This book starts from the Lucio Fontana exhibition, curated by Enrico Crispolti, that was held from 1 October until 30 November 2009, at Tornabuoni Art Gallery, Paris. The same exhibition is presented again in Arezzo, as ‘Lucio Fontana – Hic et Nunc’, from 6 May until 24 June 2018 at the Municipal Gallery of Contemporary Art, for which this book acts as the catalog. The volume explores, through a selection of approximately seventy works, including sculptures and paintings, the Master’s artistic activity from the 1950s onwards. The critical essays by Enrico Crispolti enrich the text by providing some important insights into the life of Lucio Fontana, his visits to Paris and Milan, during which he continued to have an extensive range of exchanges with artists, architects and intellectuals of his time. Vintage photographs, direct quotations from the artist, and a thorough biography contextualize the art of Fontana in the specific cultural climate in which he lived and help to better understand the evolutionary spirit of this person who, until his death, was driven by a constant creative tension.

Text in English and Italian.

In 1856, just months after Britain and Siam had finalized the historic Bowring trade treaty that would prevent the countries colonization, the violent death of a Siamese official at the new British consulate threatens to scuttle the deal and lead to war. The King and the Consul explores UK and Thai archives to reveal the twists, turns and tensions of this little-known episode that pitted Thailand’s renowned King Mongkut, Rama IV, against the first British Consul, Charles Hillier. The crisis was resolved without war, but not without cost for the participants who suffered unintended tragic outcomes. By examining the background to this tragedy, the book reveals how history has often overlooked the importance of an issue that lay behind it the right of foreigners to own land in the country, and issue that continues to be a thorn in the side of Thailand’s foreign relations to this day.

“The tragic deaths in 1856 of the first British consul to Siam and a Siamese official had an unusual impact on Thailand‘s property law and Britain’s diplomatic presence in the country. This intriguing book could only be written by someone with long residence in Bangkok, through knowledge of Thailand’s property law, and enthusiasm for history. Simon Landy gives us a slice of legal and diplomatic history with close attention to its human dimensions. An unusual and lovely read” – Chris Baker

The Kedara Kalpa is a relatively little-known Shaiva text; and only slightly better known than it are the two dispersed series of paintings to which this study is devoted. But both raise questions that are at once elegant and deeply engaging. Ostensibly, they treat of a journey by five seekers who set out to reach the realm of the great god, Shiva – walking barefoot through icy mountains and deep ravines, frozen rivers and moon-like rocks, running on the way into temptations and dangers the like of which no man before them had encountered – and, in the end, succeed. But as one goes through the narrative, the text visualised with brilliance sometimes by members of a talented family of Pahari painters, one begins to wonder. Is this a parable of sorts? Or the description of a long, unending dream from which one never wakes? Or, one wakes up like those five seekers and then, at the very next moment, slips back into that real / unreal world again? Is there something that hides behind all that one sees? Is this journey real, or is it only in the mind?

It is for each reader to decide, the authors appear to say.

In the dark days of 1940, at the onset of the Battle of Britain Churchill’s ‘Few’, the brave fighter pilots who battled over the skies of Southern England, found a haven in the White Hart Inn in Brasted, where they could escape the traumas of war for a few hours.

The landlords Kath and Teddy Preston were there to share in the hopes and fears, the elation and sorrow of the men who lived their lives on the edge daily.

Inn of the Few is a tale of those precarious days, an insight into life at the White Hart and its famous visitors. The book includes fascinating anecdotes and archive photographs and documents of a momentous time in history, in which local lives gained national significance.

Flavours of Avadh: Journey from the Royal Banquet to the Corner Kitchen is the story of food and cooking from the palaces to the pavement of the Avadh region in Uttar Pradesh. The book charts out a unique socio-cultural route down the decades, sketching out the exclusive regional food history of Lucknow and its neighborhood, richly colored with family anecdotes, local festivities, regional culture and dining traditions. More than sixty recipes on offer from the elite homes and kitchens, where this unique and traditional cuisine thrived, taking shape between the mid-14th and the early 18th centuries. Vibrant photographs add to the luster of the book. Contents: Foreword, Legends of Culture and Cuisine, The Avadh Spread of Sixty-Four, Dastarkhwan of Riyasat Mahmudabad, Dastarkhwan of Riyasat Kotwara, Dastarkhwan of Riyasat Tirwa, Dastarkhwan of Riyasat Sheesh Mahal, Riyasati Dastarkhwan of Sitapur, Flavours of the Residency, Dastarkhwan of the Faridi Family of Lucknow, Dastarkhwan of the Zaheer Family of Lucknow, Holi Ke Pakwaan, Eid Ki Ziyafat, Nawabi Chandni, Pickles, Murabbas and Chutneys, Table of Measurements, Glossary, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Index.

JA118 features Place+Urbanism series titled City : Designed by Crisis. In 2020, the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are truly facing a global crisis. At the same time, the digitization of society is accelerating, remote work arrangements are becoming more prevalent, and the urban landscape is also showing signs of change. Humanity has repeatedly faced a variety of global crises over the years. Each time, we have generated new wisdom to overcome these crises, changed our social systems, and reshaped our cities. We have also managed to overcome the worsening of poverty, traffic accidents, and environmental pollution caused by war and economic depression by building mutual support systems and creating new spatial configuration for cities. In this issue, we look back at the history of the many crises that humanity and cities have experienced, and review what we — both humans and cities — have gained as a result.

Text in English and Japanese.

An expert in Pompeian studies and a qualified tourist guide since 2005, Professor De Albentiis has been Professor of Style, History of Art and Costume at the Pietro Vannucci Academy of Fine Arts, which in 2003 awarded him the title of Honorary Academician. In addition to his academic activity, which has also seen him involved as a visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bilbao, Thessaloniki, Pontevedra, Córdoba Oporto and Nanjing, De Albentiis also stands out for his activity as a militant critic of contemporary art and as a promoter of sensitivity towards art and history, through his collaboration with various cultural bodies and associations. In this volume, he reconstructs the history of the discovery and excavation of Pompeii, immersing the reader in every aspect of Pompeian civilization. A journey to discover the main areas and spaces dedicated to public and private life in Pompeii before the terrible eruption of 79 AD, which fatally decreed both its destruction and its preservation. The magnificence of Pompeii’s villas, temples and squares is brought to life in this volume, together with an exhaustive analysis of the religious, economic, social, residential and funerary life of its civilization.

Text in English and Italian.

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

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

As a painter Lukas Salzmann is committed to representationalism while creating art-historical and media-related references in many of his works. He overpaints photographic templates, thus freeing the images from their functional fixedness. Deploying vehement brushwork and powerful handling, he dissolves content that is seemingly unequivocal and converts it into a polysemy that valorises the mystical as much as it does the obvious. Salzmann’s atmospherically dense pictures open up emotional spaces for viewers, leading them into a state of oscillation between recognizability and recondite unidentifiability, in which the transformative powers of painting can develop their full impact.

In the Viewer’s Eye – the Unknown comprises Lukas Salzmann’s oeuvre from 1995 to 2018 and includes an accompanying essay by scholar Rudolf Velhagen, which locates the painter’s work in its art historical context. Lukas Salzmann, born 1960 in Dusseldorf, lives and works in Zurich and Wetzikon.

Text in English and German.

It was a reasonable success when in 1999 the first Audi R8 drove directly onto the stage in Le Mans. One year later it was the overall victory with a triumphant triple place. Up until 2016 the race cars with four rings got 12 more victories, making competitors tremble at the world’s hardest motor race.

On occasion of the 100th anniversary of the legendary 24 hour race the text-and-picture book Audi at Le Mans undertakes an exciting journey into the past. Impressive pictures and loads of background knowledge from the company’s archives tell us about a piece of Audi history – with fresh eyes and full of suspense.

• All highlights, all successes: Audi Sport‘s spectacular success story at Le Mans
• Backgrounds, facts and stories on Audi models, drivers and races
• Audi race car in the flashlight: numerous photos from the company’s archives
• Thrilling car book with high-quality design: ideal gift for Audi fans and race enthusiasts

Starting a new race car series is a challenge for car makers. The 24 hours of Le Mans are especially known as a severe endurance test for man and material. And Audi knew how to use the famous long-distance race as a stage for new technologies, all the while living up to their slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik” (“leading by technology”): the fast and reliable Audi models left their competitors in the dust. Also, the first victory of a car with diesel-and-hybrid technology went to the German car brand. In more than 300 pages, this illustrated book depicts the impressive history of the brand from 1999 until the WEC exit in 2016.

Hiroshige. Nature and the City is the most extensive overview of the career of the famed Japanese print artist, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) in the English language to date. It is based on the largest collection of Hiroshige in private hands outside Japan, the Alan Medaugh collection. The catalogue consists of 500 entries, with an emphasis on urban and rural landscapes, fan prints and prints of birds and flowers. Grouped chronologically by subject, it presents Hiroshige’s interpretation of the urban scenes from his hometown Edo (present-day Tokyo), the great series documenting travel along the famous highways of Japan, and the idylls of nature as represented in his bird-and flower prints. Hiroshige often incorporated poetry in his works and for the first time all textual content is transcribed and translated. Additionally, the catalog pays due attention to the differences between variant editions of his prints. Thus, it provides essential comparative material for every scholar, dealer, and collector. 

Jewelry and the universe are bound together not just in the Ancient Greek sense of the word ‘cosmos’; the sun, moon and stars invariably also found their way into representative forms of art jewelry around the world. While magical, mythological and religious references stood mainly at the forefront of ancient and non-European cultures, over the course of recent history it was on decorative grounds that jewelry pieces with cosmic motifs became so coveted. Whether Köchert in Vienna, Fabergé in St Petersburg or Lalique in Paris, the great jewelers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were all inspired by heavenly forms. Today, interest in celestial bodies remains unbroken among contemporary internationally celebrated jewelry artists. With his new, richly illustrated book, the long-standing head of the Jewellery Museum Pforzheim presents for the first time a comprehensive review on the star motif in jewelry – from Ancient Egypt to the present day.

Text in English and German.

This is the first work to explore fully the history, art, and craft of the Japanese hanging scroll, or kakejiku, from its ancient Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese origins, through its introduction to Japan as early as the sixth century AD, to its role in the modern Japanese art world. It is proof of the scroll’s timeless qualities that it remains a fixture in traditional Japanese rooms, and continues to inform the design of modern interiors. Part 1 traces the scroll’s fascinating journey from an obscure religious artifact to a popular work of art, covering: the origins of the handscroll as a vehicle for Buddhist texts during the Nara period (710 784); the popularity of the vibrant picture scrolls of the opulent Heian period (794 1185); the rise of Zen-inspired hanging scrolls during the Kamakura period (1185 1333); their rich diversification during the Muromachi and Momoyama periods (1336 1600); and their incorporation into the “alcove,” or tokonoma of Edo period (1600 1867) households. Part 2 is dedicated to the scroll’s artistic features: the structure of both hanging and handheld scrolls; their complex array of classes and subclasses, formats, and dimensions; their exquisite and often costly materials; traditional handling and display; and methods of storage and preservation. Part 3 describes the age-old process by which scrolls are still made by Japanese craftsmen, including: material selection (tori-awase); backing textile and paper sections urauchi); careful assembly into the complete scroll (tsuke-mawashi); use of the drying board (kari-bari); and the finishing stage of mounting (shiage).
This comprehensive work will be of interest to all connoisseurs and collectors of East Asian scroll art as well as craftspeople engaged in the mounting and presentation of text and images.

As some American artists began to eliminate people and remove extraneous details from their compositions, they often employed neat, orderly brushwork or close-up, unemotional photography. Artists as diverse as Patrick Henry Bruce, John Covert, Georgia O’Keeffe, Paul Strand and Arthur Dove navigated European and American avant-garde circles, picking and choosing new ideas and methods. Inspiration ranged from cubism and machine parts to new technologies, and they found ways to bring order to the modern world through extreme simplification.

For them, abstraction involved absence and presence – the evacuation of human beings but also the desire to depict something that would not otherwise be visible or to render visible unseen natural processes like the passage of time, sound waves, or weather patterns. Their artworks provide a new context for the precisionist works in the subsequent sections and point to modern ideas about what art could be. How does a crisp painting technique relate to an aesthetic of absence?

The Jewish Journey tells the history of the Jewish people from antiquity to modern times through 22 objects from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, brought together here for the first time. Many of the objects are little-known treasures and all 22 have remarkable stories. Spanning 4000 years of history and covering 14 different countries, the objects trace the evolution of Jewish life and culture from its earliest beginnings in Ancient Mesopotamia through time and space to the modern day.

Important masterpieces in museum collections, such as the paintings by Rembrandt, often have the dubious honor of having undergone numerous conservation treatments in the past. Because of the significance of the paintings, these treatments are generally well documented. For example, The Anatomy Lesson of Dt Nicolaes Tulp has undergone 23 documented treatments, while those of The Night Watch amount to 25. Rembrandt’s paintings are found in major collections all over the world. Every country has its own traditions, developments and approaches to conservation with important restorers having played a key role in the treatment and appearance of Rembrandt paintings. In Rembrandt Conservation Histories, experts address aspects relating to the conservation history of paintings by Rembrandt and other 17th-century Dutch masters, raising awareness of how the appearance and condition of paintings by Rembrandt can be explained in part by their treatment history.

Most people go to Napa and Sonoma in Northern California for the wine, and rightly so. The trove of 111 unexpected treasures in this guidebook, however, vastly broadens the possibilities for exploring and experiencing this region in a whole new way. The area is filled with natural wonders, from giant redwood forests and rolling hills, to cliffs and beaches, and even a secret spot to see 20,000 migrating grey whales. Discover the history of Native people who lived here for millennia. Walk in the footsteps of titans of literature, film, and design. Linger in museums featuring fine art, culinary history, and a hubcap collection. You’ll find a sense of whimsy here, too, as you hunt for fairy doors or stroll through a pygmy forest. Visit restaurants, gardens, music venues, gravesites of people who made an impact here, and more places you never imagined existed – and, yes, a few truly unique wineries too.

The exquisite chain-stitch embroideries of Gujarat’s Mochi community are found in museum and private collections the world over, but the origins of the Mochis and their craftsmanship are rarely explored. This book is the first to delve deeply into the history of chain-stitch embroidery in India and its connections to the Mochi or shoe-maker community.

This work focusses on chain-stitch embroideries from the 18th to 20th centuries in the renowned TAPI collection of textiles, with many pieces having direct links both to Gujarati royal families and the lineage of Mochi craftsmen and women. The previously unknown but significant role of the women of the Mochi community in creating embroidery pieces is also explored.

The catalogue of images displays a wide range of exquisitely embroidered pieces ranging from Jain manuscript covers to portraits, items of clothing, fans, and furnishings, such as floor spreads, wall hangings and tent panels. The accompanying essays provide the background history of the Mochis and their work and also shed fresh light on chain-stitch embroideries in museums and private collections previously thought to be from the Mughal period. The book also gives an account of the contemporary scene, in which chain-stitch embroidery has found new directions and audiences worldwide.

Even though they belong to the mineral kingdom, the stones in the collection of the French writer Roger Caillois appear miraculously similar to works of art. Beginning from this mysterious but captivating link between two such apparently distant universes, the book collects a carefully curated selection of the finest stones in the collection and recounts the life of Caillois (sociologist, member of the surrealist movement…), reviewing and presenting his essays on stones. The persona and the personality of this atypical 20th-century intellectual emerge from the essay by Stefano Salis, who introduces us to Caillois’ world and that of Marguerite Yourcenar, who took his place in the Académie de France after his death with a speech reviewing his life and work. The literary critic Carlo Ossola traces the outlines of the cultural climate in which Caillois lived and operated, while François Farges, now in charge of the collection, illustrates it in the final essay.

An old map does not only represent a geographical situation; it also embodies a veritable journey of discovery through world history. In this book, historian Anne-Rieke van Schaik immerses herself in the many stories behind the fascinating maps, prints, atlases, globes and instruments belonging to the Phoebus Foundation’s collection. These objects testify to glorious moments and dark interludes in the history of the Low Countries, from the never-ending battle against water and the Eighty Years War to colonial expansion and the struggle for Belgian independence.
Particular attention is paid to the Southern Netherlands, where pioneers like Gerard Mercator and Abraham Ortelius broke new ground in the sixteenth century. Their maps opened up new paths, both literally and figuratively. Not only were they innovative in their own time, but even today they continue to offer unique panoramas of the past.

With hundreds of beautiful images, Groundbreakers invites you to rediscover and redefine the horizons of your own world.

Chikankari is one of India’s finest traditional embroideries, evoking Lucknawi culture and the elegant courts of the Awadh Nawabs. Chikankari appeared in Lucknow in the late 18th century and its exquisite aesthetic and craftsmanship has sustained the tradition to this day, through changing patronage and market trends. Chikankari is not just embroidery. The style is based on a creative blend of delicate embroidery, and impeccable dressmaking and sewing techniques; these components come together to create art that is legendary for its elegance and finesse. This beautifully illustrated book showcases unknown gems from personal and public collections, and brings to life the history of this unique craft tradition. Various chapters describe the mysterious origins of the craft, the range of costumes, the inspirations behind common Chikankari motifs, the time-honored elaborate production process, and the bewildering array of stitches that raised this craft to its status as a truly exceptional art form.