Jeff L. Rosenheim

New Orleans Museum of Art

Gibbes Museum of Art (Charleston, S.C.)

Published to coincide with the 150th anniverary of the battle of Gettysburg, features both familiar and rarely seen Civil War images from such photographers as George Barnard, Mathew Brady, and Timothy O'Sullivan.

Photography and the American Civil War

An unprecedented overview of the early work of a preeminent 20th-century artist Diane Arbus (1923-1971) is one of the most distinctive and provocative artists of the twentieth century. Her photographs of children and eccentrics, couples and circus performers, female impersonators and nudists, are among the most recognizable images of our time. This book is the definitive study of the artist's first seven years of work, from 1956 to 1962. Drawn primarily from the rich holdings of the Metropolitan Museum's Diane Arbus Archive-a remarkable treasury of photographs, negatives, appointment books, notebooks, and correspondence-it is an essential contribution to our understanding of Arbus and her oeuvre. diane arbus: in the beginning showcases over 100 of the artist's early photographs, more than half of which are published here for the first time. The book provides a crucial, in-depth presentation of the artist's genesis, showing Arbus as she developed her evocative and often haunting imagery. The photographs featured in this handsome volume reveal an artist defining her style, honing her subject matter, and in full possession of the many gifts for which she is now recognized the world over.

In the Beginning

Diane Arbus

Beginning with Paul Strand’s landmark From the Viaduct in 1916 and continuing through the present day, Photography’s Last Century examines defining moments in the history of the medium. Featuring nearly 100 masterworks from one of the most important private holdings of photography, the book includes works by Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Walker Evans, László Moholy-Nagy, Man Ray, and Cindy Sherman, as well as a diverse group of important lesser-known practitioners. A fascinating interview with Ann Tenenbaum provides a personal account of the works, while the main text offers an essential history of photography that addresses the implications of calling this period the medium’s “last” century.

The Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Collection

Photography’s Last Century

Clare Davies

Perrin Stein

Karen Van Godtsenhoven

Sheena Wagstaff

Wolfram Koeppe

Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser

Mia Fineman

Jessica Regan

Alisa LaGamma

John T. Carpenter

Donald J. La Rocca

Iria Candela

Maryam Ekhtiar

Stuart W. Pyhrr

Monika Bincsik

Stephanie D'Alessandro

Henry Colburn

Deniz Beyazit

Jayson Kerr Dobney

Ian Alteveer

Sylvia Yount

Kelly Baum

Medill Higgins Harvey

John Byck

Yaëlle Biro

Maia Nuku

Femke Speelberg

Brinda Kumar

Kim Benzel

Ashley Dunn

Douglas S. Eklund

Alyce Perry Englund

Jennifer Farrell

Amanda B. Garfinkel

Alison Hokanson

Mellissa J. Huber

Shanay Jhaveri

Ronda Kasl

Constance McPhee

Asher E. Miller

Elyse Nelson

Stephen C. Pinson

Adrienne Spinozzi

Courtney A. Stewart

E. Bradley Strauchen-Scherer

The second volume in a special two-part edition of Recent Acquisitions, this Bulletin celebrates works acquired by the Museum in 2019 and 2020, many of which were gifts bestowed in honor of the Museum’s 150th anniversary year. Highlights of this volume include Jean-Baptise Carpeaux’s astonishing portrayal of an African woman in the marble sculpture Why Born Enslaved!, a monumental storage jar by African American potter and poet David Drake, an exquisite lacquer mirror case depicting an 1838 meeting between the crown prince of Iran and the tsar of Russia, and Carmen Herrera’s abstract work dating to 1949, Iberic. This publication also honors the many generous contributions from donors that make possible the continued growth of The Met's collection.

Recent Acquisitions: A Selection: 2018–20: Part II: Late Eighteenth Century to Contemporary

Andrew Solomon

Keith Christiansen

Barbara Drake Boehm

Denise Murrell

Adam Eaker

Shanay Javeri

James Moske

Andrea Myers Achi

Keith Prewitt

This special issue of the Bulletin reflects on some of the crises gripping our world in the present moment, including the catastrophic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing tragedy of racial injustice. Voices from The Metropolitan Museum of Art present their personal perspectives on issues and challenges facing us all while connecting these difficult times to art, artists, and the Museum’s history. Conceived and written during the Museum’s unprecedented closure, this compelling publication reflects on art’s power to inspire, comfort, and heal.

A Time of Crisis

Adam Kirsch

Philippe Garner

Maria Morris Hambourg

Alexandra Dennett

Harald E.L. Prins

Vasilios Zatse

Irving Penn (1917-2009) was among the most esteemed and influential photographers of the twentieth century. Over the course of a nearly seventy-year career, he mastered a pared-down aesthetic of studio photography that is distinguished for its meticulous attention to composition, nuance, and detail. This indispensable book features one of the largest selections of Penn's photographers ever compiled–nearly 300 in all–including famous and beloved images as well as works that have never been published. Celebrating the centennial of Penn's birth, this lavish volume spans the entirety of his groundbreaking career. An enlightening introduction situates his work in the context of the various artistic, social, and political environments and events that affected the content of his photographs. Lively essays acquaint readers with Penn's primary subjects and campaigns, including early documentary scenes and imagery; portraits of cultural figures and celebrities; fashion; female nudes; peoples of Peru, Dahomey (Benin), New Guinea, and Morocco; and still lifes. Rounding out the book are discussions of Penn's advertising pictures and his painstaking printing processes, as well as an illustrated chronology. Irving Penn: Centennialis essential for any fan of this artist's work or of the history of twentieth-century photography.

Centennial

Irving Penn

Karan Rinaldo

Diane Arbus (1923–1971) is one of the most distinctive and provocative artists of the twentieth century. Her photographs of children and eccentrics, couples and circus performers, female impersonators and nudists, are among the most recognizable images of our time. This book is the definitive study of the artist’s first seven years of work, from 1956 to 1962. Drawn primarily from the rich holdings of the Metropolitan Museum’s Diane Arbus Archive—a remarkable treasury of photographs, negatives, appointment books, notebooks, and correspondence—it is an essential contribution to our understanding of Arbus and her oeuvre. diane arbus: in the beginning showcases over 100 of the artist’s early photographs, more than half of which are published here for the first time. The book provides a crucial, in-depth presentation of the artist’s genesis, showing Arbus as she developed her evocative and often haunting imagery. The photographs featured in this handsome volume reveal an artist defining her style, honing her subject matter, and in full possession of the many gifts for which she is now recognized the world over.

in the beginning

diane arbus

Jeff L. Rosenheim

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