A once in a lifetime opportunity to see Hong Kong through the eyes of a legendary artist. Photography by Xeme (and friends) and art directed by Xeme himself this is a unique portrait of a place influx. This pocket size book is an artwork to itself and will transport readers instantly to the streets of today’s Hong Kong.
“The dialogue between natural and artificial but also between the earthly dimension and the spiritual, seen through the eyes of photographers who have examined places, conflicts and paradoxes that cross the contemporary world, reflecting on the complex position that humans occupy on the planet.”
The idea for SuperNatural – imagined by Irene Alison and Paolo Cagnacci as a reflection that cuts across contemporary life including our relationship with space as much as the way in which we project ourselves in time, before a horizon that grows even more uncertain, between epidemics and climate crisis – is expressed in this cycle of exhibitions featuring national and international authors with photographs and videos that, though firmly anchored in reality, generate the awe of science fiction. The great conflicts of the Anthropocene are explored visually and symbolically, articulating a path in search of human nature in relation to the mark and imprint that humans leave on the earth: from the creative recycling of waste, to the denial of the artificial dimension in favour of a return to the origins, to the need for transcendence and spirituality inherent in human nature at any latitude and in any age.
On the screens of Rifugio Digitale, Firenze, the pictures open windows and other worlds, where they give concrete shape to hope, inviting the viewer to acquire critical awareness and attempt a change of pace, in search of a new balance. The cycle includes works by photographers Luca Locatelli, Charlotte Dumas, Matthieu Gafsou, Piero Percoco, Hayley Eichenbaum, Maria Lax and Petrina Hicks.
The work Ratio consists of 117 images featuring the same number of naked men and women photographed from behind. Bram Van Stappen made the series as part of the exhibition Back, organised in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2021. Over six weeks, the photographer set up a field studio and invited visitors to undress and take a place in front of the camera, yet face the opposite direction. Set in a generic surrounding and central composition, evenly lit and tightly cropped, the resultant black-and-white images display a form of (anti)portraiture that seems above all to be a study in paradox.
Leafing through the book, we are confronted with an accumulation of nude backs in different shapes and sizes: male and female, young and old, inked and blank, slender and plump, (a)symmetric, straight, or with hunched shoulders. The head, neck, pelvis, and lower extremities are cut from the image with surgical precision, leaving only the back of the torso, arms, and sometimes part of the hands in view. What remains are pieces of an unidentified body frame, covered by a layer of skin.
“The star-studded images are one thing, but their candid context is what makes them special.” – Joy Ling, Esquire Singapore
“…many famous names have stepped in front of his camera, captured quickly in his distinctive, clean style, with the images featuring in magazines and newspapers, galleries and exhibitions, and even earning him an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services of his photography.” – Chris Anderson, Air Magazine
“Andy’s contact-sheets give us what feels like a VIP pass to spend time with his subjects. We see their beauty, their flaws, charisma, humanity and even a glimpse into their thoughts and process. We see the person in these people and are touched by their being.” Kylie Minogue
“Above all Andy Gotts allows his subjects to shine through, untouched.” Alan Cumming
” With this amazing book, you will see why Andy is as much a star as his subjects.” Gene Simmons
A 90-second shoot with Stephen Fry in 1989 launched the career of Andy Gotts, photographer to the stars. Through grift and graft and raw, honed talent, Gotts has become one of the most in-demand celebrity photographers working the circuits of Hollywood, British media, and the music industry. Gotts’s dramatic black-and-white style turns faces into artworks of shadow and light, while his color portraits capture his subjects’ ineffable humanity.
For the first time Andy Gotts reveals the incredible depth of his archive, showing his most famous portraits and many rare images alongside. The book focuses on Andy’s contact sheets, which reveal the process behind capturing the perfect image. Accompanying texts from Andy shed light on his craft and delve into the stories behind these captivating photographs. This really is the definitive, career spanning book, produced to the highest standards.
The book also contains personal testaments from a cross-section of the celebrities who Gotts has worked with: Alan Cumming, Gene Simmons, Ian McKellen, Jeff Bridges, Kylie Minogue, Michael Caine, Peter Capaldi and Simon Pegg.
Photographer Serge Anton has been traveling the world for over 30 years. Emotions collects the ‘character heads’ that he photographed during his countless trips to Africa and Asia. Since the success of his Faces book he has made many more and has added these in this updated edition. Anton’s portraits tell stories without words. They reveal recognition of exotic faces from distant cultures. The nuances in their expressive looks, the light that shines through the monochrome black and white images, the wrinkles that seem to represent lives. Serge Anton’s portraits decorate many modern bohemian restaurants and hotels from Brussels to Marrakesh.
Text in English and French.
Charley Toorop’s work has its own originality and power. This is not to say that she did not have an eye to the work of other artists. On the contrary. Toorop admired the painting of Piet Mondrian, but also of foreign contemporaries such as Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger. Yet there is one artist who she believes stood at the cradle of her artistry and for whom she subsequently had respect throughout her life: Vincent van Gogh. His work was for her ‘the breakthrough to a new world’.
Four essays explain her fascination and place it in a broader context. They include her travels to the Borinage and southern France where she saw the landscape and people through Van Gogh’s eyes, her awe of Van Gogh’s ‘deep barren love of reality‘ placed in the social and political engagement of the interwar period and her interest in man’s state of mind.
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
In this first published monograph devoted to the work of the Spanish painter and sculptor Ángel Botello, the artist’s most illustrious works curated from private collections, museums and the artist’s estate are presented in a collector’s edition.
Text in English and Spanish.
Artemisia Gentileschi has been the subject of much attention in recent decades. Research dedicated to her has, however, often returned a stereotyped and reductive image of the artistic universe and personality of the painter. The professional figure of Gentileschi, who was able to move with great success in what we now call the art system, finally finds new dignity. Unpublished attributions from private collections are flanked by the painter’s masterpieces, reconstructing the framework of the international commissions that consecrated her as a protagonist of the European Baroque, in the most complete and up-to-date volume dedicated to the artist. The innovative charge of language and the exceptional nature of Artemisia’s iconographic choices reveal the documented interests and literary, scientific and musical frequentations that the painter skillfully cultivated in every city that recorded her passage.
Text in English and Italian.
Faneuil Hall is fine and the duck boats are just dandy, but if you want to go beyond the Boston of brochures and get to the heart of this mysterious, charming old metropolis, you have to dig deep and be willing to get a little weird. 111 Places in Boston That You Must Not Miss is a guidebook with a twist: one that takes you far off the beaten path – and the Freedom Trail – to explore a side of the city that’s offbeat, unexpected, and completely fascinating for visitors and locals alike.
Whether you want to pay your respects at the memorial for a fictional character, sneak behind a vending machine to go shopping for sneakers, sip cocktails where hardened criminals sat behind bars, or hang out with some life-sized puppets, you can do it all here… and before dinnertime, to boot. Throw on your Red Sox cap, hop on the T, and uncover some secrets along the way.
In the misty highlands of the Andes, Sandra Velasco Jordan first encountered the gentle creatures that would one day become her life’s passion and purpose. From these childhood moments among Peru’s verdant mountains to establishing her acclaimed textile business in California, Jordan’s journey with alpacas weaves a story as rich and textured as the fabrics she creates. Loving Alpaca, with a preface by the acclaimed interior designer Holly Hunt, chronicles a life lived between worlds—from Peru to Chile, India to the Philippines—as Jordan draws upon her multicultural experiences to build a business that honors tradition while embracing innovation. With unwavering dedication, she works alongside Peruvian herdsmen and women weavers, preserving ancient crafts while introducing their exceptional artistry to global markets. More than a memoir, this impressionistic portrait reveals how alpaca fiber became the thread connecting Jordan’s past to her present, her heritage to her home. Through her story, we discover the profound relationship between craft and identity, sustainability and beauty, nature and creative expression. Journey with Jordan as she transforms her love for these remarkable animals into a mission that celebrates cultural heritage, champions ethical practices, and creates spaces of harmony and beauty wherever her path leads.
Horses of Iceland is photographer Guadalupe Laiz’s first book celebrating her love for Iceland, its people, and its horses. Taken over a period of five years, Laiz’s photographs are a portrait of the beauty and gentleness of the Icelandic horses in their natural habitat.
In this superb large-format volume, first published in 2019, Laiz captures the beauty and strength of the Icelandic horses in a compelling pictorial journey. Her sensitive photography showcases the inherent nature of the horses in intimate portraits and against Iceland’s dramatic landscapes. The magnificent color and black-and-white images present the horses in fine detail, bringing the majestic animals to life.
Laiz invites readers to share her love for Iceland, its people, and the horses. She has since returned to Iceland numerous times to photograph the horses for her follow-up publication.
The chance discovery of letters from Hester Thrale (1741–1821) to her daughter Sophia provides an opportunity to rethink our understanding of one of the key people in the life of the dictionary-maker and moralist Dr Samuel Johnson. Much-maligned after the death of her first husband for her decision to marry Gabriel Piozzi, an Italian musician and Catholic, Hester has often been portrayed as cold-hearted and lacking in the essentials of motherhood. These letters shed new light on her relations with her four surviving daughters (she gave birth to 12 children in 14 years). They also reveal her desire for recognition as a scholar and poet, and her keen awareness of her shortcomings. They provide a fascinating portrait of a complex woman, determining her independence and that of her daughters, in spite of family tragedy and vicious criticism in the press.
Leaving behind a comprehensive archive, Alfred Buckham wrote in detail about his exploits, including his nine crashes and how, to get the best images, he would stand up while flying in an open biplane, tying his right leg to the seat with a scarf, in order to loop the loop in ‘perfect safety’.
But dive a little deeper and there is an even more interesting story – how he created these unbelievable photographs. Using a combination of different negatives, Buckham used his skills in the darkroom to craft stunning images that capture the experience of flight but with a little extra drama.
Published to accompany the first major exhibition of Alfred Buckham’s work, this book draws on the photographer’s archive, held by his grandsons, and exciting new acquisitions made by the National Galleries of Scotland including the camera he took to the skies and a selection of the negatives used to craft his most celebrated images.
Issue 13 opens with a Serafini show, “Madcappery and Genius,” at Masone Labyrinth. “Sweertsmania” reigns with art by Sweert, by Simone Facchinetti. In “Modern Baroque,” Giorgio Villani explores Catalan muralist Josep Maria Sert and a client list ranging from Rockefellers to French princesses: lavish abundance in stunning grisaille. In “Crystals, Castles, Seas, and Stars” Ezio Godoli explores the visionary work of Bohemian Wenzel Hablik. In “When Knighthood Was in Flower,” Eduardo Barba Gómez describe the floral codes implicit in a painting by Vittore Carpaccio, pride of the Prado. In “Portrait of Botero as a Young Man,” Giorgio Antei recalls an artist he once knew in nine parables: how the underfed young Botero invented an esthetic of plumpness. In “His Terrible Swift Brush,” Amy Durrell tells how, long before “Gone with the Wind,” Atlanta adopted its own big-screen epic of the Civil War. In “Notes from Underground, Caterina Napoleone recalls how Giuseppe Barberi told Rome a tale of its own history.
The exhibition and catalogue retrace the extraordinary career of Paul Troubetzoky (1866-1938), an Italian sculptor, a Russian prince by birth and Parisian by adoption, who at the same time enjoyed a brilliant career in the United States. Driven by his talent as a portraitist, he was sought after by a cosmopolitan elite, celebrities, in particular of Paris, and even the first American film stars. His life was punctuated by decisive encounters and friendships with men of letters, Tolstoj in Russia, George Bernard Shaw in Paris, with whom he shared a vegetarian lifestyle, quite unusual for the time. In addition to the portraits that made his reputation, the exhibition will also highlight his animal sculpture, as well as his astonishing works relating to the animal cause, of which he was, before his time, a fervent defender. Thanks to prestigious loans, visitors will discover a sensitive and modern artist, particularly subtle in his ability to render the fluidity of bodies, the energy of movement and the strength of character.
Text in French.
It was a shock when Erwin Olaf passed away unexpectedly in 2023 while recovering from a lung transplant. In the 1980s and 1990s, he gained fame for his extravagant, sometimes sexually explicit photographs. Inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe, Hans van Manen, and Paul Blanca, he found his muses in Amsterdam’s Club RoXY. Over time, he evolved from a rebellious avant-gardist into a celebrated artist, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to his exhibitions, from The Hague to Shanghai. Throughout his career, he remained true to himself, creating his own universe while tirelessly advocating for the rights of the queer community.
A progressive lung disease prompted Erwin Olaf to put his legacy in order and contribute to this book about his life and work. “I don’t need to come out looking great. But I do want it to be accurate.” Mischa Cohen followed Erwin Olaf for years, gaining access to his archives and his life. He spoke with lovers, friends, colleagues, gallerists, curators, muses, and family, and was present at photoshoots. Together, they selected images from his body of work and personal life. And finally, there were the last, emotional encounters in a sterile hospital room.
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.
In 2019, Generation Next – Architects & Interior Designers Defining Tomorrow was published. It became an absolute bestseller and has been reprinted three times over the past three years. In 2023, its successor, Designer’s Next, was released, featuring a carefully curated selection of 22 promising architects, interior architects, and designers. Following the tradition of the previous editions, this new book, Young Visionaries – A New Generation of Interior Designers, showcases a highly international group: 44 interior designers and (interior) architects from around the world. Each designer presents a recent private project through an extensive report, complete with a portrait and biography. We wholeheartedly recommend all these designers to guide your home or interior design projects.
1000 piece puzzle featuring the artwork of acclaimed New York City based outsider artist Nicole Appel.
Nicole Appel’s Patchwork Portraits represent people non-traditionally, as a collection of the things that they like or care about. Pakistani Truck Art was done as a gift for Jerry Saltz, the Pulitzer Prize winning art critic who has long championed her work. With images of Dante’s Inferno, elaborately decorated Pakistani trucks, and even the Drive-By Truckers, this “portrait” of Saltz references his purgatorial years as a long haul truck driver after he had abandoned his career as an artist. Conventional portraits have traditionally represented people using their faces. Nicole Appel’s Patchwork Portraits represent people non-traditionally as a collection or ‘patchwork’ of the things that they like or care about. Her “Patchwork Portraits” have been exhibited at the Outsider Art Fair, in New York City, and sold out for the past 13 consecutive years. Her works are included in important collections, nationally and internationally, including representation in the collections of The Museum of Everything and Brian Donnelly, a.k.a KAWS. In 2025, KAWS included 10 of Appel’s Patchwork Portraits, from his personal collection, in the critically acclaimed, blockbuster show, The Way I See It: Selections from the KAWS Collection, at the Drawing Center, in N.Y.C.
Iron People tells the story of the war in Ukraine through the unique perspective of its railway workers. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the 230,000 men and women working on Ukraine’s railways have played a vital role in the country’s defense and daily survival. Stretching nearly 25,000 kilometers, the railway network has been a frequent target of Russian attacks. More than 1,100 railway workers have been injured, and over 790 have lost their lives. Yet despite the danger, a deep sense of duty—and the will to survive—drives these workers, supported by their families, to keep the trains running. Dutch photographer Jelle Krings has been documenting the lives of these railway workers and their loved ones since the start of the invasion. His work paints a powerful and moving portrait of resilience, courage, and humanity.
Roger Fry (1866–1934) and his role as critic, curator and member of the Bloomsbury Group are explored in this rich and vibrant biography. From his curation of one of the most important collections in New York and groundbreaking exhibitions in London, to his launch of the Omega Workshops with Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Fry introduced post-impressionism, radicalized interiors and changed the landscape of 20th-century art. His introduction of Cézanne, Van Gogh and Matisse to the British audience played a significant role in a legacy that still inspires today.
Often overlooked, Fry was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century art in Britain, giving a generation of modern British artists their first exhibitions, while also creating art himself. Roger Fry: Bloomsbury and the Invention of Modern Art offers a compelling portrait of his extraordinary career and his pivotal role in redefining British art.
In 1981—just three years after skateboards first arrived in Germany from the USA—Helge Tscharn began to photographically document the dawn of German skateboarding history. Being part of the scene himself, Tscharn captured every phase of German skateboarding with his signature style: the raw beginnings of the 1980s, heavily influenced by the punk rock movement, were immortalized in grainy black-and-white shots, while color film and the occasional fisheye lens came into use in the era of hip-hop and 90s streetwear. Over the course of his career, he not only witnessed talent come and go, but also the rise of the stars of the skateboarding world—and often their tragic downfall.
Tscharn was always there, always in the thick of it, accompanying the indie and emo wave of the 2000s, the DIY culture of the 2010s, and of course, the present, which embraces and reinterprets all these influences. His photos, spanning over 40 years, exude the sweat and blood of the riders in every grain and appear like time capsules with an unmistakable feel for the moment.
With portraits of: Lance Mountain, Jim Greco, Sonic Youth, Pantera, Motorhead, Marc Gonzales, Tom Penny, Prodigy, Aphex Twin and others.
Text in English and German.
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.