Books
How a Tarot Deck Led to a Revolution
What makes The Tarot of A. E. Waite and P. Colman Smith stand out is how much the book emphasizes the creative process and treats the cards like art.
Art History
Books
Inside the Life of the Father of Modern Anatomy
A new book on Andreas Vesalius humanizes the 16th-century scientist by focusing on his creative approaches and small frustrations.
Art
The Ancient Art of the Labor Strike
Though the term “strike” was coined in 1768, the history of work stoppages is much older and artists have been involved from the start.
Art
Lavinia Fontana, the Self-Fashioned Painter
The first woman to make her living from painting captured herself and other women in the ways they wished to be perceived.
Books
Esther Pressoir Is the Coolest Artist You’ve Never Heard Of
In 1927, Pressoir carried 30 pounds of art-making supplies on a bike ride from France to Italy. It was just the beginning of an inimitable artistic journey.
Books
The Delightfully Saturated History of Color Charts
Three tomes give new meaning to “full color” by chronicling the visual history of color charts, swatches, palettes, and more.
Art
The Gay Abstract Expressionist Largely Lost to History
Lawrence Calcagno showed in nine Whitney biennials and was a lover to Beauford Delaney, but his legacy is yet to be fully explored.
Books
The Art History of Addiction and Recovery
Scholar and psychotherapist Kikan Massara elucidates and contextualizes the 12-step recovery process through paintings, prints, and other works of art and literature.
Books
The Spellbinding, Bookish World of Art Nouveau Posters
Accompanying a show at The Met, The Art of the Literary Poster examines the commercial, artistic, and political dimensions of the late-19th-century form.
Art
How a Father-Daughter Duo Changed the Course of Textile Art
May and William Morris’s fascinating and complicated relationship deserves to be studied in its own right.
Art
The Queer Utopias of Florine Stettheimer
Though the artist’s own sexuality is unknown, the freedom, playful sensuality, and gender euphoria in her work resonate with present ideas of queer community.
Books
The Smoky Visual History of Censers
From Mesoamerican rituals to royal Asian courts, Holy Smoke explores incense vessels and their rich network of makers, biotic substances, and knowledge.