“The Tower is also present to the entire world... a universal symbol of Paris... from the Midwest to Australia, there is no journey to France which isn’t made, somehow, in the Tower’s name.” — Roland Barthes When Gustave Eiffel completed his wrought iron tower on Paris’s Champ de Mars for the World’s Fair in 1889, he laid claim to the tallest structure in the world.Though the Chrysler Building would, 41 years later, scrape an even higher sky, the Eiffel Tower lost none of its...
Since the dawn of modernism, visual and music production have had a particularly intimate relationship. From Luigi Russolo’s 1913 Futurist manifesto L’Arte dei Rumori (The Art of Noise) to Marcel Duchamp’s 1925 double-sided discs Rotoreliefs, the 20th century saw ever more fertile exchange between sounds and shapes, marks and melodies, and different fields of composition and performance. In Francesco Spampinato’s unique anthology of artists’ record covers, we discover the rhy...
'For me, it's really the joy of looking out into the world and getting this positive energy... It's opening up our vision, and how we look'—David HockneyWhen David Hockney discovered the iPhone as an artistic medium, it opened up entirely new possibilities for his art. He made his first digital paintings in spring 2009, describing the morning landscape in broad lines and dazzling colors directly on a display that offered subtle hues as unmixed expressions of pure light.Then i...
In 1965, Tom of Finland began flirting with the idea of an ongoing character for his panel stories, the ultimate Tom’s Man. He tried out a blond named Vicky—a common male name in Finland—followed by a Tarzan-inspired Jack. Then in 1968 Tom settled on Kake, a dark-haired, mustached leatherman who often wore a tight white T-shirt bearing the motto “Fucker.” Kake lived up to this moniker, a sort of post-Stonewall, hyper-masculine Johnny Appleseed traveling the world on his motor...
With his instantly recognizable decorative style, Czech artist and Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939) defined the look of the fin-de-siècle. In evocative shades of peach, gold, ochre, and olive, his seductive compositions of patterns, flowers, and beautiful women became paradigms of the Belle Époque years. Mucha’s work permeated illustration, posters, postcards, and the advertising designs of his day.His striking posters of star actress Sarah Bernhardt were particu...
Famed for his motto “less is more,” Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) was one of the founding fathers of modern architecture and a hotly-debated tastemaker of twentieth-century aesthetics and urban experience.Mies van der Rohe’s philosophy was one of underlying truth in pure forms and proportions. With the help of contemporary technological and material developments, he sought a stripped-down purity to architecture, showcased by the likes of the Seagram Building and Farnsw...
The world appears to be divided into cat and dog lovers, but fortunately Walter Chandoha, the 20th century’s greatest pet photographer found himself happily in the middle. He loved these intriguing creatures equally for their unique beauty and individualism, and as subjects to photograph in a career spanning over 70 years. While working on his critically acclaimed TASCHEN book Cats, Chandoha handpicked his favorite dog photos for a potential follow-up title, putting into care...
A century after his death, Viennese artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) still startles with his unabashed eroticism, dazzling surfaces, and artistic experimentation. In this neat, dependable monograph, we gather all of Klimt's major works alongside authoritative art historical commentary and privileged archival material from Klimt's own archive to trace the evolution of his astonishing oeuvre.With top-quality illustration, including new photography of the celebrated Stoclet Friez...
On a winter’s night in 1949 in New York City, young marketing student and budding photographer Walter Chandoha spotted a stray kitten in the snow, bundled it into his coat, and brought it home. Little did he know he had just met the muse that would determine the course of his life. Chandoha turned his lens on his new feline friend—which he named Loco—and was so inspired by the results that he started photographing kittens from a local shelter.These images marked the start of ...
Clothes define people. A person’s attire, whether it be a sari, kimono, or business suit, is an essential code to his or her culture, class, personality, even faith. Indeed, clothing has the power to define people and their generation.Recognizing this sartorial significance is the Kyoto Costume Institute, whose team of curators examine fashion through sociological, historical, and artistic perspectives. With one of the world’s most extensive clothing collections, the KCI has ...
With the cold war ebbing, crime and inflation at record levels, and movie star-turned-President Ronald Reagan launching a Star Wars of his own, the 1980s did not seem likely to become one of the most outrageous, flamboyant, and prosperous decades of the 20th century. The "greed is good" mantra on Wall Street spawned the power-dressing, exercise-obsessed "Me Generation" of Yuppies. The art world enjoyed the influx of capital; computers and video games ruled in the office and a...
Decades’ worth of images have been distilled down to 512 pages of photographs in this ultimate retrospective collection of Nobuyoshi Araki's work, selected by the artist himself. First published as a Limited Edition and now back in a new format to celebrate TASCHEN’s 40th anniversary, the curation delves deep into Araki’s best-known imagery: Tokyo street scenes; faces and foods; colorful, sensual flowers; female genitalia; and the Japanese art of kinbaku, or bondage. As girls...
Following up on the best-selling Bibliotheca Universalis logo manual, this second volume focuses on corporate identity. In a globalized world, more and more symbols convey values ??such as trust, quality, or reliability. This catalog comprehensively breaks down how texts, images, and ideas are condensed into distinctive brands.From airlines and groceries, sportswear and computers, museums, and magazines, to car brands, music labels, pharmaceuticals, and internet portals, this...
With a career spanning seven decades, Catalan-born Joan Miró (1893–1983) was a polymath giant of modern art, producing masterworks across painting, sculpture, art books, tapestry, and ceramics, and embracing ideologies as varied as Fauvism, Surrealism, Dada, Magic Realism, Cubism, and abstraction. Over the course of his prodigious output, Miró evolved constantly, seeking to eschew categorization and the approval of “bourgeois” art critics as much as he pursued his own dreamli...
Meet the artist whose majestic breaking wave sent ripples across the world. Hokusai (1760–1849) is not only one of the giants of Japanese art and a legend of the Edo period, but also significantly influenced Western modernism, whose prolific gamut of prints, illustrations, paintings, and beyond forms one of the most comprehensive oeuvres of ukiyo-e art and a benchmark of japonisme. His influence spread through Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and beyond, enrapturing the likes of C...
Swiss artist HR Giger (1940–2014) is most famous for his creation of the space monster in Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror sci-fi film Alien, which earned him an Oscar. In retrospect, this was just one of the most popular expressions of Giger’s biomechanical arsenal of creatures, which consistently merged hybrids of human and machine into images of haunting power and dark psychedelia. The visions drew on demons of the past, harking back as far as Giger’s earliest childhood fears as...
These restorative retreats have it all Looking for a vacation that leaves you relaxed, restored, and uplifted? In this gorgeous updated guide, Angelika Taschen gathers the most exquisite and inspirational yoga retreats around the world, from an exotic luxury hotel in Bhutan to a spiritual ashram in India, a beach resort in Mexico to a tucked-away treasure in Brazil`s tropical forests. Highlights include the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh—one of the holy cities of the Ga...
German photography pioneer Karl Blossfeldt (1865–1932) photographed plants so beautifully, and with such originality, that his work transcends the medium itself. Over more than 30 years, he took thousands of photographs, revealing a formally rigorous talent whose precision and dedication bridge the 19th- and 20th-century worlds of image-making and bring a distinctly sculptural aspect to a firmly two-dimensional art form.Beautifully but starkly composed against plain cardboard...
Vinyl ManiaThe greatest in jazz LP artPart design history, part trip down musical memory lane, this anthology of jazz album artwork is above all a treasure trove of creative and cultural inspiration. Spanning half a century, it assembles the most daring and dynamic jazz cover designs that helped make and shape not only a musical genre but also a particular way of experiencing life.From the 1940s through to the decline of LP production in the early 1990s, each chosen cover des...
Modern GraceLyrical forms from FinlandAlvar Aalto (1898–1976) made a unique modernist mark. Influenced by both the landscape and the political independence of his native Finland, he designed warm, curving, compassionate buildings, wholly set apart from the slick, mechanistic, geometric designs that characterized much contemporary European practice.Whether a church, a villa, a sauna, or a public library, Aalto’s organic structures tended to replace plaster and steel with brick...
The industrial designs that shape our livesIf you take even the slightest interest in the design of your toothbrush, the history behind your washing machine, or the evolution of the telephone, you’ll take an even greater interest in this completely updated edition of Industrial Design A–Z.Tracing the evolution of industrial design from the Industrial Revolution to the present day, the book bursts with synergies of form and function that transform our daily experience. From ca...
Die tun was: Henry Ford gab 1908 dem Automobilzeitalter mit seinem Model T, dem ersten Auto vom Fließband, den entscheidenden Impuls. Im Laufe des 20. Jahrhunderts wandelte sich das Auto von einer knatternden Arbeitsmaschine zu einem Hingucker mit Heckflossen und schließlich zum rollenden Statussymbol nebst Kühlerfigur. Das anfangs als technische Innovation bestaunte Auto wurde zum Inbegriff des modernen Lebens und Garanten von Freiheit und Mobilität schlechthin.20th Century ...
An icon of 1980s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) first made his name under the graffiti tag "SAMO," before establishing his studio practice and catapulting to fast fame at the age of 20. Although his career lasted barely a decade, he remains a cult figure of artistic social commentary, and a trailblazer in the mediation of graffiti and gallery art. Basquiat's work drew upon diverse sources and media to create an original and urgent artistic vocabulary, biting with ...
Poem of ColorsThe most remarkable abodes from Costa Careyes to the Yucatán PeninsulaRich colors and woven textiles form a unique design aesthetic, crafted by the union of local Aztec and Mayan cultures and Spanish influences. Bold pigments and vivid patterns come together in simple and rustic spaces, resulting in a way of living that is both invigorating and homely; an authentic Mexican style.The dynamic writer and photographer duo Barbara and René Stoeltie have struck gold a...
Though it lies just across the Mediterranean from Europe, barely a stone’s throw from Spain’s southernmost tip, Morocco couldn’t possibly be farther away.With its mountainous and desert landscapes, labyrinthine souks, delectable cuisine, exquisite rugs and textiles, vibrant mosaics, fragrant odors, mesmerizing music, and welcoming people, Morocco is a most alluring and tantalizingly exotic destination. Digging a little deeper into the myth of Morocco, Barbara and René Stoelti...
Compact in format but no less magnificently endowed, The Big Penis Book will delight even the most hardened aficionado of the male member. No half-cocked measures here, as we celebrate the rampant hardware of 150 models from the 1940s to the '90s, including photos by Bob Mizer of AMG, David Hurles of Old Reliable, and Rip Colt of Colt Studio.
The deceptively simple lemon takes center stage in the second volume of TASCHEN’s collaboration with The Gourmand, masters of the rich intersection of food and art. The star of Renaissance gardens, that shaped the Medici dynasty, have the power to ward off scurvy, had a hand in forming the mob, and whose juice has been used as an invisible ink since 600 CE to pen covert messages, these joyful yellow orbs are ripe with intrigue. The Gourmand charts the fruit’s astonishingly in...
Up close and suspenseful with Alfred Hitchcock The name Alfred Hitchcock is synonymous with suspense—that is to say, masterful, spine-tingling, thrilling, shocking, excruciating, eye-boggling suspense. With triumphs such as Rebecca, Vertigo, Rear Window, and Psycho, Hitchcock (1899–1980) fashioned a new level of cinematic intrigue and fear through careful pacing, subtlety, and suggestiveness. This complete guide traces Hitchcock’s life and career from his earliest silent film...
Sophisticated Sojourns100 tours to inspire and delight from The New York Times’ celebrated travel columnSome travelers dig deep, with a sharp appetite for knowledge and minds wide open to what’s old and what’s new. In Cultured Traveler, the latest in the travel book collaborations between The New York Times and TASCHEN, these adventurers hum to Mozart in Vienna and tap their toes to dance music in Dar es Salaam. They pursue Hamlet in Elsinore, Picasso on the French Riviera, a...
Behind the scenes of Nic Roeg’s 1976 sci-fi masterpiece starring David BowieFirst advertised as a “mind-stretching experience,” Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 The Man Who Fell to Earth stunned the cinema world. A tour-de-force of science fiction as art form, the movie brought not only hallucinatory visuals and a haunting exploration of contemporary alienation, but also glam-rock legend David Bowie in his lead role debut as paranoid alien Newton.Based on Walter Tevis’s 1963 sci-fi fable ...
Surrealism meets Symbolism in Salvador Dalí’s tarot deck Legend has it that when preparing props for the James Bond film Live and Let Die, producer Albert Broccoli commissioned Surrealist maestro Salvador Dalí to create a custom deck of tarot cards. Inspired by his wife Gala, who nurtured his interest in mysticism, Dalí eagerly got to work, and continued the project of his own accord when the contractual deal fell through. The work was published in a limited art edition in 19...
An illuminated manuscript for the time we live inTASCHEN presents Lost + Found and Good News, the latest and final publications from artist David LaChapelle. The books are the fourth and fifth installments of LaChapelle’s five-book anthology, which began with LaChapelle Land (1996), continued with Hotel LaChapelle (1999), and followed by Heaven to Hell (2006).Lost + Found is a visual recording of the times we live in and the issues we face, expressed through David LaChapelle’...
The life of Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) was full of complexity and contradictions. As a young man he joined the Catalonian nationalist movement and was critical of the church; toward the end of his life he devoted himself completely to the construction of one single spectacular church, La Sagrada Familia. In his youth, he courted a glamorous social life and the demeanor of a dandy. By the time of his death in a tram accident on the streets of Barcelona, his clothes were so shabb...
Frank Frazetta has reigned as the undisputed king of fantasy art for 50 years, his fame only growing in the years since his death. With his paintings now breaking auction records (Egyptian Queen sold for $ 5.4 million in 2019) he’s long overdue for this ultimate monograph.Born to a Sicilian immigrant family in Brooklyn, 1928, Frazetta was a minor league athlete, petty criminal and serial seducer with movie star looks and phenomenal talent. He claimed to only make art when the...
Tortured talent: The genius and the angst of an Expressionist master Vincent van Gogh s story is one of the most ironic in art history. Today, he is celebrated the world over as one of the most important painters of all time, recognized with sell-out shows, feted museums, and record prices of tens of millions of dollars at auction.Yet as he was painting the canvases that would subsequently become these sell-out modern masterpieces, van Gogh was battling not only the disintere...
Since the 90s, Sandro Vannini has created complete photographic reproductions that reveal murals and artifacts in unprecedented detail. Marking the centenary of Howard Carters first expedition and a series of international exhibitions, this comprehensive guide combines contemporary understanding of ancient Egyptian afterlife with Vanninis...
The deftness of da vinci. The drawings of Art History's master genius. One of the most accomplished human beings who ever lived, Leonardo da Vinci remains the quintessential Renaissance genius. Creator of the world's most famous paintings, this scientist, artist, philosopher, inventor, builder, and mechanic epitomized the great flowering of human consciousness that marks his era."Leonardo da Vinci - The Graphic Work" features top quality reproductions of 663 of Leonardo's dra...
Salvador Dalí’s surrealist cookbook“Les diners de Gala is uniquely devoted to the pleasures of taste … If you are a disciple of one of those calorie-counters who turn the joys of eating into a form of punishment, close this book at once; it is too lively, too aggressive, and far too impertinent for you.”—Salvador DalíFood and surrealism make perfect bedfellows: sex and lobsters, collage and cannibalism, the meeting of a swan and a toothbrush on a pastry case. The opulent dinn...
Step into a world of star-crossed lovers, magical winds, mischievous giants, and trolls, through some of the most exquisite illustrations in publishing history. In this gorgeous abridged edition, TASCHEN revives the most ambitious publication project of beloved Danish artist Kay Nielsen, one of the most famous children’s book illustrators of all time.First published in 1914, East of the Sun and West of the Moon is a celebrated collection of fairy tales gathered by legendary N...
An homage to fashion’s most beloved photographerPeter Lindbergh photographed Dior’s most exceptional muses, Marion Cotillard and Charlize Theron among them, and signed campaigns for Lady Dior and J'Adore with his inimitable style. Throughout his career, the photographer was one of the house’s closest collaborators. This final book was an original cocreation that was close to the artist’s heart—and to ours.Seventy years of Dior history projected against the effervescence of Ti...
Looking to the sky, the second volume in TASCHENs Library of Esoterica series delves into the vibrant visual history of Western astrology. From its birth as astronomys sister science, to our current Age of Aquarius, the story of this ancient practice is told through more than 400 images-from Egyptian temples to contemporary art-sequenced to...
Deconstructing perspective with Picasso and peersPioneered by Picasso and Braque, Cubism has been described as the first avant-garde art movement of the 20th century. With inspiration from African and Native American art and sculpture, its practitioners deconstructed European conventions of viewpoint, form, perspective to create flattened, fragmented, and revolutionary images.Picasso’s celebrated painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is typically regarded as the original cubist ...
50 of the most legendary and coveted motorcycles of all timeDream Rides: The most spectacular bikes on the planet. From the 1894 Hildebrand & Wolfmüller to the 2020 Aston Martin AMB 001, this book lavishly explores 50 of the most desirable motorcycles to have ever sped thrillingly around a circuit or along an open road. From pioneering record-breakers, luxury tourers, and legendary roadracers to GP-winning machines, iconic superbikes, and exotic customs, this book celebrates ...
Eine Stilkunde der Bekleidung von der Antike bis 1888August Racinets ursprünglich zwischen 1876 und 1888 erschienenes Buch Le Costume historique war und ist die umfassendste Studie über Bekleidung, die es je gab. Das sechsbändige Werk behandelt weltweite Bekleidungsstile und Mode von der Antike bis zum Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts und ist in seiner Spannbreite und Detailgenauigkeit einzigartig.TASCHENs Nachdruck des kompletten Werks präsentiert Racinets wunde...
Mario Testino is recognized as the ultimate fashion photographer of his generation but his pictures of Kate Moss transcend fashion.The result of three decades of extraordinary friendship, and phenomenal glamour, this iconic collaboration is an intimate insight into the lives and minds of two of the world’s definitive style leaders. This book follows the journey of this exceptional fashion partnership, from early days backstage at the shows to behind-the-scenes glimpses of the...
The first-ever exhibition curated by Peter Lindbergh himself, shortly before his untimely death, Untold Stories at the D sseldorf Kunstpalast served as a blank canvas for the photographer's unrestrained vision and creativity. Given total artistic freedom, Lindbergh curated an uncompromising collection that sheds an unexpected light on his colossal oeuvre. This book offers an extensive, firsthand look at the highly personal collection.Renowned the world over, Lindbergh's image...
The history of the adidas shoe, from its earliest beginnings until today100 years ago the brothers Adolf ("Adi") and Rudolf Dassler made their first pair of sports shoes. Hundreds of groundbreaking designs, epic moments, and star-studded collabs later, this book presents the first visual review of the adidas shoe through more than 350 models including never-before-seen prototypes and one-of-a-kind originals.To further develop and tailor his products to athletes’ specific need...
A visual history of the world’s magic megalopolisWalt Disney dreamed for decades about opening the ultimate entertainment venue, but it wasn’t until the early 1950s that his handpicked team began to bring his vision to life. Together, artists, architects, and engineers transformed a dusty tract of orange groves about an hour south of Los Angeles into one of the world’s most beloved destinations.Today, there are Disney resorts from Paris to Shanghai, but the original Disneylan...
An anthology of cult magazine Sneaker FreakerBack in 2002, Simon “Woody” Wood was dreaming up schemes to get free sneakers. Two weeks later, he was the proud owner of Sneaker Freaker and his life was never the same.From its early roots as a punk-style fanzine to today’s super-slick print and online operations, the fiercely independent publication has documented every collab, custom, limited edition, retro reissue, Quickstrike, Hyperstrike, and Tier Zero sneaker released over ...
The Japanese woodblock print is a phenomenon with no Western equivalent, one where breathtaking landscapes exist alongside blush-inducing erotica; where demons and otherworldly creatures torment the living; and where sumo wrestlers, kabuki actors, and courtesans are rock stars. This condensed edition lifts the veil on a much-loved but little-understood art, revealing the stories and people behind the 200 most exceptional prints from 1680?1938, drawn from the finest impression...
Sharp angles, strange forms, lurid colors, and distorted perspectives are classic hallmarks of Expressionism, the twentieth century movement that prioritized emotion over objective reality. Though particularly present in Germany and Austria, the movement's approach flourished internationally and is today hailed as one of the most influential shifts in art history. With leading groups Die Brucke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), and key players such as Wassil...
This devoted compendium to the female derriere packs a whole lot of big booty into one petite treat of a book. Featuring more than 150 images of the biggest and best rears from The Big Book of Butt, including 30 new mouth-watering images, its one irresistible ode to voluptuous curves from the 1950s to today.
The origin of the world for pocket change! Gustave Courbet got it right in 1866 when he painted a voluptuous woman's furry cleft and titled it L'Origine du monde. We all come from the pussy and half of us spend our lives trying to climb back in-now you can carry 150 of the best right in your back pocket.
Baltic Sea to Black ForestDiscover the country’s most beautiful places to stayGermany is a land of astounding variety – from cities founded by the Romans and medieval trade routes to breathtaking coastlines, rivers, and mountains that inspired great 18th- and 19th-century artists. It’s a place to encounter towns, castles, and palaces with gripping histories, and the Moselle Valley, Black Forest, and the Allgäu region – all rightly world-famous for their beauty.Angelika Tasche...
Over 150 of the best photos from the original volume are now in this compact book. From Betty Grable to Bettie Page, the greatest legs of the 20th Century are here, shot by Irving Klaw, Bunny Yeager and Elmer Batters. Silk stockings, high heels, curvy calves, taut thighs, playful toes - and no troublesome text - could leg love get any sweeter?
Pin-up travels the long road from barracks wall to high artSince TASCHEN released The Great American Pin-up, international interest in this distinctly American art form has increased exponentially. Paintings by leading artists such as Alberto Vargas, George Petty, and Gil Elvgren that sold for $ 2,000 in 1996 are going for $ 200,000 and more today. Pin-up—drawings, paintings, and pastels of an idealized female face and figure intended for public display—was produced between 1...
A visual pilgrimage through holy mountains, great pyramids, and golden shrines, Sacred Sites celebrates the ways we transform the world around us through ritual, creativity, and worship. Essays, interviews and more than 400 images explore spaces ranging from ancient temples to modern works of spatial art.
Brutalist BeautiesArchitectural remnants of the USSRElected the architectural book of the year by the International Artbook and Film Festival in Perpignan, France, Frédéric Chaubin’s Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed explores 90 buildings in 14 former Soviet Republics. Each of these structures expresses what Chaubin considers the fourth age of Soviet architecture, an unknown burgeoning that took place from 1970 until 1990.Contrary to the 1920s and 1950s, no “school”...
Celebrate 90+ years of Mickey Mouse with one of the most expansive illustrated publications on the Disney universe: behind-the-scenes shots, rare animation art, and vintage comics trace Mickeys cartoons, his comic adventures, the world of Mickey merchandise and memorabilia, as well as the legendary Mickey Mouse Club.
For Marc Chagall (1887–1985), painting was an intricate tapestry of dreams, tales, and traditions. His instantly recognizable visual language carved out a unique early 20th-century niche, often identified as one of the earliest expressions of psychic experience.Chagall’s canvases are characterized by loose brushwork, deep colors, a particular fondness for blue, and a repertoire of recurring tropes including musicians, roosters, rooftops, flowers, and floating lovers. For all ...
A condensed edition of the best-selling Basquiat monograph. Pristine reproductions of Basquiats seminal paintings, drawings, and notebook sketches, as well as texts by editor Hans Werner Holzwarth and curator and art historian Eleanor Nairne, bring us up close and personal to a legend synonymous with 1980s New York.
They’re not your girls next door Fashion and fetish in a female fantasyland Ellen von Unwerth was a supermodel before the term was invented, so she knows a thing or two about photographing beautiful women. Now one of the world’s most original and successful fashion photographers, she pays homage to the world’s most delectable females in Fräulein. This celebration of our era’s sexiest female icons includes Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Vanessa Paradis, Britney Spears, Eva Mende...
Nestled in the south of France, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, is a land renowned for its lavender fields, fine cuisine, golden sun, and dreamy landscapes.The region of Provence has inspired such masters as Alphonse Daudet and Vincent van Gogh. So enthralled was Paul Cezanne by the Mont Sainte-Victoire that he immortalized it in a series of paintings. We enter his Provence studio, which still looks the same as it did over a century ago, as well as the house where Frederic M...
Japanese homes are refuges of tranquility, crafted in a unique domestic aesthetic of Eastern minimalism. Traditional architecture features alongside cutting-edge contemporary dwellings in this collection of homes, with many never-before-seen photographs. Turn to the rising sun and discover the fluid simplicity of these spaces where Zen...
Hiroshige was one of the last great artists of ukiyo-e, the woodblock print genre that flourished between the 17th and 19th century and did much to determine the worlds visual concept of Japan. This dependable introduction leads you through the blossoming cherry trees, beautiful women, and dramatic ocean views that made Hiroshige a household...
The Kisokaido route through Japan was ordained in the early 1600s by the country’s then-ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu, who decreed that staging posts be installed along the length of the arduous passage between Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto. Inns, shops, and restaurants were established to provide sustenance and lodging to weary travelers. In 1835, renowned woodblock print artist Keisai Eisen was commissioned to create a series of works to chart the Kisokaido journey. After produ...
Myth, Muscle, and Sexy MaidensThe wonders of fantasy artFantasy art, that colorful blend of myth, muscle and sexy maidens, took off in 1923 with the launch of Weird Tales magazine, was reinvigorated in the 1960s with The Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian paperbacks with Frank Frazetta covers, and the late ’60s emergence of fantasy psychedelia. It went big in the ’70s with the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, the brilliant French magazine Métal Hurlant, and the first...
So Much For So Little! Big busts + small package = major savings The Little Big Book of Breasts features over 150 celebrated big breast models from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, including Michelle Angelo, Virginia Bell, Roxanne Brewer, Joan Brinkman, Lorraine Burnett, Lisa DeLeeuw, Uschi Digard, Sylvia McFarland, Chesty Morgan, Roberta Pedon, Rosina Revelle, Janie Reynolds, Candy Samples, Tempest Storm, Mary Waters, June Wilkinson, and Julie Wills, plus Guinness Book of World Re...
The unique tones and spontaneity of Polaroids have made them a beloved photographic format for decades. Brimming with all the warmth and nostalgia of a family album, this ode to the instant camera presents hundreds of images from the Polaroid Corporations own collection. A chronicle of the experimental and innovative ways Polaroids have defied...
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 1610) was always a name to be reckoned with. Notorious bad boy of the Italian Baroque, the artist was at once celebrated and controversial, violent in temper, precise in technique, a creative master, and a man on the run. Though famed for his dramatic use of color, light, and shadow, it was above all Caravaggio's boundary-breaking naturalism which scorched his name into the annals of art history. From the dirtied soles of feet to the se...