When is a urinal no longer a urinal? When Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) declared it to be art. The uproar that greeted the French artist’s Fountain (1917), a porcelain urinal installed in ...
One of the greatest pioneers in the history of architectureAcclaimed as the “father of skyscrapers,” the quintessentially American icon Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) was an...
What’s Wrong in Tinseltown?The dark side of Los Angeles, 1920–1950In the years following World War I, Los Angeles was a city awakening to its darker side, transforming...
Delicate illustration that defined an eraWith his instantly recognizable decorative style, Czech artist and Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939) defined the look of the fin-de-...
The arresting pictures of Frida Kahlo (1907-54) were in many ways expressions of trauma. Through a near-fatal road accident at the age of 18, failing health, a turbulent marriage, miscarriage and c...
As special photographer on the sets and locations of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy, Steve Schapiro had the remarkable experience of witnessing legendary actors giving some of t...
Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) was a clerk in the Paris customs service who dreamed of becoming a famous artist. At the age 49, he decided to give it a try. At first, Rousseau’s bright, bol...
From Azzedine Alaïa, Cristóbal Balenciaga, and Coco Chanel to Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and Vivienne Westwood, more than a century’s worth of fashion greats are celeb...
The power of plants throughout historyCelebrating the magick of the natural realm, Volume IV of The Library of Esoterica, delves into the symbolism, ceremony, and our ritual relationships wit...
Albertus Seba’s unrivaled catalog of animals, insects, and “freaks of nature”The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities is one of the 18th century’s greatest natural history a...
The story of modern fashion from couture to mass marketThe 20th century saw fashion evolve from an exclusive Parisian salon business catering for the wealthy elite into a global industry empl...
Whether it's Double Indemnity, Kiss Me Deadly, or The Big Sleep, roam a screen world of dark and brooding elegance with this essential handbook to Film Noir. From private eyes and perfect crimes to...
A photo tribute to our four-pawed friendsIn celebration of the world’s favorite animal, we bring you over 400 photographs of or about dogs. With pictures from the 19th century to today,...
The Case Study House program (1945–1966) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Lo...
Arranged alphabetically, this biographical encyclopedia features every major photographer of the 20th century alongside her or his most significant monographs.From the earliest represen...
With a career spanning seven decades, Catalan-born Joan Miró (1893–1983) was a polymath giant of modern art, producing masterworks across painting, sculpture, art books, tapestry, and ...
They say that in life, there are winners and there are losers. Though the movies we selected for this two-volume collection are winners indeed, those that didn’t make the cut aren’t los...
Pivotal paintings of modernityLampooned during his lifetime for his style as much as his subject matter, French painter Édouard Manet (1832–1883) is now considered a crucial figu...
At the turn of the 20th century, the American photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) started on his 30-year project to produce a monumental study of North American Indians. Using an approac...
Drawings of an era-defining mastermindOne of the most accomplished human beings who ever lived, Leonardo da Vinci remains the quintessential Renaissance genius. Creator of the world’s m...