“As someone fascinated by the intersection of luxury, culture, and value creation, I found Art Thinking both intellectually stimulating and highly relevant. Vadim Grigoryan offers a compelling perspective on how art can become a catalyst for new ways of thinking, deeper meaning, and long-term value creation. An inspiring read for everyone interested in shaping the future through cultural agency.” – Felicitas Morhart, Dr. oec. Full Professor of Marketing, HEC Lausanne, Université de Lausanne

Art Thinking takes readers on a journey into the captivating intersection between art, luxury and fashion brands and businesses. It explores the notion of brands as cultural agents and how art can act as a mediator between meaning and management. The book allows the readers to develop skills in constructing strategic art initiatives and in management of artist collaborations and provides insight into the artistic process of creativity.

Divided into four chapters and supplemented with case studies, the book is supported by Vadim Grigoryan’s many years of experience, popular webinars and courses taught at leading business schools, such as INSEAD and cultural institutions, such as Sorbonne.

‘Vital guidance for all artists. Empowering, encouraging and enlightening. Hettie Judah writes with such clarity and passion.’

–  Robert Diament, writer and broadcaster, Talk Art podcast

‘Accessible, reassuring, useful and funny… I loved this book so much and needed it so badly, I practically inhaled it!’

– Viv Albertine, musician, artist and author

‘I’ve worked in the arts for over thirty years, and this is the first time I’ve read something and thought this was written for me.’ 

– Lou Mensah, founder of Shade Podcast and Shade Art Review 

‘Hettie Judah writes with characteristic warmth and humour, but also great authority on a subject she knows well.’ 

– Caroline Walker, artist 

Can you make it without going to art school? Can you get back into the art world after years away? What does ‘success’ actually mean? 

How to Enter the Art World… is a grown-up guide for any artist whose life is complicated, demanding and, well, human. Informed by years spent working with artists and dozens of candid interviews, it is a myth-busting bonanza full of insights, ideas and inspiration. Frank, funny and occasionally forthright, this is your friend on the path (back) into the art world.

The art of Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), mysterious and spiritual as it was, depended on an intense engagement with nature. On the long hikes that he took through his native north Germany, and further south in the Bohemian mountains, he drew landscapes, buildings, people and, most intently of all perhaps, trees. Half of Friedrich’s surviving drawings come from the sketchbooks that he compiled on his journeys and referred to during the whole of his career. A handful of these sketchbooks survive intact. The one known as The Oslo Sketchbook of 1807 was used for just two months, from April to June of that year. Its 23 pages of drawings record, with almost hallucinatory simplicity and clarity, trees that Friedrich would use in his paintings for years to come.

The Nordic people are often said to be hard-working, dutiful, open to innovation and equality, and trend-sensitive, with a ‘less is more’ attitude when it comes to clothes, furniture and interior design. Nordic histories and cultures have been intertwined for centuries, but what created their distinctive character? Was it the experience of Northern Europe’s four seasons, with cold, harsh dark winters, unreliable springs, bright summers when the sun never sets and beautiful autumns?
In this book we meet 32 individuals, neither kings nor queens, but real people whose life stories give insights into historical events and everyday life in the Nordic countries over 500 years. Nordic Stories reveals much about the lives, beliefs and customs of Nordic people from the 16th century to the present day. It is based on diaries, letters and other personal testimony, illustrated with objects from Nordiska museet’s astonishing collection. 

Showcasing an extensive range of photographs from India’s princely states, The Unforgettable Maharajas opens a window into the private lives of the maharajas. Featuring the jewelry, interiors, portraiture and many more aspects of the lives of these majestic families, this luxurious book is a documentation in photographs, of the maharajas of India: undoubtedly one of the greatest anachronisms of the 20th century. Among them were enlightened rulers and profligate princes, saints and scoundrels, heroes and cowards, sadists and boors, charmers and eccentrics. In the eyes of their people, however, they had the divine right to rule and they left the stamp of an unmistakable aura of majesty.

A comprehensive collection of historical photographs from princely India, this is also the largest selection of royal pictures in any one book.

In the middle of Tivoli Gardens, beneath a canopy of lanterns and reflections from the lake, stands one of Copenhagen’s most iconic buildings — The Japanese Pagoda. Once a symbol of amusement and light, it has in recent years become a beacon of culinary excellence. Over the past five years, twenty-five Michelin-starred restaurants and chefs from all over the world have brought their artistry to The Pagoda — each for a shorter period, each re-imagining the space through their own vision of fine dining.

The Pagoda tells this story through text, photography, recipes, and behind-the-scenes insights, capturing how chefs transform architecture and atmosphere into edible experience. Alongside menu creation, craftsmanship, and the history of Tivoli’s gastronomy, the book unfolds a dialogue between past and present — between playful nostalgia and modern precision. A tribute to creativity, collaboration, and culinary ambition, The Pagoda celebrates the meeting of taste and tradition in the most magical corner of Copenhagen.

Glasgow was once known as the Second City of the British Empire – the powerhouse of the industrial revolution, a great port and merchant city whose architectural and cultural magnificence hid a darker side of urban poverty and squalor. Today the heavy industry is long gone, and 21st-century Glasgow is comfortable in its role as a smaller, cleaner, greener city, a vibrant and stylish center for the arts and learning, now even more friendly and culturally diverse. With a wealth of insider’s local knowledge and engaging anecdotes, 111 Places in Glasgow That You Shouldn’t Miss will guide you round a huge variety of intriguing sights, unique venues and surprising corners of this great city, helping you understand how the people made Glasgow and how Glasgow made its people.

Helen Williams Drutt English is an American gallerist, collector, mediator, and promoter of contemporary art jewelry. In homage to this grand dame of international studio jewelry and her 60 years of collecting, the publication presents selected works by American and German artists in a combination never before seen. Representing the diversity of American art jewelry are 140 examples from the last 70 years, from modernist minimalist or narrative works to objects with a strong sociopolitical message. The display of almost 100 works by German jewelry artists impressively documents the various developments in contemporary jewelry in both countries, as well as mutual influences and commonalities. The works testify to Helen Williams Drutt English’s great devotion to and engagement with art jewelry. Moreover, they represent her friendship with artists from both the USA and Germany and, not least, the close cultural and artistic connection between these two countries.

Text in English and German.

The America’s Cup has been the world’s most prestigious yacht race for over 170 years. This beautifully illustrated and fully updated new edition tells the story of the cup from its inception through to the most recent race, held in 2024.

Named in 1851 in honor of the first winner (New York pilot, ‘America’), the Cup was dominated by American yachts for well over a century. At last, in 1983, Australia II wrestled the trophy away from the USA, albeit briefly. At Barcelona in 2024, the Cup produced one of the best contests yet, with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron winning the race for a fifth time, and a British yacht, Britannia, competing in the finals for the first time in 60 years.

With a painting of each race since 1851, by marine artist Tim Thompson, and detailed descriptions of the boats involved, The Story of the America’s Cup 1851-2024 is an elegant, insightful celebration of a storied contest.

This impressive book offers a comprehensive overview of designer and sculptor Eric Schmitt’s work, focusing on the years 2015–2025 while tracing the notable shifts of his practice since the 1980s.Working primarily with noble materials such as patinated bronze, alabaster, marble, natural stone, and glass, Schmitt blends traditional French craftsmanship with a modern aesthetic to create functional works of art that balance geometry, fluidity, and subtle strength. Written in English and French, the book opens with an introduction by Patrick Mauriès, who charts the development of Schmitt’s artistic influences—from his early fascination with the Creative Salvage movement in the 1980s to his enduring commitment to hands-on fabrication. Organized thematically, the book’s central section explores Schmitt’s creations through chapters such as Cornerstones, Metal & Company, Levitation, and Material Illusions, with opening commentaries by Axelle Corty.

Through stunning photography by Adrien Dirand, readers are invited onto the grounds of Le Chapitre, while Alexandra Babeanu’s text shares the story behind the restored 12th-century farm that serves as Schmitt’s home, studio, and collaborative workshop. The volume concludes with an extensive catalogue raisonné of more than 700 pieces, establishing the book as both a visual archive and an essential reference for collectors, curators, and design professionals. Eric Schmitt portrays the distinguished designer’s multi-faceted practice, one that continues to blur the boundaries between design, sculpture, and architecture.

Eric Schmitt (born in 1955) is a renowned French designer and sculptor internationally recognized for his sculptural, timeless furniture and objects. Self-taught, he began his career creating expressive wrought-iron pieces before evolving toward refined, minimalist forms inspired by nature, architecture, and his upbringing in Poitou, France.

Text in English and French

“…packed with superb colour photographs… This book is a wonderful companion to cathedral-crawling, not least in helping the crawlers work out what is, and what isn’t, worth seeing” – Simon Heffer, Telegraph“

A beautifully illustrated guide” — Premier Christianity

“[The] thrilling tale of the medium’s continuity… is set forth by Janet Gough, the erstwhile director of Cathedrals and Church buildings at the C of E, in her latest book, Divine Light” — World of Interiors

“I would recommend that you visit some of these cathedrals, book in hand.” — The Methodist Recorder

The stained-glass windows of England’s cathedrals illuminate interior spaces, communicate religious and other messages, and – perhaps – offer us a glimpse of heaven. This book tells the remarkable story of these much-loved works of art.

Divine Light features glass from every Church of England cathedral. It spans 900 years, beginning with the windows installed at Canterbury Cathedral following the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and representing every subsequent century in the history of English stained glass. Divine Light encompasses the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the hugely productive ‘long 19th century’, the Pre-Raphaelites, the Arts and Crafts movement, the creative commissions of the 20th century, and the innovative glass being commissioned by cathedrals today.

The book establishes the connections between the artistic beauty of stained glass, its effectiveness as a narrative medium, and the various technical developments that have shaped the work of practitioners over the centuries. The refraction of light through colored glass emerges as an early form of mass communications that retains its power to move and inspire today.  

The Francis Bacon Collection is the result of an extraordinarily lengthy discovery and authentication process of previously unpublished works by Francis Bacon. This stunning volume includes the nearly 700 drawings, pastels, and collages in possession of Italian journalist Cristiano Lovatelli Ravarino. All the works have been photographed in ultra-high gigapixel, captured exclusively for the book. Commentaries and essays especially written for this edition are by noted art historians Edward Lucie-Smith and Fernando Casto Florez, together with an authentication report by Ambra Draghetti, the graphological consultant to the Court of Bologna for the authentication process. This elegantly produced edition presents new scholarship by Professor Umberto Guarini, who defended the legal authentication of the works at the Court of Bologna; Dino Cura, the President of The Francis Bacon Collection; and by Professor Maurizio Saracini, who pioneered the use of multi-spectrum diagnostic imaging and applied his technique to the drawings providing fascinating new details for the first time.

Text in English and Italian. 

“The way we eat Indian food in this country changed forever the day The Cinnamon Club opened its doors, and we should all be, as I am, eternally grateful.” Giles Coren The Times
“The Cinnamon Club has always been more than a restaurant … Vivek Singh has established its place in the hospitality pantheon over a remarkable quarter of a century.” James Stagg The Caterer
Marking twenty five years of culinary brilliance, Spirit & Spice celebrates the extraordinary journey of chef Vivek Singh and his acclaimed restaurants. From the grandeur of The Cinnamon Club within the historic Old Westminster Library, to Cinnamon Kitchen, where the spices of the subcontinent meet the finest British ingredients, through to Cinnamon Bazaar, inspired by the bustling markets of the Old World, Vivek Singh’s fusion of Indian flavors with Western techniques has come to define modern Indian dining in London.
Photography by Jean Cazals accompanies signature recipes from the restaurants’ most popular dishes – many appearing in print for the very first time – interwoven with stories from the kitchen and reflections on 25 years in an ever-changing restaurant landscape. Spirit & Spice is a landmark celebration of one of Britain’s most influential restaurateurs, and the people, places, and plates that have shaped a gastronomic legacy.

Step into the world of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and desire – later worshiped by the Romans as Venus. Today she is thought of as a symbol of passion and beauty, but her story is far older and more complex. This catalogue explores Aphrodite’s beginnings on the island of Cyprus, where she was worshiped as an all-powerful goddess over 3,000 years ago, and traces her journey through the Greek and into the Roman world, where she became Venus.

This book reveals how, over the centuries, Aphrodite evolved into an iconic figure symbolizing love and beauty as her myths and images flourished – inspiring art, literature, and imagination from the Renaissance to the present day. Illustrated with more than 200 extraordinary objects – from sculpture and bronzes to gems and terracottas from Cyprus, Greece, and Italy, dating back from around 1400 BCE to the 21st century – this catalogue uncovers the making of a goddess whose legacy still shapes our ideas of love and beauty today.

After studying art for many years under highly respected teachers, Asta Nørregaard (1853–1933) became an established artist. She exhibited at the Paris Salon and carried out numerous portrait commissions for prominent figures from the upper class of Norwegian society, and from the fields of science and culture. She also ran her own painting school and established endowments for female artists and musicians. Even though Nørregaard is primarily known for her portraits, she also painted landscapes, interiors, and religious scenes. For many years, Nørregaard was overshadowed by more famous contemporaries, but recently she has gained recognition as a substantial force in Norwegian art history.

This book brings together the breadth of Nørregaard’s artistic practice. It presents portraits of leading cultural and scientific figures of her time, studies of dress and fashion, and a museum-based detective story in which the question of who is portrayed takes center stage. Taken together, the texts offer an understanding of Nørregaard, not only as a portrait painter, but as an active participant in the art world and as an artist who challenged the boundaries of what women could be in her time

This book presents the profound architectural philosophy and two decades of built work in China by the renowned French studio Architecturestudio. This volume delves into the studio’s innovative “Tracé Bleu” concept—an open-ended framework advocating for ecological sustainability and deep humanistic reflection. It champions a philosophy of “thinking before building,” emphasizing a return to the land, the protection of ecosystems, and responsible resource management in response to global climate and social challenges. The book illustrates how this forward-thinking approach is translated into a tangible, refined governance framework for the human habitat through specific projects. More than a retrospective, it documents a dynamic, ongoing dialogue that redefines the architect’s role, fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, and builds a collective vision for alternative ways of living, solidifying the studio’s contribution to the integration of architecture, ecology, and culture.

Text in English and Mandarin.

From 1880 onward, Claude Monet sought out storm lashed cliffs, desolate coastlines and fierce weather in Bordighera, Antibes, Belle Île, the Creuse Valley and Norway. In his works from these places, nature emerges as a dramatic encounter between sky, sea and rock. At the same time, the artist shaped his own counterpoint to these landscapes: the garden at Giverny, which from around 1890 became his principal motif, where he tamed water, plants and light according to his own and his era’s ideals.

At first glance, the cliff scenes and the paintings from his own garden appear to be opposites, yet Monet – The Wild and the Tamed shows how the apparent divide between chaos and control is constantly challenged in the works from the last forty years of the artist’s career. In the powerful coastal scenes, Monet’s compositional eye acts as a quiet, ordering force, while the wild continually threatens the garden’s fragile harmony in the pictures from Giverny – not least in the final years, when his brushwork grew increasingly dissolved, intense and unsettled.

This catalog, with texts by the exhibition’s curator Richard Thomson and by Stephen Eisenman, André Dombrowski, Øystein Sjåstad and Clare Willsdon, offers a new and multifaceted portrait of Claude Monet: an artist who throughout his late production questioned, reshaped and shifted the boundaries between the organic and the constructed.

In the true heart of London – its fulcrum, where the City of London meets the West End – sits St Paul’s Cathedral, a beacon shining on the crest of Ludgate Hill. In June 2025 the capital’s most loved church celebrated 350 years since Britain’s great architectural visionary, Sir Christopher Wren, laid its foundation stone. A church has stood in this place since 604; the current building is a vibrant place of Christian worship, a treasure house of art and architecture, and a beloved London icon.

For the duration of its 350th year, the Financial Times’s chief photographer was given unprecedented access to observe St Paul’s through the seasons. The photographs in this book document its rhythms and flows, its community of staff, volunteers and visitors, as they, just like in the previous 1,422 years, continued to congregate in this place to sing, pray and reflect.

This book tells the compelling story of York through the rich and varied collections cared for by York Museums Trust. Drawing on treasures from York Art Gallery, the Yorkshire Museum and York Castle Museum, it reveals how the city has evolved over nearly two thousand years, from its Roman foundations and Viking past to its medieval splendor and modern identity.

Through paintings, archaeological discoveries, everyday objects, decorative arts and social history collections, an engaging narrative brings the people, places and events that have shaped York vividly to life. Rare artifacts and fascinating stories celebrate its origins, centuries of change, unique aspects and the lives of its people. This book offers remarkable insights into the city’s cultural, artistic and historical heritage, while highlighting the important role of York’s museums in preserving these collections for future generations.

This book gathers and sheds light on the correspondence between Henri Matisse and Henri Manguin, two major figures of the Fauvist movement and lifelong friends. The project grew out of a wish to preserve, document and publish their exchange of letters, drawn from family archives kept for several decades. Built on previously unpublished archival documents, cross-checked and enriched through research on both artists, the book goes beyond a simple publication of correspondence: it places the letters in their artistic, personal and historical context, richly illustrated throughout. The correspondence spans 1902-1914, a pivotal period in the emergence of Fauvism and the shaping of artistic modernity. The book is the result of more than twenty years of research, archival cross-referencing and editorial work, drawing on the Matisse and Manguin families as well as numerous specialists, including Wanda de Guébriant, a leading expert on Matisse’s work, until her death in 2019.

Text in French.

Pål Vigeland has worked as a metal artist for nearly 50 years. Everything he has ever made, from jewelry and plates to public commissions and sculptures, has always been characterized by precision and stringency. This book shows the continuities between Vigeland’s earliest years and the present, while also exploring many of the surprising changes that have taken place along the way.

The intricate production methods that underlie Pål Vigeland’s latest works in tin are difficult to comprehend when standing in front of the finished pieces. Consequently, one major contribution to this book are Guri Dahl’s photographs of the artist at work. Her many close-ups allow us to zoom in on the constructive processes and appreciate how exacting and time-consuming they really are.

This book accompanies an exhibition at the Galleri Langegården, Bergen (NO), 21 May to 16 June 2019.

Text in English and Norwegian.

Custodians brings together for the first time, in this beautifully compiled collection, images of many of Oxford’s most prestigious buildings along with some rarely seen, but wonderful venues and their ‘Custodians’. Photographer Joanna Vestey set out to explore the extraordinary colleges and buildings of Oxford, behind the closed doors, often beyond the reach of the 9.5 million visitors a year who come here, and to meet the ‘Custodians’ playing a pivotal role in perpetuating these world renowned institutions. Rarely do we get to catch a glimpse behind the closed facades of these iconic structures and to see the spaces that lie within. All the images have been captured in the University City of Oxford, known as the “City of Dreaming Spires” and show its extraordinary breadth of architecture since the arrival of the Saxons. It includes venues such as the 17th Century Divinity School, the mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera continuing through to the most recent award winning RIBA nominated chapel at Ripon College completed last year. Venues such as the Sheldonian Theatre and Christchurch College sit alongside perhaps lesser known venues such as The Real Tennis Courts or the John Martyr Pawsons cricket pavilion portraying the breadth and diversity constituting the city. The ‘Custodians’ and their surroundings enjoy equal status in Joanna’s formal compositions; they seem to belong together, yet do not fuse into one, thereby asking us to question how we are all largely shaped and influenced by the structures around us – how defined we are by them and how much they form us. Full of unexpected venues beautifully photographed, this book will appeal to the his-torian, city visitor, people interested in architecture and interiors as well as to the extensive alumni network of the colleges themselves. It will also appeal to an audience interested in contemporary photography.

Dominique Perrault is recognized as one of the outstanding architects of the 21st century. In 2015 he was awarded the prestigious Praemium Imperiale prize. He s world-known as the architect of the BnF François Mitterrand. He has designed major projects around the world, such as the Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Velodrome in Berlin, the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg (2008), and the Albi Grand Theater. Recently, the DPA office was selected to create a new hippodrome for Longchamp and to transform the former central office of La Poste rue du Louvre, in Paris. In 2016, his transformation of the Dufour Pavilion in the Château of Versailles where the new ticket office, restaurant, conference rooms and bookstore will be located will be unveiled. Metal mesh tapestries and light fixtures here will evoke the majesty of the “Grand Siècle” in a modern language of design.

For over twenty years now, Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost, in her role as architect-designer associate of Dominique Perrault’s, has been designing the interiors for his architectural projects: seating, light fixtures, partitions composed of metal mesh, etc. The work of these two designers creates environments in which architecture and furniture blend together. The objects designed by Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost are edited by manufacturers around the globe: Fontana Arte, DCW, Silvera, Poltrona Frau, Alessi, Baccarrat, Chevalier, Sawaya & Moroni, Galerie Kréo, FSB, etc.

The book offers an analysis of the design influences of these furniture pieces and light fixtures, enabling the reader to understand their conception. It also presents possible variations in the paths they are likely to take from one project to the next. With over 600 illustrations, plans, models and photographs of pieces Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost has created, some of which, such as the seats for the BnF, have already become iconic.

Text in English and French.

Olivier Gagnère appeared on the French design scene in the 1980s.  Through his contact with the Memphis group of Ettore Sottsass in Milan, he developed his spirit of fantasy, great formal liberty, all with a touch of humor. In Japan, on the island of Kyushu, he immersed himself in the ancestral craftsmanship of the porcelain makers in the studios of Arita.

He designed his earliest pieces of furniture for Artelano and Pierre Staudenmeyer’s Galerie Néotù. He went on to collaborate with the Galerie Maeght to create works in Murano glass and with the Galerie Edition Limitée for works in earthenware. In 1994, his designs for the interior of the café Marly, in the Louvre, brought him great renown and have led to many collaborations with crystal works Saint-Louis, porcelain manufacturer Bernardaud, En attendant les Barbares… With Olivier Gagnère’s artful mastery of every material, he is just as at ease working with porcelain as with iron, crystal, wood, leather or bronze. He blends simple and timeless forms with carefully sized volumes, in a range of bright contrasting colors. Steeped in the most classical traditions, he marks every one of his creations with a gesture, a demeanor that is a signature of his times.

Text in English and French.