Although often overlooked in contemporary art, Welsh-born realist painter Sylvia Sleigh (1916–2010) became an important part of New York’s feminist art scene in the 1960s and beyond. She was particularly well known for her explicit paintings of male nudes, which challenged the tradition of male artists painting female subjects as objects of desire. Despite a 1953 solo exhibition at Kensington Art Gallery, Sleigh received little public recognition until her move to New York in the 1960s. There she and her husband, the art critic and Guggenheim curator Lawrence Alloway, created a home that welcomed artists, writers and musicians, many of whom Sleigh painted. These works radiate a sense of emotional attachment between the artist and her sitters, presenting an array of significant cultural figures of the time, such as Eleanor Antin, Nancy Spero, Agnes Denes and Mary Beth Edelson. This book is Sleigh’s first retrospective monograph.
Featured image, "Annunciation" (1975), is reproduced from Sylvia Sleigh.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Od Review
Christoph Irmscher
Spend a few minutes with Topographical Histories, and you will never, I promise, look at a wall—even a simple, white one, in your office, at home, or in the cheap hotel room where you stayed the last time you traveled—in quite the same way again.
STATUS: Forthcoming | 6/2/2026
This title is not yet published in the U.S. To pre-order or receive notice when the book is available, please email orders @ artbook.com
Published by JRP|Ringier. Edited and with text by Giovanni Carmine.
Although often overlooked in contemporary art, Welsh-born realist painter Sylvia Sleigh (1916–2010) became an important part of New York’s feminist art scene in the 1960s and beyond. She was particularly well known for her explicit paintings of male nudes, which challenged the tradition of male artists painting female subjects as objects of desire. Despite a 1953 solo exhibition at Kensington Art Gallery, Sleigh received little public recognition until her move to New York in the 1960s. There she and her husband, the art critic and Guggenheim curator Lawrence Alloway, created a home that welcomed artists, writers and musicians, many of whom Sleigh painted. These works radiate a sense of emotional attachment between the artist and her sitters, presenting an array of significant cultural figures of the time, such as Eleanor Antin, Nancy Spero, Agnes Denes and Mary Beth Edelson. This book is Sleigh’s first retrospective monograph.
