Unnoticed by the international art world until recently, the Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art — located in Nukus, Uzbekistan — houses the second largest collection of Russian avant-garde art in the world (after the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg). This extraordinary museum is the life's work of Igor Vitalievich Savitsky, a Russian painter born in Kiev who first visited Karakalpakstan in 1950 as a member of the famous Khorezm Archeological & Ethnographic Expedition led by Sergei Tolstov. Subsequently, having moved from Moscow to Nukus, Savitsky began collecting the works of the Russian avant-garde — including those by such well-known names as Falk, Mukhina, Koudriachov, Popova, and Redko — whose paintings were banned during Stalin's rule and through the 1960s because they did not conform to the officially prescribed Soviet 'socialist realism' school of art. The current English language publication, already issued in Russian in 2011, helps make the Savitsky Collection accessible to a broad international audience for the first time.

Pavel Tchelitchew (1898-1957) is amongst the most fascinating artist personalities of the modern era. After completing his apprenticeship in Moscow and Kiev, at the beginning of the 1920s he worked as a successful stage designer in Berlin, before relocating to Paris in 1923. He was influenced not only by Surrealism, but also by the Russian Symbolism, to which he added elements of Cubism. In the 1940s, now in New York, Tchelitchew dedicated himself to 'inner landscapes' and 'x-ray' portraits of heads and bodies, streaked with glowing veins, arteries and nerve pathways. Tchelitchew experimented continually with new styles, so as to find imagery for transcendent elements, cosmic structures and philosophical concepts. His comprehensive collection of studies, sketches and paintings constitutes an extraordinarily individual contribution to art in the modern era. This publication pays tribute for the first time to the full scope of his work and presents him in the context of contemporary art.

«Arnoldsche published «Art Deco Jewelry, Jakob Bengel, Idar-Oberstein» in 2002. Until then entirely unknown, the costume-jewellery maker Jakob Bengel was thus introduced to the annals of jewellery history. The discovery of this Art Deco collection, that is unique in 1930s European jewellery, focused public attention on the business (est 1873). Comprising a factory, with a villa for the proprietor and housing for the workforce, it had been preserved in its building, replete with machinery and tools as a relic of 1870s boom era costume jewellery. Turned into a cultural monument through the establishment of a foundation in 2001, today it makes 130 years of costume jewellery history come alive and is being successfully transformed into a centre for contemporary art jewellery. Rotating exhibitions, 'artists in residence' and studios for young artists in jewellery link tradition and future at a unique place.»

The Ming Dynasty (1368 1644) is regarded as one of the most glorious in Chinese history especially in regards to porcelain. Ming denotes the finest and most precious porcelain, which regularly achieves astronomical prices at auctions. The Ming vase is a popular cliche even for those who are not familiar with the history of Chinese ceramics. This publication unveils the Ming myth, by presenting the internationally recognised collection of Chinese ceramics at the Dutch Ceramics Museum Princessehof. It comprises spectacular items of the highest quality, which were created exclusively for the Chinese imperial court. The rich and varied inventory of Chinese export ceramics for the Southeast Asian market, primarily from the former Dutch colony of Indonesia, is presented here in context for the first time. The founding of the Dutch East India Company VOC1602 also finally opened up the European market for Ming porcelain. Most significantly the blue and white Kraak porcelain, which was an exotic decorative luxury in wealthy households and features prominently in Dutch still lifes of that era.

This meticulously designed publication focuses on the artistic details of masterpieces of Meissen porcelain.

Features over 2500 objects such as metal, ceramics, glass, furniture and jewelry from the Art Nouvea movement that were included in leading internation al specialist journals. All of these journals have been combined in to this one volume with illustrations and information on designers and makers, making this an indispensable reference.