Books

This volume in National Museum Series of International Communication ·Ancient Chinese Cultural Relics Collected in the Overseas Museums features the Philadelphia Museum of Art's outstanding collection of Chinese art. The goal of the program is to...

The 367 exquisite hand-colored plates of the Hortus Eystettensis, published in 1613 with elaborate descriptions to record the palatial gardens in Eichstätt, Bavaria, were a landmark in botanical illustration. This facsimile edition, featuring...

Beginning with Cesar Ghiselin in 1681, Philadelphia has a long and storied history of silversmithing that includes notable artists such as Joseph Richardson Sr. and Jr., Philip Syng Jr., and Olaf Skoogfors. Celebrating this legacy and showcasing the...

A groundbreaking survey of the school of  expressive, symbolic landscape painting that gave rise to American  modernism—newly revised and updated. This magnificent volume, featuring more than 750 illustrations, is the first definitive account...

The first and only monograph on the extraordinary work of multidisciplinary and experiential Dutch artist duo DRIFT DRIFT was established in Amsterdam in 2007 by Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph  Nauta. In their installations and interactive sculptures,...

“Deadstock” refers to the originals: authentic, unworn sneakers that were produced for limited-edition releases, limited-run reruns, or pairs that have otherwise stopped being made. No longer available from the direct retailers, deadstock is the most...

Bill Traylor (ca. 1853–1949) came to art-making on his own and found his creative voice without guidance; today he is remembered as a renowned American artist. Traylor was born into slavery on an Alabama plantation, and his experiences spanned multiple...

From analog to digital, mainframes to mobile phones – with photos, ads, and concept drawings of inventions that ushered in the digital era, this visual survey of the Information Age reveals how the computer and the  internet irreversibly transformed...

Faith Ringgold is a critically acclaimed and key figure of postwar American art, whose unique methods of visual storytelling have documented and advanced art historical, feminist, and civil rights  movements for more than half a century...

This landmark volume is a gathering of Native North American  contemporary artists, musicians, filmmakers, choreographers, architects,  writers, photographers, designers and more. Conceived by Jeffrey  Gibson, a renowned artist of...

Over the past two decades, Simone Leigh has created artwork that situates questions of Black femme-identified subjectivity at the center  of contemporary art discourse. Her sculpture, video, installation and social practice explore ideas of race,...

David Rittenhouse: Philosopher-Mechanick of Colonial Philadelphia and His Famous Clocks brings a completely new focus on the life and works of the American astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, and inventor David Rittenhouse (1732–96). A brilliant...

Working across photography, film, video, painting, and installation, his work references and re-imagines African American and African visual culture, from hip hop vernacular to Nefertiti, while nodding to traditions of spirituality and Surrealism. This...

Offers a unique personal perspective on the journey of collecting  American art and antiques Start with House, Finish with a Collection is the story of how a couple's use of American art and antiques evolved  from furnishing a house into a...

Over the course of more than 50 years, renowned American artist Ellsworth Kelly made approximately 400 postcard collages, some of which served as exploratory musings and others as studies for larger works in other mediums. They range from his first...

Combining decades of ethnographic research with stunning photography, this book is a celebration of the customs and clothing of ethnic-minority groups in China. Aesthetic influences drawn from China have long resonated throughout Western art, design,...

A profound examination of the complex constructs that have kept “outsider” and self-taught artists on the margins of the mainstream. The artists in Boundary Trouble in American Vanguard Art defy binary constructs of insider and outsider. Some are...

Camille Claudel (1864–1943) was among the most daring and visionary sculptors of the late nineteenth century. Although much attention has been paid to her tumultuous life—her affair with her mentor, Auguste Rodin; the premature end to her career; her...

An intimate study of the creation and use of embroidered quilts. In Bengal, mothers swaddle their infants and cover their beds in  colorful textiles that are passed down through generations. They create these kantha from layers of soft, recycled...

Judith Joy Ross: Photographs 1978–2015 is an illuminating retrospective that explores the life and career of a revered American photographer, illustrated by two hundred of her images, many never before seen or published. The work of Judith Joy Ross...

This comprehensive reconstruction and interpretation of Louise and Walter Arensberg’s groundbreaking collection of modern and pre-Columbian art takes readers room by room, wall by wall, object by object through the couple’s Los Angeles home...

From 1928 to 1930, Tokyo publisher Ars issued The Complete Commercial Artist: a fully illustrated journal of commercial design for both commercial retail spaces and print design. Featuring countless original designs, its 24 volumes were dedicated to...

Melissa Shook (April 18, 1939 – August 27, 2020) was an American photographer, artist and educator. Her photographs are part of an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Invitation Only: Photographs by Barbara Crane, Melissa Shook, and Carol...

Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: His Final Months offers a unique and impressive overview of the paintings and drawings that Vincent van Gogh created during the last seventy days of his life. He produced no fewer than seventy-four paintings and over thirty...

The Art of Tapestry tells the history of tapestry in Britain and Europe from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries through the National Trust’s outstanding tapestry collection, which comprises nearly 650 tapestries in 60 properties. The book includes...

The bazaar quarter of Istanbul is a mirror of the city itself: many-faceted and hectic, extraordinarily beautiful and chaotic at the same time. On the historic peninsula, centuries-old market halls and mosques share space with kiosks and new concrete...

Carrie Mae Weems has often confronted the uncomfortable truths of racism and race relations over the course of her nearly 40-year career. In The Shape of Things she focuses her unflinching gaze at what she describes as the circus like quality of...

Exploring the art and life of this important American artist whose work bridged the gaps between abstraction, feminism, and Blackness Howardena Pindell: Reclaiming Abstraction is a fascinating examination of the multifaceted career of artist, activist,...

A compelling examination of French sculptor Auguste Rodin from the perspective of his enthusiastic American audience. This exhibition catalogue explores the American reception of French artist Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), from 1893, when his first work...

An unparalleled reassessment of Pierre Bonnard, exploring his paintings, drawings, photography, and prints. As one of the founders of the post-Impressionist group the Nabis, French artist Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) is frequently seen as a transitional...

'An excellent, encouraging introduction to French home cooking by an author who combines the best culinary qualities of Gallic versions of Irma Rombauer and Fannie Farmer, with just a dash of Ratatouille’s beloved Chef Gusteau.' – Library Journal,...

The author's approach is not so much a step-by-step instruction with template-like schemes, instead it focuses on the intrinsic logic of things, their connections and relations, and the link between presentation and design. She invites readers to...

The essential exploration of the design, history, and culture of the motorcycle – an icon of the machine age. Motorcycles are ubiquitous in the world’s streets and cities, evolving over decades in engineering and design to meet individual transportation...

A new study of Mary Cassatt that explores the centrality of work to both her inventive technical practice and her distinctive approach to modern subjects.    In her sensitive depictions of the social, intellectual, and professional lives of...

This volume presents sketches and textile designs by the great Russian  French modernist artist Sonia Delaunay alongside her paintings and interior and fashion designs. It demonstrates how she transferred her color philosophy of “Simultanism,” which...

3D Art is in a transformative moment. It can now be created, promoted, bought and sold all within the boundaries of digital space. This dynamic art movement is enabled by new tools and is limited only by the imagination of its creators. Artists working...

In 1953, Japanese architect Junzo Yoshimura designed a now-classic Japanese house and garden that he called Shofuso. It was built in Nagoya, Japan, and shipped to New York in 1954, where it was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and then relocated to...

Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) was a radical sculptor whose unorthodox approach to multiplication, assemblage, industrial production, and serial repetition challenged classical sculptural traditions and provided a definitive break in the history of art...

Carlos Basualdo (Editor, Contributor), Anna Mecugni (Editor, Contributor), Timothy Rub (Foreword), Katherine Sachs (Contributor), Joseph J. Rishel (Contributor), Peter Barberie (Contributor), Erica F. Battle (Contributor), Adrianne O. Bratis...

By Lisa Minardi, with an interview by Ann Percy Among the most beloved forms of American folk art, fraktur is a Germanic tradition of decorated manuscripts and printed documents noted for its use of bold colors and whimsical motifs. This publication...

Through essays, photo-essays, and a conversation between Black designer Stephen Burks (b. 1969) and the late cultural critic bell hooks, this book contextualizes Burks’s wide-ranging work while exploring design’s influence on politics, society, and...

Building on a technique that has roots in European and American traditions, Black artists have turned to collage as a way to convey how the intersecting facets of their lives combine to make whole individuals. Artists have assembled pieces of paper,...

This book offers a long-overdue reassessment of the career of the Parisian-born artist Marie Laurencin (1883–1956), who moved seamlessly between the Cubist avant-garde and lesbian literary and artistic circles, as well as the realms fashion,...

The twenty-first century has seen a surge of interest in English art of the interwar years. High-profile exhibitions have attracted record-breaking visitor numbers and challenged received opinion. In The Real and the Romantic, Frances Spalding takes a...

Drawing in the Present Tense explores the variety of ways in which contemporary artists from around the world have come to approach drawing as the primary element of their practice. One which is autonomous: an end in itself, rather than a means to an end...

Perfect for students and casual and professional artists, with lots of great reference information for print collectors as well, this is the ultimate guide to the ins and outs of every variety of printmaking practiced today. In addition to in-depth...

By Felice Fischer and Kyoko Kinoshita Art of Japan presents one hundred highlights of Japanese art from the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, dating from the Neolithic period to today. Among them are a temple and a teahouse, acquired in 1928,...

Explores ways to use colour in the home to varying degrees, taking the reader into the world of the vibrant, happy house. Joyful case studies of homes that range from lightly speckled to heavily doused in colour with interviews from the renowned...

Fascinated by Buddhist art and Asian spirituality, Alain Bordier has spent more than forty years building a unique collection of religious objects from the Himalayas (Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan). On display today at the Tibet Museum in the heart of the...

Among the most celebrated figures of modern art, Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920) has been the subject of many exhibitions and publications, but none until now has examined in depth how the artist created his paintings and sculptures. Drawing on research...

The first in-depth examination of Matisse’s work in the 1930s, a key decade of creative innovation and renewal for this celebrated artist.In 1930, as Henri Matisse (1869–1954) embarked on The Dance, a monumental mural commissioned by the...

A visual and global chronicle of the triumphs, challenges, and impact of over 100 women in architecture, from early practitioners to contemporary leaders. Marion Mahony Griffin passed the architectural licensure exam in 1898 and created exquisite...

A groundbreaking insight into Gustave Courbet and his bold experiments in landscape painting. Between 1862 and 1866 Gustave Courbet embarked on a series of sensuous landscape paintings that would later inspire the likes of Monet, Pissarro, and Cézanne...

One of the greatest portrait artists of the 20th century, Alice Neel's vibrant, expressionistic paintings revealed a breath-taking depth of emotion within her subjects. From works exploring loss and grief, to communist political art, Neel's work pushed...

Meet Vincent van Gogh, one of the most famed tragic figures of 19th‑century art. This lush tome collects all his 871 paintings, alongside writings and essays, charting the life and work of a master who continues to tower over art. Today, the works of...

Despite realizing that life is short and that we should enjoy it to  the fullest, it has become increasingly hard for people to find a moment  of peace in the restlessness and hubbub of the modern world.  Nevertheless, there is still...

From the iconic 1964 Olympics poster by Yusaku Kamekura to the psychedelic posters of Tadanori Yokoo, Japan has made its way to the forefront of impactful and effective graphic and poster design since its post-war days. Fast forwarding to the Reiwa era,...

Iconism is an inspirational reference for contemporary icon, pictogram and symbol design. Divided into three sections—Visual Identity, Wayfinding and Interactive Design—these ingenious and impactful styles from designers around the world highlight the...

With essays by Roberta Bernstein, Yve-Alain Bois, Jean-François Chevrier, John Elderfield, John Golding, Christopher Green, Jennie Hirsh, Joop M. Joosten, Anabelle Kienle, Albert Kostenevich, Carolyn Lanchner, Mark D. Mitchell, Joseph J. Rishel,...

In an increasingly digital world, the art of printing has become more precious than ever. Although screens continue to take over society and sustainable practices have improved the preservation of natural resources, many designers still thrive on...

Over the centuries our manipulation of the natural world has resulted in  an explosion of synthetic dye production and application globally. To gain insight into the history of how folk practices have been lost and technical processes found,...

Creating Connections features over 70 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and watercolors from the Rosenthal Collection of work by self-taught artists. This richly illustrated publication explores the mysterious connections we have with works of art and...

It is human nature to look to the past when seeking inspiration, particularly in art and related creative fields. Unlike other genres that can be attributed to a specific era or style, folk art is harder to define or categorize due to its special...

Infographics provide graphic visual representations of information or knowledge intended to present data quickly and concisely to a broad swath of users of different skills, abilities and backgrounds. Infographic Design explores the building blocks of...

A remarkable selection of American forest trees surveyed by François-André Michaux and Thomas Nuttall from The North American Sylva,  held in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden,  featuring illustrations by celebrated...

This book surveys the work of a new generation of Black artists, and also features the voices of a diverse group of curators who are on the cutting edge of contemporary art. As mission-driven collectors, Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi have...

Foreword by Kathy Halbreich. lizabeth Carpenter (Editor). Hayden Herrera (Contributor) , Elizabeth Carpenter(Contributor), Victor Zamudio-Taylor(Contributor) Few artists have captured the public's imagination with the force of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo...

Friedlander's social landscape is a who's who of postwar American photography.  In the 1960s and '70s, Lee Friedlander (born 1934) developed his signature  approach to documenting the American “social landscape”: deadpan,...

From scrolls and sheets of papyrus to elaborate and expensive codices to the mass press-printed volumes as we know them today, books have come a long way since writing was first developed. Although digital technology has impacted how we consume...

Created in collaboration with the British Museum, this richly illustrated volume displays the arts, histories, and cultures of Southeast Asia from about 6,000 years ago to the twenty-first century, covering modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,...

One hundred and fifty years ago, Vincent van Gogh fell under the enticing spell of Japanese printmaking while working in Paris. He bought over six hundred Japanese prints and displayed them in his studio as inspiration. Van Gogh admired the prints’...

Exquisite Dreams is the first full account of the art and life of Dorothea Tanning (1910–2012). Rather than only focusing on her well-known surrealist paintings, this book gives equal weight to Tanning’s lesser-known but equally powerful sculptures,...

Organized into chapters that explore the many ways to express dissent (RESIST!, VOTE!, STRIKE!, TEACH! and LOVE!), Strikethrough presents more than 120 signs, posters, publications and ephemera in vivid imagery and incisive prose. From the colorful...

At a time when almost everything can be digitally done up to perfection,  the smudges and smears by graphite can be refreshing to the eye and unapologetically human – touching viewers to the core. As a creative tool, it can also be the simplest and...

The story of art as it’s never been told before, from the Renaissance to the present day, with more than 300 works of art. How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? Did women even work as artists before the twentieth century? And what...

Walks to the Paradise Garden is the last unpublished manuscript of the late American poet, photographer, publisher, Black Mountain alumnus and bon viveur Jonathan Williams (1929–2008). This 352-page book chronicles Williams' road trips across the...

American Surrealist artist Dorothea Tanning (1910–2012) worked across painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation and writing over the course of seven decades, producing one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic oeuvres. Tanning’s work conjures...

Ornaments are omnipresent: they can be found on buildings, fabrics, jewelry, tiles, ceramics and wallpaper. Scorned at the outset of the modern age, ornament has long since returned to architecture and influences design drafts as much as tattoo motifs...

“I want my clothes to make you smile!”—Patrick Kelly" Patrick Kelly (1954–1990) was known for his bold, bright, and joyful fashion creations that resonated in the streets and nightclubs and on the runways of New York, Paris, and beyond. The first...

The Hidden Language of Symbols covers a wide-ranging selection of visual culture and art under one unified theme: symbols. Often not immediately apparent, our day-to-day lives abound with symbols of various kinds, from national emblems to emojis,...

Featuring a new package and an additional 60 pages of material, this revised edition of The Art of Feminism covers an even more impressive range of artworks, artists, movements, and perspectives. Since the debut of the original volume in 2018, The Art...

Pioneering Pakistani American artist Shahzia Sikander is one of the most influential artists working today. Sikander is widely celebrated for expanding and subverting miniature painting to explore gender roles and sexuality, cultural identity, racial...

This feminist retelling of the history of photography puts women in the picture—and, more importantly, behind the camera! In ten thematic, chronological sections, Tate Modern curator Emma Lewis explores the vital role women artists have played in...

An unprecedented look at the little-known paintings from Louise Bourgeois’s early years in New York that laid the groundwork for her sculptural practice. Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) is celebrated today for her sculptures. Less known are the paintings...

Edited by H. Richard Dietrich III and Deborah M. Rebuck with contributions by David L. Barquist, Edward S. Cooke Jr., Michael P. Dyer, Kathleen A. Foster, Morrison H. Heckscher, Philip C. Mead, Lisa Minardi, Deborah M. Rebuck, and William S. Reese This...

For almost fifty years, Senga Nengudi has shaped an œuvre that  inhabits a specific and unique place between sculpture, dance, and  performance. And that work has been widely recognized as groundbreaking.  Her iconic R.S.V.P...

This book accompanied an exhibition of the same name held at the  Philadelphia Museum of Art upon the completion of conservation of  Pontormo's famous portrait of Duke Alessandro de' Medici. Centering on that painting and Agnolo Bronzino's...

In a sustained exploration of the possibilities of abstraction, Sean Scully (b. 1945) has created a rich body of work throughout his 50-year career. Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas sets his entire output within a detailed biographical framework, closely...

Edited by Hyunsoo Woo; with essays by Insoo Cho, Hongkyung Kim, Woollim Kim, So-hyun Kwon, Dongsoo Moon, Unsok Song, and Hyunsoo Woo and a chronology by Rose E. Lee Treasures from Korea is the first major publication outside of Korea to survey the...

An intimate look at one of the most radical and groundbreaking printmakers of all time, the American Impressionist Mary Cassatt. This book examines the radical experimentation and innovation of one of the finest and most creative printmakers of the 19th...

Mary Cassatt's tender and profound paintings redefined portraiture and broke down barriers for women in art—both as artists and as subjects. This collection focuses on Cassatt's insightful portrayal of women and children living their everyday lives...

“These mirror images with their uncanny resemblances traverse space and time, spotlighting the black lives that have been silenced by the canon of western art, while also inviting us to interrogate the present.” —Times (UK) Since the beginning of the...

 'Race Is Everything’ explores the spurious but influential ideas of so-called racial science in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, and how art was affected by it. David Bindman looks at race in general, but with...

Celebrating the magick of the natural realm, Volume IV of The Library of Esoterica, delves into the symbolism, ceremony, and our ritual relationships with the botanical world. A visual journey through our interdependent evolution with nature, Plant...

The Greek myths are timeless classics, whose scenes and figures have captivated us since ancient times. The gods and heroes of these legends hold up a mirror to the human condition, embodying universal characteristics and truths – whether it be the...

Kiss My Genders celebrates more than 30 international artists whose work explores and challenges traditional gender categories. The book features works from the late 1960s through to the present, and focuses on artists who draw on their own experiences...

The most influential architectural essays written since the Renaissance, copiously illustrated and neatly organized chronologically and by country. Discover the theories behind the structures in which we live, work, and play. From Alberti and Palladio to...

Long out of print, this seminal collection of essays and photographs by artist, theorist and filmmaker, Allan Sekula was originally published by the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1984. Sekula sought to portray the inextricable bond between...

Storied Stone weaves together memories and scholarship to offer an illuminating  perspective on one of the most striking museum spaces. While visiting Madurai,  Tamil Nadu, in 1913, the Philadelphian Adeline Pepper Gibson purchased over sixty...

To explore the Tarot is to explore ourselves, to be reminded of the  universality of our longing for meaning, for purpose and for a  connection to the divine. This 600-year-old tradition reflects not only a  history of seekers, but our...