17 Coffee Table Books You Need In 2017

The 1970s cookbook that surrealist painter Salvador Dalí created with his wife Gala is unsurprisingly bonkers, featuring 136 recipes with dreamlike illustrations by the artist, and including a chapter specifically dedicated to aphrodisiacs. Reissued by Taschen late last year, this rare book is certain to make great dinner party conversation in 2017.

Design*Sponge founder Grace Bonney’s In the Company of Women features profiles of a broad cross-section of more than 100 inspiring, creative, successful women – from Rookie editor Tavi Gevinson to Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of New York’s The Studio Museum. As well as actionable advice for realising your dreams, it is filled with frame-worthy photographs of the women in question.

Benjamin Grant’s best-selling book Overview consists of 200 photographs of various locations on earth, all taken from above. Having begun on Instagram, his satellite imagery project is an attempt to replicate the sense of detachment felt by astronauts when looking down on the planet, which can help us all to better appreciate its many wonders – and the impact humans have on them.

Following on from a popular exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, Cornelia’s Lauf’s Wall to Wall: Carpets by Artists – coming in February 2017 – showcases collaborations between well-known artists and weavers. Included are giants of the contemporary art world such as Chuck Close and Andy Warhol.

A follow-up to 2015’s Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue, Grace Coddington’s newest book concentrates on the work she brought forth during her tenure as creative director of Vogue US. As well as demonstrating the passion that went into every shoot she created, it features stunning images by people like Annie Leibovitz and Mario Testino.

Printed as part of the current MoMa exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of his birth, Frank Lloyd Wright: Unpacking the Archive celebrates every aspect of the architect and designer’s remarkably productive career. Throughout, key objects made by Lloyd Wright are ‘unpacked’ by an invited author, from art historians to architects he influenced.

In Havana, Bernhard Hartmann shares his richly hued, beautifully considered photographs of the Cuban capital. After the death of Fidel Castro, and with the country significantly improving relations with the US in recent years – pre-Donald Trump at least – this book represents a precious collection of images of a historic city quite possibly on the verge of irreversible change.

The hefty A Bigger Book monograph spans David Hockney’s impressive 60-year career, featuring more than 450 works by the British artist, accompanied by a handwritten statement by the man himself. A limited collectors edition of over 600 pages, it’s an aspirational rather than a realistic buy. Each one comes with a tripod bookstand by Australian industrial designer Marc Newson, and costs a mind-boggling €2,000.

Another slightly odd, definitely intriguing choice, Women in Trees is edited by a woman named Jochen Raiss, who has been collecting amateur photographs of women in trees from flea markets for around a quarter of a century. Weird and wonderful, this strangely touching book has captured moments of pure happiness enjoyed by unknown women from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Nasty Gal founder and #GIRLBOSS author Sophia Amoruso’s new book Nasty Galaxy is a scrapbook on steroids, giving the owner a colourful insight into the businesswoman’s psyche. Combining essays, photographs and illustrations, this has plenty to keep her fans occupied until the Netflix version of #GIRLBOSS starts streaming in April.

Released in October 2016, this volume mark 250 years of the world’s most important auction house. It shines a light 250 of the remarkable objects sold at Christie’s throughout its more than two centuries in business, from jewellery owned by Elizabeth Taylor to paintings by Picasso.

Though this book has been around since 2015, it is only becoming more relevant. Slow living, minimalism and the cultivation of more conscious lifestyles are all big trends for 2017, and this beautifully photographed Kinfolk bible serves as an excellent motivator for doing just that.

Arthur Lubow’s biography of Diane Arbus – the New York photographer known for quitting the fashion world in order to document the experiences of people living on the fringes of society, by choice or otherwise – is a worthy tribute to an immutable talent, and illuminates her best work.

Due for release in March 2017, Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim will mark another milestone in the art world. The book accompanies an exhibition of the same name opening at the landmark New York Museum in February, to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. It features an assemblage of the permanent collection’s most intriguing pieces.

Brooklyn-based artist and designer Rebecca Atwood’s study of pattern and how to use it was one of the most highly anticipated design books of 2016. Part-helpful guide to pepping up your living space, part-gorgeous photo collection of patterns in place, this is a home décor book worth investing in for 2017.

Being released in April 2017, DASH: From Dwelling to Dwelling highlights the need to find ways to use existing structures over building new housing, championing more sustainable models for building and urban planning.