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art books
Luxist Giveaway: Margot van Voorhies--The Art of Mexican Enamelwork
Margot van Voorhies--The Art of Mexican Enamelwork the latest title from Schiffer Publishing, is a lavish art book that showcases the work of one amazing and prolific jewelry designer. Van Voorhies created a jewelry company, Margot de Taxco, in Taxco Mexico in 1947 producing a stunning amount of intricate and now highly collectible pieces in silver with semiprecious stones and brilliantly colored enamel.Her story isn't just one of a designer but as a woman of the early 20th century, finding her way as both an entrepreneur and an artist. She was, in many ways ahead of her time, living as an independent woman and making choices that were outside societal norms. In 1937, after the murder of her mother and a divorce, she moved from San Francisco to Mexico. She had previously worked as a cosmetologist but found new work in a photography shop and in 1938 she married Antonio Castillio (who was 20 years her junior) and moved to Taxco. Castillo was a silversmith working for William Spratling and after the marriage, Castillo and his new bride established their own workshop. Influenced by the Mayan aesthetic as well as other regional imagery, van Voorhies created silver jewelry sets that quickly drew attention and business. In 1947, Margot created her own business, Margot de Taxco, where she continued to innovate in silver and champlevé. It was under this new label that she envisioned some of her most elaborate and memorable designs.
New Photography Book Brings Rat Pack To Life
Filed under: Books
The legendary Rat Pack is celebrated in a new luxury book by Reel Art Press that brings you inside the inner circle of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. The limited-edition volume includes photographs from the Cal Neva Resort in North Lake Tahoe and parties at Peter Lawford's Santa Monica beach house. Hollywood and Las Vegas images also feature many of the glamorous women surrounding these gentlemen such as Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall.
The LA Times reports that editor and Reel Art Press co-founder Tony Nourmand worked with Andy Howick of the MPTV photo agency to trace shots from the entertainers' glory days unearthing unprinted negatives and rarely seen images. The book starts at $650 for the Masters Edition and $1,650 for the Deluxe Edition, which includes a wooden slip case and a bonus image of Sinatra and Martin signed by the photographer, Gerald Smith. The customizable, $4,000 Heritage edition, which is limited to 30 copies adds in a rare, vintage photograph of your choice and signatures from Nourmand, Levy and art director and designer Graham Marsh. Certain rare photographs are also being sold individually. The images are well worth a look: there's a great sequence of the Rat Pack goofing around in a hotel room taking a swing at each other. The book can be ordered off the Reel Art Press website.
"Obsessively Wonderful:" Valerie Hird's Dream Book
Valerie Hird's "Trinity," a handmade art book is a work of art. Hird's delicate paintings in miniature are mysterious, but also captivating, lyrical, and expressive. They form a narrative whose meaning is often hidden but at the same time, tantalizing. Hird's book, a handmade creation immensely appealing to collectors of art books, exists in a numbered edition of 20. Each is in its own box with paintings reminiscent of Tarot cards. They are printed in archival inks on beautiful, white handmade paper. The book is small, 3 5/8 by 4 5/8 inches, with four endpapers that fold to make a little box. Within are some 15 paintings plus a colophon (printer's imprint) in a limited palette of blues, greens, reds and orange with touches of silver leaf. Each is signed with handwritten annotations. Trained as an archaeological illustrator, Hird spent some 25 years with semi-nomadic tribes in the Middle East. Her background and extensive travels inform her art, but today she is based in Burlington, Vermont, where she spends most of her time painting on canvas. "Making an artist book is so labor intensive, it is truly a labor of love," she says. "I don't do them unless the concept calls for an obsessively wonderful object that someone can touch, hold, and carry with them."
Great Art in Great Books of 2010
Asian Art Now by Melissa Chiu and Benjamin Genocchio (Monacelli Press, $60)
Chiu is the Museum Director of Asia Society in New York. Genocchio is an art critic for the New York Times. Together they have written an up-to-the-second survey of contemporary Asian art. Throughout this lavishly illustrated book, the authors reflect on the conflicted responses of artists, both established and emerging, to the super-fast changes in their lives. The book is fascinating primarily because the Asian landscape is changing so rapidly. This forces artists to confront these changes and examine the impact on their social, economic, and urban culture and environment. The front cover is just one example of the dynamic work the two authors examine. It is an illustration of Ah Xian's China, China ---Bust 14, a cast porcelain with traditional Chinese ceramic designs and motifs.
Luxist Giveaway: Living Jewels Book
Today's giveaway is a little gift for jewelry lovers, especially those who like the unusual. Living Jewels: Masterpieces from Nature by Ruth Peltason is a new lavishly illustrated book just published by The Vendome Press. The book gives due homage to organic materials used in jewelry. The book is full of images of jewelry crafted from pearls, shells, amber, coral, wood, horn and more. The book covers both historical pieces from top jewelry designers including Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Tiffany, Fabergé, Bulgari as well as the work of newer artists such as Mesi Jilly and Christine Brandt, all displayed in beautiful images on rich, glossy paper. Peltason is a jewelry writer who was the editor of Elizabeth Taylor's book on her famous diamonds, Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry and her words convey a genuine enthusiasm and interest in the world of jewelry and the role it plays in our shared cultural history. Kate Spade said of this book: "For those of us who consider jewelry part of enduring style, Living Jewels is a must. Here's a book that is welcoming and inspiring, and a tribute to the artists who have made these exquisite pieces. Living Jewels is a book I'll treasure."
The book sells for $50 and we are giving away one copy to a reader chosen at random.
* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before December 20, 2010 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive a copy of Living Jewels: Masterpieces from Nature by Ruth Peltason, which has a retail price of $50.
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.
See complete giveaway rules here.
This contest is now closed. Thank you for your participation.
GOAT: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali
If you're looking for an interesting and unique gift for the Muhammad Ali fan or sports memorabilia collector on your holiday list you should find out if they have a copy of GOAT (Greatest of All Time): A Tribute to Muhammad Ali. The massive tribute collection created by Taschen is not brand new to the market but remains a great holiday gift (or personal splurge?) nevertheless considering it's an exclusive collector's piece and numbered editions are still available. With a $15,000 price tag it's only for the most serious of collectors but this unique book includes over 3,000 photographs, art, and memorabilia and includes several gallery quality prints and the sculpture "Radial Champs" by Jeff Koons. Packaged in a white and pink (the color of Ali's first Cadillac) silk-covered clamshell box and signed by both Jeff Koons and Muhammad Ali, The "Champ's Edition" is limited to just 1,000 individually numbered copies.
New Lichtenstein Monograph Marks Milan Exhibit
An impressive new monograph on the late pop art star Roy Lichtenstein has just been published by Skira on the occasion of a major new exhibition of his work at the Milan Triennial, the most important show ever devoted to the artist in Italy. Roy Lichtenstein: Meditations on Art covers his entire artistic development through more than 250 paintings and sculptural works, a rich photographic section including unpublished material, and critical text. In keeping with the theme of the exhibition, the book examines the relationship between Lichtenstein, art history and its protagonists. There's also a refreshing emphasis on some of his lesser-known work. The reproductions in this deluxe edition, priced at $100, are large-format and in full color. Thirteen years after the legendary artist's death, his works and lexicon of symbols, subjects and themes continue to intrigue the art world while his work fetches millions of dollars at auction.
The Penetrating Portraits of Irving Penn
What do Pablo Picasso, Duke Ellington, Marlene Dietrich, Francis Bacon, Truman Capote, Helmut Newton and Jasper Johns have in common? All are featured in a brilliant new book of portraits by the late, great master of photography Irving Penn, who sought to capture the true persona behind the facade of famous figures. Published by the National Portrait Gallery in London in conjunction with an exhibition running at the museum through June 6, Irving Penn: Portraits features images brought together from major international collections for the exhibit. It includes a selection of superb reproductions from the exhibition's 120 silver and platinum prints, ranging from Penn's portraits for Vogue magazine in the 1940s to some of his last work prior to his death last year.
Assouline Venice Special Edition Book
Filed under: Decor
Assouline's special edition of In the Spirit of
Venice by Alexis Gregory is a two-book set printed on thick cotton paper with golden edges, wrapped with soft fabric
and contained in a luxurious velvet box. Gregory's book is a reminiscence of the famed city as seen through the eyes of
a bon vivant with the love of telling tales of the history and characters of the city. Like all of Assouline's
collections, the presentation is as important as the words. You can pick up the ordinary version for under $30 but this
deluxe version will run you $300.
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