Visual art book review: Art Now! Vol 4, Edited by Hans Werner Holzwarth

Think of this as a tour of the world's most influential galleries: if it's hot in the art world today, it's in this book.

Emerging artists are featured alongside established greats such as Chuck Close, David Hockney, or Brice Marden. A-to-Z entries on more than 100 artists include images of important recent work, an introductory text, and a short exhibition history with bibliographical information. The illustrated appendix collects contact details for the galleries representing the artists as well as auction results of the past few years. There is a special feature focusing on the art boom in Eastern Asia, with essays by Karen Smith on the contemporary art scenes in Beijing and Shanghai, and by Colin Chinnery on the post-war art-historical developments between China, Japan, and Korea.

Hans Werner Holzwarth is a book designer and editor based in Berlin, with numerous publications to his name, mainly on contemporary art and photography.