Book of the Day > Patti Smith: Just Kids (Illustrated Edition). Published by Ecco. "Patti Smith’s National Book Award–winning memoir, now richly illustrated with new material and never-before-seen photographs. Patti’s Smith's exquisite prose is generously illustrated in this full-color edition of her classic coming-of-age memoir, Just Kids. New York locations vividly come to life where, as young artists, Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe met and fell in love: a first apartment in Brooklyn, Times Square with John and Yoko’s iconic billboard, Max’s Kansas City, or the gritty fire escape of the Hotel Chelsea. The extraordinary people who passed through their lives are also pictured: Sam Shepard, Harry Smith, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg. Along with never-before-published photographs, drawings, and ephemera, this edition captures a moment in New York when everything was possible. And when two kids seized their destinies as artists and soul mates in this inspired story of love and friendship."

Book of the Day > Picasso’s Kitchen. Published by La Fabrica and distributed by Artbook. “Food frequently surfaces as a motif in the art of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), and Picasso's Kitchen presents the many forms that the culinary takes in his work. Adopting as its guiding principle the conceit that ‘cooking is a subtle revelation of Picasso's art,’ this handsomely designed volume, with its card-stock cover bearing a tipped-on portrait of the artist, reproduces works alongside photographs of the artist working in his grand studio and the friends and lovers with whom he surrounded himself. Some of the book's sections examine individual artworks such as Picasso's interpretation of Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe or his playful ceramic works, while other sections visit the bohemian cafes and restaurants of Paris and Barcelona where Picasso and other avant-garde artists of the period ate and drank, through menus, photographs, prints and paintings, searching for how these places slipped into the artists' work in ways both overt and subtle. Another section draws on archival material from Picasso's writings on food. Perfect for the cook, art lover or both, this book vividly conveys how this theme greatly enhances our enjoyment and understanding of Picasso's oeuvre.”

Book of the Day > Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory. Published by Yale University Press. “ Best known for her striking drawings of ocean surfaces, begun in 1968 and revisited over many years both in drawings and paintings, Vija Celmins (b. 1938) has been creating exquisitely detailed renderings of natural imagery for more than five decades. The oceans were followed by desert floors and night skies—all subjects in which vast, expansive distances are distilled into luminous, meticulous, and mesmerizing small-scale artworks. For Celmins, this obsessive “redescribing” of the world is a way to understand human consciousness in relation to lived experience. The first major publication on the artist in twenty years, this comprehensive and lavishly illustrated volume explores the full range of Celmins’s work produced since the 1960s—drawings and paintings as well as sculpture and prints. Scholarly essays, a narrative chronology, and a selection of excerpts from interviews with the artist illuminate her methods and techniques; survey her early years in Los Angeles, where she was part of a circle that included James Turrell and Ken Price; and trace the development of her work after she moved to New York City and befriended figures such as Robert Gober and Richard Serra.”

Book of the Day > Eric Fischl: If Art Could Talk. Published by Mousse Publishing. “Eric Fischl (New York, 1948) is one of only a handful of contemporary painters who regularly, though by no means exclusively, employs sourced images, culled from the internet, newspapers, and magazines, to inform his paintings. The artist then adds his own photographs and blends a final ensemble of information and storytelling. No kings or generals or momentous battles move across Fischl’s canvases, and most of his subjects are quotidian rather than grandiose—suburban bourgeois families, art world mongers and awkward social interactions. In his works, communication is nonexistent and boredom is pervasive. The book, published on the occasion of a solo show held at Dallas Contemporary museum, includes more than 120 painting reproductions and a conversation between Eric Fischl and Peter Doroshenko.”

Book of the Day > Oscar G. Rejlander: Artist Photographer. Published by Yale University Press in conjunction with the National Gallery of Canada. “A fascinating survey of the varied career of an inventive and influential 19th-century photographer, from allegorical montage to Darwin’s catalogue of emotions. Oscar G. Rejlander (1813–1875) was a Swedish-born photographer who pioneered the genre of art photography. He is best known for combining negatives to form elaborate allegorical compositions and for his ability to communicate expression through his photographic studies and portraits. His influence shines in the works of other important photographers of the day. This catalogue accompanies the first major retrospective on this vital yet understudied figure and considers the whole range of his activities, including his work as a painter and printmaker. Lori Pauli introduces Rejlander with a comprehensive survey of his life and career. Three essays follow, from leading scholars in the field of 19th-century photography, with topics ranging from Rejlander’s engagement with Victorian painting, to his studio and working methods, to his artistic circle and work with Charles Darwin. Engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, this publication fills a void in scholarship on Rejlander; it also sheds light more broadly on the intersection of art and science and the uses of photography in Victorian culture, as well as the history of photography and its impact on Victorian culture.”

Book of the Day > Supersonic: The Design and Lifestyle of Concorde. Published by Prestel. BOOK SIGNING SATURDAY, 11/17/18 4PM-6PM!

When the first commercial Concordes zoomed off the runways in Paris and London in the late 1960s, crossing the Atlantic in just under three hours, they established a new standard for luxury flight. Powered by 38,000 pounds of thrust and easily recognizable with its delta wing and drooping nose, the Concorde jet embodied the pinnacle of aviation technology and industrial design. It quickly became the preferred mode of transatlantic flight for superstars and business moguls alike. Opening with a lively history of the jet and how it changed travel, the book focuses on the look and feel of the Concorde. Photos of the jet’s evolving interiors show how the original, starkly designed cabin gave way to luxury seats and interiors designed by the likes of Sir Terence Conran and Andrée Putman. Filled with fascinating historical and technical background, and drawn from the author’s personal collection of more than one thousand Concorde-related objects, this elegant book offers rarely seen historical photography and firsthand contributions from the people who helped create the Concorde experience from take-off to landing and beyond.

Book of the Day > Ryan McGinley: Mirror Mirror. Published by Rizzoli Publications. “Ryan McGinley, since the earliest days of his unparalleled career, has chronicled his friends and cohorts. Whether on the now legendary annual road trips he has organized with a large coterie of twentysomethings documenting summertime exploits or documenting the early gritty years in downtown New York, McGinley is known as the consummate storyteller about freedom and abandon of youth. A few years ago, however, he wanted to challenge his creative habits and asked more than one hundred of his friends and colleagues--guided by detailed instructions and a camera given to them by the artist--to take nude self-portraits using mirrors and other props. Though related to the ubiquitous selfie, the participants didn't have the benefit of seeing the image before they clicked the shutter. Furthermore, McGinley would make the selection of the final image to represent the photo session. The experiment yielded scores of intimate and psychologically revealing photos that--even though not done by his own hand--bear some signature McGinley flourishes in their emotional depth and resonance.”