historical and contemporary art. Georg Baselitz: Feet First illuminates the German artist’s relationship to the art of Edvard Munch, which he has been in artistic dialogue with since the 1960s.

This richly illustrated book includes writings by exhi­bition curator Jon-Ove Steihaug, Christian Weikop, Sverre Wyller and Baselitz himself, as well as a longer conversation with the artist.

Slow Wine Guide USA is a new and revolutionary guide to the wines of California, Oregon, New York, and Washington. Thanks to the help of a handful of expert contributors, we’ve selected the best wineries from each state and reviewed their most outstanding bottles.

The idea behind Slow Wine is simple: it acknowledges the unique stories of people and vineyards, of grape varieties and landscapes, and of their wines. The awareness that wine is more than just liquid in a glass helps wine lovers make better, more conscious choices and enhances the very enjoyment of this beverage. Since its beginnings in Italy twelve years ago, Slow Wine has combined its tasting sessions with equally important moments of exchange and debate with producers. The direct contact with winegrowers and winemakers allows for a genuine, authentic, and always up-to-date report on what’s happening in America’s vineyards and cellars. Each winery receives a review divided in three sections: the first one is dedicated to the people who live and work at the winery, the second to the vineyards and the way they’re farmed, and the third to the finest wines currently available on the market.

The very best wines are awarded the Top Wine accolade. Among these we have the Slow Wines — which beyond their outstanding sensory quality are of particular interest for their sense of place, environmental sustainability or historical value — and the Everyday Wines, representing excellent value at prices within $30. The most interesting wineries on the other hand are awarded the Snail, for the way they interpret Slow Food values (sensory perceptions, territory, environment, identity) while offering good value for money; the Bottle, to wineries whose wines are of outstanding sensory quality throughout the range; the Coin to those estates offering excellent value for money.

Master printmaker Liu Chunjie is renowned for his beautiful woodcut art. Born to land reclamation workers in Heilongjiang Province’s 856 Farm, Lui began life in a remote part of China that was deemed to be a place of cultural exile. But it is here that a vibrant chapter in the history of contemporary Chinese printmaking, known as Beidahuang Prints, was born.

Living and breathing woodcut art, Liu takes the reader on a personal journey through his life’s work. Written in beautiful poetic prose, Liu describes how his art and the techniques he uses have developed over time, culminating in a stunning body of work that has made him the celebrated artist he is today.

Having experimented with coloured ink, installation art and mixed-media painting, it is the spirit of woodcut that remains the foundation of Liu’s art. Using ancient tools and materials, he creates works that embody modern concepts, elevating the essence of woodcut art to a new level.

“A true collector’s item…” — Tim Chan, Rolling Stone

“Filled to the brim with everything from Harry’s colour palettes to his inspiration, this pick combines high-fashion with all the quirkiness we love about HS and it’s just perfect.” — Glamour UK

“Have the best-dressed coffee table by adorning it with this book filled with photos of THE best-dressed man.” — Seventeen Magazine

“It’s a wonderful book… if you’re a Harry Styles fan or not…just have a look at how he wears clothes, look at his influences, and if you are a Harry Styles fan, it’s a double whammy.” — BBC’s Jo Good Show

“This deep dive into some of his most iconic fits is a dream gift for the person who basically spent 2021-2023 living, breathing, and eating Love On Tour.” —  Buzzfeed

“I’m incredibly lucky to have an environment where I feel comfortable being myself” – Harry Styles. 

Stepping bravely into the cyclone of 21st-century fashions, Harry Styles is more than weathering the storm. Whether he’s breaking the internet with his $7.99 frog-eyed yellow bucket hat or a pair of black fishnets, or fronting cult magazine The Beauty Papers, as he did in March 2021, Hazza’s sparkle knows no boundaries.  

Gucci met Styles in 2014, and there was instant chemistry. According to designer Alessandro Michele, Harry is ‘a young Greek God with the attitude of James Dean and a little bit of Mick Jagger’ – and that effortless superstardom certainly radiates from the photos in this collection, which document the heart of Harry’s wardrobe, both on-stage and off. 

Part fashion history lesson, pulling references from the rock and roll greats of the past, and part innovation, Harry’s style pays homage to Kurt Cobain and Marc Bolan, Prince and Little Richard, while developing into something authentic and entirely his own. This chic book fizzles with facts about Harry’s styling choices, presenting the star’s most revered looks alongside pictures that trace the roots of each design. With quotes from key designers, this is the perfect gift for any fan. 

Anthologin is the product of a fortuitous encounter that brought together Samuele Ambrosi, an internationally renowned, multi-award-winning barman with a stellar résumé, Maurizio Maestrelli, esteemed journalist and author of several books on beer and spirits, and Serena Conti, fine illustrator and designer whose collaborations have extended far beyond Italy’s borders. It tells the fascinating story of gin, that most popular of spirits whose long, seductive history transcends aromas and flavour, technical traits and production systems. It’s a story brimming with fascinating anecdotes on gin’s origins and evolution, political and economic influences, and episodes involving famous figures. And it is this “behind the scenes” knowledge that renders every sip of gin so special, realisations that help us better appreciate the rebirth of mixology and the revived interest in gin. Today you hold the definitive gin guide in your hands.  

The 904, full name Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, was in many ways a special model for Porsche. Due to the unique design of Ferdinand Porsche, the sports car is affectionately called “Butzi’s masterpiece” and is still considered by many to be one of the most beautiful road racing cars. In a record-breaking development period of six months, the Porsche 904 was implemented in 1963. But not only that made this car a model in terms of innovation.

For homologation (the approval process) as a race car, about 100 units of the Porsche 904 were registered as road vehicles and sold to private customers. The demand was so great that the car soon became a highly exclusive rarity. The distinctive look that characterises the Porsche design and the combination of technical innovations and low production costs did the rest to give the Porsche 904 a cult status that continues today.

With text by Jürgen Lewandowski and photos by Stefan Bogner, two proven Porsche connoisseurs.

Text in English and German.

2024 marks the centenary of the publication of André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto, and thus the birth of the Surrealist movement. This French language book celebrates 100 years of Surrealism, combining historical retrospection, interpretation, and the perspective of contemporary artists who explore Surrealist themes and forms in their work. It is based on the Surrealist literary magazine Le Grand Jeu, which was published between 1928 and 1930.

Games to which the Surrealists referred are a core theme of the volume: chess and the “Jeu de Marseille,” a special set of tarot cards created by the Surrealists in the south of France, where many had to flee from German occupation between 1940 and 1944. Alongside, the essays investigate topics such as identity, metamorphosis, esotericism, kabbalah, and magic, as well as speculation, abstraction, and automatism. Moreover, new light is shed on the female members and affiliates of the Surrealist movement, including Claude Cahun, Leonora Carrington, Suzanne Duchamp, Leonor Fini, Gladys Hynes, Meret Oppenheim, Dorothea Tanning, and others.

The book is also an homage to the never-published fourth issue of Le Grand Jeu, which has been preserved as a maquette and is reproduced here in facsimile images.

Text in French.