Category: Art in Books

A lot has been said, written, and recorded about the singer and entertainer Dolly Parton. We concentrate on what she said herself. No chance to do this covering all the CDs she released with her music, all the songs she wrote herself, also interpreted by other artists, and all the books she wrote about her… Continue reading An exceptional smart woman – Dolly Parton

The coffee-table book “DAMIANI: Alchemy of Desire – A STORY, A FAMILY, AND AN ITALIAN PASSION” edited by Cristina Morozzi is a tribute of the family Damiani to themselves and their achievements. A proud Italian family of jewellers who made sure to keep control of their business to this day. Often books that were written… Continue reading Family Tradition – Damiani

The wonderfully illustrated book “Feestelike Frankryk – Fabels en Geregte uit die Franse Platteland” by Louis Jansen van Vuuren, Hardy Olivier and Anet Pienaar is the coffee-table book version of moving to France and finding happiness there by three South Africans. Most of us have read the books by British author Peter Mayle about giving… Continue reading A Tribute to France – “Feestelike Frankryk”

This beautiful book contains surprises. Many of them. I bought the book “de Gournay, Hand-Painted Interiors” mainly because the beauty of frescos, mosaics, and all other form of artfully hand-painted walls or wallpapers in houses are so rarely seen today. In old castles and medieval palaces often thick tapestries are hung from the walls, but… Continue reading “de Gournay, Hand-Painted Interiors” by Claud Cecil Gurney

This lovely illustrated book is an homage from the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Group to their best hotels, called “The Luxury Collection”. At the time of publishing, in 2013, one could take it as an expensive coffee-table travel catalogue to decide upon one’s next holiday or simply as a beautiful guide to daydream about hotels.… Continue reading The Luxury Collection “Hotel Stories”

Lauren Greenfield’s book is amazing. I saw the documentary on amazon fist, but the book in comparison seems even better, containing 1000s of pictures. The 2 hours of the documentary cannot fully mirror the depth of the texts accompanying the many pictures in the book. On the other hand, the documentary concentrated on a few… Continue reading “Generation Wealth” by Lauren Greenfield

Alexandra Carl’s book is a rare sign of independence in today’s fashion world. It is not superficial and fast-paced, but a book that takes its time. It took Alexandra Carl, according to interviews available when you google her name, almost 3,5 years to finish it. The result is not one of those typical home-stories of… Continue reading A Different Breed – “Collecting Fashion” by Alexandra Carl

The house of Cartier’s homage to their most famous jewellery collection, those of the panther jewels, is a gloriously illustrated book with well-coordinated texts on the theme. There is no explanation why the jewellery collection is referred to as “Panthere” and not leopard. From a zoological point of view panthers are leopards or jaguars without… Continue reading Cartier “Panthere” – Time is not the Enemy

There are not many books about Kea parrots. Anybody who saw one of the documentaries in TV about the parrots dismantling tourist’s cars in New Zealand and playing passionately with each other wonders why there are not more books or more information in general about those birds. There is no doubt that Keas are extremely… Continue reading Kea Parrots – Playful Role Models

Vincent Meylan’s book “Queens Jewels” has been, according to his introduction, more difficult to research than his books on famous jewellery houses and their masterpieces. Whilst those houses let him check their archives and gave him their confidence, the royal houses were not interested in giving a statement. But being an accomplished French journalist on… Continue reading “Queens’ Jewels” by Vincent Meylan