First published in 1880, same year as Edgar Degas' The Dancing Lesson and Edouard Manet's solo show of brasserie paintings at La Vie Moderne gallery, J.-K. Huysmans' Parisian Sketches shares with these vibrant Impressionist works a fascination with the contemporary life of Paris, an exuberant Paris in the era of the Opera Garnier and the Folies-Bergeres. Like the striking images of the early Impressionists, whom Huysmans championed when it was unfashionable to do so, Parisian Sketches is an all-out assault on the visual senses. Composed of a series of intense, meticulously observed impressions - of cafe concerts and circus performers, of streetwalkers and hot-chestnut sellers, of run-down slums and forgotten quarters in the grimy, shiny 'City of Light'- Parisian Sketches recreates the Paris of the bal masque and the cancan, the brasseries à femme and the buveurs d'absinthe, all captured with an intimacy and an immediacy that confirms Huysmans as one of the masters of 19th century French prose.

"No one, not even Toulouse-Lautrec, was so tireless a tracker of Paris�s genius loci as Huysmans. Like many of his radical contemporaries, he was obsessed by the idea of beauty within the ugliness of back-street Paris, by the thought that the distortions of depravity presented a truer picture of our spiritual nature than conventional religion or revolutionary excess. The excellent introduction to these cameos show how Huysmans saw his art as complementary to the painter�s. As the stories themselves testify, however, the results were not always successful. Compare for example, the sharp impressionistic portrayal of 'A Streetwalker' with the hazy, self-regarding raptures of 'The Overture to Tannhauser', a hyperventilating review characterised by sonorous phrases which pile up and collapse. But his symbolist mode yields as many rockets as damp squibs: 'A Nightmare' is genuinely chilling and oddly exultant. A tale about the wandering Jew is a mini-masterpiece. In this and other pieces, Huysmans begins and ends his tale with the same description - giving the whole the air of a medieval chant." Murrough Obrien in The Independent on Sunday

Edmund White’s charming, funny, telling series of vignettes of the Paris neighborhood where he and his lover, French architect and illustrator Hubert Sorin, lived. In this ode to Pairs, the everyday becomes extraordinary with White’s observations accompanied by Sorin’s illustrations. With characters like Father Pierre Riches, the “kind and elegant” catholic priest whose hair had been stroked by Cavafy, to Billy Boy, the jewelry designer with 16,000 Barbies, there is delightful eccentricity to this collaboration. Written during Sorin’s decline to AIDS, Our Paris is a poignant look at the couple and the city they loved.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1883.

At the turn of the 20th century, artists and craftsmen throughout Europe and America were profoundly affected by a new art style that took its inspiration from nature. Generally referred to as Art Nouveau, the trend influenced all manner of creative types, from painters, illustrators, and architects to ironworkers, interior decorators, and designers of furniture and jewelry. Although broad and varied, the style is almost uniformly characterized by abstract, asymmetrical, curvilinear design. This "new art" both elevated the status of crafts to fine arts and brought objects into a harmonious relationship with their environment through the use of lines that were natural, vital, and, most importantly, organic. The decorative images in this volume, reproduced from a rare 1902 portfolio, reflect the era's exotic and imaginative approach to architecture and applied design. Sixty plates, 12 in full color and many with partial and varied color, exhibit the influence of the artwork of naturalist Ernst Haeckel on artist René Binet's designs, especially as related to Binet's "Monumental Door," prepared for the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. Illustrations reflecting the styles of Art Nouveau include a wealth of examples that range from doorbells and keys to stairways, fountains, jewelry, ceramics, and other items. Graphic designers, illustrators, architects, artists, and crafters will find this volume a rich source of ornamental ideas, authentic motifs, and design inspiration.

Paris is seen through the eyes of artist Fabrice Moireau, with sketches in watercolor and pencil perfectly matched by an introduction by Mary A. Kelly. These residents of the world's most romantic capital city are the perfect guides to its streets, monuments, gardens and delightfully hidden corners.

A visual exploration of the Paris dining scene, with stories, guides, and recommendations from everyday patrons and famous aficionados alike Paris is a city like no other, beloved by travelers the world over for its incomparable architecture, atmosphere, arts, and, of course, food. The restaurants of Paris are rich with history, culture, and flavor. Whether you're a frequent visitor to the City of Light with memories of your favorite meals or an armchair traveler dreaming of the cuisine you could discover there, A Table in Paris will take you on a delicious visual journey through the arrondissements that you'll never forget. In his signature loose and evocative style, artist John Donohue has rendered an incredible sampling of the iconic institutions, hidden gems, and everything in between that make the Paris dining scene one of a kind. Guided by recommendations from a breadth of locals, visitors, and experts, you’ll discover the places one must visit and the dishes one must sample in pursuit of the perfect Parisian meal. The book also offers space for your Paris dining bucket list, food memories or dreams from each arrondissement, and notes on the establishments featured. Restaurants hold a powerful place in our hearts, and A Table in Paris is a must-have for anyone with epicurean visions of Paris in theirs.