from a new book of Lee Miller photographs to a ‘sexy’ publication of contemporary Indigenous art

Antony Penrose, Lee Miller: Images, Thames & Hudson, £30 (hb)

Lee Miller, the model-turned-Surrealist-turned-World Warfare II correspondent, is having a second. A protracted-awaited new biopic starring Kate Winslet as Miller is due for launch later this 12 months (the multitalented Miller is usually pigeonholed as Man Ray’s assistant however the brand new movie casts her because the protagonist). Winslet has written the foreword to this new quantity which, says the writer, presents “100 of probably the most excellent pictures taken by photographer, mannequin and Surrealist muse Miller”. Her son, the photographer Antony Penrose, has compiled the picture choice which incorporates Jean Cocteau, Palais Royal arcade, Paris, France (1944) and Picnic, Île Sainte-Marguerite, Cannes, France (1937).

Simon Morley, Trendy Portray: A Concise Historical past (World of Artwork), Thames & Hudson, 320pp, £18.99 (pb)

The artwork historian Simon Morley updates Herbert Learn’s historical past of Trendy portray, first printed in 1959. Morley writes within the preface: “This new concise historical past tells a extra inclusive story than Learn’s, one which locations portray in a broader stylistic, historic, geographical, and gender and ethnic body.” Structured chronologically, the evaluation “explores the dramatic transformations and challenges of portray over the previous 250 years”, in accordance with a writer’s assertion. The guide covers areas resembling “the roots of Trendy Portray”, “Cubism to Dada” and “Postmodernism”. Extra lately added artists embrace Hilma af Klint, Fahrelnissa Zeid, Religion Ringgold and Banksy.

Jeffrey Gibson (ed), An Indigenous Current, Delmonico Books/Large NDN Press, 448pp, $75 (hb)

The artist Jeffrey Gibson brings Native North American modern artists to the fore on this survey of indigenous artwork exploring “ideas, types and mediums” by way of greater than 60 practitioners together with Teresa Baker, Natalie Ball and Laakkuluk Williamson.“Traditionally, books about modern Native and Indigenous artwork have typically been composed of educational essays illustrated with artworks by Indigenous makers. The writing typically references beforehand printed texts that may be problematic and outmoded… I wished to make a lavish image guide (‘attractive’ was a phrase I used quite a bit to explain this mission),” Gibson says in an announcement. Gibson was lately introduced because the US consultant on the sixtieth Venice Biennale in 2024.

Paul Olivennes (editor-in-chief), Magma (collection), Magma, 224pp, €60 (hb)

This new annual journal is within the custom of fabled Twentieth-century revues d’artwork resembling Georges Bataille’s Paperwork(1929) and the Surrealism tome Minotaure (1933). “These magazines supplied direct entry to inventive creation. They have been the place for the avant-garde, each inventive and literary,” says Paul Olivennes, the founder and editor-in-chief of Magma. “I wished to revive this format, which has now disappeared, in all its aesthetic, graphic, and mental sophistication.” The inaugural version options 18 artists together with Sophie Calle, Lucas Arruda and Frida Orupabo, together with greater than 80 artworks and literary texts, most of them unpublished.

Saudi Arabia Ministry of Tradition (ed), Scripts and Calligraphy: Paths to the Soul, Skira, 272pp, £43 (hb)

This complete overview of Arabic calligraphy over the centuries analyses the handwriting kind throughout 4 thematic classes: Gentle, Letter, Area and Poetry. “The mission [the book accompanies an exhibition at Riyadh’s Irqah Hospital, until 23 December] gracefully interlaces classical and modern artworks, creating a relentless dialogue between previous and current,” in accordance with a writer’s assertion. Works by greater than 34 calligraphers resembling Nabeel Bukhari, Bayan Barboud and Abdulrahman Elshahed function alongside items by modern artists resembling Timo Nasseri. A spokesperson for Skira says that the writer will “launch quite a few titles over the subsequent a number of years because the official writer of the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Tradition”.