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.