Issam Kourbaj was born and grew up in Syria before settling in Cambridge in 1990. Following the uprising in Syria in 2011, Kourbaj has been a constant creative witness to the continuing conflict in his home country, his art increasingly addressing the endemic pain and suffering that accompanies displacement and forced migration everywhere. Published to accompany two substantial solo exhibitions at Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge and The Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge, Issam Kourbaj explores the life and work of an artist characterized by collaboration and endless curiosity. Kourbaj’s art is expressive and alive, suggesting even in the darkest hours the potential for change and renewal.
“How can we grasp the remarkable artistic breadth of Issam Kourbaj? Here is an art so full of invention and purpose that its images and ideas reverberate well beyond the walls of any gallery. Kourbaj’s achievement is to make us look, pause and imagine. Engaging with his acute and powerful work makes us consider our responsibility for the conditions of others on our shared planet” – Andrew Nairne, Director of Kettle’s Yard
Although much has been written about Burmese Lacquerware, this book breaks new ground with essays by the art historians Sylvia Fraser-Lu and Linda McIntosh focusing on the locations and techniques of lacquer production in Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, as well as the form, function and use of these beautiful utilitarian and sacred objects. More than 150 exquisite and diverse objects are beautifully photographed with full descriptions.
This book explores the figure of Ghitta Carell (1899–1972), a Hungarian-born photographer who was naturalized Italian. Ghitta was born into a Jewish family of humble origins; at a very young age she moved to Italy, where she quickly became a very sought-after portrait photographer. Intellectuals, actors, generals, and political leaders posed in her studio in Rome, as well as famous women and members of royalty and the middle class.
Her black-and-white pictures were taken with a view camera: Ghitta crafted her photographs with mastery and delicacy, and thus created luminous and soft images, intervening through subtraction by removing the most superficial layers. This is how she achieved a kind of unmasking, thanks to which she restored not only the face but first and foremost the soul of those photographed. Ghitta Carell died in Haifa, Israel, leaving behind more than 50,000 plates now mostly dispersed.
Text in English and Hebrew.
How do you create a unifying future narrative for your organization? In an era of growing awareness regarding biodiversity, climate, and new guidelines such as ESG, sustainability is transforming our society. Stefaan Vandist draws inspiration from groundbreaking examples where the intersection of science, technology, and creativity converge. His mission? To encourage organizations to ‘Provotype’: construct future scenarios with softness, making them visible and tangible to elicit significant engagement. Discover how this approach stimulates impactful innovation and turn this book into your toolbox for a more sustainable and connected future.
Somnath Hore was born in Chittagong (now in Bangladesh) in 1921. By the 1950s, he earned a name as one of the premier printmakers in India, and headed the Graphics and Printmaking Department at Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan. Hore started the paper-pulp print series Wounds in the late 1960s as a response to the Naxalite movement in India and the social unrest around the world. The artist felt the intense need to translate his witnessing of the many problematic realities into art in the form of ‘wounds’. He wanted to reproduce the essence of a cut or injury with his works using printmaking, turning to intense research and experimentation with the red and white colors and the light and shadow effect on a three-dimensional model to reach a satisfactory outcome. This volume talks about the series, its inception, making, and perceptions about and around the main theme.
This beautiful book of her wartime fashion work addresses Lee Miller’s contribution to the fashion industry in these years and her significant service to the survival of British Vogue magazine.
Audrey Withers, Lee Miller’s editor at British Vogue, in 1941 wrote ‘she [Lee Miller] has borne the whole weight of our studio production through the most difficult period in Brogue’s [British Vogue’s] history’.
Containing over 130 images, with the majority printed full page this book also contains accompanying text by Ami Bouhassane, Lee Miller’s granddaughter and Co-Director of the Lee Miller Archives, who provides insights into Lee Miller’s work process. In two additional essays, fashion historian Amber Butchart writes on the fashion of the period and Robin Muir, contributing editor to British Vogue, discusses Lee Miller’s work for Vogue.
Painter, engraver, illustrator, writer and art critic, Félix Vallotton (1865-1925) is known for the impact of his compositions, a combination of his decorative instincts and graphic wit. His revival of the woodcut in the 1890s quickly established him in the art and literary circles of Paris, and his talent as a prolific illustrator, especially for the press, spread his fame throughout Europe and as far afield as the United States. He illustrated bestsellers such as Poil de Carotte, by Jules Renard, and contributed to the most fashionable avant-garde periodicals of the time: including, La Revue Blanche, Le Rire, Le Cri de Paris, L’Assiette au Beurre, and Le Canard Sauvage, in Paris, Jugend and Die Insel, in Munich and Berlin, The Studio, in London, The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, in New York, among others.
This book assembles a number of critical essays and a selection of around 250 reproductions to explore this little-known aspect of Vallotton’s work. It is being brought out to coincide with the online publication of Félix Vallotton illustrateur. Catalogue raisonné (volume 32 in the Catalogues raisonnés d’artistes suisses series, created by Fondation Félix Vallotton, Lausanne, and Institut suisse pour l’étude de l’art, Lausanne/Zurich (SIK-ISEA).
Text in French.
Images:
Bleus d’aujourd’hui, dessin de Félix Vallotton en couverture du Rire, 1er décembre 1894
Que les chiens sont heureux !, dessin de Félix Vallotton en couverture de Nib, 15 février 1895
Portrait of Stéphane Mallarmé, dessin de Félix Vallotton, The Chap-Book, 15 août 1895
Biophilic Visions: The Conceptual Works of Ward | Blake Architects represents a large cross-section of the firm’s work, from its beginnings to the present day. While most monographs showcase built work, Biophilic Visions explores Ward | Blake Architects’ unbuilt projects, giving them a new life in print. These 24 projects are testament to the quest architects face in pursuing designs to fruition and keeping the concepts alive in the face of economic, sociocultural, and architectural adversity.
Based in Wyoming, Ward | Blake Architects works across the United States and beyond. Each of its projects are carefully designed for its location, rich in materials and detail, and embedded with the firm’s approach to biophilic design. Paying attention to views, natural daylighting, healthy materials, and mechanical systems, the architects create buildings and spaces that are not only respectful toward nature and their extraordinary settings, but also to the health and wellness of their occupants.
Biophilic Visions is an invaluable source of thought and creative ideas for those who appreciate modernist design, biophilic solutions, and ingenuity. Illustrated with architectural renders, elevations, and plans, each project is accompanied by an insightful description of the design process and solutions, and the architects’ reevaluation of the unbuilt work.
Live From My Studio is the first book to showcase the Art of Edie Baskin. The pioneering, 2x Emmy-nominated photographer and art director, created the signature look of a show that would transform television, popular culture and influence the people and events that have shaped our lives for 50 years. Her iconic hand-colored portraits of the stars of rock, screen, stage and television were a signature of the show, broadcast to tens of millions of homes every week, reflecting the show’s wit, charm and mischief, captivating generations while reviving a long-lost art form.
“Beth Bernstein’s Modern Guide to Vintage Jewellery takes us on a colourful tour through different jewellery styles from the 1930s through 1980s.” — The Jewellery Editor
The Modern Guide to Vintage Jewellery takes the reader on a tour of the finest jewelry from the Art Deco glamor of the 1930s through the Retro pre-war and war years, the cocktail suburban lifestyle of the ’50s, the rebellious ’60s, the glitter and glamor of the ’70s disco era and, finally, to the new ‘career-woman’ style of the ’80s. Through each period, jewelry historian and collector Beth Bernstein shows how to identify the most popular gemstones, materials, styles and collectible pieces on the market today, as well as divulging invaluable information from dealers and experts.
The book also features stars from Hollywood’s Golden Era and beyond, and the renowned jewelers who designed for them and became legends in their own right. Whether you are a novice or consummate collector, a starter vintage dealer, shop owner, burgeoning historian or student, this book is a must-read for all enthusiasts of vintage jewelry.
Radiant City is a major monograph documenting a decade of figurative and geometric work by London-based British contemporary artist Lucy Williams (b. 1972, Oxford). Her mixed-media bas-relief collages depict modernist architecture and interiors, from tower blocks and municipal buildings to private residences in Palm Springs.
All made painstakingly by hand, this is a contemporary art practice that, with the precision of an architect or a draughts person, references craft traditions, using materials including paper, Plexiglas, wood veneer, fabric, piano wire, and thread. Space, form, pattern, design, and geometry meet with color and light to form mesmerizing, detailed scenes such as tiled swimming pools with mosaic walls, the imposing facades of Brutalist buildings, and domestic interiors containing bookcases replete with books, vases and ornaments.
In addition to figurative works, the publication also features the artist’s Threaded Collages, abstract geometric pieces inspired by Bauhaus tapestries, constructivism and traditional Welsh quilting. Williams creates repeated triangular and diamond forms, using colorful painted papers along with silk and cotton threads.
Featuring a variety of text contributions, this, Williams’s second trade monograph, has been designed by Kristin Metho, edited by Matt Price, and produced by Hurtwood. It is published by Hurtwood with generous support from Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco.
Everyday Indian Aesthetic is a unique documentation of India, depicted through aesthetics as seen in architecture, adornments, objects, colors, textures, patterns, and typography. It celebrates the diversity of the country while highlighting the identities and functionality associated with everyday design. With more than 400 photographs taken during Sayali Goyal’s travels around rural and small-town India, she invites you to take a personal journey and interpret the richness of Indian design that is based on form and functionality with an element of the unusual. This photo book will let you wander through the pages without restricting the way you see and discover how design has the capacity to document cultural exchange whilst holding the past in the present.
“Rife with main character energy, authenticity and playfulness, here’s where to book on your next American road trip …” — The Gloss
“a love letter to America’s charming motels” — Evening Standard
A nostalgic road trip through America’s most charming motels—revived and reimagined. Vintage Motels showcases 40 historic motels across the USA, each transformed into an inviting boutique hotel while honoring its past. Through rich storytelling and stunning photography, this beautifully designed hardcover book captures the spirit of these mid-century roadside gems. Each motel is featured across 4 to 6 pages, with a detailed narrative (500 words) and a mix of archival and contemporary images. Perfect for design lovers, travelers, and history enthusiasts, Vintage Motels is an inspiring tribute to the golden age of American road travel.
Kengo Kuma’s work masterfully engages experimentation, traditional Japanese design, and advanced technology. This results in highly innovative yet beautifully simple, evocative, and human-scaled structures. Kengo Kuma: Substance features thirty-five ambitious, small-scall projects, from around the world, ranging from captivating wood pavilions, ethereal metal installations, and sculptural woven structures to experiential stone monuments, intricate bamboo tea houses, and luminous shape-shifting domes.
Among the featured projects, Domino 3.0 reimagines a forest made with salvaged timber, while Kodama emphasizes a harmonious relationship with nature. The changing shape of Krug x Kuma introduces a variety of spatial experiences, and Bamboo Passage invites people to experience the structure from the inside. Through these experimentations with materials and ideas, Kuma seeks to restore the relationship between people, buildings, and nature, and foster a greater sense of humanity in architecture. Kengo Kuma: Substance will be a prized addition for architects, designers, and fans of Kengo Kuma. It is also a valuable resource for those interested in the fusion of traditional and contemporary architecture, design, craftsmanship, and technology.
Can We Stop Killing Each Other? wrestles with the darkest side of humanity. It explores the fundamental question of why humans are led to kill, examining the artworks, films, video games and television programs that grapple with and manifest themes of death and destruction.
Using material culture linked to moments of extreme violence, such as the Holocaust and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, this publication offers a challenging but eye-opening consideration of some of the most horrifying events in human history as explored through art.
Using historical and contemporary art as a lens to explore these themes, the book will include a new interview with Ethiopian artist Tesfaye Urgessa (b.1983), who creates emotive paintings reflecting on the refugee crisis. It will also explore the role of art as sanctuary from violence, through new approaches to the work of Claude Monet (1840–1926)
Beautifully produced, Desmond Freeman Venice presents more than 50 captioned, black and white and full-color sketches of the architecture of Venice accompanied by quotations from well-known authors, poets and artists. The preface describes the story of how the book came into being, and was developed in addition to information about the artwork methodology. A set of thumbnail illustrations of each of the 50 or so full artworks has been included at the back of the book in the form of an index.
For a large part of his life, Jackie Kurltjunyintja Giles Tjapaltjarri (ca 1935-2010) led a nomadic existence, traveling across large tracts of and later spending time in small communities in Australia’s vast Western Desert region.
Jackie Giles was renowned as a man of great erudition and a powerful healer, Maparnjarra in his native Ngaanyatjarra language. The powers of these traditional healers include the gift of seeing into the bodies and even the spirits of others. In the 1990s, Jackie Giles started painting with acrylic on canvas. Mr Giles, as he was often called, combined an intimate knowledge of his land with his own oneiric visions to build what became a significant personal oeuvre. These paintings celebrate the Tjukurpa (Dreaming), which pervades the land and is a cornerstone of its identity.
Built around labyrinthine patterns and monumental shapes, these dynamic, rhythmical compositions allude to the esoteric, sacred subject matter of the Dreaming. The intense, striking works that make up this awe-inspiring oeuvre manage to link two dimensions: Ngaanyatjarra cosmology and the rapidly changing modern world.
Text in English and French.
1000 piece puzzle featuring the artwork of Sarah Cain.
Sarah Cain brings rooms to life with experiments in color, composition, and non-conformity. Cain modifies canvases by cutting, sewing, and attaching found objects. She also paints floors, walls, and furniture on-site, grounding each space she occupies in the present tense. Her process of creation and destruction is steeped in the history of painting and feminist art practices. and this feeling (2023), incorporates sand and prisms to add a touch of found-object energy to planes of pure color and are typical of Cain’s boundless approach to art.
The catalog spotlights the overlooked contributions of female artists in the 17th-century Low Countries. While renowned male artists like Rembrandt and Vermeer have long dominated art history, female artists such as Clara Peeters and Michaelina Wautier have received limited recognition. This book challenges the notion that women were exceptions in the art world, showcasing works by over 40 artists across diverse media, including painting, sculpture, embroidery, and glass etching. It also highlights the socio-economic contexts that shaped their careers, exploring themes of identity, ambition, social expectations, and artistic networks. By reevaluating the hierarchy between “fine” and “applied” arts, the book underscores the significant role women played in the artistic economy. Through a thematic approach, Unforgettable aims to restore long-overdue recognition to these artists. Featuring works by: Maria Monincx, Johanna Koerten, Anna Maria De Koker, Maria Verelst, Maria De Grebber, Maria Strick, Elisabeth Rijberg, Josina Margareta Weenix, Anna Maria Janssens Cornelia Van Der Mijn e.a.
In July 1880, 30-year-old Robert Louis Stevenson, yielding to the insistence of Lloyd Osbourne, his 13-year-old adopted son, and starting from a map he had drawn for Lloyd, began to tell an adventure of pirates and buried treasure. The tale flowed so naturally that Stevenson decided to put it on paper. When the last chapter was also published in Young Folks magazine, Stevenson decided to change the title to the book and call it Treasure Island. In his hands, the children’s adventure had incredibly transformed into an epic exploration of the ambiguity of moral values and the dual essence of human nature. Because of its value and fascination, Tresure Island was chosen to start the “Dédale” series, in which it is illustrated by the unpublished drawings of French illustrator David B. and enriched by a preface signed by the well-known writer Alberto Manguel, followed by an introduction by Léonard Puoy, focusing on the significance of treasures in our culture.
The Smart Traveller’s Wine Guide series is written in collaboration with Club Oenologique, with comprehensive listings of restaurants, hotels, cafés and bars, points of wider cultural interest such as art galleries and museums, which wineries you can visit, how to read a Swiss wine list, Swiss winemakers’ favorite restaurants and more.
Erwin Olaf – Freedom offers an intimate look at the life and work of Erwin Olaf, one of the Netherlands’ most groundbreaking photographers. Known for his staged, cinematic imagery and bold aesthetic, Olaf’s work explored themes of sexuality, transience, vulnerability, and activism. This book, launching alongside a major Stedelijk Museum exhibition, provides a fresh perspective on his artistic legacy, including unseen works created during his final years.
A tireless advocate for equal rights, Olaf’s photography captured the beauty and struggles of marginalized communities – queer individuals, people of color, those with disabilities, and the everyday person. His final pieces, including Self-Portrait with Lungs (2023), reveal an even deeper personal and artistic reckoning.
With striking imagery and personal insights, Ewin Olaf – Freedom is a powerful tribute to an artist who redefined contemporary photography and left behind a legacy of beauty, defiance, and humanity.
In the precious garland of the Loire castles, where the art of the Renaissance found its most beautiful French expression, served by landscapes sung by all the poets, Chenonceau is probably the most admired jewel, the most appreciated. The human scale of the château’s proportions, the ingenuity of its arrangements, the unique poetry of the place, a river that a castle seems to cross with great strides to pass from one bank to another… so much beauty attracts lovers from all over the world.
Investigations by Sara Penco stem from the insightful finding of the absence of a key figure in the Sistine Chapel’s Last Judgement fresco. Prior to this illuminating research, Mary Magdalene was not unequivocally identified within Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Father Pfeiffer, with whom Penco establishes an inescapable dialectic, had already hypothesized the presence of Mary Magdalene in the fresco, but it is the scholar, for the first time in these pages, who convincingly justifies her identification. Mary Magdalene is closely connected to the salient episodes in the life of Jesus. The author rightly wonders, therefore, how it is possible that a figure so central to the biblical narrative and the Christian imagination could have been excluded from the depiction of the Parousia. This observation gives rise to an accurate reflection on the iconography of the saint and the Judgement, in relation to the sacred texts and in relation to Michelangelo’s poetics and production. Sara Penco traces Mary Magdalene in the tangle of figures on the wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel, contributing to characterize the fresco – one of the best known and most appreciated works in the world – with an unprecedented theological message.
Text in English and Italian.