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.