Conservators’ prolonged proximity to paintings makes them ideally placed to notice anything unusual or surprising which might arise during examination or treatment. Ensuing investigations, often aided by technical analysis, include the recent increasingly widespread use of macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) scanning which has led to a raft of new discoveries.

Jane and Raphael Bernstein were early supporters of the innovative teaching practices of the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth. This richly illustrated catalog traces the legacy of their gifts of art from 17th-century Japanese handscrolls to 18th-century English satirical prints, from 20th-century American landscape and portrait photography to contemporary art from the Canadian Arctic, plus an extraordinary collection of calligraphic prints and paintings by Japanese centenarian Toko Shinoda. Curatorial essays reveal how the depth and richness of the various collections the Bernsteins have entrusted to the museum increase the range of the work it can do. They have long conceived their gifts of art as part of an overriding project: object-based inquiry. This catalog celebrates the Bernsteins’ support for learning with art, inviting readers to join the museum’s faculty, staff, visitors, and – perhaps most importantly – students who will forever benefit from their generosity.

This project began in America, 2013: authors Erika Z. Figabomba and Alessandra Tisato drove from Nevada to the Bay Area, via San Diego, taking over 10,000 photos of beautiful, powerful women and non-binary people. These photographs do not only celebrate beauty in a way that is far from the polished, glossy images of fashion and advertising; they also explore the meaning of nakedness in a society that seems to prioritise superficial entertainment over women/non-binary sexuality and overall body positivity.
B.A.D. Beautiful And Determined, with 224 pages and more than 100 color photographs, is a celebration of beauty, determination and empowerment free from all genders and stereotypes. The book also contains critical texts by Carlotta Cossutta, a researcher in political philosophy, who works on feminism and queer theories in and out of academia and Elle Stanger, a queer person who writes sex education, short stories and advice columns that work to reduce shame and harm related to sexuality and touch.

“Belgicum is brilliant. It’s an epitaph for a country that disappeared before Vanfleteren’s eyes, like a sand castle in the breaking waves.” – Eric Min in De Morgen

Belgicum is a photo project about Belgium. It is not an objective representation of a country but rather a subjective photographical document in black and white. It’s a journey of exploration into a small country in the heart of Europe, at the turn of the centuries.

More than fifteen years Vanfleteren has wandered through and hunted in the ‘Belgicum’ territories, guided by emotion and by the love for his homeland. He made a journey through a scarred land, in search of the irretrievable identity of a country with the melancholic soul of an old nation.

Over the past ten years, over 11,000 copies were sold of this international bestseller. Belgicum grew out to be a reference work in the Belgian history of photography. On the occasion of the tenth birthday of this cult book, it was reprinted.

With text by David Van Reybrouck.

Text in English, French and Dutch.

“…I was pretty sure I had seen it all and would not find anything new in the book. I am delighted to report I was wrong.”– Marion Fasel, The Adventurine
“…a combination of excellent photographic professionalism and the infinite beauty of the star, who together gave birth to a real work of art.” – Di Redazione, Harper’s Bazaar Italia

“An extraordinary collection of photographs that celebrates one of Hollywood’s most iconic faces.” – Donato D’Aprile, L’Officiel Italy

“An intimate look at a Hollywood icon.” – Closer

“Bling, boobs & booze: She was famous for her diamonds, her tempestuous love for Richard Burton and her luminous acting. Now, a book of iconic images peels away the layers to reveal the woman behind the legend.”– Roger Lewis, Daily Mail

Elizabeth Taylor was the face of classic Hollywood. As one of the 20th century’s most loved stars, her image is instantly recognizable the world over. ACC Art Books and Iconic Images proudly present the work of eight wonderful photographers — Douglas Kirkland, Milton Greene, Gered Mankowitz, Norman Parkinson, Eva Sereny, Terry O’Neill, Gary Bernstein and Greg Brennan — who were fortunate enough to capture the star at different moments of her life. Throughout the book, the photographers share their memories of working with the icon, from patient pursuits to charming persuasion, each enlightening us with an inside view of what it was like to work with such an icon. The book presents a mix of set, fashion, portrait and behind-the-scenes photographs, including some rare and never-before-seen images. Forever Elizabeth is a visual tribute from some of the world’s best-known photographers to a star who continues to captivate our hearts.

“The star-studded images are one thing, but their candid context is what makes them special.” – Joy Ling, Esquire Singapore

“…many famous names have stepped in front of his camera, captured quickly in his distinctive, clean style, with the images featuring in magazines and newspapers, galleries and exhibitions, and even earning him an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services of his photography.” – Chris Anderson, Air Magazine

“Andy’s contact-sheets give us what feels like a VIP pass to spend time with his subjects. We see their beauty, their flaws, charisma, humanity and even a glimpse into their thoughts and process. We see the person in these people and are touched by their being.” Kylie Minogue

“Above all Andy Gotts allows his subjects to shine through, untouched. His artistry does not come afterwards, in Photoshop and all the supposedly flattering trickery technology has taught us to expect. His skill is there in each frame, each moment, in the relationship he has built with his sitter, no matter how short a time they have shared, and the trust he has engendered in them because he is, quite simply, a good man. Anyone who encounters him can sense immediately his openness and kindness and I think this book is most of all a testament to those qualities.” Alan Cumming

” With this amazing book, you will see why Andy is as much a star as his subjects.” Gene Simmons

A 90-second shoot with Stephen Fry in 1989 launched the career of Andy Gotts, photographer to the stars. Through grift and graft and raw, honed talent, Gotts has become one of the most in-demand celebrity photographers working the circuits of Hollywood, British media, and the music industry. Gotts’s dramatic black-and-while style turns faces into artworks of shadow and light, while his color portraits capture his subjects’ ineffable humanity.

For the first time Andy Gotts reveals the incredible depth of his archive, showing his most famous portraits and many rare images alongside. The book focuses on Andy’s contact sheets, which reveal the process behind capturing the perfect image. Accompanying texts from Andy shed light on his craft and delve into the stories behind these captivating photographs. This really is the definitive, career spanning book, produced to the highest standards. 

The book also contains personal testaments from a cross-section of the celebrities who Gotts has worked with: Alan Cumming, Gene Simmons, Ian McKellen, Jeff Bridges, Kylie Minogue, Michael Caine, Peter Capaldi and Simon Pegg.

“An important document that should be included in any library of design and architecture.” – Daniella Ohad
“A masterful blend of émigré biography and architecture and design history, proving that the twentieth century fostered more than one modernism.” – Donald Albrecht

Christopher Long, author of seminal monographs on Adolf Loos, Kem Weber, and Paul T. Frankel, turns his attention to the little-known architect and designer Jock Peters, a largely forgotten figure of early Los Angeles modernism.

This visually rich study is also an intimate portrait of an architect who, like too many, struggled to establish a career during the early decades of the 20th century, years ravished by World War I and the Great Depression. Among Peters’s early works in Germany are designs for the Levantehaus and Karstadt department stores, an innovative design dated 1916 for a magnificent glass pavilion, and his work for Peter Behrens after the war, but the architect’s most accomplished and compelling work came after 1922 when he settled in Southern California. Most notable are the strikingly lavish and elegant commercial interiors Peters designed for the iconic Bullock’s Wilshire store in Los Angeles and the tragically forgotten Hollander department store in New York City; both projects brought him international recognition.

The breathtaking scope of his short-lived career includes modern film sets for Famous Players-Lasky, later Paramount Pictures, while working under the legendary art director Hans Dreier; a dynamic sales office for the trendsetting Maddux Air Lines, which later became TWA; and modern residences, including the still extant homes he built for cinematographer Alfred Gilks, who would later win an Academy Award for An American in Paris, and art gallerist and developer William Lingenbrink for whom Peters also designed stores and a vibrantly colorful sidewalk for the Silver Strand beach development north of Los Angeles. Lingenbrink, a major supporter of the burgeoning modernism, also commissioned Jock Peters, alongside Schindler, to design houses for Park Moderne, the legendary avant-garde modernist retreat for artists in Calabasas. Peters also designed the retreat’s Streamline Moderne pump house, clubhouse, and zigzag fountain, which still stands.

This important study on early modernism includes never before published material from the architect’s personal archive, still in family hands. These remarkable and inspiring images-more than 250 historic photographs, etchings, watercolors, and drawings-alongside Long’s insightful narrative, demonstrate how Peters, despite his early death, managed to leave his mark on the modernist landscape in Southern California at a time when the new style was just emerging.

“I recommend to every Architect, designer and those who have a passion for New York to own this magnificent book…there is no better on the extraordinary Beaux Arts of New York.” —Lemeau, Decorator’s Insider

“This great, beautiful, glossy, polychromatic slab of a book more than does justice to an epic period in architecture when some of the world’s most luscious buildings were designed for some of the most unpleasant people in American history.” — Timothy Brittain-Catlin, World of Interiors

“New York would be little more than another faceless glass-and-steel city were it not for its Gilded Age buildings and institutions… An American Renaissance: Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York City, written by Phillip James Dodd with photography by Jonathan Wallen, is a gilded embrace of this legacy.”  — The Critic
The Gilded Age, also referred to as the American Renaissance, is an era associated with unparalleled growth, technological advancement, prosperity, and cultural change. Spanning from the 1870s to the 1930s, it marks the first time that the titans of American finance and industry had more wealth than their European counterparts. As the center of this dynamic economy, New York City attracted immigrant workers and millionaires alike. It was not enough for the self-appointed elite to just build their own grand châteaux and palazzos along Fifth Avenue—collectively they dreamed of creating a new metropolis to rival the great cultural capitals of London, Paris, and Rome. To flaunt their newly acquired wealth they needed an architecture dripping in embellishment and historical reference. Enter the Beaux-Arts.

This book, which has been painstakingly researched and beautifully photographed over many years, takes a close look at 20 of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City. While showing public exteriors, its focus is on the lavish interiors that are associated with the opulence of the Gilded Age—often providing a glimpse inside buildings not otherwise viewable to the public. While some of the buildings and monuments featured are world-renowned landmarks recognizable and accessible to all, others are obscure buildings that history has forgotten.

Set amid the magnificent achievements of an American Renaissance, this book recounts not only the fascinating stories of some of New York’s most famous and significant Beaux-Arts landmarks, it also recalls the lives of those who commissioned, designed, and built them. These are some of the most acclaimed architects, artists, and artisans of the day—Daniel Chester French, Cass Gilbert, Charles McKim, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Stanford White—and some of the most prominent millionaires in American history—Henry Clay Frick, Jay Gould, Otto Kahn, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and the ubiquitous Astor and Vanderbilt families. Names that—as Julian Fellowes (the acclaimed director of Downton Abbey) notes in the Foreword—“still reek of money.” Excerpt from the Introduction

Seventy-five years of the legendary Italian-made Ferrari motor and racing car, captured in photographs by Günther Raupp, who during the course of his career has taken pictures of almost every Ferrari ever built.

The results of his eye-catching style and perfect technique are more than just plain photos. They reveal the car’s soul. In this book, he chooses the images that he considers among his best, photographs that make the brand’s history come alive. Writer Jürgen Lewandowski gives an expert presentation of the history of Ferrari, from the founding by Enzo Ferrari until today.

For world-class drivers like Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, winning in a Ferrari was an outstanding experience. For many it was the crowning moment of their career. But even off the race track the sports cars from Maranello are impressive: not just the sporting qualities, but also the bodies, drawn by Italy’s best designers, including Bertone and especially Pininfarina. Günther Raupp photographs racing cars as well as road cars and makes 75 years of history of the Italian brand come alive.

Text in English and German.

Ganesh Pyne (1937–2013), one of the foremost artists of post-Independence India, is no stranger to connoisseurs of art in India. His haunting images of intimations of mortality, the crepuscular light in his canvases, and his brilliant use of his own version of tempera are widely admired. But he was a shy, reclusive man, who has left little trace of himself in public memory. Memorialising Ganesh Pyne fills this gap by bringing to life the sensitive artist through a remarkable series of photographs shot by artist Veena Bhargava across two decades.

The portfolio of portrait and group photographs that capture glimpses of the artist at work and leisure also provide poignant insights into a very private person. This visual record is anchored by two essays: the first, by Bhargava, recounts her experience of taking these perceptive images; the second, by Ella Datta, analyzes the aesthetic value of these rarely seen portraits as well as Bharagava’s artistic experiment on a suite of photo collages featuring Pyne with elements from his works. A detailed timeline of politics and culture during Pyne’s life adds archival value to the book. The volume will be invaluable for Pyne enthusiasts and research scholars alike.

Published in association with Akar Prakar Gallery, Kolkata.

“It’s very hard for me to accept that Sukita-san has been snapping away at me since 1972, but that really is the case. I suspect that it’s because whenever he’s asked me to do a session, I conjure up in my mind’s eye the sweet, creative and big-hearted man who has always made these potentially tedious affairs so relaxed and painless. May he click into eternity.” – David Bowie

For Sukita, the creative mastermind behind the iconic cover for David Bowie’s album ‘Heroes’, photography is an expression of a ‘fundamental secret’ shared between artists: a spiritual communication that transcends the minutiae of language. Born and raised in Kyushu, Japan, Sukita’s reverence of American and Western counter-culture lured him to New York and London. He immersed himself in the western music scene which he loved, while his relaxed photo sessions endeared him to many celebrity figures, including David Bowie and Iggy Pop (with both of whom Sukita had a 40-year long professional relationship), Marc Bolan, and Japanese musician Hotei, best known for his work on the Kill Bill soundtrack. His work spans the early US and UK seventies rock scene, the London punk-rock era to the present crop of emerging Japanese rock artists.

This photo book is the first time the photographer has collaborated on a major retrospective of his career and includes some of his early documentary work and his rarely-seen travel and street photography. It introduces the artist through two essays that explore his place within the wider context of both Western and Japanese photography, presented alongside the many iconic shots of both Western and Japanese artists that earned him his eternal reputation.

In 1951, Joan Eardley visited the coastal fishing village of Catterline in north-east Scotland for the first time. Her visit sparked a fascination that would last the rest of her life. She made the village her home and found inspiration in the dramatic light and rapidly changing weather. The gentle landscapes and wild rolling seascapes she painted of Catterline in wind, snow, rain and sun are among her best-loved works. 

Unpublished archival material and interviews with many of those who knew her shed new light on Eardley’s life in Catterline. A vivid portrait is painted both of Eardley and of the village, showing the vital part Catterline played in her development as an artist.  

The story of her experiences on the wild Scottish coast is evocatively told and beautifully illustrated with some of her most remarkable drawings and paintings. 

During her 40-year career, Margit Koppendorfer has designed costumes for the greats of theater history: characters from Shakespeare, Brecht, and Handke, directed by Berghaus, Peymann, and Tabori, performed in Vienna, Zurich, and Berlin.  Margit Koppendorfer: Costume Designs presents Koppendorfer’s often life-sized mixed-media design sketches on transparent paper and reveals through these unique illustrations how the costume designer accords identity to the characters. By alienating the real in a visionary way, a latent truth emerges. While author Elfriede Jelinek and actress Maria Happel emphasize in their texts the masterful embodiment of the costumes, and of their characters, Margit Koppendorfer herself says of her work, “I dance into the set with my characters.”

Text in English and German.

Growing Up Jewish in India offers an historical account of the primary Jewish communities of India, their synagogues, and unique Indian Jewish customs. It offers an investigation both within Jewish India and beyond its borders, tracing how Jews arrived in the vast subcontinent at different times from different places and have both inhabited dispersed locations within the larger Indian world, and ultimately created their own diaspora within the larger Jewish diaspora by relocating to other countries, particularly Israel and the United States.

The text and its rich complement of over 150 images explore how Indian Jews retained their unique characteristics as Jews, became well-integrated into the larger society of India as Indians, and have continued to offer a synthesis of cultural qualities wherever they reside. Among the outcomes of these developments is the unique art of Siona Benjamin, who grew up in the Bene Israel community of Mumbai and then moved to the US, and whose art reflects Indian and Jewish influences as well as concepts like Tikkun olam (Hebrew for ‘repairing the world’).

In combining discussions of the Indian Jewish communities with Benjamin’s own story and an analysis of her artistic output – and in introducing these narratives within the larger story of Jews across eastern Asia – this volume offers a unique verbal and visual portrait of a significant slice of Indian and Jewish culture and tradition. It would be of interest to Jews and non-Jews, Indian and non-Indian alike, as well as to history enthusiasts and the general reader interested in art and culture.

Farmer: Photographic Portraits by Pang Xiaowei represents a curated selection from more than 1000 portraits taken by Pang Xiaowei during a mammoth mission to photograph farmers from every province in China. It is a monument to China’s agricultural workforce that affords them the recognition they deserve and celebrates their dedication to their country.

The farmers of the Chinese mainland help feed 1.39 billion people. This powerful series of portraits captures the souls of these men and women: their hardiness, their work ethic, their dedication to the land.

Portraiture is one of the strongest visual methods of communication. As Pang Xiaowei says, “Portraits have a language; they can tell us so much. Portraits have force, and that force is directed towards our hearts.” Looking into the eyes of the farmers featured in this book, that connection is evident. These portraits forge a link between the observer and the subject, building on the ancient Chinese tradition of ‘spirit resonance in portraiture’ (chuan shen xie zhao). This aspect of Xiaowei’s photography is explored in an accompanying essay by the celebrated Chinese artist, Chen Lvsheng. 

The year 2021 was another amazing year for the Wolfpack, the dream cycling team of Patrick Lefevere. Davide Ballerini won the Omloop, Kasper Asgreen took the E3 and the Tour of Flanders, and Sam Bennett, Mark Cavendish, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe all gathered victories, while Michael Morkov took Olympic Gold on the track. In this book you’ll follow the cyclists through the lens of Wout Beel: in an intimate family circle during their few free moments, in total ecstasy after a victory, in decompression on the team bus. See them fall, get up and win again. A group portrait that will stay with you forever.

Covering four decades of photography the book serves as a stunning snapshot of Beckman’s significance in the world of art, photojournalism, music, fashion, and popular culture – but most prevalently, it’s a testament of her unique ability to extract beauty from the outliers of society. With written contributions from Beckman’s peers including academia’s Jason King, Chair of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music & Vivien Goldman author & professor at NYU; journalists Vikki Tobak, and co-founder of PAPER, Kim Hastreiter; visual artist Cey Adams; music legends Sting, Run DMC, Paul Weller, Salt-n-Pepa, Belinda Carlisle, and Slick Rick; and fashion’s Dapper Dan, Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, Levi’s Chad Hinson – From Punk to Dior showcases Janette Beckman’s influence in her realm. In addition to publishing five books, Janette Beckman’s work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide and is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Museum of the City of New York, and the British National Portrait Gallery. She is represented by the Fahey Klein Gallery.

Walking through the streets of London provides a glorious miscellany of history and design, past shops that have stood for centuries and those that popped up just last week. This book is a visual celebration of the capital’s most interesting stores: a vibrant compendium filled with original photography and fascinating write-ups. It explores the artistry behind each façade’s unique signage, delves into the sites’ past lives and includes personal stories of ingenuity, community and resilience from London’s shopkeepers. For shops are no longer just somewhere we buy things – you can do that online, these days – but places to connect with others, browse creative objects and gather inspiration.

Ancient adventurers have often spoken of a mystical land of perfect harmony and eternal bliss nestled in the forbidding remoteness of the Tibetan Plateau – the legendary Shangri La. No one has managed to pinpoint its exact location on a map. In the local belief system, Shangri La may well not be a place at all but rather the mental state of a pure and exalted body, speech and mind. Fascinated by this concept, the photographer and author Mahendra Singh set out on his quest. Most of it currently occupied by China, the Tibetan Plateau has been significantly distorted over time under state pressure. Therefore, the author traveled through some of the last surviving remnants of authentic Tibetan life found in the valleys of Ladakh and Spiti; often and justifiably referred to as ‘Little Tibet’. He traveled through remote valleys, ventured across stark landscapes and visited the improbable green oases of human habitation, culture and religion, to bring together this comprehensive portrait of the region through his vivid photographs and meticulously researched text. This book aims to take the readers on a journey of discovery and reflection, and hopefully, a little further along the path to finding their own Shangri La.

Thorvald Hellesen (1888-1937) was a Norwegian avant-garde artist who lived and worked in Paris in the 1910s and 1920s. He and his wife, the French artist Hélène Perdriat, were part of a circle of artists that included Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Constantin Brâncuși, Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg, and many others. In his short yet intense life, Thorvald Hellesen created an impressive unique oeuvre, oriented on Modernism, consisting of oil paintings, watercolors, gouaches, drawings, design projects, and textiles. Nevertheless, even in Norway he is only known to a few. With this publication the authors Dag Blakkisrud, Matthew Drutt, and Hilde Mørch have created a written portrait of Hellesen. In addition to classifying him within the history of art, they try to find explanations as to why his artistic practice is only now being considered important and interesting for Norwegian and international art history.

Documenting an alternative history and social commentary by Bangkok’s graffiti and street artists, this insightful and thought-provoking book offers fresh insight into Thai subcultures. Not given a platform elsewhere, street art and graffiti gives artists the opportunity to protest the social injustices they encounter. Through their art, they speak out against dictators and the political elite, as well as the extensive gentrification sweeping Bangkok. In addition, this book is the only visual record of (what was sarcastically named) “Thailand’s Stonehenge”: standing pillars covered in graffiti along the abandoned Hopewell elevated rail line that was supposed to link the city to the airport, a $3 billion dollar project begun in 1990 and mired in corruption. The pillars – the only part of the project that was built – represent the overwhelming corruption that marks the past 20 years in Thailand. They are scheduled to be demolished this year.

Do fashion and art go together? Fashion and art are both physical and psychological instruments that define our identity in this world. They bring moments of enchantment and passion. Discover the romantic clash between art and fashion in the form of a love story between two young people and get to know the true nature of two worlds that seem completely different from each other. This book is a mix of fiction and non-fiction. The love story between an artist and a fashionista teaches us that both fashion and art can be an élan vital for men and women. Do you remember your first encounter with art and fashion? Was it collecting art or consuming fashion? Fashion is action. Art is a reflection of this action. The authors of this book bring together experts from both disciplines, including 20 top designers and artists.

“Rare and Striking photos…” — Vanity Fair France

“…the book does not just focus on Prince’s best known looks, but creates a sense of the man himself, and all the elements that afford him ‘icon’ status during his decades-long career..” — Digital Camera Magazine
“A New Prince Photography Book Cements His Status as an ‘Icon’— And It’s Already a Bestseller” —  Billboard

This sumptuous and luxuriously produced volume gathers portraits, album covers, photographs of performances and rehearsals, rarely seen private moments, and candid snapshots of Prince, one of the greatest singer-songwriters of his generation. This collection from ACC Art Books & Iconic Images – publishers of the bestselling book Bowie: Icon – was curated in consultation with Steve Parke, and its impact is both powerful, and inspiring. With images by renowned and little-known photographers from around the world, close friends, and colleagues, the result is the most opulent visual anthology of Prince that has ever been published. Accompanying personal essays and reflections offer unprecedented insight into what he was like: from memories of the earliest days in Minneapolis to touring the world, each contributor shares their memories and experiences of working with – and knowing – this legendary artist.