Taschen

History

The company began as Taschen Comics, publishing Benedikt's comic collection.LinkedIn: Company Profile

In 1985, Taschen introduced the Basic Art series with an inaugural title on Salvador Dalí. Today's series comprises over 100 titles available in up to 30 languages, each about a separate artist, from classical to contemporary. Further series followed, alongside an expansion into new themes like architecture, design, film, and lifestyle. For example, the firm also publishes a "Basic Architecture" series in the same style as "Basic Art" that covers some of the most prominent architects in history.

Representation of artists

In the spring of 2014, the firm’s Basic Art Series drew criticism in Swedish public media for the limited number of female artists represented. At the time, the series comprised 95 volumes, of which only five focused on women. Malmö Konsthall in Sweden first highlighted the disparity, following a project by the artists Ditte Ejlerskov and EvaMarie Lindahl. Commentators noted that the imbalance reflected a broader tendency within the established art historical canon, which had traditionally emphasized male artists. In subsequent years TASCHEN expanded the series to include additional women such as Frida Kahlo and Hilma af Klint, and has also published a range of titles dedicated to female artists, designers, and photographers across its wider catalogue.

The Helmut Newton SUMO

In 1999, Taschen expanded to the luxury market with the Helmut Newton SUMO.

Signed and limited to 10,000 copies, the folio-sized publication quickly sold out. It later became the most expensive book published in the 20th century, with SUMO copy number 1 selling at auction for $304,000.

This book paved the way for Taschen's GOAT – Greatest Of All Time, an homage to Muhammad Ali, which Der Spiegel called "the biggest, heaviest, most radiant thing ever printed in the history of civilization".

Further Collector's Editions followed, including titles with Nobuyoshi Araki, Peter Beard, David Hockney, Marvin E. Newman, David LaChapelle, Sebastião Salgado, Annie Leibovitz and The Rolling Stones, often reaching ten times their original price within a few years.

Book series

Taschen Basic Art

Taschen’s Basic Art series, launched in 1985 with a monograph on Salvador Dalí, has become one of the publisher’s best-known and longest-running collections. Conceived as an affordable introduction to major figures in art history, each volume combines accessible texts with high-quality reproductions and is typically published in multiple languages. Over time the series has expanded to include more than 100 titles, covering artists from the Renaissance to contemporary practice, including Leonardo da Vinci, Frida Kahlo, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Yayoi Kusama. The books are widely distributed in museums, bookstores, and academic settings, and have been credited with helping to democratise access to art publishing by offering scholarly yet inexpensive surveys to a global readership.

The Basic Art series now also incorporates the basic architecture books.

Bibliotheca Universalis

Taschen's Bibliotheca Universalis is a series of famous artworks in an affordable (about 15 euros) hardback format (14 x 19.5 cm). They are generally multilingual, with English, German and French texts and legends. Some books are also published in Spanish, Italian and European Portuguese.

Taschen Basic Architecture

Taschen Basic Architecture is a series of books on architects published by Taschen. Each book looks at a different architect, with a biography and pictures of their work.

Sexy Books

Since the early 2000s Taschen has maintained a distinct catalogue of erotic and sexually themed titles marketed under its Sexy Books line. The collection ranges from anthologies of vintage erotica (Erotica Universalis, History of Men’s Magazines) to contemporary photography (Ren Hang, Araki by Araki) and pop-culture surveys such as The Art of Pin-upand Sexy Record Covers (2025). These publications often combine archival material with critical essays, situating erotic imagery within broader histories of art, design, and popular culture. While controversial, the line has been noted for treating sexual content with the same design quality and scholarly framing as Taschen’s art and photography monographs. Critics have argued that this approach has helped preserve and legitimise visual traditions—such as pin-up illustration, fetish photography, and men’s magazines—that were often excluded from mainstream publishing or marginalised in institutional collections.

Locations

Through the mid-to-late 1990s, the company expanded by opening stores in other cities. Some dedicated flagship Taschen bookstores, conceived in collaboration with artists and designers such as Albert Oehlen, Beatriz Milhazes, Jonas Wood, Marc Newson, Mark Grotjahn, Philippe Starck, and Toby Ziegler, are located in:

• Berlin
• Beverly Hills
• Brussels
• Cologne
• Dallas (Taschen Library)
• Hollywood
• Hong Kong
• London
• Madrid
• Miami
• Milan
• Paris

The firm has publishing offices in Berlin, Cologne, London, Paris, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong.

Between 2014 and 2018, Taschen owned and curated its own 6,000-square feet art gallery space in Los Angeles, featuring exhibitions on Michael Muller, Mick Rock, Ellen von Unwerth, and Albert Watson. The publishing house employs more than 250 staff members worldwide and many freelance editors.

References

General bibliography

References

1. TASCHEN. "TASCHEN Books: Contact us".
2. "Publishers We Work With - Book Distribution {{!}} Ingram Content Group".
3. "Our Clients". Littlehampton Books Services.
4. Taschen: ''[https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/company/history3/index.the_art_of_making_books.htm The Art of Making Books] {{webarchive. link. (24 September 2015 ''.)
5. Degen Pener: [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taschen-books-chief-reveals-new-751313 ''Taschen Books Chief Reveals New Projects, Talks 'Fifty Shades' and $12M Books''], published in [[The Hollywood Reporter]], 25 November 2014
6. [https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/search/basic-art ''Basic Art Series – The classic TASCHEN book'']
7. (8 February 2018). "Basic Art Series 2.0 – The classic TASCHEN book".
8. Giles, Oliver. "Why Taschen Opened Its First Asia Store In Hong Kong". Hong Kong Tatler.
9. "Malmö Konsthall". Konsthall.malmo.se.
10. NODE, André Pahl. (25 April 2014). "Kunstkritikk — Taschen under Fire". Kunstkritikk.com.
11. (2014-05-05). "About: Blank Pages – feminist history in the making at Malmö Konsthall". Culturenordic.com.
12. (2021-08-05). "A New Book Gathers Every Single Documented Frida Kahlo Painting, Including Lost Works—See Images Here".
13. Michals, Susan. "Benedikt Taschen's Risky Business". The Wall Street Journal.
14. [[Karin Nelson]]: [https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9E02E2DB1F3AF930A1575BC0A96F9C8B63.html "Now Available in Small"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 23 August 2009, retrieved 13 September 2017
15. Marina Cashdan: [http://howtospendit.ft.com/art/84191-artist-edition-books "Artist edition books"], in [[Financial Times#How to Spend It. How to Spend It]], 26 May 2015.
16. Thomas Hüetlin: "[http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-28781108.html Alis letzter Sieg]". ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' 41/2003.
17. TASCHEN:'' [http://issuu.com/taschen/docs/taschen_ce_catalogue_2013/342 Collector's Editions Catalogue 2013]'' {{webarchive. link. (27 November 2014 .)
18. "Taschen Basic Art Series".
19. "TASCHEN Books".
20. [https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/search/bibliotheca-universalis Bibliotheca Universalis: The World in Books], Taschen website (page visited on 3 September 2017).
21. Hanlon, Patrick. "How Taschen Seriously Disrupts Bookselling With Amazing Brand Experiences". Forbes.
22. "Collection: Dian Hanson. TASCHEN Books".
23. (2025-04-25). "Taschen's book of sexy record covers is a cheeky look back".
24. Magazine, D.. (2016-02-19). "Five Questions With Taschen's Sexy Book Editor Dian Hanson".
25. "Peek Inside the Six-Volume “History of Men's Magazines”".
26. (2009-05-14). "She's Got Legs, She Knows How to Use Them".
27. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-minh-swenson/taschen-grand-opening-wit_b_6331070.html "Taschen Grand Opening With David Bailey and the Rolling Stones"], ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', 17 December 2014.
28. Jessica Berens: [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/nov/04/art "A passion for Taschen"] in ''[[The Observer]]'', 4 November 2001.
29. (24 August 2018). "L.A. Pop-up Gallery Pops Down".