Before Norman Rockwell put paintbrush to canvas, he had a precise idea of what he wanted to create. A perfectionist and analytical thinker, Rockwell completed numerous preparatory drawings in the process of developing his paintings, much like the Old Masters before him. He worked in several stages, including thumbnail sketches and studies of particular details – culminating in a meticulous tonal drawing that served as a basis for the final painting. But Rockwell’s drawing was not only in the service of his painting: he also executed finished illustrations in pencil and charcoal; kept travel sketchbooks; and shared illustrated letters, caricatures, and comics with his family and friends.
This abundantly illustrated book reveals the entire scope of Rockwell’s work as a draftsman. It reproduces the full sequence of preliminary drawings (and reference photographs) that led up to some of his most famous Saturday Evening Post covers – and it also presents a generous sampling of his standalone drawings, many of them rarely published. The text, by curators at the Norman Rockwell Museum, illuminates and contextualises the different aspects of Rockwell’s drawing practice.
Norman Rockwell: Drawings, which accompanies an exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum, will be a must-have reference for artists and illustrators, and a delight for art lovers.
“It is a feast for the senses to leaf through this book …” — Lovely Books Germany
Audrey Hepburn once said “I never thought I’d land in pictures with a face like mine.” Nothing could be further from the truth. As one of the 20th century’s most loved icons, her face is instantly recognisable the world over. Here, for the first time, ACC Art Books and Iconic Images proudly present the work of six wonderful photographers – Norman Parkinson, Milton H. Greene, Douglas Kirkland, Lawrence Fried, Terry O’Neill and Eva Sereny – who were fortunate enough to capture the star at different moments of her life. In addition, former Curator of Photographs for the National Portrait Gallery and co-curator of the Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon exhibition, Terence Pepper, opens up his personal archive of vintage press prints, making this ode to Hepburn truly unique. Throughout the book, Douglas Kirkland, Terry O’Neill and Eva Sereny share their memories of working with the icon. They present a wonderful mix of on-set, fashion, portrait and behind-the-scenes photographs, including contact sheets and never-before-seen images. With an introduction by Terence Pepper, Always Audrey is sure to delight any Hepburn fan.
“…I was pretty sure I had seen it all and would not find anything new in the book. I am delighted to report I was wrong.” – Marion Fasel, The Adventurine
“…a combination of excellent photographic professionalism and the infinite beauty of the star, who together gave birth to a real work of art.” – Di Redazione, Harper’s Bazaar Italia
“An extraordinary collection of photographs that celebrates one of Hollywood’s most iconic faces.” – Donato D’Aprile, L’Officiel Italy
“An intimate look at a Hollywood icon.” – Closer
“Bling, boobs & booze: She was famous for her diamonds, her tempestuous love for Richard Burton and her luminous acting. Now, a book of iconic images peels away the layers to reveal the woman behind the legend.” – Roger Lewis, Daily Mail
Elizabeth Taylor was the face of classic Hollywood. As one of the 20th century’s most loved stars, her image is instantly recognisable the world over. ACC Art Books and Iconic Images proudly present the work of eight wonderful photographers — Douglas Kirkland, Milton Greene, Gered Mankowitz, Norman Parkinson, Eva Sereny, Terry O’Neill, Gary Bernstein and Greg Brennan — who were fortunate enough to capture the star at different moments of her life. Throughout the book, the photographers share their memories of working with the icon, from patient pursuits to charming persuasion, each enlightening us with an inside view of what it was like to work with such an icon. The book presents a mix of set, fashion, portrait and behind-the-scenes photographs, including some rare and never-before-seen images. Forever Elizabeth is a visual tribute from some of the world’s best-known photographers to a star who continues to captivate our hearts.
A girl wakes up and tidies her braids before just another ordinary summer day, but some surprises lie ahead! Here is one of Norman Rockwell’s most popular works, paired with a rhyming text that’s perfect for reading aloud or sharing with a grown-up. In classic Rockwell fashion, the almost two dozen pictures will elicit wry smiles of recognition, from young and old, at childhood’s everyday pleasures. At the back of the book is a short biography of Rockwell, as well as a note by Mary Whalen Leonard, who, as a young girl more than sixty-five years ago, posed for the charming series of pictures.
The work of Chicago- and Cambridge-based architecture and design collaborative Norman Kelley begins with what already exists. Like tailors, they make measured alterations to buildings, interiors, furniture, and art.
Excuses: Buildings and Projects by Norman Kelley gathers 16 of their projects completed between 2012 and 2025. They are presented as a flipbook of situational observations—or excuses—through recurring triptychs of technical drawings, casual photography, and critical captions. Norman Kelley offers its excuses as an alternative theory to adaptive reuse, towards a way of looking for place in the contradictions between past and present, wrong and right, old and new.
Contributions by architects and educators Jan de Vylder and Spencer McNeil and curator and researcher Irene Sunwoo reflect on Norman Kelley’s varied work, offering perspectives on practice, theory, and collaboration.
At the outset of his career, Norman Rockwell was not the most likely candidate for long-term celebrity; he was just one of many skillful illustrators working within the conventions of the day. But there was something tenacious about his vision, and something uncanny about his access to the wellsprings of public taste. Although technically he was an academic painter, he had the eye of a photographer and, as he became a mature artist, he used this eye to give us a picture of America that was familiar – astonishingly so – and at the same time unique.
It seems familiar because it was everyone’s dream of America; and it was unique because only Rockwell managed to bring it to life with such authority. This was, perhaps, an America that never existed, but it was an America the public wanted to exist. And Rockwell put it together from elements that were there for everyone to see.
Rockwell helped preserve American myths, but, more than that, he recreated them and made them palatable for new generations. His function was to reassure people, to remind them of old values in times of rapid change.
Norman Rockwell gave us a picture of America that was familiar – astonishingly so – and at the same time unique, because only he could bring it to life with such authority.
Rockwell best expressed this vision of America in his justly famous cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post, painted between 1916 and 1963. All of his Post covers are reproduced in splendid full colour in this oversized volume, with commentaries by Christopher Finch, the noted writer on art and popular culture.
“This is a reissue of a sought after classic that has stood the test of time, and this new edition now stands as a testament to its creators and an age that has passed.” — Black + White Photography Magazine
“Soho Night & Day is that rare beast of a ‘back in the day’ photo essay that’s twinned with vital prose — the two pulling equal weight.” — The Londonist
“My London is Soho” — Frank Norman
For as long as anyone can remember, Soho has been the fluttering heart of London. Its storied pubs, shops, trattorias, gambling dens and nightclubs are every bit as alive as the millions of tourists, locals and crosstown visitors who crowd the streets all year round. People from all walks of life are made and unmade in Soho, and few knew it better than Frank Norman and Jeffrey Bernard. Writers and raconteurs, the pair haunted Soho’s establishments for much of their lives. While Bernard was renowned for his Low Life column in the Spectator, these pages collect his photos of the Soho he loved, with insightful commentary from Norman, an acclaimed novelist in his own right. Soho Night & Day is an authentic and very personal portrait of a special time and place, telling the tale of Soho in the ’60s.
This new edition is embellished with an introduction by Barry Miles, as well as Jeffrey Bernard’s moving obituary for Frank Norman.
Fred Bauer writes about Rockwell’s message of optimism and the artist’s faith in America and its people in a forthright and sympathetic text complemented by numerous Rockwell favourites in all their warmth and colour. Bauer visits Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Arlington, Vermont, talking to the people who lived with Rockwell and posed for his anecdotal pictures, the people about whom the artist said, “If you are interested in the characters you draw and understand them and love them, why, the people who see your pictures are bound to feel the same way.” This lovely book enables us to partake once again of that unique love and understanding that Norman Rockwell still communicates to America.
A boy wakes up beside his beloved pet mutt for just another ordinary school day, but some surprises lie ahead! Here is one of Norman Rockwell’s most popular works, paired with a rhyming text that’s perfect for reading aloud or sharing with a grown-up. In classic Rockwell fashion, the almost two dozen pictures will elicit wry smiles of recognition, from young and old, at childhood’s everyday pleasures. At the back of the book is a short biography of Rockwell, as well as a note by Chuck Marsh, who, as a young boy more than 65 years ago, posed for the unforgettable series of pictures.
The wit, humanity, and many-sided talent of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) are on full display in his classic autobiography. Rockwell’s New York City boyhood, his apprentice days at the Art Students League, his first fateful visit to the Saturday Evening Post, his adventures abroad, his move to rural Vermont – all are recounted with a mix of sharp observation and self-deprecating humor. Throughout Rockwell invites the reader into his artistic process: he introduces his favourite models, candidly reveals his biggest flops, and documents the creation of a Post cover step by step.
This Definitive Edition restores the original 1960 text of My Adventures as an Illustrator, as well as the playful vignettes that Rockwell drew to head each chapter. Thanks to a massive image digitisation effort undertaken by the Norman Rockwell Museum, it is also illustrated with more than 150 of Rockwell’s paintings and drawings, many of which highlight lesser-known aspects of his work. A new introduction by the artist’s granddaughter Abigail Rockwell adds reference value, as do an illustrated chronology and an annotated bibliography prepared by the staff of the Norman Rockwell Museum.
This attractive volume will be the essential source on the life of Norman Rockwell, and delightful reading for anyone who enjoys his art. Plus, its publication coincided with a major exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum in 2019 concerning the autobiographical elements in the artist’s work (Norman Rockwell: Private Moments for the Masses).
Norman Ackroyd CBE RA has been a familiar face to the boatmen of the British Isles for the past 50 years, often requiring their services to take him out on the water, where he paints the coastal landscape in vivid watercolours.
An Irish Notebook is a collection of 40 such sketches created by Ackroyd on the west coast of Ireland. From Malin to Mizen, via the rocky outcrops of Puffin Island and the emerald depths of Roaringwater Bay, Ackroyd records the Irish coast in all its rugged beauty.
A perfect gift for art lovers to store notes, addresses, and telephone numbers
This elegant, attractive address book is the perfect addition to any desk or telephone table. Features eighty address-and-telephone pages with tab indexes and space for noting birthdays, forty full-colour images, and soil-resistant cover.
Perhaps Norman Weber – as a native of Schwäbisch Gmünd – was born with a love of jewellery. Following a traditional training as a gold and silversmith in Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz, where he teaches today at the State Vocational College for Glass and Jewellery, he studied with professors Hermann Jünger, Otto Künzli and Horst Sauerbruch at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Here the then 25-year-old began his search, together with his colleagues Karl Fritsch, Peter Bauhuis and Karen Pontoppidan, for new paths and definitions in contemporary jewellery. Today Norman Weber is the storyteller in the contemporary studio jewellery scene. For example with the brooches from his series “Portraits”, which investigates clichés such as Barbie dolls. Focusing on a particular area of interest – popular images, comics and populist icons – the artist enmeshes the images in perfectly executed constructions – Weber is after all a goldsmith through and through – thereby giving them a new home. At times the critical jewellery artist places these figures in a completely new context. In this way jewellery is moved in the direction of pop and takes on the character of shrill fashion emblems. Precious stones made of velour in jewellery conjure up a smile on the lips of a viewer before he even begins to reflect on the meaning of the spurious stones. But Norman Weber not only tells stories. Other pieces are shaped by underlying constructivist elements – convincing jewellery because their mechanical elements are infused with an exciting dynamic.
This monograph provides a first survey of the oeuvre of this talented jewellery master. Exhibition in the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau from 2nd September 2010 and further venues thereafter, in Munich and Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Text in English & German.
Norman Ackroyd CBE RA has spent over four decades recording the coastal landscapes of the British archipelago. All his watercolours and many of his etchings are executed en plein air, mainly from chartered boats chosen for their skippers’ local knowledge and expertise in landing on the more remote rocks and islands. These journeys, which can last up to fourteen hours, are the result of extensive reading and research. A Shetland Notebook contains 39 watercolours selected from several journeys to the edges of Shetland in the spring and summer of 2012. From the verdant flora of the southern isles to the rugged northern cliffs of Unst and Esha Ness, the book paints a vivid portrait of one of the most intriguing yet inhospitable corners of the British Isles. Each sketch is accompanied by a brief but engaging commentary by the artist.
A great American novelist, illustrated by a great American artist – now available in a collectable two-volume set.
In 1936, the Heritage Press, a publisher of fine editions, commissioned Norman Rockwell to illustrate Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer; four years later, they asked him to illustrate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well. For each book, Rockwell created eight full-colour paintings and numerous pen-and-ink drawings, the product of extensive on-the-ground research in Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. Famously, Rockwell even tried to buy some Hannibal residents’ old clothes, to dress his models in.
For years, the Rockwell editions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have been unavailable in stores. Now, Abbeville Press is proud to reissue them as a handsome new clothbound set. The colour plates are reproduced from new photography of Rockwell’s original paintings, the typesetting has been done anew to a high standard, and new introductions – illustrated with Rockwell’s rarely seen preliminary sketches – examine this unique encounter between two legendary chroniclers of America.
Also available: Treasure Island and Kidnapped boxed set ISBN 9780789214089
“Duffy and aggravation go together like gin and tonic.” – David Bailey
As famous as the stars he photographed, Brian Duffy defined the image of Swinging London in the 1960s. Together with David Bailey and Terence Donovan, Duffy is recognised as one of the innovators of ‘documentary’ fashion photography, a style which revolutionised the industry. Their attitude and aesthetic iconified the scene, birthing the cult of the fashion photographer and inspiring the famous film Blow-Up (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966).
As Duffy put it, “Before 1960, a fashion photographer was tall, thin and camp. But we three are different: short, fat and heterosexual!” The press nicknamed the three photographers ‘The Terrible Three’, while Norman Parkinson added to their notoriety by naming them ‘The Black Trinity’. Duffy’s most famous photograph is the ‘Mona Lisa of pop’, the cover of Bowie’s ‘Aladdin Sane’. He collaborated with the artist over eight years and exerted a direct influence on the numerous reinventions of Bowie’s image. It is fitting, therefore, that this new edition should expand on their work together with new images. This new edition of Duffy also features other, new images from the photographer’s archive, depicting both star and photographer in their prime.
“… From his first photoshoot as Reginald Dwight to becoming the chart conquering, Glastonbury-headlining megastar that we know and love, the book brings together live shots, portraits and unseen glimpses into a life in the spotlight, all narrated by the photographers who captured them.” — Rolling Stone UK
“…a coffee-table book tracing the now 78-year-old singer’s journey to fame and the photographers that helped make him immortal.” — Airmail
Elton John is a legend in his own time, a melodic genius, breaking barriers in performance, fashion and activism. Ever since he exploded onto the scene in the 1970s, armed with a flair for making hit songs, Elton has enthralled crowds and attracted the lenses of world-renowned photographers. His spectacular live shows and inexhaustible wardrobe of striking, provocative and original outfits have become every bit as familiar as his music and just as essential to his extraordinary impact on the cultural landscape.
Elton John: Icon is more than a collection of photographs; it is a celebration of a man who has touched the lives of millions through his music, his style, and his unwavering authenticity; a testament to Elton’s enduring legacy, and a tribute to the photographers who have immortalised his journey.
Following the success of Prince: Icon (ISBN 9781788841818), this is an unmissable addition to the bestselling Icon series.
Including photography from: Val Wilmer, Ed Caraeff, Amalie R. Rothschild, Govert de Roos, David Nutter, Allan Tannenbaum, Sonia Moskowitz, Gered Mankowitz, Norman Parkinson, Barry Schultz, Rob Verhorst, Janet Macoska, David Corio, Patrick Harbron, Jimmy Steinfeldt, Dafydd Jones, Brian Aris, Mark Allan, and Terry O’Neill.
“Glamour is what I sell,” Marlene Dietrich once said. “It’s my stock in trade.”
For decades this iconic actress and singer commanded global attention as a thrilling enigma whose allure would transcend time. Dietrich Through the Lens, a collaboration between ACC Art Books and Iconic Images, is a tribute to a mesmerising 20th-century talent whose influence is still felt today.
Featuring both world-famous and never-before-seen images, the book includes work by nine renowned photographers – Eve Arnold, Terry O’Neill, Norman Parkinson, Douglas Kirkland, Lawrence Fried, Eugene Robert Richee, Don English and William Walling. Amongst the wide-ranging photographs, we find on-set moments, intimate shoots, one-off encounters and striking portraits of one of the most famous actresses of all time. Accompanied by the stories behind those prints, this book also includes an essay covering early images of Dietrich, curated by the former head of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, Terence Pepper OBE. The historical sweep and stylistic variety of these photographs creates a rich visual tableau, shedding light on Dietrich’s famously mysterious character, which combined the sultry cabaret singer, the fierce patriot, the lover, the mother, and the independent thinker.
“I couldn’t think of a better place to have a dialogue about art today and what it can be” – Jeff Koons Curated by Koons himself, together with guest curator Norman Rosenthal, this show features seventeen important works, fourteen of which have never been exhibited in the UK before. They span the artist’s entire career and his most well-known series, including Equilibrium, Statuary, Banality, Antiquity and his recent Gazing Ball sculptures and paintings.
This exhibition will provoke a conversation between his creations and the history of art and ideas with which his work engages. Jeff Koons burst onto the contemporary art scene in the 1980s. He has been described as the most famous, important, subversive, controversial and expensive artist in the world. From his earliest works Koons has explored the ‘ready-made’ and ‘appropriated image’, using unadulterated found objects and creating painstaking replicas of ancient sculptures and Old Master paintings which almost defy belief in their craftsmanship and precision. Throughout his career Koons has pushed at the boundaries of contemporary art practice, stretching the limits of what is possible. This publication accompanies an exhibiton, running from February to June, 2019 at the Ashmolean.
Koons will be in conversation with Martin Kemp at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, in May 2019. Contents: Director’s Foreword; interview with Jeff Koons (by Xa Sturgis); Jeff Koons and the Sheen and Shine of Time (Sir Norman Rosenthal); catalogue entries; Jeff Koon biography.
“This beautiful book reminds me that I was one of many whom Leo Lionni took by the hand, leading me into the world of writing and illustrating picture books.” — Micha Archer, author and illustrator of Wonder Walkers, Daniel Finds a Poem, and the forthcoming What’s New, Daniel?
“He had amazing breadth and depth, all on display in this volume.” — Paula Scher, graphic designer and partner, Pentagram
“Throughout Leo Leonni’s varied and eclectic work one can see his wit as well as his mid-century design sensibility; formal and geometric, but softened by his warmth and playfulness…” — Marc Rosenthal, New York Times bestselling illustrator
“This first survey of Lionni’s legacy comes out in conjunction with a retrospective of his work at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass… Lionni had a rare ability to change shades — and retain his signature vibrancy — while moving, seemingly effortlessly, from one realm to another.” — New York Times
The first survey of Leo Lionni’s protean career as a graphic designer, children’s book creator, and fine artist.
Between Worlds: The Art and Design of Leo Lionni opens at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, on 18 November 2023. Leo Lionni (1910–1999) was a key figure of postwar visual culture, who believed that a smart, pithy design language could unite people across generations and cultural boundaries. He first achieved success in the field of graphic design, serving as the influential art director of Fortune magazine from 1948 to 1960 and personally executing such innovative designs as the catalogue for the Museum of Modern Art’s seminal photo exhibition The Family of Man. Then, in the 1960s, he embarked on an equally groundbreaking career in picture books, using torn-paper collages to illustrate modern animal fables such as Frederick and Swimmy, which are still beloved today. But even as his books won multiple Caldecott Honors, Lionni — who had begun as a painter — also maintained a fine art practice centered on his Parallel Botany, a richly imagined world of fanciful plants. This volume, the catalogue of a major exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum, is the first to present Lionni’s extraordinary career in the round. Written by leading scholars and with an introduction by the artist’s granddaughter, it is illustrated with abundant examples of his work, including many little-seen items from the Lionni family archives. Leo Lionni: Storyteller, Artist, Designer will be an important, and eye-opening, contribution to the history of art and design.
Enduring Ideals illuminates both the historic context in which FDR articulated the Four Freedoms – Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear – and the role of Rockwell’s paintings in bringing them to life for millions of people, rallying the public behind the War effort and changing the tenor of the times. In telling the story of how Rockwell’s works were transformed from a series of paintings into a national movement, the exhibition also demonstrates the power of illustration to communicate ideas and inspire change. In addition to his celebrated paintings of the Four Freedoms, the exhibition brings together numerous other examples of painting, illustration, and more, by both Rockwell and a broad range of his contemporaries—from J.C. Leyendecker and Mead Schaeffer, to Ben Shahn, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks, among others—as well as historical documents, photographs, videos, and artifacts; interactive digital displays; and immersive settings. While exploring the response of an earlier generation to the plea for defence of universal freedoms, the exhibition also resonates with our own time. The catalogue features essays by exhibition co-curators Stephanie Haboush Plunkett and James Kimble, by Laurie Norton Moffat, Director of the Norman Rockwell Museum, and by other contributors, including activist Ruby Bridges, artist and granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, Daisy Rockwell, and Ambassador William vanden Heuvel.
With Impulses, the Gold and Silversmith’s Craft Trust in Schwäbisch Gmünd celebrates its thirtieth anniversary. The book documents the Trust’s extensive achievements and shows highlights from publications, workshops and exhibitions. The main focus lies on the detailed presentation of the sixteen goldsmiths in residence. In 1989 the Trust was the very first German institution to appoint a City Goldsmith and continued to do so every two years. Famous artists like Max Fröhlich, Norman Weber and Deganit Stern Shocken are among the award winners. The outstanding setup of the exemplary works allows new perspectives on the diverse artistic expressions in gold and silver. Text in English and German. Contents: Prologue; TimeSignals; Lectures; Competitions; Exhibitions; Black Box; Karfunkelschein; Workshops; Meetings; Hammerclub; die Stadtgoldschmiede; Max Fröhlich; Nikolaus Kirchner; Johann Müllerperth; Klaus Dieter Eichler; Marianne Schliwinski; Walter Storr; Deganit Stern Schocken; Berthold Hoffmann; Bettina Menrad-Maier; Brigitte Moser; Ulrike Knab; Petra Dömling; Norman Weber; Peter Bauhuis; Paul de Vries; Simone ten Hompel.