Art and fashion have surrounded us since the world began, inside them there are thousands of stories, origins and curiosities that we may not know. Therefore, get into fashion and art through books.
Touring museums, shows or fashion shows are tasks that need time, and luckily, in this society we can capture a lot of information. Join us and delve into fashion and art through books, discovering how Chanel began her work, and how Botero has represented women. Review 100 works of art in detail, innovative photographs and the history of the Antwerp Fashion Museum.
Botero’s women
The publishing house Artika pays tribute to many essential artists of our history, as it did with the collection The Dreams of Frida Khalo. This time we dive into Las mujeres de Botero, a book dedicated to the female figure, a very recurrent theme for the painter. This work is presented in a slipcase, designed with a small relief, and the front image represents a detail of his work Head, painted in 2006. In its interior we find two volumes, the art book and the study book.
The two books that make up the collection represent the work of Botero, Cabeza
The Book of Art collects 45 prints selected in collaboration with Botero himself, where we find different female figures drawn by the Colombian painter. These works are accompanied by quotations taken from some short stories published by the artist in the 1980s. The drawings have been printed in four inks on individual sheets, and two types of paper have been used: watercolor paper for the drawings and watercolors, and handmade paper for the works that had been created on amate paper;
From left to right: Woman (1990) and Woman on a Bed (1999). The representation of the female figure has been an important theme for the painter.
Woman in front of a mirror (1997). The two books feature different representations of women, and with them quotations from the artist
The Book of Studies delves into the work of Botero, thanks to Lourdes Cirlot, professor of Art History, makes a tour of the works of Botero and the importance of the figure of women for him, so we will understand the scope that has had the artist worldwide.
This edition is unique, numbered and with a limit of 2,998 copies. 2,798 are created in Arabic edition, and 200 in Roman edition with the author’s signature.
Price: 4,500€ Arabic edition and 6,500€ Roman edition
The origins of Chanel fashion, jewelry and perfumery
For Chanel lovers, the Assouline publishing house has published a new edition of the brand’s book. An updated work in English, with 180 illustrations, and is composed of a three-volume collection: Chanel Fashion, Chanel Jewelry and Watches and Chanel Fragrance and Beauty.
Cover of the Chanel 3-Book Slipcase Collection
The volume Fashion, written by Anne Berest, traces Coco Chanel’s work in the world of fashion, a revolutionary career that could make her one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century. Chanel had a much broader design vision, rejecting the normative styles of the time, breaking with marked patterns and giving new silhouettes in a sophisticated and natural way. These ideals have continued through the years, and continue today with Virginie Viard, the new artistic director of the Parisian brand;
The Fashion volume features many of the brand’s iconic garments.
In Jewelry and Watches, written by Fabienne Reybaud, they show that, with the same fashion inspiration, the brand’s collection of watches endure through the years. The Chanel Jewelry Creation studio has a very definite soul, and since 1932 they remain among the first in fine jewelry. Meanwhile, the world of watches has also been present for 30 years, conceiving their creations as objects of pleasure.
The book takes a journey through the history of Chanel in jewelry and watchmaking. The firm has worked in a meticulous and delicate way for the creation of each accessory.
Chanel Number 5, emblematic and world-renowned perfume since the 1920s.
The latest volume, Fragrance and Beauty by Marion Vignal, wraps us in the story of the creation of the N5 perfume in 1921, the first makeup launch in 1924 and the skincare collection in 1927. Following her career we can see how Coco Chanel was a pioneer in creating new products, with a previous work of research, technique and creativity that took her to the top.
Price: 75€.
100 works of art in detail
The publishing house Thames and Hudson, on August 26 released Art in Detail: 100 Masterpieces. Making a review of 100 of the most recognized works of art through the centuries, and that have inspired new artists. Each painting is uniquely created, with the soul of the painter behind it, and it takes time to understand all that it conveys. Art lovers can visit and rediscover details that have been overlooked, and Susie Hodge helps us fill in that information.
Portada de Art in Detail: 100 masterpieces by Susie Hodge
The book examines 100 iconic paintings of the Western canon, highlighting curiosities and details in more detail. Within these small features we can find hidden symbols, or artistic tricks that the artists used. The author writes all the information that she knows, understands and wants to bring to the readers, talking about the external influences that the artist had or the socioeconomic context in which he created the painting. In addition, the air pollution at the time of the creation of the painting is also something that influences the result of the works.
Napoleon I on his imperial throne by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Las meninas by Diego Velázquez
In the end, in whatever type of art you work, history marks a path for us, new artists return to the past to create something new. Innovations and creativity, but always with roots that are linked to the old, with origins and influences that do not die despite the centuries.
Price: 25€.
Through fairy tales
The Thames and Hudson publishing house has bid farewell to August with the new release of the book Tim Walker: Story Teller, a book that was first published in 2012. From the hand of the photographer himself, we retrace a wide showcase of the most original and memorable images of the English artist.
Cover of the book Tim Walker: Story Teller
This collection of photographs combines fashion and illusion, Walker is able to build fantasy scenarios with perfect garments and haute couture. His imagination when it comes to creating has no limit, and he has proved it by fascinating with his work. Bringing together surrealism, extravagance and fairy tales, he is able to tell stories that immerse you in his artist’s mind.
Its interior offers us with creative and innovative photographs by photographer Walker.
Tim Walker creates perfectly detailed scenarios, and thus his photographs have a soul of their own and realistic.
Many well-known personalities are portrayed, in a meticulous and careful way, for example, Helena Bonham Carten with Ray-Bans, Albert Elbaz dressed with rabbit ears or Agyness Deyn in the sand dunes of Namibia. Singer Kate Bush contributed her vision by writing the book’s foreword, while Walker himself wrote the afterword, as well as accompanying his images with short observations about them.
Price: 35€.
Historical review of the Antwerp Fashion Museum
The Antwerp Fashion Museum, after being closed for three years for renovations, reopens this September. The building has been expanded, creating a new space for new exhibitions, and for that reason they have decided, together with the publishing house Lannoo, to launch on September 4 the book Fashion. The MoMu Collection – Antwerp..
From left to right: Cover of Fashion. The MoMu Collection- Antwerp in english and dutch version
The work presents the collection of the famous museum, offering an overview of Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten, Martin Margiela, among others, protagonists who have been and remain important in Belgian fashion from 1970 until now.
The MoMu Collection- Antwerp reviews exhibitions held between 2002 and 2018.
The book details and represents with images everything created since 1970.
In addition to the trajectory of the referents in the sector, the work is accompanied by photographs showing the exhibitions held between 2002 and 2018, in addition to images of the historic collection of the museum’s clothing from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Price: 59€.
Images courtesy of Artika, Assouline, Thames and Hudson and Lannoo.
