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 “There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now,” wrote James Baldwin. Published in conjunction with the eponymous exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery,...

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...

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...

This is the story of the African-American Montier family, which traces its roots to Philadelphia’s first mayor, a white Quaker named Humphrey Morrey, and includes generations of Black activists, artists and scholars. The important story of an...

Featuring nearly forty full-color reproductions of Thomas Sully’s portraits, and drawing upon previously unpublished archival material, Thomas Sully’s Philadelphians brings to life the people who participated in the history of early-nineteenth-century...

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,...

The authoritative and wide-ranging visual essay on the aesthetics of Japan, a classic volume now back in print with a stunning new cover design ‘Japan style’ is an aesthetic recognizable to everyone: a beautifully displayed flower, an elegant...

No German painter evokes such strong emotions as Caspar David Friedrich: his evening skies remain icons of longing, his mountain vistas testaments to the grandeur of nature.  He inspired Samuel Beckett to write Waiting for Godot and Walt...

An omnibus edition collecting fifteen volumes of Hokusai's dedicated drawing manuals, also known as e-tehon. Best known for woodblock prints such as The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the ninteenth-century artist Hokusai was prolific in other media. Of...

A window into the world of functional everyday design The designers Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa have compiled 204 everyday objects in search of “super normal design”: alongside examples of anonymous design like the Swiss Rex vegetable...

Jacqueline Woodson's National Book Award and Newbery Honor winner is a powerful memoir that tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.  A President Obama "O" Book Club pick. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always...

Parks' impactful images from the forefront of the civil rights and Black Power movements Originally published in 1971, Gordon Parks’ Born Black was the first book to unite his writing and his photography and also the first to provide a focused survey of...

Billy Brown, 2023 winner of the Witmer Stone Award for Best Ornithological Book of the Year from the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club Do snakes and salamanders fascinate you or make you squeamish? Have you ever listened closely to the birds chirping...

The must-have guide for all artists who need to realistically draw clothing! In Morpho: Clothing Folds and Creases, artist and teacher Michel Lauricella presents a unique approach to learning to draw clothing. By connecting the underlying anatomy to...

The must-have guide for all artists who draw the human figure! In Morpho: Hands and Feet, artist and teacher Michel Lauricella presents a unique approach to learning to draw the human body. In this book, Lauricella focuses exclusively on the hands and...

Understanding Philadelphia’s history requires that we understand that nothing is inevitable; history is not made by abstract forces, but by the decisions of real individuals as they conduct their lives. With its insightful analysis and engaging prose ,...

In this exploration of contemporary photography, David Levi Strauss questions the concept that “seeing is believing”. Identifying a recent shift in the dominance of photography, David Levi Strauss looks at the power of the medium in the age of...

An accessible, inspirational, and engaging introductory survey of LGBTQIA+ photography, as told through the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Drawing on one of the oldest and largest photography collections in the world, Calling the...

 Picturing Black History uncovers untold stories and rarely seen images of the Black experience, providing new context around culturally significant moments. This beautiful collectible volume makes a thoughtful gift and is full of rousing,...

Light up your life Luminary design of the 20th century Designed to be a companion to our classic title 1000 Chairs, this edition contains an awesome selection of over 1000 lights. Presented chronologically by decade are the 20th century’s most...

In a world of infinite images here is a guide to 65 of the best ever taken. From early experiments with light and form through Leica masterpieces and now artificially generated images, take it or leave it, this is our opinion as to why these particular...

 The dramatic story of an ingenious man who explained nature and created a country. Benjamin Franklin was one of the preeminent scientists of his time. Driven by curiosity, he conducted cutting-edge research on electricity, heat, ocean currents,...

A new introductory guide to the art of looking at and engaging with photography. Photographs, even the most iconic, often have something seemingly obvious about them. They appear to represent the "real" world and our first instinct is that they can be...

 A fascinating introduction to the world of Korean myth and legend. The myths of Korea may seem a complex and intriguing mix of ghosts, spirits, and superstition, but they form the bedrock of one of the most vibrant global cultures today. In the...

 Showcases the exceptionally diverse photographic work of Latinx artists Whether at UFW picket lines in California's Central Valley or capturing summertime street life in East Harlem Latinx photographers have documented fights for dignity and...

The best design from the Nordic region Scandinavia is world famous for its inimitable, democratic designs which bridge the gap between craftsmanship and industrial production, organic forms and everyday functionality. This all-you-need guide includes a...

In “Latinx,” Carribean Fragoza traces Laura Aguilar’s influence on queer artmaking. Joiri Minaya remixes postcards from the Dominican Republic to unveil the fantasy of tourism. Christina Catherine Martinez profiles Reynaldo Rivera, who chronicled...

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...

Christina Ramberg (1946–1995) first gained renown for her acrylic-on-board paintings from the 1960s and 1970s that feature stylized fragments of female figures. Often associated with Chicago Imagism, Ramberg’s distinct linear approach was informed by a...

William Morris was a polymath designer, writer, artist, and social activist, associated with England's Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as well as Arts and Crafts movement. His prolific design work included tiles, embroidery, tapestries, wallpaper, and carpets...

 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...

Reissued to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus, this book explores one of the most important art schools of the last hundred years. The Bauhaus, a school of art and design founded in Germany in 1919, informed the aesthetic...

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,...

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...

 A new edition of a seminal book on the history of graphic design in the twentieth century by one of the leading authorities in the field. The story of graphic design is one of the most exciting and important developments in twentieth-century visual...

As Art Director for Muji since 2002, Japanese graphic designer Kenya Hara (born 1958) and his aesthetic of pared-back, beautifully functional objects have taken the world by (quiet) storm. With Kenya Hara: Designing Japan, the designer presents his...

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

In freewheeling 1920s Paris, Kiki de Montparnasse captivated as a nightclub performer, sold out gallery showings of her paintings, starred in Surrealist films, and shared drinks and ideas with the likes of Jean Cocteau and Marcel Duchamp. Her...

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...

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...

Focusing on the work of 33 artists, this volume examines the ways contemporary Korean art reflects the dynamic changes in the country following the 1980 Gwangju Uprising and 1988 Seoul Olympics, when a newly democratic South Korea opened up to the rest...

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...

Photography is now more popular than ever thanks to the rapid development of digital cameras. Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs is ideal for this new wave of snap shooters using DSLR, compact system and bridge cameras. It contains no...

A meditation on suffering, resilience, creativity, and grace. In 1942 Missouri Pettway, newly suffering the loss of her husband, pieced together a quilt out of his old, worn work clothes. Nearly six decades later her daughter Arlonzia Pettway,...

Photography has a complex relationship to art. This volume uses an innovative framework to help readers appreciate photography as its own modern art form. In his unique and insightful approach, professor of photography David Bate presents iconic...

Discover 300 pages of color inspiration with 450 as rich as they are surprising, combinations inspired by 150 destinations. Reflecting the diversity and beauty of our animal world. This book is a great combination to the volume 1, still with CMYK and...

The Street Photography Challenge is a boxed set of 50 cards, each giving photographers a simple prompt or idea for creating great images in everyday environments. Flip the card over for an example image, and turn to the enclosed booklet when you need...

'Sometimes I long so much to do landscape, just as one would for a long walk to refresh oneself, and in all of nature, in trees for instance, I see expression and a soul.' Vincent van Gogh saw nature and art as inseparably linked. In The Healing Power...

A Japanese designer offers a compelling alternative way to engage with our possessions, our history, our environment, and each other. The Japanese phrase "hodo-hodo" originates in ancient times. When contemporary designer Taku Satoh applies it to his...

Sonia Delaunay was a true pioneer of modernist abstraction; breaking with the figurative vocabulary that subordinated color to subject matter, she placed dynamic color interaction at the core of her vision, whether expressed through painting, book...

Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods and Fairmount is among its most famous.  But you know it for the Parkway and the museums.  Did you know it is also home to a ghostly history?  Eastern State Penitentiary has had countless reports of...

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...

Bringing together more than forty works from the United States and Europe, this exhibition examines Barbara Chase-Riboud’s artistic career, focusing primarily on her important Malcolm X sculptures. Five works from that series—among them the Museum’s...

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...

In this remarkable, inspiring collection of essays, acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a brilliant case for why art matters, especially in the turbulent political weather of the twenty-first century. Funny Weather brings together a career’s...

John Berger's Ways of Seeing is one of the most stimulating and the most influential books on art in any language. First published in 1972, it was based on the BBC television series about which the Sunday Times critic commented: "This is an eye-opener in...

Good design, like good storytelling, brings ideas to life. The latest book from award-winning writer Ellen Lupton is a playbook for creative thinking, showing designers how to use storytelling techniques to create satisfying graphics, products, services...

How to Rule at Photography features 50 bite-size tips and tricks to help you improve your photo skills with your phone's camera. Creating brilliant photos with your phone isn't as hard as you might think, and the easy-to-follow advice in this book goes...

Many scholars have called Linda Nochlin’s seminal essay on women artists the first real attempt at a feminist history of art. In her revolutionary essay, Nochlin refused to answer the question of why there had been no “great women...

Acclaimed as the “father of skyscrapers,” the quintessentially American icon Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect of aspiration. He believed in giving cultivated American life its fitting architectural equivalent and applied his idealism to structures...

Even in his unrealized projects, Le Corbusier redefined modern living, synthesizing functionalism, expressionism, and expansive urban thinking  from Switzerland to Chandigarh, India. This book provides a succinct  introduction to his...

Over the course of his artistic career, Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) transformed not only his own style, but the course of art history. From early figurative and landscape painting, he went on to pioneer a  spiritual, emotive, rhythmic use of color...

Take an intimate promenade through Paris with some 500 images from Eugène Atget. Down main streets and side streets, through courtyards, arcades, and the city’s 20 arrondissements, we find a unique portrait of a beloved city and the making...

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...

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...

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,...

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 Lisa Roberts At four months old Mr. Waffles was rescued from a shelter by a family who collects contemporary design. Luckily for everyone involved - Mr. Waffles Loves Design! Take a tour through a history of design with this very smart and curious cat...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

This pictoral map of Philadelphia features detailed illustrations of points of interest, as well as historical information and sight seeing reccomendations. It incorporates antique imagery and architectural renderings of Philadelphias most renowened...