‘Sofreh’ is Persian for ‘spread’ – referring to the colorful arrangements of flowers, condiments and objects of spiritual or cultural importance that are displayed at Persian ceremonies. As the title promises, this book is a visual feast. Flush with lavish historical illustrations and contemporary photography, it documents Persian marriage and New Year celebrations in rich detail. Sofreh pays homage to ancient traditions, discussing the symbiosis of symbolism and culture. Despite their ancestral roots, the featured ceremonies are infused with life and creativity. Modern fabrics are welcomed alongside refined antique textiles, creative floral designs, unconventional pieces of furniture, and unexpected objects. References to Persian poetry, literature, art and folklore stimulate the imagination, and the text is illuminated with exquisitely detailed extracts from old manuscripts, antique woven textiles and embroideries. Each volume centres around a series of original and at times highly elaborate sofreh creations. Together they comprise an extensive project, involving research into Persian ceremonies and sofreh history by an eminent scholar, and the design and creation of stunning compositions. Book One is about the Persian New Year (Nowruz), which is celebrated on the first day of Spring. Book Two explores Persian marriage and wedding customs, and the elaborate settings for marriage ceremonies (Aqd). These two lavishly illustrated volumes, which make an enduring gift, are devoted to showcasing sofreh compositions in all of their glory. Never before have the splendour and beauty of the sofreh been presented in such an intricate and novel fashion.

The Vessantara Jataka is the tale of Buddha’s last life, before he was reborn as the historical Buddha 2,500 years ago. In this earlier existence as Prince Vessantara he demonstrated evidence of the highest virtue that constitutes an enlightened man: generosity. Vessantara gave away everything dear to him – in the climactic scene of the story, even his wife and children. In North-East Thailand the Vessantara tale is celebrated annually as Bun Phra Wet. Pha Phra Wet – ‘Vessantara cloths’ – form the visual framework for this festival; they are hand-painted scrolls, which can reach lengths of up to one hundred meters.

Devotion presents, for the very first time, a selection of six full-length Vessantara scrolls and explores a contemporary multimedia celebration of an ancient Buddhist text.

The skilful works of Yasuhisa Kohyama are inspired by ancient Japanese Shigaraki, Jomon and Yayoi ceramics. Using special Shigaraki clay and the fire of an anagama wood kiln, in the fusion of traditional technique and a modern language of form he creates vessels and sculptures that are not only powerful and innovative but also timelessly beautiful. Characteristic for Kohyama’s asymmetric objects is their rough surface – a haptic quality rarely found in contemporary ceramics – as well as an exciting interplay of color, which is created without glaze and solely by the movement of the ash and the position of the object within the kiln.

Contents:
Foreword – Jack Lenor Larsen
Tradition and Innovation in the Work of Yasuhisa Kohyama – Susan Jefferies
Kohyama-san and Japanese Ceramic History: Notes on “Suemono” – Michael R. Cunningham
Yasuhisa Kohyama: The Art of Ceramics – Yoshiaki Inui
Catalog of works
Appendix

The largest surviving portion of the first major collection of Classical antiquities in Britain – the sculptures and inscriptions collected in the early 17th century by Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel for his London house and garden – is in the Antiquities Department of the Ashmolean Museum. This handbook tracks their eventful history.

The book presents a significantly curated cross-section of the textile treasures offered by Varanasi. It combines the past and the present, linking them to different moments in the city’s history, and makes a powerful case for rediscovering, preserving and patronizing these textile treasures that are inextricably bound to the ancient aura of the city. Jaya Jaitly, emphasizes the need to acknowledge the beauty of Varanasi’s textiles emerging out of age-old traditions and techniques. She highlights the danger of the loss of livelihoods and highly sophisticated skills. She expresses concern over erosion of identity and importance in the wake of machine-made imitations being produced in other parts of the world that has already begun.

In 1778 Pierre Henri De Valenciennes, a young landscape painter from Toulouse, found himself in Rome with many other foreign artists intent on studying not only the ancient monuments and the works of the modern masters, but also to encounter Italy’s light and landscape. Contrary to most of his companions, Valenciennes rarely copied ancient or modern works of art, but instead he chose to sketch views of Rome, ‘a mix of antique and of modern, an assemblage of irregularity and symmetry’. The 96 pages of the sketchbook, reproduced in their actual size and accompanied by a commentary, guide us through Rome, from the river port of Ripa Grande to the basilica of St. John Lateran, from the Ponte Salario bridge to the Vatican, from Piazza Barberini to the Villa Borghese and along the banks of the river Tiber. An advocate of en plein air painting, Valenciennes’ sketches use two or three tints of the same colour to trace the landscape of an ideal Rome, and to achieve this goal he did not hesitate to modify or move the surrounding architecture.

Contents: Preface by Xavier Salmon, Director of the Prints and Drawings Department of the Louvre; Introduction; Travel to Italy and meeting with artists; Valenciennes’ Italian Sketchbooks; Description of the organisation of Sketchbook RF 12966; Material Description; Provenance; List of Exhibitions, Bibliography.

Text in French.

Raphael arrived in Rome in 1508 and remained there until his death in 1520, working as painter and architect for popes Julius II and Leo X and for the most prestigious patrons. Here the artist changed his painting style several times, looking at the works of Michelangelo, Sebastiano del Piombo and the vast repertoire of ancient painting and sculpture. In the Eternal City Raphael practised architecture for the first time, designing buildings that reflected the models of Antiquity such as the Pantheon, the descriptions deriving from written sources such as Vitruvius’ treaty on architecture, and the examples of modern architects like Donato Bramante.

This guide supplies essential and up to date information on all the civil or religious buildings designed or built by Raphael in Rome, and the frescoes and paintings, housed in churches or museums, whether executed in the city or arrived there at a later stage.

For this new edition of the monograph that Gerald M. Ackerman devoted to the life and work of Jean-Léon Gérôme – now a reference book that includes two parts, a critical biography and a catalogue of paintings, prints and sculptures – the author has revised and, if necessary, modified the text whilst updating the catalogue. The study of the artist’s life is based on three ancient monographs, memories of students and friends, a large number of public and private archives, as well as reading the press of his time. The catalogue is the result of more than twenty-five years of research. Some ninety works unknown at the time of the first edition were thus added to those which had already been recorded thanks to ancient sources, contracts with the State, sales catalogues, catalogues of museums and a correspondence with the collectors, as well as ninety others then held for lost. As for the previously known works, the numerous changes of ownership and localization since then have been indicated. The number of illustrations in the catalogue has been considerably increased; many dates have been corrected. The colored plates included in the text illustrate in abundance the works hitherto unknown and, much more numerous than in the first edition, show the great diversity of the master’s work, thus offering us a new image of Gérôme, a new light on his talent, his interests and his masterful inventiveness.

Text in French.

This volume is a continuation of the first instalment of the editorial project Canova | In Four Tempos, ISBN 9788874399215, born in co-edition with the Pallavicino Foundation in Genoa with the goal of collecting in a refined publication the photographic research of Luigi Spina focused on the plaster models by Antonio Canova almost entirely preserved at the plaster cast gallery in Possagno.  

This project accompanying the four-year Canovian celebrations (2019–2022) is structured in four publications, each focused on a specific nucleus of plaster models. Its aim is to give new dignity to Antonio Canova’s creative process while highlighting the fundamental role of the bronze nails (repères) that made the metamorphoses from plaster model to marble sculpture possible. 

The first volume is devoted to the dialogue of Myth and Faith, illustrated by Spina with photographs of Cupid and Psyche, Paolina Borghese Bonaparte, Venus and Mars, the Lying Magdalen, Peace, and the Lamentation of Christ, while this, the second volume, revolves mainly around Myth. The sculptures on which the visual narrative focuses are: Dancer with Finger on Chin, Dedalus and Icarus, Theseus Defeats the Centaur, Naiad, Pius VII Praying, Venus and Adonis, and Sleeping Nymph. 

This book offers a review of Matteo Pugliese’s art over the past 20 years. The figures the Milanese sculptor creates are distinguished by their great power, revealing an inner torment that can no longer be disguised. The men depicted in his sculptures are all trying to break free of the wall that holds them, to throw off their limitations and assert their value as individuals in the hopes of escaping from dull uniformity and social and family expectations. These are people who are attempting to achieve a painful rebirth by struggling against materialized restraint — a wall — that seeks to prevent them expressing themselves, growing and therefore existing. The artist chooses to portray the moment of greatest effort, of supreme tension, the instant when a man regains control of his life and struggles against what is holding him trapped so as to restore a sense of purpose in his life. The carefully studied poses of his figures recall ancient models, in the same way as the material from which they are fashioned is also ancient. Luigi Spina’s lens knowingly lingers on these figures’ troubled birth and enables the reader, admirer, and art historian to acquire an intimate understanding of the sculpture and even to feel a part of the travails and manifest vulnerability that grip all of humanity.

Text in English and Italian.

The volume Nicolas Party | L’Heure Mauve collects a vast visual epic in which Party plays a variety of roles, sometimes impersonating the artist, others the scenographer, the conservator, or the sculptor. His work, and the title of the show, are inspired by L’Heure Mauve, a piece created in 1921 by the Canadian painter Ozlas Leduc that highlights the different interpretations given to the relationship between man and nature throughout the history of art. The result is a constantly changing natural environment: it can be a place full of danger and catastrophe, a territory to be conquered, an expanse disseminated with ancient ruins, or even silences where there are no traces of human presence. Nature finally becomes the theater for the Anthropocene, its connection with humanity by now inextricable, and the passing of time and the finiteness of existence make way for a feeling of melancholy.

Our artist interrogates the world’s image, and he does so by dialoguing very concretely with the spaces and the works belonging to the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The present volume reflects this personal evolution by employing a unique graphic framework and a packaging that is as precious as its contents.

Text in English and French.  

The charming painter of Endymion’s Sleep, Atala’s Funeral and Chateaubriand’s Portrait was also a poet. Thanks to his classical education, Girodet (1767-1824) was the author of free translations of ancient Greek and Latin poets.
In 1808 he tried the to imitate and at the same time illustrate the Odes of Anacreon, whose edition was published posthumously. The Musée du Louvre holds the precious manuscript of this intense and complex work, in which the poetic research and graphic invention — compositions or vignettes — intertwine with the text. Only a facsimile could restore this organic whole in its integrity.
This book reconstructs the history of the manuscript, the various stages of the project and the posthumous versions, and analyzes the artist’s aesthetic sources.
Girodet’s handwriting is sometimes difficult to decode, but the complete transcription allows the reader to appreciate all the refinements and to rediscover the charm of Anacreontic poetry.

Text in French.

Zhu Pei’s Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum recalls a time of glory of the once “Millenium Porcelain Capital” city, Jingdezhen, and extends these memories to the present. Inspired by the perception of Jingdezhen’s specific regional culture (porcelain) and the survival wisdom of the locals, the museum is a symbol of the past and future. The contemporary architecture magnificently resonates the ages: the building form is reminiscent of ancient traditional brick kilns, and its landscape — with mirror pools, bamboo groves, kiln ruins, and courtyards — recreates an impression of Jingdezhen’s vibrant porcelain past. As an “Architecture of Nature,” that evokes both contemporaneity and ancient vibes, the museum subverts typical perceptions of modern-day museums. Colored photos, drawings, essays, and interviews provide detailed insights on the conception of the museum — from design concept to environmental strategies, to construction techniques and construction materials — as well as the architect’s personal perspectives on the overall concept and intention of the museum. The pages also feature commentaries on the museum by well-known architects, including Fan Di’an, Kenneth Frampton, Steven Holl, Arata Isozaki, Rem Koolhaas, Thomas Krens, Mohsen Mostafavi, Wang Mingxian.

The Galleria Borghese brings together an extraordinary collection of ancient and modern sculpture within a beautifully decorated villa. This volume, dedicated to modern sculpture (Late Renaissance to Baroque to Neoclassical), marks the start of a new general catalogue of the collection.
The introduction narrates the history of the collection, from its creation by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 17th century to its sale to the Italian Republic at the end of the 19th century. The entries are full of chronological details, new attributions, information on restorations and account for the different historical settings thanks to an accurate study of the inventory records of the villa. They include world-famous masterpieces by Algardi, Bernini and Canova among others. The sale to Napoleon of many of its Antique works of art (now in the Louvre) was key to the Borghese’s commission works of ancient inspiration, the analysis of which animates the pages of another section, based on the concepts of copy and remake. The catalogue closes with a section on restoration, that gives an account of the fundamental role of 16- to 18th-century sculptors in the maintenance and transformation of the archaeological collection in relation to the villa’s display requirements.

Text in Italian.

On Easter, 2014, Britain’s best-loved vicar, the Rev. Richard Coles, led a pilgrimage to all the major historic sites of the Holy Land: from Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee in the North, via Jericho and the Jordan River, to Bethlehem and, finally, Jerusalem. All of the pilgrims in his care were practising Christians, except one: the writer Kevin Jackson, a diffident and sympathetic atheist intrigued by the chance to take part in this modern-day version of an ancient act of piety, and to learn some more about his old friend, the media clergyman.

Coles to Jerusalem is Kevin Jackson’s light-hearted diary of that pilgrimage, and a close-up portrait of Richard Coles both as priest and as man. As the journey proceeds, Coles reminisces at length about his past life as a rock star and radical gay agitator, his new life as a spiritual leader and a popular broadcaster on BBC radio and television, and the strange, unpredictable path that led him from self-destructive debauchery to faith and vocation.

With a lively supporting cast of fellow pilgrims, Coles to Jerusalem ranges among the magnificence of ancient monuments and the banalities of the guided tour, the grim political background of contemporary Israel and the comedy of a group of idiosyncratic English folk abroad, the intensity of worship and the lightness of banter. It will be irresistible to all admirers of Richard Coles, who has contributed a foreword; and a revelation to those who have never encountered his wisdom and warmth.

No country, apart from India, is as closely allied with the Buddha’s travels as Sri Lanka, which was visited thrice by the Buddha and received corporal relics and a branch of the bodhi tree after his death. Today the Buddha’s eye-tooth is venerated daily by thousands in Kandy and regarded as a priceless relic.

Buddhism is not the only religion to have influence the island, as another major pilgrimage spot is Kataragama, a site devoted to a Hindu God, while Christianity and Islam are also part of the mix. From Europe, the Portuguese, Dutch, and English added new spiritual layers in a colonial period that stretched nearly three centuries. As a result, understanding the country, through the lens of sacred sites provides a special glimpse into this unique civilisation.

Golden Glass: Verre Églomisé brings the reader into the glittering world of Miriam Ellner, the foremost practitioner of verre églomisé, the ancient process of gilding precious metals on the reverse side of glass, etching in a design, and setting it off with color. While it was first developed in 200 BC, Ellner is one its acknowledged modern masters. These seductive materials coalesce to enliven the surface of glass with luminous reflections creating moving glass paintings. She is one of few experts in this rare art form, making it fresh and relevant in the 21st century. Her work enhances private collections and design projects around the world.
Beginning her career as a dancer, Ellner brings energy, dynamism, and sense of motion to her art. This book offers stunning views into both Ellner’s process, her personal work, and the way she has worked on commissions with many leading interior designers and architects to create pieces that transform their rooms and bridge the worlds of art, craft, and design.
Golden Glass: Verre Églomisé contains reflections from her collaborators, coupled with hundreds of incredible photographs, as well as Ellner’s own insights into her decades-long practice, journeying into the ethereal world of illumination, reflection, and color.

“…jaw-dropping photos of Australia, from east to west.” — CNN

Revealing the patterns and palettes of the Australian landscape, photographer Lisa Michele Burns captures the vast continent as you’ve never seen it before.

From the moment the sun rises on the east coast of Australia, a vivid color palette is revealed, hour by hour, across the country. Ocean blues merge with white sandy shores that connect with green forests, rocky grey ridges and red desert plains. Across the vast and varied landscapes of Australia, the sightlines and the spectacles feel endless and infinite. The horizon stretches and extends; colors collide and combine; patterns compress and expand; and light constantly changes how we perceive and experience a landscape.

In Sightlines: The Patterns + Palettes of the Australian Landscape, award-winning photographer Lisa Michele Burns expertly captures the beauty, artistry and splendor of the Australian landscape. From the rainbow of sandstone hues at Gantheaume Point and ancient monolith of Uluṟu to the dazzling colors and patterns at the Great Barrier Reef and misty rainforests of Tasmania’s Western Wilds, Burns is inspired by the magnificence and fragility of nature and takes the time to observe, research, and learn about each location, its history and formation.

This collection of images, photographed over two years, captures some of the indescribable magic of Australia, its vibrant and varied palette and patterns, and the sightlines that stretch across a seemingly never-ending landscape.

This unique guide explores the broad arc of terrain that flanks the city of Edinburgh – the three old counties of East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian, plus the district of Falkirk, ancient hub of Central Scotland. It’s a rolling landscape dotted with multifarious sites of every era, concealed amidst its characterful towns, picturesque waterways, urban sprawl and quiet green spaces. Brooding castles, palatial mansions, poignant monuments and sacred ancient landmarks stand cheek-by-jowl with stark relics of industrial heritage and world-beating wonders of modern engineering. You can trace the proud vestiges of Rome’s final frontier, marvel at the fruitiness of a giant Georgian folly, walk into the secret birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and roam the coast that inspired an early environmental pioneer.

Myth mingles with reality in the hidden histories of this realm. You’ll encounter royal A-listers Mary, Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie, plus a king from Arthurian legend, to say nothing of industrious goblins, enigmatic crusaders, tragic witches, elusive extra-terrestrials and a curious character covered in prickly plants.

Join Gillian Tait as she reveals 111 destinations with a difference around this diverse and fascinating region.

This monograph’s title, The Hand of Others/La Main des Autres, could not be more appropriate, as it aptly summarizes Emmanuel Babled’s work and essence. The French designer, who now operates his studio in Lisbon after stints in Paris, Milan, and Amsterdam, initially graduated as an industrial designer. However, early in his career, inspired by the great Ettore Sottsass, he realized that his true passion did not lie in the mass production of plastic objects, but rather in creating distinctive, precious functional pieces through close collaboration with master craftspeople. These artisans are situated in specific production centers where age-old traditions and highly skilled craftsmanship continue to produce magic today, albeit increasingly challenged by the signs of our times.

Babled’s objects encapsulate the collective knowledge of master craftspeople, his design talent, and his ability to collaborate with masters worldwide. His unparalleled talent for integrating out-of-the-box design thinking with cutting-edge technology culminates in limited editions that contain intangible world heritage. Precious traditions, local history, and groundbreaking innovation converge in Babled’s work, breathing new life into ancient crafts and precious materials such as marble.

Within this monograph, we gain a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Babled’s limited editions, delving into the spirit of the designer as he celebrates a successful career spanning over 30 years. Through him as an intermediary, we are initiated into the rare craft of highly skilled craftspeople in places inaccessible to the public, where secrets are passed down from generation to generation.

The book captures the essence of Babled’s career: he transcends the role of an individual designer and instead utilizes his brand to represent an entire industry and culture deeply rooted in tradition and local knowledge. He achieves this through an impressive multidisciplinary use of contemporary design and technological applications, propelling ancient tradition into the 21st century.

In this manner, Babled surpasses his own ego and individual signature, embodying the idea that a designer is not a solitary entity but rather a collective enterprise, beautifully illustrated in this unique monograph.

Text in English and French.

Wu Changshuo is one of China’s most celebrated calligraphers and painters. On the 180th anniversary of his birth, the Shanghai Wu Changshuo Art Museum has put together this anthology of selected writings alongside over 130 works from the museum’s collection to accompany a year-long series of exhibitions of this celebrated artist. With each piece written from a different perspective, this fascinating book is an appreciation of the resolute character and accomplishments of this great Chinese calligrapher, painter, seal engraver and poet.

Born in 1844 in the late Qing period, Wu Changshuo went from impoverished farm worker to celebrated artist. Leading the Xiling Seal Art Society, Wu would go on to become part of the avant-garde Shanghai School with its unique ‘East meets West’ culture. A great believer and practitioner in studying the ancient masters and their techniques in order to create a solid foundation and expert knowledge of the arts, Wu went on to create his own school of thought which combined this ancient wisdom with his own innovative interpretations.

Psilocybin. LSD. Ketamine. MDMA. These are the drugs that will change mental health treatment forever. We’re on the cusp of a psychedelic revolution. But how did we get here? And if the drugs are so great, why aren’t they legalized already?

This book examines the long, turbulent history of psychedelics, from their ancient and spiritual significance to their astonishing medical potential, from Ancient India to 1960s San Francisco to the labs of today and tomorrow. It explores how they might prompt spiritual revelation, reveals their long cultural legacy and traces the development of psychedelic medicine, ultimately asking the question: how can these mind-altering substances alter the world for good?