The original work of Christian Warlich, Europe's preeminent tattoo artist in the first half of the 20th century, is brought back to life in a stunning new volume. Christian Warlich was a world famous German tattooist and his flash book is one of the most coveted objects in the tattoo world. It is now available in this exquisite edition that includes over three hundred hand-drawn designs restored to their original vibrant state. It also includes photographs and other archival material, much of which has never been published before. This book brings Warlich's career into new focus, reflecting the latest research on how his early years at sea may have influenced his work. Intricate renderings of cowboys and indigenous Americans, Chinese dragons and Japanese geishas, daggers, snakes, and skulls reveal not only Warlich's influence in the iconography of tattoos, but also suggest the interplay of ideas with tattooists across Europe, North America, and Asia. The book also explores how the art of tattooing was reframed during the Nazi era and how Warlich's estate helped shape the state of tattoo art today. This elegant book is invaluable in understanding the importance of Warlich to the history of tattooing.

Vintage Tattoo Flash is a one-of-a-kind visual explorationof the history and evolution of tattooing in America. Aluscious, offset-printed, hardcover tome-a beautiful andserious addition to the understanding of one of the world'soldest and most popular art forms. Electric tattooing as we know it today was invented inNew York City at the turn of the 19th century. In the firstdays of American tattooing, tattoos were primarily wornby sailors and soldiers, outlaws and outsiders. The visuallanguage of what came to be known as "traditional tattooing"was developed in those early days on the Boweryand catered to the interests of the clientele. Commonimagery that soon became canon included sailing ships,women, hearts, roses, daggers, eagles, dragons, wolves,panthers, skulls, crosses, and popular cartoon charactersof the era. The first tattooists also figured out that usingbold outlines, complimented by solid color and smoothshading, was the proper technique for creating art on abody that would stand the test of time. In the over 100years since then, techniques and styles have evolved, andthe customer base has expanded, but the core subjectmatter and philosophy developed at the dawn of electrictattooing has persisted as perennial favorites through themodern era. While most tattoos are inherently ephemeral, transportedon skin until the death of the collector, a visual recordexists in the form of tattoo flash: the hand-painted sheetsof designs posted in tattoo shops for customers to selectfrom. Painted and repainted, stolen, traded, bought andsold, these sheets are passed between artists through onechannel or another, often having multiple useful lives in avariety of shops scattered across time and geography. Theutility of these original pieces of painted art has made itso that original examples can still be found in use or up forgrabs if you know where to look. Vintage Tattoo Flash draws from the personal collectionof Jonathan Shaw-renowned outlaw tattooist andauthor-and represents a selection of over 300 pieces offlash from one of the largest private collections in existence.Vintage Tattoo Flash spans the first roughly 75years of American tattooing from the 1900s Bowery, to50s Texas, through the Pike in the 60s and the developmentof the first black and grey, single-needle tattooingin LA in the 70s. The book lovingly reproduces entirelyunpublished sheets of original flash from the likes of BobShaw, Zeke Owen, Tex Rowe, Ted Inman, Ace Harlyn, EdSmith, Paul Rogers, the Moskowitz brothers, and many,many others relatively known and unknown.

Innovative artist Spider Webb has brought the traditional art of tattooing into the modern age, elevating the primitive or folk art iconography into modern art with startling interpretations. 400 color and black and white tattoo flash, in two volumes, feature dragons and other mythological beasts, skulls, eagles, beautiful women, hearts, daggers, serpents, and tigers of the natural and supernatural worlds. Many tattoos may be seen as social and political commentary as well. Here is an opportunity to review a prolific artist's work that people from around the globe have been happy to bear as permanent expressions of their inner lives. This book will be treasured by all who enjoy tattoo art.

George "Professor" Burchett was arguably the most famous tattoo artist in the UK and Europe throughout the first half of the twentieth century. With a career spanning over fifty years he tattooed everyone from servicemen to royalty and earning himself the title of 'King of Tattooists'. Finding an early love for the art of tattooing he was expelled from school at age 12 for tattooing his classmates and joined the Royal Navy at age 13. He developed his tattooing skills while traveling overseas in the Navy. He constantly designed new tattoos from his worldwide travel, incorporating African, Japanese and Southeast Asian motifs into his work. In the 1930s, he developed cosmetic tattooing with such techniques as permanently darkening eyebrows. He continued tattooing until his death in 1953 at the age of 80.

More of what people loved about the first volume! InVintage Tattoo Flash: Volume 2, Jonathan Shaw unearths more gems from his extensive and world-renowned collection of traditional American tattoo art. Comprised entirely of previously unseen and unpublished work,Volume 2picks up where the first volume left off-contributing a new and important body of work to the historical record of this outsider art form. Electric tattooing as we know it today was invented in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. In the first days of American tattooing, tattoos were primarily worn by sailors and soldiers, outlaws and outsiders. The visual language of what came to be known as "traditional tattooing" was developed in those early days on the Bowery and catered to the interests of the clientele. Common imagery that soon became canon included sailing ships, women, hearts, roses, daggers, eagles, dragons, wolves, panthers, skulls, crosses, and popular cartoon characters of the era. The first tattooists also figured out that using bold outlines, complimented by solid color and smooth shading, was the proper technique for creating art on a body that would stand the test of time. In the over 100 years since then, techniques and styles have evolved, and the customer base has expanded, but the core subject matter and philosophy developed at the dawn of electric tattooing has persisted as perennial favorites through the modern era. While most tattoos are inherently ephemeral, transported on skin until the death of the collector, a visual record exists in the form of tattoo flash: the hand-painted sheets of designs posted in tattoo shops for customers to select from.Vintage Tattoo Flash: Volume 2represents a selection of over 100 pieces of flash from one of the largest private collections in existence and spans the first roughly 75 years of American tattooing from the 1900s Bowery, to 50s Texas, through the Pike in the 60s and the development of the first black and grey, single-needle tattooing in LA in the 70s. The book lovingly reproduces entirely unpublished sheets of original flash from the likes of Bob Shaw, Zeke Owen, Tex Rowe, Ted Inman, Ace Harlyn, Ed Smith, Paul Rogers, the Moskowitz brothers, and many, many others relatively known and unknown.

The most complete tattoo flash compilation by inkmaster John Wesley Harden

American tattoo master Sailor Jerry Collins of Hawaii is best known for his remarkable tattoo designs, blending the fluidity of Asian motifs into classic American tattoo imagery. Here is a sizeable portion of Sailor Jerrys stencils, spanning from the 1940s to the 1970s, and including pin-ups, roses, bluebirds, hearts and banners and Jerrys infamous military/political cartoons. The value of the stencils is included, with descriptions of stencils and their usage, and a glossary of tattoo terminology.

This stunning book explores Italian Neorealism in photography, as it documented Italy's economic and social conditions in the mid-20th century and its rise as a democratic nation. Originally used for Fascist propaganda, the camera in Italy became a tool for artists to reveal the poverty and oppression of their country and a way to instigate positive social development and create a national identity. The NeoRealismo style became a call for economic justice as well as an artistic movement that influenced the modern world. The achievements of that movement are celebrated in this book with more than 200 illustrations, including exquisitely reproduced photographs and magazine images as well as film stills and posters. Together these images portray the seismic changes that took place throughout Italy during and after the war. The migration from south to north, the rural and urban poverty, and the desire to establish a national identity are all given expression through the photographers' lenses. Accompanying essays discuss the technological changes that transformed the country, trace the evolution of Neorealist cinema, and explore how writers became part of this revolution. Beautiful, raw, and free of artifice, these images and the people who created them ushered a unique and fascinating moment in modern art history. Copublished by Admira and DelMonico Books

Between these pages are images of the original acetate rubbings from Charlie Wagner's turn of the 20th century tattoo shop, The Black Eye Barbershop, in the Bowery at Chatham Square in New York. This is the only known art that has survived from this shop, where Samuel J. O'Reilley's modern-day electric tattoo machine was born and patented. The imagery of this classic flash preserves the origins of American tattoos, when tattoo art was transferred to the client from these templates via an acetate stencil. Everything was done by hand until O'Reilley's electrified tattoo machine changed history. This rich heritage of folk art has more than 900 individual pieces of flash that provide commentary on the shop's clientele and reveal some of the social, economic, and political ideas of the time. Including nautical themes, Asian imagery, flowers, boxers, circus characters, and plenty of girls, this is an exciting collection of early American flash and a necessary book for the tattoo artist, aficionado, and student.