The Abbeville Press catalog for the Fall 2021 season

Beautiful black-and-white photographs of Santorini taken between 1954 and 1964―depicting idyllic landscapes and traditional island culture

Today Santorini is visited by some 2.5 million people a year. But when Robert McCabe and his brother arrived there in 1954, they were the only visitors on the island. In this collection of stunning photographs from the 1950s and 1960s―reproduced as tritones of surpassing quality―McCabe has recorded the hardscrabble, yet often romantic, life of a vanished era. Picturesque whitewashed houses dug into the volcanic pumice; the harvest of the island’s famous cherry tomatoes; the winding road to the ruins of ancient Thera―all this was captured by his lens..

McCabe’s photographs are complemented by two essays from the noted Greek journalist Margarita Pournara, one poetically evoking her grandmother’s childhood on Santorini and the other explaining the geological forces that have given this volcanic island its dramatic form.

A companion to McCabe’s recent volume on Mykonos, this book will fascinate modern-day visitors to Santorini, as well as those who trace their roots to the Greek islands.

The most comprehensive and best-illustrated history of watercolor painting ever published

The term watercolor calls to mind atmosphere, luminosity, and immediacy―qualities that derive directly from the quick-drying, translucent nature of water-based pigments. In Watercolor: A History, Louvre curator Marie-Pierre Salé provides an authoritative and beautifully illustrated account of this versatile and widely beloved artistic medium.

Salé’s incisive text traces the development of watercolor from the thirteenth to the twentieth century in Europe and the United States, encompassing every type of work―from plein-air sketches to finished studio pieces―and a wide variety of artists. Here are Dürer’s detailed animal studies, Turner’s landscapes, Cézanne’s tireless explorations, Sargent’s light-dappled sketches, O’Keeffe’s pioneering abstractions.

This handsome volume features more than three hundred full-color illustrations, specially printed on Munken paper to capture the vibrancy and texture of the original works. It is sure to be welcomed by art historians and art lovers alike.

An attractive new hardcover edition of the classic biography of Tamara de Lempicka, whose paintings defined Art Deco and whose life epitomized the Jazz Age

Tamara de Lempicka’s paintings defined Art Deco, and her life epitomized the Jazz Age. Possessed of a dazzling talent, a striking beauty, and an irresistible force of personality, this refugee of the Russian Revolution achieved success on her own terms. She conquered 1920s Paris with her polished portraits of the rich and famous and her coolly erotic nudes, and went on to a glamorous existence in Hollywood, New York, Houston, and Cuernavaca, never putting down her brush.

Passion by Design offers an intimate look at a fascinating figure: these are Tamara’s own stories, just as she related them to rapt audiences. They were compiled and edited just after her death by her daughter Kizette, who wove them into a complete life story, incorporating much additional biographical and historical information.

This new edition of Passion by Design is illustrated with an expanded selection of Tamara’s paintings—including a number of little-known works—as well as exclusive photographs from family albums. A new introduction by Marisa de Lempicka, Tamara’s great-granddaughter, explores the legacy of this trailblazing artist, whose paintings now fetch eight-figure sums and whose style continues to inspire creators in every field.

A great American novelist, illustrated by a great American artist—now available in a collectible two-volume set

In 1936, the Heritage Press, a publisher of fine editions, commissioned Norman Rockwell to illustrate Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer; four years later, they asked him to illustrate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well. For each book, Rockwell created eight full-color paintings and numerous pen-and-ink drawings, the product of extensive on-the-ground research in Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. Famously, Rockwell even tried to buy some Hannibal residents’ old clothes, to dress his models in.

For years, the Rockwell editions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have been unavailable in stores. Now, Abbeville Press is proud to reissue them as a handsome new clothbound set. The color plates are reproduced from new photography of Rockwell’s original paintings, the typesetting has been done anew to a high standard, and new introductions—illustrated with Rockwell’s rarely seen preliminary sketches—examine this unique encounter between two legendary chroniclers of America.
Publisher’s note: These volumes present Mark Twain’s text unabridged and unedited, as it appeared in the original American editions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885).

The first-ever history of fantasy art and illustration

For hundreds of years artists have been inspired by the imaginative potential of fantasy. Unlike science fiction, which is based on fact, fantasy presents an impossible reality-a universe where dragons breathe fire, angels battle demons, and magicians weave spells. Published to coincide with a major exhibition, this handsome volume reveals how artists have brought to life mythology, fables, and fairy tales, as well as modern epics like the Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and Final Fantasy.

Written by leading historians of the field, Enchanted traces the development of fantasy art from Old Masters like Bosch, Dürer, and Henry Fuseli, through Golden Age illustrators like Arthur Rackham and Howard Pyle, to classic cover artists like Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo, and emerging talents like Anna Dittmann and Heather Edwards. More than 150 key works-including paintings, prints, drawings, and digital art-are illustrated in vibrant color, many at full-page size. 

Enchanted is a must-have reference for artists and illustrators, and a delight for all lovers of fantasy.