International Realism: The 17th & 18th ARC International Salons celebrates the winners and finalists from two successive ARC International Salon competitions in one book. Both the 17th and 18th ARC International Salons are featured in detail with over 500 artworks from each, all beautifully reproduced in a reversible layout. Categories include Animals, Drawing, Figurative, Fully From Life, Imaginative Realism, Plein Air, Portraiture, Still Life, Sculpture, Landscape and a Teen Category for outstanding works by teenage entrants, as well as multiple special awards, magazine awards and more.

The Art Renewal Center (ARC) is a non-profit educational foundation, dedicated to encouraging rigorous skill-based training in the methods of the old masters. The ARC International Salon is the world’s largest and most prestigious realist art competition. Showcasing artists from across the globe, these pages represent an extraordinary example of humanity’s ability to come together and communicate through art. 

Chintz explores the historic importance of Indian printed and painted cotton textiles, drawing on the Karun Thakar Collection. Assembled over thirty years, the collection comprises over two hundred examples, many of which have featured in significant museum exhibitions. With contributions from leading scholars and curators, including from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this book examines the historical significance of Indian printed cottons and their influence on global trade from the 14th century onward, and includes examples found in Sri Lanka, Japan and throughout Europe. The book provides insights into the artistry of Indian designers and the enduring legacy of this textile tradition, making it a valuable resource for those with an interest in art history, textile design and global cultural exchange.

The story of the discovery of the 55 most important colors in creative man’s existence from prehistoric times to the present, written from the artist’s perspective. Monica Rotgans describes the many dyes and pigments that humans have turned into paint and color, and how to recognize them.

Learn all about red mercury, white lead, blue glass, black kohl, pink louse, yellow earth, brown asphalt, green arsenic, and much more. A richly illustrated and accessibly written book about the origins and growth of the painter’s palette.

This book will accompany the first major solo exhibition of Douglas Gordon’s work in Scotland since he presented his now celebrated work, 24 Hour Psycho at Tramway in Glasgow in 1993. Gordon is one of a number of Glasgow-trained artists who came to prominence in the 1990s. He has gone on to achieve huge international recognition, marked by major awards, including the Turner Prize in 1996, and by exhibitions in museums in Europe and America. Gordon works with film, video, photographs, objects and texts, examining issues such as memory and identity, good and evil, life and death. He makes great play with the doubling of images often in positive and negative or in mirrored form. This book will show all the important aspects of Gordon’s work, both past and present. In addition, it will be specially tailored to bring out the particularly Scottish nature of Gordon’s ideas and practice. The exhibition book will contain essays by the exhibition curator, Keith Hartley, senior curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Dr Holger Broeker, Kunstmuseum; Dr Jaroslav Andel of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Prague and an essay by the renowned Scottish author, Ian Rankin.

a+u 19:04 is our first monograph dedicated to Coussée and Goris Architects, a practice established twenty years ago in Ghent, Belgium. Marc Dubois, an accomplished Belgian architect, provides a concise overview of the architecture landscape in Belgium and the role the two architects have played in its development Interviewing Ralf Coussée and Klaas Goris, we learn that architecture to them is about metaphors. They seek to work them into their projects by referring to a collection of postcards, artworks, and texts which represent memories they have of different experiences. This process develops designs that at first glance may look conservative but a deeper look reveals the close attention they pay to details and materials with respect to the structure and place. Including photographs taken by Hisao Suzuki, this monograph explores the stories behind each building through the eyes of Coussée and Goris. Text in English and Japanese. Contents: Feature – Coussée and Goris Interview – Architecture as Metaphors: Ralf Coussée, Klaas Goris Works: Cortex House; Youth and Recreation Domain in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo; Crematorium Hofheide; Transfo Zwevegem; Kanaal; De Krook; Zwin; Palisade House; Zeno X Gallery; Lindenlei; Ligy and Katrien; The Edge; Van Gendthallen; Portus; Dongon; Barn. Essay – Between Concept and Location: Marc Dubois

Documentary photographer William E. Crawford spent three decades documenting Vietnam, and in particular Hanoi, its people and the surrounding countryside. As one of the very first Western photographers to work in post-war North Vietnam, Crawford was drawn back to the country numerous times at regular intervals between 1985 and 2015 to record this fascinating country’s culture, people, and society with beautiful, compelling and intimate photographs, concentrating on colonial and indigenous architecture, urban details, portraits, and landscapes. In 1986, the Vietnam’s Communist leadership began to shift from a Soviet-style central planning model toward free-market economic reforms. As a result, Hanoi has been transformed over the last three decades, becoming an example of how traditional Asian and developing cities have often been torn down or allowed to crumble – only to re-emerge in a ‘modernized’ form. Unlike photo-journalism, which is interested in the theatre of the moment, Crawford’s evocative and powerful photography chronicles life throughout Hanoi and its surroundings over the course of the last three decades. Filled with full-color photographs and informative essays on his experiences and the people he encountered, Crawford’s work – showcased in this beautifully presented volume – provides a unique visual catalogue of the evolution of a city and its inhabitants, and particularly the complex historical area known as The 36 Streets.

“Erudite, while still being fun to read.” — Professor Tim Neild, physiologist and medical educator

“A triumph of Social History in the Georgian period.” — Dr Nigel Cooke FRCP, physician and ceramic historian

This is the first biography and reference book dedicated to Samuel Percy, a modeler who produced an impressive oeuvre of wax portraits and tableaux in the mid-to-late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Based in part on the author’s own substantial collection of Percy waxes, this book follows Percy from his beginnings in Dublin, at the Dublin Society Drawing Schools, working with the famed statuary John Van Nost; to England, where he journeyed from town to town, putting advertisements in regional newspapers. These revealing advertisements have been gathered here for the first time, in order to track his travels. Whether taking the likeness of Princess Charlotte of Wales, or falling victim to a highway robber in Birmingham, these fragments of Percy’s history paint a fascinating picture of his life as a wandering artisan. As well as a chronological narrative of Percy’s life, this book commits an entire chapter to an area of his work that has never been studied before: his miniature tableaux. These portray various subjects, both religious and secular, from Christ on the Cross to playing children. They are catalogued in an appendix, and almost thirty are illustrated. Based entirely on original research, Mr. Percy: Portrait Modeller in Coloured Wax features over a hundred illustrations, celebrating both Percy’s accomplishments and the works of other modellers for comparison.

Italian sculptor Davide Rivalta seeks out wild animals in their natural habitat and in captivity, then creates sculptures in bronze that capture their energy, otherness, and power. This book documents an exhibition at the Forte di Belvedere in Florence, where Rivalta turns the gallery and garden into a savannah with life-size buffalos, eagles, wolves, and a rhinoceros. Site-specific wall drawings of large birds highlight another artistic practice that the artist uses to explore the untamed essence of the animal world. His works are on show in permanent exhibitions in various cities, both in Italy and abroad, and have been shown in many art galleries and museums.

In September 1939, thousands of German soldiers were turned loose on Poland. In 1940, they descended on Holland, Belgium and France. In 1941 they went to the Balkans, and then to the USSR. Armed with Leica and Rolleiflex cameras, some of these soldiers were officially commissioned as photographers, while others were asked by their commanders to snap records of events. Among them were trainees who knew about the Bauhaus, and other, older, men who could remember Weimar. Some excelled at formal portraiture, others were storytellers, stylists or humanists who wept at what they saw. The style and content of their work changed along with the collective mood after 1942, a change that is discernible in the photographs themselves. Celebrated author and art historian Ian Jeffrey – author of How to Read a Photograph and The Photography Book – has trawled through these albums, picking out the most compelling of these works to create an intimate record of anonymous lives experiencing the unprecedented.

The February issue of a+u is our first monograph dedicated to the architectural practice of Toshiko Mori. Based in New York, the Japanese native founded Toshiko Mori Architect (TMA) in 1981. The issue also features essays by: Fred A. Bernstein, an architecture journalist; Edward Eigen, a historian and scholar of European and Anglo-American landscapes in the 19th century; and Sean Kelly, one of Mori’s clients and an art gallery owner. These essays reflect the various strengths and calibre of the architect and her practice. Eighteen representative works after the year 2000, of which nine are residences, are featured in this issue, alongside site photographs and survey maps.

Text in English and Japanese.

“Anyone who always wanted to know about the Rolls-Royce factory in Goodwood, it can all be found here thanks to high-quality images from photographer Mariona Vilarós, who has captured every production step in detail.” — Octane
Step inside a world of engineering excellence with this collection, dedicated to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The authors were granted unique access by the Rolls-Royce company. Detailed descriptions of the manufacturing process are set against a backdrop of heritage and prestige,including an exclusive showcase of the company’s manufacturing facility and a splendid gallery of Rolls-Royce cars dating back to sketches of work from the1930s. This collection includes numerous unseen photos of Sir Henry Royce driving early versions of his iconic cars.

A true behind-the-scenes experience, this book introduces the reader to the Rolls-Royce master craftsmen at work.High-quality images and detailed insights reveal the process by which each caris constructed, from the 2019 Ghost Zenith back in time to the 1904 Original.Rolls-Royce opens their archive to reveal a spectacular timeline of design, providing readers with an insight into the world of those who still uphold the words of Sir Henry Royce: “Strive for perfection in everything you do”.

The contents list guides the reader through the complete construction of a car: Design and Customisation, Paint and Finish,Chassis Assembly, Woodwork, Leather, Testing, The Spirit of Ecstasy Hood Ornament, and more. With a glimpse at the Rolls- Royce Training Academy and a plethora of featured cars from last year to the start of the last century, this is the ultimate Rolls-Royce collectors’ volume. Featured cars include the new Ghost (2020), the Phantom Tranquility (2019), Phantom Aviator Coupe (2012), the Phantom II Continental (1934), the AX201 Silver Ghost (1907), and many more.

“The richness of the illustrations in this larger format enables us to better appreciate the intricacy of her illuminated manuscripts, the tonal subtleties of Traquair’s tooled leather book bindings and the processional scale of her muraled interiors.” — Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History
A fully updated and expanded edition of the definitive study of Phoebe Anna Traquair.

This is a compelling account of the life and career of Phoebe Anna Traquair, a leading figure in Britain’s Arts and Crafts movement. The new edition features new research about her artistic practice, materials and technique as well as her intellectual life, including her correspondence with John Ruskin. Her total commitment to the place of art in her daily life is revealed alongside new details on her family and social life.

Traquair was remarkable for her openness to all types of art, and worked in a range of media including embroidery, enamels, illuminated manuscripts and murals. This new edition features 120 illustrations including new discoveries, as well as some of her most famous and best-loved works.
Beautifully illustrated and featuring the artist’s own words, this book is at once a fascinating biography and an artistic study of one of Scotland’s first professional women artists.

Robert Konieczny, founder and principal of KWK Promes, in Poland, specializes in projects renowned for ingenious concepts and unique design. His works examine closely the nature and interpretations of spatial journeys for the viewer or those who inhabit the space, be it for residential works, public buildings, or international cultural festivals and exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale. The firm’s work especially with kinetic architecture fuses seamless design principles with inventive concepts, namely movable structures that both catch light and create a uniquely experiential environment. A leader in industry innovation, Konieczny and KWK Promes was awarded the World Architecture Festival Award for the best building in 2016.

“Our designs are shaped by logic. Inside these pages we showcase a unique and detailed précis that narrates the story of the concepts behind our buildings.” — Robert Konieczny
“The ideas expressed by Robert Konieczny are quite radical and surprising—his forms are unexpected, and often closed or heavy at first sight. Though the Polish context, in terms of climate, history, and sociology may imply such solutions, KWK has laid out a series of concepts that could readily be applied to other places, surely generating other types of buildings. This is not a style so much as it is an intellectual construct.” — Philip Jodidio

A unique insight into the ways in which one of today’s leading artists is inspired by great works of the past. In 16 emphatically modern new paintings, renowned artist, Alison Watt, responds to the remarkable delicacy of the female portraits by eighteenth-century Scottish portraitist, Allan Ramsay. Watt’s new works are particularly inspired by Ramsay’s much-loved portrait of his wife, along with less familiar portraits and drawings. Watt shines a light on enigmatic details in Ramsay’s work and has created paintings which hover between the genres of still life and portraiture. In conversation with curator Julie Lawson, Watt discusses how painters look at paintings, explains why Ramsay inspired her, and provides unique insight into her own creative process. Andrew O’Hagan responds to Watt’s paintings with a new work of short fiction and art historian Tom Normand’s commentary explores further layers of depth to our understanding of both artists.

From multi-colored patchwork identities from collaged faces, via dot-by-dot murals or wildly patterned paper impressions of monuments to fragmented smartphones as gravure plates – the two find new, specific forms of expression in each of their series of works. The love of paper cannot be overlooked and the first book itself is long overdue. Just in time for Various & Gould’s anniversary exhibition in Berlin’s Urban Spree Gallery, this monograph presents the breadth of their work, deepened by essays by selected authors.

Text in English and German.

“It’s very hard for me to accept that Sukita-san has been snapping away at me since 1972, but that really is the case. I suspect that it’s because whenever he’s asked me to do a session, I conjure up in my mind’s eye the sweet, creative and big-hearted man who has always made these potentially tedious affairs so relaxed and painless. May he click into eternity.” – David Bowie

For Sukita, the creative mastermind behind the iconic cover for David Bowie’s album ‘Heroes’, photography is an expression of a ‘fundamental secret’ shared between artists: a spiritual communication that transcends the minutiae of language. Born and raised in Kyushu, Japan, Sukita’s reverence of American and Western counter-culture lured him to New York and London. He immersed himself in the western music scene which he loved, while his relaxed photo sessions endeared him to many celebrity figures, including David Bowie and Iggy Pop (with both of whom Sukita had a 40-year long professional relationship), Marc Bolan, and Japanese musician Hotei, best known for his work on the Kill Bill soundtrack. His work spans the early US and UK seventies rock scene, the London punk-rock era to the present crop of emerging Japanese rock artists.

This photo book is the first time the photographer has collaborated on a major retrospective of his career and includes some of his early documentary work and his rarely-seen travel and street photography. It introduces the artist through two essays that explore his place within the wider context of both Western and Japanese photography, presented alongside the many iconic shots of both Western and Japanese artists that earned him his eternal reputation.

“Bruce Springsteen in All His Rock Star Glory.” —Janet Macoska, The Daily Beast

“Two careers were born on that cold night in 1974. Macoska would blossom into one of the most notable rock ‘n’ roll photographers of the last 50 years. And Springsteen was on his way to becoming The Boss.” —Jay Crawford and Meg Hambach, wkyc3

“…Live In The Heartland covers almost five decades of touring from The Boss, and also includes set-lists and corresponding editorial content. The majority of the photos are previously unseen.” —Classic Rock Magazine

“There’s only one boss of rock ‘n’ roll.”  —Tria Wen, Reader’s Digest

“… an energetic and moving visual tour that records the romance between The Boss and the Cleveland stages.” —GQ Mexico

Five decades of blue-jeans, down-to-earth rock ‘n’ roll. Five decades of poetic, authentic performances, political commentary, global tours and even a Broadway show. Bruce Springsteen hasn’t just left an impact on the surface of modern music, he helped shape its foundations.

From the early beginnings in 1974 to the seminal Born in the USA – one of the best-selling albums of all time – to the 2016 River Tour, the highest grossing tour of the year, Springsteen has a truly timeless appeal, captured here by lauded rock photographer, Janet Macoska. Macoska charts Springsteen through the ages. Through her lens we witness his enduring energy on the stage, from 1974 to 2016. Here is Springsteen at his finest: a down-to-earth superstar, whose powerful performances stand the test of time.

“Bruce would rip his heart out and give it to his audience. He put everything into his performance. He was all over the stage, and the whole rest of the band was in lockstep, complimenting that energy. It was going out to the audience in bundles. We were sending it back , too, and that’s really electric. That energy, those visuals? Photographers love that. It’s perfect to have something like that to photograph.” – Janet Macoska

In 1542 Pope Paolo III Farnese, with the approval of Michelangelo, commissioned to Perino del Vaga (1501–1547) a tapestry basement for the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel (Vatican).

The Spalliera was never completed, but its model, painted on canvas, was later acquired by cardinal Bernardino Spada to be placed in his roman palace (now Galleria Spada), where it was used in radically different fashion as a frieze, completed with parts by other artists.

The book is the first in-depth study of this work and of its significance in Perino’s artistic career, marked by an intense dialog with Michelangelo’s art. It also explores the importance attributed by Michelangelo to decoration, apparently antithetical to the heroic dimension for which he is celebrated

The reception of the Spalliera by different artists is studied through a group of drawings deriving from it and lasting until the baroque age, as attested by Rubens.

“It is a feast for the senses to leaf through this book …” — Lovely Books Germany

Audrey Hepburn once said “I never thought I’d land in pictures with a face like mine.” Nothing could be further from the truth. As one of the 20th century’s most loved icons, her face is instantly recognizable the world over. Here, for the first time, ACC Art Books and Iconic Images proudly present the work of six wonderful photographers – Norman Parkinson, Milton H. Greene, Douglas Kirkland, Lawrence Fried, Terry O’Neill and Eva Sereny – who were fortunate enough to capture the star at different moments of her life. In addition, former Curator of Photographs for the National Portrait Gallery and co-curator of the Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon exhibition, Terence Pepper, opens up his personal archive of vintage press prints, making this ode to Hepburn truly unique. Throughout the book, Douglas Kirkland, Terry O’Neill and Eva Sereny share their memories of working with the icon. They present a wonderful mix of on-set, fashion, portrait and behind-the-scenes photographs, including contact sheets and never-before-seen images. With an introduction by Terence Pepper, Always Audrey is sure to delight any Hepburn fan.