After the globally sold-out success of their first book Weird and Wonderful Post-Mortem Fairy Tales and the even more successful follow-up Dark and Dystopian Post-Mortem Fairy Tales, the artistic and eccentric duo Mothmeister once again ignites the imagination with their third book: Sinister and Spiritual Post-Mortem Fairy Tales. This grim and spiritual dream world is inspired by bog bodies, druids, voodoo cults, the mummified Sokushinbutsu monks, the cannibalistic Asmat tribe, Victorian freak shows, and much more.
As always, Mothmeister pays homage to the animal kingdom, which, through their passion for taxidermy, comes to life in an enchanting biotope where everything coexists intuitively and effortlessly. Partly familiar, but mostly surreal. And because of that, extraordinarily intriguing.
In a former shipyard of 8,000 square meters at the ultra-hip NDSM Wharf in Amsterdam, you will find Europe’s largest street art museum: STRAAT. Yearly an impressive 200,000 visitors admire their collection of over 180 works by around 170 artists, many of which were specially created for this location. As STRAAT’s collection is constantly refreshed and expanded, it’s time for a second catalogue featuring only new works by about 80 artists. Divided into chapters by genre—muralism, art and activism, native/nature, abstract graffiti, and installations—and interspersed with essays by experts like Steven P. Harrington, Carlo McCormick, Charlotte Pyatt and Christian Omodeo, this book is a wonderful anthology of the key figures in the contemporary street art scene.
This lavishly illustrated book, the second volume in the series Orchha,Datia, Panna: Miniatures from the Royal Courts of Bundelkhand (1590–1850),deals with the second and third periods of Orchha painting, which span the years 1605 through 1675. A central theme of the paintings presented in this volume is the love between the archetypal couple Krishna and Radha, which is both mystical-religious and secular-playful in nature. Indeed, it is the confluence of sacred and profane love that gives India’s culture and art its unique spirit. The images were created to illustrate poetic works such as the Rasikapriya, whose author, the Orchha court poet Keshavdas, invites his readers to savor the aesthetic and religious delight of Radha-Krishna love through his riti lyrics in the vernacular language of his era. Through stylistic analyzes and interpretations of over 100 paintings from his collection, many of them published here for the first time, the author brings to light the accomplishments of the Orchha school during its heyday in the seventeenth century.
“These photos are stunning, bittersweet visions of a past shared by all of us.” – Tom Hanks.
“Brian Hamill is best known as a still photographer and a photojournalist. But I’ve always regarded him – first and foremost – as a master portraitist. And this book bears that out – capturing as it does, the many-faceted phenomenon that was John and Yoko – artists, lovers, cultural comrades and – most elusively – business partners. Behind his camera, Hamill is something of a phenomenon himself.” – Richard Price
John Lennon’s life, death and music shaped the world. His reputation as a philanthropist, political activist and pacifist influenced millions worldwide. If Elvis was King, Lennon was his rightful successor – and fittingly, several images in this collection of both classic and unseen photos show him wearing a diamond-studded ‘Elvis’ pin over his heart, in homage to his forefather on the throne of Rock ‘n’ Roll. John Lennon is seen here in several sessions in New York, performing on stage, relaxed at home and walking on the street with Yoko Ono.
Renowned celebrity photojournalist Brian Hamill delivers his own insider view of this Beatles icon, through intense, intimate photographic portraits and insightful text. Whether Lennon is dominating the stage, posing on the roof of the Dakota building, or relaxing with Yoko Ono, Hamill’s photography takes this quasi-mythical figure from the world of Rock ‘n’ Roll and shows him as the man he really was.
“Brian looked at the John Lennon who had become an icon and saw instead a familiar face. He saw a working-class hero like those that built the City of New York. And so when John Lennon came to live in New York, Brian captured him as a New Yorker, in the joyous images that you will find in this book.” – Pete Hamill
“Lennon, one of the most famous men in human history, wanted to live as one among many. Of course, he hit it off with Hamill. The guy that flew so high needed some oxygen. Hamill is fresh air. His folio of Lennon images shows Lennon focused, present, but edgy, never relaxed.” – Alec Baldwin
“I only feel comfortable at home with my dog, my pencils and my paper” – Yves Saint Laurent, The Guardian, February, 2000
Successor of Christian Dior then director of his own fashion house, Yves Saint Laurent has established himself as a visionary designer throughout his career. Inseparable from the myth of Saint Laurent, his dogs accompanied him as much in the habitation of his apartments shared with Pierre Bergé, as in the effervescence of the workshop on Avenue Marceau, and fashion shows. The author highlights the forgotten dogs of childhood, extravagant chihuahuas, such as Hazel, who were faithful companions of the artist for more than 20 years. Effigies on annual greeting cards, evening models for Rive Gauche, and muses of Warhol or Hockney, the four famous French Bulldogs – all named Moujik – will be an integral part of the legend of the creator.
Enriched by a new iconography by Hedi Slimane, artistic director of Saint Laurent from 2012 to 2016 and artistic director of Céline since 2018, the book includes nearly 80 images from photographic archives, and drawings by Yves Saint Laurent.
After the season of the great Renaissance painters, the prestige of the figurative arts grew as never before in history. During the 16th century, the artist went from being a common craftsman to holding a status equal to that of the greatest intellectuals of his time. The relationship between poetry and painting was consolidated in the 17th century, and became close, even competitive, when artists and men of letters confronted each other with the same themes. In this framework, the great poetry of Giovan Battista Marino (Naples, 1569-1625) plays a fundamental role. His compositions are rich in visual suggestions, derived as much from direct contact with the art collections he visited during his itinerant life as from the memory of the images of the great artists of the past. The Galeria (1620), one of his most famous books, projects onto the walls of an imaginary gallery the names of the artists and works of art that marked the poet’s courtly experience.
Stucco decorations have traditionally been studied considering their formal and artistic qualities. Although much research and numerous publications have explored the works of stucco artists and their cultural context, little attention has been paid to their professional role in relation to the other actors involved in the decorative process (architects, painters, sculptors, patrons), the technical skills of these artists, and how their know-how contributed to the great professional success they enjoyed. From the 16th to the 18th century, many of the stucco decorations in churches and palaces throughout Europe were made by masters from the border area between what is now Canton Ticino and Lombardy. This collection of essays aims to examine how these artists worked from Spain to Poland, from Denmark to Italy, via the Netherlands, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Austria, adapting to the realities of the different contexts. The authors examine these issues with an interdisciplinary approach, considering art history and social history, the history of artistic techniques, and the science of materials.
Text in English and Italian.
The first work of great French journalist Louis-Sébastien Mercier, this seminal work of travel writing remained unpublished for over 200 years.
Mercier first traveled to London, and began recording his impressions, in 1780. An exemplar of a new form of journalistic, reflective literature, he presented emotive representations of the city as collections of experiences, habits and personalities. And differently from Dickens’s London or Baudelaire’s Paris, with their contrasts of opulence and misery, Mercier describes a less familiar urban environment – more optimistic, perhaps even utopian. His version of London is, in fact, a projection of his philosophical imagination – not simply a rounded portrait but also a reflection of what he hoped Paris could become.
For this first publication in English, Laurent Turcot and Jonathan Conlin’s translation preserves the life and humor of Mercier’s text. It is illustrated with contemporary images, with an emphasis on Thomas Rowlandson and Gabriel-Jacques de Saint-Aubin, the first Parisian flâneur-artist.
Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman, the prolific artist-couple were central to the development of mid-century design in Southern California. They combined modernist craft—in weaving, carving, ceramics, tapestries, hookings, and mosaics—and made it accessible to the middle class. Their works were celebrated for their combination of bright colors and craftsmanship, with an artisanal attention to detail. In Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman: California Mid-Century Designers Laura Ackerman-Shaw, their daughter, who has expanded their legacy with both commercial and institutional recognition, takes the reader through her parents’ unique impact on post-war design in America. Because of the success of Hand-in-Hand, Pointed Leaf Press is publishing a new book, in a much larger format, with 80% new material, much of it discovered by Ackerman-Shaw in her parent’s archive. By showcasing their output through Jenev Design Studio, ERA Industries, and their involvement in the prestigious California Design exhibitions from 1954 to 1976, readers can see how they translated their ideas into the varied materials of their choosing. Unlike the previous monograph, this book focuses less on their personal lives and more on the Ackerman’s impact on the world, a must-read for collectors and connoisseurs. With new and updated essays by scholars, as well as numerous never-before-seen drawings, photographs, and archival materials, Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman: California Mid-Century Designers is the indelible story of a lifetime of artistic partnership.
Curated and introduced by Ian Warrell, the leading expert on Turner, this selection from the fabled Hickman Bacon collection is one of the finest groups of British watercolors in existence, and hardly ever seen or reproduced. Centered around 32 watercolors by Turner, including some of his breathtaking views of the Alps, early views, and late cloud and sea studies, the collection also encompasses some of the greatest works by Turner’s contemporaries: John Sell Cotman, Alexander Cozens, Thomas Girtin, Peter de Wint, John Crome, David Cox and others. Beautifully printed on heavy uncoated paper, with some reproductions life size, this book conveys the intensity and freshness and stupendous virtuosity of these artists whose work in watercolor has never been rivaled. An extended essay by the leading expert and former Tate curator Ian Warrell examines the paintings and gives a vivid picture of the artists who made them.
The work of photographer Gérard Uféras (b. 1954, Paris) covers a compelling and charming array of subjects, from glimpses of life behind the scenes at the opera and ballet, to marrying couples and their families on their wedding day, to the spontaneous energy and interaction of crowds at carnivals and sporting events. With the discreet but unerring eye of the seasoned photojournalist (he began a long association with Libération newspaper in the 1980s), Gérard Uféras captures people from all walks of life in moments of contemplation, creation and camaraderie, resulting in a body of work that offers a rich and nuanced picture of humanity.
Published to coincide with a retrospective of his work in 2025, this book presents the photographer’s own choice of some of his finest work from a long and distinguished career. What emerges most strongly from this collection is Gérard Uféras’s great passion for favorite themes such as music, theater and dance, but, perhaps more resoundingly still, his profound empathy and respect for his human subjects.
In Florence, cassettai refers to the special group of street vendors who take their name from the drawer-like containers in which they display their wares. They have belonged to the association of the same name since 1909; today they are recognized as an important part of Florence’s historical and cultural heritage. They are both promoters and protagonists of a volume on the history of the illustrated postcard, in whose diffusion they have traditionally played an important role.
The history of the postcard intersects closely with that of the art of the last two centuries, beginning with the emergence of photography. Over time, the postcard became an art form in its own right; it also had a hand in transforming communication, providing travelers with the opportunity of recording spontaneous impressions while forever capturing a picture of the visited site.
Sponsored by the association of the cassettai, the volume offers a rich and varied overview of the illustrated postcard, which was once an extremely popular means of conveying messages through words and images. Still today, the postcard holds its own in a world dominated by more modern and rapid means of communication, while retaining its connection with a fascinating history, one imbued with culture, identity, beauty and romanticism.
Text in English and Italian.
Explorer, Oriental scholar and diplomat, Pierre Lefèvre-Pontalis (1864-1938) was a member of Pavie Mission to Laos in the 1890s, participating in drawing up the borders between French Indochina and independent Siam, as well as the French territories and Burma, annexed by the British in 1886. He was later appointed as Minister Plenipotentiary to Siam. However, before taking up this ambassadorial role he journeyed in Siam and Burma in 1912, during which he wrote copious notes recording ethnographic, historical and geopolitical thoughts. This is the first time these journals have been published and provides a unique window into the colonial mindset of the time.
In the Land of Fire and Ice: Horses of Iceland is photographer and explorer Guadalupe Laiz’s second book celebrating her love for Iceland, its people, and its horses. In this follow up to Horses of Iceland (2019), Laiz widens her lens to not only capture the undeniable beauty of the horses in their natural habitat, but to showcase the rugged, harsh, and unpredictable environment that has shaped their character. Her intimate color and black-and-white images of the majestic Icelandic horses are pure poetry in motion.
Undertaking a more ambitious production, Laiz collaborated with local horse breeders and with Icelandic photographer, filmmaker, and artist Thrainn Kolbeinsson to capture the magnificent animals in iconic and breathtaking locations—from the famous Skógafoss blanketed with snow to the active Fagradalsfjall volcano; and galloping across beaches, frolicking amid glaciers, and with waterfalls, tundra, and fierce ocean backdrops. Kolbeinsson’s powerful drone photography featured throughout the book showcases the aerial perspective of these epic landscapes that have shaped the horses of Iceland.
Laiz’s photographs are testament to her passion for the Icelandic horse and wildlife photography. She shares this collection to reveal the beauty and importance of the remote corners of our planet and the unique animals that call it home.
The Baliem valley lies in Papua, a remote eastern region of Indonesia and home to some of the last peoples on earth to come into contact with modern civilization. When anthropologist O.W. Hampton visited in the 1980s, he found isolated peoples using stone tools, spears, and bows and arrows. Over the following ten years he documented life in the valley, including the making of stone axes and adzes—the last such tools to be in daily use on our planet. He collected sacred stones wrapped in orchid fiber and feathers, tools, net bags, and many other objects, and documented their uses in rituals of war and healing. In this book, author Christopher Buckley presents Hampton’s fieldwork alongside new studio photographs of his collection with detailed explanations.
The book will be of value to archaeologists, anthropologists, students, collectors and curators of Papuan art, and anyone with an interest in how mankind lived in millennia past.
Miami is a city in constant motion, where luxury high-rises reshape the skyline and vibrant art, neon-lit beaches, and tropical charm create a one-of-a-kind atmosphere. Beyond the lively nightlife lies the serene paradise of the Keys, a chain of islands steeped in history, hidden gems, and sun-soaked adventures.
This guide uncovers Miami and the Keys’ most unusual experiences, inviting you to explore places you’ve passed or never noticed. Discover rotating art displays in a millionaire’s mansion, dance to Latin rhythms in Little Havana, or slide down a two-story chute into a shopping haven.
Dive into crystal-clear waters to explore pirate shipwrecks, visit the country’s smallest post office, or track down Florida’s elusive Skunk Ape. Seek tranquility at a tropical Buddhist temple, stroll through mango groves, and celebrate sunsets at the southernmost point of the U.S. 111 places are waiting to reveal the magic of Miami and the Keys.
A beautifully illustrated and extensively researched collection of 100 of the most famous houses of Britain’s Arts and Crafts Movement.
The Arts and Crafts Movement, founded in the philosophies of John Ruskin and William Morris, produced some of the world’s most enduring architectural masterpieces. Author and architect David Cole presents the 100 great Arts and Crafts houses, each individually described and analyzed with insightful detail and floor plans, and illustrated with stunning photography.
Beginning with Morris’s own iconic Red House, the book traces the fifty-year span of the movement, with a short chapter dedicated to each of these extraordinary houses: from the works of the pioneer Arts and Crafts architects, to the great reformer architects of the next generation, to the craftsman architects who took their lives and their work to the countryside, to the movement’s Scottish architects, and finally to the houses of the Garden Cities and suburbs built through the movement’s last decade before the First World War. The book features the great houses of some forty of the movement’s most renowned architects, including Philip Webb, R. Norman Shaw, E.S. Prior, William Lethaby, C.F.A. Voysey, Edgar Wood, Ernest Gimson, the Barnsley brothers, C.R. Ashbee, M.H. Baillie Scott, Edwin Lutyens, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Robert Lorimer, Parker and Unwin, and many others.
As Morris famously said, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
The monumental complex of St Agnes is located on the Via Nomentana in the north-east of Rome. The site consists of an underground cemetery (catacombs), the remains of the ancient circiform sepulchral basilica, commissioned by the imperial family of emperor Constantine, the mausoleum dedicated to St Constance and the basilica of St Agnes Outside the Walls, built by Pope Honorius I (625-638) on the small room with an altar, venerated as the burial place of the martyr Agnes.
The mausoleum dedicated to St Constance, which houses the remains of the imperial princess Constantine, is a splendid example of late antique architecture. The deambulatory is covered by a sumptuous mosaic decoration with Hellenised geometric motifs and cosmic-seasonal phytomorphic and zoomorphic elements, symbolic scenes such as the harvest and portraits of historical figures.
The basilica of St Agnes, until the beginning of the 17th century, was below ground and to reach the ground floor a staircase was used. The basilica still retains many elements unchanged from the time of Pope Honorius: the splendid reused roman columns, the famous mosaic showing Agnes between Honorius I and Pope Symmachus, and the Proconnesian marble and porphyry facing of the apse… Above the high altar is the statue of St. Agnes, made by Nicolas Cordier from gilded metal, using an ancient oriental alabaster for the bust.
1000 piece puzzle featuring the artwork of Sarah Cain.
Sarah Cain brings rooms to life with experiments in color, composition, and non-conformity. Cain modifies canvases by cutting, sewing, and attaching found objects. She also paints floors, walls, and furniture on-site, grounding each space she occupies in the present tense. Her process of creation and destruction is steeped in the history of painting and feminist art practices. and this feeling (2023), incorporates sand and prisms to add a touch of found-object energy to planes of pure color and are typical of Cain’s boundless approach to art.
A 1,000-piece puzzle featuring the artwork of Simone Johnson.
Bodega cats are as essential to New York City as the subway! The skyscrapers! The yellow cabs! Bodega cats are cute, sure, but really, they’re around to keep mice out of bodegas, which are mainstays of NYC culture. Simone Johnson is their eager and gifted portraitist, capturing them at work—which is to say, napping on crates of fruits, stacks of canned beans, and amidst twelve packs of beer, one eye always open for intruders.
Joan Mitchell, an extraordinary figure in 20th-century art, remains one of the most celebrated painters of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Born in 1925, in Chicago, Illinois, she grew to redefine abstraction, blending emotional intensity with lyrical beauty. Her work, characterized by dynamic brushstrokes, vivid colors, and profound emotional depth, established her as a towering presence in a predominantly male art world.
Joan Mitchell had 13 dogs. Georges du Soleil, a black poodle, was one of Joan Mitchell’s beloved canine companions. Known for her deep affection for animals, Mitchell treasured Georges as a constant presence in her life during her years in France. Georges, like her other pets, was more than just a companion; he was part of the vibrant, dynamic environment that nourished her creativity and her ability to channel emotion into her art.
“Dogs are objects of love (I suppose people could be? Sometimes)” wrote Joan Mitchell.
From her first dog, the adored Georges du Soleil, to Skye Terriers Idée, Isabelle, and Ibertelle (“Bertie”), Brittany Spaniel Patou, German Shepherds Iva, Marion, and Madeleine, and not forgetting Prunelle and Belle-Bête; all of them cherished companions in her life and work, all of them celebrated here. Joan Mitchell and her dogs: a love story.
The male body plays a glorious leading role in the work of Michelangelo. Known for his strong and muscular nudes, his precise anatomical drawings and beautiful androgynous figures, it is well known that Michelangelo also expressed interest in the male body on a more personal level.
This book is the first to carefully explore the male body in the work and life of Michelangelo. Renowned art historians address the topic from different angles: from the influence of anatomical studies and Classical Antiquity on his work, his adoration of the body of Christ, his adherence to Neoplatonic ideas of perfection and beauty, to his personal preference for the young male body and the exceptional artworks this resulted in.
Mixing Roman and medieval roots, Chichester sits at the heart of a storied landscape where South Down hills dotted with idyllic hamlets ripple back from a shoreline mixing wild dune-backed beaches with old-school seaside resorts. Reminders of smuggling and war add spice.
But a thrilling thread of modernity runs through this slice of West Sussex too. Chichester’s modernist Festival Theatre provided the foundation for London’s National Theatre, while masterpieces of contemporary architecture that draw admirers from around the world include Sea Lane House in East Preston and The White Tower in Bognor Regis.
Evocative ancient memorials abound. Chichester is blessed with the only English cathedral visible from the sea, while England’s largest castle rises above the ravishing – and cosmopolitan – riverside town of Arundel. Ancient yew trees mark the burial spots of Viking warriors in an idyllic Downland spot. And it’s a land vibrant with creative imprints: poets, painters, composers, from Blake and Keats to Joyce and Chagall.
This guidebook takes you exploring through Chichester and its surroundings to find incomparable natural beauty, hidden secrets, astonishing history, art of all kinds, and much more.
1000 piece puzzle featuring the artwork of acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist Pedro Pedro.
Pedro Pedro paints vividly colored still lifes that look as if each object could suddenly spring from the canvas. His subjects -often bountiful clusters of fruit -are exaggerated in their tone, scale, and perspective, recalling the exuberant fantasies of Peter Saul and the bulbous forms of Fernando Botero. Pedro began working in this bright style after moving from New York City to Los Angeles in 2015, influenced by the more relaxed environment. Pedro has exhibited widely, including solo shows at The Hole, where his 2023 exhibition Table, Fruits, Flowers and Cakes explored themes of consumption and restraint. His work has also been featured in group shows including with Anat Ebgi and Nicodim galleries.