> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Enigma of Alison Knowles - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/the-enigma-of-alison-knowles/ - Published: 2026-05-04T20:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-05-04T19:59:59.000Z - Description: New tomes on Hans Holbein’s portraits, photographer Jan Staller’s studies of Manhattan construction sites, and more. - Author: Lakshmi Rivera Amin - Tags: Books Newsletter, Newsletter Alison Knowles is often regarded as the "first woman" of Fluxus, the intrepid group that took the piss out of art itself. Six months after her death, Lauren Moya Ford examines the only book dedicated to her work and life — the latter of which still remains shrouded in mystery, despite the author's best efforts. Ford considers one of the many questions that plaguehistorians: Can we understand the work if we do not first understand the artist? More books to kick off May, which spiritually if not technically marks the start of summer, including Ed Simon on the qualities that set Hans Holbein's portraits apart and Melissa Holbrook Pierson on a photographer's engagement with the endless landscape of construction sites in Manhattan. And in case you missed it, catch up on scholar Leigh Raiford's exploration of a [Black Panther family album](https://hyperallergic.com/inside-a-black-panther-family-album/) excerpted from her new book — which she'll discuss with writer and activist Salamishah Tillet at the Studio Museum in Harlem on Sunday, [May 17 at 4pm](https://www.studiomuseum.org/events/studio-salon-when-home-is-a-photograph?ref=hyperallergic.com). Enjoy, and let us know what you're reading this month! *—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor* --- [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/04/FIg.077-1.jpg)](https://hyperallergic.com/hans-holbein-painted-the-human/) Holbein, “Sir Thomas More” (c. 1527), oil on oak (© The Frick Collection) ### [Hans Holbein Painted the Human](https://hyperallergic.com/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. | Ed Simon --- SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/04/AD-09959_Hyperallergic-1.jpg)](https://hubs.ly/Q04cQ6Ht0?ref=hyperallergic.com) ***Reading Pictures: A History of Illustration** Richly illustrated with more than four hundred images, **Reading Pictures* by D. B. Dowd presents a global history of a versatile art form, linking its emergence to modern developments such as the illustrated news, recreational reading, and ad-driven consumer culture. [Learn more ](https://hubs.ly/Q04cQ6Ht0?ref=hyperallergic.com) --- ## From Our Critics [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/04/pc-1.jpg)](https://hyperallergic.com/the-mysterious-life-of-fluxus-dame-alison-knowles/) ### [The Mysterious Life of Fluxus Dame Alison Knowles](https://hyperallergic.com/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. | Lauren Moya Ford *Performing Chance: The Art of Alison Knowles In/Out of Fluxus* by Nicole L. Woods (2026) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/04/mp-1.jpg)](https://hyperallergic.com/jan-staller-photographs-the-nuts-and-bolts-of-manhattans-urban-symphony/) ### [Jan Staller Photographs the Nuts and Bolts of Manhattan’s Urban Symphony](https://hyperallergic.com/jan-staller-photographs-the-nuts-and-bolts-of-manhattans-urban-symphony/) The American photographer’s new book transforms the city’s endless construction sites into otherworldly visions. | Melissa Holbrook Pierson *Manhattan Project: Photographs* by Jan Staller (2025) --- SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/04/Hyperallergicnewbooksannouncementheader-1--2.jpg)](https://hyperallergic.com/early-2026-art-books-from-yale-university-press/) ****Early 2026 Art Books From Yale University Press** Biographies of Anni Albers and Dorothea Tanning, The Met’s blockbuster “Raphael,” Edward Steichen and his flowers, and more books for art lovers. Shop the annual sale this May. [Learn more ](https://hyperallergic.com/early-2026-art-books-from-yale-university-press/) --- ## More Fluxus Reads [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/04/higgins.jpg)](https://hyperallergic.com/intermedia-fluxus-and-the-something-else-press-selected-writings-by-dick-higgins-siglio-press-2018-steve-clay-ken-friedman/) ### [Dick Higgins: Avant-Garde Provocateur and Philosopher](https://hyperallergic.com/intermedia-fluxus-and-the-something-else-press-selected-writings-by-dick-higgins-siglio-press-2018-steve-clay-ken-friedman/) Higgins was a participant observer of outrageous innovations in art, music, poetry, performance, and independent publishing for decades beginning in the 1960s. | James Gibbons *Intermedia, Fluxus, and the Something Else Press: Selected Writings by Dick Higgins,* edited by Steve Clay and Ken Friedman (2018) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/04/moorman.jpg)](https://hyperallergic.com/topless-but-far-from-helpless-charlotte-moormans-avant-garde-life/) ### [Topless but Far From Helpless: Charlotte Moorman’s Avant-Garde Life](https://hyperallergic.com/topless-but-far-from-helpless-charlotte-moormans-avant-garde-life/) A biography by Joan Rothfuss offers a revealing portrait of the pioneering performance artist and ardent member of the late 20th century’s artistic avant-garde. | Edward M. Gómez *Topless Cellist: The Improbable Life of Charlotte Moorman* by Joan Rothfuss(2014) ###