ENDLESS LIMITS: THE WORK OF JAMES HOWELL
ESSAYS BY Kaitlin Halloran, Scout Hutchinson, Jason Rosenfeld AND Hiroshi Sugimoto

Hatje Cantz Verlag
Mommsenstraße 27
10629 Berlin
https://www.hatjecantz.com/
ISBN: 978-3-7757-6243-4

Endless Limits: The Work of James Howell, 1962-2014 provides a close examination of the abstract painter James Howell, from his early figurative works made while living on Bainbridge Island, WA, to his mathematical gradient paintings created during his time in Greenwich Village, NY. Howell's unwavering dedication to color and light is represented throughout his first-ever career retrospective, taking place on the East End of Long Island at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, NY. The artist's connection to Long Island, including his friendship with artist Fairfield Porter and his time spent living and working in Montauk later in life, is explored throughout the volume. This fully illustrated catalog features essays by the exhibition's curators, Kaitlin Halloran and Scout Hutchinson, as well as art historian Jason Rosenfeld. Each offers a closer look at Howell during distinct moments throughout his career. The catalog also includes an essay by Hiroshi Sugimoto—an artist Howell deeply admired—on his Seascapes series.

Texts by: Laura Bardier, Kaitlin Halloran, Scout Hutchinson, Jason Rosenfeld, and Hiroshi Sugimoto
Edited by Kaitlin Halloran and Scout Hutchinson.
English
December 2025, 148 Pages, 80 Photos
Hardcover
260 mm x 300 mm

First published in 2025 by Hatje Cantz
© 2025 Hatje Cantz and James Howell Foundation, Inc.

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James Howell: Painting | Malerei
ESSAYS BY HEINZ LIESBROCK AND Maria Müller-Schareck

Hatje Cantz Verlag
Mommsenstraße 27
10629 Berlin
https://www.hatjecantz.com/
ISBN: 978-3-7757-5724-9

American painter James Howell found the subject of his art in the color gray. He explored the color's sensual variety diligently over decades. In 2022, the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop dedicated an exhibition to Howell, presenting his work in the context of Albers' paintings. This catalogue documents this remarkable artistic encounter and explores Howell's work in all its conceptual depth, transcending the seemingly monothematic of the color gray. His paintings are meditations on the relationship between color and light, based on a refinement of painterly means that, despite their extreme reduction, allow for a paradoxical emphasis on expression.

Edited by: Heinz Liesbrock, Laura Bardier
Texts by: Laura Bardier, Heinz Liesbrock, and Maria Müller-Schareck
Graphic Design: Ingo Offermanns
English, German
February 2026, 144 Pages, 45 Photos
Hardcover with Dust Jacket
200mm x 300mm

First published in 2025 by Hatje Cantz
© 2025 Hatje Cantz and James Howell Foundation, Inc.

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JAMES HOWELL | Infinite Array
ESSAY BY ALISTAIR RIDER

Circa Press
50 Great Portland Street
London W1W 7ND
www.circa.press
ISBN 978-1-911422-21-1

All rights reserved. All artworks by James Howell © James Howell Foundation.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Individual artworks may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission in writing from the James Howell Foundation, New York, NY, USA; infringement of the artist’s copyright is punishable by law.

The Library of Congress number for this publication may be requested from the James Howell Foundation, New York, NY, USA.

Design by Binocular, New York
Printing and separations by Trifolio Srl, Verona
Typeset in Linotype Univers
Printed on Mohawk Superfine
Eggshell Ultrawhite, 150 gsm;
plates of paintings printed on
Condat Matt Périgord, 170 gsm
Printed and bound in Italy

First published in 2021 by Circa Press
© 2021 Circa Press Limited and James Howell Foundation, Inc.

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JAMES HOWELL - DECODED
ESSAY by D JOY HOWELL

Von Bartha Gallery
Kannenfeldpl 6
4056 Basel, Switzerland
www.vonbartha.com

This exhibition catalogue explores Decoded, an exhibition at Von Bartha Gallery. Centered on Series Ten—a body of monochrome paintings developed over nearly two decades—the exhibition reveals Howell’s systematic approach to gradation, light, and perception. With eleven paintings and nineteen works on paper, Decoded highlights Howell’s minimalist yet deeply meditative process, shaped by a lifelong interest in mathematics, physics, and Eastern philosophy. For Howell, grey embodied time, space, and silence: “It is mysterious,” he wrote, “and I like its softness; also its simplicity, and space.”

This catalogue accompanies the exhibition
JAMES HOWELL - DECODED
September - October 2016

All rights reserved. All artworks by James Howell © James Howell Foundation.
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JAMES HOWELL - THE GREY COUNT
ESSAY BY LILLY WEI

Bartha Contemporary
7, Off Ledbury Mews N, Ledbury Rd,
London W11 2AF, United Kingdom
https://www.barthacontemporary.com/
ISBN 0-9547742-1-3

This exhibition catalogue explores James Howell’s lifelong project Series 10, a profound investigation of gray. Since 1996, Howell has produced over 400 square-format paintings using only titanium white, ivory black, and raw umber. Each piece is a subtle study in tonal variation, meticulously calibrated by percentages of white, organized into horizontal bands, and charted like data. Though rooted in modernist traditions and minimalism, Howell’s work is deeply poetic—quiet meditations on light, perception, and time. The Gray Count is a tribute to a life devoted to seeing, slowly.

Essay Lilly Wei
Photography Tom Warren
Design Niklas von Bartha
Editing D. Joy Howell
Published by Gallery N. von Bartha

This catalogue accompanies the exhibition
JAMES HOWELL - GREY COUNT
September - October 2008

All rights reserved. All artworks by James Howell © James Howell Foundation.
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JAMES HOWELL - LIGHT FALLING
ESSAY BY Joan Waltemath

Bartha Contemporary
7, Off Ledbury Mews N, Ledbury Rd,
London W11 2AF, United Kingdom
https://www.barthacontemporary.com/

The exhibition catalogue Light Falling presents the meditative and meticulous work of James Howell, whose paintings explore the outer edges of visual perception. At first glance, his canvases appear as uniform grey monochromes. Yet, as the viewer lingers, delicate gradations begin to emerge—subtle shifts from lighter to darker tones that unfold across surfaces and through sequences. Howell invites us into a nuanced dialogue between light, pigment, and perception, where the act of seeing becomes a conscious, unfolding experience. With reference to Wittgenstein’s reflections on color, the exhibition underscores Howell’s pursuit of the barely perceptible, offering a quiet yet profound encounter with the limits—and possibilities—of visual sensitivity.

Essay Joan Waltemath
Photography Niklas von Bartha
Design Niklas von Bartha
Editing D. Joy Howell
Printed by Peter Fischli
Buysite AG, Switzerland
Published by Gallery N. von Bartha
ISBN 0-9547742-1-3

This catalogue accompanies the exhibition
JAMES HOWELL - TEN PROGRESSIONS
September - October 2004

All rights reserved. All artworks by James Howell © James Howell Foundation.
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