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. 

This richly illustrated publication accompanies the first comprehensive retrospective of Amrita Sher-Gil (1913–1941) in the Netherlands, one of the most celebrated figures in modern Indian art. Often called the “Frida Kahlo of India”, Sher-Gil combined elements of Western modernism with the aesthetics and subjects of traditional Indian art, forging a distinctive style that profoundly influenced later generations of artists. The book offers new insights into Sher-Gil’s life and artistic journey, from her Hungarian-Indian heritage and training in Paris to her groundbreaking work in India during the 1930s. Essays by experts from India and the Netherlands explore her cultural context, artistic development, and enduring legacy.

Featuring rarely seen works from India’s national collections, this publication provides an unprecedented opportunity to rediscover an artist whose vision bridged continents and redefined modern art in the 20th century.

The collection of Czech interwar modern art at the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen presents a wide spectrum of artistic trends from 1918 to 1938, from early pre-WWI Modernism, Expressionism and Poetism to avant-garde experiments and Surrealism. Great attention is also paid to social art and the so-called New Objectivity.

The collection, built up mainly in the 1960s and 1970s by the Gallery’s first director, Oldřich Kuba (and expanded ever since), includes works by personalities such as Josef Šíma, Jindřich Štyrský, Toyen, František Muzika, Jan Zrzavý, Václav Špála, Emil Filla, Josef Čapek, Bohumil Kubišta, František Tichý, Otakar Coubine, Antonín Procházka and others.

The forthcoming publication offers a wealth of visual material in the form of reproductions of all the works included, together with interpretative texts introducing their authors and explaining the origin and content of the works and their significance in a broader cultural and historical context.

Samuel John Peploe, John Duncan Fergusson, George Leslie Hunter and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell – a set of radical artists who enlivened the a set of radical artists who enlivened the Scottish art scene with the fresh vibrancy of French Fauvist colors. Despite only exhibiting together on three occasions in their lifetimes, and the term ‘The Scottish Colourists’ being coined retrospectively, the four shared much common ground. They were all born in Scotland in the 1870s, and at various different times each visited France to experience the burgeoning avant-garde scene, returning to Scotland brimming with new ideas. The influence of French painting – from Manet to the Impressionists, Matisse to Cezanne – stayed with them all.

Each of the Scottish Colourists achieved recognition during their lifetimes but fell out of favor by the Second World War, before being rediscovered in the 1950s. By the 1980s, they were widely recognized for their contribution to Scottish art, breathing new life into the scene, and leading the way for the next generation of artists.

This book brings together both popular and rarely seen imagery along with new research to take a fresh look at the fascinating and international lives of the four artists.

One of the most representative artists in the field of abstract art in Shanghai and even throughout China, Huang Yuanqing has developed a uniquely distinctive visual philosophy of his paintings. This book features 113 representative works. On the surface, they may appear close to Western action painting, but in fact they embody the rhythmic logic of wild cursive script (kuangcao) from traditional Chinese calligraphy. In particular, the seemingly casual brushstrokes on the canvas are actually a tightly controlled form of improvisation. Moreover, each work requires repeated layering—sometimes over several months—achieving a dynamic balance between improvisation and continuous revision. Huang Yuanqing’s practice is rooted in the tradition of calligraphy, integrating seal carving, music, and other artistic forms. His works at times emphasize color and space, at other moments lean toward writing and graffiti, yet he has never abandoned calligraphic creation independent of his paintings. The result is a new form of abstract art that fuses various script styles as its structural backbone, with color and space as its flesh—achieving a cross-dimensional integration of two different art forms: painting and calligraphy.

This monograph dedicated to Claude Monet offers a rare and intimately documented perspective on one of the most beloved artists of the public. It is written by Philippe Piguet, an art historian, a recognized specialist of Monet and his great-grandson, custodian of unpublished documents and heir to a family memory shaped from childhood in the gardens of Giverny. The book provides a sensitive reading of the artist’s work, seen from within, which renews the understanding of an artistic journey that has become universal.

This book aims to establish itself as an essential reference for understanding how the artist transformed the perception of light and the history of modern painting.

The Bargue-Gérôme Drawing Course is a complete reprint of a famous, late nineteenth-century drawing course. It contains a set of almost two hundred masterful lithographs of subjects for copying by drawing students before they attempt drawing from life or nature. Consequently it is a book that will interest artists, art students, art historians, and lovers and collectors of drawings. It also introduces us to the work and life of a hitherto neglected master: Charles Bargue.

The Drawing Course consists of three sections. The first comprises of plates drawn after casts, usually of antique examples. Different parts of the body are studied in order of difficulty, until full figures are presented. The second section pays homage to the western school of painting, with lithographs after exemplary drawings by Renaissance and modern masters. The third part contains almost 60 académies, or drawings after nude male models, all original inventions by Bargue, the lithographer. With great care, the student is introduced to continually more difficult problems in the close observing and recording of nature.

Charles Bargue started his career as a lithographer of drawings by hack artists for a popular market in comic, sentimental and soft-porn subjects. By working with Gérôme, and in preparing the plates for the course, Bargue was transformed into a spectacular painter of single figures and intimate scenes; a master of precious details that always remain observation and never became self-conscious virtuosity, and color schemes that unified his composition in exquisite tonal harmonies. The last part of the book is a biography of Bargue, along with a preliminary catalogue of his paintings, accompanied by reproductions of all that have been found and of many of those lost.

Gertrude Jekyll was perhaps the most important British garden designer of the 20th century. She famously argued that gardening ought to be considered a Fine Art, highlighting that it becomes a point of honor to be always striving for the best. This volume examines Jekyll’s work at Manor House, Upton Grey in Hampshire, offering an insight into her eclectic, imaginative, and inspiring art. Designed between 1908 and 1909, and once maintained by as many as nine gardeners, the garden fell into disrepair by the second half of the twentieth century, before a full and accurate restoration was carried out in the early 1980s. Gertrude Jekyll: Her Art Restored at Upton Grey presents a visual record of the garden’s plants and layout, with original plans and photographs, as well as beautiful images of the garden taken since its restoration. There is also a fascinating chapter about Miss Jekyll’s discovery, admiration and use of Mediterranean plants. The book succeeds in illustrating exactly why Jekyll was so admired in her lifetime and why she continues to inspire and influence gardeners today. Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: The Garden from 1902 to the Start of its Restoration in 1984 Chapter 2: The Rose Garden Chapter 3: The Dry-Stone Walls Chapter 4: The Main Herbaceous Borders Chapter 5: The Pergola, the Rose Arbour and Surrounding Garden Chapter 6: Miss Gertrude Jekyll’s mediterranean travels and plant discoveries and their use at Upton Grey Chapter 7: The Wild Garden Chapter 8: The Art Completed Also available: The English Garden Through the Twentieth Century ISBN: 9781870673297

The Viennese gallery Slavik has been exhibiting international contemporary jewelry art of the highest quality for 20 years. The rotating bronze disc above the entrance beckons the visitor to enter into a unique universe and into a singular architectonic design concept. As a meeting place for artists, collectors and museum professionals from all over the world, it is the goal of the gallery owner Renate Slavik to provide a deeper understanding of the fascinating nature of contemporary jewelry art. Since 1990 the former antique dealer has supported unique, handcrafted jewelry with her enthusiasm and vision. “Art on the body” made of paper, synthetic material, tin as well as traditional “ingredients” like gold, pearls and diamonds are displayed in her changing exhibitions. In the gallery artistic impetus has been provided by Annelies Planteydt and Gijs Bakker from Holland; from international masters of studio jewelry such as Giampaolo Babetto or from the Padua School of Francesco Pavan. The gallery’s repertoire includes avant-garde jewelry by Annamaria Zanella, Jacqueline Ryan, Stefano Marchetti and Giovanni Corvaja as well as the geometrical creations of David Watkins or the golden bracelet discs by Okinari Kurokawa. The Catalan Massana School of Joaquim Capdevila and Ramon Puig Cuyas with their colorful, narrative style; Helfried Kodré’s brooches and ring sculptures as a three-dimensional, spatially-extended implementation of geometry; Michael Becker’s clear, architectonic language of form; or the works with moving surfaces by Yasuki Hiramatsu represent different expressions of contemporary jewelry work. The doors stand wide open to the up-and-coming generation of craftsmen – one of the gallery owner’s favorite tasks is to scout out young talent such as Miriam Hiller or Isabell Schaupp. Features 60 artists including Gijs Bakker, Anna Heindl, Miriam Hiller, Helfried Kodré, Elisabeth J. Defner, Michael Becker, Anneliese Planteydt, Francesco Pavan, David Watkins, Stefano Marchetti, Daniel Kruger, Annamaria Zanella, Giovanni Corvaja, Jacqueline Ryan, Renzo Pasquale. Text in English & German.

There are many ways to perceive and interpret contemporary craft objects – for instance, as works of representational art in materials like ceramics, glass, textile, metal or wood, or as functional, handmade everyday objects. In this publication, the editors have invited different voices in craft theory to investigate the perception of contemporary craft as a particular discourse and aesthetic vocabulary. According to the editors, contemporary crafts can benefit from being discussed as representations of reality that do not rely on the concept of autonomy. As such, neither do they rely on the conventional dualism between aesthetic objects and everyday things. The authors investigate the possibility to perceive craft objects from perspectives that relate to the aesthetic tradition of materialism.

This book is a unique and comprehensive illustrated dictionary of French Art Nouveau Ceramics.

A census conducted in 1901 indicated the existence of some 209 producers of pottery in France, employing a total of around 5,800 full-time labourers. This great activity stimulated a parallel development in the arts, including the search for new expressions in art pottery, giving birth to l’art nouveau, a great and eclectic synthesis of a number of other art styles. Largely through British arts and crafts, and the work of artists like the Manxman Archibald Knox, it reached far back into the prehistory of Celtic art. To this were added later medieval elements, through the gothic revival championed by William Morris.

The need for renewal, breaking away from the neo-Classical and academia, which was the realm of the upper-class culture, was largely theorised by John Ruskin, who searched elsewhere for inspiration. Thus did British art nouveau also partake of Chinese and Japanese styles, though never in so forceful a manner as did the French aesthetic. France, on the one side, looked back to the swirling and frivolous eighteenth century Rococo, primarily through the influence of the Goncourt brothers, Edmond and Jules, influential aesthetes of the mid-nineteenth century.

The book focuses especially on artists working stoneware or grès, faience, and terracotta. It aims to provide a general survey of the many artists working in these areas, and includes brief accounts of the ceramics work of sculptors and painters whose wider output is already well known.

This fine tribal rug collection, built over many years by a Buenos Aires artist/architect, has at its heart a superb selection of ‘Bird’ designed rugs, alongside many other characteristic knotted-pile rugs woven by the nomadic tribes of the Khamseh Confederation in southwest Iran during the 19th century. In addition, smaller numbers of related weavings are featured, made by by neighbouring South Persian nomads (such as the Qashqa’i and the Afshar) as well as two highly focused groups of Shikli Kazak and ‘Keyhole’ design village rugs from the Transcaucasus region. The collector/author’s lucid bilingual texts explain his passion for these stunning woven creations. His choices of collectable pieces are informed by his perspective as a successful artist and architect working in the Argentinian capital.

Text in English and Spanish.

“Although the street art is generally conveyed in a very natural matter, even his dead animal paintings seem at peace.” – Streetartbio.com “Detached from the artist’s identity, his detailed, illustrative animal paintings have brought him back to the world. With local species of animals as his main focus, ROA inevitably starts a dialogue about human interaction with nature and the environment, whether it is painting on the walls of a museum or in an abandoned rural factory.” – Hi Fructose – The New Contemporary Magazine “One of the most influential acts of street art around the world.” – The Huffington Post Fascinated by nature, the anonymous muralist and street artist ROA is inspired by the beauty of its non-human inhabitants. With great attention to detail, ROA draws over-sized black and white creatures of endemic or endangered species on buildings around the world, from Moscow to Mexico City, and from Los Angeles to London. His subjects are frequently survivors; scavengers, rodents, and unusual animals that thrive in their particular milieu.

With 304 pages of striking floral arrangements, International Floral Art 2016/2017 is another exceptional tribute to the wonders of floral art. An absolute favorite of many, the International Floral Art series has become an essential resource that reflects the diverse and ever-evolving floral art scene. Over 200 international artists, both up-and-coming and well-established designers, sent in their best designs. This splendid mix of backgrounds accounts for the extraordinary diversity and the refreshing mix of arrangements in this volume. Packed with artful and inventive new designs and showcasing many contemporary styles and techniques, this is a must-have for anyone interested in floral art, from those with fingers itching to create, to those who just want to stand back and admire the incredible talents of others.

Contemporary floral design thrills, amazes and delights. It can raise questions, confuse and overwhelm, and at the same time it inspires and motivates. The International Floral Art series is testimony to the fantastic things that can be achieved with flowers. It is state of the art floral design, showcasing endless possibilities, introducing new materials and unconventional techniques and above all celebrating creativity, innovation and fresh ideas. Packed with artful and inventive new designs and showcasing many contemporary styles and techniques, this is a must-have for anyone interested in floral art, from those with fingers itching to create, to those who just want to stand back and admire the incredible talents of others.

“It reveals a unique look into the profession of photography.”—Gerd Ludwig Photography



Charles Moriarty, Stills department manager for Star Wars and photographer for Amy Winehouse, presents Photographers on the Art of Photography: a series of intimate conversations with some of the most highly regarded names in photography. From celebrity portraitists such as Terry O’Neill, to famed fashion photographers like Jerry Schatzberg and wildlife specialists Tim Flach and Sue Flood, this book offers a unique insight into all angles of the profession. Twenty celebrated photographers discuss how they got started, as well as their favored techniques, motivations, inspirations and greatest accomplishments. Discover each artist’s vision in their own words and reflect on what makes their talents unique.

Interviews from: Ed Caraeff (music); Terry O Neill (celebrity portraiture); Norman Seeff (music); Johnathan Daniel Pryce (fashion); Douglas Kirkland (Hollywood); Gerd Ludwig (National Geographic); Slava Mogutin (queer fine art); Jerry Schatzberg (fashion, film, music, portraiture); Tim Flach (wildlife); Richard Phibbs (fashion, commercial, portraiture); Eva Sereny (Hollywood, celebrity portraiture); Sue Flood (wildlife); Tom Stoddard (photojournalism).

A revelatory glimpse into the passions and obsessions of 60 visionary artists through the medium of their personal sketchbooks, treatises, storybooks, grimoires, and journals. This unprecedented gathering of handmade books from the most notable Art Brut artists has been brought together expressly for this publication from both public and private collections. Each volume is showcased in separate chapters featuring the cover and a selection of inside pages, with accompanying commentary. They cover the period from the early 20th century to the present, and include works by Horst Ademeit, Alöise, Giovanni Bosco, James Castle, Henry Darger, Charles Dellschau, Malcolm MacKesson, Dan Miller, Michel Nedjar, Jean Perdrizet, Royal Robertson, Charles Steffen, Oskar Voll, August Walla, and Adolf Wölfli, among others.

Text in English and French.

International Floral Art 2021/2022 is an expertly curated collection of floral design showing the bounty of nature in many ingenious and magnificent ways. It is an anthology of floral inspiration, a love letter to nature itself and a testimony to the boundless nature of human creativity.

Over 130 floral designers let their imagination run wild to push the boundaries of the craft and make us revel in the unexpected. Established floral artists as well as the up and coming generation of designers amaze and seduce with spectacular floral creations that reveal a strong artistic vision, great craftsmanship, an enormous degree of commitment and an extraordinary amount of effort.

International Floral Art 2021/2022 is a stunning coffee table book with over 240 designs that will start conversation and spark the imagination.

This extensively illustrated volume focuses on William Morris (1834–1896), placing his wallpaper designs within the context of the radical changes in taste witnessed during the Victorian era. Against a backdrop of the fanciful, naturalistic patterns that typified fashionable papers in Morris’s youth, the impact of the Reform Movement of the mid-19th century is underscored, particularly the reformers’ crusade against such multi-colored ornamental decoration. Instead, the insistence on the concepts of honesty and propriety as promoted by A. W. N. Pugin and Owen Jones, are demonstrated as influences on Morris. The role of imported Japanese wallpapers is also explored, giving insight into a seldom-discussed cultural exchange evidenced within the story of Morris & Co, which produced wallpapers from 1864 until 1940 and, after a post-war hiatus, from the 1960s to the present.

Amplifying Morris’s role in the creation of an influential and lasting style, his work is set within a selection by other designers, including Christopher Dresser and C. F. A. Voysey. Also introduced are firms of significance including Jeffrey & Co. and Arthur Sanderson & Sons, both of whom block-printed the Morris wallpapers. In a highly visual presentation, what is revealed are influences across time and within a global context, as pertinent to the creation of wallpaper art in the 19th century as it is today.

“David Brafman, just like the alchemists did, mixes ingredients to make gold.” — The New Scientist
Alchemists are notorious for attempting to synthesize gold. Their goals, however, were far more ambitious: to transform and bend nature to the will of an industrious human imagination. For scientists, philosophers, and artists alike, alchemy seemed to hold the key to unlocking the secrets of creation. Alchemists’ efforts to discover the way the world is made have had an enduring impact on global artistic practice and expression.
Brafman’s book is the first to explore how the art of alchemy globally transformed human creative culture from the ancient world to the modern scientific age, and displays the ways its legacy still permeates the world we make today.

The work of Polhemus Savery DaSilva (PSD) synthesizes ideas from modernism, Shingle Style, and New England vernacular architecture into special homes that are carefully crafted for each different site and client. PSD’s poetic architecture reflects on the joy of living by the New England coast, and this major new monograph, The Art of Creating Houses: Polhemus Savery DaSilva, beautifully presents that work and the ideas embodied within it. This lavishly illustrated and clearly written coverage of PSD’s most recent work features 27 select homes designed and built by the firm. This stunning volume also contains a foreword by Brian Vanden Brink; an introduction by Victor Deupi, PhD; and text by John R. DaSilva, FAIA, the firm’s Design Principal. This new volume is a brilliant companion to the firm’s earlier monographs, namely Living Where Land Meets the Sea, Shingled Houses in the Summer Sun, and Architecture of the Cape Cod Summer.

Art for Baby is India’s first medically vetted art book designed to stimulate cognitive development in newborns (0-3 months) while introducing them to contemporary art. Since babies at this age can only see black, white, and shades of grey, this high-contrast picture book—featuring works by leading Indian artists—enhances their early visual recognition and engagement.

Created by Rudritara Shroff, Art for Baby includes contributions from Dhruvi Acharya, Jyoti Bhatt, Jyotsna Bhatt, Jogen Chowdhury, Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Shilpa Gupta, N.S. Harsha, Bijoy Jain, Reena Saini Kallat, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Manish Nai, Amol K. Patil, Gigi Scaria, and Sudarshan Shetty. The accompanying flashcards offer insights into each artist’s work, fostering caregiver-baby bonding.

Proceeds from the book support children’s projects through UNICEF India and Outset UK. Original artworks featured in the book were exhibited at Christie’s in Mumbai and New York, raising $57,582 for these initiatives.

Praise for Art for Baby:
“This book is a testimony to Rudritara Shroff’s commitment to catalyzing healthy brain development and engaging young minds in creative pursuits.” – Vikram Patel, PhD, MBBS, Paul Farmer Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School

“This book balances traditional infant learning therapies with a groundbreaking visual approach, enhancing artistic tendencies among newborns.” – Dr. Amin Jaffer, Museum Director and Art Historian,Curator of the Al Thani Collection, Paris

“The process of creating this book was exciting and enriching. It is remarkable that such a young person has taken this on!” – Shilpa Gupta, Indian Contemporary Artist, Mumbai

Kindred Spirits showcases the remarkable flowering of Chinese style ceramics that took place in Japan after the mid-19th century. For over a thousand years, Chinese ceramics have been admired and emulated in Japan. This book discusses for the first time how this artistic relationship evolved during the Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa eras. A selection of 100 works from the acclaimed Shen Zhai Collection demonstrates the range and quality of these ceramics, from elegant celadons to sophisticated underglaze blue porcelains. Detailed descriptions, makers’ marks, and box inscriptions make this a valuable reference resource for collectors and art historians.