BELLAS ARTES

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 there was nothing better to do – he preferred playing baseball - yet began his professional career in comics at age 16. Strip work led him to the infamous EC Comics, then to oils for Tarzan and Conan pulp covers. Both characters were interpreted by many before him, but as he explained in the 1970s, “I’m very physical minded. In Brooklyn, I knew Conan, I knew guys just like him,” and he used this first-hand knowledge of muscle and macho to redefine fantasy heroes as more massive, more menacing, more testosterone-fueled than anything seen before. As counterbalance he created a new breed of women, nude as censorship allowed, with pixie faces and multiparous bodies: thick thighed, heavy buttocked, breasts cantilevered out to there, yet still, with their soft bellies and hints of cellulite, believably real. Add in the action, the creatures, the twilit worlds of haunting shadow and Frazetta’s art is addictive as potato chips.

"Es peligroso ser un hombre honesto". —Michael Corleone, El Padrino IIIComo fotógrafo especial en los platós y los exteriores de la trilogía El Padrino de Francis Ford Coppola, Steve Schapiro tuvo la oportunidad excepcional de presenciar el trabajo de actores legendarios en algunas de sus interpretaciones más memorables. Schapiro inmortalizó a Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, James Caan, Robert Duvall y Diane Keaton en fotos que desde entonces se han convertido en imágenes emblemáticas, reconocibles al instante e imitadas hasta la saciedad. Reunidas por primera vez en este libro están las mejores fotografías de Schapiro de las tres películas de El Padrino, cuidadosamente reproducidas a partir de los negativos originales. Con ensayos y entrevistas que cubren la trilogía en su integridad, este libro contiene más de 300 imágenes a color y en blanco y negro. Las imágenes de Schapiro nos llevan tras las escenas de esta epica e inimitable saga cinematográfica, revelando el proceso de trabajo del director, captando las atmósferas y las personalidades involucradas y proporcionando interioridades de cómo se hacía la historia del cine.

Through the turbulent passage of time, graphic design―with its vivid, neat synthesis of image and idea―has distilled the spirit of each age. Surrounding us every minute of every day, from minimalist packaging to colorful adverts, smart environmental graphics to sleek interfaces: graphic design is as much about transmitting information as it is about reflecting society’s cultural aspirations and values. With his sweeping knowledge of the field, author Jens Müller curates the standout designs for each year, a running sequence of design milestones. This collection of important graphic works represents a long-overdue reflection on the development of a creative field constantly changing and challenging itself. These key pieces act as coordinates through contemporary history, helping us trace the sheer influence of graphic design on our daily lives. About the series TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program―now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

Forgoing the criteria of stateliness and opulence, this book is an exploration of the most captivating and unusual interiors in Ireland. Whether in the transformation of a derelict estate, the preservation of an historic hunting lodge, or the re-creation of a Gothic fantasy, each of the homes in this extraordinary book reflects a renewed vitality in the contemporary approach to Irish country houses.

This deluxe volume offers a meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated history of fifty magnificent estates in three of America’s most prized residential districts: Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills. Lush color photographs as well as a trove of historical images take readers beyond the front gates for an exceptional view of the mansions, grounds, and gardens of these sumptuous estates and tell the history of Los Angeles’s rise from rugged paddocks and farmland to famed metropolis. Each house is explored both for its historical and architectural importance, for here are the epitome of residences and gardens reflecting the famed Italianate and California Mediterranean styles by all the leading architects of Southern California, including Wallace Neff, James Dolena, Gordon Kaufmann, Robert Farquhar, Roland Coate, and Paul Williams. They built for clients such as Gary Cooper, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Bing Crosby, whose own stories reflect the intrigue and foibles of Hollywood society. The book’s final chapter, “Gone but Not Forgotten,” pays homage to great estates that have been destroyed or lost to history.

In a time of renewed interest in the role of plants in our lives, garden designers are increasingly turning to modern planting design techniques to introduce biodiversity and resiliency into our landscapes and to enhance human well-being by creating spaces that emphasise connection, innovation, and complexity. This is the first book to give context to the main techniques used in contemporary garden design today, and reveals how to achieve professional-level solutions in gardens of large and small by exploring and explaining a variety of tips and tools and providing a guiding framework to support the development of any style garden in a step-by-step format. Hundreds of images and case studies by some of today’s best international planting designers bring the opportunities to life on the page.