Andréi Nakov

Beginning in 1914 in Russia, a group of artists primed for experimentation introduced an entirely new direction for the visual arts, articulating the language of abstraction with Suprematism and Constructivism. This catalogue centers on the emergence of the Russian avant-garde movement in Moscow until the mid-1920s. Works by El Lissitzky, Vladimir Tatlin, Kazimir Malevich, Ilya Chashnik, Liubov Popova, Olga Rozanova and Ivan Kliun are featured. Also included is a rich selection of books, manuscripts, drawings and prints, reminding us that, for many Russians in the early twentieth century, art was a part of everyday life.

Paperback | 168 pages
Publication date: 2016

Sonia Couturier, Pierre Rosenberg

Eighteenth-century Rome was a cosmopolitan centre that became a mecca for artists, collectors, and enlightened art lovers. It was also the primary destination for artists from France wanting to perfect their craft. This work highlights the artistic effervescence of the Eternal City, where French artists were able to study ancient monuments and masterpieces of sculpture and painting, benefitting from the protection of influential patrons with a passion for the arts. Featuring more than one hundred works, this volume offers an exceptional selection of drawings and prints together with a large number of paintings. It presents works by artists regarded as among the most significant of their day, in particular Hubert Robert, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and Jacques-Louis David.

Softcover | 256 pages
Publication Date: 2011

Sonia Couturier, Pierre Rosenberg

Eighteenth-century Rome was a cosmopolitan centre that became a mecca for artists, collectors, and enlightened art lovers. It was also the primary destination for artists from France wanting to perfect their craft. This work highlights the artistic effervescence of the Eternal City, where French artists were able to study ancient monuments and masterpieces of sculpture and painting, benefitting from the protection of influential patrons with a passion for the arts. Featuring more than one hundred works, this volume offers an exceptional selection of drawings and prints together with a large number of paintings. It presents works by artists regarded as among the most significant of their day, in particular Hubert Robert, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and Jacques-Louis David.

Softcover | 256 pages
Publication Date: 2011

Ann Thomas

The National Gallery of Canada marks the centennial of the beginning of the First World War with the exhibitionThe Great War: The Persuasive Power of Photography. Although photography was already being used to document armed conflict, the First World War marked a turning point for this medium. Alongside political and military uses of photography, the personal use of cameras by soldiers emerged as a new phenomenon, while studio portraits and personal albums illustrate the major role played by photography in private life. As a whole, these visual records offer an intimate, authentic and comprehensive view of the everyday realities of war.

Hardcover | 140 pages
Bilingual
28.5 x 28.6 cm (11 ¼ x 11 ¼ in.)
Publication Date: 2014

Lori Pauli with an introduction by Joseph Mulholland

Only recently has the name Margaret Watkins come to be cited in the annals of 20th century photography. Born and raised in Canada, Watkins became a driving force at one of the most important photography schools in America. Her photographs, most notably her still-life images, now key works in the history of early advertising photography and classic examples of modernist photography, have earned her special recognition within the history of the medium.

Softcover | 160 pages
Publication Date: 2012

Lori Pauli with an introduction by Joseph Mulholland

Only recently has the name Margaret Watkins come to be cited in the annals of 20th century photography. Born and raised in Canada, Watkins became a driving force at one of the most important photography schools in America. Her photographs, most notably her still-life images, now key works in the history of early advertising photography and classic examples of modernist photography, have earned her special recognition within the history of the medium.

Softcover | 160 pages
Publication Date: 2012

Witold Rybczynski

Witold Rybczynski's insightful and provocative text is accompanied by a fascinating array of paintings, drawings and photographs illustrating the history of museum architecture and showcasing Safdie's innovations in his design for the Gallery.

Paper | 108 pages
Publication Date: 1993

Cyndie Campbell

A selection of 33 letters from artist M.C. Escher to his son George, dating from 1958, when George Escher moved to Canada from the Netherlands, until 1972, when M.C. Escher died. The letters range over many subjects – art, books, events, and personalities, as well as family matters – and they offer a distinctly personal insight into the life and mind of this artist, whose meticulously wrought images continue to intrigue and delight the public. The publication includes colour illustrations of art by M.C. Escher mentioned in the text, as well as family photographs.

Paperback | 151 pages
Publication Date: 2013
Only available in French

Shine a Light Surgir de l'ombre: Canadian Biennial 2014 (Bilingual)

Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Greg Hill, Andrea Kunard, Jonathan Shaughnessy and Rhiannon Vogl

Shine a Light Surgir de l’ombre highlights an exemplar selection of recent acquisitions to the National Gallery of Canada’s Canadian Contemporary, Indigenous and Photographs holdings. This biennial showcases the production of twenty-six artists from different generations and backgrounds, and features over eighty works ranging from film and video installations to sculptures, paintings, drawings and photographs. Often looking to past events, literature, films, places, cultural movements and traditions, the artists in the exhibition are very much ingrained in issues of the present day. Their works encourage us to reconsider time and the writing of history, our relationship to the natural world, the powerful role of images in how information is communicated, and how we perceive and interpret accepted facts.

Featured artists: David Armstrong Six, Shuvinai Ashoona, Nicolas Baier, Shary Boyle, Edward Burtynsky, Tammi Campbell, Mario Doucette, Geoffrey Farmer, David Hartt, Isabelle Hayeur, Phillippa Jones, Stéphane La Rue, Rita Letendre, An Te Liu, David McMillan, Damian Moppett, Luke Parnell, Vanessa Paschakarnis, Ed Pien, Tim Pitsiulak, Kelly Richardson, Jeremy Shaw, Althea Thauberger, Jutai Toonoo, Howie Tsui, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun

Softcover | 260 pages
20.32 x 27.3 cm (8 x 10.75 in.)
Publication Date: 2014

Jean Clair

The Great Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown is a spectacular international exhibition featuring masterpieces that explore the fascination the circus has held for artists from the 18th century to the present. The catalogue brings together nearly 200 works - paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures and videos - from Watteau and Chardin to Boltanski and Cindy Sherman, via Tiepolo, Goya, Daumier, Courbet, Seurat, Ensor, Rouault, Léger, Klee, Chagall and Picasso, among others.

Hardcover | 424 pages
Publication Date: 2004
Available in French only

Douglas E.Schoenherr

The David Lemon Collection represents a comprehensive selection of British prints, comprising over 200 works from 1820 to 1955. Lines of Enquiry illustrates 89 original and reproductive etchings by remarkable British artists such as William Blake, Samuel Palmer, Laura Knight and Graham Sutherland.

Paper | 180 pages
Publication Date: 1997

Douglas E. Schoenherr

The David Lemon Collection represents a comprehensive selection of British prints, comprising over 200 works from 1820 to 1955. Lines of Enquiry illustrates 89 original and reproductive etchings by remarkable British artists such as William Blake, Samuel Palmer, Laura Knight and Graham Sutherland.

Paper | 180 pages
Publication Date: 1997

Lori Pauli, Marta Weiss, Ann Thomas, Karen Henry

Since the earliest days of photography, artists have directed models posing before the camera and, through the use of theatrical props, costumes, and lighting, have created "staged" photographs that tell a story. Acting the Part is the first major history of this enduring and highly creative branch of photography. Beautiful illustrations range from the earliest salted paper prints and daguerreotypes to today's digitally manipulated images. The book also presents 57 short biographies of the genre's leading practitioners, including Oscar Rejlander, Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, Man Ray, Duane Michals, Les Krims, Jeff Wall, Yasumasa Morimura and Wang Qingsong, among others.

Softcover | 176 pages
28.5 x 23.5 x 1.5 cm (11.2 x 9.3 x 0.6 in.)
Publication Date: 2006

Lori Pauli, Marta Weiss, Ann Thomas, Karen Henry

Since the earliest days of photography, artists have directed models posing before the camera and, through the use of theatrical props, costumes, and lighting, have created "staged" photographs that tell a story. Acting the Part is the first major history of this enduring and highly creative branch of photography. Beautiful illustrations range from the earliest salted paper prints and daguerreotypes to today's digitally manipulated images. The book also presents 57 short biographies of the genre's leading practitioners, including Oscar Rejlander, Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, Man Ray, Duane Michals, Les Krims, Jeff Wall, Yasumasa Morimura and Wang Qingsong, among others.

Softcover | 176 pages
28.5 x 23.5 x 1.5 cm (11.2 x 9.3 x 0.6 in.)
Publication Date: 2006

David Franklin

Among Renaissance artists, Parmigianino was perhaps more conscious than any of the potential of the graphic arts to convey, and indeed broadcast, complex ideas. He explored this potential himself, not only by means of his numerous drawings but also through the etchings he produced on his own (effectively introducing this print medium into Italian art) and through the engravings and chiaroscuro woodcuts that were made after his designs.

Paper | 289 pages
Publication Date: 2001
Available in French only