The volume Erté accompanies the exhibition of the same name at the Labirinto della Masone and presents the figure of the artist Erté. Renowned for his extraordinary versatility, Erté designed theatrical sets and costumes, created jewelry, illustrated for world‑famous magazines, and worked as a fashion designer in Paris during the 1910s. More than fifty years after the first precious volume that Franco Maria Ricci dedicated to Erté, this new publication offers an extensive selection of the artist’s works, with particular emphasis on those from the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s. Texts by Valerio Terraroli, curator of the exhibition, and Alessandra Tiddia trace the production of an artist capable of capturing—always with taste and irony—the shifting fashions and their most dazzling, luxurious inventions, poised between modernity and exoticism. In these works, impossible elegances—bordering on the precious—and the sharp, feral allure of the femme fatale take shape, equally suited to the worlds of cinema and choreography.

Text in English and French

This is the the exhibition catalog of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s exhibition starting September 2026 dedicated to Gustave Fayet as an artist and a collector. First major reference work devoted to the creative activity of Gustave Fayet in decorative arts, this book brings together leading specialists across multiple media, including stoneware, stained glass, drawing, textiles, wallpaper, carpets, and books. It explores a largely overlooked field and restores attention to a figure well known to experts yet long forgotten. Neither aligned with Art Nouveau nor Art Deco, Fayet remains deeply rooted in his time, collaborating with major artists such as Louis Süe, André Mare, and Paul Poiret. His friendship with Odilon Redon encouraged his artistic development. Combining art and business, he founded decorative arts enterprises in the 1920s. His sudden death, just five years later, was followed by a successful posthumous exhibition in 1926 at the Pavillon de Marsan in Paris, where his carpets were displayed alongside Redon’s works.

Radiant City is a major monograph documenting a decade of figurative and geometric work by London-based British contemporary artist Lucy Williams (b. 1972, Oxford). Her mixed-media bas-relief collages depict modernist architecture and interiors, from tower blocks and municipal buildings to private residences in Palm Springs. 

All made painstakingly by hand, this is a contemporary art practice that, with the precision of an architect or a draughts person, references craft traditions, using materials including paper, Plexiglas, wood veneer, fabric, piano wire, and thread. Space, form, pattern, design, and geometry meet with color and light to form mesmerizing, detailed scenes such as tiled swimming pools with mosaic walls, the imposing facades of Brutalist buildings, and domestic interiors containing bookcases replete with books, vases and ornaments.

In addition to figurative works, the publication also features the artist’s Threaded Collages, abstract geometric pieces inspired by Bauhaus tapestries and constructivism. Williams creates repeated triangular and diamond forms, using colorful painted papers along with silk and cotton threads. 

Featuring a variety of text contributions, this, Williams’s second trade monograph, has been designed by Kristin Metho, edited by Matt Price, and produced by Hurtwood. It is published by Hurtwood with generous support from Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco.

Hiroshige. Nature and the City is the most extensive overview of the career of the famed Japanese print artist, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) in the English language to date. It is based on the largest collection of Hiroshige in private hands outside Japan, the Alan Medaugh collection. The catalogue consists of 500 entries, with an emphasis on urban and rural landscapes, fan prints and prints of birds and flowers. Grouped chronologically by subject, it presents Hiroshige’s interpretation of the urban scenes from his hometown Edo (present-day Tokyo), the great series documenting travel along the famous highways of Japan, and the idylls of nature as represented in his bird-and flower prints. Hiroshige often incorporated poetry in his works and for the first time all textual content is transcribed and translated. Additionally, the catalog pays due attention to the differences between variant editions of his prints. Thus, it provides essential comparative material for every scholar, dealer, and collector. 

“…his stories are always interesting, lively and well written, giving an insight to the art world as he experienced it.” — Literary Review

“If you read one book on art this year, it must be this brilliant critique of art today seen through the lens of retired museum curator Julian Spalding.” — International Property & Travel

Julian Spalding’s career as a curator and creator of museums was amongst the most controversial and effective of his time. In this collection of essays and memoirs he revisits some of the important events and battles of the last forty years, when he spearheaded resistance to the cult of conceptual art being promoted from the center. Witty, illuminating, coruscating and blazingly intelligent, this book is a vital guide to the ways in which we consume art today, for good or ill. 

The heart is one of art history’s most enduring images. For us, the heart is a ubiquitous symbol of devotion, emotion, and romance. In Heart Art, authors Susan Klein and Cynthia Schaffner give readers a fascinating and often surprising iconographic tour of the heart in modern and contemporary art. With beautiful illustrations throughout, they show how artists use the heart to express their feelings toward the power of love, religious passion, cherished friendship, creativity, and the divine, among many other subjects. From Henri Matisse’s “drawings with scissors” and Alexander Calder’s standing mobiles, to Jim Dine’s straw sculptures and Jeff Koons’ hanging hearts, Heart Art makes for a special addition to anyone’s art history library, or the perfect Valentine’s Day gift.

“In the beginning, there was tagging and writing on the walls.” From Style Writing to Art is the first anthology of Street Art ever published worldwide. Magda Danysz, the internationally renowned Street Art gallerist, guides the reader on this immersive journey into the heart of the most interesting artistic movement at the turn of the century. This book grapples with Style Writing, Graffiti, and Street Art. It focuses on the fascinating emergence of the movement amongst the graffiti pioneers of the 1960s, their first appearance in galleries in the 1980s, right up to the cutting-edge works made by the Street Artists of today. Spanning over four decades, the book is divided into three sections with each containing detailed accounts of the surfacing of different styles and techniques. Each period is complete with extensive biographies and analysis covering 50 legendary artists including Seen, JR, Miss Van, JonOne, Shepard Fairey, Quik, Blade, Doze Green, and Keith Haring. “Let me repeat myself,” Danysz writes, “if only for the sceptic eye, for the blind and lost or for the latecomers who ve simply just missed the boat: I believe this type of urban art to be the most important artistic movement at the turn of the century.”

This beautifully designed book is a celebration of one of the world’s most creative, dynamic and fascinating cities: Tokyo. It spans 400 years, with highlights including Kano school paintings; the iconic woodblock prints of Hiroshige; Tokyo Pop Art posters; the photography of Moriyama Daido and Ninagawa Mika; manga; film; and contemporary art by Murakami Takashi and Aida Makoto. Visually bold and richly detailed, this publication looks at a city which has undergone constant destruction and renewal and it tells the stories of the people who have made Tokyo so famous with their insatiable appetite for the new and innovative – from the samurai to avantgarde artists today. Co-edited by Japanese art specialists and curators Lena Fritsch and Clare Pollard from Oxford University, this accessible volume features 28 texts by international experts of Japanese culture, as well as original statements by influential artists.

This study of the wooden Serpent figures/headdresses of the Baga people of Guinea is a collaboration by the author, as an art historian, with many contributions from diverse perspectives, including scientists preeminent in their fields, Robert J. Koestler, Roy Sieber, Dennis William Stevenson, Mark T. Wypyski, and Peter J. Zanzucchi.

The text begins with a thorough exploration of the ethnological and art historical evidence for the Serpent masquerade among the Baga of Guinea, bearing an immense wooden serpent figure on top of the head representing a python. Never witnessed or photographed by an outsider, it disappeared in the 1950s along with most ritual performance after an Islamic jihad instated strict prohibitions against indigenous religions. The ritual context is followed by an in-depth analysis of the Serpent masquerade figures now extant in collections in Europe, the Americas, and Africa, as well as other representations of the python in the ritual art of the region. The final sections present the arguments, as a debate, between interested persons in the arts, including art historians, dealers, appraisers, collectors, and curators, and the scientific examinations by specialists in botany, chemistry, physics, entomology, and conservation concerning one particular Serpent figure in question.

Slavko Kopač. Hidden Treasure. Informal Art, Surrealism, Art Brut accompanies the exhibition Slavko Kopač. Hidden Treasure (Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, Florence, 12th September – 13th November 2025). With an introduction by Bernard Blistène, honorary director of the Centre Pompidou and advocate of the acquisition of twelve of Kopač’s works into the museum’s collection, the book explores a multifaceted artist, deeply connected to Surrealism, Informal Art, and Art Brut. A key collaborator of Jean Dubuffet and the first curator of the “Collection de l’Art Brut”, he played a fundamental part in its promotion and configuration. His magical, totemic universe captivated the Surrealists and led to a collaboration with André Breton. At the same time, critic Michel Tapié included him in Un Art Autre (1952), recognizing his originality within the Informal Art movement. He used painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, collage, and art books to explore materiality, intertwining reality and fantasy. The volume features contributions by leading international scholars and an extensive iconographic repertoire, including previously unpublished works and archive documents.

Text in English, French and Italian.

The buildings erected in the Deccan region of India belonged to a number of pre-Mughal kingdoms that reigned in the Deccan from the middle of the 14th century onwards. The monuments testify to a culture where local and imported ideas, vernacular and pan-Islamic traditions fused and re-interpreted, to create a majestic architectural heritage with exceptional buildings on the edge of the Islamic world. Many are still standing – yet outside this region of peninsular India, they remain largely unknown. General publications on Indian Islamic architecture usually devote a single chapter to the Deccan. Even specialist monographs can only cover a portion of the region, due to the sheer number of sites. While it is impossible to encompass the full breadth of the subject in a single volume, this book aims to embrace the visual diversity of the Deccan without sacrificing the rigor of academic study. Structures of historical or architectural significance are placed in their context, as the authors discuss building typologies, civic facilities and ornamental techniques, from plaster and carved stone to glazed tiles and mural painting. A chapter is dedicated to each principal Deccan site, interweaving the rise and fall of these cities with a pictorial journey through their ruins, and each building is accompanied by an overhead plan view.

Artisans of Israel is a very special book on crafts. Author Lynn Holstein is in search of a national identity in the artisanry of the still young country – and she finds it in the unifying pursuit for innovation. Forty artists, including Jews, Muslims and Christians, tell their stories and show in five different trades how emancipation can be promoted through creativity. Working with one’s hands stands unfailingly at the centre of this reflection. From the hybrid of cultural and religious backgrounds emerges a unique compilation that brings together the fields of metalwork and jewellery, ceramics, textiles, paper and wood. This compilation portrays a sensitive and inspiring portrait of Israel and its inhabitants. This book accompanies an exhibition at The Open Museum, Tefen (IL), in January 2018.

Text in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

Comprehensive Examples of Landscape Classification is an in-depth reference guide to the varying types of landscape architecture and design, offering a complete overview of the subject. The book is divided into 18 chapters: road and street landscape, floor covering landscape, planting landscape, table and chair landscape, stair landscape, trestle and quay landscape, rail and fence, door landscape, artificial waterscape, natural water landscape, swimming pools, wall landscape, roof landscape, landscape construction, landscape architecture, lighting landscape, sculpture piece and professional facilities.

Drago’s 36 Chambers series explores one of the world’s best-known street artists and the evolution of his unique iconography. Nick Walker’s iconic bowler-hatted character is an urban prankster whose timeless work possesses a charming yet mischievous sense of humor. Together with a collection of never-before-seen stencil pieces, the book provides exclusive insight into the birth of modern street art and culture.

For ten years, New York’s Alleged Gallery provided a breeding ground and played the role of willing accomplice to some of the most vibrant American art to come along in decades. By exhibiting the then emerging talents of Mark Gonzales, Chris Johanson, Rita Ackermann, Susan Cianciolo, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, Harmony Korine, Mike Mills, Ed Templeton, Thomas Campbell and Terry Richardson, much of Alleged’s impact was due to a complete and utter disregard for the status quo. Using a potent blend of photographs, artworks and interviews with artists, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, collectors and other denizens of the era, Aaron Rose’s Young, Sleek and Full of Hell documents the glorious trials and tribulations of running an independent gallery in the final hours of the 20th century.

The full list of the artists interviewed by Brendan Fowler in the book is as follows: Thomas Campbell, David Aron, Liz Goldwyn, Joey Garfield, Leo Fitzpatrick, Spike Jonze, Audrey ‘Rose’ Bernstein, Kid America, Amy Gunther, Mike Mills, Jason Lee, Arik ‘Moonhawk’ Roper, Carlo McCormick, Shelter Serra, Kim Hastreiter, Andre Razo, Chris Pastras, Lila Lee, Athena Razo, Joshua Wildman, Brian Degraw, Chris Habib, Julia Gandelsonas, Bill Powers, Sasha Hirschfeld, Susan Cianciolo, Shayla Hason, Ari Marcopoulos, Cynthia Connolly, Adam Glickman, Michele Lockwood, Terry Richardson, Barry McGee, Phil Frost, Tobin Yelland, Craig R. Stacyk II, Jess Holzworth, Marcellus Hall, Ashley Macomber, Tatiana von Furstenberg, Stefano Giovannini, Adam Wallacavage, Rita Ackermann, Erin Krause, Chan Marshall, Stephen Powers, David Hershkovits; Thurstone Moore, Chris Johanson, Janice Gaffney, Ed Templeton, Hugh Gallagher, Harmony Korine, Andy Jenkins, Ryan McGinley, Cheryl Dunn, Simone Shubuck, Shepard Fairey, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Lee Ranaldo, Seth Hodes, Bruce Labruce, Brendan Fowler, Dakota Goldhor, Beata Hendricks, Ivory Serra, Susanna Howe, Mai-Thu Perret, Christian Strike, Chloe Sevigny, Oliver Zaham and Clare Crespo.

Artists of Nigeria analyzes the influence of different art systems (museums, cultural institutions, art fairs, galleries, the internet) and cultures on the development of modern and contemporary Nigerian art in the past 100 years. Organized chronologically, and including biographical notes on the artists and lavish color illustrations, this unprecedented book charts the development of modern Nigerian art, and analyzes the works of significant Nigerian artists and art movements within the country and beyond. This comprehensive overview demonstrates the variety and vitality of Nigerian artists and confers on them a visibility they are often denied in global publications. Among the artists featured are Olowere, whose work is in the collections of the British Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Smithsonian Institution; Chike Aniakor, who has a PhD from Indiana University; and Uche Okeke, whose work has been shown at the Sherman Gallery at Boston University.

This most comprehensive and authoritative dictionary of Japanese artists has been continuously in print and used by scholars and connoisseurs of Japanese art since first published in 1977. The pertinent facts related to approximately 3000 painters, printmakers, sculptors, potters, and lacquerware makers born before 1900 are concisely listed, including their art names (in kanji and romanized), brief biographies, descriptions of their work, collections in which their work is included, and books and periodicals in which their work is discussed or illustrated. Extensive appendixes, glossary, bibliography and complete indexes – including artists by alternate names and Japanese characters – make this an essential reference for all those interested in Japanese and East Asian art.

This dictionary offers the most comprehensive compilation and English translation of those idiomatic expressions that so enrich the Japanese language but fail to find their way into conventional dictionaries.

The period between the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 and the establishment of the Song in 960 has not been treated kindly by historians. Called the period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, after the five successive but short-lived dynasties of the north and ten dominant smaller kingdoms in the south, it is often dismissed as a bleak chapter in Chinese history, a half-century of national disunity and anarchy. However, while it is true that the north during this time was continually ravaged by attacks from Khitans and Turks, its roads and canals falling into disrepair, the south enjoyed a time of peace, economic prosperity, and cultural growth. This engaging study by the eminent Sinologist Edward H. Schafer examines one of those kingdoms, the so-called Empire of Min, centered in the coastal and semitropical present-day province of Fujian. Schafer describes the geography, government, and political structure of Min, as well as its economy, arts, literature, and religion. As those familiar with the work of Schafer might expect, this is far more than a compilation of dry translated excerpts from dynastic histories; rather the interesting economic and political issues of the day are made clear, and its colorful characters and their various machinations come alive. We see how the Empire of Min, although it survived for just a half century, nevertheless played a pivotal role in the transition between the Tang and Song dynasties, the two great cultural peaks of medieval China.

Hainan Island is the southernmost extent of what is now the People’s Republic of China. Today the island is strategically important for its geographic position and its rich mineral and oil resources, and economically important as a thriving tropical resort. Historically, however, Hainan had been regarded as a backwater by successive Chinese dynasties. In Shore of Pearls the eminent Sinologist Edward Schafer recounts the history and culture of the island, annexed during the reign of Han emperor Wu Di in 111 BC, when Chinese armies defeated its indigenous Li people. Pearl gathering became an important industry, and this “treasure island” also yielded other luxury goods prized by the Chinese court, including incense, medicinal herbs, precious metals, tortoise shell, ivory, and exotic woods. However, the difficulty of colonizing and exploiting Hainan’s riches changed its reputation from a “treasure island” to one of a “dank, poisonous land unfit for normal men,” and it later became a place of exile for scholars and officials who had offended the court, including the great poet Su Shi, as well as a lair for criminals and pirates. As in Vermilion Bird, Professor Schafer writes precisely and poetically about this fascinating interface between China and the cultures of its southern borders. Also available: 9781891640377 Vermilion Bird, $50.00

This twelfth century catalog assembled by Tu Wan is the first whole work in Chinese literature devoted to stones as objects of aesthetic value. By this date the appreciation of viewing stones in gardens and in the studios of scholars had ignited a craze.