Maira Kalman: Joy

Overview

For decades, Maira Kalman has invited us to see the world with fresh eyes.

Through her books, iconic New Yorker covers, and distinctive paintings, she has illuminated the beauty, humor, and poignancy of everyday life. Now, the celebrated artist and writer returns with Joy, a luminous new collection of original paintings and prose exploring how moments of delight endure — even amid grief, uncertainty, and loss.

A companion to her previous book, Still Life with Remorse, Joy is a meditation on the quiet pleasures that sustain us: a woman applying red lipstick in a Paris café, the scent of freshly cut grass in Central Park, a berry tart shared with family, the solace of music, friendship, memory, and art. Interwoven with these intimate observations are reflections on artists and writers — from Beethoven and Kafka to Virginia Woolf — whose lives demonstrate the enduring power of creativity to transform tragedy into beauty. With her signature warmth, curiosity, and wit, Kalman reminds us that joy is not the absence of hardship, but an act of attention: a way of moving through the world with openness and curiosity.

In a launch event including a visual presentation of the art from the book, hear Kalman discuss her creative process and the everyday experiences that continue to shape her singular artistic vision — a celebration of resilience, an invitation to notice the small moments that connect us to one another, and the extraordinary possibilities of ordinary life.