Tempting to Touch: Surface and Substance in 20th-Century American Art

A groundbreaking reimagining of art history through the sense of touch.

A beautiful, full-color die-cut gift book, perfect for art lovers.

What if we experienced art through our fingertips instead of our eyes alone? Disrupting the sight-dominated narrative of conventional art history, Tempting to Touch, edited by Virginia M. G. Anderson, offers an incisive exploration of art that foregrounds the sense of touch. This beautifully illustrated book features internationally acclaimed artists such as Ruth Asawa, Mary Cassatt, Nick Cave, Marcel Duchamp, Jasper Johns, and Yoko Ono, whose work centers tactility and connection.

Exploring themes of accessibility, tactility, preservation, and community, the book demonstrates how considering art in a multisensory way creates more inclusive experiences. The book features essays by leading artists and scholars Ellen Lupton, Georgina Kleege, DeafBlind author John Lee Clark, Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, and editor Virginia Anderson, who offer wide-ranging perspectives on how texture, movable elements, and touch can reshape our understanding of 20th-century American art.

This volume accompanies the groundbreaking traveling exhibition Tempting to Touch: Surface and Substance in 20th-Century American Art. Both the exhibition and catalog spotlight tactile processes, textured materials, movable elements, and depictions of touch, honoring the growing movement of multisensory art.

Contributors: John Lee Clark, Christine Downie, Charlotte Gaillet, Georgina Kleege, Ellen Lupton, Eclair Morton, Linda Owen, Anne Schaffer, Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy