Since taking the helm of the National Galleries of Scotland in 1984, Sir Timothy Clifford has overseen the acquisition of some of the finest, and best-loved works in the national collection. This book chronicles the development of the collection under his directorship and casts light upon the wide range of acquisitions, including the fascinating stories behind their purchase. Lavishly illustrated, highlights of the book include The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child by Botticelli, The Three Graces by Canova (purchased jointly with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), and the most recent major acquisition, Venus Anadyomene by Titian. Works from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s internationally renowned Surrealist collection are also featured, as well as paintings from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873) is one of the most celebrated paintings of the nineteenth century. It was acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland in 2017. In this new book, the first to focus in detail on this iconic picture, Christopher Baker explores its complex and fascinating history. He places Landseer’s work in the context of the artist’s meteoric career, considers the circumstances of its high-profile commission and its extraordinary subsequent reputation. When so much Victorian art fell out of fashion, Landseer’s Monarch took on a new role as marketing image, bringing it global recognition. It also inspired the work of many other artists, ranging from Sir Bernard Partridge and Ronald Searle to Sir Peter Blake and Peter Saville. Today the picture has an intriguing status, being seen by some as a splendid celebration of Scotland’s natural wonders and by others as an archaic trophy. This publication will make a significant contribution to the debates that it continues to stimulate.

Pioneering Edinburgh photographers David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848) together formed one of the most famous partnerships in the history of photography.

Producing highly skilled photographs just four years after the new medium was announced to the world in 1839, their images of people, buildings and scenes in and around Edinburgh offer a fascinating glimpse into 1840s Scotland. Their much-loved prints of the Newhaven fisherfolk are among the first images of social documentary photography.

In the space of four and a half years Hill and Adamson produced several thousand prints encompassing landscapes, architectural views, tableaux vivants from Scottish literature and an impressive suite of portraits featuring key members of Edinburgh society.

Anne M. Lyden, International Photography Curator at the National Galleries of Scotland, discusses the dynamic dispute that brought these two men together and reveals their perfect chemistry as the first professional partnership in Scottish photography.

Illustrated with around 100 masterpieces from the Galleries’ unique, vast collection of the duo’s ground-breaking work.

This book offers a beautiful exploration of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s works in lithography. It explores the new artistic approach to the poster at the end of the 19th century, which bridged visual and popular culture and turned the relationship between ‘high’ and ‘low’ art on its head. Technical innovations in lithography pioneered by Lautrec and other artists produced larger sizes, more varied colors and new effects and launched the role of the poster as a powerful tool for communication and marketing in fin de siècle Paris. Lautrec’s embrace of celebrity helped to define the famous hotspots (theaters, cabarets and café-concerts) of fin de siècle Paris and made their stars recognizable figures across the whole city.

Works by contemporaries such as Pierre Bonnard, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen and Jules Chéret also feature, and Lautrec’s influence on British, and particularly Scottish, artists of the period will be explored. These include Walter Richard Sickert, Arthur Melville, John Duncan Fergusson and William Nicholson.

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.

“The most important portraits to me are the ones of people who have enriched my own thinking or awareness. Areas of philosophy, religion, psychological perspectives, poetry, music, art history, women’s roles and the inner life are important issues for me – and all have been nurtured by these people whom I have met through portraiture.” – Victoria Crowe. Victoria Crowe is one of Britain’s most vital and original figurative painters. Here, Duncan Macmillan explores the exceptional skill of this remarkable artist’s portraits and Victoria Crowe, herself, contributes many insightful accounts of her own thoughts and perceptions as each work developed. This book also tells Crowe’s own story – both professional and personal – through her art. She has developed an approach to portraiture that seeks to do more than record the outward appearance of a person: she aims to represent something of the inner life. With 80 illustrations, the portraits include the artist’s family, composer Ronald Stevenson, pioneer medical scientist Dame Janet Vaughan, poet Kathleen Raine, actor Graham Crowden, psychiatrist Professor Sir Peter Higgs and many others.

The first monograph on New York-based interior designer David Scott’s work, Outside the Box: An Interior Designer’s Innovative Approach to Creating Chic and Comfortable Rooms is a delightful behind-the-scenes look into 11 of his most stunning projects. Scott’s interiors seamlessly combine his adoration for the elegance of antiques with his admiration for the functionality of modernity, creating environments that are at once visually stimulating and inherently calming. Each space is custom designed to emphasize and reflect the personal style and character of his clients. Outside the Box takes a look at the elements of inspiration that have been the guiding force for Scott’s innovative and striking spaces, where comfort and chic harmoniously coexist.

Influential American celebrity photographer, director and creative director Matthew Rolston turns his eye for portraiture to a new cast of characters with the launch of Talking Heads, The Vent Haven Portraits. Using techniques he has honed over decades of celebrity portraiture, and marking his first foray into the world of fine arts, Rolston has captured the inherent humanity of a rarely-seen collection of unique entertainment figures: ventriloquist dummies. Unearthed from the intimate and obscure Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, Rolston used a rigorously formal photographic approach to bring out the power in the faces of these figures through a series of 100 portraits, or “headshots”. Rolston painstakingly selected the faces he was most drawn to and, in particular, those that conveyed a sense of character through pronounced aging, exaggerated features, and ornately painted faces, drawing the eye directly to the sometimes disturbingly human quality of each dummy. Breathing new life into these inanimate figures, Rolston’s photographs channel a sustained and energetic presence that is at once commanding, totemic, and touchingly familiar.

“Rosalind Russell has written an extraordinarily beautiful, comprehensive and compelling story of Burma in a remarkably human way – essential reading for anyone interested in understanding Burma today.” Benedict Rogers, author of Burma: A Nation At the Crossroads.

“Burma’s Spring is like nothing else written about Burma – compelling, charming and unique. No other book I know of has got under the skin of such a wide variety of Burmese, bringing them to life on the page.” Peter Popham, author of The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Burma’s Spring documents the struggles of ordinary people made extraordinary by circumstance. Rosalind Russell, a British journalist who came to live in Burma with her family, witnessed a time of unprecedented change in a secretive country that had been locked under military dictatorship for half a century. Through her remarkable encounters as an undercover reporter, she unearthed the real-life stories of a rich array of characters and followed their fortunes over a tumultuous era of uprising, disaster and political reform. From the world-famous democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to the broken-hearted domestic worker Mu Mu, a Buddhist monk to a punk, a palm reader to a girl band, these are stories of tragedy, resilience and hope-woven together in a vivid portrait of a land for so long hidden from view.

Delhi: Red Fort to Raisina traces the journey of Shahjahan’s new capital of the Mughal Empire, Shahjahanabad built on the banks of river Yamuna in 1638 to New Delhi the new capital of British-ruled India in 1911. From Red Fort to Jama Masjid and from Jahanara Bagh to Hayat Bakhsh Bagh, every palace, mosque, bazaar, and bagh in the Mughal city was planned to perfection. The new city too, designed in the early twentieth century, was a blend of Mughal architecture and modern aesthetics. This book celebrates the centenary with four essays on different aspects of Delhi’s history by JP Losty, Salman Khurshid, Ratish Nanda, and Malvika Singh. A lively portrait of the city and its culture and people, the book documents the transition of the old-world charm of Shahjahanabad to a modern city with a new seat of power built on the Raisina Hill. Contents: Introduction – JP Losty; Delineating Delhi: Images of the Mughal Capital – JP Losty; Life in Shahjahanabad – Salman Khurshid; Architecture of Shahjahanabad – Ratish Nanda; Map of Shahjahanabad, 1846-47; Making of New Delhi – Malvika Singh; Bibliography; Notes; Index. Pramod Kapoor is a collector of historical records and photographs, and a publisher by profession. The photographs for this book were lovingly collected by him over a long period of time from all over the world. Often, the best photographs were found in old trunks lying forgotten in dusty attics or damp basements of the palaces. A keen photographer, he has also compiled and researched photographs for pioneering books like India: Then and Now, Witness to Life and Freedom: Margaret-Bourke White in India, New Delhi: Making of a Capital, and the most recent Delhi: Red Fort to Raisina.

Life in the royal courts of India revolved around entertaining. The palace kitchens were allotted massive budgets to ensure the highest quality of cuisine. Each state had its unique style of entertaining and food traditions – carrying forward these culinary practices are the modern day Indian royals. While the scale of the banquets may have shrunk the passion for food and the age-old family recipes remain. Dining with the Maharajas: Thousand Years of Culinary Tradition brings the invaluable legacy of Indian royals as ten families open up their palaces and homes to allow you a glimpse into their charmed lives that straddle tradition and modernity.

Pondicherry is an extended photo essay, which has as its main focus, the photographer’s perception and visual interpretation of the city of Pondicherry. The photographer journeys into the metaphorical and anthropological folds of the city, searching for a sense of “place” – his interpretation of a specific environment and how it’s inhabited. The photographer goes beyond the walls and penetrates into the private sphere, into homes, spaces and routines, which exemplify a certain culture or cultures, always searching for visual messages that compose the tapestry of perception, both of the past and of the present. The perception of “place” is also offered in words. The photographer has sought out the participation of several noted French and Indian writers, who have offered very personal and insightful views of Pondicherry – words and images working in a complimentary way for an artistic perception of Pondicherry.

This long-overdue publication on Eileen Cooper RA spans the entire breadth of her career, from her early days as an eminent figurative voice in British art, and her exploration of feminism and femininity in painting, to her current mature work, characterized by uninhibited colors bursting with energy, contained by her expressive use of line. This comprehensive book places Cooper in the context of British art over the last three decades – a period during which she has attracted attention from critics, collectors and museums around the world. In a substantial and wide-ranging essay, Martin Gayford resumes his ongoing investigation of Cooper’s work, aided by extracts from a recent series of interviews with the artist. In addition, an essay by the artist’s-print specialist Sara Lee covers Cooper’s significant contribution to the contemporary printmaking practice, an area of Cooper’s work that played a significant part in her teaching career until her appointment as Keeper of the Royal Academy of Arts in 2011.

This volume represents an important tool for getting to know every aspect of Leonardo da Vinci’s work: his pictorial technique, his scientific and technological investigation, his study on anatomy, his Codices, and every suggestion produced by his genius. All works and paintings are accompanied by descriptive and technical sheets, and ample space has been given to images and details, to the updated report on his most controversial works, to those of recent critical acceptance, and to the masterpieces that have animated the international debate such as The Encarnate Angel, the Salvator Mundi, and La Bella Principessa (Portrait of Bianca Sforza). The narrative captions reveal the most curious aspects of the history of each painting. Thanks to the direct contribution of collectors and museums the photographic reproductions of paintings and works reflect the last restorations.

Text in English and French.

In this book, photographer Henk van Cauwenbergh introduces us to the marvellous worlds of matador Jean-Baptiste Jalabert (France) and prima ballerina Francesca Docli (Italy). The public’s favourite ‘Juan Bautista’, born in Arles, France and ballet dancer Francesca Dolci, a flamboyant member of the Les Ballets de Monte Carlo are the representatives par excellence of a world in which sports and art seamlessly melt together. Follow both top athletes/performers during their daily preparations, become a privileged witness to the particular rituals preceding each performance and be a spectator of a dazzling sham fight at the Mediterranean! Text in English, French and Dutch.

“An ever-rising star in the world of photography, Pieter Henket is noted for his accomplished portrait pieces and for his work with celebrities from Anjelica Huston to Sir Ben Kingsley. Having gained worldwide renown for shooting the artwork for Lady Gaga s debut album The Fame, he has continued to break ground with a varied oeuvre that includes landscapes, fashion photography and narrative work documenting Carnaval de Rio. . .In his first book, Stars to the Sun, we chart his diverse disciplines over 172 pages of visionary imagery. As the party comes to town in San Luis, Argentina, Henket takes us on a pictorial journey of the carnival, from the mountainous landscapes of the region to the characters that flood this traditional locale wrapped in feathers and glitter. Both documentary-in his unique cinematic style and artistic endeavour, it evidences Henkets ability to find inspiration in everything from the curve of the rock to the sways of a dancer.” MOJEH Magazine
Every year, there is a huge party in San Luis, Argentina. Thousands of Brazilians are invited to the city to organize a show for the ‘Carnaval de Rio’. To photograph it, Pieter Henket was contacted, one of the ‘hottest’ photographers of the moment. The beautiful photography from Pieter Henket allows the reader to join the party and shows the people behind the show. Combined with the impressive Argentinean landscapes, this book will be a unique document. Text in English, Spanish and Dutch.

In over 300 pages, 200 images and a number of original extracts from her sketchbook, Crossroads tells the story and showcases the artwork of Alice Pasquini, one of the top female street artists worldwide. Alice is a prolific illustrator, creative designer and painter who has been gifting cities with her artwork for over a decade: through her work, women and children become an integral feature of any urban surrounding. From large artwork – like the wall of the Italian Museum in Melbourne – to small cameos in London or Marseille, Alice’s creativity shines through in every city thanks to her unique style. The images in Crossroads have been taken from renowned photographers including Martha Cooper and Ian Cox. The book is brought together by a foreword from the editor Paulo von Vacano, texts by Jessica Stewart and journalists Nicolas Ballario (Rolling Stone) and Stephen Heyman (New York Times), as well as article extracts by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo – Co-founders of Brooklyn Street Art [BSA], Serena Dandini, DJ Gruff and Chef Rubio.

Brussels is well known for its wide variety of buildings in the Art Deco style, which were built in the aftermath of the Great War in the 1920s and 1930s. In this book, the authors have created seven walking (or biking) itineraries that explore Art Deco and modernist architecture in neighborhoods throughout the city. Several key architects are profiled, and the historical context of the period is discussed, offering readers new insights into the living heritage that lines the streets of Brussels.

Also available: Brussels Art Nouveau ISBN 9782390250456.