BELLAS ARTES

In November 1936, publisher Henry R. Luce launched Life as a photo-led weekly news magazine with a clear purpose: “To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events.” Before readers’ attention was consumed by television, Life served as their window to the world, and by the late 1940s, it was being viewed by 1 in 3 Americans. Jean Harlow was the first movie star to appear on a Life cover in 1937, and from then until 1972 over 200 covers featured Hollywood-related subjects, illustrating the strength of the bond between Life and the film industry.

At the age of six, Hokusai was said to have painted his first picture, and a year after his death aged 89, his designs for illustrated books were posthumously published. Tracing a long, prolific career, this edition spans each of the artist’s creative phases: from the actor portraits with which Hokusai started out to the 1,300 designs carried out in his final years under the name Manji.Reproducing 746 woodblock prints, paintings, sketches, and book illustrations, many of them in granular detail, this volume is comfortably the most complete publication on perhaps Japan’s most famous artist. Hokusai’s wide appeal as the recognizable figure of Japan’s Edo period endures to this day: in March 2023, a version of his iconic woodblock print Under the Wave off Kanagawa (or The Great Wave), from his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, was auctioned for 2.76 million US dollars.

In 1962, Rainer W. Schlegelmilch had his first experience of motorsport – the 1,000 km at the Nürburgring – and it was this that sparked a lifelong passion for both Porsche and racing that still burns today. Beginning in 1963, this wholly captivating collection of breathtaking shots transports you to another time and another world, taking you on a journey through the history of Porsche endurance racing, from Le Mans to Monza, via the Targa Florio and Spa-Francorchamps. And with his own words accompanying the pictures, Schlegelmilch shows and tells fascinating stories from track and trackside.

At the dawn of the Victorian era in her open-air laboratory in Halstead, Kent, Anna Atkins embarked on a radical experiment to document botanical species using a completely new artistic medium. The inimitable cyanotype photograms of algae and ferns she created were made into the first books to feature photographic images. Striking yet ethereal, these albums are a perfect synthesis of art and science.Although the cyanotype technique was discovered by her friend John Herschel, Atkins was the first to realize both its practical purpose for own her interests in botany and taxonomy, and its intriguing artistic potential.

Celebrating 10 years of publishing the finest interior design and decorative arts, Cabana Anthology: The Anniversary Edition is a stunning showcase of the most impressive and influential styles featured in the cult interiors magazine in its first decade. This sublime book delves into the stories behind a multitude of stunning interiors, offering insights from the designers, collectors, and artists who have contributed to Cabana’s legacy of true artistry and craftsmanship. Founded by editor-in-chief Martina Mondadori along with designer Christoph Radl and publisher Gianluca Reina in 2014, Cabana aims to inspire a new generation of globetrotters, taking them on a journey through sophistication, obsessive collecting, colors, and fabrics. This stunning volume features the very best photography, interviews, profiles, and features from the publication, with contributions from Carlos Mota, Marco Mansi, and Marian McEvoy, and photographers Miguel Flores-Vianna, Guido Taroni, Mark Luscombe Whyte, Tim Walker, and Joanna MacLennan, among many others.

His works have prompted a New York Times bestseller; a film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth; record visitor numbers at art institutions from Amsterdam to Washington, DC; and special crowd-control measures at the Mauritshuis, The Hague, where thousands flock to catch a glimpse of the enigmatic and enchanting Girl with a Pearl Earring, also known as the “Dutch Mona Lisa”. In his lifetime, however, the fame of Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) barely extended beyond his native Delft and a small circle of patrons. After his death, his name was largely forgotten, except by a few Dutch art collectors and dealers. Outside of Holland, his works were even misattributed to other artists. It was not until the mid-19th century that Vermeer came to the attention of the international art world, which suddenly looked upon his narrative minutiae, meticulous textural details, and majestic planes of light, spotted a genius, and never looked back.