Katy Hessel ‘The Story of Art Without Men’ adapted for kids; US book tour
Art historian and bestselling author Katy Hessel will kick off an East Coast book tour at the Guggenheim New York on October 10, celebrating the release of The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists, a bold new adaptation of her international bestseller remixed for readers ages 8–14.
For Hessel, whose work has helped transform the conversation around women and art history, the new book poses the same essential question to a younger generation: what happens when we change whose stories we tell?
At the Guggenheim, Hessel will be joined by the book’s illustrator, Ping Zhu, for a special Family Book Talk in the museum’s Peter B. Lewis Theater. Through conversation, drawing, visual storytelling, and live illustration by Zhu, families will explore the artists and ideas at the heart of the book and consider how looking at art differently can change our understanding of history itself. A book signing will follow.
Published by Norton Young Readers on October 6, 2026, The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists takes young readers on a journey through centuries of art and the women who helped shape it.
Rather than presenting art history as a fixed timeline of movements and masterpieces, Hessel approaches it as an adventure in looking and discovery. Zhu’s vivid illustrations sit alongside reproductions of artworks and hands-on “Art Tasks,” giving readers a way to move between seeing, thinking, questioning, and making.
The book introduces artists from across centuries and continents, among them Yayoi Kusama, Georgia O’Keeffe, Augusta Savage, Lee Krasner, Sister Corita Kent, Faith Ringgold, Leonora Carrington, Yoko Ono, Harriet Powers, and Sofonisba Anguissola. Their work becomes part of a larger story about creativity, culture, and the many artists whose contributions have been overlooked or written out of the traditional canon.
Activities inspired by the artists are woven throughout the book, inviting children to participate rather than simply observe. A dedicated “Art Historian’s Toolbox” offers ways to look closely at images, question symbolism, and think about how art reflects the world in which it is made. Hessel also introduces new material created for this edition, including a chapter exploring First Nations Art in Australia.
Hessel began The Great Women Artists in 2015 to challenge the absence of women from the way art history was traditionally told. What began as an Instagram account grew into a podcast and international platform, and ultimately into The Story of Art Without Men. The book became a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, was named Waterstones Book of the Year in 2022, and was shortlisted for Barnes & Noble Book of the Year in 2023.
Now, Hessel is bringing that conversation directly to young people.
Following the Guggenheim launch, her East Coast tour will move through museums, bookstores, and schools, with stops in Washington, D.C., Miami, and Boston. A West Coast tour follows in 2027.
EAST COAST BOOK TOUR — FALL 2026
NEW YORK CITY | OCTOBER 10
Guggenheim New York
Family Book Talk with Katy Hessel
Peter B. Lewis Theater | 2:00–3:00 p.m.
Hessel and Ping Zhu kick off the tour with an interactive family program featuring conversation, drawing, visual storytelling, and live illustration. An optional book signing follows.
Designed for families with children ages 8–14 and open to all ages. Tickets are $50 for adults and $20 for children; $25 for adults and $10 for children for members at the Dual/Family level and above. Admission includes one book per family and museum admission. Advance registration is required.
NEW YORK CITY | OCTOBER 11
McNally Jackson Seaport
12:00–2:00 p.m.
WASHINGTON, D.C. | OCTOBER 16–17
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Time TBC
A special program at the Hirshhorn anchors Hessel’s Washington visit, alongside bookstore and school appearances.
MIAMI | OCTOBER 18
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami)
11:30 a.m.
Hessel continues the tour with a special program at ICA Miami.
NEW YORK CITY | OCTOBER 19
Barnes & Noble Upper West Side
7:00–9:00 p.m.
NEW YORK CITY | OCTOBER 22
Pace Gallery
Time TBC
BOSTON | OCTOBER 24
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2:00–3:00 p.m.
The fall East Coast tour concludes at MFA Boston, with additional school and bookstore visits during Hessel’s time in the city.
About Katy Hessel
Katy Hessel is an art historian and the author of the international bestseller “The Story of Art Without Men” (Waterstones Book of the Year 2022), “How To Live an Artful Life,” and “The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists,” her first children’s book.
A Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University and Trustee of Charleston, she has presented documentaries for the BBC and launched Museums Without Men, a growing audio series highlighting works by women artists in museum collections worldwide, including The Met and Hirshhorn Museum.
About Ping Zhu
Ping Zhu is an illustrator and instructor at Pratt Institute. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
About W. W. Norton & Company
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. is the nation’s oldest and largest independent, employee-owned book publishing house. Founded by William Warder Norton and Mary Dows Herter Norton in 1923, Norton publishes approximately 450 books annually and continues to adhere to its original motto, “Books That Live.”
