Revolutionary portraiture in 'Alice Neel: I Am the Century'

“Woman in Café” (1975) is reproduced from Alice Neel: I Am the Century, a staff favorite for Women’s History Month. Published by Mousse Publishing to accompany an exhibition of the same name at Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin—where Neel’s work will be in dialogue with many masterpieces of nineteenth and twentieth-century portraiture, all painted by men—this volume “highlights Neel’s revolutionary ability to subvert the patriarchal tradition that for centuries turned women into passive subjects of the male gaze,” according to curators Sarah Cosulich and Pietro Rigolo. “Upending the canons of art history, Neel since the 1930s courageously portrayed the female body freed from idealization or sexualization, demonstrating instead a new creative position that ran parallel to her rebellious emancipation as a woman and anticipated later feminist movements of the 1960s. At the same time, Neel applied the same, nongendered gaze to men, courageously stripping the male figure of his heroic status, portraying her subjects nude, at times in the classic pose of an odalisque conventionally reserved for women, and revealing the dualisms and stereotypes tied to the construction of identity and to the traditional conception of power and desire.”

ABOUT ARTBOOK

the source for books on art & culture

Published by Mousse Publishing, 2026

STAFF PICKS | FROM THE SHELVES

Women's History Month Staff Picks, 2026

FEATURED STORE

Institute of Contemporary Art Boston Store

Set within Boston’s iconic waterfront museum, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the ICA Store reflects the bold, contemporary spirit of its galleries with a thoughtful selection of artist collaborations, design objects, jewelry and distinctive gifts for all ages. It is a special Boston destination for art books, including exhibition catalogues, hard-to-find titles and artist monographs that extend the museum experience long after a visit. Currently, the store is featuring books and objects related to 'An Indigenous Present,' the remarkable survey of contemporary Native North American artists, musicians, filmmakers, choreographers, architects, writers, photographers and designers, conceived by Jeffrey Gibson.

FEATURED PUBLISHER

DelMonico Books

DelMonico Books publishes visually striking and award-winning books on contemporary art, photography, design and culture, working in close partnership with artists and museums in the US and abroad.
Published to accompany the traveling survey currently on view at ICA Boston, An Indigenous Present, co-published with BIG NDN Press, is a monumental gathering of more than 60 contemporary artists, photographers, musicians, writers and more, showcasing diverse approaches to Indigenous concepts, forms and mediums. Forthcoming staff favorites include the exhibition catalog Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Multiple Offerings, co-published with Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and the photography monograph Melissa Auf der Maur: My ’90s Rock Photographs, co-published with Art Gallery of Ontario.

CURATED ART LIBRARIES

Curated Libraries by Movement and Subject Area

Shop By Color	Black Art & Culture	Women Artists	Illustrated Literary Classics
Danish Design	Classic Photobooks	Pop Art	Outsider Art
Avant Garde Music & Dance	Product Design Bookshelf	Performance Art	Bauhaus
Surrealism	Dada	Contemporary Figurative Painting	Modern and Contemporary Drawing
Photography: Photojournalism	Photography: Polaroids	Feminist Art	Graphic Design Bookshelf
Photography: New Topographics	Sound Art	Collage & Photomontage	Architecture: Essential Books
Urban Studies	German Expressionism	Curatorial Studies	Contemporary Sculpture
Prints & Graphics	Pacific Standard Time	Pictures Generation	Beautiful Losers
Nouveau Realisme	Sustainable Design	Films & Filmmakers	Relational Aesthetics
Conceptual Art	Lee Friedlander Library	Artists Books	Essential Photography Reference Books