Tidings Of Color and Joy

Chagall: The Russian Years, 1907-1922 by Aleksandr Kamensky (Rizzoli; $100). Like the figures in his paintings, Marc Chagall (1887-1985) floated over formal artistic boundaries. This book tracks his flight from the Russian village that gave him his themes and folk style to St. Petersburg and beyond, where he reflected his past in modernism's bright palette and broken planes.

Fantasy Furniture by Bruce M. Newman (Rizzoli; $50). A mythological mahogany bird to cradle an infant in 19th century Russia; jolly Black Forest bears to serve as chair-backs; gilded Venetian settees with shell motifs to turn salons into grottoes: thus did the dreams of burghers and kings like Bavaria's mad Ludwig II make chimeras real.

The World Wildlife Fund Book of Orchids by Jack Kramer (Abbeville; $65). Bursts of magenta, delicate pastel-tinged whites, a green so dark it is nearly black. Blossoms fluted or fringed, mottled or striped, on plants 30 ft. tall or pendulous stems dripping with 30 flowers. Dazzling in its diversity, the orchid boasts some 35,000 wild species, found as far north as the Arctic Circle.

The Art of Florence by Glenn Andres, John M. Hunisak and A. Richard Turner (Abbeville; $385). The cradle of the Renaissance in glorious color and reverential grandeur -- and at more than 25 lbs. the lap breaker of the season. There are no crowds of tourists to block the view and no shadowy churches to obscure it.

Bonnettstown: A House in Ireland by Andrew Bush (Abrams; $37.50). Built near Kilkenny in 1737, this limestone manor house is revealed in 45 magnificent color photographs. The rooms display the cluttered charm that only two centuries of daily use can bring. Bush revels in textures: flaking plaster, rubbed wood, well-worn carpets. This book celebrates old but ageless beauty.

The Eccentric Teapot by Garth Clark (Abbeville; $29.95). Why pour your oolong from a plain pot when you can pour it out of Brooke Shields' head? Whether they are teapots for art's sake or art for the sake of taking tea, ceramics critic Clark has cataloged the fun. The Kentucky Fried Teapot has the head of Colonel Sanders and the body of a plucked chicken.

Blinds & Shutters by Michael Cooper (Genesis/Hedley; $595). Wherever the artists or arrivistes made the scene in 1960s London, Cooper was there, camera in hand. For those craving a (costly) glimpse of the time when the Beatles and the Stones ruled the realm -- "For a few years then we were just flying," recalls one of the bit players -- comes this collection of 600 works by their court photographer.

Lick 'Em, Stick 'Em by H. Thomas Steele (Abbeville; $19.95). Once upon an envelope (circa 1900 to 1930), posters were reduced to the size of postage stamps. Some were tiny comedies -- a giraffe advertising neckwear, a pig promoting lard -- others dazzling designs by Egon Schiele and Rockwell Kent. They became, says the lively text, "the common man's art gallery," and this homage deserves the same stamp.

Daily Life in the Forbidden City by Wan Yi, Wang Shuqing and Lu Yanzhen (Viking; $75). As the Son of Heaven moved through his palaces, the Hall of Luminous Benevolence, the Gate of Divine Prowess, there was everywhere beauty to behold. The Palace Museum in Beijing has assembled a sumptuous record of this quotidian splendor.

Greek Revival America by Roger G. Kennedy (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; $85). Its title may suggest the morning after a fraternity party, but this dignified volume, by the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, is about the 19th century architectural style whose graceful masses and columns (as at the White House) have become synonymous with national purpose and cohesion.

The Spirit of Folk Art by Henry Glassie (Abrams; $60). Indian brass horses share space with a New Mexican creche; an Irish dresser stands near an African apron; shadow puppets of China and Indonesia exchange greetings. Toys, dolls, samplers and flags show a striking similarity of expression and attention to detail. The Family of Man has never seemed smaller.

Shoes: Fashion and Fantasy by Colin McDowell (Rizzoli; $50). This lavish compendium is a fetishist's playground. The author, well versed in historical trivia and pop psychology, makes his breezy way from Cleopatra's sandals to Elvis' blue suedes to Oldenburg's Giant Gym Shoes. The trip will tickle your feet: "Hey there, cutes, put on your dancing boots."