NEW from ACC Art Books – Limited Edition: Sukita: EternityClick here to order

Manuelle Gautrand Architecture is a Parisian-based architecture firm founded by Manuelle Gautrand in 1991, sited in the Bastille neighborhood of this exquisite European city. The firm’s key aim is to ‘re-enchant the city’ of Paris by evoking emotion, reinventing spaces, and garnering renewal and innovation – to be bold and definitive. At the core of Gautrand’s creativity lies the approach to each new project through the spirit of a blank canvas, with no à priori. Yet, each of the project that this firm produces expresses a specific relationship to the site: a desire to revive it and enchant; a deep commitment to working on programs entrusted to the firm; ensure efficiency, flexibility and surprise. Each project is a unique and symbolic encounter. Fuelled by shared ideas and prominent for its breadth of practice, this book documents the comprehensive collection of Manuelle Gautrand Architecture’s design solutions. It celebrates the intuitive and stunning designs, and the firm’s commitment to beauty, revival, boldness and precision.

“A history of cool.” — Airmail

“Without a doubt she is the great reference of photography in the Hip Hop Culture, with photos that are already the history of contemporary culture of the 20th century.” — Staf Magazine

“In over 240 pages, the book encapsulates the spirit of history-making generations and their influence on fashion and wider visual culture.” — The Luupe

Covering four decades of photography, this book serves as a stunning snapshot of Beckman’s significance in the world of art, photojournalism, music, fashion, and popular culture – but most prevalently, it’s a testament to her unique ability to extract beauty from the outliers of society. With written contributions from Beckman’s peers including academia’s Jason King, Chair of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music & Vivien Goldman Author & Professor at NYU; journalists Vikki Tobak, and co-founder of PAPER, Kim Hastreiter; visual artist Cey Adams; music legends Sting, Run DMC, Paul Weller, Salt-n-Pepa, Belinda Carlisle, and Slick Rick; and fashion’s Dapper Dan, Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, Levi’s Chad Hinson – Rebels: From Punk to Dior showcases Janette Beckman’s influence in her realm.

In addition to publishing five books, Janette Beckman’s work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide and is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Museum of the City of New York, and the British National Portrait Gallery. She is represented by the Fahey Klein Gallery.

2019 marks 50 years of innovation for CP Kukreja Architects (CPKA), one of India’s most prestigious architectural practices. CPKA has helmed some of India’s most iconic structures, including Jawaharlal Nehru University and the National Archives of India. This book is a celebration of these projects and more, exploring CPKA’s personalized architectural philosophies for each. What emerges is a commitment to modernity, community and sustainability. It is with this driving spirit that the firm has built an impeachable legacy for themselves.

CPKA was selected by World Architecture, U.K., as one of the top 100 architecture firms in the world. Its illustrious list of clients has included the governments of India, Canada, and the United States, as well as the Honda Group, Japan.

Designer and interior decorator Dorothy Draper’s color-filled life story is one of high society, money, gossip, and throughout it all, reinvention. Carleton Varney has owned and directed Dorothy Draper & Company, Inc., for almost 60 years. He worked with Mrs. Draper at the end of her illustrious career, and wrote the only biography of her life, The Draper Touch: The High Life and High Style of Dorothy Draper, in 1988. In the book, Varney sets the scene and defines the milieu that Draper was born into in 1889 and from which she escaped to become one of America’s leaders in design—a true visionary entrepreneur. Thirty-three years later, Shannongrove Press is releasing this deluxe edition of The Draper Touch. With a new foreword by Varney, newly found photographs, recently discovered historical documents from a private collection, and archival ephemera from Draper’s family, this beautiful tome reveals Draper’s fascinating journey and the real stories behind her ground-breaking work.

Saint Benedict the Moor, or Binidittu as the Sicilians fondly rechristened him, was an Afro-Sicilian hermit friar, the son of African slaves born in Sicily in the 16th century. Canonized in 1807, he was the Catholic Church’s first Black saint and was made Patron Saint of Palermo. These photographs address the lives of African migrants in the Mediterranean today through the historical figure of Binidittu. This project retraces his improbable life, explores the historical sites of his hagiography, the worship of relics, and the religious and secular practices devoted to him in Sicily and elsewhere in the Mediterranean. This book is part of Lo Calzo’s long-term photographic project, Cham, about the living memories of colonial slavery and anti-slavery struggles.

“Binidittu emerges in this work as an allegory of our time: an encounter between the Mare Nostrum and the world, between oblivion and memory, between racism made commonplace and our shared humanity, between the Sicilian people’s aspirations and African migrants’ hopes of freedom and dignity as they drift towards Europe’s shores.” Nicola lo Calzo

Text in English and Italian.

Pioneers of Art in Oman: Rasheed Abdulrahman celebrates one of Oman’s most influential visual artists through a stunning bilingual presentation in English and Arabic. This definitive volume features over 60 meticulously curated paintings and sculptures that chronicle Rasheed’s remarkable artistic evolution and his pivotal role in shaping Oman’s cultural landscape.

Beyond showcasing his visionary work, this book offers intimate biographical insights into the artist who transformed raw materials into vibrant masterpieces and mentored countless emerging talents. Detailed analyses of selected artworks reveal the profound symbolism and philosophical depth that characterize his unique artistic vision.

As the inaugural edition in a prestigious series documenting Oman’s artistic heritage, this publication represents a collaboration between the National Museum of Oman and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth. For art enthusiasts, collectors, and cultural historians alike, this book provides unprecedented access to Rasheed Abdulrahman’s legacy – a testament to his enduring influence on contemporary Omani art and his ability to illuminate tradition while pioneering new artistic frontiers.

Text in English and Arabic.

The Lake District delights its visitors with a series of superlatives: England’s largest national park, highest mountain, deepest lakes and now a new World Heritage status. One of Britain’s best-loved and most visited locations unveils its secrets. This unusual guidebook explores 111 of the area’s most interesting places, it leaves the well-trodden paths to find the unknown: marvel at a stained glass window which inspired the American flag, let others flock to Hill Top while you explore Beatrix Potter’s holiday home, walk through ancient forest to talk to fairies and swim with immortal fish. Pause to wonder at a stunning lake where a President proposed, view a constellation of stars like nowhere else, find out why exotic spices are used in local cuisine.

This monograph is the first title in a new series titled Opera Maestra, specifically focused on the work and itinerary of the artists who made history, from an unprecedented perspective. The series begins with Leonardo da Vinci, captured by the expert Marco Versiero.

At the core the analysis is the specific soul, among the thousands of Leonardo’s, that Marco Versiero wants to underline: his mirror-soul; namely, Leonardo’s eye between Human and Nature. In other words, the eye that allowed the artist to mediate between his favourite dimensions (the human and the natural one), and allowed them to communicate with each other without cancelling themselves, but rather managing to reflect one in the other’s light, like in front of a mirror.

An essential biographical note introduces the reader to Marco Versiero’s pages, enriched with 61 detailed pictures. The pictures, proposing not only a selection of Leonardo’s paintings but also of his drawings, enhanced with comprehensive captions, tell the itinerary of the genius from the years of his apprenticeship in Verrocchio’s workshop till the days of his maturity.

“Wide-ranging and extremely well illustrated, this authoritative yet accessible book is a must for anyone interested in the Antarctic.” – Sir Ranulph Fiennes. “Richly illustrated and expertly written, this book reveals our least known continent in all its power and glory.” – Michael Palin. The Antarctic is the last continent: the last to be discovered, the last great wilderness and the last to be mapped – making it arguably the least known place on Earth. The continent’s contemporary significance lies in its importance as a sensitive part of the global environmental system, influencing sea levels and ocean-current circulation in a warming world – but the history of the continent, be that geologic, or in relation to human ecology, is just as vast and fascinating. The Continent of Antarctica is a richly illustrated account of the Antarctic continent, covering the physical environment, biology and history, as well as examining the future and environmental implications for the rest of the planet. The book draws on the authors’ own experiences during many seasons of fieldwork on the continent and surrounding oceans. They use photographs and images from their own extensive and continent-wide collections and from the world-renowned archives of the Scott Polar Research Institute. Almost entirely wild and unspoiled this cold and remote land is clearly an inspiration to these authors and all who have visited it. The Antarctic continent is crucial for understanding and monitoring climate change and in this comprehensive tome one can see a considered and learned argument for preserving the world’s last true wilderness.

Traditional country parks, which originated in the United Kingdom, are very different to the country parks we know today. With the development of urbanization and the improvement of living standards, city dwellers were no longer satisfied with small urban green spaces, and a new style of country park was born. Conveniently located in the outer city suburbs, with tranquil, natural environments, this new type of park met society’s desire to return to nature, and theses spaces have since become hotspots for tourism and leisure. Country Parks includes detailed theory and case studies showcasing outstanding international country park design; analyzes and promotes the current status and development of the country park and its role in urban development; and provides valuable guidance for professional designers working in the field today.

Supported by a wealth of photographs of archaeological objects, this book delves into a fascinating world of ancestral spirits, revealed by the surprising richness and variety of these pre-Columbian pieces fashioned out of various materials. These works, on exhibition in the Museo Casa del Alabado, in Quito (Ecuador), outline the pre-Columbian view of the world centred on a flow of energy aimed at preserving life. These pieces evoke this primordial energy emerging from mother earth, the source of the good deeds performed by spirits and the ancestral guardian of the permanent renewal of the world of daily life, where spirits constantly draw on the balance of the forces ensuring their survival. Pre-Columbian art has the extraordinary capacity to express the power of reciprocal opposites which together provide a meaning to the existence of animate and inanimate beings.

Hard materials, such as stones and shells, served to embody powerful spirits, such as carts, macaws, or primordial ancestors. Ceramics were suitable for the depiction of ordinary plants and animals. The extraordinary growth of metalworking skills led to the creation of ornamental pieces designed for the elite (chest decorations, nose jewellery, earrings, and crowns) whose purpose was to reflect the power of the sun.

Each picture in the book is accompanied by notes explaining the function the article would have served, while acknowledging that these pieces have lost none of their expressiveness in the modern world.

Text in English and Spanish.

Washington, DC-area architect Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, designs ecologically aware modern homes using natural materials and varied construction methods. This latest volume in IMAGES’ Master Architect Series features photography and drawings of more than a dozen of Gurney’s most recent projects. Gurney is dedicated to design of modern, meticulously detailed, thoughtfully ordered residential and commercial projects sensitive to site, program and budget. Materials are employed with honesty, integrity and ecological awareness. Whether working in complex historical districts or on a vacant site, the design process involves an understanding of site-specific issues of location, landscape, history, availability of materials and construction methods.

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 230 beautifully rendered black & white images in the book provide a compelling tour of America’s wild places and national parks, from Yosemite and Yellowstone to Death Valley and Utah’s Canyonlands to the Hudson Valley in New York and beyond.” — Black & White Photography

“From towering redwoods in California to the remote canyons of Utah, his work shows us not just what these places look like, but what they feel like to those who dare to go.” About Photography
Visions of Paradise: American Wilderness
is a singular, timeless publication—a photographic tour de force celebrating the extraordinary majesty and rich legacy of America’s wild places, as seen through the eyes of one of the country’s foremost wilderness photographers, Jon Ortner, and conveyed through the transcendent medium of black-and-white film. Ortner has always been fascinated with the natural world, particularly as an avid hiker in the American wilderness. This luxurious book collects in a large format his inspiring landscape images, forming a passionate tribute to the American wilderness. In this sensational portfolio of 200 black-and-white images, Ortner has rediscovered and reinterpreted the compelling beauty of many of his most cherished wilderness locations with remarkable portrayals of their sublime, dramatic, tranquil, and transcendent aspects. Join Ortner as he guides us through his visions of paradise.

This study of the wooden Serpent figures/headdresses of the Baga people of Guinea is a collaboration by the author, as an art historian, with many contributions from diverse perspectives, including scientists preeminent in their fields, Robert J. Koestler, Roy Sieber, Dennis William Stevenson, Mark T. Wypyski, and Peter J. Zanzucchi.

The text begins with a thorough exploration of the ethnological and art historical evidence for the Serpent masquerade among the Baga of Guinea, bearing an immense wooden serpent figure on top of the head representing a python. Never witnessed or photographed by an outsider, it disappeared in the 1950s along with most ritual performance after an Islamic jihad instated strict prohibitions against indigenous religions. The ritual context is followed by an in-depth analysis of the Serpent masquerade figures now extant in collections in Europe, the Americas, and Africa, as well as other representations of the python in the ritual art of the region. The final sections present the arguments, as a debate, between interested persons in the arts, including art historians, dealers, appraisers, collectors, and curators, and the scientific examinations by specialists in botany, chemistry, physics, entomology, and conservation concerning one particular Serpent figure in question.

The world changed after the First World War. Its aftermath saw the collapse of the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman empires, and the world map never seemed the same again. Though the Great War is widely considered to be a European war, it had enormous effects halfway across the world in India. At the advent of the war, the number of Indian soldiers fighting exceeded the number of British soldiers. Because of funds reallocated to Britain’s advantage, India’s economy took a toll as well.

The Indian National Congress believed that supporting Britain’s war efforts would benefit India’s move towards independence. As a result, over a million Indian men were deployed to fight for the British. Post the war, Britain’s refusal to grant India home rule created hostility among the Indians towards them. This dissent eventually paved way for the Indian independence movement, which was to emerge later.

For the first time India’s contribution to the First World War is carefully documented with details of the different theaters in which Indian soldiers took part. In addition, the authors also examine the unsettling encounters the Indian soldiers had with Europe and European culture. What did the war mean for the political climate in India? What was it like for the Indian soldiers to fight a war they were unprepared for? Using first hand accounts such as letters home, documents from the various army archives and incredible photographs, the authors reconstruct the story of a war which was as much India’s as it was Britain’s.

This richly illustrated monograph delves into the innovative output of one of the world’s most prolific international design and architecture practitioners, Tokyo-based Shigeru Ban. Canvassing an enormous compilation of works, this title is a significant contribution to IMAGES’ stable of works showcasing renowned architects from around the globe. This book features an array of innovative projects, from commercial and residential innovation strategies to humanitarian works, such as emergency shelters made from paper and modular shelters for earthquake victims. Shigeru Ban’s visionary residential design philosophies encompass timber hybrid structures, including a building constructed from cardboard tubes; the tallest hybrid timber structure in the world for a residential tower in Vancouver; as well as the new home designed for the Aspen Art Museum, which features woven wooden cladding. His innovation extends to the industrial design of an architect’s scale pen used for drawing. This book also helps to relay Shigeru Ban’s contemporary discourse on architectural culture, and how it is moving in new directions. This title is a must-have for any serious aficionado of modern architecture, innovative thinking, and design.

Tribal Rugs: Treasures of the Black Tent is the definitive work on this subject. Dedicated to one of the most ancient crafts of the world, this book leads its reader through the history of the tribal rug. Featured content ranges from the oldest complete rug in the world (dated to the fifth century BC) to the weavings of the nomadic peoples of Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia, compiled from the 19th Century up to the present day. Each chapter introduces a different group of tribes, illustrating the rugs, carpets, kilims and utilitarian bags attributed to their weavers. This book is both a celebration of the woven legacy left by the tribes and a tribute to the skill and artistry of the women who created these magnificent artworks. It aims to provide an introduction for the novice, and entice the more knowledgeable to further study. This new 2017 edition features a marvellous array of new photography showcasing the finest work of each tribe, which will excite anyone with an eye for the tribal aesthetic.

Water lilies are inextricably linked to the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome, Egypt and the Far East, where they were highly valued, just as precious metals or gemstones, their properties were thought to be medicinal, spiritual and purely aesthetic; they have been represented in architecture, printed textiles, religious paintings and illustrations, cited in mythology, folklore, mysticism and the creative imagination.
This volume meticulously records our enduring love affair with the most beautiful and exotic of plants, the water lily. It is a comprehensive and detailed account of their introduction into European culture, largely through the passion and devotion of one man, Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac (1830-1911), whose lifelong work in the field of propagation, cultivation and commercialization of water lilies inspired a generation of horticulturists, artists and poets to create the words and images that are deeply embedded in our culture today.
Claude Monet, for example, used lilies from Latour-Marliac’s nursery to create his garden in Giverny. The work Latour-Marliac did gave rise to development of specialist lily nurseries and growers across Europe and North America; in fact, Latour-Marliac’s nursery still exists today, owned by Robert Sheldon, an American who shared Latour-Marliac’s passion for water lilies and water gardening and has been the force behind the nursery’s continued success today.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the history of French glass making. Glass makers can be compared to alchemists in the way that they transform sand and ashes into precious objects of great beauty. This book explores the value given to glassware throughout French history, focusing on the Ancient Régime from the 15th to 18th Centuries, when royally appointed glassmakers were considered more important than their artistic counterparts within the court; painters, musicians and actors. In the middle of the 19th Century, glassware was subjected to mass industrial production and as a result the benchmark of quality that had previously been set was no longer adhered to. However, it was out of frustration with this situation that Emile Gallé, a glassmaker who employed many experimental techniques, started his own workshop to produce incredibly high quality original glassware, a move that revolutionised glass making and placed it once again at the forefront of contemporary artistry. Le Verre argues that glass never left this pedestal, and that today, more than ever, ‘the world is living in the age of glass.’ Text in French.

Of all the world’s great cities, Paris is perhaps the one that marks its visitors and inhabitants the most, both in their discovery of the city, and their memories. With its many monuments, it is also a fabulous theatre where adventure, chance meetings, and the unexpected have fascinated the painters, poets and photographers that we meet in the pages of this book. While its history is ancient, and very long, its present is lively and attractive. This is a history of Paris that invites readers to wander in the city, to discover it. It presents the major events of the city, together with the most charming examples of daily life in its streets, which is always vibrant. It shows its crowds, who are delighted to find all the odours of the world, all the colours of life, and the marvels of everyday that are seen in this city. We also meet those writers who have praised Paris, such as Victor Hugo, Jacques Prevert, Gerard de Nerval and Léon Paul Fargue, and all those who have immortalised the city in their paintings, from the anonymous painters of the Renaissance up to the Impressionists. This is an intelligent history of Paris, but also friendly, entertaining, accessible, to whet your appetite for the city, and to arouse your curiosity. Also Available:
Lebanon: The Phoenician Pearl ISBN:9782867701443 $66.00
Le Sud Marocain ISBN:9782867700569 $66.00

It had been a desert, its dunes languorously meeting the lapping sea which has played its part in world trade since the beginning of time. There had been the gold and spices from nearby India, and the petroleum of today, extracted from its sands or brought from elsewhere, from off the shores of its coasts. It is difficult to imagine that these seven Emirates have a history, as understood in Western canons. Here, the past seems to have been dug away with excavators, drowned in concrete, built over with metropolitan motorways. This does not prevent it from seeming to surge forth at the slightest provocation, at the smallest of solicitations. Proud of what the world acknowledges as his country’s achievements, the most insolent of Emiratis grows less arrogant when recalling his father’s fathers. Fathers who, hardly more than four decades ago, were Bedouins, traders, camel drivers, almost all pearl fishers. It is in this way that this modern history was written. Twenty centuries of hard seasonal migration of their livestock, intensive trade, fierce competition, destructive setbacks and creative imagination forged mentalities that have made this desert into one of the richest and most envied places in the world. What seems a modern miracle is no more than the culmination of an ancient culture having survived mishap and change to forge a modern economy.

Tibetan Buddhist art is not only rich in figural icons but also extremely diverse in its symbols and ritual objects. This first systematic review is an abundantly illustrated reference book on Tibetan ritual art that aids our understanding of its different types and forms, its sacred meanings and ceremonial functions. Eighteen chapters, several hundred different implements are documented in detail, in many cases for the first time and often in their various styles and iconographic forms: altar utensils and amulets, masks and mirrors, magic daggers and mandalas, torma sculptures and prayer objects, vajras and votive tablets, sacrificial vessels and oracle crowns, stupas and spirit traps, ritual vases, textiles, furniture, and symbolic emblems. These are accompanied by many historical and modern text sources, as well as rare recorded oral material from high-ranking Tibetan masters. This long-awaited handbook is a must-have for all those with an interest in Buddhist art and religion.

The unique cultural landscape of southern Africa (Nambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa) is a highly dynamic and complex area where old traditions are confronted by explosive social and political upheavals. The resulting contradictions and conflicts stimulate a directions as well as ancient roots. The collection of highly varied essays by knowledgeable experts on Africa ranges from historical and political problems to questions of artistic production and of how to deal with culture and nature in the face of industrialisation and globalisation. Art is one of the major subjects, and the contemporary artistic activities, including photography. The publication presents a picture of a vigorously alive southern Africa, contradicting common western Cliches which regard the region as having no art and solely being riddled with problems of post-apartheid, crime and AIDS.