Maira Kalman ─ Various Illuminations (Of a Crazy World)

For decades Maria Kalman has delighted us with her whimsical illustrations and engaged us with her trenchant observations. To young readers, she is the author and illustrator of beloved books about Max the dog. To her adult devotees, she is the creator of memorable covers for The New Yorker, two online columns for The New York Times, and an illustrated edition of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. And to design aficionados, she is the vision behind watches conceived with her late husband, Tibor Kalman, and fabrics for Maharam and Isaac Mizrahi.

This first monograph on the artist features paintings, drawings, embroideries, and other works. Essays by Ingrid Schaffner, Donna Ghelerter, Stamatina Gregory, and Kenneth E. Silver explore Kalman's unique gift for distilling the extraordinary from the ordinary. An installation of her "many tables of many things," which displays an eclectic array of objects and ephemera, reveals Kalman as a collector, commentator, traveler, and maker of lists. And a chronology---annotated by the artist---lists publications, projects, exhibitions, and events. Kalman says, "I want everything I do to be connected in an absurd, funny way." This book celebrates her artistic practice with that same joyful spirit.