A spread from the December edition of Elle, which features Open Studio, Anni & Josef Albers, Life Meets Art and Snacky Tunes

Phaidon tops 2020 seasonal gift giudes

The Christmas gift guides are out, and Phaidon is top of the presents pile again

Reading a great book is a joy all year around, but there’s something special about curling up on Christmas Day with a newly acquired edition. If you’re still deciding which new tomes to wrap up and leave under your tree, (or, of course, somebody else's) why not browse through some recent gift guides? They certainly seem to favour quite a few of our titles.

The most popular new books are Anni & Josef Albers, our beautifully presented visual biography of these two pioneers of modernist art and design; Open Studio, our behind-the-scenes look at leading contemporary artists at work in their studios, with original art projects to recreate at home; Spirited, our global celebration of cocktail culture; Flower, our comprehensive survey of flowers throughout art, history, and culture; Exploring the Elements, our child’s guide to the periodic table; and Our World, another highbrow children’s title, this time introducing geography to younger readers.

The Financial Times singles our Anni & Josef Albers for special praise

The Wall Street Journal picked out Flower, Exploring the Elements and The Fashion Book for its holiday gift guide; the New York Times picked out The Jewish Cookbook for its Hanukkah Gift Ideas and Gear for a Lit Holiday; New York magazine, included Flower, Anni & Josef Albers, Art=, and The Best of Nest among its Most Giftable Coffee-Table Books.

Vogue features Open Studio

Elle featured Anni & Josef Albers, Snacky Tunes, Open Studio and Life Meets Art in its rundown of books to lust after; and put Paul Smith in its creative gift picks.

The Financial Times picked out five of our titles. Open Studio and Anni & Josef Albers made its list of the best new art books for autumn; while Nonstop was included in its best new children’s books round-up; and In Memory Of was on its list of Architecture and Design titles.

The Telegraph recommends our book flower to its readers

The Telegraph picked out Flower in its gifts for gardeners; Vogue selected Anni & Josef Albers, Open Studio, Art= for its gift guide; the Robb Report chose Spirited, Living on Vacation, Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses, and Supreme for its list of Gorgeously Illustrated Books That Will Make Anyone’s Coffee Table Look Better; the LA Times chose Anni & Josef Albers and Adrien Dalpayrat for its rundown of the Best Art Books to Spark Creativity; and Southern Living, plucked Flower for its list.

Of course, there is still time to get shopping before Christmas, and plenty of further gift guides yet to be published; but if you want to get ahead, and select a few winning gifts yourself, you can browse through all our currently available titles in our store.

Anni & Josef Albers: Equal and UnequalNicholas Fox Weber

A spectacular and unprecedented visual biography of the leading pioneers and protagonists of modern art and design

Josef - painter, designer, and teacher - and Anni Albers - textile artist and printmaker - are among the twentieth century's most important abstract artists, and this is the first monograph to celebrate the rich creative output and beguiling relationship of these two masters in one elegant volume. It presents their life and work as never before, from their formative years at the Bauhaus in Germany to their remarkable influence at Black Mountain College in the United States through their intensely productive period in Connecticut.

Accessibly written, the book is packed with more than 750 artworks, archival images, and documents - many published here for the first time - all tracing the remarkable lives and careers of this legendary couple.

Dispersed throughout area series of short essays on artists that focuses on the Alberses relationship with a number of important artists and architects of the 20th century, like Ruth Asawa, Marcel Breuer, Merce Cunningham, Philip Johnson, Paul Klee, Jacob Lawrence, and many more.

The beautifully cloth-bound package utilizes an elegant color palette and design that speaks to the work of both artists. This comprehensive visual biography showcases the artists' rich and dynamic lives, and their infinite influence on each other, as they shared the profound conviction that art was central to human existence.

Specifications:

Format: Hardback
Size: 305 × 238 mm (12 × 9 3/8 in)
Pages: 512 pp
Illustrations: 750 illustrations
ISBN: 9781838661427

Nicholas Fox Weber is the director of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. He has written fifteen books, including biographies of Balthus, Le Corbusier, and Freud. Fox Weber's writing has appeared in numerous exhibition catalogs as well as the New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, and Vogue, among other publications.

'Two of the 20th century's most influential abstract artists – Anni, textile designer and printmaker; Josef, painter and graphic designer – are examined in tandem.' – Los Angeles Times

'This handsome, cloth-bound visual biography celebrates the prolific output and fascinating relationship of Anni and Josef Albers, two pioneers of modern art and design.' – Galerie

'An ideal gift for the artist couple on your list.' – The Strategist

'This volume – the first to be fully dedicated to the couple – traces their relationship through rarely seen photographs, collages, paintings and weavings, which form a visual biography of the duo.' – Financial Times, How to Spend It