“With 240 pages filled with incredible art, the bird lover will enjoy flipping through and taking in the vast distinctions between species in the bird kingdom.” — Prevention
Australian artist Greg Oakley has had a lifelong fascination with birds and bird art, and began photographing birds 20 years ago, progressing from traditional film to digital in the early 2000s. In the past six years, he has worked on perfecting the difficult and exacting area of bird photography known as “setup”, where perches and backgrounds are meticulously crafted and designed, and lighting strictly controlled.

There are sometimes hundreds of individual photographs taken and then digitally combined to create a single work. With a combination of photographic skill, field craft, meticulousness and incredible patience, he removes the subject from its natural environment and context, re-imagining it in a field-guide style reminiscent of the historic bird artists.

Oakley’s photographs represent a reconstructed contemporary vision of important historic artists such as Gould and Audubon. This collection of stunning artwork is a testament to the natural beauty of birds, highlighting the precarious existence of many endangered species and a reminder of the beauty we could lose. By isolating the subject into an unblemished reality, each species’ character and beauty is celebrated with empathy and understanding. The resulting images provide both a rare glimpse in stunning detail of these delicate creatures, and a poignant reminder of the tragic, impending loss of many of them due to habitat loss and climate change.

“I try to create a parallel world where my own aesthetics are there, but with traditional garments.” — Mous Lamrabat in The Guardian

“If there was a trifecta of Mous’s personal passions and pillars to his practice, it would be the power of women, the senselessness of racism, and the beauty of Africa.” — Vogue Arabia

Mousganistan is the first book of the acclaimed Moroccan-born, Belgium-raised artist Mous Lamrabat, encompassing a body of work that has been more than five years in the making. Mousganistan is a celebration of love and freedom, an in-between territory in which opposites collide and create beauty and abundance, new connections and dialogues in a visually thought-provoking and at times confronting way. Encompassing his iconic fashion imagery and personal work, Mousganistan is a journey into the artist’s diasporic life, a joyous and yet intensely sharp portrait of the contact space between cultures, symbols, religions, capitalism and survival. By challenging our expectations of what cultures are, and how they should be portrayed, his images create a space for love, compassion and understanding – allowing us to imagine a possible, different world.

Eternal Moment is testament to transient beauty. Within these pages, Kazuhiro Sugimoto seeks to immortalize the fleeting beauty of some of Earth’s most captivating flora – capturing the flowers’ essence, their vivid colors and delicate blooms in all their glory before they fade away. Every petal and stem lovingly crafted and each design executed with care and in minute detail.

As a Japanese flower designer, Sugimoto’s work incorporates the aesthetics and techniques of Japanese culture, emphasizing the importance of space and simplicity. His designs are striking and dramatic, yet achieved with minimal materials.

After a quarter of a century devoted to creating floral art, Kazuhiro Sugimoto for the first time compiled his most exquisite designs for the world to discover.

Text in English and Japanese.

“Opening it and turning the pages is an invitation to dream, to wonder, and to appreciate the very large emotional size of the natural landscapes in the United States.” — Frames
“The 230 beautifully rendered black & white images in the book provide a compelling tour of America’s wild places and national parks, from Yosemite and Yellowstone to Death Valley and Utah’s Canyonlands to the Hudson Valley in New York and beyond.” — Black & White Photography

“From towering redwoods in California to the remote canyons of Utah, his work shows us not just what these places look like, but what they feel like to those who dare to go.” — About Photography

“Ortner’s use of black-and-white film and large-format cameras for Visions of Paradise unveils the true essence of the natural world. By peeling away color, he forces us to immerse ourselves more deeply and see anew America’s breathtaking sites through the purified language of light and shadow, form and texture, shape and pattern…” — VIE Magazine

“… a photographic masterpiece celebrating the extraordinary majesty and rich legacy of America’s wild places, as seen through the eyes of one of the country’s foremost wilderness photographers, Jon Ortner, and conveyed through the transcendent medium of black-and-white film.” — Dodho Magazine

Visions of Paradise: American Wilderness is a singular, timeless publication—a photographic tour de force celebrating the extraordinary majesty and rich legacy of America’s wild places, as seen through the eyes of one of the country’s foremost wilderness photographers, Jon Ortner, and conveyed through the transcendent medium of black-and-white film. Ortner has always been fascinated with the natural world, particularly as an avid hiker in the American wilderness. This luxurious book collects in a large format his inspiring landscape images, forming a passionate tribute to the American wilderness. In this sensational portfolio of 200 black-and-white images, Ortner has rediscovered and reinterpreted the compelling beauty of many of his most cherished wilderness locations with remarkable portrayals of their sublime, dramatic, tranquil, and transcendent aspects. Join Ortner as he guides us through his visions of paradise.

“Beauty is the quality or qualities that give pleasure to the senses or mind. These qualities are both tangible and intangible, creating a visual and perceptual experience that stirs an emotional response. This collection of work showcases beauty in architecture and design. We are on a continual exploration of how to make beautiful buildings, spaces, and objects, always developing our knowledge and experience of what is beautiful, as it is manifested and perceived in different ways.

While some architects work in one style, continuously refining and perfecting it, I love to explore different styles and to learn, discover, and evolve. I grew up in America and have traveled, lived, and studied around the world. Now in Indonesia for more than thirty years, I bring this broad understanding and perspective to our work, while always being inspired by and embracing Indonesian culture, tradition, and the sharing of ideas. It’s this fusion and approach that sets my work apart.

The words you’ve encountered in this book are some of the ways in which we manifest beauty in our work. These words reflect both the physical and sensorial qualities in a design. Sometimes you see them, such as the materiality, palette, and light. Sometimes you feel them, such as anticipation and transitions. These qualities are all highly considered and carefully layered to create residential, commercial, and hospitality spaces that we characterize as “comfort luxury” and that have a positive emotional affect. They are spaces for people to feel at home; oases to enjoy after a long day.

Crafting the spaces comes from thoughtful consideration of the journey through a house, and what people will see and feel as they transition from space to space—from public to private, from collective spaces to sanctuaries.” – Thomas Elliott (from the Afterword)

Visions of Paradise: American Wilderness is a singular, timeless publication — a photographic tour de force celebrating the extraordinary majesty and rich legacy of America’s wild places, as seen through the eyes of one of the country’s foremost wilderness photographers, Jon Ortner, and conveyed through the transcendent medium of black-and-white film. Ortner has always been fascinated with the natural world, particularly as an avid hiker in the American wilderness. This luxurious book collects in a large format his inspiring landscape images, forming a passionate tribute to the American wilderness. In this sensational portfolio of 200 black-and-white images, Ortner has rediscovered and reinterpreted the compelling beauty of many of his most cherished wilderness locations with remarkable portrayals of their sublime, dramatic, tranquil, and transcendent aspects. Join Ortner as he guides us through his visions of paradise.

Signed, numbered special edition, slip cased, with signed landscape print (measuring 28 x 23 mm), and limited to 200 copies.

Discover the fascinating world of taxidermy in Packshots, the second book by Darwin, Sinke & Van Tongeren. This breathtaking work introduces you to animals like never before, captured in masterful compositions that blur the line between nature and art, between life and death. The stunning images, showcasing the animals in all their beauty and strength, are complemented by exclusive interviews and in-depth insights into the authors’ craft. Packshots is a work of art in itself, bringing the beauty of the wild to life in a truly unique way.

Mallorca: The Definitive Poster Art Collection celebrates the outstanding natural beauty and rich heritage of the beautiful island of Mallorca through the definitive collection of poster art brought to us by fine-art print specialists Stick No Bills Global. In its pioneering role as a glamorous, sun-lit, Mediterranean destination, Mallorca came to inspire an inordinate number of wonderful, hand-etched and hand-illustrated typographic, lithographic and fine-art print artworks, designed to promote ‘La Isla De La Calma’ over the years.

From its white-sand beaches and hidden coves to its natural landmarks, gothic architecture, year-round festivals, legendary nightclubs and international sports events, Mallorca’s vibrant multicultural history comes to life through 100 stunning poster artworks, each presented here under license in all its vintage glory.

Patricia Urquiola (Oviedo, 1961) is a globally acclaimed architect, art director, and industrial designer, celebrated for her innovative work with leading brands such as Flos, Cassina, Kettal, Kvadrat, BMW, Boeing, Louis Vuitton, and Missoni. Her designs are imaginative, eclectic, playful, and often experimental, with a strong commitment to sustainability. The exhibition Meta-Morphosa at CID Grand-Hornu, part of Europalia Espana, highlights Studio Patricia Urquiola’s research from the past five years. In a world increasingly shaped by climate change and artificial intelligence, the exhibition explores transformation—how materials, aesthetics, and perceptions of beauty evolve. Featuring functional objects, visionary projects, and experiments with innovative materials and unexpected combinations, Meta-Morphosa presents a new aesthetic characterized by formal and cultural mutation. The exhibition invites visitors to embrace change, celebrating creativity, adaptability, and the beauty of transformation, reflecting Urquiola’s boundless imagination and her commitment to shaping design for a rapidly changing world.

Text in English and French.

Mathematics is art—created not with colors or forms, but through abstract thought. This is the central idea behind Art of Mathematics by acclaimed author Snezana Lawrence. In this work, she explores the history of mathematics through themes such as the elements, ratio, and dimensionality, highlighting the inherent beauty of the discipline. Along the way, she presents a rich selection of artworks inspired by mathematical ideas. Through this approach, Lawrence reveals what mathematical beauty truly is: the ability to trace a thread through history that weaves together the stories of people and cultures around a single, original abstract concept.

This catalog accompanies the exhibition Art & Fashion in the Calouste Gulbenkian museum, and highlights the inseparable relationship between art and fashion: art finds a constant source of inspiration in fashion, while fashion finds permanence and memory in art. Both disciplines engage in a dialog around beauty, both ephemeral and eternal, as an invisible thread between past and present.

The extraordinary Gulbenkian Collection, with pieces from Ancient Egypt to the 20th century, allows for a unique encounter between masterpieces of painting and decorative arts and iconic haute couture creations. It is not a question of comparison, but of establishing visual and symbolic conversations: contemporary silhouettes alongside Renaissance folds, exquisite embroidery juxtaposed with modernist flashes, ancient iconography reinterpreted.

The book captures that moment when the museum is transformed into a living space where art and fashion face each other, reminding us that beauty knows no boundaries, only the passage of time.

This is the story of the Reeves Collection of botanical paintings, the result of one man’s single-minded dedication to commissioning pictures and gathering plants for the Horticultural Society of London. Reeves went to China in 1812 and immediately on arrival started sending back snippets of information about manufactures, plants and poetry, goods, gods and tea to Sir Joseph Banks. Slightly later, he also started collecting for the Society but despite years of work collecting, labeling and packing plants and organizing a team of Chinese artists until he left China in 1831, Reeves never enjoyed the same degree of recognition as other naturalists in China. This was possibly because he had a demanding job as a tea inspector. Reeves himself never claimed to be a professional naturalist and the plant collecting and painting supervision were undertaken in his own time. Furthermore, fan qui (foreign devils) were restricted to the port area of Canton and to Macau, so that plant-hunting expeditions further afield were impossible. Furthermore, Reeves never published an account of his life in the country, unlike Clarke Abel and Robert Fortune, but he left us some letters, notebooks, drawings and maps. The Collection is held at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Library in Vincent Square, London. It is a magnificent achievement. Not only are the pictures accurate and richly colored plant portraits of plants then unknown in the West, but they stand as a record of plants being cultivated in nineteenth-century Canton and Macau. In John Reeves: Pioneering Collector of Chinese Plants and Botanical Art, Kate Bailey reveals John Reeves’ life as an East India Company tea inspector in nineteenth-century China and shows how he managed to collect and document thousands of Chinese natural history drawings, far more than anyone else at the time.

Beautifully produced, Desmond Freeman Venice presents more than 50 captioned, black and white and full-color sketches of the architecture of Venice accompanied by quotations from well-known authors, poets and artists. The preface describes the story of how the book came into being, and was developed in addition to information about the artwork methodology. A set of thumbnail illustrations of each of the 50 or so full artworks has been included at the back of the book in the form of an index.

Born into the American aristocracy, Elizabeth Eyre de Lanux abandoned high society to pursue an artistic career. Starting her training with Constantin Brancusi, she then arrived in Paris in 1919, following her marriage to French diplomat and writer Pierre de Lanux. She soon met the designer Eileen Gray. Eyre took over Gray’s research on laquer and continued experimenting with innovative materials not previously used in furniture, namely cork, amber and linoleum. With Evelyn Wyld, she created a literary universe in which the poetry of her rugs, blended with furniture and lamps in totally new ways, all in an environment of muted shades and modern comfort.

An ambitious artist in the Surrealist Paris of the interwar years she wanted to believe in a peaceful future. But the crash of 1929 and World War II sounded the death knell for the career of this fresh new talent, ensuring that her creations became the rarest of objects. A bridge between the pioneering Eileen Gray and the rational Charlotte Perriand, like them, Eyre de Lanux drew inspiration from Japonism. Neither poor, nor stripped bare, her rare architectured interiors have remained secret until now.

Elizabeth Eyre de Lanux is a recognised name but a forgotten talent. With Eileen Gray, Eyre de Lanux, Charlotte Perriand and Maria Pergay, the four cardinal points have now been identified.

Kifwebe masks are ceremonial objects used by the Songye and Luba societies (Democratic Republic of Congo), where they are worn with costumes consisting of a long robe and a long beard made of plant fibres. As in other central African cultures, the same mask can be used in either magical and religious or festive ceremonies. In order to understand Kifwebe masks, it is essential to consider them within the cosmogony of the python rainbow, metalworking in the forge, and other plant and animal signs. Among the Songye, benevolent female masks reveal what is hidden and balance white and red energy associated with two subsequent initiations, the bukishi. Aggressive male masks were originally involved in social control and had a kind of policing role, carried out in accordance with the instructions of village elders. These two male and female forces acted in a balanced way to reinforce harmony within the village. Among the Luba, the masked figures are also benevolent and appear at the new moon, their role being to enhance fertility. Although the male and female masks fulfil functions that do not wholly overlap, they do have features in common: a frontal crest, round and excessively protruding eyes, flaring nostrils, a cube-shaped mouth and lips, stripes, and colours. Art historians and anthropologists have taken increasing interest in Kifwebe masks in recent years.

Maria Lai (Ulassai, September 27, 1919 – Cardedu, April 16, 2013) is without doubt one of the leading figures in the history of contemporary Italian art. Not only on account of the content of her works, but also thanks to the diversity of her artistic approach, ranging as it does across many media – public art, embroidery, weaving, sculpture, drawing, and writing: all are grist for her poetics. The book is published to coincide with the exhibition at the MAXXI Museum in Rome, which is presenting to the general public over one hundred works by the Sardinian artist, from the early 1960s to her very last works, and explores the various themes dear to the artist with the contributions of experts in their fields: the locations, the creation, and publication of art books, her public art events and her relationship with the written word and her own writing. Her entire oeuvre is distinguished by its powerful visual impact, revealing a ‘way of doing art’ that is nothing other than an instrument of thought. The book’s structure reflects the exhibition’s own sections, arranged by theme, whose titles are paradigmatic of Lai’s oeuvre as a whole: Essere è tessere. Cucire e ricucire; L’arte è il gioco degli adulti. Giocare e raccontare; Disseminare e condividere; Il viaggiatore astrale. Immaginare l’altrove; L’arte ci prende per mano. Incontrare e partecipare.

Published to accompany an exhibition at the MAXXI Museum, Rome, 19 June 2019-12 January 2020.

Text in English and Italian.

Zen master Takuan Soho (1573 1645) was Abbot of the Daitokuji, the leading Rinzai Zen Temple in Kyoto, and was founder of the Tokaiji Temple in Edo. Living proof that ‘A master of Zen can be master of anything’, his teachings and practice influenced calligraphy, painting, poetry, martial arts, and the tea ceremony. He taught and inspired the Shogun Iemitsu, Yagyu Munenori, founder of one of Japan’s greatest schools of swordsmanship, and Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings and Japan’s most famous swordsman and master of strategy. Immovable Wisdom includes an account of Takuan’s life and translations of his most important writings, as well as anecdotes encapsulating the essence of his wisdom, which are as relevant today as in his own turbulent era. Master Takuan taught that, rooted in immovable wisdom, the trained mind becomes unfettered; undistracted by the irrelevant, one’s response to the unexpected is always instantaneous and correct. Nobuko Hirose is a translator, writer, and co-author of Japanese Art Signatures, the standard reference on the subject. After graduating from Meiji University in Tokyo she obtained a Master’s degree in Japanese Art History at SOAS, University of London, and settled in England. Her translation skills and lineal descent from a traditional Japanese Zen family make her uniquely qualified to present the wisdom of Takuan Soho to a broader Western audience.

“The most important portraits to me are the ones of people who have enriched my own thinking or awareness. Areas of philosophy, religion, psychological perspectives, poetry, music, art history, women’s roles and the inner life are important issues for me – and all have been nurtured by these people whom I have met through portraiture.” – Victoria Crowe. Victoria Crowe is one of Britain’s most vital and original figurative painters. Here, Duncan Macmillan explores the exceptional skill of this remarkable artist’s portraits and Victoria Crowe, herself, contributes many insightful accounts of her own thoughts and perceptions as each work developed. This book also tells Crowe’s own story – both professional and personal – through her art. She has developed an approach to portraiture that seeks to do more than record the outward appearance of a person: she aims to represent something of the inner life. With 80 illustrations, the portraits include the artist’s family, composer Ronald Stevenson, pioneer medical scientist Dame Janet Vaughan, poet Kathleen Raine, actor Graham Crowden, psychiatrist Professor Sir Peter Higgs and many others.

The impressive Château de Chenonceau is the jewel of the French Loire Valley. The fairytale type castle has had a particularly rich history and has always been inhabited and curated by intelligent, strong-willed women such as Catherine Briçonnet, Diane de Potiers, Catherine de Medici and Louise de Lorraine – hence its nickname ‘Ladies’ Castle’. Through the ages the spaces have been imprinted with the souls of those who built, inhabited and loved the castle. Every part of Chenonceau’s interior and exterior – not in the least the castle’s impressive gardens – exudes peace, harmony and elegance. Since 2015 Jean-Francois Boucher has been appointed floral scenographer of the estate. Together with his small team he creates new floral compositions for the castle’s rooms every week. These ‘staged’ flowers emphasize the history of the estate just like any other piece of art or furniture does. Their designs blend in perfectly with the interiors and are in beautiful harmony with the room’s color codes, perfumes and functions. Sometimes they even wink at poetry, art or the historical events that took place in these spaces. The Bouquets of Chenonceau is a magnificent coffee table book that will please both lovers of history and fans of floral design. Text in English and French.

Centerbrook was conceived in 1975 as a community of architects working together to advance American place-making and the craft of building. Recipients of the AIA Firm Award, they are entering their fifth decade of designing buildings across the country. This stunning new monograph, edited by John Dixon, FAIA, illustrates in full-color the wide range of projects completed throughout the last decade. In typical fashion of their sophisticated style and exercise in clarity, the in-depth texts and richly illustrated images communicate an indomitable focus on the architectural context of their ideas that are accessible to all. There is visual poetry in the work to be sure, but the book provides critical, concise and insightful descriptions of where the design ideas germinate. The reader will be engaged and informed by the way the shapes, materials, and details of these buildings are configured, and have a clear understanding of the works. The book’s title, Centerbrook 4, represents their fourth book on architecture, four decades of practice, and the four current partners – Jeff Riley, Chad Floyd, Mark Simon, Jim Childress – who are each recognized as AIA Fellows, in design. This wonderful new volume also showcases a range of projects currently in development by the firm’s next generation of designers.

“Quickly being recognised as the most comprehensive guide to Irish whiskey.” – Gary Quinn, The Irish Times

“A must read book for any fan of Irish whiskey. At a time when the category is making the mightiest of comebacks Fionnán O’Connor has written a gem of a book, digging deep in to the heart of his country’s whiskey history and telling its story with style and authority. Excellent.” – Dominic Roskrow, Founding Director, The Craft Distillers Alliance

Irish single pot still whiskey has a romantic mystique for many whiskey critics because of its tragic history as the lost sister of single malt scotch. Ireland’s history and politics resulted in the near-annihilation of the national drink and there’s an almost eerie beauty to the silent distilleries that still dot the Irish countryside. These distilleries inform the aesthetic of the title and, indeed, there is visual poetry in the barrels, pot stills and photogenic amber spirits that convey the Irish whiskey world. Although Irish whiskey is currently the fastest-growing global spirits category and Irish pure pot still has long been a favorite drink among whiskey critics and connoisseurs, the existing literature is still surprisingly sparse. This book illustrates the production, history, and appreciation of Irish pot still whiskey and will introduce casual drinkers to the richness of these whiskeys as well as being a collector’s item for established whiskey connoisseurs.

Regarded by critics to be one of the most progressive American firms to be seen in the last 30 years, Hariri & Hariri Architecture was established in 1986 by Iranian-born Cornell-educated sisters, Gisue Hariri and Mojgan Hariri. Their work imbues their own unique brand of modernism across conceptual, residential, commercial and institutional works. The practice has a voice that is distinctly its own. The firm’s work has often been described in the language of poetry or art. What differentiates its work is the firm’s insistence that it approaches all projects, small or large, in a ‘holistic’ manner. While this approach integrates multiple dimensions and considerations, there are two overriding imperatives that transcend others to define its design narrative: ‘nature and identity.’ These key principles are celebrated in this visually stunning book. A significant addition to IMAGES’ growing list of titles in its global-reaching Leading Architects series, this beautifully photographed book showcases an enormous body of work by a firm led by two multi-disciplinary practitioners.