ARTES

Over her thirty-year career, celebrated designer Jo Thompson has become recognised for her timeless planting, well-proportioned, English-style gardens rendered modern by a staunch commitment to biodiversity to the eye this translates as a looser formality than English gardens of the past, though every bit as romantic.

Berggruen’s collection with more than one hundred masterpieces is a spectacular tribute to the foresight of this major player in the Paris art market during the second half of the twentieth century. Born into a Jewish family in Berlin in 1914, he went into exile in California on the eve of World War II. He became art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and assistant to the director of the San Francisco MoMA. After the war, Berggruen returned to Europe, first to Munich as a journalist, then to Paris where he worked at the UNESCO headquarters before becoming an art dealer specialized in the graphic arts of modern artists. He quickly established contacts within the Parisian cultural scene, meeting both the artists he would represent and the poets, dealers, historians, critics, and collectors of the day. Guided by his personal tastes, he built a solid collection of twentieth-century works now housed at the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin spanning the careers of Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee and including Henri Matisse’s collages and Alberto Giacometti’s sculptures. The vast ensemble was exhibited at the Orangerie in 2024 and is housed in the Berggruen Museum/Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin.

With new photographs of houses steeped in the period revival tradition, from 1838 to today, not since Rizzoli’s Santa Barbara Style (2001) has a book so eloquently captured the distinctive splendor of this seaside paradise. Known worldwide for the Santa Barbara style, the town epitomizes a type of building at once elegant and suffused with poetry. At its heart is the historic downtown, featuring white-washed Mediterranean-style stucco buildings with tile roofs and the iconic Santa Barbara Mission of 1786, whose austere beauty set the tone for all that followed. From its earliest days, the influence of this place has been felt and has since radiated across the sunbelt; it continues to be a model of emulation and inspiration. But it is the houses and the dream of living in Santa Barbara and its sister communities of Ojai, Carpinteria, Summerland, Goleta, and Montecito that casts the most profound spell.

This debut volume presents several extraordinary homes, ranging from a stone-clad villa in Austin to a casual seaside retreat to an art-filled family compound, each of which gracefully balances high style with easygoing comfort. Mohon draws on the heritage of the Mediterranean world to fashion living environments that transport their occupants to an enchanted realm far removed from day-to-day concerns. Intimate foyers beckon from behind carved wooden doors, dining rooms boast dramatically embellished chandeliers suspended above sleekly simple tables, and sitting rooms entice with luxurious blends of color, texture, and furnishings both modern and antique.

Known for a pretty and polished Palm Beach meets Park Avenue aesthetic, Bromley’s interiors are beloved. Often described as “classic with a kick,” her work is steeped in history but infused with a modernity that reflects how her clients want to live today. Bromley’s first book showcases her interiors from New York, St. Louis, and Palm Beach with the Hamptons and Connecticut between. Whether in a historic house in the country or a townhouse in the city, Bromley’s flair for pattern and color defines her interiors, which nevertheless remain true to their surroundings. She makes casual look chic and infuses each home she designs with a cheerfulness and tranquility that is rare. Walls lacquered in bright colors highlight a home’s architecture, while comfortable upholstered furnishings in bold, patterned fabric make it feel livable and fun.

A new tower stands out against the city skyline: the Unipol Tower designed by Mario Cucinella Architects, an internationally renowned architecture studio based in Milan and Bologna. The Unipol Tower is a 124-meter elliptical tower in the Porta Nuova area, in the heart of the city. Made from glass and steel, it has a glasshouse on the rooftop serving as a cultural venue. Commissioned by Unipol, the leading Italian insurance company, the tower looks beyond the corporate identity and headquarters of Unipol and has been acclaimed as one of the most advanced architecture projects ever created.

Growing up in America’s heartland, Kansas, and hitting New York City at age twenty-one, the young designer Andrew Torrey brought his big dreams, ambition, and strong work ethic with him. The self-taught Torrey took the leap and founded his eponymous firm in 2013. This first monograph showcases twenty-three of the designer's extraordinary projects, from vibrant Manhattan and sun-soaked Miami to London, Los Angeles, and Cabo San Lucas. This debut book explores Torrey’s distinctive approach: a seamless blending of cool, clean, modern designs with opulent finishes, sumptuous materials, and a reverence for the historical and vintage. A passion for contemporary art and an approach combining modern glamour with effortless charm also define Torrey’s signature.

Since the launch of his first book and hit TV Show Million Dollar Decorators, Jeffrey Alan Marks has married and become a father. His growing family grounds his new book, a celebration of the idea of home as represented in ten houses, bookended by his own on the West and East Coasts. Marks believes a home must reflect the way its inhabitants want to live, their unique perspective, and how they approach their lives. Trained in England, Marks has long had a deep and profound architectural crush on the British vernacular, which creates a pleasing interplay with his Southern California roots. The result: homes that feel layered and dramatic, but always comfortable.

A mix of high plant/horticultural knowledge and a love of artistically repurposed everyday materials creating unique features will strike a chord with all those who dream of perking up their own gardens. Doreen sought out the most original gardens to feature those that use cleverly repurposed industrial and found materials: handmade archways of gnarled branches or hand-welded fences, mixed with unique sculptures and structures. Text and deep captions full of plant IDs highlight unusual or remarkable collections of flora and foliage that will inspire readers to re-create or come up with their own planting designs and combinations.

This book tracks the career of the artist over six decades, revealing his retained interest in lighthearted subjects while casting them in traditional modes of painting. It celebrates the artist’s regard for the delights of the quintessentially American summer experience, from its sweet ice creams and chilled soda pops to beach games and barbecues, melting a gray winter into a fading memory. The catalogue features paintings from the 1960s through the 2000s of beach scenes, hot dogs, ice creams, beach balls, and bathing suits.