Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism is the first major UK exhibition of the renowned Impressionist since 1950. In partnership with the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, it will bring together around 30 of Morisot’s most important works from international collections, many never seen before in the UK, to reveal the artist as a trailblazer of the movement as well as uncovering a previously untold connection between her work and 18th century culture, with around 20 works for comparison.
A founding member of the Impressionist group, Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) was known for her swiftly painted glimpses of contemporary life and intimate domestic scenes. She featured prominently in the Impressionist exhibitions and defied social norms to become one of the movement’s most influential figures. Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism will draw on new research and previously unpublished archival material from the Musée Marmottan Monet to trace the roots of her inspiration, revealing the ways in which Morisot engaged with 18th century art and culture, while also highlighting the originality of her artistic vision, which ultimately set her apart from her predecessors.
Highlights will include Eugène Manet on the Isle of Wight (1875), painted while Morisot was on honeymoon in England, and her striking Self-Portrait (1885), which will appear alongside Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s Young Woman (c.1769) from Dulwich Picture Gallery’s collection. Apollo revealing his divinity to the shepherdess Issé, after François Boucher (1892), In the Apple Tree (1890) and Julie Manet with her Greyhound Laerte (1893), are among nine paintings on loan from the Musée Marmottan Monet, many receiving their first ever showing in the UK.
Gilbert & George created Dark Shadow in 1974 as a ‘living sculpture book,’ the ‘result of our past three years of earnest daily thoughts, shadows, deeds, cares, and pleasures.’ Hurtwood’s limited re-edition of 2,000 marks its fiftieth anniversary.
Featuring original text and artwork by Gilbert & George, the publication offers an unparalleled perspective on the early career of one of the twentieth century’s most significant artistic duos. Like their art, Gilbert & George’s writing is irreverent, rebellious, often funny, and deeply poetic. The book includes a letter to their readers and photographs by the artists of themselves, their home in East London, and their pictures.
Dark Shadow is structured into eight chapters, which elaborate on the inspirations behind Gilbert & George’s work, such as London life and British culture, including, of course, Gordon’s Gin. As is emblazoned on the cover, Dark Shadow is a continuation of their lifelong agenda ‘Art for All’, and each book is a piece of art in itself, uniquely bound in the UK with hand-marbled cloth.
The Meaning of the Earth offers a retrospective on the lives and work of the relentlessly controversial artists, placing them within the context of twentieth century British culture. Wolf Jahn tells the story of how Gilbert & George found their identity in opposition to pervasive ideas around social conformity and religion after meeting in 1967.
The artists staged an internal revolution, mining their psyches to create visionary and unwaveringly modern art. The ‘two people but one artist’ ask the questions that gnaw at us all: ‘Where do we come from?’, ‘Who are we?’ and ‘Where are we going?’ The book meditates on the artists’ role in this century, connecting their beginnings as Living Sculptures to their pictorial work of today.
The Meaning of the Earth is a continuation of Jahn’s 1989 work, The Art of Gilbert & George. The author writes a playful philosophical interrogation of Gilbert & George’s work that truly grasps its cosmic scale.
Werner Mantz (1901-1983) was a prominent architectural and industrial photographer who began his career in the 1920s. His work occupies a unique historical position thanks to his visual language, technical prowess and use of natural light. As one of the most important photographers of the New Building movement, Mantz’s oeuvre bridges the gap between the often-anonymous nature of commissioned photography and the modernist, artistic avant-garde movements of the interwar years, such as the Bauhaus. In the 1970s, Mantz was even hailed as the ‘missing link’ in the history of international photography.
To date, only thematic selections from Mantz’s wide-ranging oeuvre have been exhibited. This monograph sets the record straight by showcasing, for the very first time, his immense versatility. Werner Mantz – The Perfect Eye contains over 300 predominantly vintage images, ranging from architectural photography, advertising shots and portraits of adults and children, to views of industry and mines, religious subjects, shops, restaurants and interiors, as well as roads, public spaces, landscapes and travel photographs. That Mantz’s oeuvre belongs to the canon of international photography is indisputable.
With text contributions by Frits Gierstberg, Stijn Huijts, Huub Smeets, Charlotte Mantz and Clément Mantz.
Werner Mantz – The Perfect Eye is the publication accompanying the retrospective exhibition of Werner Mantz at the Bonnefanten in Maastricht from 25 September 2022 to 26 February 2023.
Form and resistance are the essence of all architectural work. This is especially clear in the interaction between the effect and construction method of façades. They orchestrate the transition between interior and exterior worlds, they manifest the underlying approach and the way buildings behave towards their surroundings. In their articulation of engineering and aesthetics, supporting and loads, proportion and practicality, and rhythm and materiality, they reflect both varying production methods and social value systems.
The architect Lando Rossmaier worked with students at the University of Lucerne to study the range of architectural means of construction and expression with respect to Swiss townhouse façades. This anthology presents a selection of around 80 buildings with sensitively developed tectonics, dating from the 20th-century to the present day, all of which have formed a backdrop for an urban way of life for decades. Like a manual, the effect is demonstrated using a photographic portrait and a description of the construction method, using detailed tectonic isometrics. The collection is supplemented by ten projects by contemporary Swiss architects, with essays on their understanding of tectonics.
Text in German.
Articles: Dr. Bettina Köhler, Roger Boltshauser, Buol & Zünd Architekten, Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin Architekt*innen, Enzmann Fischer Partner Architekten, Joos & Mathys Architekten, Käferstein & Meister Architekten, Knapkiewicz & Fickert Architekten, Loeliger Strub Architektur, Lütjens Padmanabhan Architekt*innen, Bosshard Vaquer Architekten, Caruso St John Architects
On Easter, 2014, Britain’s best-loved vicar, the Rev. Richard Coles, led a pilgrimage to all the major historic sites of the Holy Land: from Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee in the North, via Jericho and the Jordan River, to Bethlehem and, finally, Jerusalem. All of the pilgrims in his care were practising Christians, except one: the writer Kevin Jackson, a diffident and sympathetic atheist intrigued by the chance to take part in this modern-day version of an ancient act of piety, and to learn some more about his old friend, the media clergyman.
Coles to Jerusalem is Kevin Jackson’s light-hearted diary of that pilgrimage, and a close-up portrait of Richard Coles both as priest and as man. As the journey proceeds, Coles reminisces at length about his past life as a rock star and radical gay agitator, his new life as a spiritual leader and a popular broadcaster on BBC radio and television, and the strange, unpredictable path that led him from self-destructive debauchery to faith and vocation.
With a lively supporting cast of fellow pilgrims, Coles to Jerusalem ranges among the magnificence of ancient monuments and the banalities of the guided tour, the grim political background of contemporary Israel and the comedy of a group of idiosyncratic English folk abroad, the intensity of worship and the lightness of banter. It will be irresistible to all admirers of Richard Coles, who has contributed a foreword; and a revelation to those who have never encountered his wisdom and warmth.
According to medieval theologians, faith is a deadly serious business. Humor and virtue are irreconcilable, because laughter is uncontrollable and escapes the control of reason. A modest smile is permitted. But laughing loudly, grinning and grimacing: these are the playing field of the devil – just as pernicious as other uncontrollable urges, such as physical love or the addiction of the gambler. That is the domain of the peasant or fool.
In the late Middle Ages, every right-thinking town-dweller knew the difference between the peasant and the fool. Peasants are innocently gullible, primitive, throwing themselves into feasting, gorging, drinking and sex. The peasant is the antithesis of the cultivated urbanite, who fastidiously controls his urges – and who therefore above all must not laugh too loudly. Only during Innocents Day parties or Shrove Tuesday celebrations is it permitted for urban partygoers to play the fool and to show their ‘underbelly’.
In contrast to the peasant, the fool escapes the existing order. He holds up a mirror to the self-declared wise citizens, because ‘the fool reveals the truth through laughter’, even though it may be hidden between piss and shit, sex and snot. It is for precisely this reason that Erasmus, in his In Praise of Folly writes not as himself but through the persona of Folly, a broad back behind which the wise person can hide when he denounces social problems. Laughter thus alters the world.
In this context, the fool and irony became important motifs in medieval art, especially in the Low Countries. This original art book is illustrated with dozens of top-quality works by Flemish masters from worldwide collections.
In 2019 the bestseller Generation Next: Architects & Interior Designers Defining Tomorrow was published by Beta-Plus Publishing. After four years, its successor, Designer’s Next, has been published, with a carefully curated selection of 21 promising architects, interior architects and designers.
As in the first edition, this is once again an eminently international group: individuals and duos from Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, the United States, Spain, Australia, Ukraine and Canada. They each show one or more of their recent private projects in an extensive report with portrait and biography.
“The Turner Prize winner leads a visual tour through his life in six artworks – from college days to knighthood.” — Telegraph
Grayson Perry is one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary artists and cultural figures. This book, which includes first sight of new and previously unpublished works, is published to accompany the largest-ever retrospective of Perry’s art. It offers a vibrant insight into his life and work, from his youth in rural Essex to sell-out stage shows at the Royal Albert Hall.
Grayson Perry vividly reflects on his art, life and career, remembering the sources of inspiration and influences along the way. Victoria Coren Mitchell’s thought-provoking contribution considers the role of humour in Perry’s art, highlighting the often-underestimated effort involved in being at once a serious artist and a lovable character. Patrick Elliott provides an illuminating biographical essay of the artist. The reader is also given a fascinating glimpse into the technique and process behind Perry’s prints, pots and tapestries.
Showcasing 75 exhibited works, the book covers the full range and breadth of his astonishing career.
Between the twilight years of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867) and the end of the Meiji Era (1868–1912) that followed it, photography offered a unique insight into the rapid transformation of Japan from an isolated, feudal society to a modern, industrialized state. In the four decades that followed the opening of the country in 1853, the camera evolved from an imported novelty to a familiar witness of Japanese daily life. Operating from the Treaty Ports of Yokohama and elsewhere, early practitioners of photography plied an often precarious trade in images of Japan and laid the foundations of what would soon become a highly competitive industry with a global reach. Whether cherished as souvenirs of an exotic land of fond imagination or curated as visual documents of a fast-changing society, these images by foreign and Japanese photographers, often packaged in exquisitely produced albums, enjoyed a wide circulation abroad and played an important role in influencing perceptions of Japan in the West well into the early 20th century.
Drawing from an extensive private collection assembled over many years, this book presents a unique selection of 19th century photographs of Japan, many of which are published here for the first time.
The debut monograph of Stacey Gillian Abe’s work is created to accompany her first London solo show at Unit London. Featuring works spanning her career to date, the book explores the key themes from Abe’s work and delves deep into her expressive and symbolic indigo portraits. Abe’s book includes insightful written contributions from Flavia Frigeri, art historian, lecturer and the Chanel Curator at the National Portrait Gallery and Serubiri Moses, renowned writer and curator, alongside a conversation between the artist and Catherine McKinley, curator and author of the critically acclaimed Indigo: In Search of the Color That Seduced the World and The Book of Sarahs: A Family in Parts. Abe’s work reflects her past and her memories, highlighting her personal experiences and her relationships to her community. The autobiographical dimension of her work confronts traditional depictions of the Black body, challenging the colonial lens. Abe creates imaginary spaces that induce a surreal mystical feel while probing unsettling past and present narratives of identity, gender, spirituality and cultural mysticism. Renowned for her indigo skin-tone paintings, the color has become crucial in reshaping narratives surrounding the black body. Through the color, she dives into the past to envision an alternative future for the Black race. To Abe, indigo represents a tribe of people that are not limited to social, economic, cultural, political or historic constraints: ‘it is about being unapologetic’.
The art of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) is synonymous with the female nude, with the term ‘Rubenesque’ first coined in the 19th century to describe a voluptuous female body. Yet remarkably, there has never been a focused study of Rubens’ depictions of women, making this book, and the exhibition that it will accompany, a first.
Bringing together a diverse range of paintings and drawings from throughout the artist’s career and from a range of international lenders, the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery (October 2023 – January 2024) will challenge the popular assumption that Rubens only painted one type of woman. Instead, it will present a more nuanced view of the varied and essential role that women played in the artist’s life and work, uniting and contributing to recent scholarly developments in subjects such as the identities of Rubens’ sitters, 17th century artistic theory and practice, and Rubens’ treatment of the human body.
Rubens evidently enjoyed painting the female figure, especially in its sensual and unclothed form. But his women are never mere bodies trapped by the male gaze, on the contrary; they are proud and complex heroines, full of character and gravitas. No other male artist has created such potent images of female power, assurance, determination, commitment, and beauty. Providing a catalogue for the works in the exhibition and featuring three introductory essays that contextualize Rubens’ work, this publication will both contribute to the existing corpus of scholarly literature on Rubens and introduce his masterpieces to new audiences, discussing them in the context of current debates around sexuality, power and feminism.
Elizabeth Siddal is remembered as a Pre-Raphaelite supermodel and the muse and wife of Gabriel Rossetti. She is cast as a tragic heroine much like the Ophelia she modelled in the renowned Millais painting. But Elizabeth Siddal: Her Story overturns this myth. ‘Lizzie’ is presented as an aspirational and independent woman who knew what she wanted and was not afraid to let it be known.
With extraordinary stories, including previously undiscovered details of Siddal’s journeys across the UK and to the south of France, Jan Marsh reclaims Siddal’s narrative from the historical record. She brings new perspective to the post-natal, mental trauma Elizabeth suffered after a stillbirth. Furthermore, she casts new light on the renowned story of Siddal’s grave being exhumed for Rossetti’s poems.
Jan Marsh explores the finer, little known details of Siddal’s life, including her four months at art school in Sheffield, which Rossetti’s brother always denied. In addition to this, few will know how Siddal was often regarded as difficult and ungrateful.
Historical record tends to forget or misremember women, but with Elizabeth Siddal: Her Story, Jan Marsh forces us to take a closer look and see a very different picture. Siddal was not passive and lacking in agency, she was a woman with a strong mind, flourishing career and an admirable talent.
‘Sexy, polished and subtly sinister. His photo archive is to die for’ – The Times
“It’s a surprising book of contrasts and contradictions, a paean to the fashion image of the time, one clearly influenced by the mono-chromatic asceticism of Horst and the drenched hues of Guy Bourdin.” — The Sunday Times Style
“Flipping through Willie Christie’s book you can discern an artistic mood in many of his fashion clicks…” — Kathimerini
“An artistic work that interweaves virtuality and reality to attract the audience to explore further.” — Vogue China
Willie Christie’s photographs are far more than a record of fashion, style or contemporary culture. Dynamic, cinematic and stylish, they present beautifully observed moments within a narrative, leaving the viewer intrigued, beguiled and enthralled. His work from the heady mid-1970s remains highly relevant today, speaking to us through the uncompromising individuality and power of his compositions. And as recently as 2019, his ground-breaking series of advertising images for Medway Shoes threw another curve ball across the field of modern visual art.
With a foreword by legendary Vogue style director Grace Coddington, this first ever collection of Christie’s vibrant work, re-examines the people and the styles of his original output, together with his own reminiscences from his days at Vogue and The Sunday Times, and from his collaborations with Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones.
Knokke Le Zoute has been a real household name in the Low Countries for decades when it comes to stunning architecture, art, design and luxury. From sleek, modern houses to the famous white villas and renovated apartments chock-full of art. In this book, the art and design fanatics from Knokke offer us an exclusive look into their dream homes. Their interiors tell a unique story from years of searching for the perfect piece to accidental discoveries that bring an interior together. The diverse owners of the houses in the book (from gallery owners to photographers) each experience Knokke in their own way.
Text in English, French and Dutch.
“…enriched not only by an introduction by the fashion author Anders Christian Madsen, but also by countless anecdotes and stories from friends, artists and collaborators who contributed to the achievement of Van Assche’s great successes.” — GQ Italia
“Squeezing two small decades worth of era-defining elegance into one book is no small feat. Just ask Kris Van Assche, who has spent the past year scrupulously archiving his life’s work.” — i-D
“Fashion is my life. I see many ways to return”, the Belgian creative, former head of Dior homme and Berluti, tells MFF. Who this evening in Paris presents the volume 55 collections, which retraces almost 20 years of his career” — Milano Finaza & M le Monde
“How Kris van Assche helped invent the modern man.” — The Face Press
Embracing 20 years in fashion as a designer and Creative Director at Dior Homme, Berluti and his namesake label, Kris Van Assche reflects on his output: 55 collections, manifold collaborations with renowned artists and a constant oeuvre that conveys his identity. Designed by the illustrious art directors M/M (Paris), Kris Van Assche: 55 Collections is a visual compendium, gathered in a complete chronology.
The most comprehensive anthology of writings by visitors to the eternal city ever compiled – witty, profound and endlessly entertaining.
Drawing on French, Italian, Spanish, English, German, Scandinavian and American sources, Ronald Ridley has compiled a vivid collage-portrait of Rome through the centuries, illustrated with nearly three hundred images.
This hardback edition brings together its three volumes in one: The Middles Ages to the Seventeenth Century, The Eighteenth Century and The Nineteenth Century.
How did visitors arrive? Where did they stay? What were their expenses? What did they see of churches, palaces, villas and antiquities? What did they like or dislike of what they saw? What did they think of Rome in all its contemporary facets? What events did they witness? What portraits do they provide of people in Rome at the time of their visit? Excerpts from memoirs by more than two hundred visitors give a myriad of fascinating insights and together provide a detailed account of Rome over nearly a millennium.
“Dennis Tyfus appears like a punk-blasted sprite bursting from his pantaloons, a charmed creature’s tongue lolloping the golden inspirations both fresh and world-weary amid the gallery of noise freaks and intellectual elites.” – Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth
The practice of Antwerp-based artist Dennis Tyfus (b. 1979) encompasses a wide range of artistic media, including drawings, sculptures, installations, videos, magazines, books, music, vinyl records, tattoos, his own radio show, concerts and performances. In his oeuvre, everything flows into everything else, without a fixed definition, beginning or end. In doing so, he draws heavily on the work of artists such as Dieter Roth, Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw and Wim T. Schippers. By combining elements from his personal psyche with various aspects of high and low culture and approaching them on an equal footing, Tyfus creates a universe in which the personal, the everyday and the uncanny come together. This book brings together a wide selection from his oeuvre.
This publication accompanies the exhibition Don’t Tell Me Not to Tell You What to Do at de Warande, Turnhout, Belgium from 30 April to 13 August 2023.
With text contributions by Helena Kritis, curator at WIELS contemporary art centre in Brussels, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and artist Steven Warwick.
Text in English and Dutch.
“…delivers an absorbing portrait of actor’s final preparation during their last 30 minutes before going on stage.” – The Lady
British photographer Simon Annand has been shooting candid photographs backstage at West End theatres in London for 35 years. In these meditative portraits, often shot in the intimate space of the dressing room, he captures the focus and tension of world-class actors right before they go on the stage. Actors such as Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Judi Dench are seen in these moments of vulnerability, which every actor experiences no matter how long they have been working. Backstage, with an introduction by Cate Blanchett, contains a hand-picked selection of Simon Annand’s remarkable and unique portraits.
The essays in this lavishly illustrated volume offer a multi-faceted portrait of American financier J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) as a collector of art. A riveting exploration of Morgan’s acquisitions from antiquities to medieval manuscripts to Old Master paintings and European decorative arts, Morgan—The Collector introduces the reader to how and why he amassed his vast collection. The lively essays also serve as a tribute to Linda Roth, curator at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, who dedicated much of her forty-year career to researching Morgan and the over 1,500 works from his collection now in the museum. This much-needed publication focuses on Morgan as a collector and is directed at both a scholarly and more general audience that is interested in the history of collecting, America in the Gilded Age, Pierpont Morgan, and European art.
“…sumptuous large illustrations of the selected Works, with a beautifully printed tonality”
“lt is exciting to think about how this important collection can continue to grow while this publication is already a beautiful tribute to Scottish art.” — Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History, Volume 29, 2024-2025, p.128
The National Galleries of Scotland is home to the most important collection of Scottish art in the world. This beautifully illustrated book introduces the collection through 100 works, specially chosen by the curatorial team who care for them.
The selection ranges chronologically from a 16th-century portrait of a Scottish king to 21st-century instalations and prints. Some of the most famous painters in Scotland’s history feature alongside some of the finest artists working in Scotland today. Many of the most distinctive movements in Scotland’s artistic heritage are represented, including the Celtic Revival, Arts and Crafts, the Glasgow Boys and the Scottish Colourists.
Each of the 100 works is reproduced alongside a text by one of 23 three expert contributors. The introduction gives an overview of the collection and Scottish art history more broadly. It is perfect for those who already love Scottish art, and those who are yet to discover its riches.
“Futuristic, shrill, strange? Beyond these clichés, photographer Richard Koek captures everyday life in Tokyo – his pictures tell of life in the metropolis.” — Stern Germany
A unique book by photographer Richard Koek about one of the world’s largest cities, Tokyo. The visitor of this megapolis in Japan will see a lot of neon and plastic, but also traditional kimonos and cherry blossoms. Fashion and advertising are at least as important as etiquette and tidiness. In Tokyo Tokyo Koek reveals the true face of a city where tradition and innovation go hand in hand. Surely the stereotypes are a subject of his photographs, but Koek always gives them his own twist. His colorful images are raw, realistic and extremely striking. Koek knows how to capture the magic of everyday life by putting the ordinary on a pedestal. The beauty of the image and the story behind it always go hand in hand in his works. This is how he shows a different side of the city.
Dutch landscape painter of the late 18th century, Barend Hendrik Thier has been almost completely forgotten. A recent discovery, the attribution of twelve still intact sketchbooks, has brought him back into the limelight, making him – by far – the 18th century Dutch artist for whom we have the greatest number of sketchbook. This fortunate discovery reveals a completely new side to his work, a more intimate and spontaneous approach to nature than his finished drawings for the market, and this sketchbook formerly in the Rothschild collection is perhaps the finest testimony to his art as a landscape painter, distinguished by his ability to capture and render the variations of light in the Dutch countryside. The 70 pages of the carnet in portrait format are also used horizontally, in double pages, to depict mainly the surroundings of Leiden, but there are also sketches of birds and natural landscapes.
Text in French.
Pierre Chareau, aménagements et architecture is an unprecedented synthesis of almost 80 interior architecture projects (1908-1938), both private and public, and his architectural projects (1925-1950).
It reveals the evolution of Pierre Chareau’s approach to interior design, from his beginnings as a decorator integrating his furniture into existing spaces, to the advent, over the course of his projects, of a resolutely architectural approach to space, in which furniture comes to life and becomes architecture in its own right. Listing all of these projects, it provides a detailed, illustrated analysis of twenty-five of them, most of which were commissioned by three families: the Dalsaces, the Bernheims and the Dreyfus.
This second volume reveals the designer’s long-term commitment to architecture. It looks back at his involvement in the CIAM, the Société des architectes modernes and the Rassemblement des architectes, as well as his collaboration with the magazine L’Architecture d’aujourd’hui. It offers a critical analysis of Pierre Chareau’s work as an architect, deciphering the 13 projects he worked on in France from 1923 to 1938, and in the United States from 1945 to 1950, from Djemil Anik’s cottage to Robert Motherwell’s studio in East Hampton. Finally, this book offers an in-depth analysis of the Glass House. By drawing up a portrait of Jean Dalsace and his wife Annie, it helps us to understand the central role played by those who commissioned the project. It looks back at the architectural and societal context of the time, explaining the importance of light and hygiene in the Maison de verre. The building site and its vicissitudes are described, followed by a description of the main principles behind the design of the house, and an analysis of its volumes and spaces.
Text in French.