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...
Religion, Renaissance, and Reformation—these three ideologies shaped the world of 16th-century portraitist Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98–1543), a pivotal figure of the Northern Rena...
When traditional craft met blossoming ModernismPoets and intellectuals brushed shoulders in bustling coffeehouses, young avant-gardists heralded a new era in social and sexual liberalism, wal...
William Morris (1834–1896) was one of the greatest creative figures of the 19th century. As a visionary designer, as well as a manufacturer, writer, artist, and socialist activist, he pioneer...
The End Was NighAwesome apocalyptic visions of the 16th centuryThe Book of Miracles first surfaced only a few years ago and is one of the most spectacular discoveries in the field...
Under the burning Tuscan sun roll marvelous hills, vineyards, and olive groves-all postcard-perfect landscapes nestling centuries-old towns, rural villas, and contadino farmhouses. We've tracked do...
The textures and tones of dreamy ProvenceNestled in the south of France, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, is a land renowned for its lavender fields, fine cuisine, golden sun, and dreamy land...
Architectural remnants of the USSRElected the architectural book of the year by the International Artbook and Film Festival in Perpignan, France, Frédéric Chaubin’s Cosmic...
Although it only lasted three turbulent years, the afterburn of the Blaue Reiter (1911–1914) movement exerted a tremendous influence on the development of modern European art. Named after a K...
Pioneering designs for affordable postwar homesThe Case Study House program (1945–1966) was a unique event in the history of American architecture. Sponsored by Arts & Architecture ...
Botanical masterworks from the National Library of ViennaIn pursuit of both knowledge and delight, the craft of botanical illustration has always required not only meticulous draftsmanship bu...
Though it lies just across the Mediterranean from Europe, barely a stone’s throw from Spain’s southernmost tip, Morocco couldn’t possibly be farther away.With its moun...
The golden age of Black musicFollowing the success of Jazz Covers, this epic volume of groove assembles over 500 legendary covers from a golden era in Black music. Psychedelia meets Black Pow...
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 making of the Eiffel Tower“The Tower is also present to the entire world... a universal symbol of Paris... from the Midwest to Australia, there is no journey to France which isn&rsq...
Abstract pioneerHarmonies in red, yellow, and blueA key figure in the international avant-garde, Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) was at once an extraordinary painter and leading a...
Fast and FuriousThe action men of modernismWith motion and machines as its most treasured tropes, Futurism was founded in 1909 by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, along with painters Gi...
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 ...
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 ...
Albertus Seba’s unrivalled catalog of animals, insects and plantsThe Cabinet of Natural Curiosities is one of the 18th century’s greatest natural history achievements and remains ...