Art History

Monuments and Myths is the first publication to trace the intersecting work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907) and Daniel Chester French (1850–1931), the leading American sculptors of the Gilded Age. Featuring provocative essays, stunning...

While anchoring his practice in the traditions of antiquity and the Renaissance, Auguste Rodin paved the way for modern sculpture. From a very early stage, he was interested in movement, the expression of the body, chance effects, and the incomplete...

“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...

Marc Chagall (1887–1985) remains famous for his dreamy images and luminous use of color, but in the 1930s his palette darkened as he began to address intensifying anti-Semitism in Europe. Chagall: World in Turmoil draws attention to lesser-known works...

Cabinets of curiosities fascinated people of the 16th and 17th  centuries. They offered a glimpse into a world full of natural wonders and treasures that aimed to reflect the order of the universe. This volume takes us through the world’s most...

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp sent out a 'telegram' in the guise of a urinal signed R. Mutt. When it arrived at its destination a good forty years later it was both celebrated and vilified as proclaiming that anything could be art; from that point on, the...

Celebrating over a century of fashion’s greatest talents, from Azzedine Alaïa and Coco Chanel to Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent. From Azzedine Alaïa, Cristóbal Balenciaga, and Coco Chanel to  Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and...

The world’s leading museum directors discuss the future of museums in the wake of 2020’s pandemic and social upheavals. 2020 ushered in a new decade and with it a series of unforeseen events that have reoriented the future. As the coronavirus forced...

Since the 1960s, contemporary art has overturned the accepted historical categorizations of what constitutes art, who creates it, and how it is represented and validated. This guide brings the subject up to date, exploring the notion of “contemporary”...

Acknowledging how architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts reflect the culture and society of their time, this latest addition to the Art Essentials series invites the reader to experience and appreciate the entirety of Western art from...

An absorbing group biography revealing how exiles from war-torn France brought surrealism to America, sparking the movement that became abstract expressionism. In 1957 the American artist Robert Motherwell made an unexpected claim: "I have only known...

In this volume, the writer and Rodin scholar Rachel Corbett selects excerpts from the famous sculptor’s book Cathedrals of France,  first published in 1914, just before the outbreak of World War I.  Cathedrals were central to the way Rodin...

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...

A critical look at the renegade spirit that permeates Japanese prints and the posters of fin-de-siècle Paris. Both the Edo period (1603–1868) in Japan and the late nineteenth century in France witnessed a multitude of challenges to the status quo from...

In 2018, just a few weeks after his father’s death, Dean Rader made a pilgrimage to the Gagosian Gallery in New York to see a retrospective of Cy Twombly’s work, In Beauty It is Finished: Drawings 1951-2008. The exhibit led to a poem that would become...

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...

A short and pithy introduction to the most important feminist artworks from the late 1960s to the present.   Emerging in the late 1960s as women artists struggled to “de-gender” their work to compete in a male-dominated arena, the feminist art...

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...

In The Space Between, a generative period in Korean art between the traditional and the contemporary is illuminated comprehensively for the first time. After the centuries-long Joseon dynasty came 35 uninterrupted years of the Japanese colonial period...

Explore Hieronymus Bosch's fantastic illustrations of the afterlife and other religious concepts and narratives. Although Bosch's known works amount to no more than two dozen paintings and a handful of drawings, the artist had an enormous impact on...

An elegant introduction to Egon Schiele’s career, this book untangles the mysteries and misunderstandings behind his genius. Egon Schiele left an enormous artistic legacy that is all the more powerful for the brevity of his career. Isabel Kuhl’s lively...

Discover the motifs, masterpieces, and driving forces behind the artist Pablo Picasso. Picasso was arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century. Over the course of a career that spanned seven decades--and included thousands of paintings,...

Discover the life and work of Frida Kahlo in this introduction to the iconic Mexican artist. Although her body of work is relatively small, Frida Kahlo has inspired adoration and admiration that few other artists have attained. This accessible and...

This introduction to the work of the 16th-century master portraitist Hans Holbein reveals the impressive and surprising scope of his career. 16th-century Europe was a time of unprecedented economic expansion, cross-cultural trade, religious upheaval,...

Get a glimpse into the life and work of painter, sculptor, and printmaker Edgar Degas, who is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism. Best known for his depictions of young dancers on the stage and in the studio, Degas was an accomplished...

Explore the vibrant work of artist Marc Chagall in this lively introduction and discover how his unique narrative style embraced Jewish culture and folklore. Marc Chagall's remarkable oeuvre spans a variety of media, from painting, ceramics, and stained...

This revelatory examination of the Surrealist master updates prevailing theories about Magritte’s life and beliefs, and offers a surprising new assessment of an artist who strived for anonymity rather than fame. Throughout his career, Magritte subverted...

The story of Klimt’s astonishing artistic career is told in this beautifully produced collection of reproductions, photographs and drawings with an accompanying text that places the artist in a unique historical moment and reflects his fierce appetite...

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...

An authoritative visual history of India, one of the world’s oldest and most vibrant cultures, drawing on South Asian art and artifacts from prehistory to the present. India: A History in Objects presents a beautiful collection of material culture from...

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 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...

The definitive and fully illustrated guide to the Bayeux  Tapestry. The full history of the events leading up to the Battle of  Hastings and the story of the tapestry itself. Most people know that the Bayeux Tapestry depicts the moment when...

A sweeping look at Chinese art across the millennia that upends traditional perspectives and offers new pathways for art history. Throughout Chinese history, dynastic time—the organization of history through the lens of successive dynasties—has been the...

This extraordinary compendium of compelling facts, figures, and findings gathers and distils obscure and fascinating information about art, artists, and the art world. You will learn: which artist's work is stolen most often (Picasso) names of...

Though she was widely known for her supernatural fictions, Lee hasn’t gained the recognition she so clearly deserves for her contributions in the fields of aesthetics, philosophy of empathy, and art criticism. An early follower of Walter Pater, her work...

How the urban spectator became the archetypal modern viewer and a central subject in late nineteenth-century French art. Gawkers explores how artists and writers in late nineteenth-century Paris represented the seductions, horrors, and banalities of...

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...

Until the early 2000s, little had been written about eye miniatures or  “Lover's Eyes”, and their short-lived popularity at the end of the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries, when hand-painted portraits  of single human eyes were set in...

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...

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...

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...

These women changed art forever - told in colourful graphic novel form, this is the story of four pioneers of feminist art: Judy Chicago,  Faith Ringold, Ana Mendieta, and the Guerilla Girls. Each made their mark in their own powerful way. Judy...

Marcel Duchamp, the artist’s first legendary monograph and draft catalogue raisonné, was written by art historian and novelist Robert  Lebel and published in French in 1959; later that same year, it was  translated into English by George Heard...

Follow photographer Frédéric Chaubin as he embarks on a unique, century-spanning journey through Europe. Featuring images of more than 200 buildings in 21 countries, Stone Age presents the history and architecture of the most dramatic medieval castles of...

Wit, wisdom, and willfulness abound on page after page of this vibrant anthology. A great pick for mid-century architecture, design, and lifestyle fans. Includes a brilliant range of well-known women and those who certainly should be. Discover Edith...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Looking at pictures can be an exciting or moving experience, but some pictures—often the most rewarding—require some explanation before they can be fully understood. Delving into the origins, designs, and themes  of over one hundred...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

Edited by Dilys E. Blum with essays by Dilys E. Blum and Mary Schoeser, and a contribution by Julie Schafler Dale This is the first publication to consider art to wear, also known as wearable art, as a discrete American movement that mirrored the...

By Jennifer A. Thompson with contributions by Joseph J. Rishel and Eileen Owens Featuring ninety highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s stellar collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, this handsome volume includes iconic works...

By Hiromi Kinoshita This richly illustrated catalogue of highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s wide-ranging collection of Chinese art, spanning antiquity to the present day, includes such gems as Ming gold vessels and imperial court robes, a...

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...

Edited by Carlos Basualdo 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...

Jessica Todd Smith (Author) With an emphasis on painting and sculpture made in the United States between 1910 and 1950, this gorgeously illustrated volume offers a rich introduction to American modernism through the world-class collection of the...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

Jack Lindsey(Author) with essays by Edward C. Carter ll, Richard S. Dunn, and Richard Saunders Focusing on Philadelphia's prominent role in the history of Colonial America, this exhibition catalogue surveys the decorative and fine arts produced during...

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...