Monographs

From majestic desertscapes to magnified lilies and irises, survey the unique and luminous oeuvre of Georgia O’Keeffe, a seminal figure in modern American art and radical pioneer of abstraction. This book  follows the artist through her pioneering...

Shimmering, pulsating color masses characterize the Abstract Expressionist masterpieces of Mark Rothko. Like no other artist in his generation, Rothko developed his own stylistic vocabulary, creating ceiling-high canvases that were to be experienced as...

Painter, and Marxist activist, Diego Rivera was not just the husband of Frida Kahlo.  He is renowned as much for his active politics as for his monumental mural paintings. This introduction explores his unique and visionary renderings of a modern...

Few artists tried as hard as Claude Monet (1840–1926) to capture light itself on canvas. The painter of whom Cézanne said “only  an eye, but my God what an eye!” he stayed true to the principle of absolute fidelity to the visual sensation, painting...

It was a dappled and daubed harbor scene that gave Impressionism its  name. When Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet was exhibited in April  1874, critics seized upon the work’s title and its loose stylistic rendering of light and motion...

Artist and prominent early American Charles Willson Peale  (1741-1827) willed his passions to his equally remarkable children, nieces, and nephew. This engaging pictorial study reveals in-depth these two generations of artists, naturalists, and...

The Japanese woodblock print is a phenomenon with no Western equivalent,  one where breathtaking landscapes exist alongside blush-inducing  erotica; where demons and otherworldly creatures torment the living; and  where sumo wrestlers,...

In 1919, the state art school in Weimar was reopened as the Bauhaus,  under the direction of Walter Gropius and with a radical new teaching  approach. Four years later, the first Bauhaus exhibition was held,  presenting the school’s novel...

Flamboyant man-about-town, Oscar Wilde had a reputation that preceded him, especially in his early career. Known primarily for his plays and his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray , it sometimes comes as a surprise to people that he wrote fairy tales...

Eliot Porter masterfully created color photographs of the New England woods to pair with the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Both Porter and Thoreau, although they lived a century apart, worked endlessly to  preserve nature and protect it from man...

The Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums encompasses over 2,500 of the world’s rarest pigments. Museum director Edward Forbes started the collection at the turn of the 20th century, in order to preserve...

The beloved classic fantasy adventure PETER PAN has been adapted countless times for film, stage, and spin-offs -- but it's never been seen as depicted by the  brushwork of celebrated Belgian cartoonist Brecht Evens. This  elaborately...

The traditional “knight in shining armor” has become a staple figure in popular culture and the images of bloody battlefields, bustling feasting halls, and courtly tournaments have been creatively interpreted many times in film and fiction...

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...

The most comprehensive and best-illustrated history of watercolor painting ever published! As an artistic medium, watercolor is so widely practiced, and so  widely beloved, that it can be startling to reflect on its humble origins. For hundreds of...

Throughout history, artists and citizens have turned to protest art as a means of demonstrating social and political discontent. From the earliest broadsheets in the 1500s to engravings, photo-lithographs, prints, posters, murals, graffiti, and political...

In a compact, reader-friendly format, this volume traces a spectacular history of queer life and creativity in the modern age. It traces the rich visual legacy of art's relationship to Queer culture, from the emergence of homosexuality as an identity in...

While it is considered by many artists to be a pure and simplistic form of expression, abstract art is also often thought of as vague or exceedingly theoretical. This new installment in the Art Essentials  series demystifies the concept and history...

Pierre-Auguste Renoir put people into the center of his painting. His compositions showed people embracing the pleasures of life, dancing, and  enjoying outings in Paris. He created special atmospheres full of  summer warmth and lightness,...

Street art is a phenomenon and subculture movement that reaches from the darkest urban backstreets to the most glamorous international art  fairs. Despite having earned a place in the canon of twentieth-century  art history, its qualifications...

It is often forgotten just how provocative and unsettling impressionist canvases seemed when they were first exhibited in 1874. Critics,  professional artists, and gallery visitors alike were shocked to  encounter the unorthodox paintings on...

Pop Art refers to a post-war movement connecting art with  popular culture. Billboard signs, comic books, and movie stars were just  some of the subjects chosen by pop artists, such as Andy Warhol, Roy  Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, and...

Active from the late 1700s through the early twentieth century, the Peale family was America’s first artistic dynasty. This overview of the art of the Peales presents more than 160 works in a variety of media from the renowned collection of the...

Modern Art guides the reader through individual movements  from Impressionism to Conceptual Art, situated within five broader  chronological eras. Starting with Impressionism in 1860, art historian  Amy Dempsey explains the essentials of...

The Story of Art, one of the most famous and popular books on art ever written, has been a world bestseller for over half a century.  Attracted by the simplicity and clarity of his writing, readers of all ages and backgrounds have found in Professor...

Surrealism was launched as a literary and artistic movement by French  poet Andre Breton in 1924, and by the time of his death in 1966 it had  become one of the most popular and recognizable art movements of the  twentieth century...

Iconography, or the study of symbols—be they animals, artifacts, plants,  geometric shapes, or gestures—is an essential aspect of interpreting  art. One of the most consistent features of human society throughout  time has been the use of...

Art lovers can list history’s most important art objects, but what many  don’t know are the dramatic, funny, and sometimes bizarre stories behind  these most famous works. Spanning the last 500 years of art history,  this book revisits...

Our lives are filled with objects. Everyday things used in everyday settings, they are our constant companions. As such, writes Soetsu Yanagi, they should be made with care and built to last, treated with respect and even affection. They should be...

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...

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 monumental oeuvre spanning more than forty years, Penone has  explored and expanded our understanding of what constitutes sculpture  through the interplay between the human body, nature, and art. His work  represents a poetic...

The  contemporary art world has been challenged and invigorated by outsider  art--works by self-taught practitioners who, by definition, have little  to do with mainstream art production, but are nonetheless actively  engaged with the...

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...

James Castle (1899-1977) was an American artist who found inspiration in  the detritus of everyday life, primarily in the materials he collected  from his family’s home such as envelopes, packaging, advertisements and  matchbooks. Working...

"Our Philadelphia, as is all our history, is made of these moments:  photographs and stories. And in our effort to find and delineate these  moments we also recognized that we approached a sense of place. Circling  ever closer to a shared...

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s David Lebe (b. 1948) pushed the boundaries of photography, creating nuanced and visually complex images using innovative techniques. Often enhancing his prints with hand-coloring, Lebe made experimental pinhole photographs,...

This important publication offers the  first in-depth exploration of contemporary artist Bruce Nauman's  monumental works Contrapposto Studies, I through VII and Contrapposto  Studies, i through vii of 2015/2016. The book surveys Nauman's...

Almost Lost Arts features the stories of 20 artisans who have devoted their lives to preserving traditional techniques.  From globe makers and book menders to cassette tape manufacturers and  neon sign makers, the profiled artisans represent a...

The complex oeuvre of the American artist Cy Twombly (1928-2011)  comprises a time period of around six decades, during which it never  lost any of its expressive power. Twombly was one of the most productive  artists in the history of...

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...

American Furniture, 1650–1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art is the first publication dedicated to one of the finest collections of its type in the country. Best known for furniture by artisans from Philadelphia and southeastern...

The publication will feature new, unpublished material related to the concept, filming, post-production, and installation of a new work by artist Rachel Rose (American, b. 1986). This new work, jointly commissioned and acquired by the Philadelphia Museum...

By Anne Monahan West Chester, PA's own Horace Pippin was arguably the most successful African American artist of his day. Pippin (1888–1946) taught himself to paint in the 1930s and quickly  earned international renown for depictions of World War I,...

This first installment in Skira and Jack Shainman Gallery's five-volume  publication project on Barkley L. Hendricks (1945–2017) presents for the  first time the artist's works on paper. These images—of flowers and  plants, bananas, a...

The knight is the supreme warrior of the Middle Ages. Fully armored and mounted on a magnificent charger, he seems invincible. Honor and  glory await him as, guided by the chivalric code, he fights with lance  and sword. This carefully...

This engaging book offers an introduction to and overview of armor in  Europe from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, focusing in  particular on the 16th century when plate armor reached its peak of  stylistic beauty and functional...

This volume offers an intriguing glimpse into the world of late medieval  martial arts, from wrestling to fencing with the longsword to the  subtle tricks that could be employed when jousting on horseback. Using  superb details of lively...

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec recorded unforgettable images of belle-époque  Paris in his paintings, lithographs, and posters. The posters created by  the painter and graphic designer for the Moulin Rouge club in  Montmartre remain extremely...

The work of Piet Mondrian is highly eclectic: from impressionist  landscapes to cubism and abstracts, in the final years of his working  life. This volume, enriched with images, provides a fascinating analysis  of the Dutch artist’s...

The artistic work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) is  considered a milestone of international modernism and the climax of  German Expressionism. This volume documents the development of the  multi-faceted oeuvre from the epoch-making...

His Great Wave off Kanagawa is the most famous work in  East Asian art. Hokusai, a self-confessed eccentric and obsessive,  created with his pictures of the floating world a veritable encyclopedia  of Japanese daily life and thus became a...

Hiroshige is one of the most important artists of the Japanese woodblock  print and is considered a master of “ukiyo-e,” the “pictures of the  floating world.” His evocative illustrations show mainly landscapes and  scenes from the capital...

"The Lady in Gold" was not his only painting!  Gustav Klimt, the most controversial artist of his time, enjoys incomparable  popularity to date. This book offers a fascinating insight into the  extensive work of this remarkable artist...

Edvard Munch is the most important Scandinavian artist and a pioneer of  Expressionism. With him, the existential fear, the loneliness of man,  and the unpredictability of his feelings are drawn into art. With a novel and experimental painting...

 By Mathieu Mercier  "Everything  important that I have done can be put into a little suitcase," Duchamp  said in 1952: finally that suitcase is available to all. One of the most important and enigmatic  pieces of modernist art,...

Edited by  Susanne M.I. Kaufmann and Stefan Banz   As the inventor of the Readymade and a founder of  conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp’s work is still provoking discussions about what defines art. Accompanying the first exhibition of...

Editor: Anne D'Harnoncourt Published in connection with the 1973 retrospective exhibition "Marcel Duchamp,"  co-curated by Anne d'Harnoncourt of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and  Kynaston McShine of The Museum of Modern Art. This...

By Paolo Parisi Cool, talented, and transgressive, Jean–Michel Basquiat's life is just  as fascinating as the work he produced. Delve into 1980s New York as  this vivid graphic novel takes you on Basquiat's journey from street–art  legend...

By Timothy Rub and Amanda Sroka 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...

Michael R. Taylor (Author) with essays by Andrew Lins, Melissa S. Meighan, and Beth A. Price, Ken Sutherland, Scott Homolka, and Elena Torok In his early thirties, Marcel Duchamp convinced everyone that he had abandoned making art in favor of playing...

Matthew Affron (Author) With contributions by Cécile Debray, Alexander Kauffman, Michael R. Taylor, and John Vick This book offers an engaging and accessible introduction to one of the twentieth century’s greatest and most enigmatic artists, Marcel...

Carlos Basualdo (editor) with essays by Carlos Basualdo, Olena Chervonik, Richard Fletcher, Emily Greenwood, and Nicola Del Roscio This revelatory publication provides a comprehensive and multifaceted account of Cy Twombly’s masterpiece Fifty Days at...

The best way to experience Philadelphia is by hiking it. Get outdoors with local author and hiking expert Lori Litchman with the new full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Philadelphia. These trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife...

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...

John Ittmann (Editor), Cordula Grewe (Editorial Consultant) From the 1770s through the 1840s, German, Austrian, and Swiss artists used the medium of printmaking to create works that synthesized poetry, literature, music, and the visual arts in new and...

Michael R. Taylor (Author) with essays by Andrew Lins, Melissa S. Meighan, and Beth A. Price, Ken Sutherland, Scott Homolka, and Elena Torok In his early thirties, Marcel Duchamp convinced everyone that he had abandoned making art in favor of playing...

Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley (Author), Peggy A. Olley (Author) with an essay by Jeffrey A. Cohen This handsome book explores in depth a group of stunning painted and gilded furniture designed by the architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, best known for...

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...

Kathleen A. Foster (Author) and Mark Tucker (Author) Thomas Eakins is acknowledged as one of the preeminent American painters of the 19th century. As a young artist in 1875 he prepared a monumental painting for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia...

Christopher D.M. Atkins (Author) Peter Paul Rubens proudly described his monumental painting Prometheus Bound as first among “the flower of my stock.” This singular work demonstrates how Rubens engaged with and responded to his predecessors Michelangelo...

The arresting paintings of Frida Kahlo were in many ways expressions of trauma. Through a near-fatal road accident at the age of 18, failing health, a turbulent marriage, miscarriage and childlessness, she transformed the afflictions into revolutionary...

By Felice Fischer and Kyoko Kinoshita The Kano lineage of painters—the most important in Japan—was established in the late fifteenth century by Kano Masanobu (1434–1530) and continued for nearly 400 years. Originally limited to...

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...

Peter Barberie (Editor), Amanda Bock (Editor), Martin Barnes (Contributor), Karen Beckman (Contributor), Tsitsi Jaji (Contributor), Maria Antonella Pelizzari (Contributor), Samantha Gainsburg (Contributor) Through his amazing variety of innovative...

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...

Edited by Anna Vallye; With contributions by Christian Derouet, Maria Gough, et al. With his landmark 1919 painting The City, Fernand Léger (1881–1955) inaugurated a vitally experimental decade during which he and others redefined the practice of...

George Eastman’s career developed in a particularly American way. The founder of Kodak progressed from a delivery boy to one of the most important industrialists in American history, and a crucial innovator in photographic history. Eastman died in 1932,...

Kathleen A. Foster (Author) The Life Line, a thrilling scene of rescue on stormy seas, firmly established Winslow Homer (1836–1910) as one of the leading American painters of his day, and one of the foremost maritime artists of all time. Combining a...

Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (ARAS) (Author) Handbook of visual experience: An exploration of symbols and their meanings throughout history The Book of Symbols combines original and incisive essays about particular symbols with...

Pierre Terjanian (Author) This striking publication examines two masterful armors for man and horse recently acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Among the earliest complete European examples in existence, these German works demonstrate the...

Pritzker Prize–winning architect Zaha Hadid, known internationally for her radically innovative buildings, has designed furniture and objects since the beginning of her professional practice. This lesser-known aspect of her career takes center stage for...

Mark S. Tucker (Author), Lloyd DeWitt (Editor), Seymour Slive (Preface), Blaise Ducos (Contributor), Franziska Gottwald (Contributor), George Keyes (Contributor), Shelley Perlove (Contributor), Larry Silver (Contributor), Ken Sutherland...

By Michael R. Taylor This scholarly catalogue provides an engaging analysis of Chagall’s life and career in the early decades of the twentieth century. Featured throughout are the paintings and works on paper that the artist created during these years,...

By Dilys E. Blum Italian couturier Roberto Capucci (born 1930) is revered by contemporary fashion designers for his innovative silhouettes and masterful use of color and materials. Capucci refers to his creations as "studies in form" and draws...

Darielle Mason (Author) with essays by Pika Ghosh, Katherine Hacker, Darielle Mason, Anne Peranteau, and Niaz Zaman This first book-length study on kantha published outside of South Asia focuses on two premier collections.  One assembled by the...

Edited by Michael R. Taylor. With essays by Michael R. Taylor, Kim S. Theriault, Jody Patterson, et al; Arshile Gorky (Armenian American, c. 1904–1948) was one of the central figures in American art's shift toward abstraction during the first half of the...

Felice Fischer (Author) From Japan’s first forays onto the international stage of world’s fairs in the late nineteenth century to the dynamic creativity of the 1920s and 1930s, and from the heady post–World War II period to the present day, Japanese...

By Kathleen Foster Labeled as a traveling American folk artist when he was rediscovered in the mid-20th century, the mysterious Thomas Chambers here receives a fresh and creative reassessment. Although his distinctive sea and landscapes appear in many...

By Susan Gray Detweiler, with an introduction by David L. Barquist The china used by First Families, both at the White House and in their private homes, reveals a fascinating story of culture and society as they have evolved in the United States since...

Rachel Arauz (Author), Ann Temkin(Author), Anne D'Hamoncourt(Author), et al. Featuring pivotal works of twentieth-century painting and sculpture, this book handsomely illustrates a selection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s outstanding modern art...

John Ittmann (Editor) with contributions by Innis Howe Shoemaker, James M. Wechsler, and Lyle W. Williams Mexico witnessed an exciting revival of printmaking alongside its better-known public mural program in the decades after the 1910–20 revolution...

By Ann Temkin, Gabriel Orozco and David Sylvester In 1993 Gabriel Orozco removed a lengthwise section of a Citroën DS and reconnected the two sides, making the car’s fleet form look lighter yet. Orozco continues his experimentations with perceptions of...

Joseph J. Rishel (Author) with Suzanne Stratton-Pruitt This monumental book transcends geographic boundaries and explores the history of the confluence of styles, materials, and techniques among Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas from Columbus's...

In 1772, a group of Philadelphia artisans published Prices of Cabinet and Chair Work, a 36-page booklet listing furniture forms, retail prices, and journeymen's wages. Rediscovered in 2003, the single surviving copy of this remarkable publication,...

By Flavia Frigeri In 1971, in an essay that has now become one of the touchstones of feminist art history, Linda Nochlin raised the question heard round the world: “Why have there been no great women artists?” Since the 1970s, as a result of this kind of...