Image via Complex Original
A good bookstore can be hard to find, and an excellent art bookstore is no doubt a gem. Lucky for New Yorkers, NYC has a crop of spots for picking up everything from monographs to out-of-print titles. Many of these spots also host author events. Whether you've got the funds to pick up some art books or not, check out these stores for cool atmospheres and great selections.
The 10 Best Art Bookstores In NYC
Specific Objects
Specific Objects
Location: 601 West 26 Street, Room M285 between 11th and 12th Avenue
Specific Objects in Chelsea is a gallery, bookstore, and think-tank focusing on post-1960s art, including pop, Fluxus, minimal, and conceptual. It focuses on art that organically informed the '60s and '70s and has a loyal following of postmodern art enthusiasts.
Rizzoli at Saks
Rizzoli at Saks
Location: 611 Fifth Avenue
Rizzoli's newly opened retail space at Saks Fifth Avenue not only contains a wealth of Rizzoli art and design titles, but also hosts author events in their designer gallery space.
6 Decades
6 Decades
Location: 265 Canal St, #601 between Broadway and Lafeyette
6 Decades specializes in contemporary art and artist books from the 1960s to the present, and is open Thursday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. or by appointment.
MoMA Store
MoMA Bookstore
Location: 11 West 53rd Street
The MoMA Design and Bookstore is one of 5 MoMA stores, which includes over 2,000 book titles, in addition to art reproductions and design objects produced by the museum.
Dashwood Books
Dashwood Books
Location: 33 Bond Street between Lafayette and Bowery
Owned and operated by David Strettell (formerly the Cultural Director of Magnum Photos), Dashwood in the East Village has new and hard-to-find photography publications, in addition to rare vintage books and other out-of-print titles.
Karma
Karma
Location: 21 Downing Street between Bedford and Bleecker
Karma is a bookstore, gallery, and publisher in the West Village specializing in artist publications. They also have rare and out-of-print periodicals, artworks, and artists' editions.
McNally Jackson
McNally Jackson
Location: 52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry
McNally Jackson in Soho is host to great events, two floors of books, an excellent café, literature selection by nation, and an art section split up by genre (with a plethora of independent titles by local groups, authors, and artists). You can also order books from them on their website.
Website
Strand
Strand Books
Location: 828 Broadway between 12th and 13th
Strand Books is legendary. Since opening in 1927, it's been heralded as the home of 18 miles of books and a growing number of author events.
Fulton Ryder
Fulton Ryder
Location: Secret, yet known to be on the Upper East Side ([email protected])
The mysterious Fulton Ryder bookstore is rumored to be owned by artist and book collector, Richard Prince, and can only be seen by appointment.
Printed Matter
Printed Matter
Location: 195 10th Avenue between 21st and 22nd
Printed Matter in Chelsea is both a bookstore and non-profit organization promoting publications made by artists. They have 15,000 titles by 6,000 international artists and also host educational programs and talks.
