art Design

Hardcover. Boston, MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 256 pages, profusely illustrated. From the 1890s through the turn of the century, there was a flourishing of new, imaginative art and craft throughout Europe that we now know as Art Nouveau. The Netherlands experienced an inventive variant of this art and design phenomenon, but until now it has been largely overshadowed by its counterparts in other countries, especially France. This richly illustrated book is the first in English to celebrate the Dutch contribution to Art Nouveau through a tour of more than 100 works on paper--posters, decorative calendars and illustrated books, as well as prints and drawings. These innovative works of graphic design reveal the progressive Dutch artists' conscious reaction against the past, their inspiration in natural forms and exotic cultures, and their embrace of the principle that art should transform everyday life. They also show how the New Art--Nieuwe Kunst in Dutch--coexisted and sometimes intertwined in the Netherlands with other artistic strands, including persistent realist trends, Symbolism and the emergence of modernism. Included here are early drawings by well-known artists Vincent van Gogh and Bart van der Leck, as well as new discoveries from Jan Toorop, Theo Nieuwenhuis, Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, Theo Hoytema, G. W. Dijsselhof and C. A. Lion Cachet. This beautifully illustrated book is the first in English to celebrate the Dutch contribution to Art Nouveau through a tour of over one hundred posters, decorative calendars, and illustrated books, as well as prints and drawings. With text by Clifford S. Ackley, one of the leading specialists on Dutch prints and drawings, Holland on Paper in the Age of Art Nouveau provides a fascinating and visually rewarding introduction to a rich and creative artistic era.

Softcover. NY, Feral House, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover. 224 pages. The book Horizontal Collaboration encompasses the Jazz Age, Depression, World War and Occupation, and Liberation. It concludes with the shuttering of the licensed brothels in 1946, which some Parisian intellectuals thought was the final "destruction of French civilization". The term "Horizontal Collaboration" refers to the sexual liaisons between French civilians and German occupiers from 1940 to 1944. These were extremely widespread and included both individual wartime relationships in addition to prostitution. As Allied armies swept across the French countryside, thousands of young women?and some men?were savagely punished by the authorities or by vigilante crowds, becoming a source of deep national shame. Author Gordon redefines the pejorative term to mean something much broader: French men and women "horizontally collaborated" to overcome all social obstacles, divisions, and regulations. These obstacles include married and unmarried couples, straights and homosexuals, foreigners and locals, gun-toting soldiers and their vanquished subjects. The natural yearning for sexual pleasure equally corrupted all cohabitating partners. Clean copy in publisher's shrinkwrap.

Hardcover. New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 56 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Color and Black and white pictures throughout. Shocking pink--hot pink, as it is called today--was the signature color of Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) and perhaps her greatest contribution to the fashion world. Schiaparelli was one of the most innovative designers in the early 20th century. Many design elements that are taken for granted today she created and brought to the forefront of fashion. She is credited with many firsts: trompe l'oeil sweaters with collars and bows knitted in; wedge heels; shoulder bags; and even the concept of a runway show for presenting collections. Hot Pink explores Schiaparelli's childhood in Rome, her introduction to high fashion in Paris, and her swift rise to success collaborating with surrealist and cubist artists like Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau. The book includes an author's note, a list of museums and websites where you can find Schiaparelli's fashions, endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.

Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster , 5th Ed., 1953, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue glossy boards with gilt lettering, beige cloth spine, 319 pages. No dust jacket. Lavishly illustrated with color, black and white photographs. Many rooms illustrated were by well-known interior designers and belonged to the rich and famous of the 1940s. Valuable reference for movie or live theatre sets featuring interiors in the 50's, whether traditional or modern. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. US, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1st, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 224 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Light edgewear to dust jacket, else a clean, tight copy. From its founding in 1875, the firm of Liberty has been a byword for high-quality design. Arthur Lasenby Liberty, its founder, set out to transform the appearance of dress and interior decoration; that sense of energy and excitement remains integral to the house, making Liberty a world-recognized name. This account and celebration is divided into chronological sections. It begins with the early emporium and ends with a survey of the institution's influence on post-war aesthetics and design. The Arts and Crafts Movement found Liberty's associated with leading craftsmen-designers. After World War I its textiles continued the famous lines of prints. Now, in keeping with its role as innovator, the firm continues to commission designers and to promote both traditional and avant-garde furniture and artifacts. This history of a unique enterprise reflects in microcosm major developments in taste from the late 19th-century to the present.

Hardcover. Washington DC, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 1st, 2008-09-15, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 160 pages, illustrated throughout in color. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Essays analyzing these beautiful, exquisitely detailed watercolors and their significance to the Museum's collection, accompanied by the watercolors and related objects from the permanent collection, document the evolution of the domestic interior in the nineteenth century, revealing the impact of economic, social, and political developments on the concept of the home.

Hardcover. Washington DC, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 160 pages, illustrated throughout in color. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Essays analyzing these beautiful, exquisitely detailed watercolors and their significance to the Museum's collection, accompanied by the watercolors and related objects from the permanent collection, document the evolution of the domestic interior in the nineteenth century, revealing the impact of economic, social, and political developments on the concept of the home.

Hardcover. NY, Henry T. Williams, 1st, 1875, Hardcover in faded purple boards with gold lettering and trim on spine. 300 pages plus ads in rear. Contains numerous black-and white illustrations of decorative objects to make at home. Published in 1875, the book gives a vivid glimpse of woman's work from another era. Previous owners signature on blank prelim page, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. Seattle, WA, Fantagraphics, Reprint, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 288 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy still in publishers shrink-wrap. In addition to being one of the seven, original Zap Comix contributors, Robert Williams's influence on alternative art is immeasurable. From his endeavors to broaden the possibilities for young artists to gain exposure sprang the well-known art chronicle, Juxtapoz magazine.

Softcover. NY, Princeton Architectural Press, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 262 pages. The designers at San Francisco-based design firm Cahan & Associates, in their hunger for fresh ideas, find inspiration in the most unexpected places, such as an oddly sculptural piece of discarded metal in the alley near their office, or a conversation with an elaborately tattooed bicycle messenger. From these eclectic ingredients the office serves up in-your-face graphics that are exceptional for their visceral impact yet still convey the strategic thinking behind each piece. The firm's working methods, involving extensive exploration, collaborations, and play, are documented in this monograph through interviews with founder Bill Cahan, clients, and vendors; writings by colleagues; photo essays; proposals to clients that were accepted and rejected; and finished pieces, providing a portrait of a firm for whom process is just as important as product. Clean copy. DUE TO WEIGHT, DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 208 pages, fine in fine dust jacket. (10 1/2" X 12 1/4"). Color and b&w illustrations throughout. In celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Summer of Love, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has launched a major exhibition examining how rock & roll came of age in the late Sixties and influenced everything from fashion and art to politics and literature. I Want to Take You Higher expands on that exhibit, showcasing the infamous icons of the era - from John Lennon's Sgt. Pepper uniform to Janis Joplin's hand-painted Porsche. A host of revealing new interviews offer never-before-published tales from the land of psychedelic wonder. Country Joe McDonald, Allen Ginsberg, Grace Slick, Mickey Hart, Donovan, Bob Weir and members of the influential bands Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape and many others contribute fresh perspectives on now-legendary events. I Want to Take You Higher also features posters, paraphernalia and an illustrated time line (just in case you forgot), as well as classic and previously unpublished images from the greatest rock photographers of the era: Jim Marshall, Baron Wolman, Robert Whitaker, Michael Cooper, Herb Greene, Bob Seidemann and others. Due to size and weight, DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. London, Hutchinson & Co., 1st, 1920, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 267 pages. Minor spine edge wear. Cover corners lightly bent. Front cover lightly curved. Front and back flyleaf yellowed. Crease on frontispiece. Spotting throughout index, half title page, full title page and book edges. Otherwise, a clean and tight copy.

Softcover. Mineola NY, Dover, reprint, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, pictorial wrappers, 72 pages. A comprehensive home furnishings catalog from the height of the popularity of Mission design, reprinted from a rare original, illustrating and describing 400 items from beds and highboys to arm chairs and kitchen cabinets, many designed to be shipped knocked-down for reassembly at home. With invaluable information on woods, finishes, upholstery, colors, more. Catalogue issued by the Come-Packt Furniture Company of Ann Arbor and Toledo in 1912. Introduction by Victor Linoff. Color plate at rear showing finishes and colors of furniture and cusion materials.; 9 x 12 ". Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Princeton Architectural Press, reprint, 2017, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards. First published in Italy in 1956, Bruno Munari's In the Darkness of the Night tells the tale of an interconnected, intimate yet expansive journey across three settings--in the darkness, through a meadow, and into a mysterious cave--through a spellbinding combination of paper stocks, transparencies, cutouts, and simple but lively characters. This timeless artist's book, available in a new English edition, is a must-have for Munari fans, designers, bibliophiles, and lovers of exceptional book design.

Hardcover. Cambridge MA, MIT Press, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 219 pages. This book documents the work of designer Brooks Stevens. It includes 250 illustrations of designs by Stevens and his firm, many in color, detailed studies of individual designs, interpretative essays, and several key writings by Stevens himself. Believing that an industrial designer "should be a businessman, an engineer, and a stylist, in that order," Stevens created thousands of ingenious and beautiful designs for industrial and household products-including a clothes dryer with a window in the front, a wide-mouthed peanut butter jar, and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.

Softcover. The MIT Press , reprint, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, The first publication documenting the work of Brooks Stevens, one of America's most influential twentieth-century designers. A long overdue introduction to the work of visionary industrial designer Brooks Stevens (1911-1995). Believing that an industrial designer "should be a businessman, an engineer, and a stylist, in that order," Stevens created thousands of ingenious and beautiful designs for industrial and household products--including a clothes dryer with a window in the front, a wide-mouthed peanut butter jar, and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. ("There's nothing more aerodynamic than a wiener," he explained.) He invented a precursor to the SUV by turning a Jeep into a station wagon after World War II, and streamlined steam irons so that they resembled aircraft. It was Brooks Stevens who, in 1954, coined the phrase "planned obsolescence," defining it as "instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary." This concept has since been blamed for everything from toasters that stop working to today's throwaway culture, but Stevens was simply recognizing the intentionally ephemeral nature of a designer's work. Asked once to name his favorite design, he replied, "none, because every one would have to be restudied for the tastes of tomorrow." Clean copy still in publisher's shrinkwrap.

Softcover. Taschen, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in a pictorial slipcase. Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin's work has graced the walls and pages of some of the world's finest galleries and fashion magazines, and if it is surprising that their photographs easily float between these worlds, it is by virtue of their ease in creating imagery that seeks homes in both culturally elite and mainstream outlets. For some of their photographs, such as their portrait of Bjork or campaign for Givenchy, van Lamsweerde and Matadin have worked in collaboration with the art directors M/M (Paris), who have also designed this retrospective that looks back at pretty much everything? that the photographers have been working on for over two decades and that has brought them to the forefront in the fields of both art and fashion. 702 pages. 11 x 11 inches.

Softcover. NY, BisPublishers, 1st, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, pictorial wraps with flaps. 393 pages. Infiltrate is a comprehensive collection of contemporary, cutting-edge New York design. It features established and emerging studios together with some extraordinary, little known companies and individuals. Each of the 30 ground-braking designers is interviewed and all artwork is captioned. Infiltrate is full of creative energy, experiments, challenging ideas and unexpected solutions. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Doubleday Page & Co., reprint, 1922, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Good, 284 pages, hardcover, b&w photographs. Some minor insect damage to rear hinge. In a worn and chipped dust jacket with soil. Sunday school stamp inside front cover.

Hardcover. Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 192 pages. Detailed practical advise on becoming your own interior designer. Fully illustrated in color with photographs by Christopher Drake. Clean copy.

Hardcover. London, John Murray, 1st, 1957, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth stamped with white lettering, decoration. Delightfully illustrated history of interior design and furniture. 48 pages, 2-color art throughout by the authors. Small library stamp on title page, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. New York, Rizzoli International Publication, reprint, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, 239 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Extensive color and b&w photographs throughout. Illustrated end papers and fly leafs. Tear to top right corner of rear dust jacket flap repaired with tape. Light edge wear to dust jacket, otherwise clean, tight copy.

Softcover. San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 1st, 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 133 pages illustrated in color. This lavishly illustrated volume offers a unique survey of Italian commercial graphic design during a period of both creative artistic vitality and extreme political turmoil. The first English-language book to showcase the bold typography and streamlined imagery of modern Italian design motifs on commercial products of the day, this fascinating and important resource for designers, history buffs, and collectors includes a discussion of the Futurist influence on the Italian Art Deco style and the success of such individualized expression despite a ruthless Fascist regime. Clean copy.

Softcover. NY, Harry N Abrams, 1st, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, large format, 64 pages. A catalog for an exhibition at The Corcoran Gallery of Art showcasing works that blend mundane, found materials with sophisticated graphic design. The collection highlights, with text by Dore Ashton, how Chermayeff repurposed, for example, office scraps, envelopes, and paper, creating complex, often whimsical, portraiture. Clean, bright copy.