The Enigma of Alison Knowles
New tomes on Hans Holbein’s portraits, photographer Jan Staller’s studies of Manhattan construction sites, and more.
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 plague historians: 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 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.
Enjoy, and let us know what you're reading this month!
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
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
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.
From Our Critics
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)
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. | Melissa Holbrook Pierson
Manhattan Project: Photographs by Jan Staller (2025)
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.
More Fluxus Reads
Dick Higgins: Avant-Garde Provocateur and Philosopher
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)
Topless but Far From Helpless: Charlotte Moorman’s 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)
