Five New Art Books: From Milan's Bar Craja to Damien Hirst's Mexico City Show

A roundup of five recent art book releases covers diverse topics and eras. The first volume, 'Enrica Craja – Il tempo del Craja. Biografia di un caffè' (Nomos, 2024, €24.90), inaugurates Fondazione C.A.S.V.A.'s Archi series, focusing on Milan's Bar Craja, a 1930s cultural hub near Teatro alla Scala and Galleria del Milione, likened to Vienna's Cabaret Fledermaus and Strasbourg's Café L'Aubette. The second, 'Mattia De Luca – Lucio Fontana. Osvaldo Borsani' (Skira, 2024, €35), examines the collaboration between artist Lucio Fontana and architect-designer Osvaldo Borsani from the late 1940s to the 1950s, highlighting Casa G. The third, 'Jean Cocteau – Scritti sull’arte. Tra genialità e acrobazie' (Christian Marinotti, 2024, €22), collects Cocteau's art writings on Modigliani, Léger, De Chirico, Matisse, Picasso, El Greco, Watteau, and Coco Chanel. The fourth, 'Giorgio Villani – I luoghi degli impressionisti' (Officina Libraria, 2024, €29.70), maps Impressionist sites in Paris, Montmartre, Fontainebleau, and along the Seine, with works by Manet, Monet, and Renoir. The fifth, 'Damien Hirst, To Live Forever (For a While)' (Rizzoli New York, 2024, $60), catalogs Hirst's Mexico City exhibition on death, designed by Teikna Design, with contributions from Ann Gallagher, Alma Montero, Christaine Druml, and Kit Hammonds.