Thursday, January 12, 2023

Inspiration, Illumination and Delight: My Favorite New Design, Style and Art Books

From the season’s best books, I’ve selected the essentials, the soulful new collectible books to add to your library. These are singular books to re-read for years of pleasure, ideas, reference, nostalgia, information and thrills.

My favorites include books by and about design icons…Jean-Louis Deniot, Stephen Stills, Jacques Grange, Suzanne Tucker… and shimmering talents. Images and ideas leap off the page. Pure beauty and bravura, each volume is sexy and subversive and opinionated, ‘Irreverent’ even. Every book is idiosyncratic, style shaping and certain to become a cult item.

Constant themes and threads running throughout these luscious books— are beauty, daring invention, history, classicism, originality, quality, passion.

Come with me for a flick through the pages of the new best books. For book collectors and aesthetes, this list is…sex on toast.




Destinations Jean-Louis Deniot 

Text by Pamela Golbin


With exceptionally beautiful photography, Jean-Louis Deniot’s second book is a series of project-by-project conversations between the designer and author Pamela Golbin, Destinations takes the reader around the world to eighteen destinations show-casing never-before-published international projects, from his own handsome new Paris office, tropical retreats in Miami, Manhattan aeries, and the interior of a private jet in Aspen, to an elegant townhouse inLondon, an Italian waterfront villa, and projects in Colombia, India, Russia, and Morocco.

Essential reading for obsessive fans of Deniot's work and the Francophile dreamer looking for inspiration. 








Jean-Louis Deniot has spent almost three decades creating an impressive range of architecture and interiors across the globe. In the 320 pages of his new book he deftly reveals classicism and the avant-garde, and creates a highly eclectic framework of international style. His skill and understanding of the vocabulary and practicalities of design give depth to each interior. The theatrical tour de force of his dramatic penthouse soaring high above Miami is burned into my brain. Virtuoso.

Published by Rizzoli. Photography by Jonny Valiant, Anita Calero, Sophie Delaporte







Stephen Sills A Vision for Design

Text by David Netto

Stephen Stills, based in New York, is one of the most dynamic, consistent and influential interior designers today. This superbly produced book offers images of his newest work, with muscular topics examined and revealed, including art, classical architecture, the importance of craft, creating landscape, and design goals for many types of rooms, from primary to functional. The book also features reflections on decades of evolution of Sills’ style.






The designer’s creative collaborators for the book include longtime client, Tina Turner; text by David Netto, and a conversation on gardens with Sills’ longtime friend and neighbor, Martha Stewart. A book about Stephen Sills must show his own residences…and it is always his own houses that feel the most expressive, artful and ‘just right.

I admire his work, and have been following him since his first apartment in New York was published. The living room, all in ivory, with a classical marble fireplace, and just a few beautiful sculptures and chairs, has always seemed the empyrean Manhattan bachelor apartment décor.

Published by Rizzoli







Knole A Private View of One of Britain’s Great Houses

by Robert Sackville-West


The Sackville family has inhabited and enhanced Knole, in Kent, for more than four hundred years.

In this dazzlingly original book, Robert Sackville-West, the thirteenth generation of the family, offers an enlightening tour of his country estate. Ashley Hicks, noted English photographer and sculptor, recorded the 365 rooms in all seasons, and giving great insight into the characters and actions of English history. 









The Knole text demonstrates and illuminates the tide of fate and family, the style and theatricality of each century, and the back-story of each chair and tassel and flourish. Most enjoyable and absorbing reading for those who love English history. Brilliant and visionary leaders and poets and statesmen and noble women take center stage. ‘Knole’ is a juicy study. Tip: when spring bursts forth, and the hedgerows of Kent are blooming, take a train south of London to Kent to visit Knole. You may be wandering alone beneath the oak boughs and archways, if you are especially fortunate. Poetic. I’ve encountered the beauty of Knole. I can’t wait to return.

Published by Rizzoli/Electa







Deeda Blair Food, Flowers and Fantasy

Edited by Deborah Needleman


Deeda Blair—genius medical fundraiser and style trend-setter for many decades—opens her doors and invites readers into her domain.

On every chic page of this delicious and highly original book, readers will discover Deeda sharing coveted recipes and ideas for entertaining and setting tables honed over the course of an illustrious and glamorous life. 



Deeda sightseeing along the Dalmatian coast, 1960s. Snapshot by Cecil Beaton, a guest on the trip.


Blair also reveals how readers can develop their own taste and unique personal style through anecdotes and examples gleaned from friends like decorator Billy Baldwin, designer Hubert de Givenchy and collector Jayne Wrightsman.

Central to the narrative are six “fantasy meals,” that includes slender menus, recipes, table settings, and floral arrangements inspired by the people and places that have contributed to the evolution of Blair’s own style and experience as a hostess.








Among the places that have deeply inspired her aesthetic are masterpieces of design and decoration such as the Haga Pavilion in Sweden and Pavlovsk Palace in Russia. She reveals the private residences where she was a guest, such as Rory Cameron’s villa in the south of France and Givenchy’s chateau in the Loire Valley. Each meal is set in Blair’s serene New York apartment, captured by Ngoc Minh Ngo’s evocative photography of the imaginative tables Blair sets for the dishes she has been perfecting over decades of entertaining.


The great Deborah Needleman collaborated with Blair on this book, capturing her enchanting vision for entertaining. Exquisite photography by Ngoc Minh Ngo.

Published by Rizzoli







Mark Rothko


This revelatory volume examines the brilliance of Mark Rothko (1903–1970), 
a pioneer of the New York School and major figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement. Written by the artist’s daughter Kate Rothko Prizel and his son Christopher Rothko, the book reveals the paintings and intimate knowledge of the artworks and the artist’s life. Together they give a fuller picture of their father and his place within the context of art history. 










It’s an in-depth portrait—the man and his work— introducing personal details which enlighten. Beautifully illustrated with more than 275 images that explore his paintings, prints, and works on paper,Mark Rothko reveals the arc of his career and highlights his best-known and lesser-known works. Never-before images of his early figurative and Surrealist works are shown, all leading up to the magnificent and mesmerizing color-field paintings of immense scale. Definitive. A treasure.

Published by Rizzoli/Electa







Jacques Grange Recent Work 

by Pierre Passebon, with photography by Francois Halard


At 376 pages, this substantial book offers a feast of Jacques Grange’s international work.

Over the course of his five-decade career, Jacques Grange has designed for a who’s who of the world's most respected and daring collectors, artists, designers, and tastemakers, including Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, François Pinault, Valentino, Israel Englander, Stavros Niarchos, Terry and Jean de Gunzburg, Lauren and Andres Santo Domingo, Aerin Lauder, and HRH the Princess of Hanover. 









Grange's seemingly natural, "non-designed" aesthetic—at once simple and sophisticated, lavish and comfortable—manifests itself through a virtuoso combinations of materials and colors. Each room reveals his signature way of casually grouping objects, and his unparalleled attention to detail. Each interior offers a portrait and biography of the owners and their dynamic art. Bravo, Jacques Grange.

Published by Flammarion



CALIFORNIA AT ITS BEST



Inventing The California Look Through the Lens of Fred Lyon

by Philip E. Meza


The collaboration of photographer Fred Lyon, Philip E. Meza, and the editors of Rizzoli is a brilliant one. In this highly enlightening grand volume, the concept of ‘the California Look’ is presented with panache and deep knowledge.

Fred Lyon enjoyed one of the longest careers of any photographer in the world—starting out before the war in the late thirties…and working non-stop until 2022, when he died at the age of 96, still planning and publishing new books. Beloved, admired. Missed. 









Architecture, wineries, travel imagery, fashion, style and his own personal monographs of San Francisco scenes. The quality of his exceptional photography captured the best of interiors by Frances Elkins, Michael Taylor, John Dickinson and Anthony Hale. Their timeless, classical and covetable designs are the highlight of this immensely stylish book.




Philip E. Meza was a close friend of Lyon, and his insightful texts and vivid research give this era of California design excitement and immediacy. An essential reference and inspiration. 

Published by Rizzoli







Suzanne Tucker Extraordinary Interiors 


In this beautiful volume, Suzanne Tucker’s third book, the San Francisco designer displays and demonstrates her versatility, her emphatic attention to detail, and her total mastery of her art and craft.


Throughout the 290 pages of this book, Suzanne Tucker has created ten magnificent estates; mountain lodges, San Francisco penthouses and villas, and a series of family residences that will all nurture and inspire generations.

In particular, Suzanne is obsessive about scale, proportion, harmony and balance in all of her rooms. Viewing the outstanding photographs by Roger Davies a reader is taken on a tour of each property, each with its own idiom and vocabulary.








Is there a penthouse or majestic apartment or residence in San Francisco that Suzanne Tucker has not designed? I studied each page—recognizing the interiors, the clients, their views, their hilltop locations and the allure of their architecture. Perfection is poised on each page, and Suzanne’s great sense of location, honoring the site.

Some of the favorite and most dynamic residences have been created with architect Andrew Skurman, a perfect partnership that results in décor and interior architecture of exceptional grace and beauty. Bravo, Suzanne, Long may you design in San Francisco and throughout the US.

Published by Monacelli Press







Soul Interiors by Orlando Diaz Azcuy

by Jose Arango 


I’ve been following the impressive career of Orlando Diaz-Azcuy with admiration. Now he has passed on his firm, Orlando Diaz-Azcuy Designs to his partners, David Oldroyd and Greg Stewart and the firm is renamed ODADA.

At 85, Orlando continues to work closely with clients. He creates modernist interior architecture and décor across the US, including Miami and Long Island and Carmel. His new book, Soul Interiors by Orlando Diaz-Azcuy from Rizzoli confirms the refinement, originality, and integrity that are his design signatures for the last sixty years. 








The book includes signature interiors designed by Orlando, in close collaboration with David Oldroyd and Greg Stewart. Their range of work—usually informed by Modernism—demonstrates that modernist inspirations have no boundaries.

Published by Rizzoli. Photography by Matthew Millman, Nathan Kirkman







Currently Classic Jonathan Rachman Design

Text by Dean Rhys Morgan


Designer Jonathan Rachman has been a bright spark and lively creator on the design scene in San Francisco for three decades. Witty and bold, he designs rooms of charm and delight, and collections.

For Flammarion he has produced a vivid and memorable first monograph…including his famous decorator showcase confections, many of them an ode to the beauties of de Gournay wallpaper.

Jonathan, who was born in Sumatra, brings his worldly experience of studies in Switzerland, flea-market collecting in Paris and London, and an obsession with de Gournay’s exceptionally delicious hand-painted wallpapers.








With wit and roster of talented artists and craftspeople and international creators, Jonathan has blazed a new trail, and new directions, vibrant and ever-evolving. His new book is like a colorful diary, international in scope and free-wheeling in style. Bravo, Jonathan.

Published by Flammarion







Cocktails with a Curator The Frick Collection

By Xavier F. Salomon, with Aimee Ng and Giulio Dalvit
Foreword by Simon Schama, Illustrated by Luis Serrano


Based on the critically acclaimed Frick Madison video series of the same name, Cocktails with a Curator presents the engaging histories of works of the Frick Collection, art paired with creatively inspired cocktails. These Frick Friday afternoon live shows were my highlight of the Covid lockdown era. Culture, elegance, escape, wit, beauty. I love this book…with happy memories of Xavier and Aimee.

The book offers a crash course in art history and a delightful introduction to the treasures of the esteemed New York collection. Each video, and correspondingly each chapter of this book, presents a fresh take on a highlight from the collection, offered with individual and timely perspectives by the Frick’s dynamic curatorial team. Paintings, sculpture, furniture, and porcelain—from the Middle Ages into the early twentieth century—are discussed for their exemplary features.

Published by Rizzoli/Electa







Autour de L’Insolite

by Jonathon Keats


Gallery owner, Martin Muller, founder of Modernism gallery in San Francisco, is also a highly devoted independent art book publisher.

For the last four decades he has published very ultra-insider collectible books on surrealism, artists’ monographs by the dozen, as well as arcane and beautiful books on Russian art movements like Suprematism, and limited edition artists’ biographies. Each one has a singular voice, and each is a treasure.

Recently Martin (with Jonathon Keats) published the glorious ‘Autour de L’insolite’ subtitled ‘The Beautiful is always Bizarre’ and focusing on surrealism and black and white photography and paintings and constructions of great originality, mystery and beauty. Bravo, Martin and Jonathon, Danielle and Asa.

Highly inspiring. 

Published by Modernism Inc.





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