Since taking the helm of the National Galleries of Scotland in 1984, Sir Timothy Clifford has overseen the acquisition of some of the finest, and best-loved works in the national collection. This book chronicles the development of the collection under his directorship and casts light upon the wide range of acquisitions, including the fascinating stories behind their purchase. Lavishly illustrated, highlights of the book include The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child by Botticelli, The Three Graces by Canova (purchased jointly with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), and the most recent major acquisition, Venus Anadyomene by Titian. Works from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s internationally renowned Surrealist collection are also featured, as well as paintings from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum houses an extraordinary collection of ‘prisoners’ objects’. These were made by prison inmates and presented to the ICRC delegates who visited them, as provided for by the Geneva Conventions. For over a century, these objects have borne mute witness to the numerous violent episodes that continue to ravage our planet, from Chile, Vietnam, Algeria and Yugoslavia, to Rwanda and Afghanistan. Made from simple materials – whatever comes to hand in a prison – these objects express the need to escape the world of the jailbird. As a Lebanese inmate puts it, ‘Creating is a way of acquiring freedom of expression, it gives us a means to say what we think while everything we see around urges us to keep quiet and to forget who we are.’ While some of these works touch us through their simplicity, others astonish us with their beauty or ingeniousness. Each bears the imprint of a personal story loaded with emotion, inviting us on a journey through time and collective history.

“Extensive text, beautifully-written and well-researched, this book leads us through many historical and geographical adventures and towards a plethora of full-colour plates…These pages ground us by sharing a complex culture expressed through an object of practical simplicity.” —Ptolemy Mann, SelvedgeThe Michael and Amy Rothberg Collection of knotted-pile tribal and nomadic bags and other rare small format pile weavings, among them many pieces made for women’s dowries and other ceremonial functions, is recognized as the best of its kind anywhere in the world. The collection has been carefully and thoughtfully assembled over the past four decades. Michael Rothberg’s collections are above all distinguished by the collector’s acutely sensitive and perceptive eye for the best museum-quality material available on the international market. Specialists in the field and other collectors and tribal weaving enthusiasts have awaited the publication of this part of the Rothberg Collection for many years, ever since a selection of the material was shown at Sotheby’s in Los Angeles in a feature exhibition during the American Conference on Oriental Rugs in January 1996. The scope of the collection includes antique pile bags, from the Transcaucasus region, as well as from the Shahsavan, Kurdish, Varamin region, Qashqa’i, Khamseh, Luri, Bakhtiari, Afshar and Baluch tribes of Iran.

This is the book that accompanies a landmark exhibition organized jointly by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, and the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, to bring together works by Francis Bacon alongside masterpieces from the Hermitage collection. The book and exhibition focus on Bacon’s known influences and inspirations, and explore his fascination with artists such as Rembrandt, Velasquez, Titian, Michelangelo, Rodin, Van Gogh, Picasso, Cezanne and Degas. The thirteen paintings by Bacon in the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection form the core group by the artist, alongside paintings, sculptures and artefacts from the Hermitage that exemplify the theme of the project. Photographs from the Hugh Lane archive in Dublin further explore the artist’s working methods. With text by leading Bacon experts, and designed by John Morgan Studio, London, it is a book that will offer intriguing new insights into the life and work of one of the twentieth century’s most famous artists. Contents: An Introduction: Thierry Morel; Bacon, Michelangelo and the Classical Tradition: Paul Joannides; Francis Bacon’s Studio: Margarita Cappock; Bacon’s Paintings in the Sainsbury Collection: Amanda Geitner. Also available Bacon Moore ISBN 9781851497478

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 catalog presents masterpieces of calligraphy, painting, sculpture, ceramics, lacquers, and textiles from two of America’s greatest Japanese art collections, which are featured in a landmark exhibition at the Asia Society in New York. Impermanence is a pervasive subject in Japanese philosophy and art, and recognizing the role of ephemerality is key to appreciating much of Japan’s artistic production. The dazzling range of art and objects in this beautifully photographed exhibition catalog show the broad, yet nuanced, ways that the notion of the ephemeral manifests itself in the arts of Japan throughout history. Insightful contributions from noted scholars explore the aesthetics of impermanence in religion, literature, artifacts, the tea ceremony, and popular culture in objects dating from the late Jomon period (ca. 1000-300 B.C.E.) to the 20th century.

Contents:
The Art of the Ephemeral;
Works in the Exhibition:
I. Retrieving Lost Worlds; II. Buddhism: Perpetual Impermanence; III. Tea: Choreographed Ephemerality; IV. Transforming Impermanence into Art.

Published to accompany an exhibition at the Asia Society Museum, New York, between 11 February and 26 April 2020.

In October 2024 The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, in collaboration with the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, in Madrid, presented the exhibition Splendour in Venice. From Canaletto to Guardi, devoted to 18th century Venetian painting.

Painters such as Canaletto, Francesco Guardi, Bernardo Bellotto, and Giambattista Tiepolo, authors of some of the most brilliant compositions of their time and undeniable highlights in the collections of both Iberian museums, are among the artists selected for this exhibition.

This publication, released on the occasion of the exhibition, is divided into two parts: the first dedicated to three essays, and the second comprising catalogue entries related to the works of art on display.

Mar Borobia, Chief Curator of Old Master Painting at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, opens the first part with an essay on the history of the collection of 18th century Venetian painting belonging to the Madrid museum. Next, Vera Mariz, curator at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, reflects on Gulbenkian’s admiration for the work of Francesco Guardi, which led him to purchase 19 paintings by the Italian master for his collection. Finally, Alberto Craievich, director of Ca’ Rezzonico, Museo del Settecento Veneziano, explores the artistic context of the city of Venice during the 18th century.

The second part consists of 34 catalogue entries written by Luísa Sampaio, the curator of the exhibition.

Alongside the written content, the publication is illustrated by a large number of images of the artworks on display, allowing readers to observe the exquisite details for which they are notable.

This stunning book documents a collection of 66 extraordinary pieces of petrified wood, mainly from Western United States (Arizona, Oregon, Washington). Specially photographed they are shown in their entirety and in magnificent details.

Petrified wood is formed from fallen trees that in the absence of oxygen and microbes, and with water containing minerals, through a replacement process called permineralization, slowly transform into visually spectacular fossils. But Nature often uses a paintbrush in its preservation magic, splashing the wooden canvas with an array of colors and hues before fixing it in a matrix of hard durable quartz, thereby creating splendid works of art. Petrified wood has been found throughout the world, but actual petrified forests are truly noteworthy in the United States, the most famous being the Chinle Formation forest of Arizona.

“It’s surely the ultimate coffee-table book…. “ — Daily Mail
“This exciting collection lends itself to significant discussion and interest, given coffee is such a large part of our daily culture around the globe.” — Travel by Entree

“… another brilliant document of an exciting epoch in coffee culture.” — We Heart
“Do you love coffee, traveling and design? Then this is a must-have for you! The addresses of 39 cafes, café clubs and coffee roasteries in 26 cities in different parts of the world can be found in a unique book and album in one “Café Cool: feel-good inspiring designs”. The author, Robert Schneider, presents an amazing collection of modern, designer places, designed to turn the coffee experience into an art.” — AD Poland

“This book is a homage to his belief that, particularly given the recent global pandemic, it is vital that we continue to support and appreciate quality coffee in cafes and coffee shops that exhibit great feel-good inspiring designs.” — Coffee T&I

Café Cool: feel-good inspiring designs is the much-anticipated third book in the series by Robert Schneider, and features 39 cafés and coffee shops and roasteries in 26 cities around the world, richly illustrated with full-color images. The curated selection shares a focus on modern contemporary designs, showcasing independent, local coffee hubs that sit at the heart of communities and are designed to foster a fantastic coffee experience. Insightful commentary by the owners and designers capture the feel and personality of each project. Schneider has once again served up an engaging and inspiring collection of modern cafés and coffee shops for lovers of coffee and good design. This book is a homage to his belief that, particularly given the recent global pandemic, it is vital that we continue to support and appreciate quality coffee in cafes and coffee shops that exhibit great feel-good inspiring designs.

“One of the world’s most complete, resonant art mediums (which) submits to spectacular skill and structural concepts” – Roberta Smith, New York Times These are exciting times for Japanese bamboo art. May 2017 saw the opening of Japan House São Paulo, whose inaugural exhibition ‘Bamboo: The Material That Built Japan’ drew over 300,000 visitors. From June 2017 to February 2018 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York mounted another bamboo show that was seen by about 400,000. From 27 November, the Musée du quai Branly in Paris will present the largest-ever exhibition on the subject. This authoritative catalog of 323 works from the Naej Collection thus appears at a moment when a new global audience has emerged. The Naej Collection is especially strong in works by leading artists from 1850 to 1950, when great craft dynasties were established and first Osaka and then Tokyo emerged as major centers of artistic basketry. The catalog breaks new ground by combining dramatic photography with precious documentary information drawn from signatures and inscriptions, making it not merely the visual record of a great collection but the essential reference work for a developing field of connoisseurship.

Text in English, Japanese and simplified Chinese.

“The collection is an extraordinary one, and the catalog will be of interest to Johnsonians as well as book collectors.” —The Johnsonian News Letter

“It is elegantly and humanely presented and handsomely produced, and will enrich the field of 18th-century studies.” — The Book Collector

“…it presents a cornucopia of information that creates a conversation between its numerous entries.”— The Colophon Bookshop

The Age of Johnson: The Library of Loren and Frances Rothschild brings together the most comprehensive collection of rare books and autograph works in private hands of the 18th-century literary giant Samuel Johnson, together with extensive collections of the works of the other principal authors of the period long-known as the Age of Johnson— including James Boswell, Edmund Burke, Frances Burney, Oliver Goldsmith, Hester (Thrale) Piozzi, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift.

An introduction to each of these authors provides information placing the author in his or her historical and literary context, and the descriptive entries for each of the over 900 individual manuscripts, letters, and rare books records bibliographical information, significant facts, and critical information about the work recorded.    

The individual entries, when viewed in the aggregate, survey and illuminate the breadth and depth of the literary and intellectual canon of the authors of the Age of Johnson, illuminate their relationships and their works to one another. The text taken as a whole demonstrates why Samuel Johnson, as an individual and as an author, defined the era long named for him.

This catalog assembles sumptuous photographs of the world’s leading collection of Cham sculpture, along with the most recent insights of Vietnamese and international scholars. The Champa culture thrived in magnificent temples, sculpture, dance and music along the central and southern coast of today’s Vietnam from the 5th to the 18th century. A focused exploration here uncovers this brilliant yet almost lost culture to newcomers and experts alike. The Danang Museum has been recently expanded and refurbished to house what is generally considered the world’s greatest collection of Cham Art.

This is the exhibition catalog of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s exhibition starting September 2026 dedicated to Gustave Fayet as an artist and a collector. This book focuses on his collection: he bought works to resell them at a profit, allowing him to acquire new, even more remarkable pieces. His collection included over 200 works by Gauguin and the ‘Gauguin Room’ in his Parisian apartment was legendary among the Parisian elite of the time. He was also a very close friend of Odilon Redon, and he acquired works by famous artists such as Matisse, Bonnard, Degas, Monet, Matisse, Renoir, Cézanne, Rodin and Van Gogh among others. Following his death in 1925, the collection was sold by his family. However, these works can now be found in the world’s most prestigious museums, and are reunited during the exhibition. 

In the series Collection of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting Handscrolls: Calligraphy, 10 masterpieces from famous masters — mostly of the Song Dynasty — are collected, covering mainstream scripts such as regular script, semi-cursive script, cursive script and so on. These treasured copybooks for calligraphy lovers are presented in the traditional format of a handscroll, which can be opened in sequence.

In the series Collection of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting Handscrolls: Calligraphy, 10 masterpieces from famous masters — mostly of the Song Dynasty — are collected, covering mainstream scripts such as regular script, semi-cursive script, cursive script and so on. These treasured copybooks for calligraphy lovers are presented in the traditional format of a handscroll, which can be opened in sequence.

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. 

The book has a selection of 186 of the most interesting arms in the Jaipur royal palace and discusses them as weapons in their social and historical context. The book breaks new ground in Indian arms scholarship and is also a very readable account that takes in Rajput, Mughal and British Indian history, anthropology and art history. The objects are stunning: swords belonging to the Mughal Emperors Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb; wonderful court daggers with hilts of carved rock crystal, jade, ivory and gilt steel; ferocious tribal arms; some remarkable historic firearms and beautiful painted shields, some of which were decorated in Japan for the Mughal court. There is even a device for extracting arrows from wounds with toe-curling ancient medical remedies. Most of these arms are from the reserve collections and published for the first time. Contents: Foreword by Princess Diya Kumari of Jaipur; Acknowledgements; Cataloguing terms; Introduction; Daggers; Katars; Swords; Children’s Arms; Lances, Spears and Shields; Armour; Axes, Ankus, Chhadi and Maces; Bows and Arrows; Accoutrements; Guns and Pistols; Map; The Rulers of Amber – Jaipur; Endnotes; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Noire Idole is an immersive journey into a sophisticated world, both in terms of the choice of subject matter and form and as regards the way these are given artistic expression. The gear on the set lets the imagination and virtuosity of the craftsmen run riot. None of the objects are fake; they exude a natural perfection whose mirror image is simply reflected back to us.

It is also a sensory journey into the shadows, alongside the reclining smoker. The choice of a black background transforms reality. The outlines of the furnishings become blurred, vision becomes clouded, the present is endlessly suspended.

At the same time, it is a journey through memory, where drugs are merely a pretext for the narrative. Indochina appears within and between the lines. The author reveals his double loss: a vanished ritual and a dead dream, an unfulfilled French passion. Noire Idole is a collection of texts. A compendium brought together in the name of emotion, cultural exchange, and mutual fascination. The writing is leavened by contemporary pictures in the form of a collection of exceptional, previously unpublished photographs.

Kettle’s Yard Art & Artists introduces readers to the key artists represented in the Kettle’s Yard collection. It focuses on works collected by Jim and Helen Ede between 1957 and 1973, which remain on permanent display in the Kettle’s Yard House.

Organized alphabetically by artist surname, each chapter features:

– An image of the artist’s work in situ at Kettle’s Yard

– Reproductions of significant artworks from the collection

– Biographical details covering early life, education, and major achievements

– Insights into the artist’s relationship with the Edes, Kettle’s Yard, and Cambridge

The text is enriched with excerpts from Jim Ede’s writings and archival material, including letters exchanged with the artists. Conceived as a companion to the Kettle’s Yard House Guidebook ISBN 9781904561613, this publication offers an accessible introduction to the art on display at in the Kettle’s Yard house and the stories behind the artists who created it.

The red-figure vases from the National Museum “Domenico Ridola” in Matera and the Rizzon Collection – rich in precious Apulian and Lucanian pieces – offer a unique opportunity to grasp Magna Graecia antiquity from an unusual perspective through the photographs by Luigi Spina. Significant testimony to vase painting between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, the museum’s artifacts largely date back to the discoveries of Domenico Ridola (1841-1932) and form part of elaborate funerary assemblages, possessing great aesthetic and historical value through which everyday life is reflected in myths.

In the book, black is the protagonist: it enhances the red figures and brings out the keen eye of photographer Luigi Spina. Anatomical details, drapery, and decorative motifs emerge in all their strength without the filter of museum cases, while touches of white enrich the vases’ bichrome palette.

Photographing a work of art means capturing its deep meaning to communicate it to the world. Far from the idea of a museum catalog, the volume is rather a figurative atlas of antiquity.

Text in English and Italian.

Francisco de Goya and Edvard Munch revolutionized art through their groundbreaking pairing of raw realism and unique imaginative power. Exploring inner worlds and existential questions, they had a formative impact on art history and our understanding of our times.

The book is published in conjunction with the exhibition Goya and Munch: Modern Prophecies, the first comprehensive presentation of these two artists in tandem. It is lavishly illustrated with reproductions of all the exhibited works and features texts by Trine Otte Bak Nielsen, Manuela B. Mena Marqués, Janis Tomlinson, Ute Kuhlemann Falck and Ask Salomon Selnes.

Scenes of gardens and of love, idyllic hunting parties, picturesque farms, and lifelike animal figurines in porcelain were popular motifs in table decoration from the Baroque to the beginning of the 19th century. These ‘worlds in miniature’ were intended to initiate conversation among the table guests – and of course attest to the discerning taste of the hosts. The decorative pieces were, for all intents and purposes, part of the furnishing scheme and finished off the room’s interior as a total work of art down to the last detail. Central to this was the artisanal sophistication and the perfect mastery of the latest techniques, which breathed new life into the miniatures.

Following on from Courtly Companions: Pugs and Other Dogs in Porcelain and Faience, now Courtly Pleasures presents the most beautiful table decorations produced by a variety of manufacturers, all from the abundant treasures of a southwest German private collection.

Text in English and German.

Type Object is an intriguing collection of letters, but not as we know them; this collection takes letters into the third dimension using three dimensional design to re-define and re-interpret the meaning of letters that create words. These are interactive letters that crave your attention and challenge your perception, letters not just as a tool but as characters in their own right; letters that are tactile, bold, letters to hold, to think about, letters that want to come out and play! Words are the vehicle here for the letters that visually convey their meaning; for example a garden of letters growing out of the soil, entwined with ivy used to spell the word, ‘earth’ or a beautifully constructed ball of letters surrounded by butterflies and the word is naphthalene, the main ingredient of mothballs. Thought-provoking and exciting, letters to inspire discussion and create an emotional response; no longer the passive characters on the keyboard but personalities in their own right.