Art gift book ‘Inspiration Venice – Inspiration Venedig’

An Homage to Venice and Marco Polo

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume X

Editor: Kurt Ries

Venice stirs admiration and wonder and exerts a strange power over the imagination. At times its appearance resembles a theater production, at times a mirage from 1001 Nights. Strolling through it feels like sliding into a daydream – shimmering like mother-of-pearl, everything solid dissolves into water and colors. For centuries, the poetic melancholy of the lagoon city has been challenging artists and poets with its magic. Even its name stirs up associations with “Venus” who sprang from the foam of the sea.

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Venice – Lost in an Enchanted Dream

Excerpts from the book “Inspiration Venice”

Venice stirs admiration and wonder and exerts a strange power over the imagination. At times its appearance resembles a theater production, at times a mirage from 1001 Nights. Strolling through it feels like sliding into a daydream – shimmering like mother-of-pearl, everything solid dissolves into water and colors. For centuries, the poetic melancholy of the lagoon city has been challenging artists and poets with its magic. Even its name stirs up associations with “Venus” who sprang from the foam of the sea. As Goethe’s “Venetian Epigrams”, this book also features artworks that lack any direct connection with Venice because inspiration may be expressed in the most diverse facets.

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Art gift book ‘Art Château’

art chateau vernissage with bordeau wine

Vernissage imaginaire with Bordeaux Wine

Book series LOUNGE 1 – volume I

Editor: Gabriele Walter

A festive occasion like an anniversary or a vernissage is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a fine wine. This gave us the idea to create a series of books called “Art Château” celebrating the special relationship between wine and art. Wine as a cultural treasure goes far beyond drinking. Wine cannot be considered a muse, it is however, said that only those who value art, poetry, and music, can truly treasure it. .

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Vernissage with Bordeaux Wine – Art, Wine, Poetry, and Music

Excerpts from the book “Art Château” – vol. 1

Vernissage imaginaire – Invitation to the Opening

A festive occasion like an anniversary or a vernissage is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a fine wine. This gave us the idea to create a series of books called “Art Château” celebrating the special relationship between wine and art. Without question, wine stimulates the imagination – and the exchange of thoughts. We should only pay serious attention, however, to the truly fine wines. The joy of winetasting should not be the result of alcohol. Drinking wine is not about making life fade into the distance – even if this aspect of it tends to be glorified in volumes of brilliant poetry. Wine as a cultural treasure goes far beyond drinking, and many of the landscapes where the grapes are grown enchant us with their quaint historical appeal.

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Table Music by Johann Sebastian Bach

Drinking wine is a sensual journey, and listening to music is said to make it even more enjoyable. Even the grapes themselves love music – as they ripen, they prefer the great symphonies of Beethoven or Mahler, while fermentation makes them long for sacred vocal music and Baroque pieces. Yes – plants are sentient beings, too! While the wine bills of famous composers often mark them as sensual personalities, wine is not the most common subject in classical music.

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From the Winemakers’ Idyll of St. Emilion to the Prehistoric Splendor of Lascaux

Excerpts from the book “Art Château – vol. 1 – Vernissage with Bordeau Wine”

St. Emilion – surrounded by a medieval city wall, even the name of this quaint little town in the Bordeaux wine region breathes spiritual inspiration. Immediately upon entering the town, the stunning ruins of a former Benedictine monastery will tempt visitors to take pictures. The old Franciscan monastery with its gothic cloister with its contemplative combination of ruins and elysian vineyards is another eyecatcher. Like all winemakers around here, the inhabitants bless every path most generously with cases of fine wine. The magic aura of the place will make visitors float through the town’s medieval alleyways. Not a single modern building will disturb their historic sojourn.

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Gift book “Congratulations! – Herzliche Glückwünsche!”

Congratulations! - gift book with flowers and artworks

Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry and Art

Book series LOUNGE 1 – volume I

Editor: Gabriele Walter

Flowers are a gift for every occasion. With gorgeous blossoms, art, and rainbow colors in panoramic format, this unusual gift book will take you on a soothing trip to deep relaxation. The printed flower bouquet was created with love to bring joy to your loved ones. Consciously experience the colors and shapes of the flowers as you breathe them in through your eyes like healing scents.

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Free Christmas card with candle light and haiku poem – Christmas video

With the first beautiful candlelight here the Christmas season has begun, and we wanted to surprise you with two free Christmas greetings cards and a Christmas video with music. You can download the Christmas cards for free, each with a Christmas haiku, and then forward them as email attachments. Surprise dear people with a wonderful gift book! See below!

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Free Christmas greeting cards – Merry Christmas!

You can download the Christmas greeting cards on this website free of charge and send them as email attachments. You can also print them out in color and send them by post. The range of free greeting cards and gift books is continually expanding. Just stop by again!

You are also welcome to send a link to our online book “Congratulations” (Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry, and Art). You can find more information about the book in the foreword. If you wish, you can include relaxing music while viewing the online book. The book is bilingual: English and German.

The relaxing book “Congratulations!“ is also available as a printed gift book.

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Free birthday greeting cards – Happy birthday to you!

You can download the birthday greeting cards on this website free of charge and send them as email attachments. You can also print them out in color and send them by post. The range of free greeting cards and gift books is continually expanding. Just stop by again!

You are also welcome to send a link to our online book “Congratulations” (Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry, and Art). You can find more information about the book in the foreword. If you wish, you can include relaxing music while viewing the online book. The book is bilingual: English and German.

The relaxing book “Congratulations!“ is also available as a printed gift book.

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Free greeting cards for every festive occasion and event – All the best!

You can download the greeting cards for every festive occasion and event on this website free of charge and send them as email attachments. You can also print them out in color and send them by post. The range of free greeting cards and gift books is continually expanding. Just stop by again!

You are also welcome to send a link to our online book “Congratulations” (Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry, and Art). You can find more information about the book in the foreword. If you wish, you can include relaxing music while viewing the online book. The book is bilingual: English and German.

The relaxing book “Congratulations!“ is also available as a printed gift book.

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Free Easter greeting cards – congratulations Happy Easter!

You can download the Easter greeting cards on this website free of charge and send them as email attachments. You can also print them out in color and send them by post. The range of free greeting cards and gift books is continually expanding. Just stop by again!

You are also welcome to send a link to our online book “Congratulations” (Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry, and Art). You can find more information about the book in the foreword. If you wish, you can include relaxing music while viewing the online book. The book is bilingual: English and German.

The relaxing book “Congratulations!“ is also available as a printed gift book.

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Free Valentine’s greetings – Happy Valentine’s Day!

You can download the Valentine’s greeting cards on this website free of charge and send them as email attachments. You can also print them out in color and send them by post. The range of free greeting cards and gift books is continually expanding. Just stop by again!

You are also welcome to send a link to our online book “Congratulations” (Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry, and Art). You can find more information about the book in the foreword. If you wish, you can include relaxing music while viewing the online book. The book is bilingual: English and German.

The relaxing book “Congratulations!“ is also available as a printed gift book.

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Free New Year’s greeting cards – free congratulations Happy New Year!

You can download the New Year greeting cards on this website free of charge and send them as email attachments. You can also print them out in color and send them by post. The range of free greeting cards and gift books is continually expanding. Just stop by again!

You are also welcome to send a link to our online book “Congratulations” (Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry, and Art). You can find more information about the book in the foreword. If you wish, you can include relaxing music while viewing the online book. The book is bilingual: English and German.

The relaxing book “Congratulations!“ is also available as a printed gift book.

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Free wedding greeting cards – Congratulations on your wedding day!

You can download the wedding greeting cards on this website free of charge and send them as email attachments. You can also print them out in color and send them by post. The range of free wedding greeting cards and gift books is continually expanding. Just stop by again!

You are also welcome to send a link to our online book “Congratulations” (Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry, and Art). You can find more information about the book in the foreword. If you wish, you can include relaxing music while viewing the online book. The book is bilingual: English and German.

The relaxing book “Congratulations!“ is also available as a printed gift book.

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Free greeting cards for health – Get well soon!

You can download the greeting cards for health on this website free of charge and send them as email attachments. You can also print them out in color and send them by post. The range of free greeting cards and gift books is continually expanding. Just stop by again!

You are also welcome to send a link to our online book “Congratulations” (Relaxing with Flowers, Colors, Poetry, and Art). You can find more information about the book in the foreword. If you wish, you can include relaxing music while viewing the online book. The book is bilingual: English and German.

The relaxing book “Congratulations!“ is also available as a printed gift book.

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‘Enter into Art’ book design awards 2023

The book design prizes are awarded according to the requirements of the book design, whereby the quality of the works of art naturally plays an important role. These prizes are awarded as part of a book project. The winning images will be selected solely from the participating images in the respective book. In our LOUNGE series we usually have about 50 to 70 participants per book. The artworks of the participants automatically take part in the respective competition.

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Art gift book ‘Magic of La Bohème – Zauber der Bohème’

An Homage to Paris and Puccini

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume IX

Editor: Kurt Ries

Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece “La Bohème” is one of the five most frequently performed operas in the world. Set in Paris, the main reason for its success is that it depicts the actual lives, pains, and loves of artists working without trying to please the public, striving instead to create pure art. Any life governed by such idealistic ambitions is somewhat awe-inspiring. Cherishing the complete creative freedom the bohemians sought, this book predominantly features works unrelated to its title topic.

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Retracing the Paths of Famous Artists and Poets in Paris

Excerpts from the book “Magic of La Bohème”

Critics regard Puccini’s works as sentimental, but the fact of the matter is: They are enchanting! Whilst working on Mimi’s dying scene, Puccini is said to have burst into heavy sobbing. The spiritual and sensory origin of his aesthetic sensitivity was Tuscany. It was in Torre del Lago, a romantic village near Lucca, that he lived and suffered with the heroes and heroines of his operas. “La Bohème” made the maestro world famous. Its success entirely freed him from financial worries. Nevertheless, he continued to hold the bohemian lifestyle in high regard, and even founded a bohemian club. His opera is marked by Baudlairesque anti-bourgeois aesthetics. The composer had read Henry Murger’s novel in one sitting. The subject allowed him to express exactly what he felt inside.

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Art gift book ‘Color Symphonies – Farbsymphonien’

In Memory of Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume VIII

Editor: Kurt Ries

While Gauguin and van Gogh were rather different people, they had some things in common. Besides frequently discussing Buddhist subjects, they shared an intense longing for the south, the sun, and the joy of exotic colors. After reading about the Marquesas Islands, Vincent, too, felt drawn towards the “savage”, now wanting to paint childishly simple pictures like those featured in old peasant calendars. Gauguin had only strengthened his convictions when talking about the suggestive expressiveness of colors.

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Dreams of Color

Excerpts from the book “Color Symphonies for Gauguin and van Gogh”

Without color, life would be gray. This book explores the question why so many people around the world hang reproductions of Vincent van Gogh’s and Paul Gauguin’s paintings on their walls and do not mind waiting in line to see their originals. It is easy to forget that the origin of the artists’ social conflicts was first and foremost a kind of self-sacrifice, as reflected in the color eruptions of their paintings. Brightening daily life with their unconditional artistic passion, the fragrances of the South Sea and La Provence, seeing life as colorful and diverse, and respecting other cultures and their “primitive” ways as a precious asset doubtlessly constitutes their legacy. Both have had a significant influence on modern art and inspired fauvists and expressionists to use strong colors.

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Excellent Art 2022 – Exzellente Kunst 2022 – vol. 3

Book series LOUNGE 3 – volume III

Editor: Gabriele Walter

This art and gift book introduces 47 selected artists from 23 countries around the globe. The interpretations focus mainly on the visible, specific side of paintings, sculptures, and art objects mostly leaving out aspects related to the artists’ résumés. To learn more about the artists, please refer to their respective websites. The book invites art lovers to connect with the artworks themselves. Based on the concept behind Enter-into-Art, feel free to pick a painting, mindfully dwell on it following our instructions for meditative art observation, and relax.

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Voices of the Sea: From Felix Mendelssohn to Claude Debussy

Excerpts from the book “Excellent Art 2022 – vol. 3”

Most pieces of classical music featuring the sea are inspired by composers being shipwrecked, and exhibit a pompous, dynamic style of orchestration. Richard Wagner’s Flying Dutchman and Hector Berlioz’s Le Corsaire are two such examples. In my selection for this book, however, I have chosen to focus on works expressing the beauty and the lyrical element of the sea with its poetic range of sounds.

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‘Enter into Art’ book design awards 2022

The book design prizes are awarded according to the requirements of the book design, whereby the quality of the works of art naturally plays an important role. These prizes are awarded as part of a book project. The winning images will be selected solely from the participating images in the respective book. In our LOUNGE series we usually have about 50 to 70 participants per book. The artworks of the participants automatically take part in the respective competition.

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Architecture as a Synthesis of all Art Forms

Excerpts from the book “Art in Dialogue with Nature”

When Antoni Gaudí took over as main architect of the Sagrada Familia in 1883, his feelings towards Christianity– not unlike those of Daniel Defoe’s fictional hero Robinson Crusoe – were rather ambiguous. His scepticism notwithstanding, he went on to create the monumental stone bible that is now a staple landmark of Barcelona. Inspired by his dedicated study of liturgy and the spiritual dialogue between art and nature, Gaudi finally found his faith as an architect. Similarly, Robinson on his lonely island developed a relationship with God through his conversations with nature.

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Art gift book ‘Art in Dialogue with Nature – Kunst im Dialog mit Natur’

In Memory of Antoni Gaudí and Daniel Defoe

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume VII

Editor: Kurt Ries

When Antoni Gaudí took over as main architect of the Sagrada Familia in 1883, his feelings towards Christianity– not unlike those of Daniel Defoe’s fictional hero Robinson Crusoe – were rather ambiguous. Inspired by his dedicated study of liturgy and the spiritual dialogue between art and nature, Gaudí finally found his faith as an architect. Similarly, Robinson on his lonely island developed a relationship with God through his conversations with nature.

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Art gift book “Animal Worlds of Art – Tierwelten der Kunst”

In Memory of St. Francis of Assisi

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume VI

Editor: Gabriele Walter

St. Francis of Assisi’s considerable impact on art and poetry cannot be questioned. His deeply felt connection with nature exerts a special pull on free-thinking people and functions as a bulwark against irrational zeitgeist and cultural decline. At the occasion of his 840th birthday, this idea brought together 60 artists from 24 countries to honor the saint’s love of animals with contemporary imagery.

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Our unique characteristics – summary of the ‘Enter into Art’ exhibitions, 2016

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Attention is the key to success! If you get no attention, it is hard to deserve something, which is why attention is also known as the leading currency. Nothing ensures lack of success like having no attention. If an artist does not want be lost in the crowd, then he takes care to do something special, something new, spectacular or never done before. With our art installations, we will relieve you not only of this work by offering an exceptional exhibition concept, but also integrate your images within the impetus of attentiveness as a PR concept! 

About the art book

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St. Francis – and Animals in Art History

Excerpts from the book “Animal Worlds of Art”

St. Francis of Assisi’s considerable impact on art and poetry cannot be questioned. His deeply felt connection with nature exerts a special pull on free-thinking people and functions as a bulwark against irrational zeitgeist and cultural decline.

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Art gift book “Odyssey of Life – Odyssee des Lebens – Homage to Homer”

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume V

Editor: Kurt Ries

He believed the “Fountain of Cressida” in Corfu was the place where Nausicaa had washed her laundry, but the island of the Phaeacians remains a dream. The German wholesale merchant Heinrich Schliemann was a cosmopolitan and a genius. Or was he just a dreamer? He sees Homer´s epics mainly as works of art but reads them in his own way. Eventually, he excavates a seafarers´ realm from the Late Helladic period and becomes the father of Mycenaean archeology.

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A Modern Odysseus on the Trail of Homer’s Epics

Excerpts from the book “Odyssey of Life – Homage to Homer”

This book was conceived and planned in early 2021 out of enthusiasm for the art and culture of ancient Greece. Homer has inspired both archeologists and artists from antiquity to the present day. Today, the hill of Hisarlik in western Turkey is considered the actual site of the city of Troy described in his epics. It was the German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822 – 1890) who finally discovered it, even though he initially took a wrong turn, accidentally destroying part of the place he longed so much to discover. To honor the English archeologist Frank Calvert, the monument of the Trojan Horse was erected at the former site of the British consulate. With a clever move, Schliemann got Calvert to hand over his excavation plans to him.

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‘Enter into Art’ book design awards 2021

The book design prizes are awarded according to the requirements of the book design, whereby the quality of the works of art naturally plays an important role. These prizes are awarded as part of a book project. The winning images will be selected solely from the participating images in the respective book. In our LOUNGE series we usually have about 50 to 70 participants per book. The artworks of the participants automatically take part in the respective competition.

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Art gift book “Fairytale Art for Mozart – Märchenhafte Kunst für Mozart”

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume IV

Editor: Gabriele Walter

Fairy tales used to be orally transmitted and kept changing in the process. Also the author of a literary fairy tale is free to let his imagination run wild and create fantastic wonder tales. Based on this idea, at the occasion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 265th birthday and the 230th anniversary of his death, 64 artists from 33 countries came together to honor the world-famous composer with contemporary imagery. It was also 230 years ago that Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” was first performed.

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Book presentations with on-screen show 2022 in Cologne

We are very pleased that – despite the difficult Corona situation – we are able to carry out 6 book presentations with on-screen shows in the Cologne-Kalk cultural center. This applies to the “Enter into Art” books that were published in 2021 with works of art from all over the world.

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Like a Fairy Tale without a Happy Ending

Excerpts from the book “Fairytale Art for Mozart”

Apparently, Mozart’s pet songbird could whistle a few bars of his piano concert in G major (K. 453). Did Mozart live in a magic world we love to hear stories about, even if we find them unbelievable? The prelude to his marriage, too, resembles a love story with obstacles the couple had to overcome to be united. Father Leopold was exasperated when Mozart decided to leave Salzburg and embark on the insecure life of a freelancer. Also, he did not approve of his son’s wife Constanze. Maybe this was why Wolfgang hardly mentioned his father’s passing in 1787, while dedicating a long obituary to his “star songbird”, which died around the same time. If we try to judge Mozart’s life in the simplistic terms of fairy tales, based on our conventional ideas of “good” and “bad”, we inevitably encounter contradictions.

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The magic of public relations

Reputation PR with art books

With the help of reputation or so-called image PR, one can generate public attention quite cheaply and sustainably. Sometimes it goes hand in hand with advertising and yet has to be clearly distinguished from it. The so-called “white PR” works with completely clean methods and is to be understood as a brilliant tool of public relations work. It is considered to be the most important success tool of the new millennium. Above all, extraordinary events play an important role. But do you have to divorce twice a year or hire VIPs and opinion makers in order to make a career as an artist or to increase your level of awareness?

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Living with pictures

Excerpt from the book “Art Retreat 2020-21 – Living with pictures”

Collect, arrange and enjoy art

There are many reasons to collect art: prestige, value and appreciation of the artist’s reputation may play a role for one collector, a personal relationship with the artist, the joy of collecting or the responsibility for art and its promotion for another. In addition, there are those who are profit-oriented, for whom a work of art is primarily an investment without there being a personal, emotional connection or in-depth specialist knowledge.

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En plein air – Claude Monet in Giverny

Excerpts from the book “Flowers for Monet”

Don’t we all long to live like flowers, alive with perfect beauty? The work of Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) is a seed that has firmly taken root in the world’s artistic heritage. As an artist and editor of intercultural art books, the occasion of Monet’s 180th birthday and my visit at his garden in Giverny inspired me to create an homage for him – in the form of a book featuring flower paintings. Flowers possess a lyrical aura; trees are said to be antennae connected with the universe. Rejoicing in the beauty of a flower or a picturesque landscape often makes us feel like we, ourselves, are bursting into bloom. Every flower has a “deva”, a “higher spirit” possessing a mysterious power of attraction that can be further intensified by the spiritual aura of artworks. Like Claude Monet’s Giverny, like his paintings, this gift book, too, emanates its own, unique scent.

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Art gift book “Flowers for Monet – Blumen für Monet”

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume III

Editor: Kurt Ries

Don’t we all long to live like flowers, alive with perfect beauty? The work of Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) is a seed that has firmly taken root in the world’s artistic heritage. It was a trip that inspired Monet to create his radiant garden in Giverny. After traveling through the night, the flower fields in Holland appeared before his eyes like a bright sea of colours, in which the blossoming individual flowers simultaneously dissolved and fully unfolded. Flowers unite the light energy of the sun and the mythical spirit of earth and water. Based on this idea, 67 artists from 29 countries came together at the occasion of Claude Monet’s 180th birthday to honor the well-traveled impressionist with contemporary artistic abundance.

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ART RETREAT Living with Pictures – KUNSTRETREAT Wohnen mit Bildern

Book series ART RETREAT – volume 6

Editor: Gabriele Walter

Small-format pictures from all over the world are not only suitable for an affordable as well as exotic art collection, but also for creating inspired refuges in living spaces. On the occasion of the 6th international “Enter into Art” art competition for the promotion of small-format pictures the art book shows – in addition to exquisite large-format pictures – over 150 works by artists from 36 countries and 5 continents. At the same time it is a poetry book for relaxation with art, poetry and colors.

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Art gift book “Moonlight Sonatas for Beethoven – Mondscheinsonaten für Beethoven”

Book series LOUNGE 2 – volume II

Editor: Kurt Ries

Name a tune you want to listen to again and again, because it goes straight to the heart. Millions on the internet click “Moonlight Sonata” in response to this call. At the same time, both the title and the history of this work have long been subjects of debate. The fact is that Beethoven reversed the conventional sequence of the first and the second movement, thus breaking with the classical sonata form, which may explain this word choice of “fantasy” in the original title. Based on this idea, 69 artists from 26 countries got together at the occasion of Beethoven’s 250th birthday and – with boundless sensitivity – interpreted the “Moonlight Sonata” in visual terms. 

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George Sand and Frédéric Chopin on the Isle of Majorca

Excerpt from the book “Art Retreat 2020-21 – Living with pictures”

One chapter of the book “Art Retreat 2020-21” is dedicated to the 210th anniversary of birth of the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. During his stay with the French writer George Sand on the island of Mallorca, he wrote the world-famous “Rainbow Prelude”. Chopin’s dreamy Mallorca pieces flow into the creative contemplation of the pictures as musical recommendations. The editor of the book has assigned a selection of Chopin’s Mallorca Preludes op. 28 to the colors, both according to their key and according to their musical statement. Chopin had a copy of the preludes from the “Well-Tempered Piano” of Johann Sebastian Bach in his luggage and was inspired by it. It starts with C major and moves clockwise through the circle of fifths, which basically corresponds to the tonal order of colors in this book. When leafing through the color chapters, readers experience a relaxing effect. The shortness of the Préludes allows small-format paintings and haiku poems equally to appear often only as snapshots of a mood.

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