Cultural History

Wassily Kandinsky was not only the inventor of abstract painting, but also its gifted propagandist. His letters reveal an artist who thought deeply and communicated and organised incessantly. He was also a straightforward and warm-hearted individual. It seems surprising that a significant part of his correspondence has remained unpublished.

This is the first English monograph on the artist Ceija Stojka (1933 –2013). Beginning in the 1980s, Stojka created over a thousand drawings and paintings, whose subjects range from landscapes and recollections of her happy, prewar existence as part of a large horse-trading family to the mounting oppression of the Roma under the Nazi regime.

"Holy Smoke: Censers Across Cultures" investigates the practice of incense – the use of material objects to communicate with the divine – in religious context as it has been used in cultures worldwide across historical periods, religions, and cultures.

Surveying over four centuries, this volume brings together a wide-ranging selection of artworks and artefacts that highlight under-recognised histories of trans and gender-nonconforming communities. Through the contributions of artists, writers, poets, activists, and scholars, this title reflects on historical erasure to imagine trans futures.

Hans Holbein the Elder and Hans Burgkmair are regarded alongside Albrecht Dürer as the forerunners of Renaissance painting in Germany. The prosperous Imperial and trading city of Augsburg was an important centre during this artistic golden age. By means of high-quality works this volume presents a comprehensive insight into the epochal revolution from the Middle Ages to the modern age.

Los Angeles art of the past is a treasure trove, awaiting full excavation. Hiding in plain sight have been offbeat and lyrical works by an ethnically diverse group of artists who exhibited in a 1960s gallery with an alternative take on the mainstream: Ceeje Gallery, the dream project of gay couple, Cecil Hedrick and Jerry Jerome.

Donald Ganslmeier and his colleagues on the Wall of Death of the motordrome are amongst the last of their kind. Their art is threatened with extinction. The photographer Florian Holzherr has created a powerful memorial to the action-packed life around the boards that signify the world. His black-and-white photos of the daredevil motorcyclists and the accompanying texts show the myth of the Wall of Death in a fascinating new way.

In the postmodern era the conflicts of the present day, from right-wing populism to identity politics, were already in evidence. Spectacular examples from the fields of design, architecture, cinema, pop music, philosophy, art and literature tell of the beginnings of the information society, the unleashing of the financial markets, subcultures, disco, punk, techno-pop, shoulder pads and Memphis furniture.

The fish hook derives its form from its practical intention - to catch a fish. But in cultures where fishing is and always has been a main livelihood, the crafting of fish hooks becomes an art. "Fish Hooks of the Pacific islands Vol. II" completes the extensive and in-depth discourse of the first volume. Together they are the first extensive reference on Pacific fish hooks since the publication of Harry  Beasley’s 1928 Pacific Island Record: Fishhooks, which was printed in ...

"A Model Workshop" explores the understudied impact of Margaret Lowengrund (1902–1957) – a visionary leader, organiser and critic within the mid-twentieth century printmaking community – and the vibrant New York print workshop/gallery she founded, "The Contemporaries".