Culture & Society

The De Stijl protagonist’s elucidation of the basics of neoplasticism Painter, writer, architect, typographer, art theorist and leader of the De Stijl movement, Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931) was one of the great modernist polymaths, and in this volume of...

Told through the lives of three remarkable artists devoted to the pursuit of liberty, an illuminating new history of the ideals that fired the American Revolution. The war that we now call the American Revolution was not only fought in the colonies with...

The story of the wildest experiments in early photography and the wild people who undertook them. Today it’s routine to take photos from an aeroplane window, use a camera under the sea or gaze at an X-ray. But the innovations more than a century...

From Game Boy to Gucci American advertising in the naughty 1990s From the Los Angeles riots to the Columbine High School massacre, Americans witnessed events and purchased items that reflected the best and worst of the decade. Bill Clinton’s presidency...

Massaging the Consumer The digital future of ads in the extravagant 1980s With the cold war ebbing, crime and inflation at record levels, and movie star-turned-President Ronald Reagan launching a Star Wars of his own, the 1980s did not seem likely to...

Disco and Discovery Ads of the 1970s get funky and socially conscious Both eclipsed and influenced by television, American print ads of the 1970s departed from the bold, graphic forms and subtle messages that were typical of their sixties counterparts...

Americana in Full Bloom To the moon and back with advertising in the 1960s With the consumerist euphoria of the fifties still going strong and the race to the moon at its height, the mood of advertising in the sixties was cheerful, optimistic, and at...

Advertising in the Atomic Age From “The World’s Finest Automatic Washer” to the Cadillac which “Gives a Man a New Outlook” As McCarthyism swept across the United States and capitalism was king, white America enjoyed a feeling of pride and security that...

The need-to-know names of Japanese graphic design from the late 19th century to the pre-digital decade, presented alongside more than 500 color images of vintage ephemera With Fracture, author Ian Lynam presents a survey of Japanese design across a...

As the companion to the exhibition, Fighting for Freedom places Black craftspeople at the forefront of American history, from before the Revolutionary War through the Civil War and beyond Reconstruction. Delving into diverse narratives of creativity,...

From Darkness into Light Wartime action and postwar triumph in the advertising of the 1940s At the beginning of the decade, America was at war. Patriotism was an integral part of everyday life, with the sentiment mirrored in advertising. As America...

In early modern Japan, cultural salons were creative spaces for people of all ages and social levels to pursue painting, poetry, and other artistic endeavors as serious but amateur practitioners. All using a pen- or art-name, individuals were able to...

A visual journey through Zen’s influence on Japanese life, from calligraphy to the martial arts Formed by a convergence of the Buddha’s teachings with Taoism and local tradition, Zen has had a profound impact on the art and culture of Japan...

A magnificently illustrated oversized book that uses art to illuminate the lives of medieval women, from peasants to queens Medieval women ruled over kingdoms, abbeys, and households; produced stunning works of art and craft; and did the hard work that...

A celebration of the work and ambition of the women who were at the heart of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Women Pioneers of the Arts and Crafts Movement is a celebration of the work and ambition of the women who were at the heart of the most influential...

African American art in the era of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers In the period of radical change that was 1963–83, young black artists at the beginning of their careers confronted difficult questions about art, politics and racial identity. How...

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...

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...

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,...

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...