ART

With an inspirational richness and diversity of styles, these homes, residences, hideaways, and studios will astound and astonish, no matter the taste; be it rustic country cottage, New York-style loft, or bohemian bungalow. This survey of contemporary interior design carefully curates homes from all over the world-from Auckland, New Zealand, to Avignon, France.

Angelika Taschen travels from the mountains of Macedonia in the north to the Peloponnese with its mythical places like Corinth, Sparta, and Olympia, and to the larger and smaller groups of islands in the south. She opens the doors to some of the country's most extraordinary hotels, including Imaret in Kavala, located in a former Ottoman complex; Tainaron Blue Retreat in a secluded former defense tower in the Mani; and The Windmill, a converted windmill on the island of Kimolos in the Cyclades. She invites readers to discover legendary luxury hotels, like Eagles Palace in Halkidiki or Poseidonion Grand Hotel on Spetses, and takes them to enchanting B&Bs like Guesthouse Mazaraki in Mystras or Melisses on Andros, run by food blogger Allegra Pomilio.

Along her itinerary, she visits hotels on well-known picturesque islands-such as the Mystique on Santorini and the Soho Roc House on Mykonos-but also accommodations in remote places like the Mediterraneo on the island of Kastelorizo, which lies in the very southeast of Greece off the Turkish coast. In addition she shows interesting architectural and design concepts, such as The Rou Estate hotel village, a historic, carefully restored hamlet on Corfu; the minimalist Olea All Suite Hotel on Zakynthos; and Ammos on Crete, where no two pieces of furniture are alike and new eccentric pieces are added every year.

From some of the earliest photography, such as Nicephore Niepce's 1827 eight-hour-exposure rooftop picture and Louis Daguerre's famous 1838 street scene, through to Martin Parr, this is as much a history of the medium as a case-by-case analysis of its social, historical, and artistic impact. We take in experimental Surrealist shots of the 1920s and the gritty photorealism of the 1930s, including Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother.

We witness the power-makers (Che Guevara) and the heartbreakers (Marilyn Monroe) as well as the great gamut of human emotions and experiences to which photography bears such vivid witness: from the euphoric Kiss in Front of City Hall (1950) by Doisneau to the horror of Nick Ut's Napalm Against Civilians showing nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc running naked toward the camera from South Vietnamese napalm.

The legend of Jean-Michel Basquiat is as strong as ever. Synonymous with 1980s New York, the artist first appeared in the late 1970s under the tag SAMO, spraying caustic comments and fragmented poems on the walls of the city. He appeared as part of a thriving underground scene of visual arts and graffiti, hip hop, post-punk, and DIY filmmaking, which met in a booming art world. As a painter with a strong personal voice, Basquiat soon broke into the established milieu, exhibiting in galleries around the world.

Basquiat's expressive style was based on raw figures and integrated words and phrases. His work is inspired by a pantheon of luminaries from jazz, boxing, and basketball, with references to arcane history and the politics of street life-so when asked about his subject matter, Basquiat answered "royalty, heroism and the streets." In 1983 he started collaborating with the most famous of art stars, Andy Warhol, and in 1985 was on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. When Basquiat died at the age of 27, he had become one of the most successful artists of his time.

Making stops in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, this edition rounds up some of today s most exceptional and inspiring interiors across six continents. From rustic minimalism to urbane eclecticism, the selection celebrates a global spectrum of styles, united by authenticity, a love of detail, and a zest for individual expression that will never go out of fashion.
Includes interiors in Argentina, Brasil, China, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK, the USA, and many more countries.
With pictures by leading interior photographers including: Xavier Béjot, Pieter Estersohn, Marina Faust, Reto Guntli, François Halard, HieplerBrunier, Ditte Isager, Nikolas Koenig, Ricardo Labougle, Eric Laignel, Åke Lindman, Thomas Loof, Jason Schmidt, Mark Seelen, René Stoeltie, Tim Street-Porter, Vincent Thibert, Simon Upton, Paul Warchol.
About the Series:
Bibliotheca Universalis Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!
Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.
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