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

William Bouguereau, the most popular artist in nineteenth-century France, is rapidly becoming one of the most popular realist artists of all time. This book is an exploration of the four main types of paintings that were most prevalent throughout Bouguereau’s body of work. This includes his mythological works, religious works, peasants, and portraits. This final section on portraits focuses on paintings of heads and hands, which gave the artist the opportunity to concentrate on the subtleties of capturing human emotion, something at which the artist was a consummate master, and is a primary factor in what makes his works, in general, so compelling.
Although each section of the book discusses the importance of the individual genera within Bouguereau’s oeuvre, and includes painting analyses to highlight his most important works, this book is a true showcase of the master’s lifetime achievement through beautifully illustrated full-page plates of over 120 of his greatest masterpieces.

“I was impressed by The Stones. They were dressed casually, had mischief in them and were different to other bands.” Terry O Neill

In July 1962, a group of young men played a gig at The Marquee Club on Oxford Street, London. They called themselves ‘The Rollin’ Stones’ and little did they know they would soon be making music history.

This brilliant new book captures the youth, the times and the spirit of The Stones’ formative early years. And documenting 1963-1965 were two young photographers just starting out in their careers. Terry O’Neill, aged just 25, had a few years’ experience photographing musicians and knew that this group had the same magic as another British phenomenon that just recently started to chart, The Beatles. As the band was starting to record and tour, Gered Mankowitz came along. His first shoot, the now famous Mason’s Yard session, was so fruitful, Gered was asked to tag along on tour to America. Gered was a mere 19 when he picked-up his camera and joined the band on stage in 1965. Between these two legendary photographers, they document the band’s beginnings and these indelible images are forever placed in music’s consciousness. The photography throughout this book is embellished with various memoires and interviews, celebrating the early days and giving an insight into what it must have felt like to go from a small club in Soho with no record deal to touring the world a few years later with a number one record. Terry O’Neill and Gered Mankowitz, two of the most respected, collected and exhibited photographers in the world were sitting in the front-row.

In 2016, London’s Saatchi Gallery hosted the first ever major exhibition dedicated to the band: Exhibitionism, a career-spanning, museum-style display of Stones artifacts and memorabilia. The publication of this book coincided with the opening of this ground-breaking exhibition.

The Berber women from Morocco have received wide acclaim for their rugs. They also used their amazing skills to weave traditional costumes, whose ample shapes are reminiscent of the draped garments of antiquity. Many garments, veils and capes reflect the identity of the different groups living on mountains and in valleys. They represent a way of life that is disappearing fast, as contacts with the outside world render it obsolete.
Some items of clothing are decorated with designs transferred from mother to daughter, but tradition did not prevent weavers from expressing their own creativity. The book shows a wide variety of designs allowing the reader to discover masterpieces of weaving and embroidery, but also of decoration with henna, a technique only known from Morocco.
This book is the first to offer a vast panorama of this exceptional heritage from the Mediterranean coast to the Sahara. Ethnologist Marie-Rose Rabaté and Frieda Sorber art historian and textile specialist have, between them researched Berber costume in and outside Morocco for 40 years.
As women in a female environment, their invaluable experience has allowed to widen existing knowledge, to collect rare examples, to witness the changing state of textile crafts and to pinpoint the recent apparition of fakes. In and outside Morocco many collectors have shared their collections for study, to help them to define a Berber style of decoration.
A wealth of objects was chosen to illustrate the texts, showing a kaleidoscope of colors and designs, including many details. They present an art that remained hidden for a long time, and that almost disappeared before it could claim its place among the world’s cultures.
Text in English and French.

This book represents the first retrospective in print on the fascinating work of the English artist in jewelry David Watkins, who started out as a jazz pianist and sculptor but has been designing jewelry since the 1960s. At the outset of his career, he designed miniature works of sculpture. Later he began producing outsize wearable objects. Watkins is increasingly preoccupied with the interrelationship of the body and jewelry; his pieces of jewelry are becoming autonomous art objects in their own right. David Watkins’s versatility as a jewelry-designer is astonishing: the diverse materials he uses range from paper to acrylic, Neoprene and Colorcore to gold as well as a profusion of plastics. His aesthetic “idiom” encompasses stringent structuring as well as monochrome Minimalism and compositions improvised in stunning forms and vibrant colors. Watkins is equally comfortable working with traditional jewelry-making techniques and computer-aided design as used throughout the manufacturing sector. Drawing on a wealth of photographs, drawings and statements made by the artist himself, the book provides invaluable insights into the way David Watkins works.

This book is a unique and comprehensive illustrated dictionary of French Art Nouveau Ceramics.

A census conducted in 1901 indicated the existence of some 209 producers of pottery in France, employing a total of around 5,800 full-time labourers. This great activity stimulated a parallel development in the arts, including the search for new expressions in art pottery, giving birth to l’art nouveau, a great and eclectic synthesis of a number of other art styles. Largely through British arts and crafts, and the work of artists like the Manxman Archibald Knox, it reached far back into the prehistory of Celtic art. To this were added later medieval elements, through the gothic revival championed by William Morris.

The need for renewal, breaking away from the neo-Classical and academia, which was the realm of the upper-class culture, was largely theorised by John Ruskin, who searched elsewhere for inspiration. Thus did British art nouveau also partake of Chinese and Japanese styles, though never in so forceful a manner as did the French aesthetic. France, on the one side, looked back to the swirling and frivolous eighteenth century Rococo, primarily through the influence of the Goncourt brothers, Edmond and Jules, influential aesthetes of the mid-nineteenth century.

The book focuses especially on artists working stoneware or grès, faience, and terracotta. It aims to provide a general survey of the many artists working in these areas, and includes brief accounts of the ceramics work of sculptors and painters whose wider output is already well known.

On the whole, when one thinks of seventeenth-century sculpture in Rome, one has in mind the wonderful and famous works of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, such as the Fountain of the Rivers or The Ecstasy of St. Theresa. The very idea of Roman baroque is commonly identified with the century’s great genius. And indeed, the influence of Bernini’s work on the sculpture and art in general of the period was, especially in Rome, decisive. However, this domination spread only during the second half of the seventeenth century, and less unequivocally than one might suppose.Other great sculptors, with personalities that were often very different form Bernini’s, contributed to making the extraordinary proliferation of Roman statuary extremely complex and varied at that time.

This book is aimed especially at students and museum visitors who would like to learn more about the topic and discusses the art in a straightforward and strictly chronological fashion. The narrative begins in the early decades of the seventeenth century with sculpture created by a motley and conspicuously cosmopolitan group of artists. Later, with the growing success of the great masters, commissions began to gravitate around Bernini, Alessandro Algardi, and François Duquesnoy. A new approach to Antiquity went hand in hand with a marked predilection for striking chromatic effects, borrowed from Venetian painting, and a desire to make a strong impact and achieve a particular tone, often with results of surprising originality.

Taking the most up-to-date and best founded historiographic observations on the subject we have tried to highlight the workshop relationships between the great masters and the ‘giovani,’ their pupils or occasional assistants, and in this way put into relief the experimental approach of some of these apprentices, such as Melchirro Caffà or Antonio Raggi, or the ability of certain others, for instance Ercole Ferrata, to fuse the most diverse influences. The book thus aims to show how marble and travertine were used throughout the century to create a whole army of statues that were positioned in the open and in churches, lending modern Rome its truly incomparable new face.

“The books are true to the Polaroid aesthetic, and we ‘like’ it.” – Elle Décor “Taking the best of Instagram and printing it, the Insta Grammar series of coffee table books prove there’s a (physical) place for your favourite online images.” – Vogue The Insta Grammar series steers clear of clichés and explores the most interesting corners of the highly popular social media website. Hitching a ride on the back of today’s cute animal trend, Cute finds the most original posts and adorable images and presents them in a giftable book that is easy to browse. The images are interspersed with a selection of quotes from writers and artists. Also in the series: Insta Grammar Cats, City, Nordic, Green, Graphic, Dogs, Unicorns, On the Road, Cute, and Cars.

Collecting objects gives enormous pleasure to approximately one third of the population, providing such benefits as intellectual stimulation, the thrill of the chase, and leaving a legacy. On the other hand, the same pursuit can engender pain; for example, paying too much for an object, unknowingly buying a fake, or dealing with the frustrations of collection dispersal. Until recently, there was no objective way to enhance the positive (pleasure) aspects of collecting and minimize the negative (pain). Now, for the first time, scientific research in neuro- and behavioral economics gives us a way to turn this around.

Neuroeconomics is the study of the biological foundation of economic thought, while behavioral economics incorporates insights from psychology and other social sciences into the examination of monetary behavior. By using examples from these disciplines, Shirley M. Mueller, MD, relates her own experiences as a serious collector and as a neuroscientist to examine different behavioral traits which characterize collectors.

The contents of this book are cutting edge, unique and sure to get attention. Mueller breaks new ground in an area not previously explored. Her information is relevant not only for collectors, but also for colleges, and universities which teach collection management, plus museum staff who interact with collectors and dealers of objects desired by collectors. Heavily illustrated with ceramics from Mueller’s collection and packed with useful information, this book will become a required vital resource.

Raqib Shaw is one of the most extraordinary and sought-after artists working in the world today. Born in Calcutta in 1974 and raised in Kashmir, he came to London to study in 1998 and has lived there ever since. Inspired by a broad range of influences, including the old masters, Indian miniatures, Persian carpets and the Pre-Raphaelites, his paintings are infused with memories and longing for his homeland in Kashmir. His technique constitutes a completely unique kind of enamel painting. Spending months on preparatory drawings, tracings and photographic studies, he then transfers the composition onto prepared wooden panels, establishing an intricate design with acrylic liner, which leaves a slightly raised line. He adds the enamel paint using needle-fine syringes and a porcupine quill, with which he manoeuvres the paint. The finished works are intricate, magical and breathtaking in their color and complexity. This book accompanies an exhibition of eight paintings by Raqib Shaw at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, alongside two paintings which have long obsessed him and have influenced specific works: Sir Joseph Noel Paton’s The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1849 (National Gallery of Scotland) and Lucas Cranach’s An Allegory of Melancholy, 1528 (private collection). The book includes the first full-length biographical study of the artist.

Koji Arai is one of those people who accidentally found their great ambition and passion in life. When he started working in a flower shop in São Paulo the main goal was to earn a living and improve his command of Portuguese. He could barely tell a rose from a tulip, let alone make a bouquet. As the shop did not spoon-feed him any instructions Arai learnt the art by stealing with his eyes. Ever since that first experience he has been obsessed with plants and the possibilities of flower design. After returning to Japan, he joined Dai-ichi Engei as floral designer and product developer.
The collection of designs in this book, however, stands apart from his professional work. The Eternal Flower is his ode to flowers. In this book he wants to give a voice to the beauty of their colours, their enthralling eccentric shapes, their life, their death, their fragility and elegance and at the same time treasure them for eternity. Koji Arai puts his talent at the service of flowers, hoping to help disclose the fascinating aspects of flowers and plants that we often remain unaware of. This he does with great skill and bravura. 
Text in English and Japanese.

Chinese furniture design had been improved through the centuries, maturing during the 14th century. The Qing furniture developed from Ming style furniture; it was attractive with ornate novel decorative elements. In the olden days of China, those who had resources could afford to live in a gracious residence such as the four-closed courtyard house (siheyuan). The four-closed courtyard house is the Chinese art of enclosing space to create an ideal environment for habitation. The multifunctional Chinese classical furniture facilitates the indoor and outdoor activities of its inhabitants. Siheyuan is divided into chambers such as the Hall, female chamber etc.

This book provides details on which pieces of furniture should be displayed in each chamber, as well as full-color illustrations and diagrams of how each piece was made and assembled. This includes three-dimensional drawings by Philip Mak and perspective views of the interior of various rooms. The author guides the readers through them, narrating the placement of furniture with inherent social implications. For easy reference, each piece is numbered and a more detailed description available in the catalog section of this book.

Text in English and Chinese.

Diamonds tell stories that are captivating and timeless. On the one hand, they are just stones, pieces of pure carbon with optical properties that make them glitter and sparkle like stars.  On the other, they are mystical entities hypnotically drawing the viewer into a time machine as it were, wherein a cinematic montage of their journey unfolds. Diamonds Across Time presents a sweeping overview of diamonds across time and space, featuring ten essays by world-renowned scholars in love the stone. Here, these authors present new discoveries; explore extraordinary collections; investigate histories, science, and trade; the nature of diamonds; legendary gems, jewelry collections, and great designers. Above all, they tell the human stories that underpin the adoration of diamonds.

Diamonds Across Time is a richly illustrated publication with high-quality images of gems and jewels, archival documents, rare drawings, and fabulous photographs. The volume places diamonds in the context of the time in which they were discovered, and on the political, social, and cultural stage on which their histories were etched. In a rapidly changing world, diamonds are eternal. They were created by nature and grew in the womb of the earth. They tell stories, and they record history. With this book, diamonds will finally have their own storytellers.

The book was compiled and edited by the World Diamond Museum’s chief curator and world-renowned jewelry expert Dr. Usha R Balakrishnan. She and nine other distinguished authors wrote ten monographs written in the order in appearance: Introduction;  The Nizam Diamond: Bala Koh-i-Noor, in the Sacred Trust of the Nizam of Hyderabad – Usha R. Balakrishnan;  Diamonds of the French Crown Jewels: Between East and West – François Farges;  A Concise History of Diamonds from Borneo – Derek J. Content;  Indian Diamonds and the Portuguese Duriing the Rise of the Mughal Empire – Hugo Miguel Crespo;  Two Large Diamonds from India – Jack Ogden;  The Romanov Diamonds: History of Splendour – Stefano Papi;  The Londonderry Jewels, 1819-1959 – Diana Scarisbrick;  Dress to Impress in Southeast Asia – René Brus;  Powerful Women, Important Diamonds – Ruth Peltason;  One in Ten Thousand: The Unique World of Coloured Diamonds – John M. King.

Dante (the seventh centenary of whose death is being marked in 2021), the author of one of the greatest works of European literature, has also inspired a wealth of images which, themselves, continue to shape our perceptions of the poet as visionary; of romantic love and political corruption; and of hell and salvation, whether understood in the context of this world or another. At the core of the Comedy and of its related visual images is the emblematic significance of the lives of individual persons.

Dante may be considered the inventor of our modern ideas of fame and celebrity. He was the first person who, though of no particular distinction in the world – a mere poet – became a celebrity in his own lifetime. And in the Comedy, Dante made famous individuals about whom we should otherwise know nothing. For the first time, poetry turned obscurities into household names – the doomed adulterous lovers, Paolo and Francesca; Ciacco the glutton; the gentle personality of La Pia. The radical democracy of Dante’s perspective had no precedent. 

Dante also questioned the significance and value of worldly fame. His reflection on the human desire for notoriety is paradigmatic for our own society of spectacle, in which (as Andy Warhol predicted) ‘everyone will be world-famous for five minutes’. Dante himself was keenly aware of religious warnings about the futility of worldly vanity; yet he arrived at a personal conviction that the earthly fame of the poet could none the less be a force for good. 

Sharing this story was not something that Christopher Capozziello ever set out to do, but, over the years, one picture has led to another and a story has emerged. Capozziello says, “The time I have spent with my brother, looking through my camera, has forced me to ask questions about suffering and faith and why anyone is born with disability. Nick has cerebral palsy. Taking pictures has been a way for me to deal with the reality of having a twin brother who struggles through life in ways that I do not.” Capozziello’s photographs take us on a journey through his worries and inquiries, ending his debut book with a different sort of question: what comes next? Part two of the book is a journey he and his brother take across the United States. The work has been shown throughout the United States and has won 33 national and international awards. “The collection, titled The Distance Between Us, is both a brother’s touching tribute and Capozziello’s attempt to come to terms with the reality his brother lives and one from which he happened to be spared”. The Mail

James Seymour (c. 1700-1752) is one of the founders of English sporting art. A lover of the Turf, Seymour specialized in depictions of horses and their riders, particularly at Newmarket between 1722 and 1752. His wonderful paintings and drawings are some of the most important records we have of the early greats, such as Flying Childers, and of the way racing was organized at this early stage.
Richard Wills has studied Seymour for over ten years, and this book is the first ever comprehensive account and catalogue. 130 paintings and 430 drawings, including new discoveries, are included in the book, with over 500 illustrations, many never reproduced before. The introductory essay examines the life of Seymour, whose devotion to the Turf enabled him to gain an unrivalled knowledge of equine anatomy and behavior. Considerable information about the history of racing, and its enrichment through analysis of Seymour’s paintings, is contributed by David Oldrey and Tim Cox.

Clay is the most widely used industrial plasticine in the world. The automotive industry, in particular, depends on 3D-clay models. Now, the first ever practical textbook on working professionally with industrial styling clay has arrived (in partnership with the manufacturer STAEDTLER). In this book, the author, a former design modeller in the automotive industry and current teacher at Selb Technical College, compiles his extensive knowledge on the topic of clay. The book not only sets out core theoretical and practical principles to support and encourage beginner modellers as they start out, with illustrated descriptions, workshops, tips and glossaries, it is also an invaluable resource for experienced design modelers, product designers and clay enthusiasts, offering exclusive behind-the-scenes insights.

Text in English and German.

Cars have a talismanic quality. No other manufactured object has the same disturbing allure. More emotions are involved in cars and car design than in any other product: vanity, cupidity, greed, social competitiveness and cultural modelling. But when all this perverse promise ends in catastrophe, these same talismanic qualities acquire an extra dimension.

The car crash is a defining phenomenon of popular culture. Death Drive is both an appreciative essay about the historic place of the automobile in the modern imagination and a detailed exploration of the circumstances of 24 celebrity car crashes, from Isadora Duncan in an Amilcar, in 1927, to Helmut Newton in a Cadillac, in 2004. The author concludes by confronting the imminent demise of the car itself.

The Art of Ferrari is a delightfully opulent book that celebrates the fascination and essence of the Ferrari brand, its formative history and stories as well as its iconic products in a way that is both substantial and desirable.

Immediate, authentic, intense, journalistically and creatively sophisticated. This is where professional expertise meets interdisciplinary perspectives. With fresh approaches and a confident love of experimentation. 

The Art of Ferrari convinces as a style-defining high-end project. With a look at the entire field of tension between sports cars, lifestyle, design, art and pop culture, this book will not only inspire car enthusiasts. With more than 300 illustrations and pictures, exclusive interviews and insights as well as a sophisticated design, in an embossed slipcase, The Art of Ferrari is a truly exceptional book.

Ammi’s Kitchen: Heirloom Recipes from Rampur is a tribute to all grandmothers who have been the torchbearers of saving and passing on the legacy of classic traditional family recipes. Pernia Qureshi’s grandmother, Mussharaf-ul-Nissa Begum, originally from Chandausi in the United Provinces, was married at a young age into the princely state of Rampur. With the influence of her hometown, now combined with the newfound exposure to Rampur’s more modern and eclectic cuisine, she created a food language that was uniquely her own.

This book is a collection of recipes she mastered over the years, which still carry the aromas of the treasures of history.

At birth you are completely your pure self. The ability you then have to let your essence shine through your outer form, gradually becomes overshadowed and buried under many layers as you become more and more influenced by your environment and distracted by many external things that demand your attention. This book encourages you to get back on track with your essence. Through real-life illustrations, you will learn to recognize countless expressions of life energy in nature, in your body – which is part of nature – and in the cosmos. These signposts can serve to expand your consciousness, from what is clearly observable to more subtle life processes. Through being present with yourself and others from your essence, you invite transformation and healing and can experience the full potential of being human. This exploration process begins with your feet on the ground. Treading a path of wonder, stillness and connection with who you are in the depth of your being, more direction and meaning gradually unfold. This book emphasizes personal development, offering realistic starting points for fundamental social change and a worldview that embraces differences.

The newest addition to the elegant 150 series of themed travel guides, this book will submerge you in coffee culture. Discover the most exquisite coffee shops around the world in 150 Coffee shops You Need to Visit Before You Die. This book will take you on a fascinating journey through 150 unique coffee shops across all continents. This richly illustrated book serves as an inspiring travel guide and is the perfect reference for those in search of the ultimate sip of coffee. From opulent century-old coffee houses to artisan coffee roasteries, each coffee shop has its own story – one of passion, craft and exceptional taste.

Pressing Matters explains the fundamental debates in wine, from terroir, production and farming, to tasting, wine’s cultural significance and the economic value of wine. By focusing on wine through the prism of the key fights within each topic, the book presents readers with a story that includes the messiness, human fragility and disagreement about core principles that so often gets skipped at the outset of wine knowledge. The book fairly showcases all sides of the most important debates in wine today, giving the available evidence as well as commenting on what we don’t know. Aimed at those just starting on their wine journey, Pressing Matters is a lively and thoroughly researched history of all the key current wine controversies, written by an author with wine making in his blood, who knows the wine business from the inside.
– Lays out the key current wine controversies in a way that is easily accessible for the non-scientist and those new to wine literature.
– Examines the evidence from experts on both sides of each argument to allow readers to make up their own minds on current hot topics in wine.
– Goes behind the label to explain the buzz words, trends and wine speak used by the wine media.
– Helps readers see clearly today’s bigger wine picture in order to make better informed wine-buying decisions.
– Author is active within the wine scene in California and beyond, and a popular speaker at wine events.

Cambridge Balls is the sensational new book by bestselling society photographer Dafydd Jones. The Cambridge University colleges are renowned for many great alumni and important achievements… and also a series of marathon all-night parties, known as the May Balls, held annually to celebrate the end of the academic year. Dafydd Jones, who according to The New York Times, ‘goes about his business with cheery zest and a wicked eye’, has been granted unique access to this hidden world of revelry since 1981, during which the author of England: The Last Hurrah and Hollywood Confidential has captured an extraordinary tableau of antics and shenanigans now beautifully reproduced on these pages. From former British Prime Minister David Cameron in his Bullingdon coat to victorious rowing teams celebrating into the night, from gate crashers punting across the river to the more international student groups of modern times toasting their successes, this is a fascinating portrait of jubilation among the young, the wealthy and the academic elites of one of the world’s most famous universities.

Praise for England: The Last Hurrah
“Wonderfully ironic, every point in the picture ignites and knows how to entertain very well.”Lovely Books
“Dafydd catches those moments of genuine exhilaration, wealth and youth.”The Hollywood Reporter
Praise for Hollywood Confidential…
“With his new collection of photographs, Dafydd Jones offers a sensational dive into the excitement of the awards season in the 1990s.”Vanity Fair France

Praise for New York: High Life / Low Life
“The New York book is an evocative historical document, brimming with nostalgia and menace.” –– Hannah Marriott, The Guardian
Praise for Dafydd Jones…

“Modest though he is, Dafydd’s photographs will endure for having perfectly captured a society on the brink of decline.” –– Country & Townhouse podcast
“Sublime vintage photographs…” –– Hermione Eyre, The Telegraph
“Some carefully tended public images are punctured with such rapier precision that one can hear the hiss as they deflate.” –– Mitchell Owens, The World of Interiors

The ultimate automotive record book majestically presenting the most beautiful and spectacular supercars ever built. From sporty, exuberant, ultra-luxurious limousines, to priceless cars with breathtaking performance. Recognized values as well as little-known gems, this book will fascinate all lovers of beautiful mechanics and exceptional coachwork.

From Lamborghini’s roaring V12s, to the sculpted elegance of Aston Martin, and the sporting heritage of Ferrari, supercars represent the pinnacle of automotive passion and engineering. These machines aren’t just built for speed; they’re designed to stir emotion. This book explores the heritage, innovation, and mystery behind the world’s most iconic high-performance brands. Whether you’re a longtime enthusiast or a curious novice, discover what makes a supercar more than just a car: it’s a dream on wheels.

From McLaren, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley, Mercedes to Wiesmann, Artega, AC Cobra, Morgan, DeLorean, Bizzarrini and many others…

Text in English and French.