Using Caravaggio’s The Cardsharps as the focus, we may understand how the three figures depicted are set in contrast: by social class, age and appearance. These differences are underpinned by the clothing that they wear, and on closer examination, it is apparent that the fabrics described in paint are directly comparable to those of the historic collections of Novara. In their insightful and detailed analysis, the authors of this volume present a comprehensive overview of the development of fashion and fabrics, from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century, when Italy’s textile industry was at its peak. Text in English and Italian.

By analysing the different colour theories that gradually took shape in the turbulent socio-political context that characterised the 20th century, Emotions of Color in Art reflects on a perspective that considers light, its vibrations and the world of emotions, while challenging the standardisation of the use of colour in the modern age (synthetic colours) and the digital era (RGB colours offered by various online palettes), a levelling that considerably reduces our ability to distinguish colours in the real world.

This volume celebrates Luigi Pericle, painter, but also thinker, literate, scholar of theosophy and esoteric doctrines, revealing his extraordinary history, made of profound research and great encounters. From well-known collector Peter G. Staechelin to Sir Herbert Read, trustee of the Tate Gallery; from the museologist Hans Hess, curator of the York Art Gallery, to the famous German artist and director Hans Richter – everyone was attracted by his charisma, his versatile personality, his ‘clairvoyant’ art. With Luigi Pericle, the history of informal art of the second post-war period unexpectedly opens to philosophy, to alternative spirituality, to the mysteries of the cosmos, against the background of the space age. Essays by: Marco Pasi, Luca Bochicchio, Chiara Gatti, Michele Tavola, Andrea Biasca-Caroni, Valeria Malossa, and Giovanni Cavallo. Text in English and Italian.

Passage is a site-specific, two-channel video installation, which expands Nujoom Alghanem’s experimentation with contemporary Arabic poetry through the language of film. Taking her quintessential 2009 poem, The Passerby Collects the Moonlight, as a point of departure, this installation explores the universal experience of displacement. This Brechtian conflation of reality and fiction, culminating in a scene that depicts Falak arriving at the pavilion in Venice, prompts the viewers to consider the parallelism between the film’s three protagonists: the director, the actress and the fictional character. These three women of a similar age share the experience of similar dualities: the hidden and the revealed, fragility and power, belonging and displacement. The experience of passage and duality also permeates the design of the exhibition space, where visitors can enter and exit from either side of the pavilion. A large screen, diagonally positioned at the centre, divides the space into two symmetrical halves. The viewers are invited to engage both with Nujoom and Amal’s real process of creating the film and with the cinematographic portrayal of the fictional character of Falak. Text in Arabic.

These pages are intended as a compact up-to-date guide for readers wishing to find out more about one of the greatest artistic geniuses of all times, an artist epitomising the highest ideals of the age of Humanism whose complex personality challenges even the experts in this field of studies.

The volume is dedicated to the Sacri Monti, the ‘Sacred Mountains’, of Piedmont and Lombardy – Varallo, Orta, Crea, Varese, Oropa, Ossuccio, Ghiffa, Domodossola and Belmonte – which have all been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2003. Made up of a complex of chapels in which episodes of sacred history are represented through paintings and life-size sculptures, the Sacri Monti are a complete expression of the Counter-Reformation age. Built between the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century with the intent to educate and strengthen the religious sentiment of the faithful, they still fascinate for the decorative richness and the remarkable realism of the setting, as well as for the way in which they have been integrated into their surroundings. The texts and the rich iconographic collection highlight the extraordinary beauty and value of these jewels of history, art and nature.

Text in English and Italian.

Floral art as you have never seen it before. In Flora Mythica floral designer Marco Appelfeller and photographer Hing Ang team up to create a floral universe beyond dreams. Stories from Greek mythology, fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm and other classics are brought to life in a magical fantasy world of flowers. Enter hidden caverns, explore forbidden forests and dive down the rabbit hole to discover Marco’s creative wonderland inhabited by mythical and sometimes fearsome creatures. Marco Appelfeller’s imagination is just as vivid and colourful as his floral art. His impeccable designs, that seem to defy what we can imagine as possible, are equalled by the book’s magnificent photography. Flora Mythica is a masterpiece testifying of craftsmanship and creativity and has it all to become a classic, just like the age-old fairy tales that inspired it. Text in English and German.

Surrounded by flowers from a very young age, the decision to become a floral designer was anoabvious one for Hideyuki Niwa. To keep on challenging himself, Niwa often takes part in competitions and tries creating and photographing a new design every day to get a thorough understanding of the characteristics of flowers and their possibilities. His classic, linear style and minimalist expression with careful placement of plant materials, quintessential characteristics of the Japanese aesthetic concent wabi sabi, rightfully won him a Bronze Leaf in the 2010/2011 editio and he Gold Leaf in the 2012/2013 edition of Stichting Kunstboek’s prestigious International Floral Art. Text in English and Japanese. Also available: Ryusaku Matsuda, Contemporary Floral Art ISBN: 9789058562999 Naoki Sasaki, Japanese Contemporary Floral Art ISBN: 9789058562647

With an impressive career of over 40 years that has resulted in the installation of large-scale art projects in numerous public spaces, artist/sculptor Luk Van Soom needs no further introduction in Belgium and the Netherlands. This beautifully designed art book is a first retrospective on his life and career. In a series of discussions and interviews with the artist, author Johan Pas sheds some light on the influences, philosophy, thinking and themes that have been vital for Van Soom’s artistic development: the relation between life and passion, travel and art, etc. Together, these texts present a kaleidoscopic image of Luk Van Soom’s life and work that is just as multifaceted and compelling as his art. At the age of seventeen Van Soom took his first tentative steps as an artist. Now 40 years later, he has an impressive curriculum including many exhibitions, commissions and projects both in his home country and abroad. Moreover, he created more than 50 monumental works for the public space in Belgium and the Netherlands, among which some very well know sights, such as Walhalla (1993, Antwerp), The Man from Atlantis (2003, Brussels), The Wharfinger (2005, Zwolle) and Walking to Magdalena (2012, Ostend). Text in English and Dutch.

It is not an exaggeration to say that today we live in an age of unprecedented sexual freedom. Far from over, the sexual revolution seems on the contrary to have gained a new momentum. Globalised and digitalised, it is spreading its gospel like wildfire. The objects and their creators that feature in Made for Love, reflect this new evolution and its corresponding styles and attitudes. Some names of designers as well as brands will be surprisingly familiar. Sensual pleasure objects, furniture, varying home accessories – they all have a naughty spirit in common, combined with quality, design, a certain flair, and sometime ingenious engineering. Avoiding the trashy in favour of the classy, Made for Love is a treat for anyone wanting to indulge in a sensual experience. Includes texts by famous Belgian erotic writer Amélie O.

In order to have a great place, one must create architecture that embodies the best traditions of design through proportion, material selection, and architecture style. Classical details combined with clean lines and artful form brings the art in architecture, merging tradition with contemporary design concepts. Proportion, scale, and composition are key concepts in architectural design. Through massing studies and mathematical calculations, including the Golden Ratio, the architecture and decorative details seen in this highly illustrated book seamlessly join discipline and functionality with artistry. Rigorous studies and detailed, full-colour conceptual sketches and rich photographic detail bring each project to life, capturing the overall essence of the design. In the pages of this impressive volume, the second in a superb series, you will see project examples of classical Chinese architecture translated into the 21st century. Projects range from residential spaces to palace gates and entries; from boutique resorts and hotels to business and convention centres; from public to commercial enterprises. The arrival of digital age in architecture not long ago gave the architects and designers the tools to push the envelope in designs much further every time – whether it’s traditional, modern, or contemporary. The harmony of proportion and composition, axial symmetry, and unique details illustrated in many of the featured projects achieve a virtue of scale, historic durability, and integrated artistry.

Text in English and Chinese.

The baking industry has seen a developing momentum in recent years. The competition is stiff; it’s not just the quality of the food that attracts customers, so it’s often necessary to ensure the design of the bakery itself is both creative and eye catching, while still being functional. A well-designed store can not only increase sales, but also help develop a brand identity. This book includes fifty bakery designs from all over the world, including Spain, Greece, Canada, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Israel, the US, Germany, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, China, Japan, Brazil, Romania, Thailand, Austria, Lebanon, and France. The designers responsible exhaustively examine their projects in order to illustrate the design process.

The buildings of the past were constructed with readily available and local materials, such as stone, wood, or handmade bricks. Architects in the modern era, however, can choose from an ever increasing number of new materials, each one allowing for different advances in design. And yet the traditional materials have never been entirely supplanted; they still form an important part of the architectural range and are still used by architects the world over. The humble brick, for example, has remained a constant throughout the history of architecture, as has timber with its flexibility and warm tones. But today such elements can be used in conjunction with newer materials to highlight their natural beauty in many different ways: creating a stunning metal facade, wrapping a building with a cool, sleek stone finish, designing a wall with an eye-catching interesting texture, or adding depth or warmth to an internal design. Traditional metals are also finding new use, being employed to coat a structure in a light metal skin that reflects the sunlight, or embedded onto a building to add interest and texture. This book journeys through a curated selection of stunning examples from across the world, showcasing how each material is creatively used over a diverse range of building types and styles, and illustrating the myriad possibilities and forms available to the modern architect who chooses to rework these age-old materials into a brand-new decorative yet functional form.

“…exquisite coffee-table book presents breathtaking buildings by superstar Japanese architect Kengo Kuma” – Daily Mail

Kengo Kuma is a globally acclaimed Japanese architect whose prodigious output possesses an inherent respect and value of materials and environment, often creating a harmonious balance between building and landscape. He masterfully engages both architectural experimentation and traditional Japanese design with twenty-first-century technology, resulting in highly advanced yet beautifully simple, gentle, human-scaled buildings. He’s renowned for the drive to search for new materials to replace concrete and steel, seeking a new approach for architecture in a post-industrial society, and fusing interior and exterior realms to make spaces that both create a calming and tranquil atmosphere and which “transform” topography. In the pages of this exquisitely illustrated volume, Kuma presents close to forty of his most recognised and award-winning works, including FRAC Marseille, V&A Dundee, Mont-Blanc Base Camp, and Japan National Stadium. Kuma continues to forge a new design language: in this book he offers the reader deep insight into how he has engaged with different aspects of the architectural discipline by transforming topography, construction, and representation in order to give further progress to his ideas.

London Secrets unlocks the city’s most fascinating secrets. Janelle McCulloch strips away bricks, mortar and tarmac to uncover parts of the capital that even born and bred Londoners may never have seen. In the shadow of the Gherkin, Cheesegrater and Walkie-Talkie skyscrapers are medieval churches, crypts and the curios of Postman’s Park – proof that altruism can exist in the Square Mile. In St James’s, a stone’s throw from the glitz and glamour of Soho are hidden squares and shops dating from a gentler age – purveyors of fine wine, gentleman’s apparel and bowler hats. The cobbled mews of Marylebone and Hampstead Village reveal unexpected treasures, rarely seen interiors and a rural idyll amid the urban hum. While the esoteric collections at the Horniman, Sir John Soane’s Museum and exotica of Leighton House make you feel you are in an entirely different country altogether. The author reveals the traditions and quirks that have survived to this day, from the freedom of the City of London allowing you to herd sheep through the town, to the “market ouvert” of Bermondsey Market, original home of the London wheeler-dealer. Lavishly photographed and researched, London Secrets will shed a whole new light on this most vibrant – and surprising – of cities.

Formed in 2008, Mercurio Design Lab (MDL) masterfully manages to express its design potential. Lead by Massimo, a rare architectural polymath who is motivated by a strong spirit of innovation, philosophy and experimentation, MDL seeks to elevate and balance the synergies of the Asian architectural context with indomitable Italian style and tradition. MDL considers its projects as artistic masterpieces and makes a special contribution to the architectural scene of the city through the creation of dramatic and futuristic buildings, always respecting three fundamental criteria: the functional, the aesthetic and the social. This richly illustrated monograph is a comprehensive review of MDL’s exceptional artistry and diversity and it’s another icon for IMAGES’ Master Architect series, an absolute must for all collectors of beautiful books on sophisticated global architectural culture.

The Victorian Era represents the cradle of our modern society – a time when social change and new technology heralded an industrialised economy. By the time of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, claims were proudly made of the progress since her accession to the throne. Steam ships had replaced sail, the railway system had superseded the stage coach, and the motor car had just begun to replace the horse. Not only did mass production create a new wealth of household products, ceramics, toys and games, but the arrival of cheaper printing and colour lithography made possible a profusion of printed material. The music sheets, colourful scraps, advertisements, greetings cards and children’s book illustrations that fill The Victorian Scrapbook – with such vigour – all give us an insight into the life and times of our forebears. Fortunately the thousand items gathered here have survived in remarkable condition, some by chance, others by having themselves been pasted down into contemporary scrapbooks. They all combine to celebrate a time when British ruled an Empire ‘on which the sun never sets’.

Modern Utopias is a reflection on the new semi-permanent exhibition at the Centre Pompidou Málaga which will be held until the end of 2018. This account of the great utopias of the 20th and 21st centuries will be told through the great works of art from the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Thematic, multimedia, and chronological, it consists of six extensive chapters: “The Great Utopia”, “The End of Hopes”, “Ensemble”, “The Radiant City”, “Imagining the Future”, and “The Golden Age”. The selected works speak about the historic events that have marked our time and have fed and nurtured the imaginations and ideals of modern and contemporary artists. Text in English and Spanish.

The Jürgensen Dynasty represents four generations of extraordinary watchmakers working in two countries: Denmark and Switzerland. Urban Jürgensen (1776-1830) is perhaps the most renowned member of the family. He was among the most innovative personalities of the Danish Golden Age and internationally one of the most prominent watchmakers of his time. His contributions to the development of horology were significant and he was one of the first watchmakers and inventors to be recognised by the scientific establishment with his innovations in technology and science earning him a place in the Royal Danish Academy of science. In this manner, the book presents a broader cultural aspect of Danish history than the title at first suggests. It is a document of the art of watchmaking, as it is still exercised by the continuing production of Urban Jürgensen & Sønner timepieces today. Contents: The founding Father: Jürgen Jürgensen; Urban Jürgensen 2nd generation; Urban Jürgensen’s timekeepers and instruments; Jules I and Louis Urban Jürgensen the 3rd generation; Jules II and Jacques Alfred Jürgensen the 4th generation; Urban Jürgensen & Sønner today.

The Rococo style dominated the 18th century from the Régence (1715-1723) until the end of the reign of King Louis XV (1774). Despite its many achievements, people frequently describe it with adjectives meant to be disparaging: cloying, lovely, kitschy etc. However, its triumphant progress, which took off in France and spread all over Europe, as well as the coincidence in time and the relationship between the Rococo and the enlightenment can still be traced in contemporary art.

For the first time ever, this book extensively examines the enduring impact of this major European style on contemporary art. But the Rococo was far more than just a form of art, its ideas permeated all areas of society. Therefore, the selection of contemporary approaches presented here does not only show a formal connection with the Rococo period, it also reveals thematic similarities. In addition, it explores the current relevance of the style as a symbol of our own hyped up and disoriented age.

With works by Leonor Antunes, Cornelia Badelita, Karla Black, Thierry Boutemy, Glenn Brown, Alice Channer, Edith Dekyndt, Anke Eilergerhard, Katharina Grosse, Jeppe Hein, Rachel Kneebone, Alexej Koschkarow, Anri Sala, Markus Schinwald, Anj Smith and Pia Stadtbäumer.

Text in English and German.