NEW from ACC Art Books – Limited Edition: Sukita: EternityClick here to order

“The London Youth Portraits (ACC Art Books), a sumptuous collection of never-before-seen photographs of punks, skinheads, New Romantics, goths, ravers, and fetishists.” Huck Magazine

“A new edit of a beloved classic.”Marc Jacobs Instagram

“Across 176 pages, the oversized volume documents Ridgers’ vision of England’s seminal youth culture from the height of punk to the birth of acid house, each image a tribute to the trials and triumphs of youth.” — 10 Magazine

‘As time passes, this kind of observational photography attains a new importance’Sean O’Hagan, The Observer

‘Ridgers’ portraits of young boys and girls are weighted with a raw poetry and beauty’ Cory Reynolds, artbook.com

Between 1978 and 1987, renowned British photographer Derek Ridgers captured London youth culture in all its glory. With skinheads, punks and new romantics, in clubs and on the street, his images have come to define a seminal decade of British subculture.

Broadly based on the now out of print book 78/87 London Youth, this showcases a completely fresh selection of images from the depths of Ridgers’ exceptional archive – including many previously unseen – beautifully printed and bound in an oversized volume.

Each picture is a tribute to the trials and triumphs of youth, and a precious document of style and culture in 1980s England, from the height of punk to the birth of acid house. Several have been exhibited internationally in cities as far-ranging as Moscow, Adelaide and Beverly Hills, in the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Somerset House. Ridgers has also collaborated with a number of major fashion houses, including Saint Laurent and Gucci, and his images continue to inspire photographers, artists and fashion designers around the world.

“This is a reissue of a sought after classic that has stood the test of time, and this new edition now stands as a testament to its creators and an age that has passed.” —  Black + White Photography Magazine

“Soho Night & Day is that rare beast of a ‘back in the day’ photo essay that’s twinned with vital prose — the two pulling equal weight.” — The Londonist

“My London is Soho” — Frank Norman

For as long as anyone can remember, Soho has been the fluttering heart of London. Its storied pubs, shops, trattorias, gambling dens and nightclubs are every bit as alive as the millions of tourists, locals and crosstown visitors who crowd the streets all year round. People from all walks of life are made and unmade in Soho, and few knew it better than Frank Norman and Jeffrey Bernard. Writers and raconteurs, the pair haunted Soho’s establishments for much of their lives. While Bernard was renowned for his Low Life column in the Spectator, these pages collect his photos of the Soho he loved, with insightful commentary from Norman, an acclaimed novelist in his own right. Soho Night & Day is an authentic and very personal portrait of a special time and place, telling the tale of Soho in the ’60s.

This new edition is embellished with an introduction by Barry Miles, as well as Jeffrey Bernard’s moving obituary for Frank Norman.

“I have never read a text which goes even half as far as this one in expressing the particular poignancy which lay at the heart of the impressionist movement. I say this as an art critic. As a novelist I would simply like to pay my tribute to the mastery of language, portraiture and storytelling which Figes has now at her command.” – John Berger
“A small masterpiece” – Susan Hill
“A luminous prose poem” – Joyce Carol Oates

This shimmering novel is an extraordinary portrait of a day in the life of an artist at work and at home. In prose as luminous as the colors Monet is using to portray his garden, Eva Figes guides us from dawn (‘midnight blueblack growing grey and misty’) through midday (‘the sun was high now… shrinking what little shadow remained, fading colors, the pink rambler roses on the fence by the railway track looked almost white’) to evening (‘the tide of shadows rising as the sunset glow faded outside.’) Monet’s wife, grieving for a lost daughter; a living daughter, fretting that she will not be able to marry the man she loves; their friend the abbé, eating and drinking with them; two children playing, closest to Monet in the freshness and certainty of their vision; all experiencing in different ways the richness of the light that Monet works unceasingly to pin down in his last, great paintings.

“Legendary Bruce Springsteen photographer’s iconic travel images showcased in lavish new coffee-table book, from storms in South Dakota to penguins in Antarctica.” —  The Daily Mail

“… a dazzling collection that bursts with vibrant colours and energy. This book is more than just a visual feast; it’s a journey into the stories behind each photograph, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look.” —  Digital Photographer Magazine

“This richly designed monograph is both a masterclass in color photography and a deeply personal reflection on a life spent chasing light.” — About Photography

Multi-award-winning photographer Eric Meola is a master of using color and light in photography, creating vivid, evocative, and graphic images. From his famous “Coca Kid” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” album cover to his Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023, Meola has had an extraordinary five-decade career.

Bending Light: The Moods of Color is a retrospective bursting with color. It features 100 iconic photographs from Meola’s editorial, advertising, and personal work, as well as his recent experiments with color abstracts. Meola also takes readers behind the lens to reveal the stories and anecdotes behind the creation of each image. Through this intimate and personal account of his creative process and self-expression, the photographer examines his use of color, its symbolism, and how it affects our moods.

For professional and aspiring photographers, and people who appreciate photography, art, and a colorful perspective of the world, this extraordinary collection of images, captured over more than fifty years, showcases why Meola is considered a true innovator in color photography.

“Most photographers have a style and a favourite subject, but few are as synonymous with their chosen field as Anouk Krantz, who is known for her spectacular – and immensely popular – black & white studies of cowboy culture.” Black & White Photography Magazine

“Incredible photos capture modern-day cowboys throughout the USA and South America and reveal ‘humanity at its best’.” — Daily Mail

“…fascinating and expansive photo project on the many manifestations of cowboy culture, encompassing the North American cowboy that’s forever enshrined in popular culture, the Central American ‘vaquero’ and the South American ‘gaucho.’” Amateur Photographer Magazine

“…a stunning photographic journey uncovering a hidden world of modern cowboy culture.” — Cultural Union

In Anouk Masson Krantz’s most expansive work to date, she travels tens of thousands of miles across the Americas, broadening her focus from the United States to both American continents. In her exquisite, large-scale photographs – all new for this book – Anouk captures sweeping landscapes and paints an intimate portrait of the enduring cross-boundary legacies of the North American cowboy, Central American vaquero, and South American gaucho. Her time spent at ranches and rodeos across The Americas has culminated in a magnificent book honouring a way of life many around the world dream of but rarely have experienced first-hand. Frontier builds upon Anouk’s renowned body of work with her bestselling Wild Horses of Cumberland Island (2017); West: The American Cowboy (2019); American Cowboys (2021); and Ranchland (2022). Her stunning black and white, large-scale photographs capture a culture deeply rooted in principled, timeless values, sacrifice, strength, and self-reliance. From stunning panoramas to the intimate everyday lives of working cowboys and their families, Frontier is a must-have addition to her impressive body of work.

Bernie Taupin, Oscar winner, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and long-time song-writing collaborator with Elton John, has contributed an exceptional foreword.

“There’s an honesty and integrity in these images that parlays all the elements of what it means to exist outside the boundaries of conformity and confinement. The rebel spirit, the rugged individualism, and the absolute unapologetic rhythm of history. This is stunning work—a true testament to the men and women who are the anvil on which America’s backbone was forged.” —Bernie Taupin

In Anouk Masson Krantz’s most expansive work to date, she travels tens of thousands of miles across the Americas, broadening her focus from the United States to both American continents. In her exquisite, large-scale photographs – all new for this book – Anouk captures sweeping landscapes and paints an intimate portrait of the enduring cross-boundary legacies of the North American cowboy, Central American vaquero, and South American gaucho. Her time spent at ranches and rodeos across The Americas has culminated in a magnificent book honouring a way of life many around the world dream of but rarely have experienced first-hand. Frontier builds upon Anouk’s renowned body of work with her bestselling Wild Horses of Cumberland Island (2017); West: The American Cowboy (2019); American Cowboys (2021); and Ranchland (2022). Her stunning black and white, large-scale photographs capture a culture deeply rooted in principled, timeless values, sacrifice, strength, and self-reliance. From stunning panoramas to the intimate everyday lives of working cowboys and their families, Frontier is a must-have addition to her impressive body of work.

Bernie Taupin, Oscar winner, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and long-time song-writing collaborator with Elton John, has contributed an exceptional foreword.

“There’s an honesty and integrity in these images that parlays all the elements of what it means to exist outside the boundaries of conformity and confinement. The rebel spirit, the rugged individualism, and the absolute unapologetic rhythm of history. This is stunning work—a true testament to the men and women who are the anvil on which America’s backbone was forged.” —Bernie Taupin

Also available in a standard edition Frontier ISBN 9781864709810, £70.00.

‘Beauty is the beacon of God,’ said Botticelli. ‘No, it’s not. Love is,’ snapped his sister.

Beauty: Botticelli in Florence imagines what Botticelli was feeling and thinking as he painted. The people he loved and despised, his private struggle between spirituality and sensuality, the tempestuous times he lived through – all come to life in his images…

The novel is a speculation based on the few facts known about Botticelli, informed by his paintings. There are many surprises. The Birth of Venus was a tapestry design. And his famed self-portrait didn’t depict him (as widely believed) but Pierfrancesco de Medici, who sued his powerful cousin Lorenzo for robbing him, abolished Florence’s homophobic witch-hunts, funded Vespucci’s journey to the New World and commissioned Botticelli’s most famous works. There was boiling tension between him and Botticelli.

This is the first in a sequence of illustrated ‘painting novels’ that make sights as telling as words.

Step back in time to the captivating world of 16th-century Europe with this compelling portrait of Margaret of Parma, governor of the Netherlands for Philip II of Spain, and a woman who left an indelible mark on history. Through vivid storytelling and meticulous research, this book delves into the life and legacy of Margaret, shedding light on her influence and contributions to the tumultuous political landscape of her era. From exhilarating falcon hunts to lavish feasts, intricate etiquette, and the complexities of dress codes, readers are transported to a time of opulence and intrigue. With profound reflections on customs and traditions, this captivating narrative offers a rich tapestry of life in the Renaissance court.

Within the possibilities of her role, she tried to prevent war and bloodshed. Religious conflicts would divide Europe for more than another century. Margaret of Parma’s story is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) remains arguably the most powerful artist in the Western canon. Painter, sculptor, architect, poet, he redefined both the possibilities of the imagination and the image of the artist. In 1550, he became the first artist to be the subject of a biography within their own lifetime, presented by Giorgio Vasari as the divinely inspired culmination of the history of art. Dissatisfied with Vasari’s treatment, Michelangelo encouraged his close friend and fellow-painter Ascanio Condivi to publish a rival biography. Condivi’s Life is an impassioned, intimate portrait, giving an unparalleled picture of the master’s life, work and personality. This compelling narrative of genius and its struggles in the treacherous world of Papal politics and Italian wars remains one of the most fascinating and influential texts in art history. This edition reproduces the long unavailable translation by Charles Holroyd and has 49 pages of illustrations covering the span of Michelangelo’s achievement.

What Denis Rouvre admires about Sâdhus is the way they are in the world, the way they respond to the world, and the way they carry the burden of parallel paths. In non-identity toward extinction, they resist the necessity of their birth. They are born to die, to no longer exist. Every day, individuals defy their common destiny. Among the people whose portraits are exhibited by photographers, we are referring to those who, by their own will and courage, place themselves among the gods.

Shot over three years from 2019 to 2022, Thank You For Playing With Me by Yolanda Y. Liou is an intimate look at two plus-size models, Enam Ewura Adjoa Asiama and Vanessa Russell. Liou first came across Asiama’s Instagram in 2019 and was blown away by her confidence and charisma. It was the type of confidence that Liou struggled to have about her own body due to her upbringing in Taiwan. “Growing up in Taiwan, I was consistently exposed to the relentless beauty standards that prioritised being skinny… This obsession led me to believe that I was never beautiful enough, and consequently, I felt unworthy of love. I constantly sought ways to conform, believing that only then would I be accepted and appreciated.” Liou’s main aim with this photo book is to help people embrace their individuality.

“…I was pretty sure I had seen it all and would not find anything new in the book. I am delighted to report I was wrong.”Marion Fasel, The Adventurine
“…
a combination of excellent photographic professionalism and the infinite beauty of the star, who together gave birth to a real work of art.” – Di Redazione, Harper’s Bazaar Italia

“An extraordinary collection of photographs that celebrates one of Hollywood’s most iconic faces.” – Donato D’Aprile, L’Officiel Italy

“An intimate look at a Hollywood icon.” Closer

“Bling, boobs & booze: She was famous for her diamonds, her tempestuous love for Richard Burton and her luminous acting. Now, a book of iconic images peels away the layers to reveal the woman behind the legend.”Roger Lewis, Daily Mail

Elizabeth Taylor was the face of classic Hollywood. As one of the 20th century’s most loved stars, her image is instantly recognizable the world over. ACC Art Books and Iconic Images proudly present the work of eight wonderful photographers — Douglas Kirkland, Milton Greene, Gered Mankowitz, Norman Parkinson, Eva Sereny, Terry O’Neill, Gary Bernstein and Greg Brennan — who were fortunate enough to capture the star at different moments of her life. Throughout the book, the photographers share their memories of working with the icon, from patient pursuits to charming persuasion, each enlightening us with an inside view of what it was like to work with such an icon. The book presents a mix of set, fashion, portrait and behind-the-scenes photographs, including some rare and never-before-seen images. Forever Elizabeth is a visual tribute from some of the world’s best-known photographers to a star who continues to captivate our hearts.

“Turning the pages of this encyclopedia of golden parties, a nostalgia emanates from the clichés and plunges us into the evening of the stars at the Oscars…” Harper’s Bazaar France

“With his new collection of photographs, Dafydd Jones offers a sensational dive into the excitement of the awards season in the 1990s.” —  Vanity Fair France

“… a rare collection of candid moments that reveal the deepest aspects of the personalities of the world’s most famous people.” — Vogue Greece

“These images, taken before the turn of the century, give us a snapshot into the rise of America’s future movers and shakers, when mobile phones were in their infancy, Facebook had yet to be created, and the hit TV series Succession hadn’t even occurred to a twenty-something Jesse Armstrong.”  The Independent

“If you’re interested in celebrity culture, black & white, and of course any of the other work of Dafydd Jones, this comes highly recommended.”Amateur Photography

Hollywood: Confidential is the latest collection of beautifully timed photos from bestselling society photographer Dafydd Jones. Formerly of Tatler and Vanity Fair, Jones is a serial capturer of intimate moments during high-society functions. As famous Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter puts it, when it comes to party photographers, ‘Dafydd Jones is the sniper’s sniper – the best of the best.’

On numerous occasions in the 1990s and 2000s, Jones turned his lens to the faces of Hollywood with all his usual impudence, as they mingled and danced at private events in the Hollywood Hills, Oscar-night parties and awards ceremonies. The result is a rare thing – photographs that convey the underlying personalities of the world’s most public personas.

Following on from England: The Last Hurrah and New York: High Life / Low Life, this is an essential portrait of celebrity culture from behind the scenes, featuring the likes of Anna Nicole Smith, Tom Cruise, Prince, Winona Ryder, Tony Curtis, Oprah, Nicholas Cage and more.

Praise for Dafydd Jones:

“Dafydd catches those moments of genuine exhilaration, wealth and youth.”The Hollywood Reporter

Mr. Jones goes about his business with cheery zest and a wicked eye.”New York Times

“Some carefully tended public images are punctured with such rapier precision that one can hear the hiss as they deflate.”Mitchell Owens, The World of Interiors

“Sublime vintage photographs…”Hermione Eyre, the Telegraph

“Modest though he is, Dafydd’s photographs will endure for having perfectly captured a society on the brink of decline.” – Country & Townhouse podcast

“The New York book is an evocative historical document, brimming with nostalgia and menace.”Hannah Marriott, The Guardian

“The best party photographers, and their numbers are few, are like snipers… Dafydd Jones is the sniper’s sniper – the best of the best.” Graydon Carter, foreword from New York: High Life / Low Life

“Dafydd’s brilliant evocation of a time and a class only seem more potent today, when we know that so many of the moneyed twits in his ’80s portfolio ended up running the country, as they always have”Tina Brown, The New Yorker

In 1987, The Main: Portrait of a Neighborhood (9781550130461) was published and quickly sold out. The critically acclaimed project celebrated the communities around Montreal’s Boulevard Saint Laurent and contributed to the eventual designation of “The Main” as a Canadian heritage landmark.

In 2017, to celebrate the city’s 375th anniversary, the author was invited to re-imagine the original book. Returning to his former neighborhood, his new book weaves old and new photographs with texts and archives, inviting us on a journey into his creative process to reflect on questions of home, identity, time, memory, and the evolving urban landscape, and asking: in a globalized world where people and cities are in constant movement, what happens to places and memories? Can we go home again?

Text in English and French.

Building on her Forget Me Not series (2022), Joëlle Dubois’s work has grown into a trilogy of exhibitions that come together in this monograph as one powerful whole. In this poignant monograph, inspired by her mother’s Alzheimer’s, she explores themes such as loss, grief, memory, and love.

With intimate images ranging from self-portraits to tender scenes with her mother, Dubois unfolds a poetic reflection on connection, identity, and healing. For this series, she also presents impressive sculptural work for the first time, and this book gains an extra dimension with video stills. Dubois offers a raw, honest, and comforting portrait of life, loss, and hope for a new beginning.

With text contributions by, among others, Katrina Schwarz (Whitechapel Gallery, London), Christel Tsilibaris (BOZAR, Brussels), and Patrick Ronse (Be-Part, Kortrijk).

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.

Erwin Olaf – Freedom offers an intimate look at the life and work of Erwin Olaf, one of the Netherlands’ most groundbreaking photographers. Known for his staged, cinematic imagery and bold aesthetic, Olaf’s work explored themes of sexuality, transience, vulnerability, and activism. This book, launching alongside a major Stedelijk Museum exhibition, provides a fresh perspective on his artistic legacy, including unseen works created during his final years.

A tireless advocate for equal rights, Olaf’s photography captured the beauty and struggles of marginalized communities – queer individuals, people of color, those with disabilities, and the everyday person. His final pieces, including Self-Portrait with Lungs (2023), reveal an even deeper personal and artistic reckoning.

With striking imagery and personal insights, Ewin Olaf – Freedom is a powerful tribute to an artist who redefined contemporary photography and left behind a legacy of beauty, defiance, 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 twentieth-century art. His introduction of Cézanne, Van Gogh and Matisse to a British audience played a significant role in a legacy that still inspires today.

 

Often overlooked, Fry was one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century art in Britain, giving a generation of modern 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.

Ayrton Senna is one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers in history. Deified in Brazil, the man from São Paulo continues to fascinate long after his death on May 1, 1994, at the Imola circuit in Italy. Thirty years later, Daniel Ortelli, Thomas Woloch, and photographer Dominique Leroy have delved into Senna’s story, from his debut in Formula 1 in 1984 to his final season with Williams ten years later. Through exclusive interviews and testimonies from those who knew the Brazilian intimately – drivers, team managers, mechanics – the authors provide a truly human portrait of this driver who became a legend in motorsports. His character, strengths, weaknesses, moments of joy, or doubt, all facets of the career of the man known as “Beco” or “Magic,” are revealed in this fascinating book filled with untold stories and anecdotes. The entire narrative is richly illustrated with over 200 rare and unpublished photos by Dominique Leroy, a privileged witness to Ayrton Senna’s career.

“Dafydd Jones’s photographs capture the future establishment at their most unguarded.”FT How To Spend It
Cambridge Balls
is the sensational new book by bestselling social photographer Dafydd Jones. The Cambridge University colleges are renowned for many great alumni and important achievements… and also a series of marathon all-night parties, known as the May Balls, held annually to celebrate the end of the academic year. Dafydd Jones, who according to The New York Times, ‘goes about his business with cheery zest and a wicked eye’, has been granted unique access to this hidden world of revelry since 1981, during which the author of England: The Last Hurrah and Hollywood Confidential has captured an extraordinary tableau of antics and shenanigans now beautifully reproduced on these pages. From former British Prime Minister David Cameron in his Bullingdon coat to victorious rowing teams celebrating into the night, from gate crashers punting across the river to the more international student groups of modern times toasting their successes, this is a fascinating portrait of jubilation among the young, the wealthy and the academic elites of one of the world’s most famous universities.

Praise for England: The Last Hurrah
“Wonderfully ironic, every point in the picture ignites and knows how to entertain very well.”Lovely Books
“Dafydd catches those moments of genuine exhilaration, wealth and youth.”The Hollywood Reporter
Praise for Hollywood Confidential…
“With his new collection of photographs, Dafydd Jones offers a sensational dive into the excitement of the awards season in the 1990s.”Vanity Fair France

Praise for New York: High Life / Low Life
“The New York book is an evocative historical document, brimming with nostalgia and menace.” –– Hannah Marriott, The Guardian
Praise for Dafydd Jones…

“Modest though he is, Dafydd’s photographs will endure for having perfectly captured a society on the brink of decline.” –– Country & Townhouse podcast
“Sublime vintage photographs…” –– Hermione Eyre, The Telegraph
“Some carefully tended public images are punctured with such rapier precision that one can hear the hiss as they deflate.” –– Mitchell Owens, The World of Interiors

A century after Theodore Dreiser and F. Scott Fitzgerald mapped the American Dream’s promise and peril, Lauren Greenfield’s latest photographic monograph, The Queen of Versailles: An American Allegory, arrives in bookstores to visually recapture the origin story behind her hit 2012 documentary film and the 2025 Broadway musical—collectively transforming a documentary mirror onto the national stage, where wealth, overreach, and reality-TV culture converge in one distinctly American aria. Named by The New York Times as “America’s foremost visual chronicler of the plutocracy,” and the best-selling author of four award-winning monographs that incisively deconstruct turn-of-the-century America (Fast Forward, Girl Culture, Thin, Generation Wealth), Greenfield now presents The Queen of Versailles: An American Allegory—the first publication of the complete photographic series from the iconic documentary, featuring essays by Greenfield and longtime collaborator and curator Trudy Wilner-Stack.

The Letting Go is a long-standing, performative, and participatory practice by artist Natascha Stellmach. It explores themes of vulnerability and empowerment. Following a meditation and in response to the question, “What would you like to let go of?”, the practice involves identifying, naming, embodying, and experiencing healing and impermanence through the body. Its method includes ritual tattooing without ink (a bloodline tattoo) to address a personal obstacle and initiate an intimate enquiry.

Over a period of almost 10 years, Stellmach performed more than 120 sessions with individuals in galleries and privately, including herself. Through evocative photography, academic research, and participant-contributed selfies and reflections, the publication invites readers to embrace “the wonder in our wounds” and offers a deeply human portrait of what it means to let go.

The book includes a foreword by acclaimed actor Sandra Hüller, as well as essays by curator and arts writer Kelly Gellatly and psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr. Matthew McArdle.

China, nearly half a century after economic transformation and development, is changing not just itself, but the world around it. The BRI (Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure and economic development program initiated by the Chinese government) promises investments in countries along the ancient overland trading routes between China and the West, with maritime arcs around Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian peninsula, down the eastern coast of Africa and through the Mediterranean. In this book are selected many distinctive, wonderful shots taken in about 21 countries participating in the BRI, covering 50 regions and a distance of over 267,000 kilometers the author visited from early 2023 to late 2025 as photographer. Through words and pictures, he takes the reader on a tour along the new Belt and Road, showing it as it is actually unfolding in the real world across Asia, Central Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa. This book serves as a good observation and thinking of the reality of China today.

British Portuguese Paula Rego (1935–2022) carved out her place in international art history with a self-possessed, uncompromising expression and a burning commitment to fighting oppression and lack of freedom. She grew up in Portugal under António de Oliveira Salazar’s dictatorship, which imposed strong constraints, especially on women’s freedom, and throughout her long career Rego dissected the relationship between gender, the body and power in a dark, fantastical visual language. At a time when authoritarian forces are on the rise across the world and women’s right to control their own bodies is under pressure, her images feel more relevant than ever. The exhibition Paula Rego – Dance Among Thorns presents Rego’s powerful and unsettling body of work in its full breadth. The catalog includes all works on display and a collection of new texts by the exhibition’s curator Kari J. Brandtzæg as well as by Catarina Alfaro, Isabel Freire and Jennifer Higgie. Together, they sketch an intense and nuanced portrait of an artist who never ceased to challenge – whether aesthetically or politically.