FMR issue number 9, arriving on the vernal equinox, is wholly devoted to the world of plants, our humble and yet noble fellow travelers on this earthly plane: we range from botanical details in the masterpieces of the Prado to a tropical jungle painted in monochromatic grisaille in a Mexican monastery, from a Korean painter’s hyperrealistic cacti to an esoteric Genoese garden, and from the vegetable festoons of the Villa Farnesina to Gaetano Gandolfi’s portraits of great botanists. In the front of the book, we see again, after a one-issue hiatus, Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk’s “Mr. PA” visiting the museum.
A photographic narrative that crosses the world’s main cities to witness the shared intentions and feelings that bind the single Pride events in one big wave that envelops and crosses all countries, exalting the uniqueness and variegated compositions of identities and modes. A snapshot of global LGBTQIA+ pride, with a focus on Pride parades marking momentous anniversaries, including New York Pride in 2019, 50 years after the events of Stonewall, and London Pride in 2020, 50 years after the birth of the Gay Liberation Front.
The book also bears witness to the spread of the Wave in the countries of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Australia, which since the end of the 1990s, with particular regard to the last decade, has been gaining spaces for listening and rights.
The Pride project recounts, celebrates and enhances LGBTQIA+ pride around the world, through the faces and claims of the protagonists of a struggle that involves us all: that for a fair and inclusive world, in which no person should feel excluded or discriminated against for their way of being, living and loving.
Text in English and Italian.
The exhibition Nasi Per L’Arte was born from the encounter between two curatorial noses belonging to Joanna De Vos and Melania Rossi. The nose is a navigator, guiding us through life; a delicate vehicle that detects and determines. It narrows and dilates at the same time, creating circular communication between the inner and the outer world. For this exhibition and book, a selection of contemporary artists such as Francis Alÿs, Michaël Borremans, Maurizio Cattelan, Laura de Coninck, Mariana Ferratto, Peter de Cupere, Jan Fabre, Mariana Ferratto, Sofie Muller, Luigi Ontani, Daniele Puppi and others, were in dialogue with artists of the permanent collection of Palazzo Merulana, Roma, and with loans of works by Oscar Jespers, René Magritte, George Minne, Constant Permeke, Léon Spilliaert, and others.
Text in English and Italian.
Robaldo Morozzo della Rocca (1904–1993) shaped the architectural landscape of Italy – especially Genoa – through changing times. His work is impossible to categorize and, without taking any political stance, expressed itself in a variety of styles between the periods of the monarchy and the republic: from futurism to neoplasticism, and from Fascist rhetoric to experiments with concrete.
This monograph not only reconstructs the past, but also reveals the present-day relevance of Morozzo della Rocca’s approaches. It demonstrates how it is possible to take an autonomous path and simultaneously develop a universal vision of the world through architecture. Presenting his most important works – ranging from villas and palazzi to apartment buildings and his INA Casa projects – this publication traces the story of an architect who was ahead of his time and whose influence is tangible to this day.
Maria Lai always had a special relationship with fairy tales. She considered them a metaphor for art and a way of communicating with the public in a simple, straightforward way. Starting in the 1980s, fairy tales became central to her art. Tenendo per mano il sole, Tenendo per mano l’ombra, Curiosape and Maria Pietra, are her most famous “sewn fairy tales” – books created by the artist using castoff textiles.
Maria Lai’s fairy tales are not merely children’s stories, but profound reflections on life and what it means to be a human being. They are often inspired by Sardinian myths and legends, to which the artist gives a personal twist, adding autobiographical details and philosophical reflections.
This edition of Tenendo per mano l’ombra is a printed version of Maria Lai’s 1987 tale. The original consists of fabric pages sewn together and collages of dyed textiles, on which the artist has embroidered geometric figures, yarn and other materials. The fairy tale tells the story of a human being (and his double) who must learn to accept shadows, the dark part of the world and of himself. The figure’s shadow, in Maria Lai’s fairy tale, is not a negative element to be rejected, but an integral part of his personality. To live an untroubled and complete life, one must learn to accept and live with it.
Elena Pontiggia’s concluding essay accompanies the reader in a fascinating page by page interpretation of the fable, and discusses Lai’s artistic and stylistic approach in the context of an extensive network of philosophical, literary and artistic references: from Kant and Manzoni to Klee and Malevič.
Text in English and Italian.
Palermo has been given a host of toponyms over time, as if each name reflected the city’s multifaceted, ever-changing nature, shaped by its centuries-long history. From the traces of a great Greek and Roman presence, to its Arab-Norman buildings and gleaming mosaics, from the inlays and dazzling whites of the flourishing Baroque period, right up to the 20th century with its elegant Art Nouveau – all of these layers unfold in the pages of this volume. The curator Giorgio Villani’s texts outline an itinerary for discovering Palermo, introducing readers to key moments and places, and ending with a gallery of characters who, though unique and at times peculiar, are deeply relevant to the city’s composite identity.
Caravaggio’s Portrait of a Gentleman with a Ruff, which is a recent arrival in the Klesch Collection, has a short critical history. It also has a very limited history as regards the associated bibliography and media coverage, perhaps because the painting came to the fore prior to the social media explosion characteristic of recent years and, above all, at a time when today’s almost obsessive interest in Caravaggio was certainly not so developed. This interest has since expanded to incorporate all levels of communication, even the most widely popular. The Portrait first came to people’s attention in 1992 and despite the fact that the artist already exerted an appeal that few other painters could boast at the time, Caravaggio’s following was far removed from what it is today.
Text in English and Italian.
In the 45th year of the disappearance of the Pictor Optimus, the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of the fifth volume of the General Catalogue of Giorgio de Chirico’s work published by Maretti Editore. The latter presents a set of more than 457 works considered authentic by the Foundation and reproduced in chronological order from 1914 to 1976. As for previous editions (vol. 1/2014, vol.2 / 2015, vol.3 / 2016, vol. 4 / 2018), it includes only works not present in the historical cataloging of Claudio Bruni Sakraischik (1971-1987). The volume, edited as the previous ones by the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation, is composed of 420 pages and includes a presentation by Paolo Picozza – President of the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation, an introductory essay by Elena Pontiggia, titled “Life, so sad and imperfect”. The Relationship between Art and Existence in de Chirico’s Painting and the letter dated December 26, 1910 written by Giorgio de Chirico to Fritz Garz which marks the birth of metaphysics. Following: an updated chronological biography of the artist and a summary of the activities of the Foundation.
Text in English and Italian.
This publication discusses a bronze Laocoön recently sold at Bonham’s. Its new owners attributed it to Giuseppe Piamontini (1663–1744) ‘because of its manufacture and its extremely close proximity to the Doccia model’, the model employed for a porcelain Laocoön produced in the factory set up by Carlo Ginori (1702–57) in 1737 at Doccia near Florence.
Labelled as French and belatedly returned to Late Baroque Florence (but to the wrong artist), this magnificent group has finally revealed its identity. It is one of the incunabula of an ambitious young sculptor measuring himself with the sculptors of Ancient Greece and their great Renaissance followers of his native Florence. During the day he copied them in the Galleria degli Uffizi and in the streets of the city. At night he gathered together with other pupils of Foggini in the Borgo Pinti studio to study together. The prominent career to which Della Valle obviously aspired prompted his move to Rome. Della Valle helped us interpret the bronze correctly, interpret correctly its attribution in the Doccia models’ inventory and by extension understand better that document itself. But most important, our understanding of Florentine Late Baroque sculpture and of Della Valle’s art has acquired another firm point of reference.
Artemisia Gentileschi has been the subject of much attention in recent decades. Research dedicated to her has, however, often returned a stereotyped and reductive image of the artistic universe and personality of the painter. The professional figure of Gentileschi, who was able to move with great success in what we now call the art system, finally finds new dignity. Unpublished attributions from private collections are flanked by the painter’s masterpieces, reconstructing the framework of the international commissions that consecrated her as a protagonist of the European Baroque, in the most complete and up-to-date volume dedicated to the artist. The innovative charge of language and the exceptional nature of Artemisia’s iconographic choices reveal the documented interests and literary, scientific and musical frequentations that the painter skillfully cultivated in every city that recorded her passage.
Text in English and Italian.
Issue 13 opens with a Serafini show, “Madcappery and Genius,” at Masone Labyrinth. “Sweertsmania” reigns with art by Sweert, by Simone Facchinetti. In “Modern Baroque,” Giorgio Villani explores Catalan muralist Josep Maria Sert and a client list ranging from Rockefellers to French princesses: lavish abundance in stunning grisaille. In “Crystals, Castles, Seas, and Stars” Ezio Godoli explores the visionary work of Bohemian Wenzel Hablik. In “When Knighthood Was in Flower,” Eduardo Barba Gómez describe the floral codes implicit in a painting by Vittore Carpaccio, pride of the Prado. In “Portrait of Botero as a Young Man,” Giorgio Antei recalls an artist he once knew in nine parables: how the underfed young Botero invented an esthetic of plumpness. In “His Terrible Swift Brush,” Amy Durrell tells how, long before “Gone with the Wind,” Atlanta adopted its own big-screen epic of the Civil War. In “Notes from Underground, Caterina Napoleone recalls how Giuseppe Barberi told Rome a tale of its own history.
The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the only patriarchal basilica of the four in Rome to have retained its paleo-Christian structures. The Basilica dates back to 425 AD and in this elegant and triumphal photographic masterpiece accomplished at the height of today’s technology, we can admire in detail the grandeur of all its artistic details: the mosaics of the nave; the ceremonial arch dating to the pontificate of Pope Sixtus III (432-440 AD); those of the apse made at the behest of Pope Nicholas V (1288-1292); the Cosmatesque floor; the coffered ceiling designed by Giuliano da San Gallo; the Nativity scene by Arnolfo di Cambio; the High Altar by Ferdinando Fuga; the Borghese, Cesi, Sforza, and Sistine Chapels; and the Crucifix and St. Michael chapels by Luigi Valadier.
The Basilica is Pope Francis’ final resting place.
Tradition has it that the Virgin Mary herself inspired the choice of the Esquiline Hill for the church’s construction. Appearing in a dream to both the Patrician John, the landowner of the Esquiline Hill, and Pope Liberius, she asked that a church be built in her honor on a site she would miraculously indicate.
Text in English and Italian.
Travel today is fast, comfortable, and accessible to many. But between the 17th and early 19th centuries, it was a privilege reserved for the elite. Young British aristocrats would embark on a Grand Tour as the final stage of their education. Italy was the highlight of this cultural journey, with visits to Rome, Florence, Venice, and Mount Vesuvius. Along the way, they admired art and architecture, forged connections, and refined their taste—often returning home with artworks and souvenirs to adorn their country estates.
It wasn’t just young men who traveled; entire families journeyed across Europe in grand entourages. What inspired them to set out, which routes did they take, and what treasures did they bring back?
This book explores those journeys and presents a remarkable selection of artworks brought home from three of England’s finest stately homes: Holkham Hall, Burghley House, and Woburn Abbey.
Patricia Urquiola (Oviedo, 1961) is a globally acclaimed architect, art director, and industrial designer, celebrated for her innovative work with leading brands such as Flos, Cassina, Kettal, Kvadrat, BMW, Boeing, Louis Vuitton, and Missoni. Her designs are imaginative, eclectic, playful, and often experimental, with a strong commitment to sustainability. The exhibition Meta-Morphosa at CID Grand-Hornu, part of Europalia Espana, highlights Studio Patricia Urquiola’s research from the past five years. In a world increasingly shaped by climate change and artificial intelligence, the exhibition explores transformation—how materials, aesthetics, and perceptions of beauty evolve. Featuring functional objects, visionary projects, and experiments with innovative materials and unexpected combinations, Meta-Morphosa presents a new aesthetic characterized by formal and cultural mutation. The exhibition invites visitors to embrace change, celebrating creativity, adaptability, and the beauty of transformation, reflecting Urquiola’s boundless imagination and her commitment to shaping design for a rapidly changing world.
Text in English and French.
“So far, there haven’t been many women who have dared to dream on a truly megalomaniac scale—and see those dreams through to completion.” — Niki de Saint Phalle.
The story of the Tarot Garden, created by Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002), unfolds like a fairy tale. For the first time, this book documents the extraordinary adventure of its construction, from 1978 to 1998. It all began when, at the age of twenty-five, Niki de Saint Phalle visited Gaudí’s Park Güell and decided to give form to her lifelong “desire for grandeur.” The result was the creation of twenty-one monumental and esoteric sculptures spread across two hectares in Tuscany’s Maremma region—an artistic interpretation of the Tarot’s major arcana, a system that had long captivated her imagination. The Tarot Garden stands within a visionary lineage of fantastical environments, alongside the Palais Idéal of Ferdinand Cheval, Gaudí’s Park Güell, Alain Bourbonnais’s Fabuloserie, and the Gardens of Bomarzo in Lazio. Enriched with rare archival material, this book reveals the behind-the-scenes story of Niki de Saint Phalle’s magnum opus, shaped by Etruscan heritage, local craftsmanship, and rituals drawn from cultures around the world.
“Seeing the garden Gaudí built in Barcelona changed my life. From that moment on, my path would be a slow apprenticeship—until the day I, too, would be capable of creating a magnificent work like his, a place of joy.” — Niki de Saint Phalle.
Text in English, Italian and French.
“Harrowing and thought provoking, Dawton and McFarlane’s images shine a light on the huge body of individuals living as refugees, who no longer occupy the front pages of newspapers, but are still without a home.” — CookieBiscuit.co.uk
In Edge of Hope, Anthony Dawton and Jim McFarlane’s photographs document the Rohingya people living in the refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar in Kutupalong, Bangladesh. Almost one million refugees live in this camp having fled genocide committed by the Myanmarese government and military, and militias.
The Rohingyan refugees live in fragile shelters through both sweltering heat and cyclone and monsoon season. They have poor nutrition and limited access to clean water and basic healthcare, and the cramped conditions encourage the spread of disease – including vaccine-preventable and water-borne diseases, and covid-19. Over half of the refugees are children.
Dawton and McFarlane are not subject to the time restraints that photojournalists are, so they can build relationships with their subjects. As a result, their photographs show humanity and dignity, despite the tragic circumstances.
The Amal Foundation continues to work in the camp and Edge of Hope is published to raise funds and awareness for the foundation.
A new, thoroughly revised and expanded edition of the beloved Scotland guide by local Lauren MacCallum. Because she is so passionate about exploring new places, Lauren always has a list of new secrets ready to share. The new entries in this book include her favorite and recently discovered spots in Orkney Islands and the far north of the Highlands, like the coolest places along the North Coast 500. She also added, for example, the best activities in every season in her home area of Cairngorms.
This book isn’t your typical Scottish travel guide; instead, it aims to encourage you to define your own sense of adventure, to explore beyond the usual hot spots and get to know the real Scotland. It will help you to see beyond the tartan trinkets, Irn-Bru and haggis, and to experience the authentic life in Scotland, so you’ll understand what’s so unique about this small stretch of land and its inhabitants. The book covers an eclectic range of over 60 themes such as: unusual art spaces; gin and whisky distilleries worth a visit; amazing coastal walks; dramatic lochs and bookshops with character.
“When one is tired of London, one is tired of life.” – Samuel Johnson London has long been a center of the literary world. From Shakespeare to Amis, Byron to Blake, Plath, Thomas, Christie and Rowling; many of the greatest names in literature have made this metropolis their home. Writers’ London guides the reader through homes, bookshops, pubs and cemeteries, in search of where literary greats loved and lost, drank and died. Discover the Islington building where Joe Orton was murdered by his lover, the Soho pub where Dylan Thomas left his manuscript, the Chelsea hotel where Oscar Wilde was arrested, and the Bank of England where Kenneth Graham was shot at (and missed) three times. Gathering hundreds of famous and less-well-known anecdotes, this meticulously researched volume will entertain any lover of literature. Also in the series: Vinyl London ISBN 9781788840156 Rock ‘n’ Roll London ISBN 9781788840163 Art London ISBN 9781788840385 London Peculiars ISBN 9781851499182
For Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, each garden is unique—a one-of-a-kind reflection of architecture and nature, imbued with the personality of those who inhabit it. Never static, ever-changing, these gardens are inspired by experience and imagination, and the fine balance of natural elements. When loved and cherished, gardens can flourish for generations as places for gathering, entertaining, contemplation, and refuge.
With stunning color photography and intricately detailed sketches, Enduring Gardens: The Tame and the Wild immerses readers in the unique gardens designed by CHLA and invites them behind the scenes to learn more about the firm’s approach to landscape design. Exploring the individual components of an enduring garden through the creative eyes of CHLA, this monograph reveals the thought and intention that goes into crafting meaningful gardens, from exploring the sensory stimuli of nature to connecting with architecture and balancing the tame and the wild.
Punjab, and especially Sikh art, has taken multiple forms ranging from scriptural manuscripts, floral adornments to illustrations and illuminations. This family collection showcases varied forms of jewelry, textiles, arms, coinage, along with construction of religious places and monuments. Murals and frescoes, paintings from Mughal, Punjabi and Pahari styles as well as calligraphy; all enhance the culture and add to its beauty. In addition, foreign artists such as Emily Eden, Shoefft, Soltikoff and other Europeans have left their imprint. The Khanuja Family believes encouragement of art is an essential element in enriching cultural heritage, upliftment of the human spirit, which eventually results in understanding, tolerance and interconnecting us all. This collection is a labor of love which started with an interest in listening to the history of Punjab from elders and subsequently reading about it. Over time with the help of Dr P Khanuja’s daughter, Jasleen it evolved into this expensive passion of collecting artifacts and paintings over the last 14 years.
From the fringes of society to the envy-inducing images on social media, how and why has vanlife become more popular than ever before? What does this tell us about our love of travel and our ideas of home? And how do camper vans address issues of minimalism, freedom and sustainability? The creators of The Rolling Home journal bring you a timely, attractively priced paperback re-issue of The Complete Vanlife Book, with essays, interviews, illustrations, and photographs that tell you everything you need to know about vanlife culture. On a practical level the authors impart the basics of compact interior design and van conversions, along with inspiring personal accounts of living and traveling by van.
Portugal’s picture-perfect coastal capital tops the list of city destinations for tourists, drawn to its sun-drenched streets, dynamic art scene and mouthwatering food. Its cobbled streets, pastel-toned houses and stunning scenery, along with its warm atmosphere and relaxed pace, will see you booking your next stay – before you’ve even tasted your first pastel de nata. Lisbon is brimming with extraordinary places, from charming cafes to late-night music bars, world-class galleries and museums to quirky artisan shops – these are the very best places to visit, whether you’re there for a day, a weekend or lingering a little longer. Part of a growing series of opinionated city guides, offering straight-talking insider advice on the world’s must-visit cities — from New York and Berlin to London and Paris.
The 500 Hidden Secrets of Tokyo is an affectionate city guide, written by Tokyo local Yukiko Tajima. She has listed 500 must-visit places in her truly fascinating hometown, as well as good-to-know facts. The city has a great many aspects that are changing at a rapid pace; hopefully this book will help you discover new sides that you were unaware of, and will inspire you as you organize your holiday here.
Also available: The 500 Hidden Secrets of Berlin, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Istanbul, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Miami, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Paris, The 500 Hidden Secrets of New York, and many more. Discover the series at the500hiddensecrets.com
“We need new concepts for trade fairs as places of chance encounters. This might also be showrooms and brand worlds in places where people and ideas converge. What we need are open forums for critical and competent dialogue.” You will find lots of demands like this one expressed by Ranger Design in this special edition: The industry has given us an outlook of the near future and shows what they have achieved in the last few months, where they had to find alternatives, what new concepts evolved and how the trade fair format has changed in recent times.
Text in English and German.