In these crazy times making the time to sit down with a book is a real luxury. So when you do its v important to make sure it’s worthwhile. All these books will help you escape the everyday mundane and maybe even inspire a change or two.
1 Frida Kahlo. The Complete Paintings XXL
Among the few women artists who have transcended art history, none had a meteoric rise quite like Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. One of the key figures in Mexican revolutionary modern art, she was also a pioneer of the politics of gender, sexuality, and feminism. This XXL monograph combines all of Kahlo’s 152 paintings with rarely seen photographs, diary pages, letters, and an illustrated biography.
Hardcover, 29 x 39.5 cm, 5.42 kg, 624 pages £150 Buy here
2 Harry Benson. Paul XL
An intimate look at one of the greatest music legends of all time, by an iconic photojournalist. From the delirium of the Beatles’ 1964 U.S. tour to the heady, shaggy days of WINGS in the 1970s and the quiet idyll of life on the family farm in the early 1990s, Paul traces the evolution of a pop superstar and of the man himself through more than 100 photographs, many never seen before. Collector’s Edition (No. 101–700), each numbered and signed by Harry Benson. Edition of 600 Hardcover in an acrylic box, 26.9 x 37.3 cm, 6 kg, 172 pages £600 Buy here
3 Gio Ponti. Art Edition XL
Experience the boundless vision of one of the greatest architects, designers, and art directors of the 20th century. Shaped in close collaboration with the Gio Ponti Archives and its founder Salvatore Licitra, Gio Ponti is an immersive book scaled to his kaleidoscopic universe featuring texts by Lisa Licitra Ponti and an extensive biographical essay by Stefano Casciani. This numbered Art Edition (No. 1–1,000) is accompanied by the “Planchart Coffee Table” – an exclusive, square format reproduction of the famous Arlecchino design, produced for TASCHEN by Molteni&C – and a set of four numbered prints of Ponti’s interior ocean liner studies. Hardcover, 36 x 36 cm, 572 pages; with an exclusive table designed by Gio Ponti, 56.5 x 56.5 x 38 cm; and four art prints, each 40 x 40 cm, printed on 305gsm Hahnemühle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth £3,000 Buy here
4 Sebastião Salgado. Amazônia. SUMO
For six years Sebastião Salgado travelled the Brazilian Amazon and photographed the unparalleled beauty of this extraordinary region: the rainforest, the rivers, the mountains, the people who live there—this irreplaceable treasure of humanity in which the immense power of nature is felt like nowhere else on earth. Collector’s Edition (No. 401–2,400), numbered and signed by Sebastião Salgado, with corresponding bookstand designed by Renzo Piano exclusively for the Amazônia project. Edition of 2,000Hardcover volume, 70 x 50.5 cm, 24.9 kg (54.9 lb), 472 pages, and caption book, 25.5 x 35 cm, 32 pages; bookstand made from mild steel with powder coated painting and rubber adjustable feet, 90 x 38.5 x 113.5 cm, 46 kg (101.4 lb) £3,000 Buy here
5 Hokusai
Meet the artist whose majestic wave sent ripples across the world. Hokusai, master artist and printmaker, is not only one of the giants of Japanese art but a father figure to Western modernism, inspiring a whole new notion of space for artists from Monet to Morisot, Cassatt to Klimt. Spanning erotic books, historical novels, and album prints, this introduction traces the full scope of Hokusai’s far-reaching portfolio. Hardcover, 21 x 26 cm, 0.62 kg, 96 pages £12 Buy here
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission.
learn more here
