Sudpsuez A Mechanical Bestiary: Automaton Clocks from the Renaissance by Alexis Kugel
Words by Alexis Kugel
This exhibition, Galerie Kugel’s tenth, continues the tradition of seeking out little-known but fascinating fields in the art world. Renaissance automaton clocks have never been the subject of scientific study, authors of horological reference works devoting at best merely a chapter to them.
These automaton clocks date from 1580 to 1630 and were for the most part created in Augsburg, the main German artistic centre of the time. These wonderful objects combine the arts of sculpture and horology. Rivalling in fantasy and ingenuity, they fascinated the European courts. Today, they can be found in museums holding great princely collections in Vienna, Dresden, Munich. Automaton clocks were also used as diplomatic presents.
The thirty-one automaton clocks presented in this exhibition and book are the largest group ever displayed. While studying them we have made surprising discoveries. For example, the troubling similarities between some of the most extraordinary anonymous clocks displayed here: the Elephant (cat. 3), the large Pacing Lion and his Tamer (cat. 7), the large Seated Lion (cat. 9), and the Chariot of Bacchus (cat. 11), which strongly argue for their having been produced in the same workshop. Among all the clocks published in this book, only one comes from Nuremberg (cat. 21). The chronological presentation that we chose also led us to rethink the conventional dating of certain pieces.
The title “Mechanical Bestiary” is somewhat restrictive, for among the clocks presented here, a quarter represent human figures without animals, and certain pieces possess no mechanical movements. Yet the thirty-one pieces assembled here clearly form a homogeneous and coherent whole. All were created for the same reason: to amuse and delight the collectors of their time.
Sudpsuez A Tower in Tuscany
Edited by Beatrice Monti della Corte and Michael Cunningham
Photographs by François Halard
A glimpse inside a magical Tuscan villa--rustic yet urbane, old-world elegant yet bohemian, accessible yet personal--that nurtures the world's finest literary talents.
In the hills above Florence, Santa Maddalena is like a secret garden where writers hone their craft and meet like-minded people. Paired with evocative images, these essays by 27 acclaimed authors invite readers to understand how the spirit of this restored villa, its owners and resident pets have inspired creative writing and creativity among so many.
Monti della Corte and her late husband, Gregor von Rezzori, transformed a ruin into the ultimate retreat where they would write, garden, and entertain friends and fellow artists--Pedro Almodóvar, Bernardo Bertolucci, David Hockney, Isabella Rossellini. This gracious weaving together of hospitality and creativity became the Santa Maddalena Foundation and writers' Fellowship program in 2000.
Published by Rizzoli
Sudpsuez A Way of Living by Ralph Lauren
Published Date: Sept 2023
Written by Ralph Lauren
A stunning celebration of Ralph Lauren’s signature home collections—including the designer’s own homes—which have inspired the world of interior design for nearly half a century.
The cinematic vision of Ralph Lauren is brought to life with a stunning and intimately written book that spans decades of innovation and influence by the iconic American designer. Ralph Lauren: A Way of Living, published by Rizzoli New York, commemorates the 40th anniversary of the home collection with the first comprehensive volume dedicated to the signature style of Ralph Lauren and his pioneering lifestyle approach to design. From trailblazing innovations that revolutionized the home industry to conceptualizing residential retailing and perfecting the art of hospitality, Lauren has created a multifaceted world that evokes emotion and inspires a more beautiful way of life.
This special volume presents a visual timeline of Ralph Lauren’s remarkable history as a lifestyle innovator. Lauren’s unparalleled ability to seamlessly blend fashion and the home is illustrated with the groundbreaking designs and innovative use of materials that have distinguished the home collection since its inception in 1983: menswear-inspired Oxford Cloth bedding that required the creation of special looms and took two years to refine; the sleek RL-CF1 chair, crafted of carbon fiber and inspired by Lauren’s McLaren F1 racecar; and an appreciation for a timeworn, weathered aesthetic, as exemplified in the iconic Writer’s Chair with its hand-burnished leather and rich patina. Historic achievements such as the opening of his first New York City flagship on Madison Avenue – which invited guests to experience the complete World of Ralph Lauren in a residential environment – and his renowned restaurants that offer the epitome of gracious hospitality, demonstrate the magnitude of Ralph Lauren’s influence on the worlds of lifestyle design and hospitality. The timeline is complete with quotes from distinguished members of the design world and prominent figures of our culture including Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and architecture critic Paul Goldberger.
Ralph Lauren: A Way of Living honors the life and work of a true visionary and innovator. Ralph Lauren’s monumental impact on the way we live is as recognizable today as it was groundbreaking 40 years ago. His vision is not about trends of the moment, but is built upon values and things that last, and his legacy will continue to shape the places we call home.
Cover photo by Richard Corman.
Published by Rizzoli
Sudpsuez A Year in the French Style, Interiors and Entertaining by Vincent Farelly
Written by Vincent Farelly and Jean-Baptiste Martin
Foreword by John Derian
Photographs by Ruth Ribeaucourt
The founders of Antoinette Poisson take readers inside their historic townhouse on the Atlantic coast to discover a style and art of entertaining rooted in French tradition and elegance.
Maison Lescop—the historic residence of an eighteenth-century French importer for the Indian trading company in Port-Louis, Brittany—seemed predestined to become the new home and restoration project for the creative duo behind Antoinette Poisson, a Parisian design team dedicated to reviving the savoir faire of domino paper for home decoration and furnishings. The art historians became enchanted by the poetic beauty of this artisanal craft—derived from an Indian block print technique—when they uncovered original hand-painted eighteenth-century domino wallpaper while restoring a mansion in central France.
Enchanted by the repeat-pattern domino prints, which range from florals and fauna to geometric and ikat, they have appointed their new home with the charming decorative touches that are their signature—handmade lampshades, wallpaper lined armoires, paper-mâché marriage boxes, assorted table settings, and luxurious textiles.
Celebrating the rhythm of life in France, they bring readers on adventures—shopping at the local market, antiquing, mushroom hunting, sheep’s cheese making, paper making, and textile dying—and share classic seasonal French meals inspired by antique cookbooks, served-up on hand-dyed indigo tablecloths or on nautical striped throws for a seaside picnic. They also include creative insight from their style icon friends, like American decoupage artist John Derian and French musician Clara Luciani.
Published by Flammarion
Sudpsuez Amber: Treasures from The Baltic Sea, 16th-18th Century by Alexis Kugel and Rahul Kulka
Words by Alexis Kugel and Rahul Kulka
This richly illustrated catalogue, published on the occasion of the exhibition “Amber: Treasures from the Baltic Sea,” traces the history of artworks made from this mysterious material through the centuries.
In addition to the fifty works assembled and showcased by Galerie Kugel, this book focuses on the geographical and political context of the region from which Baltic amber originates, as well as the extensive typology of amber objects known in international museums.
Sudpsuez An Anthology of Decorated Papers by P.J.M. Marks
Words by P.J.M. Marks
This remarkable and beautiful book brings together a collection of decorated papers dating from the 16th to the 20th century. They were produced for a wide variety of uses: as wrappers and endpapers for books, as the backing for playing cards, and even as linings for chests and cases.
Some decorated papers were used as humble pictures for display in churches and the home; some were sold as souvenirs to pilgrims; and others were used merely as wrappings for foodstuffs such as gingerbread and chocolate. What unites all the papers in the book is the richness of their ornamentation and the thin, flexible characteristics of the original sheets. They are all further united by having been collected by Olga Hirsch (1889–1968), a trained bookbinder who left her collection of some 3,500 papers to the British Library, where they remain one of the largest and most diverse collections of decorated papers in the world. This anthology brings together some of the most exquisite examples. It will delight and inspire designers, bibliophiles and anyone with a love of pattern and decoration.
Published by Thames & Hudson
Sudpsuez David Hicks: A Life of Design
Words by Ashley Hicks
Back in print for the first time in years, this classic of interior-design history showcases the masterful work of David Hicks (1929–1998), who is acknowledged as one of the most important designers of the late twentieth century, in the company of Billy Baldwin and Albert Hadley.
Known for his bold use of color, eclecticism, and geometric designs in carpets and textiles, Hicks turned English decorating on its head in the 1950s and ’60s. His trademark use of electrifying color combinations, and mixing antiques, modern furniture, and abstract paintings became the “in style” for the chic of the day, including Vidal Sassoon and Helena Rubinstein. By the 1970s, David Hicks was a brand; his company was making wallpaper, fabrics, and linens and had outposts in eight countries, including the United States where he worked with the young Mark Hampton, and where his wallpaper was used in the White House. “My greatest contribution as an interior designer has been to show people how to use bold color mixtures, how to use patterned carpets, how to light rooms, and how to mix old with new,” he stated in his 1968 work, David Hicks on Living—With Taste, the last authoritative book on his work. Written by his son, Ashley Hicks, with unprecedented access to Hicks’s archives, personal photographs, journals, and scrapbooks, this book is a vibrantly illustrated celebration of a half century of stunning interiors.
Sudpsuez Global Ikat: Roots and Routes of a Textile Technique
Written by Polly Barton, Sumru Belger Krody, Shelley Burian, Duncan Clarke, Rosemary Crill, Martina D’Amato, Linda S. McIntosh and Lee Talbot
Deceptively simple or fantastically intricate, the ikat technique has been used for centuries to create extravagant costumes and clothes of deep cultural meaning. The distinctively blurred, feathered or jagged patterns of ikat-dyed textiles are found across much of the world—from Japan in the east to Central and South America in the west, with vast areas of Southeast Asia, India, Central Asia and the Middle East in between. The traditional patterns still hold cultural relevance today in significant parts of the long-established ikat-weaving areas. Textile artists and fashion designers in many and varied countries have taken ikat in new directions, respecting traditional forms and palettes while creatively diverging from them.
This is the first time all the different iterations of this textile have been comprehensively brought together in one volume, drawing from the wide-ranging collection of David Paly. It is a journey across the world through the lens of ikat.
Published by HALI Books
Sudpsuez Grand Tour: The Worldly Projects of Studio Peregalli
Words by Laura Sartori Rimini and Roberto Peregalli
Contributions by Rachel Feinstein, John Currin and Hamish Bowles
The masters of recreating period rooms, Studio Peregalli compiles ten of their very best and most important projects to date in their new book, Grand Tour.
"Blending nostalgia for the past with curiosity for the present" is the essential design philosophy of Studio Peregalli's work. By infusing their work with deep historical research and an unprecedented level of craft, the designers are able to imbue each project with a unique sense of history and ambience. Grand Tour is a movable visual feast with remarkable photography of grand rooms contrasted with beautiful details and exquisite craftsmanship. Each house presented here is the fullest expression of the Studio Peregalli's design--compelling, spectacular, and unique.
If Invention of the Past can be considered to be a taxonomy book of Studio Peregalli's design thinking, Grand Tour is a true monograph: project after gorgeous project from around the world: from Milan to Paris and London to exotic Tangier, St. Moritz, Tel Aviv, and New York. A must-collect for all lovers of grand and exquisite architecture and interior design.
Published by Rizzoli
Sudpsuez Green Thoughts and Memories by Marina Schinz
Words & images by Marina Schinz
Discovers the importance of gardening in the work of Swiss-American photographer Marina Schinz.
Gardens and flowers have been a core subject of Marina Schinz's career. This found expression in her previous books Visions of Paradise, The Gardens of Russell Page, and A Tuscan Paradise. Visiting and photographing countless gardens around the world made her engage in gardening herself and culminated in major garden design projects for her houses, first in the Hudson Valley and later near Piacenza in Italy.
In Green Thoughts and Memories, Schinz looks back at her gardening adventures, interweaving horticultural observations with memoirs of her childhood in Zurich. Entertaining and engaging at the same time, full of practical considerations, and rendered with humor and philosophy, the book offers an unconventional appreciation of garden art. It conveys basic knowledge to put budding gardeners and rank beginners on the road to planting a mere tree or starting an entire garden. In twelve chapters, it explores all the elements of gardening, such as weather, soil, labor, planning, flowers, shrubs, etc.
Richly illustrated in full color throughout with Schinz's photographs of famous and unknown gardens around the world, this beautiful volume will appeal to anyone with a love of plants and gardens or with a desire to create a personal paradise.
Sudpsuez Haute Bohemians by Miguel Flores-Vianna
Published Date: September 2017
Written and Photographed by Miguel Flores-Vianna
Who, exactly, is a haute bohemian? Leave it to the discriminating, gimlet eye of photographer Miguel Flores-Vianna, who enjoys an international, cult-like following. He has journeyed through four continents to capture an extraordinary group of fashion designers, landscape architects, artists and art historians, potters, and interior designers, where they live—country cottages, beach bungalows, canal-side lofts, and East Village apartments, as well as assorted estancias, châteaux, and palazzi. Some of these spaces are grand, others are modest, but all are original, stylish, charming, and above all authentic, in the sense that they reflect their owners’ care and taste.
Published by Vendome
Sudpsuez Haute Bohemians: Greece by Miguel Flores-Vianna
Published Date: May 2023
Written and Photographed by Miguel Flores-Vianna
A glorious, intimate homage to this magical country from bestselling photographer and writer Miguel Flores-Vianna
This stunning volume chronicles Miguel Flores-Vianna’s photographic odyssey through the beautiful Greek landscape, showcasing historical houses alongside contemporary homes, united by the colorful characters who live or have lived in these places—the “haute bohemians”.
From the sophisticated residences of collectors and painters to island hideaways, centuries-old tavernas, royal follies, breathtaking gardens and even a restored sailboat, Flores-Vianna transports his armchair travel companions to a wondrous world, bathed in the glow of ethereal light. An extraordinary range of characters emerges—including historic figures such as the shepherd Alexandros Rodakis and Queen Amalia, and contemporary creatives such as antique dealer Eleni Martinou and architect Katerina Tsigarida. Featured, too, are the homes of international residents who share a passion for this magical land, such as interior designer John Stefanidis, artists Helen and Brice Marden, and financier and philanthropist Jacob Rothschild. A self-confessed “Hellenophile” who has visited Greece countless times since his childhood, Flores-Vianna invites us to join him in paying tribute to his beloved adopted nation, capturing the character and patina of this enchanting country through his trademark intimate, atmospheric photography, and engaging texts.
Published by Vendome