A catalog from the National Gallery of Art highlights its recent publications, featuring a major volume on African American photography alongside an exploration of modern abstraction through textiles. The gallery’s own section copy describes its work as “thoughtfully designed exhibition catalogs, insights from leading art historians and conservators, collection highlights, and more.”.
Art Books and Scholarship from the National Gallery of Art is a catalog that ranges from printed exhibition books to digital storytelling. The gallery’s publications are designed to bring art to everyone, no matter if they prefer taking the museum home in print or exploring it online.
Photography and the Black Arts Movement
Deborah Willis and Philip Brookman put together Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985, which serves as a companion piece to the gallery’s landmark 2025–2026 exhibition.
A study of how photography helped build a movement that celebrated Black history, identity, and beauty is at the center of the book. The volume covers over three decades of work by Romare Bearden, Gordon Parks, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems, and other photographers.
The body of work covers a wide field. It takes in documentary and fashion photography, portraiture, collage, installation, performance, and video. The goal of the publication is to show how the movement has left its mark across these many forms.
Woven Histories
The volume Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction was edited by Lynne Cooke, who treats textiles as a major force in modern abstraction. More than 50 artists are covered in the book.
The story starts in the opening decades of the 20th century, with pioneering female artists including Anni Albers, Sonia Delaunay, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp. It runs on through the final 100 years of conversation and work.
The book’s final section turns to contemporary artists and writers, including Jeffrey Gibson, Sheila Hicks, Ellen Lesperance, and others whose work continues to shape the field. It dismantles the old divisions that once kept the fine arts apart from craft.
Rothko on Paper
Mark Rothko: Paintings on Paper, penned by Adam Greenhalgh, zeroes in on a lesser-known aspect of the artist’s work. Rothko is chiefly remembered for his towering abstract canvases, yet this volume examines a distinct facet of his creative output.
Over the course of his career, Rothko produced more than 1,000 paintings on paper, with subjects ranging from early figurative work through his later, more abstract soft-edged rectangular fields. This volume gathers together nearly 100 of these rarely shown pieces.
A previously undervalued aspect of Rothko’s work receives new attention here, altering how we understand a celebrated artist entirely.
Art & Series and Collection Highlights
The research institute of the gallery produces studies, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts makes those studies available to readers. The new series, Art &, organizes its work by theme rather than by chronological period.
Each volume takes up a distinct subject, among them histories, water, abilities, and dreaming. The essays come from both early career and well-established scholars and rest upon personal accounts told in the first person. Every volume also carries an original work of art created in answer to its theme.
Both Art & Histories and Art & Water have already arrived, with the remaining pair set to appear in 2027 and 2028.
The gallery’s collection includes over 160,000 works of art, from the ancient world to today. National Gallery of Art Collections celebrates 400 of the most beloved pieces.
More than 20 years after its last major survey publication, the gallery has put together a book covering works by Leonardo da Vinci, Dorothea Lange, Simone Leigh, Claude Monet, Faith Ringgold, Johannes Vermeer, and other visionary artists from across the ages.
The Publications
- Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985: Edited by Philip Brookman and Deborah Willis; companion to the 2025–2026 exhibition
- Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction: Edited by Lynne Cooke; covers more than 50 artists
- Mark Rothko: Paintings on Paper: By Adam Greenhalgh; brings together nearly 100 rarely displayed works
- Art & series: First two installments out now; next two publishing in 2027 and 2028
- National Gallery of Art Collections: 400 beloved works from over 160,000 in the collection
“thoughtfully designed exhibition catalogs, insights from leading art historians and conservators, collection highlights, and more”
To learn more, visit nga.gov.
Source: hyperallergic.com
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