BELLAS ARTES

Interior decorator Summer Thornton believes in designing with the wildest abandon: her world is one of nickel tubs, marble fireplaces, whimsical textiles, surprising patterns, and secret gardens. Often described as maximalist with a modern, fresh sensibility, Thornton manages to achieve highly polished, sophisticated interiors that indulge in a lighthearted, almost irreverent sense of whimsy. In her first book, she will inspire readers to follow their creative impulses and make their own rules. Let yourself be transported with the dreamy, fantastical homes arranged by theme in Wonderland. “Fearless Romantic” features Thornton’s own gorgeous city house. “In Here Comes the Sun,” peek into an over-the-top tropical vacation home that’s centered on citrus. Look for her to misbehave a bit in “Good to be Bad.” If refinement is more your cup of tea, the polished settings in “The New Formal” are fit for a queen. Plus take a deep dive into the most colorful technicolor homes she’s ever designed in “Super Saturated.” With outstanding photography from A-list photog-raphers including Thomas Loof, Bjorn Wallander, Annie Schlechter, and Melanie Acevedo, and styling by AD contributor Mieke ten Have, Wonderlandis a celebration of personal expression and fearless escapism.

The world’s most important contemporary designers showcase their work within the historic setting of Chatsworth House to shine light and spark conversation on the intriguing juxtaposition of the old and the new, the past and the future, and the evolution of design histories and practices. Chatsworth is an extraordinary environment to experience design: a repository for great works of fine and decorative art commissioned by generations of the Cavendish family for over four centuries. Expanding on the eponymous 2023 exhibition at Chatsworth, Mirror Mirror features the works of sixteen contemporary artists through captivating in-situ photography with accompanying artist biographies and essays that unearth how historic artifacts and environments inform and inspire modern artists' practices today. This diverse group of artists includes Michael Anastassiades, Ini Archibong, Wendell Castle, Andile Dyalvane, Ndidi Ekubia, Najla El Zein, Formafantasma, Joris Laarman, Max Lamb, Fernando Laposse, Jae Sae Jung Oh, Samuel Ross, Chris Schanck, Ettore Sottsass, Faye Toogood, and Joseph Walsh. From lithe, LED lighting structures illuminating the halls of the Chatsworth library to a seating sculpture hand-carved in Iranian travertine in the grand estate’s formal Rose Garden, these modern works create unexpected and timeless connections with the house’s architecture, interiors, furniture, and ceramics.

Longtime creative collaborators Tilda Swinton and Olivier Saillard present an illustrated tribute to the costumes of legendary Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s iconic films. Retracing Pier Paolo Pasolini’s entire cinematography—which continues to fascinate audiences almost half a century after his passing—Embodying Pasolini explores the costumes that brought his films to life. From The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), The Canterbury Tales (1972), and Arabian Nights (1974) to Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), Pasolini’s movies are known for their provocative flair—making them staples of art cinema’s golden age. Styled by Danilo Donati, the costumes—garments, coats, and hats—enlivened the films with their rich textures, volume, color, and embellishments.

British interior designer Flora Soames founded her eponymous firm in 2009 and launched an acclaimed collection of fabrics and wallpapers in 2019. Informed by her background in art and furniture, her style exudes the traditional charm of English country homes while incorporating modern, original touches that are comfortable and design-led. This embrace of old and new—along with Soames’s passion for collecting, heritage, color, and pattern—has resulted in an impressive portfolio of projects in the UK and beyond.

French artist, designer, and talented antique hunter Marin Montagut celebrates the joy of collecting everything from textiles to barware to architectural details, taking readers inside a dozen private homes, flea markets, and unusual ateliers to discover the most whimsical treasure troves in France. From a film prop house’s array of leather sporting goods and playing cards to a travel buff’s vintage maps and globes, and from a sculpture studio’s Grecian plaster casts to an amateur designer’s spiral staircase models, and from Montagut’s own wonder wall assemblages to a cook’s haven filled with porcelain dessert molds and copper pots—objects, when presented together as a series, create unforgettable interiors that radiate charm. Inspiration comes in repetition: wooden zigzag rulers with engraved numbers aligned on a wall in a herringbone pattern create an artful space. The spare wooden forms of capipotes—devotional statues used in religious processions, their eyes turned heavenward in ecstasy—and silver ex-votos can be the point of departure for the theme of an entire room. Montagut’s mood boards for each chapter provide endless ideas for the home.

In ten chapters—each an important moment in food history, from Ancient Rome to Al-Andalus in Spain, from the Ethiopian Empire to nineteenth-century New York City—the authors pair menus with immersive retellings of historic culinary breakthroughs, and present the ingredients and modern techniques adapted for today’s kitchens to allow cooks of all abilities to entertain with dishes that were created and enjoyed hundreds of years ago but remain relevant to today’s food tastes and values.