Sensual, reflective, glimmering, surreal. The notion of the swimming pool means many things to many people. From the large public pool arenas from the turn of the century to the private, architectural masterpieces of the late 20th century, Kelly Klein’s ‘Pools’ captures the art and majesty of the swimming pool in all it social and radiant beauty. Since it’s original publication in 1992, Kelly Klein’s ‘Pools’ (with a forward by Esther Williams) has been one of the most sought after large format photography books in the out-of-print world. Now, with this new long awaited edition by Rizzoli, the magical aura of the pool is captured again in both luscious and historical photographs from the likes of Jacques Henri Latique, Edward Weston, Herb Ritts, Robert Mapplethorpe, Greg Gorman, Bruce Weber and others. Pools from Beverly Hills to Europe to Japan to San Simeon’s Hearst Castle are depicted in breathtaking spender spanning a full century of coverage in both black and white and color. For someone who didn’t even have a pool at the time of the book’s original publication, Klein has assembled a vast compendium of the scope of the manmade aquatic experience as both a physical pastime as well as an aesthetic window into the liquid life. As a summer treat or as a historical perspective, ‘Pools’ is a welcome refresher and certainly one of the best coffee table art books of the year. - Tim Devine

Plenty of catalogs and art histories have featured the works of Edward Hopper, but what makes EDWARD HOPPER different is this emphasis on his strengths from the 1920s-1940s, when he produced many of his greatest works. A focus on European influences, critical reactions to his productions, his themes and choices, and his special challenges makes for detailed insights on the personality and ambitions of Hopper, while full-page color illustrations – some 150 in all – provide visual emphasis. Perfect for art libraries and for public lending collections seeking even one definitive Hopper coverage. - Midwest Book Review

From a series inspired, no doubt, by Patricia Schultz’s ever-so-popular travel tome, “1000 Places To See Before You Die” (one of our 2003 favorites!), artist and UK art professor Stephen Farthing has assembled a magnificant collection of paintings spanning from 1420 BC to 2006 AD. While one may pick up this 960 page tableweight (some are two to a page) looking for their favorite painters or paintings, you actually come away from it with an expanded curiosity for that which you don’t know more than that which you do. While purusing the work of art icons like Titian, Rubens, Goya, daVinci, Picasso, Wyeth, Johns, et al, one is also struck by the stories behind the paintings as well as their historical relationships to each other and the times from which they came. (For example, the first quarter of the book is dominated by religious iconography from Italy yet the book ends quite up-to-date with famed street artist Banksy and Chinese modernist Zhao Bo.) Did you know that though painted in 1503, the title ‘Mona Lisa’ was not officially used until the 19th Century when the identity of the subject, Lisa Gherardini, was revealed by Vasari? Farthing and his eighty-four contributors have created a stunning overview, though even with it’s 1001 entries, still leaves out many of the world’s most famous works in the name of expanding the historical purvue. While the task of actually seeing more than a fraction of this work (some still reside in private collections though most are within museum reach) seems nearly impossible, the book alone acts as a travelogue revealing the stories behind the painters and the paintings one often only gets to experience when they are actually at an exhibition. Comforting to know, I suppose, that one need not travel to the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway to know that on one copy of his iconic, ‘The Scream”, Edvard Munch actually wrote, “Could only have been painted by a madman.” In fact, the best place to see all 1001 paintings may very well be in this book. - Tim Devine