The phrase “America 250” still sends a chill down my spine. Yet when it comes to challenging the mythology of the United States and retelling its history, artists are answering the call, as they always have.
With half a year of semiquincentennial celebrations still ahead, our editors and critics are looking to books that supply essential counter-narratives to the nationalism the Trump administration is advancing in arts and culture. Among the standouts are the drag queens who descend on New York’s Fire Island every Fourth of July, a Native history of Six Grandfathers, the site also known as Mount Rushmore, and a catalog for the MONUMENTS exhibition that drew attention in Los Angeles last fall.
Read the full list below, and tell me which books are changing the way you understand US art history. Also in today’s coverage: the political implications of stock photography and an examination of John Constable’s life and work through the seasons.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
8 Art Books to Reframe America’s 250th
The Fourth of July fireworks and barbecues may be over, but America 250 — and all the propaganda that comes with it — remains in full swing. Fortunately, artists, critics, curators, and museum professionals around the country have produced a rich body of books to help make sense of this apocalyptic anniversary, using it to surface the ugly truths of United States history that the Trump administration and political right are trying hard to erase.
Artist Keisha Scarville’s series of images reflecting on her father’s passport explores the weight of that fraught document, while a photographer documents the annual Fourth of July tradition in which drag queens flood Fire Island to make their presence known and felt. Matthew Davis retells the history of Mount Rushmore through the desecration of the Black Hills, and contributors to the catalog for the blockbuster MONUMENTS exhibition in Los Angeles examine the layered histories of sculptures and statues across the country. Put simply, art opens up new ways of seeing — and we can always use more of those.
From Our Critics
John Constable’s Four Seasons
Art historian Susan Owens’s beautifully illustrated new book tells the painter’s story through his connection to weather, place, and time. | Lauren Moya Ford
The Story of Printmaking Is the Story of Democracy
Holly EJ Black skillfully builds a narrative that brings together diverse geographical and cultural perspectives, centering people who may not have been artists themselves. | Bridget Quinn
The Hidden History of Stock Photography
In her debut book, scholar Simona Supekar traces the history of stock imagery as a vehicle for racism and sexism and reflects on its role in the age of AI. | Eileen G’Sell
Features
The Met Museum’s Staff Have Some Thoughts About the Art
A new book assembles essays by the museum’s curators, researchers, librarians, and conservators on topics ranging from Renaissance portraiture to the work of Wendy Red Star. | Anna Lee
ICYMI
Every Dog Has Its Artist
A thoughtful new book examines how canine companions in Western art history can dissolve the emotional boundaries between species. | Alisyn Amant
From the Archive
Chipping Away at the Facade of Mount Rushmore
In “Biography of a Mountain,” author Matthew Davis skillfully combines interviews and stories to reveal far more than a straightforward account of the monument’s history. | Irvin Weathersby Jr.
