Shop by Genre

Portrayals of James Baldwin and others in his circle highlight the iconic writer’s activism The American writer and activist James Baldwin (1924–87) considered himself a “witness” as he challenged perspectives on America and its history through his work...

 A celebration of more than 300 groundbreaking women sculptors that surveys 500 years of creative ingenuity from around the world Presenting a more expansive and inclusive history of sculpture, Great Women Sculptors surveys the work of more than 300...

This visual gift book introduces readers to the field of Black figuration by highlighting key works from the National Portrait Gallery exhibition The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure. The selections included in this brief introduction...

An illustrated guide to the fantastic world of Japanese myths: retelling the stories and exploring how Japanese mythology has changed over time, as new gods, heroes, and spirits have entered the  canon. While people around the world love Japan’s...

Take a Seat An overview of exemplary chairs More than any other piece of furniture, the chair has been subjected to the wildest dreams of the designer. The particular curve of a backrest, or the twist of a leg, the angle of a seat or the color of the...

 An updated edition of this indispensable reference, surveying the history of textiles from twenty-five thousand years ago to the present.  The history of textiles, more than that of any other artifact, is a history of human ingenuity. From the...

The definitive collection of Robert Mapplethorpe’s flower photographs in a sophisticated new edition. Robert Mapplethorpe is one of the twentieth century’s most important artists, known for his ground-breaking and provocative work. He studied painting,...

 A unique survey of 350 artworks by a global and diverse array of LGBTQ+ artists – many underrecognized and overlooked – from the last 50 years Though the Stonewall Riots might now be shorthand for the start of the gay rights movement, so much of...

From Slave Ship to Harvard is the true story of an African American family in Maryland over six generations. The author has reconstructed a unique narrative of black struggle and achievement from paintings, photographs, books, diaries, court records,...

Black Philadelphians have shaped Philadelphia history since colonial times. In Black History in the Philadelphia Landscape, Amy Cohen recounts notable aspects of the Black experience in Philadelphia from the late 1600s to the 1960s and how this history...

Larry Neal, a poet, dramatist, and critic, was a founding figure of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s and 1970s in New York. Writing as the arts editor for Liberator magazine, a radical journal published in Harlem, Neal called for Black artists to...

“I exaggerate, I sometimes make changes to the subject, but I still don’t invent the whole of painting; on the contrary, I find it ready-made—but to be untangled—in the real world.” —Vincent van Gogh to Émile...

Through a focus on Lenape art, culture, and history and a critical examination of historical visualizations of Native and European American relationships, Never Broken explores the ways in which art can create, challenge, and rewrite history. This richly...

Historic Philadelphia has long yielded archaeological treasures from its past. Excavations required by the National Historic Preservation Act have recovered pottery shards, pots, plates, coins, bones, and other artifacts relating to early life in the...

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...

This miniature bestiary contains some 200 illustrations of more than 160 mythical beings: fire-breathing dragons, mysterious mermaids, sinuous sea serpents, mischievous yokai, and many other wondrous creatures drawn from global folklore and mythology...

A beautiful and delightfully handy art book that is designed to inspire, this collection of 150 beautifully reproduced Vincent Van Gogh images makes a stylish gift. His writings have been edited and selected to create an enlightening, uplifting, and...

Medieval people are often portrayed as having poor hygiene and table manners—licking their knives or throwing chicken bones on the floor. In the Middle Ages, however, such behavior was not tolerated. Medieval society cherished order in nearly every facet...

This indispensable introductory guide explores the art of the African continent from its early origins over 75,000 years ago to the contemporary, set in the context of postcolonial debates, the restitution of cultural objects and artifacts, and the...

The Lenape tribe, also known as the Delaware Nation, lived for centuries on the land that English colonists later called New Jersey. But once America gained its independence, they were forced to move further west: to Indiana, then Missouri, and finally...