The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The definitive book on the work of a virtuosic and revered American photographerIrving Penn (1917–2009) was among the most esteemed and influential photographers of the 20th century. Over the course of a nearly seventy-year career, he mastered a pared-down aesthetic of studio photography that is (...)

A revelatory look at the influential and enigmatic designer behind Comme des Garcons The great pantheon of fashion designers produces only a handful of creators who are masters of their metier. Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons is one of them. Widely recognized among her contemporaries as the most (...)

This engaging book offers a fresh look at the exceptional works of Edvard Munch (1863–1944) by examining them in the light of his precarious mental state. Following a nervous breakdown in 1908, Munch underwent electroshock therapy, which prompted a marked change in his art work. The haunting (...)

A comprehensive and breathtakingly illustrated presentation of the genius of Michelangelo by the world's leading expert on the artist The Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was especially celebrated for his disegno, a term that embraces both drawing and conceptual (...)

A major reexamination of the father of the Hudson River School in relation to his European roots and travelsThomas Cole (1801–1848), arguably the greatest American landscape artist of his generation, is presented here in a new light: as an international figure, born in England, and in dialogue with (...)

Evocative and often highly erotic works on paper by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Pablo Picasso are presented along with new details about Scofield Thayer (1889–1982), the unusual and complicated man who collected them. Thayer was a wealthy publisher, poet, and aesthete who led an intense public (...)

Since antiquity, religious beliefs and practices have inspired many of the masterworks of art. These works of art have, in turn, fueled the imagination of fashion designers in the 20th and 21st centuries, yielding some of the most innovative creations in costume history. Connecting significant (...)