Presented in a beautiful gift format, this engaging book aims to introduce to a general audience the National Trust's vast collection of paintings through a selection of 100 important examples from the 14th to the 20th centuries. Paintings displayed in properties now cared for by the National Trust across England, Wales and Northern Ireland amount to one of the finest collections of historic fine art in the world. Indeed, many National Trust houses should perhaps be considered miniature 'National Galleries' for their counties as they display works by some of the most renowned European artists of all time including Titian, El Greco, Holbein, Rubens, van Dyck, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Canaletto, Hogarth, Stubbs, Angelica Kauffman, Edward Burne-Jones, James Tissot, Max Ernst, Vanessa Bell, Barbara Hepworth and Stanley Spencer, to name but a few. Selected by National Trust curators from over 13,000 works, the 100 paintings showcased in this book are arranged chronologically, each accompanied by an illuminating, easy-to-read caption. The book ends with a handy glossary of terms and a list of National Trust properties that house important paintings.

Innovation, exclusivity, and elegance define Patek Philippe, a family-owned company with a single and passionate calling: to perfect the watch. These lavishly-illustrated books present some of the most important timepieces from the more than 3,000 watches exhibited at the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. These precious timepieces have been passionately assembled over more than 40 years by Philippe Stern, Honorary President of the company, and include some of the most valuable pieces in watchmaking history. From the collection of historic watches featuring the first portable timepieces dating back to the 16th century to innovative milestones in Patek Philippe's portfolio since its founding in 1839, each watch is reproduced with such beauty and precision, you can almost hear it ticking. With expert curatorial insight and context from Peter Friess, Director of the Patek Philippe museum, these intricate mechanisms are not only presented for themselves; they also offer a unique perspective into the cultural history of the last 500 years. True to the trust and excellence of the Patek Philippe brand, the presentation, design, and content of these sumptuous publications meet the highest professional standards. They are the perfect books for the "perfect watch."

Melanie Smith: Farce and Artifice is the publication that takes up the idea of the exhibition organised by the MACBA, jointly with the MUAC Museo Universitario Arte Contemporaneo and UNAM, in Mexico City, and the Museo Amparo, in Puebla, Mexico. It is the largest organised to date in Europe about the work of an artist who defies easy classification, born in England (Poole, 1965) but active on the Mexican art scene since the nineties.

Alexia Goethe Gallery is pleased to present Photographs, a solo exhibition by Lionel Scoccimaro. Through a diverse body of work Scoccimaro explores l'art populaire and questions cultural hierarchies as well as the status of photography itself. Lionel Scoccimaro is not a photographer, which is what makes his photographic work so interesting. In actual fact, he is more than a photographer. If he appears to sculpt the image, it is to take the medium of photography even further. He uses this to explore territories that are new, underground, virgin or charted by other pioneers.

In South Africa, with its highly contested and changing understandings of national identity, its National Gallery is no less a contested space. A History of the Iziko South African National Gallery considers questions of artistic and cultural identity, from the late 19th century to the present day.

It explores how the gallery has understood its function and its public, as a 'national' gallery from 1930 and, before that, the chief gallery of the Cape Colony. This question is investigated through a study of the gallery's administration, collection and exhibition practices over the last 150 years. What is understood by and expected of a national gallery varies considerably worldwide. Should it regard itself as part of a broad international cultural discourse, or should it be representative of a specifically national - or even regional - identity?

The gallery is a microcosm of the greater debate: how the South African nation relates to the larger world and how, if at all, it understands the concept of a shared culture. In the last 20 years, Museum Studies have become a major part of the field of Cultural Studies. There is a vast literature on what might be called the 'history' museum, but far less on the art museum or gallery. To date, there has been no large-scale historical inquiry into the Iziko SANG, the country's national gallery.

The absence of such a history marks a serious gap in the literature, which this study aims to fill.

In collaboration with the artist's foundations and family, YSP is proud to present the first major UK exhibition of sculpture by Joan Miro, one of Europe's most important 20th century artists. The exhibition describes the extraordinary wealth of Miro's sculpture, much of which was made in the second half of his life. With key works set in the landscape, the exhibition fulfils the artist's desire that sculpture must stand in the open air, in the middle of nature. YSP publication to accompany the Miro: Sculptor exhibition. The fully illustrated catalogue features texts by the artist's grandson Emilio Fernandez Miro, Pilar Ortega Chapel from the Successio Miro, poet and art critic Jacques Dupin and Peter Murray CBE. Exhibition photography by Jonty Wilde"

It is evident that modernity is a popular mountain for analysis and reflection of a largely controversial nature. Numerous theories have also been written about the beginning as well as the end of modernity. The aim of Modernologies is to achieve an account of the state of artistic research and to discuss selected contributions to the subject matter that appears central after two to three decades of an ever intensely blazing conflict over the legacy of modernity and modernism.

This catalogue accompanies the Saatchi Gallery's exhibition which takes its title from a speech delivered by Joseph Stalin in 1935. In this large survey show, 18 artists explore the country's past, present, and possible future from a political, social, and cultural point of view.

The Lammermuir Hills have been an important trade route between Scotland and England for generations, as well as an effective barrier when necessary. Drawn by the long history of south-eastern Scotland and the many conflicting elements in play in its natural environment - among them wind farms, pylons, forestry plantations, grouse moors and sheep - the distinguished Scottish painter and printmaker Barbara Rae CBE RA has made numerous studies of these wild expanses. This handsome volume reproduces a wide selection of her intensely colourful images with accompanying photographs and maps, and texts by the art critic Duncan Macmillan, Emeritus Professor of the History of Scottish Art at the University of Edinburgh, and Maureen Barrie, who worked for many years at National Museums Scotland.

The Hispanic Society of America in New York is the vision of Archer M. Huntington (1870-1955). From an early age, Huntington developed an abiding love both of Hispanic culture and of museums and libraries. He resolved to devote his considerable fortune to combining these two passions, and carried out his project so resourcefully that the collections he assembled remain exceptional for their depth and richness, displaying the culture of Spain and Latin America in the broadest sense. Their scope ranges from the prehistoric era to the early 20th century, including antiquities, decorative arts, Islamic works, manuscripts and rare books as well as superb canvases by Old Masters such as El Greco, Velazquez and Goya. This handsome new publication features an introduction to Archer M. Huntington and the Hispanic Society by Patrick Lenaghan, the Society's archivist, and plates and authoritative catalogue entries on some of its greatest treasures by the Society's curators.

Presented in a beautiful gift format and filled with a wealth of new photography, this engaging book aims to introduce to a general audience the National Trust's vast collections - a treasure chest of history. Arranged chronologically, starting with Roman sculpture and ending with 20th-century design, it focuses on museum-quality objects as well as important examples of decorative arts, furniture, textiles, books and items with fascinating stories behind them. Selected by the National Trust's curators from more than 1.5 million objects in its collections, the featured highlights include an ancient-Egyptian obelisk; Cardinal Wolsey's purse; the first English globe; one of the earliest surviving sofas; an incredible 18th-century dolls' house; an elephant automaton; a tent made for a sultan; a dress made of beetle-wing cases; hand-written manuscripts by Beatrix Potter and Virginia Woolf; Rodin's bust of George Bernard Shaw; rare, early colour photographs of the Sutton Hoo discovery; a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth and paintings by Holbein, Rubens, van Dyck, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Reynolds, Stubbs, Burne-Jones, Monet and Sargent. Each featured object is accompanied by an illuminating, easy-to-read caption, a timeline of key moments in the Trust's history and a list of properties housing important collections items appear at the end.

"It stood out for me for a number of reasons. The first, and by far the most important to me, being that the composition is absolutely gorgeous." - Tim Clinch, Amateur Photographer "Packed with compelling visuals and important discussions around some of the planet's biggest issues, it's an excellent compendium of some of the world's best photographers working today." - Amateur Photographer "As compelling in its visuals as it is in its messaging, Fire is an unforgettable document." - Jonathan McIntosh, Royal Photographic Society Journal Fire is the fourth element. It destroys and creates something new. In its heat, colours, and magnitude, it provides a terrifying spectacle as much as an existential threat. Today, it speaks as much to the fragility of human structures as to the damage wrought on nature: the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, forest fires from the Amazon to Australia, and infernos in California so colossal that the sky turned red. Reason enough for the Prix Pictet, the world's leading award for photography and sustainability, to dedicate this year's photo book to the many facets of fire. Selected by photography experts from around the world, this impressive publication features 100 images from the Prix Pictet shortlist and beyond. As compelling in its visuals as it is in its messaging, this is an unforgettable document of an elemental force, and of the increasing extremes of climate change.

American artist, Joan Jonas' experimental projects in the late sixties and early seventies were essential to the development of contemporary performance, video, and conceptual art. Born in New York in 1936, she is regarded as a pioneer of video art and performance. Her work fuses video, dance, theatre, sculpture, drawing. Her projects have included collaborations with dancers like Trisha Brown and Yvonne Rainer and composers like Alvin Lucier. She investigates space, perception and time, ritual gestures, symbolic objects and stereotypes (especially female cliches), and the magical role of the narrator who conveys a drama in each action.