The work of Polhemus Savery DaSilva (PSD) synthesizes ideas from modernism, Shingle Style, and New England vernacular architecture into special homes that are carefully crafted for each different site and client. PSD’s poetic architecture reflects on the joy of living by the New England coast, and this major new monograph, The Art of Creating Houses: Polhemus Savery DaSilva, beautifully presents that work and the ideas embodied within it. This lavishly illustrated and clearly written coverage of PSD’s most recent work features 27 select homes designed and built by the firm. This stunning volume also contains a foreword by Brian Vanden Brink; an introduction by Victor Deupi, PhD; and text by John R. DaSilva, FAIA, the firm’s Design Principal. This new volume is a brilliant companion to the firm’s earlier monographs, namely Living Where Land Meets the Sea, Shingled Houses in the Summer Sun, and Architecture of the Cape Cod Summer.
Globalization has forced us to stop thinking that art only exists in the West. The very notion of art was invented by the West and refers to the learned version of its material culture. It was then projected onto other civilizations, particularly Asian ones, and finally onto the preliterate societies of Africa and Oceania.
Whether or not these cultures possess the concept of art is of little importance, because when they honor their gods, they inevitably address what they consider to be the acme of beauty. For a long time, this openness to other aesthetics was based on the arts of the past, until it was finally accepted that there were living creators in these distant lands, and that today’s means of communication have brought them closer to us.
These “others” who appeared in the 1980s are by no means a homogenous group. Without stretching this analysis too far, they can be regarded as falling into two categories: those who have opted for modernity and submit to the demands of the market and Western based institutions, and those who concentrate on giving visual expression to their communities and beliefs, ignoring the demands of the art market. Australian Aboriginal art represents an intermediate situation, since alongside art of a sacred nature, there are works deliberately produced for sale, initially encouraged by missionaries.
Nothing Too Beautiful for the Gods aims to show the variety of works connected with the spiritual impulse, from those used in religious rites to contemporary artworks that refer to them. These hybrid works are often the result of accommodations with modernity. The exhibition and accompanying book bring together altars from Africa, the Caribbean and Asia, works by artists invested with religious responsibilities (Didi, Shiraga), works by religious artists (Ramoun) and others by artists who refer explicitly to religions and spirituality (Sooja Kim, El Anatsui, Vasquez de la Horra, Bedia, Boltanski, Viola).
Text in English and French.
Catalog of the exhibition Parmiggiani dedicated to the artist Claudio Parmiggiani by Tornabuoni Art Paris gallery from October 2023 to January 2024. The exhibition will be the first entirely devoted to the artist’s Delocazioni series.
Offering previously unpublished texts by Bruno Corà, Andrea Cortellessa and Philippe Dagen, the catalog traces the stages of the artistic research of Parmiggiani, who was born in Luzzara in 1943 and is recognized as one of the leading artists on the Italian and international art scene. The exhibition offers a selection of works conceived in situ by the artist. Made with fire, dust and smoke, his first Delocazioni were born in the 1970s in Modena as a reflection on absence, shadow and trace.
The catalog is enriched with texts from his work-books published since 1970, quotations from the artist, photos from the exhibition and archival images in collaboration with Parmiggiani’s studio.
Text in French.
“The well-judged employment of classical detail in a new home has an additional significance that cannot be underestimated. It is an expression of an informed personal choice and an evocation of the delight in the human senses. This is true of all the houses featured in this book.” Jeremy Musson
“The architects and craftsmen that Phillip has featured in this wonderful book all have a love for classical detail. The art is alive and well, as can be attested to in these pages.” David Easton
In The Art of Classical Details, Phillip James Dodd takes a close-up look at some of the finest examples of contemporary classical architecture. The book consists of two chapters: The Essays and The Projects. Starting with a foreword by renowned decorator David Easton, The Essays are written by some of today’s most sought after architects, scholars and craftsmen. Accompanied by sumptuous full page photographs and renderings that illustrate a use of fine materials, intricate detailing, and superb artisanship, these insightful texts are essential reading for anyone with an interest in the theory, practice and craft of classical design. The Projects presents an illustrated look at 25 of today’s finest classically-designed homes. Employing the theories prescribed in the writings of the first chapter, this portfolio of contemporary buildings exhibits the work of some of the most recognizable and celebrated architects in Great Britain and the United States. The work featured in within this book demonstrates the timeless beauty of classicism, and delights in the role that superbly crafted details play in creating art.
India is a nation of conflicting realities, where the old and the new, the traditional and modern regularly coexist. Here, the artists are concerned not solely with telling their own tales but also with exploring what it means to live in a nation steeped in tradition.
Within the context of modern and contemporary India, works on paper offered artists a way of cultivating transnational modernist expression while continuing to explore the potential of a medium that had deeper roots in older artistic traditions native to the subcontinent. This volume features over 100 watercolors, drawings, etchings, sketches and lithographs by senior Indian modernists, born primarily before the 1950s and who came of age in the decades directly following Independence in 1947. These artists span the transition from colonial to post-colonial India, embracing both realism and abstraction, exploring complex metaphors, and making political statements that directly engage India’s past, present, and future.
With contributions by Tamara Sears, Michael Mackenzie, Paula Sengupta, Emma Oslé, Darielle Mason, Rebecca M. Brown, Jeffrey Wechsler, Kishore Singh and Swathi Gorle.
“David Brafman, just like the alchemists did, mixes ingredients to make gold.” — The New Scientist
Alchemists are notorious for attempting to synthesize gold. Their goals, however, were far more ambitious: to transform and bend nature to the will of an industrious human imagination. For scientists, philosophers, and artists alike, alchemy seemed to hold the key to unlocking the secrets of creation. Alchemists’ efforts to discover the way the world is made have had an enduring impact on global artistic practice and expression.
Brafman’s book is the first to explore how the art of alchemy globally transformed human creative culture from the ancient world to the modern scientific age, and displays the ways its legacy still permeates the world we make today.
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.
Through various thematic perspectives and a range of media, this book will shed new light on the history of Surrealism. With the idea of the unconscious as a turning point, The Savage Eye traces the roots of Surrealism in Symbolism and shows how the two art movements both reflect each other and overlap. Some of the most significant artists in modern art meet here in the murky depths of the human mind, where logic and morality give way to dreams, disturbing impulses, and unbridled desire. In this illuminating book you will become familiar with two radical art movements that both explored the psyche with the aim of establishing a new concept of humanity. Through artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Paul Gauguin, Dora Maar, René Magritte, Lee Miller, Joan Miró, Odilon Redon, and Auguste Rodin we will take you on a journey through the limitless world of the unconscious.
More than 130 works from the collection assembled by Drs Nicole and John Dintenfass over fifty years. The Dintenfass Collection serves as a model and a source of inspiration for new and seasoned collectors alike. A different slant on collecting which is not actually just buying from dealers. A lavishly illustrated book that traces the origin of a collector’s interest in African art and analyzes the psychological aspects driving the passions for collecting. The Nicole and John Dintenfass Collection is well known and based on aesthetics, and the works have been reproduced in many publications. They have collected with passion, diligence, depth and rigor monumental sculptures and wooden miniatures, from most regions of Africa. Focusing on pieces of the highest artistic quality, this book shares the collectors’ personal point of view about collecting and offers to readers anecdotes that provide an additional insight into this world to future and present collectors in their search for African art. Collecting is a passion that often leads to intimate inner conversations or to emotional experiences with the objects themselves. Moreover many collectors share their unique experience of joy and appreciation with twentieth-century artists who also collected African art and who generously imparted advice, suggestions and support in responding to the collectors’ enthusiasm. Thanks to the multiple beautiful and sensitive photographs of each object, the viewer has a chance to form an intimate conversation that creates a connection with those African master carvers that have strongly influenced modern realism, cubism and expressionism.
For the past five years, the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire has been organizing Quand fleurir est un art (The Art of Flower Arranging), a captivating event where renowned flower artists and designers from around the world unleash their creativity in the majestic rooms of the castle, creating stunning arrangements ranging from the most daring to the most classic. The Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire’s previous (and last private) owners, the Prince and Princess de Broglie, were avid plant enthusiasts. They took pride in their impressive collections of orchids and exotic green plants, which earned them numerous awards in horticultural competitions during the Belle Époque. Today, the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire is committed to carrying on this rich legacy, inviting talented floral artists to showcase their artistry and expertize, creating a harmonious fusion of art and nature in the pursuit of beauty. This book offers a nice overview of some of the best creations that were on view during the event. Discover some of the amazing designs made by renowned floral designers such as Makoto Azuma (J), Clarisse Béraud (F), Timo Bolte (D), Rudy Casati (I), Tomas De Bruyne (B), Sébastien Dossin (B), Frédéric Dupré (F), Max Hurtaud (B), Pascal Mutel (F), Julian Paris (F), Gilles Pothier, Charline Pritscaloff (F) and the École nationale des Fleuristes de Paris (F).
Text in English and French.
This extensively illustrated volume focuses on William Morris (1834–1896), placing his wallpaper designs within the context of the radical changes in taste witnessed during the Victorian era. Against a backdrop of the fanciful, naturalistic patterns that typified fashionable papers in Morris’s youth, the impact of the Reform Movement of the mid-19th century is underscored, particularly the reformers’ crusade against such multi-colored ornamental decoration. Instead, the insistence on the concepts of honesty and propriety as promoted by A. W. N. Pugin and Owen Jones, are demonstrated as influences on Morris. The role of imported Japanese wallpapers is also explored, giving insight into a seldom-discussed cultural exchange evidenced within the story of Morris & Co, which produced wallpapers from 1864 until 1940 and, after a post-war hiatus, from the 1960s to the present.
Amplifying Morris’s role in the creation of an influential and lasting style, his work is set within a selection by other designers, including Christopher Dresser and C. F. A. Voysey. Also introduced are firms of significance including Jeffrey & Co. and Arthur Sanderson & Sons, both of whom block-printed the Morris wallpapers. In a highly visual presentation, what is revealed are influences across time and within a global context, as pertinent to the creation of wallpaper art in the 19th century as it is today.
Addressing one of the urgent issues of climate crisis and environmental pollution, this book explores our relationship to the sea: how we live alongside it, our bodily relationship to it, its role in the creation of a connected, global society and, perhaps most critically, the threat we pose to it.
Through a broad selection of works by contemporary international artists, Can the Sea Survive Us? responds to the urgent need to resuscitate our seas. While the oceanic environment is essential to all life, its vulnerability to human action is highlighted by an ever-increasing loss of biodiversity. This book prompts the reader to imagine a future in which collective human behavior can mitigate the effects of climate change. As ocean temperatures reach record highs, it is clear that time is not on our side. This ambitious project aspires to accelerate climate awareness and deliver the critical climate action we urgently need.
This pocket sized picture book is an artwork to itself telling the story of the famous trio and their art over the last 12 years. From the most human moments to their wacky adventures to the gigantic murals they have birthed – the Sool Boomb Book will transport you into the colorful world of this prolific Italian art crew.
The collection of essays in this festschrift celebrates the extraordinary scholarship of Professor Piriya Krairiksh, the distinguished Thai art historian on the occasion of his 80th birthday. The collection was seen as the most fitting way to honor an esteemed mentor and colleague, who has dedicated his life to teaching and his fundamental research on Thai and Southeast Asian art and archeology is to support further scholarship and debate on the issues in these fields. The volume gathers together contributions from many of his colleagues, friends, students, disciples, and admirers in tribute to his gift to the world of his scholarship.
A revelatory glimpse into the passions and obsessions of 60 visionary artists through the medium of their personal sketchbooks, treatises, storybooks, grimoires, and journals. This unprecedented gathering of handmade books from the most notable Art Brut artists has been brought together expressly for this publication from both public and private collections. Each volume is showcased in separate chapters featuring the cover and a selection of inside pages, with accompanying commentary. They cover the period from the early 20th century to the present, and include works by Horst Ademeit, Alöise, Giovanni Bosco, James Castle, Henry Darger, Charles Dellschau, Malcolm MacKesson, Dan Miller, Michel Nedjar, Jean Perdrizet, Royal Robertson, Charles Steffen, Oskar Voll, August Walla, and Adolf Wölfli, among others.
Text in English and French.
This book presents a personal collection of ancestor sculpture and protective deities, following the ancient migratory and trade routes of the Austronesian, Southeast Asian Bronze Age, and Hindu-Buddhist peoples. The author, Thomas Murray, has spent a lifetime studying this art through his endeavors as a peripatetic dealer, collector, and field researcher. The objects illustrated come from a swath of widely varied cultures from Nepal eastward to Hawaii, with the overwhelming majority from Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Murray’s eye is highly informed and based on an unusually large sampling of objects to which his experience and research have exposed him. The artworks documented represent some of the top examples he has acquired and retained over the course of a long career. They are characterized by sculptural balance and a harmony of line, as well as a rare quality of expressiveness. Each ranks high in terms of aesthetics and desirability within its own particular style as perceived by the art market and by other western aficionados.
On Jewellery offers a comprehensive overview of the trends and role of contemporary international jewelry art from the 1960s to today, shown within the context of corresponding trends in art and society. This publication is dedicated to themes such as interdisciplinary collaboration, new means of presentation and contextualization. It also incorporates photography and the relationships between jewelry and the body, jewelry and ornament and new interpretations of traditional technical skills. Furthermore it considers aspects such as terminology and strategies, positioning, prejudices and the significance of content with regard to jewelry. On this basis this publication offers a synopsis of what jewelry art is and what it can be. Its aim is to reveal the characteristics, language and potential of jewelry. A bibliography of the most important works of jewelry art, a directory of jewelry galleries, museums and educational institutions make On Jewellery a compact handbook of contemporary jewelry art. Artists featured include Pia Aleborg, Gijs Bakker, Melanie Bielenker, Manfred Bischoff, Helen Britton, Paul Derrez, Iris Eichenberg, Warwick Freeman, Otto Künzli, Daniel Kruger, Yuka Oyama, Robert Smit, Annamaria Zanella and Christoph Zellweger. Contents: Beyond the Showcase; Conceptual Jewellery; Jewellery and Photography; Reading Jewellery; Borderline Jewellery; Jewellery and the Body; Jewellery and Ornament; Jewellery and the Goldsmith’s Skill; The Language of Jewellery; Documentation: Manifests.
Trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts de Paris in the atelier of Georges Jeanclos, Elsa Sahal quickly focused on working with ceramics for their sensuality and fragility. Former resident at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, in 2013 (Helena, MT), at Alfred University, New York State College of Ceramics, in 2009-2010 (Alfred, NY) and at the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres (2007-2008), Elsa Sahal has also taught at the Haute École d’Art et de Design in Geneva and at the École Supérieure d’Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg.
She experiments in particular with the idea of volume and balance in sculpture, while returning to an exploration of the themes of the body and femininity. Ambiguous, dense, sensual and colorful, her works oscillate between anthropomorphic landscape and the landscaped body, taking up Cézanne’s dream of uniting women’s curves with the shoulders of hills. Elsa Sahal conceives, kneads and then produces complex and disturbing forms sustained by dense colors and sublimated through enamel.
Winner of the MAIF prize for sculpture, in 2008, and the contemporary sculpture prize awarded by the Fondazione Francesco Messina, in 2007, Elsa Sahal has presented her work in one-woman shows and group exhibitions in numerous museums around the globe: at the Bonnefantenmuseum, ‘Ceramix, Ceramic art from Gauguin to Schütte’, in 2015 (Maastricht); at the MAD Museum, ‘Body and Soul, New International Ceramics’, in 2013 (New York); at the Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, ‘Sculptures’, in 2008 (Paris); and at the Incheon Women Artists Biennale, in 2008 (Korea).
Text in English and French.
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.
“Alongside the detailed studies, there are plenty of beautiful photographs as well as diagrams and plans.” — Homes & Gardens
“Over the years I have watched the physical and emotional evolution of JDDA’s work and it is truly evident in this monograph. I have marveled at the consistent quest for refinement and sophistication and admired their ever-evolving and maturing palette. In all their landscapes they respect the elements and the integrity of nature, as well as embellishing the space with their own particular style. They create a joyous juxtaposition between the sophisticated architectural elements and the reassuringly organic mood of the planting, with the occasional sculptural addition.
The joy of walking within a JDDA landscape affords us both a mental and physical calm. The evolution of the body of work is an inspiration to us all.”
From the Foreword, by David Harber
This stunningly illustrated monograph represents the evolution of James Doyle Design Associates (JDDA), its thought processes, and the exciting ever‐changing world of landscape architecture. For JDDA, the path of its design work is reflective of a new generation of landscape architects. A connection with nature is in demand now more than ever, whether the space is urban or rural, grand or intimate. JDDA believes that the art and practice of designing the outdoor environment should not be devoid of a respect for nature and its impact on change and growth.
This work reflects the intersection of nature and art; the juxtaposition of the designed and the natural; with bold, contemporary, dynamic gestures in the form of sculptural plant material, innovative hardscaping and an infusion of landscape art. JDDA cares about the world we live in and that our landscapes have the power to become our sanctuaries, to be uplifting, relaxing and thought provoking, with an appreciation for nature.
After the first Thai comic strip was published in 1907, comics flourished in Siam and developed in uniquely Thai ways. With diverse and leading artists working in each generation there is a wealth of material to consider. Gory horror tales, anti-communist propaganda and socially-engaged graphic novels bear witness to the country’s darker years. From 1990, Thai comics struggled to compete with the sudden influx of unlicensed Japanese manga and went through a hiatus, making a comeback in the late ’90s with a new and alternative scene that deserves wider recognition. Each page of The Art of Thai Comics opens a unique window onto Thai society – a distilled vision of its hopes, fears, delights and horrors. From 20th century interpretations of Jataka tales, which replay the Buddha’s various reincarnations, to tales of modern-day millennial angst. Thai comics past and present offer an entertaining and enlightening viewpoint onto the country’s history, culture and enduring creativity.
The jarring emptiness following the loss of a loved one, the expansive out-of-body sensation of sensual touch, the lassitude of melancholy and the ecstatic receptivity to sunshine. His ability to capture and convey sensation and feelings through the materials of art, places the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944) at the forefront of European art at the turn of the last century.
Interestingly, Munch’s artistic exploration of perception, and his persistent questioning of the objectivity of vision, intersect with ideas that matured within the fields of psychology and experimental optics at the time.
Edvard Munch: Il Grido Interiore examines these connections, demonstrating his continuing exploration of the conditions of sight. The essays in this catalogue examine this phenomenon while also probing a lesser-known aspect of the artist’s work: Munch’s relationship to Italy.
The first essay, Lasse Jacobsen’s ‘Edvard Munch. Italian Impressions’, explores this connection explicitly, as part of a general overview of Munch’s life and work.
The second text, ‘Reflections in Munch’s Inner Eye’ by Patricia G. Berman, charts the art historical context of Munch’s exploration of experience’s subjective dimension. Emil Leth Meilvang’s ‘Seeing without Sight. Munch’s Vision’, on its part, explores the relationship between Munch’s artistic development and simultaneous developments within the perceptual sciences. Edvard Munch:Il Grido Interiore includes essayistic pieces by authors Melania G. Mazzucco and Hanne Ørstavik: ‘I am a Romantic’ and ‘Who Am I’. Each demonstrates Munch’s continuing ability to light the inner fires of other artists.
Text in Italian.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton’s unprecedented 2016 exhibition brought together 130 masterpieces, among the most iconic of the collection created in Moscow by the great Russian art patron, Sergei Shchukin. From Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1866) by Claude Monet, the Mardi gras (1888-90) by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian odalisque Eh quoi, tu es jalouse? (1892), the luminescent panel L’Atelier du peintre (1911) by Henri Matisse, to conclude with Pablo Picasso’s Trois femmes (1908), the magnificence of Shchukin’s collection is exhibited here.
Extended by a group of some 30 major works from the Russian avant-gardes, including Counter Relief (1916) by Vladimir Tatlin, Green Stripe (1917) by Olga Rozanova, and Kazimir Malevich’s monochrome painting, Black Suprematie Square (1929), Icons of Modern Art covers the extreme breadth of this journey through 19th- and 20th-century creation. The presentation of these exceptional works, where our collective gaze comes together, constitutes an exemplary “painting lesson.”