Prestel

From two of the world’s leading experts on watch collecting, this supremely elegant and informative selection of one hundred watches traces the timepiece’s evolution as it highlights unusual, important, and beautifully crafted watches of the past half a millennium. For centuries people have been captivated by watches—whether for their technical...

Starting with the Renaissance, this introduction to fifty visionary architects traces the major aesthetic movements over the past six centuries and offers concise portraits of the geniuses behind them. This accessible and lively survey takes readers around the world and through history, from Filippo Brunelleschi to Antoni Gaudi to Frank Gehry. It contains...

This survey of great contemporary artists is the perfect introduction to the exciting world of art today.

Today's young designers are savvier and more daring than ever before. Happy to exist within or outside of the established houses of haute couture, their reputations are cemented by savvy consumers who are willing to navigate the thin line between trendsetting and trend following. This book of the most creative and iconoclastic members of today's fashion...

They've shaped our modern age, whether it's the chair we're sitting in, the computer we're reading on, or the house we're living in. Design is everywhere, and this volume profiles fifty of the most influential figures over the past century. From the first bentwood chairs by Thonet to the holistically designed worlds of Bauhaus and le Corbusier, and...

Starting with James Abbott McNeill Whistler and ending with Matthew Barney, nearly every prominent figure in Modern art is represented in vibrant double-page spreads that show how these artists continued to redefine norms and challenge tradition. Fascinating biographical and anecdotal information about each artist is provided alongside large reproductions...

This dynamic introduction to the world's greatest photographers from the inception of photography to today bears proof of the magic of the camera. From Felix Nadar to Nan Goldin, each of the photographers featured here represents an important aspect of photography's evolution. The artists are represented in double-page spreads that include reproductions...

This beautifully produced, richly detailed and comprehensive survey of fifty influential women artists from the Renaissance to the Post-Modern era details their vast contributions to the art world. From the Early Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi and the seventeenth-century illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian to Impressionists Mary Cassatt and Berthe...

Filled with striking photography as well as design inspiration and hope for a better tomorrow, this beautifully designed volume profiles the work of a global selection of visionary architects who are reimagining our built world for the future. Driven by the desire to reduce environmental impact and reimagine the possibilities of their discipline, architects...

It's difficult to grasp the enormous changes life on Earth has undergone since it first came into existence, but this marvelously illustrated book makes learning about our planet's fascinating history easy and entertaining. In an accordion style, the series of pages take readers through every major geological period, with bright artwork and detailed...

Few artists are able to work successfully on both large and small scales, but throughout his career Calder brilliantly moved from the miniature to the monumental and back again. This publication focuses on the enormous stabiles he created mostly for public places, as well as his elegant hanging mobiles in sheet metal, miniature standing mobiles, and...

A must-have for Alexander von Humboldt fans and botanic enthusiasts, this gorgeous collection of frameable posters of his studies is filled with natural wonders and meticulous detail. More than two centuries after Alexander von Humboldt established himself as a scientific trailblazer, the work of this pioneering explorer and naturalist is being rediscovered....

The real history of photography is a vast collection of inter- connected stories stretching from East Asia to West Africa, from New Zealand to Uzbekistan. It parallels acknowledged greats with forgotten masters, and lesser-known works with regional champions. It is a complex interplay of fine art, scientific, anthropological, documentary, and amateur...

Count Basie, Tchaikovsky, Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Diana Ross, John Lennon and the Rolling Stones all had their music promoted by Andy Warhol's record covers. This stunning volume reproduces all of the album covers, front and back, that Warhol designed over four decades. Hundreds of additional contextual illustrations present liner notes and inside...

The magic and mastery of anime springs to life in this gorgeous celebration of the genre that features more than 150 full-color frames. ANIME GOES TO WAR: A powerful narrative engine, such as Kaneda’s red motorcycle in Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s Akira, war is thebeating heart of anime, its shadow hovering over various genres. HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN?: Man...

Now available in a new format, this lavishly illustrated volume explores Art Deco art and design from its origin to its present day influences. The Art Deco style is so recognizable and widespread that its original impact on the culture in which it emerged has been all but lost in the clutter of imitation. This book draws our attention back to the birth...

The Art Nouveau movement became an international phenomenon at the beginning of the twentieth century that ushered in the era of modernity in almost every aspect of cultural life. For decades critics have argued that Art Nouveau was not an artistic period in its own right, but an amalgam of artists and styles that served as a bridge between neoclassicism...

This spellbinding look at the history and development of illusionistic art reveals wide-ranging techniques that have piqued the public's fascination with this medium. Beautifully reproduced, the images featured in the book includes centuries-old work such as the scenery at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy, and the ceiling frescos at the Wurzburg...

Upside-down mountains, volcanoes that spew bubble gum, a gentle humpback whale keeping an entire city afloat. These and other wonderful worlds may not exist on Earth, but elsewhere- who knows? Each spread of this captivating book invites readers on a fantastic voyage. Ana de Lima's whimsical, softly colored illustrations are filled with surprising details...

Celebrating the extraordinary popularity of the Year in Art series, this book presents masterpieces of art from the ancient world to the modern day in a beautifully designed gift book. Featuring an attractive new format and a selection of the best of the first two volumes in the A Year in Art series, this book includes 365 works of art, from Renaissance...

As functional as it is beautiful, this substantial book presents some of the world's greatest art in an elegant package that will look good at home or in the office. Every day offers a different, exquisitely reproduced artwork from a variety of eras, genres, and media; quotations to ponder, surprise, and delight; and ample space to record birthdays,...

Featuring fashion icons and images culled from the Getty archives, this book includes brilliant photos of designers and their creations, top models and movie stars, royalty and rock n' roll legends. 365 spreads one for each day of the year feature full-page, four-colour photographs along with appropriate quotations and fascinating fashion trivia. There...

A perfect gift for art lovers or anyone interested in Impressionism, this collection of 365 pictures gathers the best of the genre's masterpieces from around the world. Covering a wide range of artists and countries associated with the movement, the book features double-page spreads with an Impressionist painting on one side and a blank page on the...

Told in classic comic-book form, this graphic biography invites a new audience to learn about Banksy-and uses a pitch-perfect medium to convey the artist's message that art is for the people. Banksy is arguably the most well-known street artist of all time. But we don't actually know who he is. This is just one of many contradictions that are addressed...