Interview
Inside the Mind of an Antiquities Looter
"The Man Who Stole the Gods" author Matthew Campbell discusses Western collectors' rapacious hunger for ancient Cambodian art and the sheer violence it took to satiate it.
Books
Book Review
James Cahill’s Character Study of the Art World
“The Violet Hour” is a dreamy chronicle of fame, greed, and ambition, full of cartoonish personalities you’ve likely had the misfortune of encountering firsthand.
Guide
7 Art Books You Should Read This Pride Month
A joint biography of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek, a catalog on Martin Wong’s Chinatowns, Catherine Opie’s portraiture, queer nightlife through the ages, and more.
Book Review
The World That Held Peter Hujar and Paul Thek
As a dyke, I particularly cherished this portrait of queer entanglement characterized by duration and valences beyond the sexual or romantic.
Book Excerpt
Edward Hopper’s Distinctly American Solitude
American bombast is, more than anything, a mask, which Hopper understood well.
Book Review
The Looter Who Built Your Favorite Museum
A new book maps the network that allowed Douglas Latchford to violently rip Khmer statues from their homes and funnel them into Western institutions.
Book Review
Anni Albers Wasn’t Afraid to Start From Zero
Nicholas Fox Weber’s new biography draws on their nearly 25-year friendship, allowing her dedication to textile art and her warm humor to shine through in equal measure.
Feature
The Painted Book Cover Is Back
The recent shift toward figuration on book covers may reflect a broader desire for physical presence — proof of the artist’s hand in the digital age.
Guide
12 Art Books to Kick Off Summer
A novel lampooning the art world, Megan O’Grady’s meditation on art and living, the man who defined color in the dictionary, Nan Goldin’s tender photo essay, and more.
Book Review
The Mysterious Life of Fluxus Dame Alison Knowles
Even a book by a leading expert on the avant-garde artist can’t tell us much about her personal life.
Book Review
Jan Staller Photographs the Nuts and Bolts of Manhattan's Urban Symphony
The American photographer's new book transforms the city's endless construction sites into otherworldly visions.
Book Review
Hans Holbein Painted the Human
He surpassed all of his colleagues in the sheer depth, visceral intimacy, and empathy conveyed in his renderings of nobles, aristocrats, and thinkers.