ARTES

For the last couple of years, Steven Heller and Julius Wiedemann have traced the latest developments in illustration around the globe—and for all those who thought digital heralded the end of an era, they’re here to set the record straight. There were extraordinary eras before mass media changed our viewing habits, back in the day when illustration was the primary means of illuminating the word on paper—all the way to today, when we get our words and images on screens as small as a watch face. In this environment, today’s designers and artists are holding their own brilliantly. Illustration is more free and varied than ever, and it is ubiquitous in all kinds of media, from paper to screen to books, packages, clothing, cars, and restaurants.

Before reaching the tender age of 30, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) had already sculpted Pietà and David, two of the most famous sculptures in the entire history of art. As a sculptor, painter, draftsman, and architect, the achievements of this Italian master are unique—no artist before or after him has ever produced such a vast, multifaceted, and wide-ranging œuvre. This fresh TASCHEN edition traces Michelangelo’s ascent to the cultural elite of the Renaissance. Ten richly illustrated chapters cover the artist’s paintings, sculptures, and architecture, including a close analysis of the artist’s tour de force frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.Full-page reproductions and enlarged details allow readers to appreciate the finest details in the artist’s repertoire, while the book’s biographical essay considers Michelangelo’s more personal traits and circumstances, such as his solitary nature, his thirst for money and commissions, his immense wealth, and his skill as a property investor.

In 2005, Scott Schuman transformed fashion photography forever when he founded the blog The Sartorialist. The idea was simple: to open a dialogue between fashion and daily life, by shooting locals in public spaces. But in the lineage of Bill Cunningham and August Sander, that unpretentious, radical emphasis on “real people”—off the runway, out of the studio—elevated people-watching to an art and street style to high fashion, long before Instagram. In Milan, Schuman found a muse dressed for the task. Milano chronicles nearly twenty years of his devotion to the inimitable Milanese and their bustling, stylish city, first as a visitor, then as a local. Featuring a foreword by the late Giorgio Armani and an extensive interview unpacking Schuman’s unique approach to capturing fashion in the wild, the photos are so cinematically composed, it’s a wonder they were shot on the move. Schuman seems to pause Milano, not only those shoppers, skaters, and smokers who might have the time but those without it: Miuccia Prada, Emiliano Salci, Luciano Barbera, the Sozzani sisters, all caught here in the same streets and |caffés. What emerges is a street-view history of modern Milanese fashion, by an American with the open mind to see the elegance overlooked by locals born to it and missed in stiffer fashion shoots—the beauty in the authentic, unpredictable styles combined only by those under no pressure to conform. Young and old, they pose while Milan flies by on bikes, Vespas, and trams, amid a dazzle of marble, frescos, sculptures, spires, columns, ornate palazzi and brutalist facades, local markets, florists, vertical gardens, iconic hangouts like Bar Basso and Marchesi 1824, espressos, handbags, high heels, and suits in every color imaginable. From the canals of Naviglio Grande to the cobblestones of Via Brera to the glass ceiling of “the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II” and Milano Centrale, the city’s blend of architectural styles is seen as a radiant reflection of its people.

Norman Foster. Networks offers a rare first-person insight into the ideas, influences, and connections that have shaped one of the world’s greatest architects. Penned and curated by Foster himself, it brings together eight immersive essays in which he explores architecture not as a professional pursuit, but a nexus of passions, disciplines, and lived experience. In Roots, Foster examines his modest start in Manchester alongside his lifelong fascination with aviation, tracing the formative threads that underpin his work. Flight emerges as both obsession and metaphor, informing his pursuit of lightness, efficiency, and technical elegance. His deep attachment to the Alpine landscape―where he lives in a self-designed home of the future―reveals how place, climate, and topography continue to shape his thinking. Nature, Art, and Making are explored as essential creative partners to his architectural practice. The essays on Place and Cities widen the lens, considering memory, identity, and civic life, and how buildings collectively shape the public realm. Illustrated with nearly 1,000 photographs, sketches, artworks, film stills, and other cultural references, this extraordinary book is both a visual atlas and an intellectual framework―a self-exploration of the thinking behind such iconic works as Apple Park in Cupertino, the Reichstag in Berlin, the British Museum’s Great Court in London, the Millau Viaduct in France, and the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi. It brings into focus the ideas, curiosities, and connections that define this colossus of modern architecture.

The Dutch Golden Age of painting spawned some of history’s greatest artists and artisans, but few can boast the genius and legacy of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606–1669). Despite never leaving his native Netherlands, Rembrandt projected his oeuvre past the boundaries of his own experience, producing some of art’s most diverse and impactful works across portraiture, biblical, allegorical, landscape, and genre scenes. In all their forms, Rembrandt’s paintings are built of intricacies—the totality of each subtle facial wrinkle, gaze, or figure amounting to an emotional force that stands unmatched among his contemporaries and artistic progeny alike.

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 Ganges and a renowned pilgrimage site where the Beatles attended the Maharishi’s ashram in 1968; and Santani, a 48-acre former tea plantation in Sri Lanka where restorative bliss meets the highest sustainable and eco-standards. Italy is not just a destination for the cultural and culinary traveler but also for the dedicated yogi: Santa Maria del Sole in Puglia strike a balance between yoga and the sensual Italian lifestyle. A hidden gem in the high planes of Brazil, Alto Paraíso is nestled in lush tropical forest, home to some of the world’s most diverse flora and fauna. The Esalen Institute in Big Sur is a legendary New Age destination, offering yoga and much more, with over 500 spiritual and physical workshops; Kretashala, one of Europe’s most popular sites for Vinyasa Yoga, offers authentic Cretan cuisine and breathtaking views of the endless expanse of the Libyan sea; while Amansala’s Bikini Boot Camp in Tulum, Mexico, combines beach life with yoga classes.

Latin America is a cradle of ancient civilizations like those of the Incas, Maya and Aztecs, and later became the goal of European explorers and immigrants. It looks back on a long history, often full of contrasts and contradictions, but also has a very special multicultural atmosphere. This book presents unique, almost breathtakingly beautiful landscapes and places with extraordinary hotels. Short texts and practical information complement the superb photos.The places to stay shown here include the Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge in the Brazilian Amazon and the Uxua on the beach of Trancoso, for which a Dutch designer has transformed historic buildings into villas in ethnic style. Big Bang in Uruguay is a wonderful place for glamping between the ocean and the forest. The elegant vacation destinations of this country are home to the Fasano Punta del Este by the architect Isay Weinfeld and the Posada Ayana, where the American Land Art star James Turrell has installed one of his famous Skyspaces on the estate.This journey also goes to the Explora El Chaltén at the foot of Monte Fitz Roy in rugged Patagonia, to the Tierra Atacama in the world’s driest desert in Chile, to the mid-century classic Antumalal, and to Easter Island, guarded since time immemorial by the huge stone sculptures of the Moai.

Spanning more than six decades and crossing continents, Norman Foster’s career is among the most influential in modern architecture. Distinguished by restless innovation and a holistic approach to design, his work has reshaped skylines and redefined how buildings respond to technology, society, and the environment. This monograph presents his complete body of work, from early collaborations with Richard Rogers and Richard Buckminster Fuller to the global superprojects that established his star status from the 1980s onwards. It also offers rare and fascinating glimpses into the evolving working environments of Foster + Partners, from a modest Hampstead flat in the 1960s to today’s vast, light-filled studio overlooking the Thames. Foster’s architecture is marked by inventive modernity and a long-standing commitment to sustainability.

A comprehensive volume covering five seminal genres that shaped art, from the late 19th century and well into the 20th: Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. Each approach was distinct in aesthetic and philosophy, but all had immediate impact and enduring influence. Many great names were indelibly associated with one, some explored several during their careers. Impressionism, led by Monet and Renoir, focused on light and color, capturing fleeting moments and challenging academic art's rigidity. Expressionism was driven by artists like Edvard Munch and Wassily Kandinsky to convey raw emotion, distorting reality to reflect the angst of human experience. Surrealists, like Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, explored the subconscious, dreams, and the irrational, blending reality with fantasy across art, literature, and film. With Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko leading the charge, Abstract Expressionism emphasized spontaneity and emotion through bold, gestural brushstrokes, and established New York as the post-war art world’s new Mecca.

Zaha Hadid (1950 - 2016) was a revolutionary architect. For years, she was widely acclaimed and won numerous prizes despite building practically nothing. Some even said her work was simply impossible to build. Yet, during the latter years of her life, Hadid’s daring visions became a reality, bringing a new and unique architectural language to cities and structures such as the Port House in Antwerp, the Al Janoub Stadium near Doha, Qatar, and the spectacular new airport terminal in Beijing. By her untimely death in 2016, Hadid was firmly established among architecture’s finest elite, working on projects in Europe, China, the Middle East, and the United States. She was the first female architect to win both the Pritzker Prize for architecture and the prestigious RIBA Royal Gold Medal, with her long-time Partner Patrik Schumacher now the leader of Zaha Hadid Architects and in charge of many new projects.