A selection of key essays by one of the most influential voices in art history, including seven previously unpublished pieces. This illustrated, edited collection of essays brings together for the first time some of the pioneering art historian Linda Nochlin's most important writings on modernism and modernity from across her six-decade career. Before the publication of her seminal tract on feminism in art, 'Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?', Nochlin had already firmly established herself as a major practitioner of a politically sophisticated and class-conscious social art history, with her writings on modernism being transformative to the discipline. Nochlin embraced Charles Baudelaire's conviction that modernity meant to be of one's time - and that the role of an art historian was to understand the art of the past not only in its own historical context, but according to the urgencies of the contemporary world. From academic debates about the nude in the 18th century to the work of Robert Gober in the 21st, whatever she turned her analytic eye to was very much conceived as the art of the now - the art we need to look at to navigate the complexities and contradictions of the present.

This collection of essays revisits gender and urban modernity in nineteenth-century Paris in the wake of changes to the fabric of the city and social life. In rethinking the figure of the flaneur, the contributors apply the most current thinking in literature and urban studies to an examination of visual culture of the period, including painting, caricature, illustrated magazines, and posters. Using a variety of approaches, the collection re-examines the long-held belief that life in Paris was divided according to strict gender norms, with men free to roam in public space while women were restricted to the privacy of the domestic sphere. Framed by essays by Janet Wolff and Linda Nochlin - two scholars whose work has been central to the investigation of gender and representation in the nineteenth century - this collection brings together new methods of looking at visual culture with a more nuanced way of picturing city life. -- .

Writing in Space, 1973-2019 gathers the writings of conceptual artist Lorraine O'Grady, who for over forty years has investigated the complicated relationship between text and image. A firsthand account of O'Grady's wide-ranging practice, this volume contains statements, scripts, and previously unpublished notes charting the development of her performance work and conceptual photography; her art and music criticism that appeared in the Village Voice and Artforum; critical and theoretical essays on art and culture, including her classic "Olympia's Maid"; and interviews in which O'Grady maps, expands, and complicates the intellectual terrain of her work. She examines issues ranging from black female subjectivity to diaspora and race and representation in contemporary art, exploring both their personal and their institutional implications. O'Grady's writings-introduced in this collection by critic and curator Aruna D'Souza-offer a unique window into her artistic and intellectual evolution while consistently plumbing the political possibilities of art.

"Doing is living. That is all that matters."-Ruth Asawa Throughout her long and prolific career American artist Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) developed innovative sculptures in wire, a medium she explored through increasingly complex forms using craft-based techniques she learned while traveling in Mexico in 1947. In 1949, after studying at Black Mountain College, Asawa moved to San Francisco and created dozens of wire works, among them an iconic bronze fountain-the first of many public commissions-for the city's Ghirardelli Square. Bringing together examples from across Asawa's full and extraordinary career, this expansive volume serves as an unprecedented reorientation of her sculptures within the historical context of 20th-century art. In particular, it includes careful consideration of Asawa's advocacy for arts education in public schools, while simultaneously focusing on her vital-and long under-recognized-contributions to the field of sculpture. Insightful essays explore the intersection of formal experimentation and identity to offer a fresh assessment of this celebrated artist. Richly illustrated with exquisite new installation views, Ruth Asawa: Life's Work introduces original scholarship that traces the dynamic evolution of form in the artist's work.

A sweeping retrospective of Alma W. Thomas's wide-reaching artistic practice that sheds new light on her singular search for beauty Achieving fame in 1972 as the first Black woman to mount a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Alma W. Thomas (1891-1978) is known for her large abstract paintings filled with irregular patterns of bright colors. This insightful reassessment of Thomas's life and work reveals her complex and deliberate artistic existence before, during, and after the years of commercial and critical success, and describes how her innovative palette and loose application of paint grew out of a long study of color theory. Essays trace Thomas's journey from semirural Georgia to international recognition and situate her work within the context of the Washington Color School and creative communities connected to Howard University. Featuring rarely seen theatrical designs, sculpture, family photographs, watercolors, and marionettes, this volume demonstrates how Thomas's pursuit of beauty extended to every facet of her life-from her exuberant abstractions to the conscientious construction of her own persona through community service, teaching, and gardening. Published in association with The Columbus Museum and the Chrysler Museum of Art Exhibition Schedule: Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA (July 9-October 3, 2021) The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC (October 30, 2021-January 23, 2022) Frist Art Museum, Nashville (February 25-June 5, 2022) The Columbus Museum, GA (July 1-September 25, 2022)

Writing in Space, 1973-2019 gathers the writings of conceptual artist Lorraine O'Grady, who for over forty years has investigated the complicated relationship between text and image. A firsthand account of O'Grady's wide-ranging practice, this volume contains statements, scripts, and previously unpublished notes charting the development of her performance work and conceptual photography; her art and music criticism that appeared in the Village Voice and Artforum; critical and theoretical essays on art and culture, including her classic "Olympia's Maid"; and interviews in which O'Grady maps, expands, and complicates the intellectual terrain of her work. She examines issues ranging from black female subjectivity to diaspora and race and representation in contemporary art, exploring both their personal and their institutional implications. O'Grady's writings-introduced in this collection by critic and curator Aruna D'Souza-offer a unique window into her artistic and intellectual evolution while consistently plumbing the political possibilities of art.