Rare Special Editions available from ACC Art Books –  More Information

“…it should be noted that the outstanding quality of Wautier’s paintings is well served not only by the exhibition itself but also by the design of the catalogue, in particular the superb quality of its numerous colour illustrations and the many well-chosen details.” Burlington Magazine

Michaelina Wautier (1604–1689) is a name unfamiliar even to connoisseurs of Old Master painting. This handsome book seeks to correct that, by exploring the surviving portraits, history paintings, genre scenes and still-lifes that can be identified as hers. Born at Mons, Wautier pursued a successful career in Brussels, which was then ruled by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, whose collection ended up at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. This handsome book, produced by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in collaboration with the Royal Academy, brings together all the latest scholarship on the artist, alongside several exciting new attributions.

Sourdough doesn’t have to be complicated. The Sourdough Baking Book is your ultimate guide to mastering the art of sourdough. Belgian baker Miro Van Vreckem, from the renowned Norwegian bakery Elt Bakeri, takes you on a journey of fermentation and flavour. The story starts at the very roots — with the organic farmer growing the perfect grains and the miller transforming them into fine flour. From there, you’ll follow a clear, step-by-step path to creating your own sourdough starter with just flour and water. Soon, you’ll be baking crusty loaves, heavenly pastries, and both sweet and savoury delights straight from your own oven.

The Art Travel Book takes you on a journey across the globe, past iconic outdoor art installations and sculptures. The book showcases both well-known landmarks and hidden treasures: all extraordinary works that harmonise with their natural surroundings. From the arid plains of Texas to the cliffs of the South of France, from the verdant forests of England to the rugged beauty of Cape Town: many of the locations featured are freely accessible, making The Art Travel Book as much an invitation to travel as a source of inspiration for art and nature enthusiasts. The book provides background information on the artists, the artworks and their settings, while also offering curated recommendations for nearby sites of interest. It’s the perfect travel guide for art enthusiasts with a craving for new discoveries.

Thanks to cocooning and a hype around DIY, crafts and upcycling, our homes are increasingly becoming warm nests and a playground for creative minds who seek to inspire us through the use of colour and innovative designs that make a statement not only about who we are but the internal space we occupy, the space we call home. Plants and flowers have become favourite tools in interior design. Whether you like Scandinavian design or a classical romantic style, there are flowers and combinations to suit every interior. Interior Emotions contains a wealth of stylish floral art for the home, using different environments and styles, ranging from subdued to colourful, playful, small scale to wallscapes. This collection offers inspiration not only to the professional florist but to amateurs, who will be able to pick up ideas and get creative in their own homes. Featuring the work of three unique and internationally respected designers, this volume focuses on creating individual style with ideas are inspiring and original, bringing an additional natural element and splash of colour and style to any internal space lifting it from being a room, to an environment that lives and breathes.

The mountains have always fascinated people. When you think of a mountain vacation you immediately think of hiking, skiing, cross-country skiing, climbing, etc., but there are plenty of other disciplines to discover that you can practice while overlooking magnificent mountain scenery! Jurgen Groenwals, editor-in-chief of 100%Snow and 100%Trails, guides you through the rich array of mountain sports, and in the meantime lets you discover the twenty most beautiful – known and less known – mountain villages and valleys in Europe.

Joey Kelly is one of the most outstanding amateur extreme athletes of our time. He has completed 8 Ironmans in just 12 months, 31 ultra-marathons, more than 10 desert ultra-runs, 4 Race Across America races and the 8 x 24-hour mountain bike race. He competed in the Tanzania Desert Challenge, the Gobi March, the Himalayan Ultra, the Badwater Run in Death Valles and the Race to the South Pole, the Idita Race in Alaska, the Atacama Crossing and the Marathon de Sables. And against this list, his 50 marathons and over 100 half-marathons and short-distance races look like a training run.
In the process, the former pop star continues to demonstrate show talent, as his sporting achievements have made him the focus of individual TV productions time and again. In his coffee-table book No Limits, readers can also enjoy Joey as an entertainer at first hand. In exclusive additional content, to which only owners of the coffee-table book have access via the teNeues app, fans can listen to him personally sharing his adventures.

Text in English and German.

Traditional Indian Jewellery: Beautiful People is a vast and detailed publication covering the importance of ritual adornment, and the popular design motifs featured in traditional Indian jewellery. Jewellery plays an important part in the everyday lives, important moments, festivals and religious aspects of Indian culture. It is not only girls and women who wear jewellery, but also boys, men, temple statues and even animals. The book excels in its detailed descriptions, which accompany the sumptuous array of images. We discover why enamel is used in the north of India, and how ancestral craftsmen pass their skills from generation to generation, especially the process and tradition of enamelling. The book covers in detail the meaning of the use of flowers and birds in Hindu-influenced jewellery, looking through the eyes of seventeenth-century European travellers who visited the rich Mogul courts. This publication is the result of thirty-five years of research – travelling, studying, and talking to many people across the entire subcontinent of India, as well as having had unprecedented access to goldsmiths and enamellers; being shown techniques known only to one family, which have been transferred from generation to generation; and being granted access to beautiful and never before seen Royal collections.

Traditional Indian Jewellery is a vast and detailed publication covering the rich heritage of Indian jewellery and its significance in past and present Indian society.

Jewellery plays an important part in the everyday lives, important moments, festivals and religious aspects of Indian culture. It is not only girls and women who wear jewellery, but also boys, men, temple statues and even animals. The book excels in its detailed descriptions, which accompany the sumptuous array of images. We discover why enamel is used in the north of India, the origin and significance of gold, the significance of setting gems in a certain order, and jewellery’s spiritual importance. The book covers in detail the meaning of the use of flowers and birds in Hindu influenced jewellery, looking through the eyes of 17th century European travellers who visited the rich Mogul courts.

This publication is the result of 35 years of research – travelling, studying, and talking to many people across the entire subcontinent of India, as well as having had unprecedented access to goldsmiths and enamellers; being shown techniques known only to one family, which have been transferred from generation to generation; and being granted access to beautiful and never before seen Royal collections.

Patrick Van der Stricht, author of this book, is an architect, illustrator and Belgian. He began drawing when he was a boy and has never stopped. This book is a collection of his best automobile illustrations, from the most realistic and romantic to the zaniest. His love of drawing and cars is nourished by his equally extensive knowledge of the history and technique of the automobile, spiced up with his boundless imagination and humour. Most of the drawings are accompanied by a short explanatory text or narrative.

Text in English, French and Dutch.

This is the long-awaited overview of the recent works of architect Stéphane Beel. As productive and versatile an architect as Stéphane Beel is, architectural criticism and reception of his work are never far behind – new works are followed almost immediately by new words. This combination of work and word has made Stéphane Beel into one of the most successful Belgian architects of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. From his oeuvre, eighteen projects have been selected that have never before appeared detail in a book. Each is described and commented on by one of the contributing authors. The book begins with an extensive introductory interview with the architect himself, in which – in eight thematic sections – the basic features of Beel’s approach are discussed. The interview is entitled An Intense Order, which at once reflects the structure and the concept of this book: without putting forward a single, all-embracing interpretative system, it systematically endeavours to offer a variety of opportunities for capturing the spark that invariably lights up the work of Stéphane Beel.

Text in English and Dutch.

Over the centuries, craftsmen have applied their creativity and technical skills to exploit the generous resources of Nature to marvellous effect. In this case they have employed seeds, leaves, flowers and fibres from the plant world, along with feathers, plain or iridescent shells, teeth, and fur from the animal kingdom to fashion objects of astonishing beauty, enhanced with the addition of elements in iron, copper, silver, and gold. Such materials have always provided the basis for magnificent headdresses of all varieties, including hats, caps, crowns, and headbands. In time, as the conditions of trade and pilgrimage routes improved, rare materials and manufactured products spread all over the globe, as well as new knowledge, techniques, and methods of fabrication. Each class of individual sported a distinct type of headdress: initiates and adults, hunters and warriors, religious dignitaries and healers, rulers and notables; unmarried girls, married women, and young mothers. In each case the author explains their opulence and symbolism to the reader.

Phase 3 of digitalisation has started. A phase of artificial intelligence has revolutionised the buying behavior of customers: collecting information, the buying process and customer service have changed dramatically. This book explains the impact of the ‘internet of things’, virtual assistants, bots and client data. But first of all this is a book about customers. In a world of automatisation the most important question remains: how can I be customer-oriented? “Steven is a much asked for keynote speaker for our events, always a highlight. He has a unique and authentic style: with a combination of academic depth and well-built cases he spices up his presentations with a tremendous amount of humor.” – Anthony Belpaire, Google Website: stevenvanbelleghem.com Youtube: StevenVanBelleghem/videos Twitter: @StevenVBe

“The key to success is to recognise stress as an alarm signal that teaches you to reflect on what is going wrong and what to do about it. Easy? Absolutely not. Feasible? Definitely! – Elke Van Hoof
We all need a healthy amount of stress in our lives in order to achieve things and grow. However, stress also has negative effects. Long-term exposure to stress makes people ill. And the worst part is, most of us never see it coming. Even if you are already dealing with a burnout, this book may give you more insight into what happened to you and put you on the road to recovery. In this book, the author summarises in an accessible manner what we know about stress today and encourages you to get started yourself with self-tests, exercises and concrete tips. This book will help you recognise negative stress in a timely manner and reduce its effects to a minimum.

The unique selection of almost 300 paintings and drawings collected in The Realism of It shows the evolution of artist Rik Vermeersch and unveils an amazing coherence throughout his work. His earlier gestural paintings later make room for more objective work, the so-called ‘digital paintings’, nudes in particular. With texts by Paul Depondt and Matthijs Van Dijk.

“‘The marvellous is always beautiful,’ reads a sign on the wall of the Scottish National Museum of Modern Art. This stirring slogan, by Andre Breton, from his Manifesto of Surrealism, sets the tone for this fascinating, mind expanding exhibition.” – BBC Arts “Outstanding… The finest spread of surrealist art – paintings and objects – to be seen in Britain since the momentous Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design show at the V&A in 2007.” – Sunday Times

This book brings together over 160 of the finest surrealist artworks by legendary artists including Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró and Man Ray. The works hail from the four renowned and extraordinary private collections of Edward James, Roland Penrose, Gabrielle Keiller and Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, and together offer a superb overview of surrealist art. Ten essays explore the different origins, historical contexts and creative urges behind these collections. Artworks, perhaps more than anything else that one can acquire, are objects of desire and surrealist artworks even more so. The sheer quality of the works acquired (and, in the case of the Pietzsches, still being acquired) is astonishing and, while passionate about their private visions, all the collectors have been mindful of contributing something to the public good. The collections complement each other to an extraordinary degree and allow us to follow some of the artists’ careers from beginning to end. By uniting them, exciting new juxtapositions emerge along with a fuller and richer picture of the surrealist movement as a whole.

In Western culture, from an early age we are ingrained with the notion that weight in building construction equals strength as evinced even in children’s stories such as the ‘The Three Little Pigs’. This idea of the relative strength of mass pervades our culture as a fundamental truth, but heavy materials are not intrinsically stronger than lighter ones. While time will be needed to remove the biases that we carry in our cultural DNA, our perception of strength has begun to shift. If we look at the historical evolution of architecture – from the massive pyramids of Egypt to the framed structures of Greek and Roman construction, to the lighter Gothic vaulting and eventually modern architecture of the twentieth century – we see a continuous, almost linear progression from solid mass construction to diaphanous skins of glass and steel. This is our historic journey from mass to membrane.

Travelling in a van is emerging as a popular way to see the world. This second title in the series Drive Your Adventure
will help you make the most of touring Portugal in a camper van. This book answers some important questions and contains a wealth of information, including when to go, what to take, how to avoid wasting time looking for an ideal spot to spend the night, and where to find the most scenic landscapes.
Also available: Drive Your Adventure Norway ISBN 9789401467018

The dahlia, a flower that was once thought of as old-fashioned, has surged in popularity over the past few years due to the development of new varieties and an uptick in appreciation from Royals and celebrities. They appear in a broad spectrum of beautiful colours and eccentric shapes, and thanks to their long flowering time they are garden crop favourites. This inspirational book explores every aspect of the dahlia from its history to its sustainable cultivation.

Freedom, simplicity and togetherness: that’s what life is all about according to happy campers Els Sirejacob and Bram Debaenst. Those values are the reason why they love the camper van life so much; they’re also qualities you’ll recognise in Els and Bram’s work as a food stylist and food photographer.

Camper Food & Stories is the result of Els and Bram’s shared passion for camper van travelling and slow cooking. It’s an ode to life on the road as well as to good, pure and flavourful food.

With this book you’ll travel from the Black Forest to Denmark and from Cornwall to the Balkans. You’ll discover the most beautiful unspoilt places in Belgium and the Netherlands, and you’ll be inspired by the wonderful, dreamy travel photos and personal stories.

This book is of course also about food. The recipes in it honour the local cuisine and products of each destination. The featured dishes are uncomplicated yet bursting with flavour, and made from fresh, local ingredients – like fire-baked veggies with yoghurt and mint, heart-warming slow-cooked stews, barbecued shellfish or easy and healthy breakfasts. Of course, these camper recipes are perfect for cooking at home too, with the added bonus of feeling like you’re on vacation.

The genesis, development and life-long occupation of the McIntyre house, built in 1972 as part of a multiple-dwelling subdivision, provides possible answers to some very pressing contemporary design questions. How might one live near the city and be respectful of nature? How might efficiently built dwellings also be spacious and dense site occupation still allow for privacy? This history is recounted through text augmented by photographs and site diagrams, house sections and plans. They reveal a modern architecture on the west coast that resulted from an interplay of both the physicality of the land and a culturally imbued landscape.

Acclaimed florists Per Benjamin and Max van de Sluis share their extensive knowledge in the field of floral art in this voluminous recipe book. Step-by-step they create bouquets, table decorations, arrangements with cut flowers and plants, wedding flowers, sympathy pieces, festive Christmas decorations and other impressive designs for the home.

This book compiles all eight volumes of the popular (and sold out) series Creativity with Flowers. It covers a nice mix of commercial and artistic designs and caters both to the hobbyist and the professional. In addition to the hundreds of arrangements, both florists graciously grant us a peek behind the scenes: they explain their way of working, sources of inspiration, thought process and creativity to encourage the reader to do more than merely copy their arrangements.

The ultimate goal of this book is not only to provide the necessary tools and techniques, but also to give florists the confidence to develop into artists with a personal style and a unique artistic personality.

On September 29 and 30 1941 more than 33,000 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered in Babyn Yar, a gorge near Kiev. This event constituted the largest single massacre perpetrated by German troops against Jews during World War II.

In commemoration, a synagogue designed in the shape of a book will open on the same site in 2021. When opened, the book building’s inner space and its furnishings unfold. This impressive movable structure was designed by Manuel Herz, whose studio runs offices in Basel and Cologne. This book for the first time shows the Babyn Yar synagogue captured in photographs by celebrated architectural photographer Iwan Baan, as well as through plans and model photos.

Yet the core part of the book tells the story of the Jewish people and of Judaism through the medium of space: the Jewish concept of space from biblical times to the present. Space as a leitmotif is understood in broad terms here: territorially, architecturally, psychologically, theologically, intellectually, as well as pertaining to the persecution of the Jewish people. Rather than in an abstract treatise, this story is told through 135 brief and engaging texts by Robert Jan van Pelt, a leading Holocaust researcher and professor of architecture. Each of these reflections is illustrated with drawings and watercolours by New York-based artist Mark Podwal, who is known for his illustration of Elie Wiesel’s works.

Haute Couture Architecture: The Art of Living Without Walls by Anneke van Waesberghe is so much more than a book about tented green building architecture. The book is part design manifesto, part personal diary, and part manual for future sustainable living. One in which rampant consumerism has been replaced by a more thoughtful design from the excesses of modern times to a new state of being for living sustainably and in harmony with the rhythms of the planet. It is the tale of one woman’s odyssey living alone in the jungle finding true meaning in life and manifesting its beauty into a way of sustainable living that may set a blueprint for our future existence on Earth. The author leads readers to encounter a new paradigm by showing the luxury of simplicity and the beauty of small things.

With our consumer way of living and doing things and how the world is evolving, the pace we follow as consumers rather than humans has become outdated and is not the way to go forward. We cannot solve new problems that follow our destructive actions; we have to shift our thinking from ‘me’ to ‘we’. Haute Couture architecture respects artisans, hand-made goods, self-sufficiency, and caring for nature. Being close to nature is a lifestyle of forward-thinking outside the box and is a natural means to discovering ourselves.

Ultimately Haute Couture Architecture: The Art of Living Without Walls bridges the gap between nature and architecture.

Official catalogue of the eponymous exhibition curated by Bovenbouw Architectuur.

How do city and architecture flourish together? This question is central to the three‐dimensional capriccio that displays a fictional Flemish urban environment. Over time, the informal city in Flanders and Brussels has developed a unique relationship with its architecture. This staged urban landscape reveals how historical layers, morphological peculiarities and unforeseen collisions are an endless source of energy for contemporary architectural production. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Composite Presence curated by Bovenbouw Architectuur in the Belgian Pavilion at the Biennale di Architettura 2021 in Venice, Italy. The exhibition and publication are a production of the Flanders Architecture Institute on behalf of the Flemish Minister for Culture, Jan Jambon.

With texts by Sofie De Caigny, Irina Davidovici, Maarten Van Den Driessche, André Loeckx, Leo Van Broeck, Christian Rapp, Kristiaan Borret, Peter Vanden Abeele, Stefan Devoldere, Edith Wouters, Katrien Embrechts, Paul Vermeulen.