The Bradley Collection comprises the core of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s holdings of modern art. With nearly 400 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, it features works by groundbreaking artists across the 20th century, including Pierre Bonnard, Georges Braque, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Hepworth, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Gabriele Münter, Georgia O’Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, and Mark Rothko.

This book tells the story of how Peg Bradley built the collection—and then how she gave it away, transforming her hometown museum and community. The first comprehensive catalog of the collection, it brings together new research and insights by international scholars to shed light on works that have been long admired but little studied. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with highlighted works and an illustrated checklist, allowing readers to visualize every work in the collection. In addition to focusing on this extraordinary gift, the essays will appeal to anyone interested in the larger arc of modern art. 

Tracing the erotic from its earliest origins to the present day, this provocative and opinionated guide reveals the many shades of erotic art. Covering phallic Babylonian carvings from 1800 BCE, forbidden Victorian watercolors, 18th-century Shunga woodcuts and the extraordinary queer art of Ron Athey, Valie Export and Tom of Finland, this witty guide celebrates the beauty, chaos and absurdity of erotic art – and questions how desire shapes the way we see the world. With simple design, beautiful reproductions and concise, colorful opinion, this is part of the series of Opinionated Guides on art movements, mediums and ideas.

Simon Schama explores our enduring fascination with birds in a visually stunning art book

‘No other creatures have fixed themselves so obsessively and ubiquitously in our restless, earth-stuck imagination as birds… the fixation painted, imprinted, sculpted, filmed in our art.’ – Simon Schama

From Icarus to Peter Pan, who hasn’t dreamt of flying? Birds are the embodiment of our desires, fears and fantasies. In this publication internationally renowned (art) historian Simon Schama and Mauritshuis director Martine Gosselink explore the fascinating relationship between humans and birds through art, literature and cultural history.

Carel Fabritius’s world-famous Goldfinch, Picasso’s Dove, Brancusi’s Bird in Space, an Egyptian falcon mummy, a feather dress by Iris van Herpen: this book is a visual and literary journey through centuries of bird imagery. The icing on the cake is a wonderful anthology of bird stories from, among other works, The Epic of Gilgameshand One Thousand and One Nights, as well as bird poems by such writers as Rabindranath Tagore, Ted Hughes, Bob Marley and Rūmī.

With contributions by Simon Schama, Martine Gosselink, Laura Cumming, Stefan Hertmans, Philip Hoare, Eva Meijer and Adrienne Quarles van Ufford.

This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition BIRDS – Curated by The Goldfinch & Simon Schamain Mauritshuis, The Hague from 12 February to 7 June 2026.

Yaozhou ware is one of the finest Chinese celadons, made in north China over a period of 700 years, from the 7th to the 14th centuries. Their style developed and changed over time. In the Tang dynasty (618-906) black, brown, lead glazed and black-on-white painted ceramics were made. During the Five Dynasties period (907-960) a technical peak was achieved, and white-bodied wares with beautiful blue-green glazes appeared. During the Northern Song and Jin dynasties (906-1279) more olive-toned celadon glazes became the norm, their intricate decoration and lustrous surfaces supplying a unique aesthetic. At the end of the Jin dynasty the kilns declined and started to manufacture folk ware.

Yaozhou Wares from Museums and Art Institutes Around the World gathers illustrations and descriptions of some of the finest Yaozhou wares in private and public collections around the globe. The account considers ceramics in sections, according to their form and decoration, and includes the finest-quality ‘official wares’ requisitioned for imperial use. Copious illustrations are augmented by a scholarly essay. Highlighting over 400 pieces of Yaozhou ware, the book contains 711 color and 3 black-and-white illustrations from 56 major museums and art institutes, and will inspire collectors, students and anyone with a love for Chinese ceramics.

The Art of Endurance is a coffee table book about the 2024 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), which is one of the most exciting competitions in motorsport. This book is based on the very rich production of images that will be developed and embellished over the eight races that are held around the globe on internationally renowned circuits, including the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. The main goal is to capture the “spirit” that characterizes these endurance races. This beautiful publication will be a perfect promotional tool for the championship, whose considerable drawing power is due to the number of competitors and manufacturers who are taking part.

Inferno & Paradiso is a powerful photographic and editorial project that confronts the fragile tension between horror and joy, pain and hope. Conceived by artist Alfredo Jaar and featuring works by 20 leading photojournalists, each contributor presents two images: one depicting the darkest aspects of human suffering, the other capturing a moment of pure, often unexpected joy. Originally created in response to Jaar’s experience of the Rwandan genocide, the project resists apathy and indifference, challenging the spectator to engage with the complex emotional spectrum of our contemporary condition. With an immersive slide installation and a richly layered book, the work explores how images bear witness to reality while also asking fundamental questions about the possibility of happiness in a fractured world. Drawing inspiration from Dante and humanist theology, Inferno & Paradiso becomes a secular pilgrimage through human experience, paying homage to the moral courage of those who testify through images.

Looted Art & Restitution relates the history of the trade, looting and restitution of works of art from the Netherlands before, during and after World War II. Countless artworks ended up in German hands during the occupation. The allies recovered a large number of works of art to the Netherlands after the war. It was the Dutch government’s task to return looted or forcibly sold works to their original owners. The mostly Jewish claimants, however, often encountered bureaucratic and unwilling authorities. Meanwhile, most of the artworks were distributed over museums and depots or auctioned off.

It was not until the late 1990s that, in accordance with international developments, the restitution policy became much more humane and a search for the rightful owners was implemented.

Desperately Young introduces the masterpieces left behind by some of the greatest rising stars in fine art – all of whom died before their thirtieth birthday.

Precocious talent seeps from each artist’s work, along with a sense of unfulfilled potential. Informative biographies detail their legacies, while their tragic deaths lead us to wonder what heights they might’ve reached, had their lives not been cut short. Richly illustrated, Desperately Young presents prime examples of each artist’s work, demonstrating how our cultural heritage is just a little narrower for their loss.

From Europe to America to Japan and the Indian Subcontinent, the mid-14-hundreds to the late 20th century, this book hails the acknowledged greats and introduces those who died before they could leave an indelible mark on history. A compendium of 109 artists who fell prey to sickness, warfare, heartbreak or bad luck, Desperately Young is the only book to provide an in-depth study of artists who died young.

Contents: With works from Tommaso Masaccio, Frédéric Bazille, Thomas Girtin, Egon Schiele, Henri Regnault, Ernst Klimt, Jeanne Hébuterne, Kaita Murayama, Hermann Stenner, Maurycy Gottlieb, Fyodor Vasilyev, Marie Bashkirtseff, Richard Parkes Bonington, Luisa Anguissola, Walter Deverell, August Macke, Pauline Boty and Jean-Michel Basquiat – among many others.

This book addresses a phenomenon that pervades the field of art history: the fact that English has become a widely adopted language. Art history employs language in a very particular way, one of its most basic aims being the verbal reconstruction of the visual past. The book seeks to shed light on the particular issues that English’s rise to prominence poses for art history by investigating the history of the discipline itself: specifically, the extent to which the European tradition of art historical writing has always been shaped by the presence of dominant languages on the continent.

What artistic, intellectual, and historical dynamics drove the pattern of linguistic ascendance and diffusion in the art historical writing of past centuries? How have the immediate, practical ends of writing in a common language had unintended, long-term consequences for the discipline? Were art historical concepts transformed or left behind with the onset of a new lingua franca, or did they often remain intact beneath a shifting veneer of new words?

Includes 10 essays in English, four in Italian, and one in German. 

Text in English, German and Italian.

“…sumptuous large illustrations of the selected Works, with a beautifully printed tonality”
“lt is exciting to think about how this important collection can continue to grow while this publication is already a beautiful tribute to Scottish art.” — Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History, Volume 29, 2024-2025, p.128
The National Galleries of Scotland is home to the most important collection of Scottish art in the world. This beautifully illustrated book introduces the collection through 100 works, specially chosen by the curatorial team who care for them.
The selection ranges chronologically from a 16th-century portrait of a Scottish king to 21st-century instalations and prints. Some of the most famous painters in Scotland’s history feature alongside some of the finest artists working in Scotland today. Many of the most distinctive movements in Scotland’s artistic heritage are represented, including the Celtic Revival, Arts and Crafts, the Glasgow Boys and the Scottish Colourists.
Each of the 100 works is reproduced alongside a text by one of 23 three expert contributors. The introduction gives an overview of the collection and Scottish art history more broadly. It is perfect for those who already love Scottish art, and those who are yet to discover its riches.  

“The book is a tribute to a unique, taste-forming textile art that has lost none of its appeal to this day. ” — Preetorius Foundation 

“If Chintz seems rather too ‘Miss Marple-y’ or old hat, this magnificently produced book, CHINTZ: Indian cotton textiles from the Karun Thakar collection, is set to change your mind, and your decor.” — Embroidery Magazine

Chintz explores the historic importance of Indian printed and painted cotton textiles, drawing on the Karun Thakar Collection. Assembled over thirty years, the collection comprises over two hundred examples, many of which have featured in significant museum exhibitions. With contributions from leading scholars and curators, including from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this book examines the historical significance of Indian printed cottons and their influence on global trade from the 14th century onward, and includes examples found in Sri Lanka, Japan and throughout Europe. The book provides insights into the artistry of Indian designers and the enduring legacy of this textile tradition, making it a valuable resource for those with an interest in art history, textile design and global cultural exchange.

According to medieval theologians, faith is a deadly serious business. Humor and virtue are irreconcilable, because laughter is uncontrollable and escapes the control of reason. A modest smile is permitted. But laughing loudly, grinning and grimacing: these are the playing field of the devil – just as pernicious as other uncontrollable urges, such as physical love or the addiction of the gambler. That is the domain of the peasant or fool.

In the late Middle Ages, every right-thinking town-dweller knew the difference between the peasant and the fool. Peasants are innocently gullible, primitive, throwing themselves into feasting, gorging, drinking and sex. The peasant is the antithesis of the cultivated urbanite, who fastidiously controls his urges – and who therefore above all must not laugh too loudly. Only during Innocents Day parties or Shrove Tuesday celebrations is it permitted for urban partygoers to play the fool and to show their ‘underbelly’.

In contrast to the peasant, the fool escapes the existing order. He holds up a mirror to the self-declared wise citizens, because ‘the fool reveals the truth through laughter’, even though it may be hidden between piss and shit, sex and snot. It is for precisely this reason that Erasmus, in his In Praise of Folly writes not as himself but through the persona of Folly, a broad back behind which the wise person can hide when he denounces social problems. Laughter thus alters the world.

In this context, the fool and irony became important motifs in medieval art, especially in the Low Countries. This original art book is illustrated with dozens of top-quality works by Flemish masters from worldwide collections.

Madhubani art’s origin is believed to go back to the ancient era of the Ramayana, when the town was decorated by inhabitants of the region for the wedding of Lord Rama and Sita with elaborate wall paintings and murals. The philosophy of Madhubani art is essentially based on the principle of dualism. The artscape appears inundated with divine deities, the sun and moon, and flora and fauna along with features found in Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, tantric symbols and classical Hinduism. Primarily a significant socio-cultural engagement for the womenfolk of Bihar, this art was a welcome break from their daily drudgery. Immersed in the folklore of Mithila, fresh forms and figures are painted and repainted on walls and floors of their homes to mark special occasions. Well-established procedures are followed and techniques are passed on from one generation to the next, keeping the ephemeral art form and ancestral tradition and its lore alive. Madhubani artists today are seen to work more with brushes and acrylic paint rather than natural dyes and pigments. They now also work on paper, cloth, canvas and wood to create art and artifacts, besides painting on walls and floors. Contents: Foreword by H.E.M.S. Puri, Ambassador of India in Belgium; Preface by Martin Gurvich; Imaging the Divine: Artscape of Bharati Dayal by Sushma K Bahl; Krishna; Shiva; Ganesha; Devi; The Mahabharata Nature; Bharati Dayal.

Art pushes boundaries and so does skateboarding. This book explores this philosophy by showcasing skateboard-inspired artists and their work from around the world. From artists working in the skateboard community to freelancers being influenced by it. From traditional pencil to digital drawing. They all have one thing in common: skateboarding. Skate & Art, following bestseller Surf & Art by Veerle Helsen, is curated and written by Michele Addelio, editor of Backside skate magazine who explores the skate scene outside the mainstream. In his online publication he has interviewed over 50 skateboard-inspired artists. This experience laid the foundation to continuously discover the diversity and beauty of the two art forms colliding.  

Bright sun, blue sea, churning waves, shifting sand: these and other elements of surf life are featured here in work by 30 contemporary surf artists from around the world. In addition to the text are interviews with the artists, which gives a deeper understanding and insight into the transformation of their surf experience into art. Curated and written by surfing journalist Veerle Helsen, author of the bestselling travel guide Surf & Stay, this unique collection of paintings, watercolors, graphics, and digital artworks capture the joy, beauty, and energy of this sport and lifestyle.

‘That this is a legitimate question, even a necessary one, is argued by Vergara in a pleasurable manner, with the pace and attitude of a peripatetic thinker. There is something here that reminds one of Montaigne or Stendhal.’ – El País

Throughout history, human beings have excelled at creating art of the highest quality. Aristotle wrote that Homer “surpassed all others” and Pliny the Elder referred to “masterpieces that we never tire of admiring”. Velázquez distinguished between portraits “made with art” and those that were not. What did they all mean exactly? What do we mean when we say that a work of art is good, of high quality? This book is an attempt to explain this central question, which remains surprisingly unexplored.

Alejandro Vergara-Sharp argues that “a deep knowledge of the history of art provides us with the tools to approach this issue objectively”. He then invites the reader to share with him a Socratic voyage of discovery, gradually unveiling arguments that can assist us in understanding this elusive and crucial concept.

“A must for art lovers who like their culture with a side of room service.” — Boss Hunting

For centuries, art, design, and architecture have been used to transform, illuminate, preserve, and make sense of the world in which we live. Art and design, much like travel, are acts of discovery, invitations where influence, healing and enchantment are all possible. And as we travel, these art forms connect us to the unknown, deepening our comprehension and appreciation of the places and people we visit. The 28 hotels featured in this book creatively embrace art in its many forms to provide authentic reflections and experiences for every guest. The World’s Best Art & Design Hotels is dedicated to the influence, discovery, and power of art and design, as we travel — bon voyage!

Italian and American Art focuses on the period between 1930 and 1980 in particular. By comparing artworks and examining exhibition and gallery policies, political meddling, and figures linking Italy to the United States, a common thread emerges which held two worlds that were literally an ocean apart but in constant touch as they explored each other’s movements contributing to art, from Futurism, Concrete art, and Abstract Expressionism, to Nuclear art, Pop art and Spatialism.

The best art isn’t just created in art schools. Scratched into cave walls, molded in clay, embroidered onto clothing, sketched in the margins, painted on scrap cardboard in time snatched after work, perhaps in secret. Art is not only made inside academies and institutions by people with money and training, though sometimes the canon suggests otherwise. From Ukrainian pansky eggs to politically charged quilts, these 65 artworks challenge our preconceptions about what constitutes art, how it should be made and who should make it. 

Moniker

mon·ick·er / [ mon-i-ker ]

a person’s name, especially a nickname or alias.

“In the street art world everyone is equal and they don’t wait for official approval. They are artists in every sense of the word, whether they are painting in their own backyard or a huge illegal mural on the street for all the world to see.” Frankie Shea

“Moniker Art Fair has caused a stir internationally by providing an art fair environment for the sort of work normally overlooked by the traditional art world.” Katie Antoniou, Run-Riot

This groundbreaking platform dismantles the elitist barriers prevalent in the art world, offering artists an unbiased space to showcase their creations. This book reflects on Moniker’s impressive saga, from upstart art fair to critical support infrastructure for the urban art community. For that next generation of artistic outsiders, those who are pounding at the gates to be let in, Moniker can act as an inspiration. Few have done as much as Moniker to position urban art as accessible, historically significant, and exciting.

This edition contains 126 color plates (more than twice as many as the first edition), alongside 140 black-and-white illustrations. It invites the reader to appreciate the works of the greatest botanical illustrators both past and present.

This A3-format title brings together a selection of 50 exhibition posters designed by Werner Jeker (Les Ateliers du Nord, Lausanne) presented at the Collection de l’Art Brut between 1976 and 2026. This renowned Lausanne-based German-Swiss graphic artist has worked with the museum since it opened and is also responsible for the layout of this publication. The Collection de l’Art Brut would like to take advantage of this project to show its appreciation of this fruitful collaboration spanning five decades.

Text in English and French.