article s lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents . please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . may 2015 taschen founded 1980 ; 36 years ago 1980 founder benedikt taschen country of origin germany headquarters location cologne publication types art books nonfiction topics arts number of employees 250 official website www.taschen.com taschen is an art book publisher founded in 1980 by benedikt taschen in cologne germany . 1 contents 1 overview 2 stores and offices 3 see also 4 notes 5 references 6 external links overview edit taschen headquarters on hohenzollernring 53 cologne taschen office in berlin on kurf rstendamm 213 taschen office in los angeles situated in the crossroads of the world building on sunset boulevard the publisher s office located in the chemosphere the company began as taschen comics publishing benedikt s extensive comic collection . taschen has been a noteworthy force in making lesser seen art available to mainstream bookstores including some fetishistic imagery queer art historical erotica pornography and adult magazines including multiple books with playboy magazine . taschen has helped bring this art into broader public view by publishing these potentially controversial volumes alongside its more mainstream books of comics reprints art photography painting design fashion advertising history film and architecture . 2 taschen s publications are available in a variety of sizes from large tomes detailing the complete works of leonardo da vinci to their icons series of small flexicover volumes which encapsulate themes of everything from old ads of las vegas nevada to male nudes . the company has also produced calendars address books and postcards of popular subjects . the company s stated mission has been to publish innovative beautifully designed art books at popular prices . the icons series for example has several new volumes published a year and retailing for about 10 are inexpensive for published collections of art . in 1985 taschen introduced the highly successful basic art series with an inaugural title on salvador dal . 3 the series today comprises more than 60 titles and is available in up to 30 languages each about a separate artist ranging from artists such as michelangelo to more contemporary artists such as norman rockwell . further series followed alongside an expansion into new themes like architecture design film and lifestyle . as an example taschen also publishes a basic architecture series in the same style as basic art that covers some of the most prominent architects in history such as frank lloyd wright . in the spring of 2014 taschen s basic art series was criticised in swedish public media for its focus on male artists . the series then consisted of 95 books only 5 of which were about female artists . malm konsthall in sweden was the first institution to report the disparity highlighted by the artists ditte ejlerskov and evamarie lindahl . 4 5 6 in 1999 taschen expanded to the luxury market with the international publishing sensation the helmut newton sumo . signed and limited to 10 000 copies this folio sized publication quickly sold out and later became the most expensive book published in the 20th century with sumo copy number 1 selling at auction for 304 000 . 7 the helmut newton sumo paved the way for taschen s mammoth work goat greatest of all time a homage to muhammad ali which der spiegel called the biggest heaviest most radiant thing ever printed in the history of civilization . 8 further collector s editions followed including titles with nobuyoshi araki peter beard david lachapelle sebasti o salgado annie leibovitz and the rolling stones often reaching ten times their original price within a few years . 9 stores and offices edit through the mid to late 1990s the company s sales structure was expanded through the opening of stores in paris london new york madrid and tokyo . dedicated flagship taschen bookstores designed by philippe starck and marc newson milan are located in amsterdam p.c. hooftstraat 44 beverly hills 354 n. beverly drive brussels place du grand sablon grote zavelplein 18 cologne hohenzollernring 28 dallas taschen s first library & bookstore boutique 1530 main st. hamburg bleichenbr cke 1 7 los angeles taschen gallery 6333 w. 3rd street london 12 duke of york square miami 1111 lincoln road milan via meravigli 17 new york city 107 greene street paris 2 rue de buci today taschen has publishing offices in berlin cologne london paris los angeles and hong kong . in 2014 taschen opened their first art gallery in los angeles . 10 the publishing house employs more than 250 staff members worldwide and many longtime freelance editors . 11 see also edit taschen basic art taschen basic architecture some art books edited by taschen . notes edit taschen the art of making books . degen pener taschen books chief reveals new projects talks fifty shades and 12m books published in the hollywood reporter november 25 2014 basic art series the classic taschen book www.konsthall.malmo.se . malm konsthall . konsthall.malmo.se . retrieved 2014 05 17 . node andr pahl . kunstkritikk taschen under fire . kunstkritikk.com . retrieved 2014 05 17 . about blank pages feminist history in the making at malm konsthall . culturenordic.com . 2014 05 05 . retrieved 2014 05 17 . marina cashdan artist edition books in how to spend it may 26 2015 . thomas h etlin alis letzter sieg der spiegel 41 2003 . taschen collector s editions catalogue 2013 . taschen grand opening with david bailey and the rolling stones in the huffington post december 17 2014 . jessica berens a passion for taschen in the observer november 4 2001 . references edit bernhard brendan 11 september 2002 . sex & beauty art & kitsch the exquisite mayhem of benedikt taschen . la weekly . retrieved 5 july 2014 . kirkpatrick david d. 7 january 2002 . price cutting and oversupply imperil art book houses . the new york times . the new york times company . retrieved 23 may 2008 . external links edit official website books portal arts portal retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title taschen & oldid 743786849 categories book publishing companies of germanycompanies based in cologneerotic photographypublishing companies established in 1980visual arts publishing companiesmedia in colognehidden categories wikipedia introduction cleanup from may 2015all pages needing cleanuparticles covered by wikiproject wikify from may 2015all articles covered by wikiproject wikify navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages catal deutschespa olesperantofran aisitaliano lietuvi magyarnederlands norsk bokm lpolskiportugu ssuomisvenska edit links this page was last modified on 11 october 2016 at 07 44 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view