Exhibition Catalogs
Every year innumerable exhibition catalogues come to life. It would be fun to pack up and travel to see the shows, but a beautifully printed catalog with fantastic reproductions is the next best thing.
The world of publishing is part of SCALA’s DNA. The company’s full name was Scala Istituto Editoriale (publishing institute) and the aim of the publications was that of promoting the study of art history through texts by esteemed authors and color reproductions in the highest quality and accuracy. It is clear how important it is to be able to quickly identify the right images, to be assured of the quality and accuracy of the image files, and to receive them with speed and ease. Expert advice is available should editors or graphic designers have questions or technical requests for files to be reshot or prepared according to different specs. Assistance is always available, whether it be for a luxurious extra large sized coffee table book or for a children’s sticker book.
Every year innumerable exhibition catalogues come to life. It would be fun to pack up and travel to see the shows, but a beautifully printed catalog with fantastic reproductions is the next best thing.
Every year numerous projects commemorate upcoming anniversaries or specific events. The commemoration of the 700th year from the death of Dante Alighieri, the father of the Italian language, was among the most interesting . A large number of volumes were created, with material spanning from medieval manuscripts to contemporary illustrations of the Divine Comedy. It was fascinating to see how many artists in the centuries had been interested and had interpreted that famous literary work, as well as all the collateral content used to make the volumes richer and more informative.
Whether an artist’s oeuvre was small, as in Antonello da Messina’s case, or vast, as in Canaletto’s case, the necessary images can be provided. Every year sees the creation of innumerable monographs and many catalog raisonnés. The art historians among the staff play a crucial role in chasing down works in private collections and the photo lab in creating specific files to show even minute details deemed important by authors and editors.
Beautiful volumes that slowly emerge from their encased protective layer; boxed books often seem as small treasures. One never tires of seeing them come to life.
When the volumes needs to be large the images need to be impeccable in quality and large in size. Being able to request the assistance of an expert photo lab, to access large transparencies, or request reshooting, ensure impeccable quality for even very large format books and large reproductions.
You cannot judge a book by its cover. That is true… but everyone still wants the perfect cover; that which will grab the attention of the reader while also connecting with or hinting at the content of the volume.
The great history of art or the history of design, the great moments in history, the great photographers, the history of architecture or of furniture, these are only a few of the many themes which were turned into sets of volumes and series. The variety and richness of an archive can mean ease and speed in new themes and series to suggest!
Some series are created expressly as collateral to newspapers, but are not less interesting or beautiful because of it.
From museums’ art focused magazines to the news related magazines, from large print run mass market to scholarly, from the USA to Japan… the variety of magazines is astounding.
Artworks from known collections and museums are sometimes a good comparisons to those being sold at auction. They help visually explain the similarities, clarify timelines and complete the information being provided to readers and buyers.
Not all is fun and games. Behind the often light hearted and colorful children’s books and magazines lies hard work and responsibility. Engaging and drawing children into the various depicted worlds is the key to setting them along the path of becoming readers and fosters the ability to learn the tools to become well rounded healthy adults.
Every year tens of thousands of images are used to illustrate traditional texbooks; and now as many video and audio clips covering art and history are also available to enrich and enliven the digital versions of textbooks or educational platforms.
Just because they are sticker books does not mean they cannot also have a highly educational value! There are some fantastic examples.
Below are only a few of the latest projects that used Scala content.
