Basic Art Series

TASCHEN’s Basic Art Series — The World's Best-Selling Art Book Collection

Since its launch in 1985, TASCHEN’s Basic Art Series has grown into the world's best-selling art book collection, with over 120 titles and millions of copies sold across more than a dozen languages. Affordable, authoritative, and beautifully produced, each volume in the series offers an accessible yet scholarly introduction to the artists, architects, and movements that have defined Western and world art history.

Whether you're looking for a book on Renaissance masters like Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio, Impressionist icons such as Monet, Degas, and Cézanne, or 20th-century giants including Dalí, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Basic Art Series covers the full sweep of art history in one coherent, collectible format.

Each book features a detailed chronological account of the artist’s life and work, placing their oeuvre in its cultural and historical context, alongside a concise biography and approximately 100 full-color illustrations with expert captions. The series also spans architecture and design, with volumes dedicated to visionaries like Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gaudí, Mies van der Rohe, Bauhaus, and the Case Study Houses — making it a go-to reference for design lovers as well as art enthusiasts.

At an impressively accessible price point, the Basic Art Series is the ideal starting point for new collectors, a reliable reference for students and teachers, and a thoughtful gift for anyone with a passion for art, architecture, graphic design, or photography. Available in multiple languages, these books bring the world's greatest artists and movements within reach — wherever you are in the world.