Phaidon Publishes the First Monograph on the Celebrated American Painter Jordan Casteel
Jordan Casteel. Legacy Russell, Asma Naeem, Katherine Brinson. Credit: Phaidon
This fall, Phaidon is pleased to publish Jordan Casteel, the debut monograph on one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful artists working today. Known for her monumental, richly colored paintings representing the social fabric and landscapes that have played a meaningful role in her life, Jordan Casteel has quickly become a defining voice in contemporary art. This landmark publication marks the 100th title in Phaidon’s celebrated Contemporary Artist Series.
This long-awaited volume includes insightful texts by leading voices in the art world, alongside exclusive commentary from Casteel. Essay contributions from Legacy Russell, a curator and writer based in New York where she is Executive Director and Chief Curator of The Kitchen, Asma Naeem, the Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director of The Baltimore Museum of Art, and Katherine Brinson, the Daskalopoulos Curator for Contemporary Art at The Guggenheim Museum, New York. Their contributions examine the intersections of Casteel’s practice, placing her within the lineage of artists like Alice Neel, and Kerry James Marshall, while underscoring the singularity of her vision.
Known for her intimate and vibrant portrayals of everyday life, Casteel’s canvases foreground the artist’s personal environments within the visual canon. Her practice, at once deeply personal and collectively resonant, seeks to amplify visibility, redefine representation, and challenge the power dynamics of seeing. Despite critical acclaim and widespread institutional recognition, no comprehensive publication on her work has existed—until now.
Jordan Casteel. Legacy Russell, Asma Naeem, Katherine Brinson. Credit: Phaidon
Jordan Casteel brings together key paintings across the artist’s career, from early works created during her time at Yale School of Art to her celebrated series Visible Man, Nights in Harlem, and her 2019 High Line mural The Baayfalls. The monograph features sections conceived and designed by the artist herself, granting a rare insight into her creative process.
Raised in Denver and based in New York, Casteel received her MFA from Yale University School of Art in 2014. Her portraits often depict friends, family, and members of her community, whom she photographs in familiar settings before transforming the images into bold, empathetic compositions. Whether portraying a shopkeeper, a family embracing, or a student lost in thought, her subjects are rendered with a disarmingly compelling presence. Casteel represents individuals and surroundings she encounters over the course of her daily life, generating an experience that is at once intimate and collective.
Jordan Casteel, Naima’s Gift (Deon, Kym and Noah), 2023. Artwork © Jordan Casteel (page 93) oil on canvas, 239 x 203 cm
Casteel’s paintings have been exhibited internationally and acquired by major institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Pérez Art Museum, Miami, Florida; and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. In 2020, she was the subject of a critically acclaimed solo exhibition at the New Museum in New York, cementing her status as a leading voice of her generation. This monograph arrives as the artist prepares for her highly anticipated solo exhibition at Casey Kaplan, New York, in November 2025.