This cultural history of the great cafés of Europe and beyond will transport you to a world of heated debates, quiet observation, endless games of backgammon and heaps of political intrigue. On the menu are not only strong coffee, whipped cream and delicious cakes, but also the wise words of some of the most renowned café patrons, from Balzac to Hemingway. From the Ottoman coffee houses and London’s penny universities, to Viennese Kaffeehäuser and smoke-filled Parisian terraces, this book features the most important and historic establishments around the world. Chapters such as ‘Brewing Trouble’, ‘Northern Harbours’ and ‘Around the world in 8 cafés’ will trace the history of the café as a creative and intellectual hub; offer a guide to the best addresses to visit today; and zoom in on interesting elements, including the iconic bentwood café chair or the story behind the craze for absinthe, the Green Fairy.

This book is a comprehensive and in-depth study devoted to Lowbrow Art and Pop Surrealism, two artistic movements that originated in the United States and have profoundly transformed the contemporary art scene. Since the late 1960s, American artist Robert Williams has developed a radical and nonconformist style of painting, drawing inspiration from underground comics, hot rod culture, tattoo art, psychedelic posters, and carnival arts—all fields long ignored or disparaged by the fine arts world. Richly documented and generously illustrated, this book traces the history of this countercultural movement through four major periods, from 1850 to the present day, exploring its profound influences and its gradual global reach. It spotlights the movement’s pioneering figures through portraits and exclusive interviews with Robert Williams, Joe Coleman, Todd Schorr, Mark Ryden, and gallery owner Merry Karnowsky—true witnesses and participants in this artistic revolution. The book also addresses the emergence of Pop Surrealism in the 1990s—a new label that both broadened and challenged the boundaries of Lowbrow Art—before the movement went global in the 2000s, thanks in large part to Juxtapoz magazine, which by 2009 had become the most widely circulated art magazine in the United States.

Built for the 1889 Universal Exhibition, the Eiffel Tower has become the undisputed symbol of France and one of the most famous monuments in the world. This book traces the extraordinary story of its design and construction, a titanic undertaking in the very heart of Paris. Through a selection of vintage and contemporary photographs, it reveals the history of the Iron Lady, her international renown, and the influence she has had on the artists and creators she has inspired. Endlessly reinvented, the Eiffel Tower has also given rise to numerous replicas around the world.

Written by Guillaume Morel, journalist and author, this book offers an elegant and carefully crafted introduction to one of the greatest emblems of France’s heritage.

Built in the heart of Paris between the 12th and 14th centuries, Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the most iconic monuments in the history of France. Standing over the Île de la Cité, it has weathered eras, revolutions, wars, and the capital’s many transformations while remaining a universal symbol of French heritage. This book traces the major stages of its construction, the richness of its architecture, and the key events that have marked its history, up to the 2019 fire and its subsequent rebirth.

Written by Armelle Le Gendre, an art historian, journalist, and teacher, this richly illustrated book offers a fascinating immersion into the history of one of the greatest masterpieces of Gothic art.

This book tells the compelling story of York through the rich and varied collections cared for by York Museums Trust. Drawing on treasures from York Art Gallery, the Yorkshire Museum and York Castle Museum, it reveals how the city has evolved over nearly two thousand years, from its Roman foundations and Viking past to its medieval splendor and modern identity.

Through paintings, archaeological discoveries, everyday objects, decorative arts and social history collections, an engaging narrative brings the people, places and events that have shaped York vividly to life. Rare artifacts and fascinating stories celebrate its origins, centuries of change, unique aspects and the lives of its people. This book offers remarkable insights into the city’s cultural, artistic and historical heritage, while highlighting the important role of York’s museums in preserving these collections for future generations.

Palazzo Giovanelli in Santa Fosca is certainly one of the most prestigious private buildings in Venice. While its first nucleus dates back to the fourteenth century, in 1527 it was donated by the Doge Andrea Gritti to Francesco Maria I, Duke of Urbino. The palace remained property of the family until its transfer to the Donà family, which gathered an important collection of works of art inside. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the palace reached the Giovanelli family, who expanded and modernized it. However, it was during the nineteenth century that the residence took on its definitive appearance. In an initial neoclassical phase, Count Andrea commissioned the arrangement of his private apartment to Giuseppe Borsato and Francesco Hayez. Shortly afterwards, in 1847, Giovambattista Meduna arranged one of the façades like that of a small Ducal Palace. In 1860, Meduna carried out further expansions, setting up a prestigious collection of paintings, including a masterpiece of Venetian art: Giorgione’s Tempest. The volume reconstructs the history of seven centuries of the palace, the events it witnessed, and the artistic treasures inside it.

Costume jewelry is commonly understood to mean fashionable yet affordable adornments made from non-precious material. Originating in in mid-1700s France with the rise of the bourgeoise, the earliest ‘costume jewelry’ mimicked fine jewelry styles. Since then, costume jewelry has always been evolving. From Victorian sentimentalism to the mass-produced ornaments available today, costume jewelry has developed into an artform in its own right. An encyclopedic study of its history is long overdue. Flush with expert information, identification tips and historical anecdotes, Adorning Fashion explores the development of costume jewelry across the past four centuries. The styles of each era – Victorian, Edwardian, Arts & Crafts, Jugenstil, Art Nouveau, and each decade of the twentieth century – are given individual attention. Production methods are also explained in depth. Alloys and gilded electroplating can mimic silver and gold, while the refraction index of treated glass can, to the untrained eye, be mistaken for diamond.
Adorning Fashion discusses the contributions of a remarkable roster of designers and innovators, including Kokichi Mikimoto, Arthur L. Liberty, Carlo Giuliano, René Lalique, Elizabeth Bonté, the Castellani brothers, Jean Fouquet, Jean Després, Fulco di Verdura, Jean Schlumberger, Salvador Dalí, Miriam Haskell, Lina Baretti, Countess Cissy Zoltowska, Line Vautrin, Kenneth Jay Lane, Francisco Rebajes, Diane Love, Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, Paco Rabanne, Yves Saint Laurent, Napier, Haskell, Trifari, Brania, Bulgari, Versace and more.

Commissioned by the Water Colour Society of Ireland, this book is the first to chronicle in depth the history of this distinguished Society, established in Lismore, County Waterford in November, 1870 and recognised today as being one of the oldest and most outstanding art societies in these islands. Members have included such prominent participants as Sir William N.M. Orpen, R.A., R.I., H.R.H.A., Sarah H. Purser, R.H.A., Walter F. Osborne, R.H.A., Mildred A. Butler, R.W.S., H.B.A.S., Mainie Jellett, Paul Henry, R.H.A., Evie Hone, H.R.H.A., Tom Carr, H.R.H.A., R.U.A., R.W.S., O.B.E and many others who succeeded in achieving recognition for their work not only in Ireland but on the international stage. The author sets out to trace the historical development of watercolor painting in Ireland, the difficulties encountered by artists in relation to exhibiting watercolors in eighteenth and nineteenth century Ireland. Brief accounts of the establishment of the Royal Dublin Society’s Drawing Schools are included together with the influence of the nineteenth century English watercolor tradition in relation to Irish students, the foundation of the N.G.I, the role of the governess and drawing master, together with the influences which the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art exerted on countless future members of the Society.   The difficulties encountered by women in establishing themselves as either professional or amateur artists in nineteenth century Ireland, the opportunities for training not only in the field of art but in crafts such as wood-carving and lace and the availability to pursue an art academic training abroad all form part of this book. The vital role of Sketching Clubs and Drawing Societies which led to the birth of the Amateur Drawing Society (later to become known as  the Water Colour Society of Ireland) are included. Founded by six enterprising ‘Lady Artists’, their largely unknown biographical information is provided here for the first time.   Descriptions of early exhibitions, the aristocratic glamor attached to openings, conversaziones, the day to day running of the Society and the need by many artists, particularly women to transform themselves into professional painters form part of the early development of this remarkable Society. The birth of the nineteenth century exhibition watercolor and the requirement by members to market and sell their work throughout Ireland and the U.K. is described.   The author provides concise biographies of over one hundred W.C.S.I artists from the relatively unknown to the widely acclaimed together with illutrations of works from  both public and private collections, the latter, due to the generosity of their owners being illustrated here for the first time.

The inspiration behind William Morris’s Earthly Paradise, the muse for J.M.W. Turner’s superlative seascapes, a home to hardy fishermen and the top holidaying spot for wealthy Victorians, as well as the scene for relentless witch-hunts and mob justice in the 17th Century, Southwold is far more than a picturesque postcard town. From the time of Saint Edmund, through plagues, fire and wars, to Damien Hirst’s driftwood creations, and the future day when this town will tumble into the sea, this book collects essays that reveal slivers of Southwold’s essence. Some are part-myth, some part-legend. But all make for excellent stories, especially when complemented by beautiful art. This 2017 edition keeps its celebrated essays on some of the more well-known aspects of Southwold’s past – such as the Battle of Sole Bay, one of the fiercest fights in British history. The Battle of Sole Bay was fought against the Dutch in 1672, and the bloody confrontation is fully described and illustrated with contemporary paintings and drawings. In addition, the text contains updated text and pictures. Among the most notable of the new sections is the chapter regarding the tragic dissolution of the romantic friendship between Franklin Lushington and Edward Lear, writer of the nonsense poem The Owl and the Pussy Cat and the lesser known (yet more autobiographical) The Daddy-Long-Legs and the Fly. Another remarkable addition is a page spread dedicated to the oil painting Tired Out by Philip Wilson Steer, which sold at Sotheby’s for £674 500 in 2014. A history, a celebration and an ode merged into one, Geoffrey Munn’s Southwold will take you on a trip through this famous seaside resort as you’ve never seen it before.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the history of French glass making. Glass makers can be compared to alchemists in the way that they transform sand and ashes into precious objects of great beauty. This book explores the value given to glassware throughout French history, focusing on the Ancient Régime from the 15th to 18th Centuries, when royally appointed glassmakers were considered more important than their artistic counterparts within the court; painters, musicians and actors. In the middle of the 19th Century, glassware was subjected to mass industrial production and as a result the benchmark of quality that had previously been set was no longer adhered to. However, it was out of frustration with this situation that Emile Gallé, a glassmaker who employed many experimental techniques, started his own workshop to produce incredibly high quality original glassware, a move that revolutionised glass making and placed it once again at the forefront of contemporary artistry. Le Verre argues that glass never left this pedestal, and that today, more than ever, ‘the world is living in the age of glass.’ Text in French.

Of all the world’s great cities, Paris is perhaps the one that marks its visitors and inhabitants the most, both in their discovery of the city, and their memories. With its many monuments, it is also a fabulous theatre where adventure, chance meetings, and the unexpected have fascinated the painters, poets and photographers that we meet in the pages of this book. While its history is ancient, and very long, its present is lively and attractive. This is a history of Paris that invites readers to wander in the city, to discover it. It presents the major events of the city, together with the most charming examples of daily life in its streets, which is always vibrant. It shows its crowds, who are delighted to find all the odours of the world, all the colours of life, and the marvels of everyday that are seen in this city. We also meet those writers who have praised Paris, such as Victor Hugo, Jacques Prevert, Gerard de Nerval and Léon Paul Fargue, and all those who have immortalised the city in their paintings, from the anonymous painters of the Renaissance up to the Impressionists. This is an intelligent history of Paris, but also friendly, entertaining, accessible, to whet your appetite for the city, and to arouse your curiosity. Also Available:
Lebanon: The Phoenician Pearl ISBN:9782867701443 $66.00
Le Sud Marocain ISBN:9782867700569 $66.00

Goldscheider, a Viennese factory (est. 1885), soon sped to the top of European ceramics makers. Figures and vessels of faience and terracotta as well as bronze and alabaster, all of top quality in respect of form and workmanship, were created in the Historicist, Jugendstil and Art Deco period styles. A crucial factor to their success was the collaboration with distinguished sculptors and ceramicists of the day, which included Demetre Chiparus, Walter Bosse and Josef Lorenzl, all of whom were responsible for a great many of the Goldscheider designs. This success story was quashed by the National Socialist aryanization in 1938: the Goldscheider family was forced to emigrate, the firm was sold and the new proprietor was unable to sustain the high aesthetic quality standard. The Goldscheider brothers did manage to open new ceramics businesses while in exile in the US and England, and Walter Goldscheider even returned to Vienna after the Second World War to resume his post as managing director of his old firm; however, in the 1950s the great ceramics tradition of this venerable Viennese business ended when it was sold to the German Carstens company. Over 600 color photographs show Goldscheider examples, demonstrating why this firm earned such a highly regarded reputation in the world of ceramics.

Text in English and German.

As a painter Lukas Salzmann is committed to representationalism while creating art-historical and media-related references in many of his works. He overpaints photographic templates, thus freeing the images from their functional fixedness. Deploying vehement brushwork and powerful handling, he dissolves content that is seemingly unequivocal and converts it into a polysemy that valorises the mystical as much as it does the obvious. Salzmann’s atmospherically dense pictures open up emotional spaces for viewers, leading them into a state of oscillation between recognizability and recondite unidentifiability, in which the transformative powers of painting can develop their full impact.

In the Viewer’s Eye – the Unknown comprises Lukas Salzmann’s oeuvre from 1995 to 2018 and includes an accompanying essay by scholar Rudolf Velhagen, which locates the painter’s work in its art historical context. Lukas Salzmann, born 1960 in Dusseldorf, lives and works in Zurich and Wetzikon.

Text in English and German.

Jewelry and the universe are bound together not just in the Ancient Greek sense of the word ‘cosmos’; the sun, moon and stars invariably also found their way into representative forms of art jewelry around the world. While magical, mythological and religious references stood mainly at the forefront of ancient and non-European cultures, over the course of recent history it was on decorative grounds that jewelry pieces with cosmic motifs became so coveted. Whether Köchert in Vienna, Fabergé in St Petersburg or Lalique in Paris, the great jewelers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were all inspired by heavenly forms. Today, interest in celestial bodies remains unbroken among contemporary internationally celebrated jewelry artists. With his new, richly illustrated book, the long-standing head of the Jewellery Museum Pforzheim presents for the first time a comprehensive review on the star motif in jewelry – from Ancient Egypt to the present day.

Text in English and German.

As some American artists began to eliminate people and remove extraneous details from their compositions, they often employed neat, orderly brushwork or close-up, unemotional photography. Artists as diverse as Patrick Henry Bruce, John Covert, Georgia O’Keeffe, Paul Strand and Arthur Dove navigated European and American avant-garde circles, picking and choosing new ideas and methods. Inspiration ranged from cubism and machine parts to new technologies, and they found ways to bring order to the modern world through extreme simplification.

For them, abstraction involved absence and presence – the evacuation of human beings but also the desire to depict something that would not otherwise be visible or to render visible unseen natural processes like the passage of time, sound waves, or weather patterns. Their artworks provide a new context for the precisionist works in the subsequent sections and point to modern ideas about what art could be. How does a crisp painting technique relate to an aesthetic of absence?

The Jewish Journey tells the history of the Jewish people from antiquity to modern times through 22 objects from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, brought together here for the first time. Many of the objects are little-known treasures and all 22 have remarkable stories. Spanning 4000 years of history and covering 14 different countries, the objects trace the evolution of Jewish life and culture from its earliest beginnings in Ancient Mesopotamia through time and space to the modern day.

From imperial Russia to the Rome of the 1960s, the work of architect, painter and scenographer André Beloborodoff (1886-1965) expresses his unique vision of the history of modernity.

An enlightened Palladian, Beloborodoff designed palaces, châteaux and villas for Café Society patrons using modern construction techniques, such as reinforced concrete. The interior design of the Yusupov palace in Saint Petersburg, the Caulaincourt château in Picardy, and the Villa Pepoli for Maurice Sandoz in Rome – built at the same time as Le Corbusier’s Cité radieuse – are witnesses to his timeless, stripped-down and refined classicism. He won the Prix de Rome in 1934, and subsequently spent many years living and working in Italy.

Many of his architectural ideals are found in his metaphysical and surrealist paintings and watercolors, highly praised by Paul Valéry, Mario Praz, Henri de Régnier, and Jean-Louis Vaudoyer. His atmospheric vistas of sunken or vanished worlds recall the edifices that Beloborodoff, eternally rootless, was never able to build.

Text in French.

New York City’s borough of the Bronx draws millions of people annually to visit the largest zoological park in the United States, or to catch a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Beyond the animal cages (and batting cages) is a section of the city filled with art, food, music, and unusual sites that can only be found in one place: Da Bronx. The Bronx offers some of the most amazing experiences for visitors to New York City because it is so unexplored. You can take a canoe down a river, or take a course in pole dancing school. The Bronx has a rich history, which includes the American Revolution, that has given way to today’s rebels in street fashion. Sit down and feast on dishes from Ghana and Italy. Learn to roll cigars. Pay homage to the founders of rap music and hip hop culture. And explore quiet cemeteries’ stunning architecture. The borough is home the largest park in New York City, waterfront vistas that are unparalleled, and access to riverfronts and bays. Whether you are a first time visitor, longtime resident, or a native, you will find 111 hidden gems in the Bronx. The most unexplored borough of New York City is yours to discover with 111 Places in the Bronx That You Must Not Miss.

The Mossi people of Burkina Faso have a rich and complex history that is mirrored by the several types and styles of figures and masks they create. They came into being around 1500 A.D. when a large group of horsemen from what is now northern Ghana rode north into the valley of the Volta River and conquered the local farmers. The descendants of the conquering horsemen became the ruling class and used political art in the form of royal figures to validate their authority. Meanwhile the descendants of the conquered farmers became the spiritual class and made masks to represent the spirits of nature. The stylistic diversity of this art mirrors the several geographically divergent peoples who were conquered in 1500 and eventually became the Mossi we know today. Unlike several other West African peoples, the Mossi have not converted to Islam in large numbers, and so they continue creating brilliant art much as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Until the 1980s there was much confusion about the accurate attribution of Mossi art to the people who created it. This book makes clear that the Mossi have continued to create brilliant art which they use to this day to express ideas about politics and religion.

Although many societies in the Congo were once renowned for vibrant masquerades and architectural sculpture, these phenomena have only been studied as living traditions among a handful of peoples, most notably the Pende. Building on the extended fieldwork of numerous researchers since the 1950s, this text offers a unique window into the dynamic performance contexts of both masquerade and architecture in Central Africa. As much as possible, it privileges Pende voices as it seeks to understand the interrelationship between ritual practice and aesthetic form. Attentive to history, the text also records how these artistic practices have responded (sometimes unpredictably) to both colonial and post-colonial pressures. Lavish illustrations feature both iconic and hitherto unpublished masterworks, which have been selected to evoke the full range of Pende expression.

A remarkable combination of superb artistry, sophisticated design, and a lengthy history of continuous usage sets the masks of the Noh theater of Japan apart from all others. That so little is known outside of Japan about their great beauty and brilliant craftsmanship prompted the author to undertake the two decades of study, research, and writing that has culminated in this work. The result is nearly 800 pages of text and images published in a two-volume boxed edition limited to 1200 copies. Volume 1 consists of an extended treatise on the history of Noh and the evolution of its masks, including mask forms and functions, types and roles, nomenclature and taxonomy, mask carvers and their lineages, signatures, and other markings. It includes plot and character synopses of the plays most often staged as well as others rarely performed, with particulars about the masks used by various troupes for the principal roles. Volume 2 is an album showcasing in full color over 140 of the finest masks of Noh, both ancient and more recent, with detailed information on their creation, character, and significance, as well as photos of their backs showing inscriptions and artists’ signatures. An extensive bibliography, glossary, and index round out this presentation of an exquisite, centuries-old art form. No existing publication on the subject, in either English or in Japanese, remotely compares in scope and depth to the present work.

This is the first work to explore fully the history, art, and craft of the Japanese hanging scroll, or kakejiku, from its ancient Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese origins, through its introduction to Japan as early as the sixth century AD, to its role in the modern Japanese art world. It is proof of the scroll’s timeless qualities that it remains a fixture in traditional Japanese rooms, and continues to inform the design of modern interiors. Part 1 traces the scroll’s fascinating journey from an obscure religious artifact to a popular work of art, covering: the origins of the handscroll as a vehicle for Buddhist texts during the Nara period (710 784); the popularity of the vibrant picture scrolls of the opulent Heian period (794 1185); the rise of Zen-inspired hanging scrolls during the Kamakura period (1185 1333); their rich diversification during the Muromachi and Momoyama periods (1336 1600); and their incorporation into the “alcove,” or tokonoma of Edo period (1600 1867) households. Part 2 is dedicated to the scroll’s artistic features: the structure of both hanging and handheld scrolls; their complex array of classes and subclasses, formats, and dimensions; their exquisite and often costly materials; traditional handling and display; and methods of storage and preservation. Part 3 describes the age-old process by which scrolls are still made by Japanese craftsmen, including: material selection (tori-awase); backing textile and paper sections urauchi); careful assembly into the complete scroll (tsuke-mawashi); use of the drying board (kari-bari); and the finishing stage of mounting (shiage).
This comprehensive work will be of interest to all connoisseurs and collectors of East Asian scroll art as well as craftspeople engaged in the mounting and presentation of text and images.