This book reveals the designer's taste for the theatrical. Tony Duquette took de Wolf's no-holds-barred style in his manefsto. He crafted rooms that were beguiling, grandiose and pure Hollywood... opulent and overstated with gilded lilies, leopard patters, rock crystal, tented ceilings and endless rococo paintings.Tony Duquette designed sparkling jewels, spectacular stage sets, extravagant costumes, and interiors for pleasure pavilions inspired by dreams. He loved richness, drama, ornament, individuality and eccentricity. He considered 18th Century France the apogee of design and civilisation and recreated a Sun King's ransom of painting and festoons for his own interior spaces.'I always decorate as if I were working in that period rather than merely re-creating it'. Duquette designed with authentic fabrics and colours, painting and decorative objects. Each space was a pastiche of Duquette's passions: Chinoiserie, gold-leafed trays, Louis XV chairs, clusters of pillow made from Balinese fabrics and Japanese brocades. He is known for embellishing, draping and layering. His signature over-the-top style includes decorating with shells and faux coral, rearranging tabourets and porcelain, applied faux-malachite and vignettes set up to a crescendo of clashing colours.

The Jazz Image: Masters of Jazz Photography has been carefully culled by Lee Tanner, the leading authority on jazz photography and photographers, and covers more than four decades of performers. If music is an international language, then jazz is the unofficial American ambassador to the world. These incredible images are both historical documents and cultural artifacts, as they are simultaneously records of a period and works of art unto themselves. The photos Tanner has selected are iconic, candid, explosive and intimate — together the book gives readers a unique look at jazz, photography and America, from 1935-65.

In the five years during which Warhol worked intensively as a filmmaker, he produced 472 portrait films called Screen Tests . In this book, author Callie Angell catalogues, illustrates, and describes the 189 people who were captured by Warhol's lens, discussing their relationships with him. These people include superstars, artists, musicians and important figures from the 1960s counterculture.

Every aspect of the Stones' story is covered, including the band's private lives, drug busts, performances, recording sessions, public appearances, photo sessions and more. The photographs, both black-and-white and full colour, are arranged chronologically; many of these images have rarely or never been seen before. Each caption, by The Beatles: 365 Days' author Simon Wells, provides details about the photo along with other pertinent information that will further enlighten the reader about the people and events pictured. Many captions will also contain a relevant quote from one of the Stones or one of their close friends, such as Ian Stewart, Andrew Loog Oldham, Marianne Faithful, or Anita Pallenberg, as well as from published articles, journalists, etc.

The intimate life of artist Frida Kahlo is wonderfully revealed in the illustrated journal she kept during her last 10 years. This passionate and at times surprising record contains the artist's thoughts, poems, and dreams; many reflecting her stormy relationship with her husband, artist Diego Rivera, along with 70 mesmerising watercolour illustrations. The text entries in brightly coloured inks make the journal as captivating to look at as it is to read. Her writing reveals the artist's political sensibilities, recollections of her childhood, and her enormous courage in the face of more than thirty-five operations to correct injuries she had sustained in an accident at the age of eighteen.

It was in 1914 that Mary Phelps Jacob set women free — from the prison of the corset. With a little help from her lady's maid, this ingenious New York socialite stitched together two handkerchiefs and a long pink ribbon to fashion the world's first-ever brassiere. (Jacob later sold her patent for $1,500 — to a company that went on to make $15 million off her invention.) The rest, as they say, is history — a history that's amply, titillatingly documented by designer Cheree Berry in Hoorah for the Bra. The twenties' flat-chested flappers, the fifties' bullet-bosomed bombshells, the eye-gouging cones of Madonna's Blonde Ambition-tour bustier: this provocative pop-up book reveals it all. The straps and the cups. The underwire and the padding. The elastic and the Lycra. The demure pink satin and the racy midnight lace. Hoorah for the Bra tells a tale that doesn't sag and presents a cast of characters — mail-order moguls, sweater-clad movie stars, brassiere-torching women's-libbers — who never let you down. Sure to be a bust-out hit, the book's the perfect gift for any Wonderbra dreamer or Frederick's of Hollywood vamp.

Like Graffiti World, Freight Train Graffiti is the definitive history of a vibrant art form. Until now there was almost no written insight into this vast subculture, which inspires fascination across America and around the world. As dazzling as the art it celebrates, the book is packed with 1,000 full-color illustrations and features in-depth interviews with more than 125 train artists and writers. Hundreds of never-before-seen photographs span the style's evolution, while the authoritative text from an all-star team of authors provides unprecedented perspective, including the first-ever written history of monikers, the precursors of graffiti, developed by hobos and rail workers to communicate en route. Bound to surprise graffiti artists, graphic designers, and urban culture buffs alike, this book will inspire anyone who has ever been interested in graffiti.

Every aspect of the evolution of The Beatles from mop tops to legends is discussed in this book, including their personal lives, performances, press conferences, recording sessions, public appearances, photo sessions, filmmaking, and more. Simon Wells' extensive, detailed captions provide exact dates, times, and places, as well as context in terms of both the band and the culture of the times. Each photograph is accompanied by a pertinent quote by one or more Beatles or an individual closely associated with the Beatles such as Brian Epstein, Beatles photographer Bob Whitaker, girlfriends and wives, Beatles driver, etc.

Bob Gruen first photographed John Lennon in 1971 and became his personal photographer and close friend shortly thereafter. Over the course of the next nine years, right up until Lennon was shot and killed, Gruen photographed him extensively. The book is filled with photos and reflections by Gruen on the circumstances surrounding the photo such as John's relationship with Yoko, the role of the band Elephant's Memory, how he dealt with fame, his first days with his son Sean, how he spiralled downward on alcohol fuelled binges. It is a true behind-the-scenes look at Lennon as a performer, a legend, and a person.

An examination of the American art collection assembled by Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III, during the 1960s and 1970s. It focuses on 140 works donated to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in the years since 1979. The introductory essay examines the context of the Rockefellers' collecting.

No photographer had a more serious and deeply felt response to the political and cultural impact of the 1960s and early 1970s than Richard Avedon, whose iconic portraits of key figures of the era influenced the course of photography in the decades that followed. In four monumental photographic murals (reproduced in large gatefolds) and many related portraits, he portrayed Andy Warhol's gender-bending Factory, with Viva and Candy Darling; Abbie Hoffman and the radical agitators of the Chicago Seven; Allen Ginsberg's family, friends, and fellow artists; and the U.S. Mission Council in Saigon alongside searing portraits of victims of the Vietnam War. The photographs are accompanied by images of archival material, including Avedon's diaries, correspondence, and contact prints. Major essays explore Avedon's penetrating incursions into the history and spirit of these tumultuous years.

Lee Alexander McQueen (1969-2010), whose design combined visionary aesthetics, emotional power, and extraordinary craft, was known for staging provocative shows that were as much performances as venues to display his couture creations. Charged with energy, informed by history and culture, and filled with fresh concepts, McQueen's shows have become legends not only of fashion but also of art. Anne Deniau was the only photographer allowed backstage by McQueen for 13 years, beginning in September 1997 and ending with the final show in March 2010. She captured McQueen working with his close circle of collaborators — including designer Sarah Burton, milliner Philip Treacy, jewelry designer Shaun Leane, and model Kate Moss — to create his meticulously produced spectacles. Her book offers an inspiring homage, through the art of photography, to the work of a great artist.

In Life and Love of Cats, Lewis Blackwell provides a unique perspective on one of our closest companions. Starting with the earliest records of domestic cats 9,000 years ago in Africa and the Mediterranean, Blackwell celebrates and explores the joy of cats in our lives, searching for the essence of our connection with them. Supporting the text is his presentation of a unique range of images shot by leading animal photographers from around the world. Through stunning photographs we are taken on a feline journey: from the homes of middle America, to the alleys and lanes of France, to the plains of Africa; from rare hybrid domestic cross breeds like the Savannah, to the exquisite specimens on show at the glittering Supreme Cat Show, to shelter cats lovingly rescued by volunteers; from graceful and haughty pure breeds such as the Persian and the Abyssinian, to adored domestic companions of all shapes, colours and sizes. Blackwell weaves stories around these photographs, tales that track the close relationship between cats and humankind.

Hilly Kristal originally intended CBGB & OMFUG to showcase the type of music his venue's notorious letters stand for — Country, Bluegrass, Blues. Little did he know when he opened his club under a flophouse on the Bowery that it would become the birthplace of a new era of music in New York City — Punk. While the letters CBGB ultimately didn't describe the music the club was renowned for, OMFUG (Other Music for Uplifting Gourmandizers) still represents what the club provides for all voracious consumers of music. These pages pay homage to a musical and cultural landmark. It is a spectacular photography compilation which features some of the most celebrated artists in musical history and chronicles the last 30 years of rock and roll. It also showcases photographs of famous patrons, including Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg and Jim Jarmusch.

Well-written, loaded with information, and with a rich assortment of illustrations, each Discoveries RM volume is a look at one facet of art, archaeology, music, history, philosophy, popular culture, science, or nature. These innovatively designed, affordably priced, compact paperbacks bring ideas to life and amplify our understanding of civilization in a new way.

What is fashion? This engaging book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art offers myriad answers to that question, pairing selected works in the museum's collection with concise observations. The simple reflections accompanying the illustrations encourage readers to think about the role of fashion in our culture and to develop their own definitions of what it means to them. Including costumes, regional dress, haute couture and accessories from the fifteenth century to the present, as well as paintings, sculpture and decorative arts relating to modes of dress, this clever little book is sure to inspire fashion lovers around the world.

The next installment in the bestselling “Selby” series, Fashionable Selby explores the kaleidoscopic world of fashion, featuring profiles of today’s most interesting designers, stylists, haberdashers, models, shoemakers, and more. The subjects include a mix of the avant-garde, the traditional, the must-haves, and the totally unexpected. Chapters on individual artists bring readers inside their studios, workshops, and homes, and include Selby’s signature photographs and watercolors of not only the artists and their environments, but also the things that inspire them, the materials they use, their creative process, the people who work alongside them, and the final pieces. From the showroom of one of the Antwerp Six to the studios of Central St. Martins in London to a punk knitter in Brooklyn, Selby captures some of fashion’s biggest names, rising stars, and best-kept secrets.

At McQuarrie Middle School, the war against the FunTime Menace—aka test prep—wages on. Our heroes have one battle under their belts, and they’ve even found a surprising ally in Jabba the Puppett. But to defeat the Dark Standardized Testing Forces they’re going to need an even bigger, even more surprising ally: Principal Rabbski. But with great forces-aka the school board-pushing her from above, will the gang’s former enemy don a finger puppet and join the Rebellion-or will her transformation to Empress Rabbski, Dark Lord of the Sith, be complete? With this timely episode in the blockbuster Origami Yoda series, Tom Angleberger demonstrates once again that his “grasp of middle-school emotions, humor and behavior is spot-on” (Scripps Howard News Service).

The traditional textiles of Central Asia are unknown treasures. Straddling the legendary Silk Road, this vast region stretches from Russia in the west to China in the east. Whether nomadic or sedentary, its peoples created textiles for every aspect of their way of life, from ceremonial objects marking rites of passage, to everyday garments, to practical items for the home. There were suzanis for the marriage bed; prayer mats; patchwork quilts; bridal ensembles; bags for tea, scissors, and mirrors; lovingly embroidered hats and bibs; and robes of every color and pattern. Author Susan Meller has spent years assembling the 590 textiles illustrated in this book. She documents their history, use, and meaning through archival photographs and fascinating travelers’ narratives spanning many centuries. Her book will be a revelation to designers, collectors, students of Central Asia, and travelers to the region. Silk and Cotton is destined to become a classic.

Since 2003, Alexandre Gauthier has been the chef at La Grenouillere, a sixteenth-century farmhouse by the river Canche. There, he creates a highly personal cuisine, a snapshot of every season. Powerful, warm, sensuous, earthy yet delicate, it rests on the building blocks of a classic French cuisine that he has stripped of its formality and unnecessary intricacies. Gauthier has received the distinction of being named a Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government and is one of the leading figures of new European cooking. Through this book, he offers a hundred of his culinary creations to read, to cook, to consider. Superb photographs by Marie Pierre Morel showcase Gauthier's food and the beauty of the region, where La Grenouillere has become an important destination for foodlovers from all over the world.