Not for sale in Estonia! This is the first book dedicated to African powderglass beads, with over 180 photographs of gorgeous pieces from a collection assembled by songwriter Billy Steinberg (co-writer of Madonna's "Like a Virgin"). Most of the pi...

Throughout her long and prolific career American artist Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) developed innovative sculptures in wire, a medium she explored through increasingly complex forms using craft-based techniques she learned while traveling in Mexico in 194...

Richly illustrated with images from Jan Tschichold's little-known private collection of design ephemera, this important book explores a legendary figure in the history of modern graphic design through the artists, ideas, and texts from the Bauhaus th...

From personal ornamentation to funerary practice, from palace decoration to private devotion, jade has played a major role in Chinese social, cultural, and political life for millennia. Exploring the history of this revered stone through the esteemed...

Highly regarded in England's classical music circles, Milein Cosman was a remarkable artist who drew primarily from life. Her portraits of fellow artists were fueled by her own passions for music, literature, and visual arts. This biography traces Co...

The late-19th century was a time of new technology, industry, and modernity. People were enthralled with their changing world and artists were not an exception. Fascinated by progress in every form, artists depicted factories, trains, and constructio...

Traditionally used in Aboriginal funeral ceremonies, memorial poles have been transformed into compelling contemporary artworks. The memorial pole is made from the trunk of the Eucalyptus tetradonta, hollowed naturally by termites. When the bones of...

Cuban artist Zilia Sanchez (b. 1926) often says, "Soy isla" ("I am an island"), expressing her desire for solitary, uncompromising practice. It also serves as a metaphor for her experience as an islander – connected to and disconnected from both the...

As the inventor of the Readymade and a founder of conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp's work is still provoking important discussions about what defines art. Accompanying the first exhibition of the important Stuttgart Duchamp Collection, this book also p...

In 1600, Peter Paul Rubens left his home in Antwerp to travel to Italy and study the Italian masters. Eight years later, he returned to Belgium and quickly established himself as one of the foremost painters in Western Europe. This book explores Rube...