The first inhabitants of Iceland built their homes from the material that was closest at hand: the earth itself. In the early 20th century, more than half the Icelandic population were still living in turf houses, and a few dozen such buildings remain standing today. Icelanders were not the only northern nation, however, who built their homes of turf and rock: in the North Atlantic region, people were living in earth structures as recently as the early 20th century, although no trace of them remains today except in Iceland. The Icelandic turf house is a remarkable phenomenon in world architectural history. It is part of international cultural heritage, and one of Iceland’s most important contributions to global culture.

British-born actress, singer, director, and producer Ida Lupino (1918-1995) cut one of the most alluring profiles of any Hollywood persona during the forties and fifties. The star of classic films such as They Drive by Night (1940), High Sierra (1941), and Road House (1948), she was a stalwart of the screen throughout her early career and frequently received top billing ahead of stars such as Humphrey Bogart. While her talent was undeniable, her insistence on taking only roles she felt would challenge her professionally often put her at odds with the demands of studio executives. It was in those periods of frustration and suspension as an actor that Lupino fostered a talent for the filmmaking process. In a decision relatively unprecedented for women in her era, she founded her own independent production company where she became widely regarded as one of the most prolific filmmakers working at the height of the Hollywood studio system. She has been described by fellow directors such as Martin Scorsese as "resilient, with a remarkable empathy for the fragile and heartbroken." William Donati's Ida Lupino: A Biography chronicles the dramatic life of one of Hollywood's most substantive and innovative artists who lived her life unapologetically both behind and in front of the camera.

When one thinks of the quintessential Frenchman, one likely pictures Jean Gabin (1904-1976). The son of music hall performers, the Paris-born actor grew up in the entertainment business. His onscreen debut in the 1930's marked the beginning of many memorable roles in films such as La Grande Illusion (1937) and Émile Zola's La Bête Humaine (1938). His performances would earn him international recognition and establish his reputation as one of the greatest stars of film noir. Pausing his performances on screen, Gabin joined the Allied struggle of WWII. Serving under General Charles De Gaulle in the Free French Forces as a tank commander, Gabin was awarded several medals for his service. Upon his return to acting after the war, he became the embodiment of the uniquely French spirit – a persona that would define his future roles. In Jean Gabin: The Actor Who Was France, Joseph Harriss tells the story of this French icon. This well-researched biography documents Gabin's life from his start as a reluctant singer and dancer in Parisian music halls to his rise to film superstardom. Harriss recounts the actor's multi-faceted persona, including his famously fiery temper, his tumultuous love affairs – including a six-year relation with the German star Marlene Dietrich – and his military valor. With this enthralling work, film enthusiasts can gain an appreciation of France's quintessential movie star and his lasting impact on world cinema during its Golden Age.

This beautiful publication presents a catalogue raisonné of Léon Bonvin’s work published in both French and English. Introduced by several illuminating essays and accompanying an exhibition at the Fondation Custodia, this book enriches our understanding of the previously overlooked, yet immensely talented, French artist. Léon Bonvin never enjoyed the same notoriety as his half-brother, Francois (1817–1887), who was a well-regarded realist painter in the nineteenth century. He is characterised from the few remaining sources as misunderstood and ill-fated. As he was struggling to make a living, Bonvin took over his father’s inn in Vaugirard, while continuing to paint watercolours. His work, depicting wild flowers, still lifes and views of the still rural and working-class plain exhibit a deep sincerity. This catalogue raisonné is introduced by a series of essays, the outcome of intensive research that sheds new light on the life and art of Bonvin. Weisberg delivers two essays, a study of his career, and an exploration of contemporary receptions to his art. Luijten’s essay questions the artistic inspiration that Bonvin drew upon. Briggs considers the transatlantic appeal of Bonvin’s works whilst Guichané and Quentin explore his character and artistic practice. The catalogue documents all known works by the artist, which are scattered throughout public and private collections, mainly in the United States of America and France. Among these are many drawings which have never been published before. Together, the essays and comprehensive catalogue of his works, provide an essential foundational knowledge upon which an appreciation of Bonvin’s magnificent oeuvre may be built.

Nick Hornby (b. 1980, London) is one of the leading sculptors of his generation in Britain today, creating works on both intimate and monumental scales, and at the intersection of art history and contemporary technology. Hornby’s practice uses software that allows him to extract, alter and hybridise sculptures from art history into new works made from marble, steel, bronze, resin, wood and composite materials. It could be said that Hornby has opened up a new sculptural language for the twenty-first century.This, his first major monograph, features approximately 175 images, many of which are reproduced here for the first time or have been commissioned for the publication. Alongside documentation of works presented in galleries and outdoor spaces are production images taken in the studio and fabrication workshops. Hornby’s practice is here divided into four categories: Intersections, Extrusions, Hydrographics and Collaborations.A foreword by Luke Syson, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, offers insight into Hornby’s internal and external relationship with sculpture, considering the links between two and three dimensions, abstraction and representation, the ‘real’ and the digital.Editor Matt Price’s introduction takes readers on a whistlestop tour of the artist’s oeuvre, from his early family life and studies at Chelsea and The Slade in London, to his latest major exhibitions and commissions. Price covers a range of significant aspects such as the importance of music and sound, which were key elements of Hornby’s early work, to sculptures made in collaboration with others, and recent pieces combining art history with technology in their design and fabrication.An essay by Dr Hannah Higham, Senior Curator of Collections and Research at the Henry Moore Foundation, provides the most substantial piece of critical writing on Hornby’s work to date, drawing out specific touchstones in the history of art and discussing the relationship between the work and time. Higham further explores the ways that the motion and position of the viewer alter the experience of the sculptures, with new angles revealing fresh artistic inspirations from Hans Arp or Elizabeth Frink to ideas from communities Hornby has worked with and other contemporary artists with whom he has collaborated.An interview with Dr Helen Pheby, Associate Director, Programme, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, probes the artist further about his cultural and theoretical inspirations, methods, materials and ideologies, including his views on collaboration, the public nature of art and its accessibility. Their conversation provides an insight into the thinking of the artist at a crucial stage in his career.The monograph brings together works spanning Hornby’s career for the first time. It follows Hornby’s first institutional solo exhibition at MOSTYN, Wales, and his first permanent outdoor sculptural commission for Harlow Science Park in Essex. The publication is edited by Matt Price, designed by Herman Lelie, printed by EBS, Verona, and published by Anomie, London. Nick Hornby, born in 1980, is a British artist living and working in London. Hornby studied at The Slade School of Art and Chelsea College of Art where he was awarded the UAL Sculpture Prize. In the UK he has exhibited at Tate Britain, Southbank Centre, Leighton House (all London), Cass Sculpture Foundation, Sussex, MOSTYN, Wales, and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. International exhibitions have been held at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York and Poznan Biennale, Poland, along with residencies with Outset, Israel, and Eyebeam, New York. In 2014 Hornby was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors.

From her idyllic childhood in the American midwest, to her Oscar-nominated performance in Sunset Boulevard (1950) and the social circles of New York and Los Angeles, actress Nancy Olson Livingston has lived abundantly. In her memoir, A Front Row Seat, Livingston treats readers to an intimate, charming chronicle of her life as an actress, wife, and mother, and her memories of many of the most notable figures and moments of her time. Livingston shares reminiscences of her marriages to lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner, creator of award-winning musicals Paint Your Wagon, Gigi, and My Fair Lady (which was dedicated to her), and Alan Wendell Livingston, former president of Capitol Records, who created Bozo the Clown and signed legendary musical artists including Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Band and Don McLean. One of the last living actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Livingston shares memorable encounters with countless celebrities – William Holden, Billy Wilder, Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, and John Wayne to name a few – and less pleasant experiences with Howard Hughes and John F. Kennedy that act as reminders of women's long struggle for equality and dignity.Entertaining and engrossing, A Front Row Seat deftly interweaves Livingston's life with her observations of the artists, celebrities, and luminaries with whom she came in contact – a paean to the 20th century and a treasure for readers enamored with a bygone era.

From humble beginnings in Romania, Josef Cretzan went on to become one of the most accomplished glass blowers of the 20th century. For 37 years his knowledge and skills were fundamental in ensuring that Waterford Crystal remained one of the premium glass manufacturers in the world. In the early 1940s, when still only a teenager, Josef journeyed with his family across Central Europe to Germany in a bid to escape the turmoil in Romania brought about by the Second World War and the encroachment of the Russians. He was sent to fight as an infantryman on the Eastern Front with Russia, then served in Rommel’s Afrika Korps in Tobruk, and in Italy fought in the fierce Battle of Monte Cassino. He was wounded on three occasions, and was awarded the Iron Cross for distinguished service. Following the post-war division of Germany into four separate zones, Josef was separated from his father and siblings, who were trapped in the Russian zone. In 1951, an advertisement in a German newspaper brought Josef to the newly established glass factory in Waterford, where he remained for nearly four decades. Uniquely gifted, he created crystal masterpieces that were presented to kings, queens, presidents and dignitaries of all kinds, including a special commission given to Jackie Kennedy for her children. Today, his glass is displayed in some of the most prestigious buildings in the world, including Westminster Abbey in London and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Called the ‘Master of Masters’ by John Hearne in his book Waterford Crystal, Josef Cretzan was a remarkable talent who survived incredible hardship and personal tragedies to hone his craft. Josef Cretzan died in Waterford in 1990.

Russian painter, explorer, and mystic Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) ranks as one of the twentieth century’s great enigmas. Despite mystery and scandal, he left a deep, if understudied, cultural imprint on Russia, Europe, India, and America. As a painter and set designer Roerich was a key figure in Russian art. He became a major player in Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, and with Igor Stravinsky he cocreated The Rite of Spring, a landmark work in the emergence of artistic modernity. His art, his adventures, and his peace activism earned the friendship and admiration of such diverse luminaries as Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, H. G. Wells, Jawaharlal Nehru, Raisa Gorbacheva, and H. P. Lovecraft. But the artist also had a darker side. Stravinsky once said of Roerich that “he ought to have been a mystic or a spy.” He was certainly the former and close enough to the latter to blur any distinction. His travels to Asia, supposedly motivated by artistic interests and archaeological research, were in fact covert attempts to create a pan-Buddhist state encompassing Siberia, Mongolia, and Tibet. His activities in America touched Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s cabinet with scandal and, behind the scenes, affected the course of three US presidential elections. In his lifetime, Roerich baffled foreign affairs ministries and intelligence services in half a dozen countries. He persuaded thousands that he was a humanitarian and divinely inspired thinker - but convinced just as many that he was a fraud or a madman. His story reads like an epic work of fiction and is all the more remarkable for being true. John McCannon’s engaging and scrupulously researched narrative moves beyond traditional perceptions of Roerich as a saint or a villain to show that he was, in many ways, both in equal measure.

American actress Aline MacMahon's youth was spent honing her talents while performing at local events in New York City. After popular stage success on Broadway, she headlined a touring company in Los Angeles, where she was discovered by legendary Hollywood director Mervyn LeRoy and put under contract to Warner Brothers. During the 1930s and 1940s, MacMahon starred in countless films and was among the most influential actors of the era, her talent revered as highly as peers Katherine Hepburn, Paul Muni, and Bette Davis. Her pioneering use of a new acting style brought to America from Russia by Konstantin Stanlisavsky - now widely known as the Method - began a revolution on the screen and made her an industry darling. Although popular with audiences and widely lauded for her versatile, naturalistic style, MacMahon's despair at the lack of challenging roles and fallout from her political activism would soon dim her star in the most tragic of ways. Blacklisted during the Communist Red Scare of the 1950's she became the subject of covert FBI surveillance and was denied work for many years. John Stangeland's biography of this unique actress, Aline MacMahon, offers an insightful look into the life and oeuvre of this largely overlooked talent and how the atmosphere of Hollywood's golden age created an inescapable blueprint for a career nearly destroyed by politics and fear.

Critical Brass tells the story of neofanfarrismo, an explosive carnival brass band community turned activist musical movement in Rio de Janeiro, as Brazil shifted from a country on the rise in the 2000s to one beset by various crises in the 2010s. Though predominantly middle-class, neofanfarristas have creatively adapted the critical theories of carnival to militate for a more democratic city. Illuminating the tangible obstacles to musical movement building, Andrew Snyder argues that festive activism with privileged origins can promote real alternatives to the neoliberal city, but meets many limits and contradictions in a society marked by diverse inequalities. Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, Professor Emerita, NOVA University of Lisbon

Love and Rage is a deeply ethnographic account of punk in Mexico City as it is lived and practiced, connecting the sounds of punk music to different styles of political action. Through compelling first-person accounts, ethnographer Kelley Tatro shows that punk is more than music. It is a lifestyle choice that commits scene participants to experimentation with anarchist politics. Key to that process is the concept of autogestión ("self-management"), a term with deep history in local leftist politics. In detailed vignettes, grounded in historical, social, and political frames, the book shows how punk-scene sounds and practices foster autogestión through intensely affective experiences, understood as manifestations of love and rage. Drawing on the history of anarchism in Mexico City, as well as social movement scholarship, Love and Rage details the pleasures and problems of using music as a tool for creating an autonomous politics.

In Musical Resilience, Shalini Ayyagari shows how professional low-caste musicians from the Thar Desert borderland of Rajasthan, India have skillfully reinvented their cultural and economic value in postcolonial India. Before India's independence in 1947, the Manganiyar community of hereditary musicians were tied to traditional patrons over centuries and through hereditary ties. In postcolonial India, traditional patronage relations faded due to new political conditions, technological shifts, and cultural change. Ayyagari uses resilience, one of the most poignant keywords of our times, to understand how Manganiyar musicians sustain and enliven their cultural significance after the fading of traditional patronage.

This important book presents a comprehensive history of St Bartholomew the Great, the oldest parish church in London. In 2023, the Priory Church and Hospital will celebrate the 900th anniversary of their foundation.At the heart of the Smithfield area, with its hospital, pubs, restaurants and market, is a church built when Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, was King of England. Overlooking the fields where kings confronted rebellions, knights jousted and heretics were burnt, St Bartholomew’s Priory and Hospital played a central role in the history of medieval London.Partially torn down by order of Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Priory was reborn as a parish church. It served the City of London through the tumultuous years of the Reformation and the Civil War and has played host to many of London’s most famous residents. William Hogarth was baptized in its font. Charles Wesley preached in its pulpit. Benjamin Franklin served as a printer’s apprentice in its former Lady Chapel. John Betjeman lived across the street and memorialized it in his poetry.The history of St Bartholomew’s is a tale of miraculous survival and continual renewal. It came out unscathed from the Great Fire of 1666 and the bombs dropped in Zeppelin raids in World War I and during the Blitz in World War II. Its splendid Romanesque core has been added to by each successive generation. This volume – the first comprehensive history of the Church since 1921 – will survey the art, architecture and historical significance of the City of London’s oldest parish church in a scholarly, yet accessible tone. Richly illustrated, this book willappeal to those interested in the history of the City of London, in medieval and Victorian church architecture, in funerary monuments, and in the history of the Church of England.

Accompanying a major exhibition at Philip Mould & Company, Without Hands: The Art of Sarah Biffin presents the work of the remarkable 19th-century disabled artist who has been largely overlooked by art historians. This book and exhibition celebrate her art, life and legacy.Sarah Biffin (1784–1850) came from humble origins yet rose to fame in the 19thcentury as an exceptionally talented miniaturist. As a working-class, disabled female artist, her artworks – many proudly signed “without hands” – are a testament to her talent and life-long determination. Despite her prolific artistic output, Biffin’s life and work has been largely overlooked by art historians – until now.Sarah Biffin was born with the condition ‘phocomelia’, described on her baptism record as ‘born without arms and legs’. She spent her childhood in her family home where she learnt to sew and write. Biffin was later contracted to Mr Dukes, who ran a travelling sideshow, where Biffin would write and paint in front of an audience. The crowds who turned up left with a sample of her writing included in the cost of their ticket.In her mid-twenties she began formal tuition with a miniature painter, William Marshall Craig, and from 1816 she set herself up as an independent artist. Biffin travelled extensively, exhibiting her artwork and taking commissions all over the country, before finally settling in Liverpool. Throughout her long and successful career, she took commissions from nobility and royalty, and recorded her own likeness across the years through exquisitely detailed self-portraits.Working closely with the project’s advisor – artist Alison Lapper MBE (born with the same condition as Sarah Biffin 180 years later) – and consultant and contributor – Professor Essaka Joshua (specialist in Disability Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana) – this publication and exhibition seek to celebrate Biffin as a disabled artist who challenged contemporary attitudes to disability. It is fully illustrated and includes original research.

Anthony Speelman is the doyen of English art dealers specializing in Dutch Golden Age art. Vividly written and handsomely illustrated, his memoirs offer fascinating insight into the sometimes secretive world of Old Masters. This book will appeal not only to dealers, collectors and others in the fine art world, but also to would-be collectors eager for a glimpse behind the curtain. These memoirs cover a lifetime of dealing in Old Masters at the very highest level. Speelman’s career started under the guidance of his father Edward, whose own biography has much to tell. Over the years, Speelman has sold paintings to many of the world’s greatest collectors, including Norton Simon, Paul Mellon, Baron Thyssen, Harold Samuel, Charles Clore and the Wrightsmans in New York, along with world renowned museums such as the Getty, the Louvre and the National Gallery, London, among many others. He writes about his encounters with these eminent bodies in a light-hearted style, sometimes amusing, always extremely interesting – including an anecdote about a recent meeting with a Chinese billionaire with a penchant for fine wine. The two monkeys in the title refer to two paintings of a monkey holding a peach by George Stubbs, the outstanding English animal painter. Anthony describes how he discovered one of these masterpieces as a ‘sleeper’ in a Sotheby’s sale. Early in his career Anthony’s rooms in Piccadilly were broken into and a number of paintings stolen, including a George Stubbs painting of a spaniel. An intriguing tale follows, ending with the paintings recovered some eighteen months later after a failed blackmail attempt on the part of the thieves. Amongst his accomplishments, Speelman was for many years chairman of the vetting committee at the annual Maastricht art fair. He describes the working of the committees which ensure that all works exhibited are correctly described. Still active in the art world, he is currently chairman of the vetting committee of the prestigious annual Masterpiece art fair in London. Other chapters detail Speelman’s travels to California, New York and Paris, his interest in gastronomy and his thrilling adventures in the world of horseracing. The book is beautifully illustrated with examples of works that have passed through the author’s hands. The wide range of illustrations is not limited to Dutch art and includes works by Canaletto, Stubbs, Raphael, Tiepolo, Melendez and other Old Masters.

For almost half a century, celebrated ventriloquist and entertainer Shari Lewis delighted generations of children and adults with the help of her trusted sock puppet sidekick Lamb Chop. For decades, the beloved pair were synonymous with children's television, educating and entrancing their young audience with their symbiotic personalities and their proclivity for song, dance, and the joy of silliness. But as iconic as their television personas were, relatively little inside knowledge has been revealed about Lewis herself and the life-changing moments that led her to the entertainment industry and perhaps, most importantly, to Lamb Chop. Renowned for her skills as a performer, Lewis was an equally skilled businesswoman. Operating in an era when women were largely left out of the conversation, she was one of the few women to run her own television production company. Whether it was singing, dancing, conducting, writing, drawing, or ventriloquism—a skill in which she was virtually unmatched – Lewis spent the entirety of her 65 years in pursuit of performative perfection. Constantly innovating and adapting to the needs of her audience and the market, Lewis extended the longevity of her career decade after decade. Her contributions, and that of Lamb Chop, and the rest of her puppet pals forever changed the history of children's television. Now, two decades after Lewis and Lamb Chop last graced television with their presence, Lewis' daughter Mallory and author Nat Segaloff have set the record straight about the iconic pair in Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop: The Team that Changed Children's Television. In this seminal biography, the pair pull the veritable wool from the eyes of audiences who adored the legendary entertainer to examine the joys, sorrows, triumphs, and sheer hard work that gave Lewis and Lamb Chop their enduring star power.