Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand: Masterworks from The Metropolitan Museum of Art is published in conjunction with the current exhibition, of same name, at the Metropolitan Museum. The photographic jewels shown and discussed are among the true gems of the institutions overall collection. Malcolm Daniel is Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, takes readers through the careers and innovations of the groundbreaking master photographers.

Available from YUP.

DC Comics, known for Superman, was founded by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. That year, he authored New Fun No. 1, the first ever comic book of completely original material. Since that title, DC Comics has blossomed into the largest, and most well known, comic publisher – some 40,000 titles. Additionally, in creating a new range of superheroes, DC plays a massive role in creating a new mythology for the 20th-century and beyond.

Taschen celebrates the legacy of DC Comics with the massive tome 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking. While they suggest Superman might have trouble lifting it, I bet a ravenous fan might have little issue.

Author Paul Levitz is a comic-book fan who has worked as editor/publisher of The Comic Reader, editor of the Batman titles and others, writer of over 300 stories—including an acclaimed run on Legion of Super-Heroes—and a DC Comics executive, finishing his 38-year stint with the company as President and Publisher. He returned to writing in 2010 with a new series of Legion stories and other projects.

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Leaf through Ryan McGinley’s new “Life Adjustment Center” book published by Dashwood.

Ryan McGinley
Life Adjustment Center
published by Dashwood Books

ISBN 978-0-984546-1-7
Designed by AR New York
Hardcover with cloth boards
7 x 9.5 inches
4-color offset printed on Utopia Text

Written by Jane Thompson and Alexandra Lange, Design Research documents the history of a ground breaking interior design shop. “When Ben Thompson opened Design Research in Boston in 1953, his innovative store became synonymous with modern interior design, lighting a public spark that still burns today, though the store itself is no longer. When the mass-produced furniture of impersonal department stores reigned supreme, this boutique retailer dared to provide a learned yet unpretentious environment for sleek design. Today, Design Research’s legacy can be seen in the showrooms of Crate & Barrel and Design Within Reach. Through interviews, anecdotes and lush photographs, Design Research documents the array of household objects and furniture introduced to the American home through the legendary store that made good design available to all.”

Available now from Chronicle.

Newly published by Chronicle, The Exquisite Book includes an illustrated foreword by Dave Eggers, and art from James Jean and Jill Bliss.

In The Exquisite Book, one hundred indie artists play an ingenious version of the Exquisite Corpse drawing game. Each adorns a page with artwork—having seen only the page of the artist immediately prior and using a single horizon line to connect the two. Some continue the “story” quite literally while others build on the previous page in more fanciful ways. This astonishing volume’s format is as unique as its content, with each of the book’s ten chapters residing on a ten-page accordion pull-out, allowing readers to view the art continuously.

Full, and very charming, preview after the jump.

Mark Dion is an internationally known artist whose work examines history, collecting ideologies and the intersection of art and science. His latest book, from Chronicle, The Marvelous Museum collects his investigations and asks some pertinent questions.

What is the role of the museum in contemporary society? Using the Oakland Museum of California as a case study, artist Mark Dion examines how museum practices have shifted over time, what these changes mean for objects in museum collections, and what we can learn about our culture from what’s included and what’s abandoned. Enclosed in a clamshell case and featuring fourteen specimen cards, this deluxe volume brings the reader into Dion’s process and reveals how the order of images can change one’s perception of objects. Contributions from celebrated writers, including Lawrence Weschler and D. Graham Burnett, articulate Dion’s unique power of examination.

Available direct from Chronicle.

Take a tour of the vibrant graphic design scene in Latin America through Latino-Grafico, out now from Gestalten. The book includes a colorful selection of items that builds full view of the visual culture emanating from the region. Included as well, a DVD allowing for an extension beyond print and an exploration of moving image.

A selection of pages from Latino-Grafico after the jump.

Los Logos: Compass, edited by R. Klanten and A. Mollard, aims to be a comprehensive archive of current design. As the fifth installment of the series, the book compiles the best and brightest of recent logo logo work. With increased text, the volume better establishes context for the work and strives to classify logo type in a more complete fashion.

Coming this September from Gestalten.

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Warhol mania continues!

Phaidon’s third volume of The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne covers painting and sculpture from 1970 to 1974. Over 700 works of art are included in this volume, sticking to the series goal of offering the most comprehensive and newest scholarship about the artist. Some of the work in this volume was previously thought to be lost… so can be considered new discovery.

For those with a considerable love of Warhol, and those with a concrete interest in American art, the entire Warhol catalogue raisonne series is worth looking out for.

Forthcoming from Gestalten, Closer to God: Religious Architecture and Sacred Spaces collects an assortment of contemporary religious architecture. All denominations are represented, working to share the new expressive quality of religious buildings that has steadily grown during the initial decade of the 21st-century.

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