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.

«Die Publikation liefert eine erste umfassende Übersicht über die Entwicklung des Jugendstils in der führenden Industriestadt Bayerns um 1900. Über 250 Objekte aus den verschiedensten Bereichen der angewandten Kunst führen dabei das international bedeutende Spektrum des Jugendstils aus Nürnberg vor Augen. Der Jugendstil, der aus Nürnberg kam, ist in den verwendeten Materialien vielfältig und in seinen Dekoren vielseitig. Zwar bildet das metallbearbeitende Kunsthandwerk den Schwerpunkt, doch gibt es dabei neben dem künstlerischen Zinnguss auch Bronzeguss, Kupfer und Silbertreibarbeiten, Elfenbein und Holzschnitzerei, Schmuck, Textilien und Keramik. Die sogenannten artistischen «Fayencen» der Firma Johann von Schwarz gehören zum Besten, was an Kunstkeramik des Jugendstils in Deutschland hergestellt wurde. In fünf einleitenden Kapiteln werden die Voraussetzungen für die Entstehung des damals neuen Stilwollens analysiert. Es zeigt sich dabei, dass Einflüsse von außen ebenso wichtig waren wie die «typisch deutsche» Organisation des Ausbildungswesens und des Erschließens von Absatzmärkten. Letzteres hat auch internationale gestalterische Einflüsse, vor allem aus Großbritannien, möglich gemacht. 18 umfassende Firmenmonografien zeigen die Vielfältigkeit der Erzeugnisse des Nürnberger Jugendstils. Darüber hinaus werden Gegenstände vieler international bekannter Entwerfer – weltweit begehrte Objekte für Sammler und Museen – zum ersten Mal publiziert – ein unbedingtes Muss für jeden Jugendstil-Liebhaber!»

Pressure exerted by America in 1854 caused Japan to open its doors after 260 years of isolation. Virtually uninhabited receptiveness to everything Western was the driving force behind the modernisation of Japan initiated by the Meiji government, yet it also induced a rapid rediscovery of indigenous cultural values. At early Paris and London international exhibitions, the Japanese decorative and applied arts sparked off the Western fascination with all things Japanese — japonisme. In Japan, on the other hand, new technologies were eagerly adopted — the government realised that increasing production for export would be an excellent means of promoting Japanese economic growth and thus enhancing Japan's status worldwide. Meiji Ceramics represents the first detailed survey of the development of Japanese export porcelain against a highly charged background of political, economic and cultural factors. Stylistic development in Japanese ceramics did not mean one-sided Westernisation; instead, inspiration went both ways, most notably in the impact made by Japanese art on Art Nouveau and, ultimately, the Japanese aesthetic response to it.

Anton Possenbacher (1842-1920), cabinet-maker to the Bavarian court in Munich, was head of one of the largest late 19th-century German makers of luxury furnishings. His furniture designs, especially those for King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1871-1886), represent German historicism at its zenith. Possenbacher created almost all the furnishings for the royal apartments at Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and Neu Schwanstein. Intricately carved and lavishly upholstered in gold brocade and dazzling embroidered pictures, these furnishings are highlights in the sumptuous interiors of Bavarian castles. Made to the specifications of an exacting monarch, these masterpieces of the cabinet-makers craft have lost nothing of their original fascination. Not content with resting on his laurels in Bavaria, Anton Possenbacher also designed for other rulers, such as King Charles I of Romania, for whom he designed an elegant palace library in Bucharest (1887). Possenbacher's clients also included industrialists, merchants and landed gentry, for whose town houses and manors he created entire rooms. This work introduces the full range of furnishings by Anton Possenbacher viewed in their historical context.