Meet the artist whose majestic breaking wave sent ripples across the world. Hokusai (1760-1849) is not only one of the giants of Japanese art and a legend of the Edo period, but also a founding father of Western modernism, whose prolific gamut of prints, illustrations, paintings and beyond forms one of the most comprehensive oeuvres of ukiyo-e art and a benchmark of japonisme. His influence spread through Impressionism, Art Nouveau and beyond, enrapturing the likes of Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt and Vincent van Gogh. Hokusai was always a man on the move. He changed domicile more than 90 times during his lifetime and changed his own name through over 30 pseudonyms. In his art, he adopted the same restlessness, covering the complete spectrum of Japanese ukiyo-e, "pictures of the floating world", from single-sheet prints of landscapes and actors to erotic books. In addition, he created album prints, illustrations for verse anthologies and historical novels, and surimono, which were privately issued prints for special occasions. Hokusai's print series 'Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji', published between c.1830 and 1834 is the artist's most renowned work and, with its soaring peak through different seasons and from different vantage points, marked the towering summit of the Japanese landscape print. The series 'Under the Wave off Kanagawa', also known simply as The Great Wave, is one of the most recognized images of Japanese art in the world. This introduction spans the length and breadth of Hokusai's career with key pieces from his far-reaching portfolio. New from Taschen, 21 x 26 cm, 96 pages.

Magritte's mature work is instantly recognisable with its smooth surrealistic surfaces, geometric precision and conceptual challenges to the whole idea of representation. Using interviews with people who knew Magritte including his widow Georgette and drawing on the insights of structuralist theorists such as Foucault and Jakobson, the author investigates the different periods and influences of Magritte's painting. In the process he offers a reading of Magritte's aesthetics based on structuralist theories of language and the concept of aphasia, a disconnect between the brain and the means of communication. Magritte's own monograph on "L'Art pur", published in 1922, advocates an anti-decorative aesthetic and basic pictorial forms inspired by modern machinery. His work at the time is comparable with the lyrical abstract expressionism of Kandinsky, with whom he shared a similar palette, though Magritte himself said he was more enthused by Mondrian. The style we associate with Magritte's mature work is exemplified in "Les droits de l'homme" (the rights of man) of 1948, in which a cloaked figure like a chess piece is painted in accordance with the laws of perspective, light and shade, with the entire space of the picture consistent and realised with geometric accuracy. In between these two career points Magritte embraced a number of different styles, becoming a Cubist after a brief flirtation with Dada, but when he came under the influence of Giorgio de Chirico Magritte said "He was my spark". De Chirico presented a world of deserted townscapes in which human habitation is only hinted at by the use of shadows. From now on Magritte's objects would have a sense of dislocation, existing side by side but not in relation to each other, dissolving the illusion of space and the modelling of form. The author uses the concept of aphasia as a model for mapping the theories of Roman Jakobson in Magritte's later work. Windows and frames are recurring motifs, with dislocated machine-like body parts dominating in the late 1920s. The concept of pictorial negation ("this is not a pipe") belongs to the post-war period. The book concludes with five interviews, some in English, some in French, with people closely connected with Magritte's work. 8.5 x 11.25". 280pp, high quality colour reproductions.
Click YouTube icon to see this book come to life on video.

The documentary filmmaker and art critic Ben Lewis tells the story of the world's most expensive painting in formidably researched detail. His patient historical investigation into the history, discovery and sales of Leonardo da Vinci's last painting the Salvator Mundi establishes the truth ? like nailing down jelly. He unravels the complex and often murky history that led to the final sale of the painting for 450 million dollars in a story populated by characters like the soft-spoken but ambitious art dealer, the Russian oligarch in the middle of a messy divorce, the shadowy Swiss storage king who sidelines as a dealer, the Saudi prince eager to polish his reputation with high art. Lewis interweaves the many threads into the story of the dramatic restoration, sale and resale of the Salvator Mundi, and casts serious doubts on its authenticity as an autographic work. It is hard not to be enraptured with what is a pacy detective story as Lewis finds troubling facts that undermine the authenticity of the painting and suggests that the lawyers are going to be kept busy at auction houses, as art buyers, galleries and art historians are asked awkward questions. He thunders that the painting is the most vivid symbol of 'dysfunctionality within the ecosystem of art'. There is so much money at stake it makes your head spin and here is a twisting tale of conspiracies, money-laundering, double-crossing and disappearances from Leonardo's studio to Christie's Auction House with sheikhs and academics fighting over a 500 year old painting of Christ - which may or not be by Leonardo da Vinci - and which has now disappeared. 407pp, paperback, colour photos.

"Knowing the old, you well understand the new." This motto is inscribed on a bust of the 18th century antiquarian Charles Townley, for whom the house at 14 Queen Anne's Gate, formerly 7 Park Street, was built to display his collection of antiquities. In this impressive house of classical design, described by a contemporary German newspaper as the most magnificent private museum in the whole of Europe, visitors would find a collection of Roman sculpture unrivalled outside Italy, as well as non-western art, a library and a collection devoted to understanding the "universal generative spirit" worshipped by early civilisations. Townley was keenly interested in the esoteric and the occult. This book follows No 14 from its conception, construction and alterations through to our own time. St James's Park, now at the heart of the British establishment, was originally Henry VIII's deer park and later became the home of eccentrics and radicals. Charles Townley was a marginal character, Catholic and bisexual, educated at Douai, who preferred to converse in Italian or French and lived a libertine and rakish life. Catholics were prohibited from holding public office, and the author associates Townley's love of Bacchic mystery cults with the fact that like Catholicism they operated outside mainstream religion. As a veteran of the Grand Tour, Townley had bought a Piranesi engraving from Piranesi himself, and true to tradition he shipped back home large crates of marbles. The paintings he acquired included "A Group of Connoisseurs" by Richard Conway, depicting himself and his friends admiring the Townley Venus. Townley was predominantly gay at a time when it could be a capital offence, though he may also have had an illegitimate child, but his expertise gave him entrée to the highest circles. By the late 1780s he was the most trusted authority on classical antiquity in Britain, advising the future George IV on the decoration of Carlton House. Other works of art included the Townley Discobolus, a bust of Agrippina, later designated Isis, priapic works acquired from Cardinal Albani, and Poussin's "Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem". 128pp, colour reproductions.
Click YouTube icon to see this book come to life on video.

Among the many beautiful books that have landed on Bibliophile's shelves, none can have been more gorgeous than this big volume from the Victoria and Albert Museum's costume collection. With a close-up colour photo on each double spread, and meticulously detailed sketches showing the garment's construction on the page opposite, this is a sumptuous pictorial history of costume from the 17th century to the end of the 20th. Each century has a slightly different theme. In the 17th and 18th centuries the focus was on quilting, pleats, looped drapery, collars, cuffs and applied decoration. The stomacher was the panel down the front of a bodice that allowed the bodice itself to be laced to fit a woman's figure. Chronological examples here are mostly English and are lavishly embroidered, with a particularly beautiful pale turquoise stomacher donated to the collection by Harrods. The shoe section shows that pointed toes and kitten heels were the rage in the 17th century. The 19th century transformed a woman's silhouette with whalebone corsets, cage crinolines and bustles, while artificial dyes started to take over from embroidery as a source of colour. This section opens with men's tailoring, showing a preponderance of stand-up collars and frogging. A cycling suit of the late century is made with machine-knitted green jersey and trimmed with mohair braid. A woman's riding jacket is also frogged but fastened with practical hooks and eyes beneath the buttons. A cream pelisse of Jane Austen's era has an empire line and stunning sleeve panels of pleated silk, while mid-19th century day dresses have huge skirts, often using roller-printed wool and decorated with a peplum or large bow. A Liberty's frock from the 1890s has a looser fit, smocked at the waist, and trimmed with machine lace. The 20th century covers both mass-produced clothes and also high end couture. The section opens with the wedding dress worn by Miss "Baba" Beaton in 1934, its stunning simplicity the result of clever seaming, while a Galliano wedding dress of 1987 is a riot of silk and organza sculpted flowers. A Chanel suit of red wool from 1960 is plain and elegant, catering to the working woman, and a tweedy wartime suit from Digby Morton reflects the same practical trend. Underwear ranges from mass-produced polyester to boned and embroidered corsets by Dior. 598pp, high-quality close up colour photos hundreds of drawings, text and glossary in eight languages. New full price V&A publication nearly 12" square, heavyweight and a stunning coffee table book.
Click YouTube icon to see this book come to life on video.

We have three in this set of facsimile reprints to collect of the glorious and affectionate pen and ink illustrations to the original 1890s publications. Set contains Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and Emma, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Buy all three and save even more.

The name Argentina is derived from the Latin argentum, or silver. Between the Atlantic coast in the east and the Andes in the west stretches the vast grassland of the Pampas and Patagonias. Here you can still experience the wild romanticism of the gaucho culture. The natural wonders of the impressive Iguazu waterfalls in the border region to Brazil, and the whales and elephant seals near the Valdéz peninsula, all offer unique worlds of experience, as do the spectacular glacier landscape of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego's lighthouse at the end of the World. Includes cuisine, Tango, polo, and the regions of Jujuy, Salta and Catamarca, the Litoral, Buenos Aires, Cordoba, San Luis, Mendoza, La Pampa, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego, the Malvinas (Falklands) with King penguins at Volunteer Point. and Argentine Antarctic with huge icebergs. Maps, stunning full page colour photos. Text in six languages. Softback, 17 x 20.8cm, 460pp.

It is difficult to define Brazil as a country; it is rather the sum of countries with very different characteristics such as the Amazon region with the longest river and the largest rainforest in the world, and Rio de Janeiro, with its legendary carnival and famous beaches. In addition, there are natural wonders such as the mighty Iguaçu Falls on the border with Argentina, and the wetland area Pantanal, with its unique variety of plants and animals in the west, as well as the magical desert landscape Sertão in the northeast. The Amazon Forest with its extraordinary wildlife, captured here in a close-up of a jaguar approaching, religion, Bahian cusine, modern architecture, body painting, coffee and cocoa, fruits, beach life, soccer plus the great cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro captured in stunning full page colour photos. Maps. Text in six languages. Softback, 17 x 20.8cm, 468pp.

In over 500 pictures, this volume shows the multifaceted wilderness of Canada. Canada borders the USA in the south and the Arctic Circle in the north. This results in a landscape diversity with endless forest areas in the south and ice and rock areas in the north, beyond the Arctic tree line. These include the Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains, famous for its numerous lakes, and the Niagara Falls on the border with the USA. The metropolis Toronto, Vancouver on the west coast, as well as the French-speaking cities Montreal or Quebec and the capital Ottawa are included. Beautiful British Columbia is home to the Takakkaw Falls in the Yoho National Park, stunning blue glacial lakes and copper and green forests, snowy mountain peaks, wooden chalets and fishing villages. We celebrate the beauty of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, plus maple syrup, the maritime provinces, the Canadian Artic, Yukon and the extraordinary animals and birds, huskies and dog sleds, the exquisitely designed Parliamentary Library at Ottawa home to around 600,000 media and with a 92 metre high Peace Tower, the landmark of the city, architecturally designed museums and of course the beaver and the Canada geese, the moose and ice hockey. Maps, stunning full page colour photos. Text in six languages. Softback, 17 x 20.8cm, 504pp.

Chile stretches along the Pacific coast of South America, west of the Andes, and is the longest country in the world from north to south. The contrasting landscape offers the Atacama Desert in the north - the driest area on earth, and in the south rainforests, lake landscapes and glaciers. Over 400 photographs present this country from north to south with its fascinating world of desert landscapes, volcanoes, glaciers and a rich flora and fauna. Textured glaciers, the Atacama Desert Lagoon, national parks, geysers, flamingos, Easter Island, Elqui Valley, Robinson Crusoe Island, the Maule region, Los Lagos, Tierra del Fuego, dozens of national parks and of course the Antarctic in stunning full page colour photos plus ports and cities, alpacas and vicuñas. Maps. Text in six languages. Softback, 17 x 20.8cm, 480pp.