Experience the force, mystery, and beauty of the ocean and seas through more than 300 images – featuring underwater photography, oceanographic maps and scientific illustrations, as well as paintings, sculptures and popular films.

Oceanography and art collide in this visual celebration of humans’ relationship with the marine world. From early nautical cartography, scientific illustrations and astounding maps of the ocean floor to ancient Roman mosaics, Japanese woodblock prints and pop-culture ephemera Ocean takes readers across continents and cultures, spanning more than 3,000 years of history.

Vivid, full-page images reveal prehistoric marine creatures and fossils, mysterious flora and fauna, mythical creatures of the deep and surfing icons of today. Explore the diverse groups of fish and coral on the Great Barrier Reef, jellyfish from the deepest location on Earth and life in the polar waters of the Arctic and Antarctic. Learn about the dangers facing our planet’s oceans due to climate change activity and the dedicated efforts of conservationists to benefit our underwater ecosystems.

Developed with a panel of marine biologists, research scientists, conservationists, photographers, museum curators and experts from organizations including the Wildlife Conservation Society and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Ocean illustrates Sylvia Earle’s observation: ‘Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.

Featured artists, designers, explorers, photographers and other creators include: Mary Anning, Brian Skerry, Jacques Cousteau, David Doubilet, Sylvia Earle, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Katsushika Hokusai, Esther Horvath, NASA, Sebastião Salgado, Vincent van Gogh, Yayoi Kusama, Eileen Agar, Edward Burtynsky, Ray Eames, Ernst Haeckel, Kerry James Marshall, Greg Lecoeur, Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Catherine Opie.

This stunningly illustrated survey brings together more than 100 of the most innovative and interesting contemporary artists working across all media and spanning the globe. These are tomorrow’s art superstars as chosen by the future leaders of the art world: the curators, writers, and academics with their fingers on the pulse of contemporary art and culture.  

Artists featured include:  Lawrence Abu Hamdan; Farah Al Qasimi; Korakrit Arunanondchai; Firelei Báez; Meriem Bennani; Amoako Boafo; Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley; Jordan Casteel; Jesse Darling; Jadé Fadojutimi; Louis Fratino; Lauren Halsey; Kudzanai-Violet Hwami; Joy Labinjo; Lina Lapelyte; Carolyn Lazard; Ad Minoliti; Tyler Mitchell; Toyin Ojih Odutola; Ima-Abasi Okon; Thao Nguyen Phan; Christina Quarles; Tschabalala Self; Paul Mpagi Sepuya; Shen Xin; Avery Singer; Martine Syms; Salman Toor; Zadie Xa

The 100+ nominators originate from institutions including:  Baltimore Museum of Art; Bellas Artes Projects (Manila); ESPAC (Mexico City); The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (Ho Chi Minh City); KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin); MoMA (New York); Museo de Arte Moderno (Medellín); Museums Victoria (Melbourne); RAW Material Company (Dakar); Sharjah Art Foundation; Studio Museum in Harlem (New York); Tai Kwun Contemporary (Hong Kong); Tate Modern (London); Whitechapel Gallery (London); Whitney Museum of American Art (New York); and X Museum (Beijing)

‘Fascinating facts and illuminating anecdotes.’ – The Art Newspaper

The perfect miscellany for every art lover – an essential and engaging collection of facts, figures, and findings about art, artists, and the art world, past and present

This extraordinary compendium of compelling facts, figures, and findings gathers and distils obscure and fascinating information about art, artists, and the art world. Fun, surprising, and compelling, in this covetable book you will learn:

– which artist’s work is stolen most often (Picasso)
– names of artists’ pets: Fat Fat & Cous-Cous (Louise Nevelson’s cats), Giotto and Goya (John Baldessari’s dogs)
– artist couples (Nancy Rubins and Chris Burden; Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely; Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst)
– things artists collect: prosthetic arms and legs (Sophie Calle), glass eyes (Hiroshi Sugimoto)
– odd jobs and side hustles: telephone marketer (Tomma Abts), crop duster (James Turrell)
– artists who were rejected from art school (Francisco Goya, Auguste Rodin)

… and hundreds of other miscellaneous details. Thoughtfully and thoroughly researched, this intriguing book offers refreshing and surprising perspectives on the world of art.

The five page-turning chapters cover:
– Artists
– Art School
– Art Studio
– Art Museum
– Art World

‘Wonderfully illustrated.’ – Wall Street Journal

Let your imagination take flight and celebrate the beauty and diversity of birds throughout art, science, history, and culture

This visually stunning survey of birds, chronicling their scientific and popular appeal throughout the ages and around the world, showcases the remarkable diversity of species in the avian kingdom, from tiny hummingbirds to ostriches taller than humans, and icebound penguins to tropical macaws.

With its content curated alongside an international panel of ornithologists, art historians, wildlife photographers, conservationists, and curators, this extraordinary book includes illustrations and artwork of all styles, with works by a diverse and often surprising range of creators from many different backgrounds, including: John James Audubon; Robert Clark; Mark Dion; Charley Harper; Barbara Kruger; Edward Lear; Ustad Mansur; John Ruskin; Joel Sartore; Sarah Stone; and Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe.

Arranged in thoughtfully paired juxtapositions, it reveals how artists, illustrators, ornithologists, and photographers – from ancient Egypt to the present – have captured the spirit, likeness, character, and symbolism of birds. Including Tweety pie paired with the Twitter bird; birds as 300-foot desert carvings or 2-inch-tall ivory statuettes; bird bones, bird bank notes, sculptures and birds shaped as beds, the book’s three hundred visually stunning entries span four thousand years of fine art, photography, ornithological drawings, popular culture, and scientific discovery from all corners of the globe to create the ultimate celebration of the winged world.

Advisory panel: Dawn Balmer, Tim Birkhead FRS, Dr Alexander Bond, Gordon Campbell, Dr Sylke Frahnert, Joëlle Garcia, Elizabeth Hammer, David Lindo aka The Urban Birder, Jen Lobo, Fred G. Meijer, Sabine Meyer, Penny Olsen, Oliver Rampley, Katrina van Grouw and Dr Lisanne Wepler

Additional texts: Giovanni Aloi, Sara Bader, Dr Alex Bond, Dr Michael Brooke, Tim Cooke, Clare Coulson, Nick Crumpton, Louisa Elderton, Diane Fortenberry, Carolyn Fry, Elizabeth Hammer, David Lindo, Fred G. Meijer, David B Miller, Rebecca Morrill, Penny Olsen, Michele Robecchi, Gill Saunders, James Smith, David Trigg, Katrina van Grouw, Martin Walters, Isabella Wing-Davey and Dr Lisanne Wepler