Margaret Mercer Elphinstone (1788-1867), with her powerful mind and independent spirit, was never daunted by adversity as she sought to realize her ambitions for her family against the background of intellectual upheaval and social and political change which followed the French Revolution and the end of the ancien régime. The turning-point in her life was her controversial marriage in 1817 with the general Charles de Flahaut (1785-1870), which, contrary to all expectations, resulted in one of the most successful partnerships in the ‘auld alliance’ between France and Scotland.

Whereas the life of her husband, the dashing Napoleonic general and diplomat Charles de Flahaut, is well known, Margaret has remained in the shadows. Yet this biographical study, based on unpublished correspondence in the Archives Nationales, Paris, reveals her to have been the more interesting of the two. It shows how much he depended on her brains, political judgment and artistic taste as well as her fortune to guide him in his career. Her lively, observant but wicked pen takes us with her on visits to Talleyrand, to the marquis de Lafayette, to the duchesse de Praslin, to house parties in stately homes of England and Scotland. Acknowledged a superb hostess, her descriptions of the menus, and entertainments organized in her homes in Scotland, London and Paris, and at the Flahaut embassies in Vienna and in London capture the flavor of those cosmopolitan gatherings. A lifelong liberal in politics and an upholder of Whig principles, her politicomanie inspires sharp comments on the opponents of Reform in England and on the self-seeking ministers of Louis-Philippe in France.

(Re)discover Art Nouveau at the heart of Brussels. At the end of the 19th century, the anti-academic movement pushed Brussels’ architects towards Art Nouveau. Both Victor Horta, in an organic style, and Paul Hankar, in a more geometrical tendency, created an architecture that quickly gained an international reputation. In a little more than a decade, from 1893 on, hundreds of Art Nouveau-fashioned buildings appeared in Brussels, elaborated first by the great pioneers and later by their students and imitators who are also influenced by the Vienna Secession and other trends of European Art Nouveau. At first, this style fulfilled industrial bourgeoisie’s dreams, yearning to assert itself in the city’s structure through this new, and sometimes exuberant, architecture. This book offers nine walks to discover – in different districts – the multiple aspects of architectural Art Nouveau in Brussels. Witness the personal style of the most important architects as well as decorative methods such as sgraffito. Through interviews with owners, custodians and restorers of Art Nouveau-styled buildings, Brussels Art Nouveau describes the fundamental guardians of this remarkable heritage.

In an age where contemporary art has changed in mediums and language, scope and intent, this book weighs in on the moodiness, methodology, efforts, mental blitzkriegs and inner workings of modern master of art Syed Haider Raza. This book unravels the workings of Raza’s oeuvre and life at the age of 94 years. It is an attempt at appraising and transmitting the prevailing winds of intent and insight in the works of Raza through conversations with him about contemporary art. Living now in Delhi, Raza is going through a revolution in which he is bringing back his past in his works he is ploughing the depths of past trends in his use of color fields, in contextualizing genres in his journey of the ‘Bindu’ and explaining intuitive strategies that reflect his journeys. Looking at Raza’s art is an intimate act of prolonged engagement. The Bindu too has transformed through decades it signifies a different tenor in a world torn by terrorism and death.

In tone and technique Raza is meticulous, historically informative, and has a sensitive yet straight-eyed approach that often takes the form of a discourse that invites cogent considerations; his reflections of spirituality and his favorite poets Rilke and Kabir build up into a flashback tinted in-your-face reflection that might involve the desire to dig deeper into his quotations.

Nevertheless, in his own specific way, Raza brings to his own works that essential recipe of criticism illustrated in essence with his own brand of expertise and taste. When he discusses his works done over the past two years, he travels through verbal and visual dynamics, and gives us a set of references and details that define his sensibility that brims to an inner core of intellectual and aesthetic insignias. In his twilight years, Syed Haider Raza is unveiled as a modern master who comes through more like a sage who swims in the fervor and ferment of thoughts shaped by 60 years in Paris as well as formative years in India.

Contents: Preface by Ashok Vajpeyi; Foreword by Reena Lath; Curatorial Note by Uma Nair; Plates; Biography of S.H Raza.

Zaha Hadid’s gift to the world was a creative genius that captured the collective imagination and influenced designers to challenge the perceived limits that were once imposed by both aesthetics and engineering. Her sudden death in 2016 shocked the global architecture community and the public alike, inspiring a commitment to maintain her passion to create built spaces and works that are as unique as they are endearing to a fascinated global following. Zaha Hadid Architects maintains its commitment to her ideals of fluidity, innovation, originality and organic progression. This practice is driven by the development of rigorous interfaces between natural topographies, human-made systems and innovative technologies that have resulted in almost 1000 landmark projects across the globe. With signature sophistication in the design, and superbly creative structures, Zaha Hadid led her firm to create transformative, cultural, corporate and residential spaces that entered into complete synchronicity with their surrounding environment. Inspired by the shared ideas and prominent for its breadth of practice, and beautifully packaged with detailed drawings, rich photography and insightful commentary, this exquisite book showcases and celebrates the intelligent design approach of the firm under the direction of one of the world’s most extraordinary and iconic leaders in the fields of architecture, design and urbanism.

Can you plan your professional future as expat partner? Can you pursue a career in your new environment? What are your expectations and priorities? Moving abroad to follow a partner who is relocating is a decision that has both great benefits and potential pitfalls. According to 71% of expats who experienced a failed foreign posting, the reason provided is an unhappy partner. This book allows you to ask all the right questions, both before and during your stay abroad. To make a good start, establishing clear agreements is an important step. In looking at your own work differently, many unexpected doors may open. Written by former and current expats who have vast experience in making a new life in a foreign country, this book offers inspiring examples and useful warnings. Step by step, you will be able to make better life and career choices.

In the fall of 2020, Christo will wrap the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in silvery fabric for 16 days, returning to his signature style – after realizing The Floating Piers in Italy, the London Mastaba, and a quarter of a century after he and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the Reichstag building in Berlin. As a prelude, a major exhibition at PalaisPopulaire in the German capital will celebrate this 25-year anniversary in the spring of 2020. At the same time, the Pompidou Center will pay tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude by staging The Pont Neuf Wrapped Documentary exhibition as well as a comprehensive show highlighting their early years in Paris.

To accompany these events, Matthias Koddenberg, art historian and long-time friend of both Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, who was the other half of the artistic duo until her death in 2009, has edited an elaborate collection of interviews. The book is composed of many conversations held between Koddenberg and Christo in the artist’s New York studio over the last few years.

With rare frankness, Christo describes how he fled from Bulgaria and made his way into the Western world. He talks about his time in Vienna and Geneva, his vibrant life in Paris that was full of hardship, and the fateful moment when he met Jeanne-Claude.

This publication provides an exceptional inside view, uniting texts and numerous archival images and photographs, many of which have never been published before, or depict early works by Christo that have only recently been rediscovered.

In the 1930s Grigory Barkhin became particularly interested in theater architecture, and this culminated in the publication in 1947 of a two-volume work, Architecture of the Theatre. This was the most comprehensive and deeply researched study of theater architecture of the time. The first volume follows a historical timeline, from early classical theaters to some of Europe’s national treasures – La Scala, Opéra Garnier, Vienna State Opera – and the development of theater architecture in the Russian Empire. The second half of the book is devoted entirely to Soviet theater architecture of the pre-war period, in particular the five-star design of the Red Army theater in Moscow, and competition projects for theaters in Rostov-on-Don, Sverdlovsk and Minsk, which Barkhin himself designed with his son Mikhail. These projects can be seen as the cornerstone of the development of Soviet architecture of the time. In this remarkable book, published here in English for the first time, Barkhin sets out a blueprint for architecture that combines an understanding of the subject with a bold and uncompromising vision.

A delectable experience for gastronomes, Veena Sharma’s Vegetarian Cuisine from the Himalayan Foothills delves into mouth-watering recipes that draw upon local bounties – some forgotten, or less used, grains and greens, spices and fruits – from the Himalayan heights. Exploring a variety of palates and creating a whole range of nutritious and tasty foods, there is an underlay of a desire to retain and re-establish the biodiversity that is vital for your physical and mental health.

Traditional produce are dressed and enhanced to enrich the urban table, catering to your taste buds and nurturing your bodies and minds. Think of nutritional lentil kebabs, vegetables with a twist, zesty chutneys, nourishing soups, and even extraordinary desserts like phony gulab jamuns and luscious puddings. The inclusion of several vegan and gluten free recipes makes the book of interest to those with special tastes.

With striking photographs and useful snippets of information accompanying each recipe, this book is sure to feed your deepest cravings.

“An important document that should be included in any library of design and architecture.” – Daniella Ohad
“A masterful blend of émigré biography and architecture and design history, proving that the twentieth century fostered more than one modernism.” – Donald Albrecht

Christopher Long, author of seminal monographs on Adolf Loos, Kem Weber, and Paul T. Frankel, turns his attention to the little-known architect and designer Jock Peters, a largely forgotten figure of early Los Angeles modernism.

This visually rich study is also an intimate portrait of an architect who, like too many, struggled to establish a career during the early decades of the 20th century, years ravished by World War I and the Great Depression. Among Peters’s early works in Germany are designs for the Levantehaus and Karstadt department stores, an innovative design dated 1916 for a magnificent glass pavilion, and his work for Peter Behrens after the war, but the architect’s most accomplished and compelling work came after 1922 when he settled in Southern California. Most notable are the strikingly lavish and elegant commercial interiors Peters designed for the iconic Bullock’s Wilshire store in Los Angeles and the tragically forgotten Hollander department store in New York City; both projects brought him international recognition.

The breathtaking scope of his short-lived career includes modern film sets for Famous Players-Lasky, later Paramount Pictures, while working under the legendary art director Hans Dreier; a dynamic sales office for the trendsetting Maddux Air Lines, which later became TWA; and modern residences, including the still extant homes he built for cinematographer Alfred Gilks, who would later win an Academy Award for An American in Paris, and art gallerist and developer William Lingenbrink for whom Peters also designed stores and a vibrantly colorful sidewalk for the Silver Strand beach development north of Los Angeles. Lingenbrink, a major supporter of the burgeoning modernism, also commissioned Jock Peters, alongside Schindler, to design houses for Park Moderne, the legendary avant-garde modernist retreat for artists in Calabasas. Peters also designed the retreat’s Streamline Moderne pump house, clubhouse, and zigzag fountain, which still stands.

This important study on early modernism includes never before published material from the architect’s personal archive, still in family hands. These remarkable and inspiring images-more than 250 historic photographs, etchings, watercolors, and drawings-alongside Long’s insightful narrative, demonstrate how Peters, despite his early death, managed to leave his mark on the modernist landscape in Southern California at a time when the new style was just emerging.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, New York City was financially and socially bankrupt, but the art and music scene was flourishing. During these years, the downtown New York music scene – no wave, hip-hop, disco funk and club culture – shaped Jean-Michel Basquiat as both a musician and an artist. This catalog for a traveling exhibition explores how Basquiat’s painting has parallels in his music (sampling, cut-up, rapping), and takes a new look at his production as a writer and a poet in light of his connections with the then-emerging hip-hop culture. This beautifully illustrated exhibition catalog of rarely seen photographs and images sheds new light on Basquiat as a musician, exploring how his art and music are related, and how they reflect on his identity as a Black artist in the United States, the downtown New York music scene, and contemporary culture.

With a focus on the women designers of early avant-garde jewelry, this publication paints a fascinating picture of Austrian jewelry production from the 1970s to the present day. The show brings together some 80 jewelry objects, many of which exemplify sculptural and conceptual approaches to jewelry design. Selected works from more recent generations not only highlights references to works of the pioneers but also attests to the developments of a contemporary, vibrant jewelry scene, whose diversity is yet to be discovered. The book’s title refers to the landmark exhibition Kunst mit Eigen-Sinn: Aktuelle Kunst von Frauen (Willful Art: Contemporary Art by Women), which took place at the Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts in Vienna in 1985 and is regarded as a milestone in the artistic and social history of women.

Text in English and German.

El-Gazzar, born in 1925 in Alexandria, is a leading figure in modern Egyptian art of the 20th century. He enrolled in the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1944 and then joined the Contemporary Art Group founded by Hussein Youssef Amin, his master. With an innovative and unique expressionist style, it portrays the people of Cairo in a folkloric way. Later, he tried his hand at abstraction by representing industrial machines and their effects on humans.

Recognized during his lifetime, the production of El-Gazzar was exhibited in France from 1949, at the Venice Biennale in 1952 and at the São Paulo Museum in 1953. Today, his works are in private collections in Cairo, Alexandria, Rome, Paris and Brussels, but also in major institutions around the world, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.

This catalogue raisonné, published in English, comprises two volumes. The first is dedicated to the artist’s paintings and the second to graphic works, archives and photographs. It brings an understanding of the enigmatic work of the artist, but also of modern Egyptian art in general.

Humayun, the son of Babur and the second Mughal ruler, reigned in Agra from 1530 to 1540 and then in Delhi from 1555 to 1556. Until now, his numerous achievements, including winning back the throne of Hindustan, have not been well recorded. The Planetary King follows Humayun’s travels and campaigns during the political and social disturbances of the early 16th century. It delves into Humayun’s extraordinary social and intellectual life; demystifies his magico-scientific world view, draws attention to his deep involvement with literature, poetry, painting, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, occultism and extraordinary inventions, and offers a new analysis of Humayun’s mausoleum as the posthumous sum of his visions and dreams.

The book accompanies the new site museum at Humayun’s tomb created by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture upon the culmination of two decades of conservation work on the World Heritage Site.

Co-published with Aga Khan Trust for Culture, New Delhi. 

“Photography should not reproduce the visible; it should make the invisible visible.” – Franco Fontana

Italian photographer Franco Fontana (b.1933), a pioneer of color photography, is best known for his boldly colored abstract landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes.

This book features previously unpublished and experimental images from his archive alongside some of his best-known works. Over the 60 years of his career, Franco Fontana photographed that which cannot be seen, and was able to capture images abstracted from reality, independent of the subject portrayed. This meticulously compiled volume is dedicated to those who are approaching this artist’s practice for the first time, as well as to those who wish to go deeper into his work by exploring these previously invisible spaces which the sensitive eye of the photographer has glimpsed and translated into a unique and unprecedented image.

Text in French.

Master photographer and director/filmmaker Anton Corbijn presents in his latest publication a series of striking images focusing on icons and how they are commemorated. IKONEN contains three series: Cemeteries, a.somebody and Lenin, USSR.

Cemeteries is an intriguing collection of black-and-white photos of gravestones. In a.somebody, we can see dozens of self-portraits after past legends from the world of music, photographed in Strijen, the village of Corbijn’s birth – outdoors and in his studio. The book also shows previously unpublished series on Lenin’s visual presence in the former USSR from the early 1980s.

Publication accompanies the eponymous exhibition, from 30 September 2022 to 26 February 2023 in Landgoed Het Hof in Bergen, The Netherlands.

With a preface by Anton Corbijn and a text contribution by art writer Dominic Eichler.

Lucie Rie (1902–1995) is one of the finest modern potters of the 20th century. Born and trained in Vienna, her successful early career came to a halt in 1938 when forced to leave Austria to escape the persecution of Jewish people. In exile in London, Rie established a new workshop and over five decades created highly individual bowls, vases and tableware which continue to amaze and inspire today.

With over 150 photographs and five new essays, Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery celebrates an exceptional life of creative invention and experiment.

With texts by Edmund de Waal, Tanya Harrod, Helen Ritchie, Eliza Spindel, Kimberley Chandler and Nigel Wood. 

Shelley called poets, ‘the unacknowledged legislators of the world’. Here John Ramsden describes their now largely forgotten contribution to economics. From Defoe to Pound, poets looked at the economic orthodoxy of their day, saw much that was unacceptable, and tried to suggest alternatives. Some of their suggestions led onto perilous ground; but many of their criticisms have since been vindicated. Often witty and always opinionated, these 11 writers offer fresh perspectives on the economic theories that still rule our lives.

The poets included are Defoe, Swift, Coleridge, Scott, Shelley, de Quincey, Ruskin, Morris, Shaw, Belloc and Pound. Together they span a vast range of opinion and knowledge of the world. Some were closely involved with policy, some were radical, even revolutionary, others were reactionary: all of them contributed very personal and often illuminating insights into the dismal science.

In the 1950s, a large number of internationally renowned artists created pictures made of ceramic. In 1956, in close collaboration with the artist and ceramicist Richard Bampi, Julius Bissier developed a ceramic work for the University of Freiburg. The abstract composition on a wall in the city center measures over 19.5 meters long by 2.6 meters high (64 × 8.5 feet). Its restoration and relaunch is occasion to examine more closely the story of its genesis. The distinctiveness of the artwork becomes clear against a backdrop of the cultural politics oriented on France in Freiburg after 1945. Unexpected parallels in contemporaneous ceramic murals by Fernand Léger, Joan Miró, and Victor Vasarely are revealed and make the Freiburg ceramic picture a unique work in the post-war art of Germany.

Text in German.

A jali is a perforated or latticed stone screen, with ornamental patterns that draw on the compositional rhythms of geometry and calligraphy. In the parts of India, western Asia and the Mediterranean where solar rays are strongest and brightest, ustads (or master artisans) were able to evolve an aesthetic language of light, giving it form and shape through lattices of stone and other materials. Jalis share a common aim of bringing filtered light into enclosed spaces, while providing protection and privacy.
The expansive volume covers more than two hundred jalis across India, from the temple-inspired designs of the Gujarat Sultanate to imperial symbolism and Sufi allusions in Mughal jalis, the innovations and adaptations of jalis across Rajasthan and central India and, further south, calligraphy in pierced stone in the Deccan. With contributions by Mitchell Abdul Karim Crites, George Michell, and Ebba Koch, this lavishly illustrated publication reveals the poetry etched in these stone screens. 

The Viennese architect and ‘allround designer’ Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) is much more than just the founder of the Wiener Werkstätte. This book offers a wide-ranging look at his oeuvre, which took shape over no less than sixty years.

The timeless beauty of Hoffmann’s creations demonstrates his importance not just as a historical figure, but as a source of inspiration for several generations.

Richly illustrated with furniture, objects, designs, textiles, photos, drawings and documents. Special attention is paid to his creative method and his misunderstood use of color.

The landlocked country of Austria, at the center of Europe, produces a great variety of quality wines. While the wine scandal of the mid-eighties caused a temporary setback, and put many blameless producers out of business, it also allowed serious winemakers a chance to focus and innovate. Stephen Brook has been fascinated by the country and its wines for more than 40 years, seeing it through its worst times to the multi-faceted wine producer it has become today. In this second edition of The Wines of Austria Brook takes readers on a vinous journey to explore the best Austria has to offer. Today, in a growing area less than half the size of Bordeaux, Austria is producing not only fabulous white and sweet wines but also reds, rosés, amber wines, Sekts and pétillants naturels. Nearly all the wine growing takes place in the east of the country, in four broad regions. In the largest, Niederösterreich, most of the vineyards lie along the Danube valley, where white wines that include Burgundy-beating Grüner Veltliners are produced, while the south-eastern part of the region specialises in reds from Austrian varieties. The eastern region of Burgenland is warm and humid, allowing the production of botrytized sweet wines. Green and bucolic Steiermark yields invigorating, refreshing whites as well as a unique rosé, Schilcher. The capital, Vienna, contains more than 600 hectares of vineyard, with much of the wine produced sold in the city’s many Heurigen, and is also the capital of Gemischter Satz. Brook provides a detailed account of the climate, terroir and winemaking in each of the 16 major wine regions. The producers selected in each have been thoroughly updated for this edition, with many wines tasted up to the 2018 vintage. Also included is a chapter on the major varieties and a summary of vintages from 1963 to 2018.

Step back in time to the captivating world of 16th-century Europe with this compelling portrait of Margaret of Parma, governor of the Netherlands for Philip II of Spain, and a woman who left an indelible mark on history. Through vivid storytelling and meticulous research, this book delves into the life and legacy of Margaret, shedding light on her influence and contributions to the tumultuous political landscape of her era. From exhilarating falcon hunts to lavish feasts, intricate etiquette, and the complexities of dress codes, readers are transported to a time of opulence and intrigue. With profound reflections on customs and traditions, this captivating narrative offers a rich tapestry of life in the Renaissance court.

Within the possibilities of her role, she tried to prevent war and bloodshed. Religious conflicts would divide Europe for more than another century. Margaret of Parma’s story is sure to leave a lasting impression.

I Am Digital takes you on an intimate journey through Flora Miranda’s extraterrestrial world of phygital (physical plus digital) identities. Explore technological storytelling, artistic haute couture creations and visions for creative fashion software. In the book, the multitude of Flora Miranda’s work unfolds in different subject areas. Enjoy a beautiful outsight of an immaterial world, an immaterial self.

Flora Miranda’s fascination with the simultaneous evolution of human behavior and new technologies has its origins in her upbringing: born in a family of musicians and artists, she learned how painters helped their eyes with the camera obscura and photography. She saw musical instruments tweaked, like the prepared piano by John Cage.

Experiencing the shift in the digital world with home computers and the internet, the ‘digital’ became her attitude to life. Expressing, shaping, and exploring this further evolving digital identity is the role of Flora Miranda’s creations.

This book is your companion to navigate through bits and bytes. To feel strong in a jungle of hackers. It can inspire you to take things into your own hand – may it be a change of perspective on the world, may it be transformative, may it support projects you believe in, or may it help to build your own world.