Following up on the best-selling cookbook Les dîners de Gala, in this delightfully eccentric guide the surrealist master shares his passion for the gift of the gods. The book explores the many myths of the grape, in texts and sensuous and subversive works by the artist, always true to his maxim: “A real connoisseur does not drink wine but tastes of its secrets.” Winner of the 2018 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

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Ever heard of surrealist fine dining? This must-have reprint of Les diners de Gala reveals the exotic flavors and elaborate imaginings behind the legendary dinner parties of Salvador and Gala Dalí. With recipes from such leading Paris restaurants as La Tour d’Argent and Maxim’s, a special section on aphrodisia, and bespoke illustrations from Dalí himself, this book is at once an artwork, a practical cookbook, and a delicious morsel of multisensory pleasure.

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Artist, diarist, collector, and writer Peter Beard (1938-2020) fashioned his life into a work of art; the illustrated diaries he kept from a young age evolved into a serious career as an artist and earned him a central position in the international art world. He collaborated with Francis Bacon and Salvador Dalí he made diaries with Andy Warhol, worked on books with scientists like Dr. Norman Borlaug, Dr. Richard Laws, and Alistair Graham, and toured with Truman Capote, Terry Southern, and the Rolling Stones—all of whom are brought to life, literally and figuratively, in his work. He delved into the world of fashion for its beautiful women, taking Vogue stars like Veruschka to Africa and bringing new ones back to the U.S. with him.

After spending time in Kenya and striking up a friendship with the author Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) in the early 1960s, Beard bought 50 acres next to her farm with the stipulation that he would film and write about the land and its flora and fauna. He witnessed the dawn of Kenya’s population explosion, which challenged finite resources and stressed animal populations—including the starving elephants of Tsavo dying by the tens of thousands in a wasteland of eaten trees. So he documented what he saw—with diaries, photographs, and collages. He went against the wind in publishing unique and sometimes shocking books of these works, including The End of the Game. The corpses were laid bare; the facts carefully recorded, sometimes in type and often by hand. Beard used his photographs as a canvas onto which he superimposed multi-layered contact sheets, ephemera, found objects, newspaper clippings that are elaborately embellished with meticulous handwriting, old-master inspired drawings, and often swaths of animal blood used as paint.

In 2006, TASCHEN first published the book that has come to define his oeuvre, signed by the artist and published in two volumes. It sold out instantly and became a highly sought-after collector’s item. In the decade since, the monograph has been revived in two smaller versions; but sometimes, bigger is better. Now, the book you haven’t been able to get your hands on is available in one large-format volume.

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• Artist: Peter Beard; Editors: Nejma Beard, David Fahey; Authors: Owen Edwards, Steven M.L. Aronson; Contributor: Ruth Ansel
• Hardcover, 10.2 x 14.7 in., 770 pages
• ISBN 978-3-8365-7742-7