London is full of strange and beautiful sights. It is a place for traditions and rebels, for the establishment and every alternative subculture. This book celebrates the diversity of the city. It invites you to see Little Ben or the fake 10 Downing Street, and answers both conventional and unusual questions. What, apart from Rolling Scones, will you see at God’s Own Junkyard? Where does an old-school gentleman buy his wine and umbrellas? Why did Robbie Williams feud with his next-door neighbour? How has the city commemorated the Queen Mother and Princess Diana? In which park do 100-year-old naked ladies cavort on the banks of the Thames? Where did Lenin and Julian Assange campaign for their beliefs? And which bridge rolls itself up?
“As a result, the book should provide fresh, in-depth insight into this seminal Rollie.” — Robb Report
“The latest release from Rolex is one for die-hard fans and to many many’s surprise, it’s not a watch.”— HypeBeast
“We haven’t gotten our hands on a copy of Submariner yet, but the prospect of Foulkes writing combined with access to Rolex’s archives has me excited.” — Hodinkee
“This book is not just for those who love watches but also for anyone fascinated by stories of innovation, design, and cultural influence.” — The Subdial
For the first time, Rolex has authorised a wide-ranging account and full history of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner watch, in the first of a series taking a deep dive into the watches of the iconic brand. Oyster Perpetual Submariner. The Watch That Unlocked The Deep, written by author, editor, and watch expert Nick Foulkes, is published by global design authority, Wallpaper*, which brings its sharp, cinematic eye to the project, creating new and original photography in collaboration with Rolex to run alongside testimonies from renowned witnesses to the Submariner’s illustrious 71-year history, including marine biologist Sylvia Earle, photographer David Doubilet, and aquanaut Dr Joe MacInnis – further highlighting the role this iconic timepiece continues to play in the exploration and protection of the marine environment.
Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606-1684) was one of the best still-life painters of the 17th century. His work, which is enchanting to the eye, has always enjoyed international fame. Throughout his painting career of nearly 60 years, de Heem continued to search for new and better ways to depict his subjects. He trained several pupils and had countless followers and imitators, in the Netherlands as well as abroad, and throughout the centuries. The fact that he was active in both the Northern and Southern Netherlands enhanced his success and fame. He worked successively in Leiden, (presumably) in Amsterdam, in Antwerp, in Utrecht and again in Antwerp.
De Heem is perhaps best known for his exuberant floral still lifes, which, however, were mainly created after 1660. By then, already for decades, he had painted still lifes of many themes and motifs, and in a variety of sizes, modest as well as luxurious. In Antwerp he had developed the large, rich still lifes which earned him part of his renown.
This comprehensive monograph written by Fred G. Meijer, contains the complete catalogue of de Heem’s oeuvre. Volume 1 includes an introduction, a biography and description of the development of his work. Volume 2 contains the catalogue raisonné of all paintings now known by de Heem, as well as several appendices.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) remains arguably the most powerful artist in the Western canon. Painter, sculptor, architect, poet, he redefined both the possibilities of the imagination and the image of the artist. In 1550, he became the first artist to be the subject of a biography within their own lifetime, presented by Giorgio Vasari as the divinely inspired culmination of the history of art. Dissatisfied with Vasari’s treatment, Michelangelo encouraged his close friend and fellow-painter Ascanio Condivi to publish a rival biography. Condivi’s Life is an impassioned, intimate portrait, giving an unparalleled picture of the master’s life, work and personality. This compelling narrative of genius and its struggles in the treacherous world of Papal politics and Italian wars remains one of the most fascinating and influential texts in art history. This edition reproduces the long unavailable translation by Charles Holroyd and has 49 pages of illustrations covering the span of Michelangelo’s achievement.
Richly illustrated in full colour, this book surveys Michael Landy’s earliest work, including lesser-known sculptures – such as Sovereign shown at Freeze in 1988 – to large-scale installations Market, Closing Down Sale and Scrapheap Services.
Other works discussed in detail include the infamous Break Down, where Landy destroyed all 7,227 of his possessions in a department store on Oxford Street, London; Semi-detached, where Landy constructed a full-scale model of his family home at Tate Britain, London; and the project H2NY where Landy made 168 drawings based on a Jean Tinguely sculpture.
With over 800 colour illustrations and four newly commissioned texts, this volume provides a comprehensive insight into Landy’s work
British Conceptual artist John Stezaker (b. 1949) is known for his distinctive, often deceptively simple, collages. He has been making art since the 1970s, but achieved prominence relatively recently.
In 2011, he had a retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and, in 2012, he won the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, even though he does not take photographs.
Stezaker says collage is about ‘stuff that has lost its immediate relationship with the world’ and involves ‘a yearning for a lost world’. A collector, he works from an archive of out-of-date images — mostly old film stills, vintage actor head shots, and antique postcards. These images come in standard sizes and are highly conventionalised — all variations on themes.
Art critic David Campany says, Stezaker ‘is drawn to that very slim space between convention and idiosyncrasy.’
In addition to collages, Lost World includes poignant found-object-sculptures: a selection of antique mannequin hands, offering a repertoire of gestures. There’s also a film, Crowd, presenting hundreds of film stills of crowd scenes, each for one frame only, in a bewildering blur.
This book is a photographic journey on the origin and life of “Africa Hall” in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – a building declared in 2015 “Monument to African History” and recently renovated – which was donated in 1961 by Emperor Haile Selassie to the United Nations. Africa Hall was designed by Arturo Mezzèdimi, a young self-taught architect, to serve as the UN’s continental headquarters and was the birthplace, in 1963, of the Organization of African Unity, now African Union.
The building came to life with an inspiring story of reconciliation at a crucial moment in African history, when the continent was emerging out of the colonial period and making headway into a new era of independence and envisaged unity. Through its architectural composition and the embedded artworks, it embodied a Pan-Africanist vision and its rising ideals.
Edited by the grandson of the architect and representing Italy’s contribution to the renovation project, the book sits at the crossroads of photography, architecture, history, and art and comprises an amplitude of independent essays, contributions and recollections from authors of diverse profiles. Through impacting images and short articles, it addresses events of historical relevance on a global scale, for the entire continent of Africa, at a national level for Ethiopia, and locally for the city of Addis Ababa, concluding with an introduction to the life and work of its architect.
Mark Fisher was the creator and designer of a new art form: the travelling rock show. His exuberant stage sets framed artists from The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Jean-Michel Jarre to Elton John and Tina Turner. There were thousands of concerts and hundreds of bravura settings, from the 2000 London Millennium show to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, as well as permanent structures, such as the 2,000-seater theatre and stage machinery for KÀ by Cirque du Soleil, in Las Vegas, and the Dai Show Theatre, in China. Each of these projects first found expression in Fisher’s sketchbooks and on his drawing board. This book spans his entire career, with details of every major project and more than 100 drawings – some of which are virtually performances in their own right.
“In 1977, I went on the road with the Floyd, and that was really the moment I ran away and joined the circus.” – Mark Fisher
With Road Work, Andrew Holmes continues his pilgrimage through the seductive litter of modern life. Cities are conventionally viewed as static objects, but a third of Los Angeles is on the move; it is a kaleidoscope trapped in a grid, where what you see is what you drive past. Road Work presents 500 of Andrew Holmes’ Los Angeles Polaroids, capturing the machines that deliver people and goods to different parts of the city each day. These vehicles are seen at the airport, at a truck stop, always in a parking bay, set classically against azure skies, frozen like statues in a Renaissance garden. Everything has equal status. Nothing transgresses the grid. The work is even, chrome and rust are its soul. Along with commentaries by David Greene and Holmes himself, Road Work includes lyrics by Chuck Berry and others, and extracts from a variety of road novelists and writers.
Artist Daphne Wright is fascinated with the collections of the Ashmolean Museum and the history of seeing they present. Her latest project grows out of a lifetime’s engagement with this theme. Much of Wright’s existing body of work is steeped in a deep understanding of the iconography and history of Western art, as represented in the Ashmolean’s extensive collection. This book establishes connections to the Ashmolean’s rich collection of 17th century Dutch Still Life paintings. These genre paintings portray a range of subjects from arrangements of flowers to fruit, fish and game. Sometimes the paintings include a symbolic reference to the transience of life, in the form of fruit that has begun to rot or flowers that are losing petals. In Fridge Still Life, the exposed body of a fridge, containing upon its shelves a raw chicken and bundle of asparagus, is topped with a vase of wilting tulips. This is a contemporary re-telling of a still life painting, with its various familiar elements, such as a brace of hanging pheasants, a bowl of fruit and a vase of blooms, with can connote status or vanitas. Wright has explored the transitory nature of life throughout her practice. In previous work, Wright has used plants and animals, with their shorter life spans, to stand in for the human. Wright’s work also resonates strongly with the Ashmolean’s extensive and celebrated cast collection. Prominent amongst the plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculptures are the gods and heroes of Homeric legend. These idealised images of men still form the basis of our ideas of masculinity today. With Sons on Couch Wright is seeking to capture the elusive moment of transition into manhood. The athletic figures in the cast court may have been updated to social media influencers, but the pressure young men face today to achieve a perceived ideal body type remain the same.
Originally published in 1999, and long out of print, this revised and updated version of Techniques of Drawing gives an overview of historical materials and drawing practices in Europe and Asia, using examples from the Ashmolean Museum, including highlights of the collection and lesser-known works. This up to date edition expands the text and illustrations to include non-western art, including Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Persian works of art, also including some more modern western art works than the first edition, which only covered western art from the 15th to 19th centuries. Expanding the scope of the book to include global perspectives, and the 20th century, involves new sections such as ‘Brush and Ink’ which includes Chinese landscape drawings, Japanese botanical works, as well as illustrating the famous Mughal Indian drawing by Abu’l Hasan in the Ashmolean collection. The book also includes a new section on gouache (opaque watercolour) which will be important for discussing Chinese, Indian and Persian paintings on paper.
The virus, the war, the climate, inflation, poverty and loneliness make people feel insecure. In these troubled times, there is more interest than ever for what is truly important in life: happiness, hope and love. What does science teach us today? Are we still allowed to strive towards happiness? And how do we do that? Leo Bormans asked the same question over and over again to a hundred professors all over the world: established names and young up-and-comers. Every scientist briefly summarises their recent research after which they formulate their insights in one single sentence: the essence. To this they link at least three concrete pieces of advice: for our own lives, for our friends and for society. With contributions from the most prominent experts in positive psychology, such as: Prof. Martin Seligman (University of Pennsylvania), author of more than 20 international bestsellers and the founding father of positive psychology; Richard Easterlin (University of Southern California), one of the most respected and renowned authorities in happiness research, Prof. Sir Richard Layard (The London School of Economics), one of the most influential voices in the global study of happiness and well-being; and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (Oxford University), editor of The World Report on Happiness (UN).
Pioneers of Art in Oman: Rasheed Abdulrahman celebrates one of Oman’s most influential visual artists through a stunning bilingual presentation in English and Arabic. This definitive volume features over 60 meticulously curated paintings and sculptures that chronicle Rasheed’s remarkable artistic evolution and his pivotal role in shaping Oman’s cultural landscape.
Beyond showcasing his visionary work, this book offers intimate biographical insights into the artist who transformed raw materials into vibrant masterpieces and mentored countless emerging talents. Detailed analyses of selected artworks reveal the profound symbolism and philosophical depth that characterise his unique artistic vision.
As the inaugural edition in a prestigious series documenting Oman’s artistic heritage, this publication represents a collaboration between the National Museum of Oman and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth. For art enthusiasts, collectors, and cultural historians alike, this book provides unprecedented access to Rasheed Abdulrahman’s legacy – a testament to his enduring influence on contemporary Omani art and his ability to illuminate tradition while pioneering new artistic frontiers.
Text in English and Arabic.
Visions in Silk presents the first comprehensive exploration of exquisite Japanese fine art textiles from the Meiji era (1868-1912), showcasing the unparalleled treasures from the Khalili Collection of Japanese Art.
This beautifully illustrated volume reveals how Japanese artists and craftsmen ingeniously adapted centuries-old textile traditions to create innovative art textiles that captivated international audiences, won exhibition awards, and served as prestigious diplomatic gifts.
Featuring over 300 spectacular examples, the book examines dazzling works of embroidery, yuzen resist-dyed silk and cut velvet, tapestry, and oshi-e raised silk, ranging from elegant panels, hangings and screens to grand exhibition showpieces. Each represents the pinnacle of artistic collaboration and hitherto unsurpassed technical mastery.
Written by leading international experts, this landmark publication provides unprecedented insight into these remarkable yet understudied treasures. Visions in Silk will enchant anyone interested in Japanese art, textile design, Japonisme, and the cultural transformations that occurred during the Meiji era, when Japan opened to the outside world.
The Khalili Anīs al-Hujjāj (Pilgrims’ Companion) presents a ground-breaking new exploration of Safi ibn Vali Qazwini’s richly illustrated manuscript dating from 1676-77. This beautifully produced volume, with a scholarly introduction by Qaisra M. Khan and translation by Michael Burns, documents the author’s year-long journey to Mecca and Medina from Mughal India via the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.
Commissioned by Zeb un-Nisa, the daughter of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, this delightfully vivid account belongs to a long-established tradition of guides to the Holy Sanctuaries. It gives comprehensive advice to prospective pilgrims on every aspect of the maritime journey, such as which ships to select, the best foods to consume, rituals to observe, significant places to visit and the people one might encounter.
This volume extensively explores the original manuscript’s detailed illustrations and text, providing an invaluable window into 17th-century religious practices, maritime travel, and the cultural landscape of the Indian Ocean world.
Superstar Pharaohs was the exhibition presented by the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, in partnership with MUCEM (Marseille), in 2022, the year that marks the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter and the bicentenary of the deciphering of hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champollion.
The exhibition catalogue includes an introductory text written by the co-curator Frédéric Mougenot, in which he reveals the reflections that led him to create the exhibition.
The introduction is followed by six essays on different themes, ranging from antiquity to the present day: Fayza Haikal writes about the link between modern day Egyptians and the civilisation of the Pharaohs; Bernard Mathieu focuses on the Egyptians’ knowledge of their history; Michael Chaveau looks at the presence of the Pharaohs in Greco-Roman literature; Simon Connor explores the impact of images and their destruction in constructing the history of the Egyptian monarchy; Jean-Marcel Humbert discusses the phenomenon of Egyptomania; and João Carvalho Dias, co-curator of the exhibition and deputy director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, reveals the relationship that Calouste Gulbenkian developed with Howard Carter, which was fundamental in establishing the Egyptian art section of the Gulbenkian collection.
The rest of the publication is, like the exhibition, divided into three sections: the first, ‘Three Thousand Years of History and a Few Memorable Reigns’, seeks to outline the profile of the Pharaohs who were regarded, in their time, as worthy of being remembered for posterity. The second section, ‘What Remains of the Pharaohs? History and Legends’, looks at the way the memory of some of these figures was recovered, and at the same time transformed, by the literature of Greco-Roman antiquity, giving rise to myths that survived for centuries. The final section, ‘Return of the Pharaohs’, reveals how the birth of the discipline of Egyptology led to new scientific knowledge of Ancient Egypt, which also paved the way for the rediscovery of some Pharaohs, who were thus propelled into stardom.
As well as featuring abundant illustrations of the works on display throughout the texts, the publication also includes a section of chronological references related to Ancient Egypt and a list of all the Pharaohs in history.
Image credits: Panorama
The luminous work of Bill Armstrong has long stretched the boundaries and expectations of contemporary photography. In his explorations and subversion of the ostensible objectivity and precision that have distinguished photography among the visual arts, Armstrong foregrounds the medium’s qualities that photographers had been attempting to exploit since the beginning of the twentieth century: colour and focus.
All a Blur showcases Mr. Armstrong’s Infinity series, an ongoing project he has been working on for over 25 years. The book presents 21 different portfolios, all made by using his unique process of photographing a collage of found or appropriated images extremely out of focus or distorted by handheld time exposures. The variety of subjects and results he achieves with this process is so broad it has been said that he has developed a medium of his own invention that lies at the intersection of photography, painting and collage.
With mysterious and poetic images that reflect on history, philosophy, identity and spirituality, Armstrong conjures a unique alternate reality that might exist in dreams, in memory, or, perhaps, in a parallel universe. At the same time, the subject of the work is colour. By taking away focus and the usual expectations of photography, Armstrong is able to investigate the qualities and effects of pure colour in a profound way, freed from the limits of representation.
The first biography of Ralph Dutton, collector, connoisseur, writer, philanthropist, who created one of the National Trust’s most popular houses and gardens, Hinton Ampner.
“Ralph Dutton grows on you as John Holden engagingly unpeels the layers of this complicated traveller, connoisseur, philanthropist and friend.” – Dame Rosalind Savill, former Director of the Wallace Collection
“Ralph Dutton is someone most of us have never heard of, yet he created a place of exceptional grace and beauty in Hinton Ampner. John Holden unravels the mystery of the man for us, and gives us a compelling account of why and how it all happened. It’s an enchanting read.” – Lord Smith of Finsbury, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge and Chairman of The Art Fund
“This is a real discovery. The story of a modest gentleman who nonetheless played an important role in 20th-century English culture. He put his life into his house, and his house into his life. Both are an engaging case study in heritage history.” – Professor Robert Hewison, Cultural Historian
Pressing Matters explains the fundamental debates in wine, from terroir, production and farming, to tasting, wine’s cultural significance and the economic value of wine. By focusing on wine through the prism of the key fights within each topic, the book presents readers with a story that includes the messiness, human fragility and disagreement about core principles that so often gets skipped at the outset of wine knowledge. The book fairly showcases all sides of the most important debates in wine today, giving the available evidence as well as commenting on what we don’t know. Aimed at those just starting on their wine journey, Pressing Matters is a lively and thoroughly researched history of all the key current wine controversies, written by an author with wine making in his blood, who knows the wine business from the inside.
– Lays out the key current wine controversies in a way that is easily accessible for the non-scientist and those new to wine literature.
– Examines the evidence from experts on both sides of each argument to allow readers to make up their own minds on current hot topics in wine.
– Goes behind the label to explain the buzz words, trends and wine speak used by the wine media.
– Helps readers see clearly today’s bigger wine picture in order to make better informed wine-buying decisions.
– Author is active within the wine scene in California and beyond, and a popular speaker at wine events.
In 1967, a 17-year-old aspiring photographer named Ed Caraeff found himself front row at the Monterey Pop Festival, California. Caraeff had never seen Hendrix before, nor was he familiar with his music. But Caraeff had his ever-present camera and as Hendrix lit his guitar, he snapped a photo. That picture – Hendrix burning his guitar at Monterey – has become one of the most iconic images of rock and roll. A photo that defined Hendrix as an artist, appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine not once, but twice, and launched Caraeff’s photographic career. Timed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Monterey Pop Festival, Burning Desire reveals never-before published images from the magnificent, Hendrix-dedicated archive that Caraeff has compiled. From onstage to backstage, Jimi Hendrix was as electric in front of the camera as he was when he strummed his guitar. In Burning Desire, Caraeff showcases more than 100 images, including rare shots and contract sheets, and discusses his experiences with this incredible musician. Contents: Monterey International Pop Music Festival: June 18, 1967 Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967 Anaheim Convention Center: February 9, 1968 Ackerman Union Ballroom: February 13, 1968 Hollywood Bowl: September 14, 1968 Whiskey-A-Go-Go: October 1968 Newport ’69: June 20-22, 1969
This monograph, edited by noted Italian art critic Bruno Corà and published on the occasion of Art Basel 2018, presents the genesis, critical analysis, and exhibition history of the Combustioni Plastiche [Plastic Combustions] cycle by Alberto Burri. These works span a quarter of a century, from 1953 to 1979, and were created using industrial sheets of different kinds of plastic, with different melting points. They are visceral and technically innovative hybrids, part painting and part sculpture, ranging in size from a few centimetres to larger works installed in places of worship and stage designs for theatre performances. They illuminate Burri’s longstanding exploration of the beauty that can be found in mass produced materials, and function as a lens through which we can reassess Burri’s entire creative career. Historical photographs by Claudio Amendola and Ugo Mulas, newspaper articles, and in-depth essays offer a complete analysis of this extraordinary cycle of works. The catalogue will be presented during Art Basel 2018.
Luca Blast Forlani leads the reader through a range of urban spaces, places that, notwithstanding passing of time, have still retained their own identity. Although on the surface apparently empty and desolate, they each have a history and a story to tell; the details of identity caught in the lens, the clues of a life discarded but not entirely forgotten. These images are poignant, emotive and thought-provoking; the use of light and shadows, close-up details and wide-angle shots, footprints of the past, captured in the silence and the dust, like a long-forgotten conversation, a whisper of lives remembered. Text in English and Italian.
John Cage: The Zen Ox-Herding Pictures brings together fifty never-before-seen watercolour images from renowned artist and composer John Cage, revealing the powerful influence of Zen in his life and work. These pieces were originally created on paper towels at the 1988 Mountain Lake Workshop as Cage experimented with the flow and tone of colours from his brush as he prepared for larger works. Authors Stephen Addiss and Ray Kass unite them here in patterns both planned and dictated by chance, the same methods by which Cage himself composed his later works. Ray Kass and Stephen Addiss provide introductory essays, discussing their experience with the works and the artist himself. They also explore fragments of Cage’s poetry and his many statements about Zen practice, providing a fascinating lens through which the images seem to become mysterious echoes of the centuries-old “Ten Ox-Herding Paintings”-images about searching for, finding, and returning from the path to enlightenment.